How a LGBTQ-owned massage spot in Holland aims to empower clients - WOODTV.com

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HOLLAND, Mich. (WOOD) — An LGBTQ-owned business in Holland is working to offer a safe space for clients to heal.

Located at 444 Washington Ave. in Holland’s Washington Square, Harbor Health and Massage offers everything from massage and acupuncture to health coaching and reflexology. It’s been around for more than 20 years, but owner Jess Trusty is relatively new to the business.

She first discovered Harbor Health and Massage as a client as she was looking for a way to manage chronic pain.

Harbor Health and Massage in Holland. (Courtesy Jess Trusty)

“I went from suffering chronic pain and backing out of certain activities to I’m hiking and moving again, pain-free,” she said. “That’s thanks to massage therapy and chiropractic care together. So I just found a passion for massage through my own massage journey and it it’s just flourished since then.”

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Trusty got a job as a receptionist at Harbor Health and Massage, and was later promoted to office manager.

She never planned on becoming a business owner. When she was in school getting an associate’s degree in accounting, she had to take a business management class, which she said wasn’t her favorite.

“I don’t know why I’m taking this class, I don’t even plan to own a business,” she recalled telling her husband while taking the class.

Still, when her boss approached her about buying the business, she jumped at the chance.

“I never really intended to own a business and be a business owner, but when the opportunity came up, I couldn’t pass it up,” she said. “It was a business focused on something that I had strongly felt was influential in my life.”

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Trusty officially took over ownership of the massage business in September 2023. It’s been a learning curve as she’s navigated from having someone to go to for questions to being the final decision maker. The biggest challenge has been staffing because it’s difficult to find licensed massage therapists, Trusty explained. Right now, her business has five massage therapists on staff.

Harbor Health and Massage in Holland. (Courtesy Jess Trusty)

But owning the business “has been a joy,” she said.

“I think we do a great job of communicating with our clients and empowering them to make progress on their own without us,” she said. “We want to encourage our clients to do just as much work themselves at home, whether it be strengthening, stretching, those sorts of things, combined with massage therapy and just empowering them to be the healthiest, happiest people they can.”

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She said she loves seeing how massage therapy and the business’ other services can impact its clients.

“Watching them progress through their care plan and make progress and regain their lives, to be able to do the activities that they really want to do in life to begin with is really what keeps me going, being able to spread joy and that kindness to every person who walks through our door,” she said. “I’m not a business owner to get rich. … It’s really more about helping the community and making a positive impact in that way.”

Throughout Pride Month, Harbor Health and Massage is working with Out On the Lakeshore, a Holland nonprofit serving the LGBTQ+ community. The team partnered with OOTL for its recent Pride 5K event, Trusty said, and will be donating $5 from every CBD add-on purchased throughout June.

A member of the LGBTQ+ community herself, Trusty has been volunteering on the OOTL Pride Committee since before becoming a business owner, doing behind-the-scenes fundraising work.

When she took ownership of Harbor Health and Massage, she said she saw an opportunity to partner with the organization.

“I really strongly feel that everybody needs a safe space to be who they are,” she said. “I want to make sure that my business is an inclusive and supportive office, that folks from the community can come in and get massage therapy care without having to worry about who they are or hiding that. So I think Pride Month is a great month to pause and celebrate all of the differences and uniqueness that make us who we are. … Growing up, I didn’t have that safe space, so I’m really happy that I can offer that to the community now.”

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