Prior to that, there was a smaller massage school in the same location, Touch Therapy Institute.  TTI had existed since 1989 – a good while, but ten years shy of NHI’s founding in 1979.  Though TTI had a stellar reputation, it lacked the national accreditation, federal financial aid, and program length needed to continue supporting its students and graduates.  Finding that they shared similar cultures, TTI merged with NHI in May 2006.  That summer we remodeled the campus and added more space necessary to accommodate NHI’s larger program.

I’m not a big fan of construction.  It’s dirty, disruptive and always takes more time and money than estimated.  But time has a way of erasing those trialing days, and instead I prefer to happily remember August 23^rd when Group 57 kicked off the NHI era in Encino.

Time doesn’t erase pictures, though.  Here are a couple of pictures of the campus transformation 2 years ago.

The New Rolf Classroom Takes Shape.

TTI Remnants from Six Floors Up.

As a side note, I spent Saturday back in Texas celebrating my parents’ 50^th anniversary.  A coincidence that my school and parents have the same anniversary?  Maybe.  At the very least, I hope it foretells of many successful years to come.

We both knew what a treasure TTI was to the L.A. massage community.  While TTI had come highly referred to me, Ed actually attended another school for a short while.  It was so bad that all of his classmates dropped out and the school cancelled his class.  So, against the advice of our accountants, lawyers, families, friends, astrologers and the voice of reason, we bought Touch Therapy. 

Ed would never let down.

With plenty of blood, sweat, tears, a whole lot of our savings, and much laughter, we turned the school around financially while maintaining its quality of education.  Enrollment rose; completion rates soared; and all was good.  But feedback from graduates and employers told us that TTI’s main 200-hour program was no longer adequate.  Therapists needed more training to compete in today’s market.  Exploring how to extend our curriculum, I met Mason Myers, President of National Holistic Institute.

Over tacos in San Diego, Mason told me how great NHI is.  I countered by telling him how amazing TTI was.  He invited me up to San Francisco to see his campus and arm wrestle over the matter.  When I stepped foot into NHI, I felt like I was at Touch Therapy – only bigger.  So impressed was I, that I let him win the arm wrestling match (but don’t tell him that).  Talks of a merge began.  TTI needed a longer program and NHI wanted to expand to Southern California.  It was a match made in heaven.  I stayed on to manage the Los Angeles campus in Encino.

Now 2 years later, I massage paperwork more than people, but I wouldn’t trade my NHI experiences for the world.  I look forward to sharing these adventures with you as we go along.

So how did I get here?  I’ve always loved massage, but I used to think it was only something to pamper myself with on birthdays and special occasions.  Then in 2001, I began training for the L.A. Marathon.  My legs discovered a whole new kind of pain.  After our long training runs on Saturdays, I couldn’t walk normally until, oh say, Wednesday.  Then I started noticing that some other fellow runners weren’t having this difficulty.  Was I in that bad of shape?  Well, yes, but that wasn’t the only thing.  I discovered a different common denominator – these runners were getting massaged after their runs. “Hmmm,” I thought.  (You’ll find I’m a deep thinker.)  So, I started getting regular massages after my runs.  I felt better almost immediately.  I was even walking normally on Mondays!

Then my mind got the better of me.  How could something so simple work so magically?  I decided to take a class and find out – just for “something to do.”  I talked to some massage employers.  They all told me to go to Touch Therapy Institute.  A little grandmother-type named Marcie took me on a tour, signed me up, and suddenly I was rubbing people.

Speaking of rubbing, my crazy typing fingers need some massaging.  As Paul Harvey would say, “Stay tune for the rest of the story.”