Love to you, Service Industry.

Something keeps recurring in my life recently which is the thought or act of “breaking the script”. This is simply, doing things differently than you have been. Change the route you drive to work, eating dinner at the table instead of the couch, play darts instead of pool, and the list goes on. In breaking the script you open up the possibility to see and try new things. There are endless possibilities for this small saying to take meaning in your life. It is a valuable thought. We take so much meaning from experiences, that there should be more weight on creating them, and not always leaving them to chance. This is a message from Chip & Dan Heath from their book The Power of Moments. Moments (ranging from a split second to a few hours) have ways of defining our lives which we remember for a very long time. Their book tells the story of how we can instead create moments ourselves which can define our lives. And this is where we break the script.

I of course, am a massage therapist. So I am going to relate anything back to body-work that I can get my hands on!! However, before I was a Therapist I worked as a waitress in the restaurant service industry. The glorious industry of food, beverages, smiles, and hospitality. I worked at restaurants for three years and for two companies. Not the most variety and longevity, but still enough to get to know the industry. I wholeheartedly loved my time spent in these establishments. From providing guests farm-to-table food and explaining what that truly means, introducing unique dishes and ingredients that their palate has never tried, to setting up the restaurant with the team, family meal, and rolling silverware in a hot kitchen…every day there can be an uplifting experience if you make it. Coffee helps. And not that a fair share of complaints don’t occur on our end. No industry has pros without cons. Laughable customer requests, missing items needed for service, and rushed mistakes entering the POS system, late and long nights, are common occurrences. But ultimately the job is about serving guests a meal or drink in the best experience possible. Did you catch that? Experience. We are creating an experience through every single guest we talk to! Every time we greet a table, we have the opportunity to do it differently. The whole 1-2 hours of our interaction with a table can be exciting each time, that is, if we have enough in our creative reserve to make it happen. On a bigger scale, our employers have the opportunity to help us think and act creatively before every shift or with weekly contests/activities. Even monthly events to break up the monotony of simply: Setting up for service, having service, breaking down from service, going home. That is the trap that restaurants, or anyone in the service industry, fall into time and time again. Many times it’s just about staying afloat between managing customer complaints, hiring and onboarding new employees from the rotating cycle, and the physicality of making sure the building and equipment is in working order. It’s exhausting! It’s no wonder creative ideas and things that “give us life” have to take a backseat.

Pause.

This is where the body-work connection comes in. One of my favorite quotes, which I even put on my business card, is from Jim Rohn. “Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” The service industry is hard work. At restaurants the chef and cooks have hours of prep work and handling food. Dishwashers back-breakingly move up and down, left and right, scrubbing and scouring dishes, up to their elbows in water. Managers traipse across the building hundreds of times a day and perform computer tasks. Bartenders shake and stir in repeating, grinding motions, and they hoist countless buckets of ice. Servers carry loads of heavy items….and we all do it with very little regard to how our body feels during it. The show must go on. Food must be served. Guests must be pleased. While there may be no changing how the labor occurs, lets focus on how we can treat ourselves after the work is done.

Restaurateur Jake Maddox, Founder of The Brewer’s Table is breaking the script. As a Veteran, he has first hand experience knowing how delicately our lives hang in the balance. Our bodies and our minds need nourishment and care to continue working their best. Everyone works better when they feel better, it’s that simple. If we have to work, which we do, it’s nice to work for a company who has a Wellness Mission at the core of their values. This is becoming more common in tech companies and other business like real estate, marketing, medical communities, and more. I go all over Austin, toting my massage chair and supplies, setting up to provide a brief break in the days of many desk workers. But wellness perks are sadly, mostly absent in Hospitality. Recently I got the opportunity to do my “massage life” gig with Jake and his fantastic group of employees. I massaged people before, after, and during their shifts depending on their timing. I tell you what, every single one of them were stunned that a Massage Therapist had been brought in. Many were still anxious about “taking a break” while others were like “bring on the good feels!”. I was delighted to work with these folks. I intimately understand what they do and their mindset. In addition to massages, employees can have fun throwing axes out back on targets anytime, and The Brewer’s Table offers health, dental, and life insurance. The greatest reward of the day was knowing that there are actual physical restaurants out there breaking the script.

There are other routes people in the service industry are taking to let people know they “are listening” and “we care.” KC Andrew Hensley started the In The Weeds Facebook group in 2013. His mission is to better the lives of people in the hospitality industry through education, community, and positivity. On a national scale there is plenty being done to aid the industry. Chefs with Issues has resources for dealing with the pressure of restaurant life. Restaurant Recovery helps those looking for substance recovery and emotional-wellbeing. In many cities there are sliding scale acupuncture clinics. Ours in Austin is called NAP (Neighborhood Acupuncture Project) and it is fantastic. The point is there are opportunities that exist to help yourself in whatever way you need. Massage with Bodinuity can be a piece of that puzzle.

A single massage won’t heal the aches from 20+ years of using your body, but what about 15 minutes of caring and focused touch that was given to you by your employer? Doesn’t that put some instant goodwill towards the company. But really, it isn’t your employers responsibility to take care of you. That’s called a “perk”. We still need to remember “I am who lives in my body and I alone must take initiative to change myself.” A 15 minute massage could give you some kind of inspiration about how you should be treating your body. We need to be cognizant that standing and running on our feet for 6+ hours at a time with no break can be damaging to our long term health and ability to stay in the industry. A little bit of tension release can go a long way in the body and the mind. You go back and maybe the restaurant looks a little shinier, and you make some jokes with your tables, you’re able to reach a little farther for an empty plate, and you season the pork loin exactly spectacularly. Ahhhh. You broke the script that day. You allowed yourself to be cared for.

In summation, my goal as a human being is for all other human beings to have the best mental and physical health possible. My goal as a Therapist is to provide you a session in which you feel tension relief and worth the financial cost. My goal as a business is to say “Hey, massage can help, try me.” The choice is always yours.

With health and happiness we go,
Kaitlin of Bodinuity

If you are in the Restaurant Service Industry, I gladly offer a Service Industry Rate. Mention this at our session and I will honor our sessions at $1 per minute.

Disclaimer: At this time I can only offer this rate to members of the Restaurant/Bar Community because of my close ties and motivation to get more wellness into this sector. I do acknowledge that currently in the US, 80% of jobs are considered Service Industry. We are the doer’s and the giver’s! If you need to talk about pricing, don’t hesitate to ask.