02/15/2026
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Last Thursday’s Galentine’s event was more uplifting than I expected. 💗
After the last six years post-pandemic, it reminded me how much this work still matters—to me and to others.
My chair has seen better days (literally flaking 😅), and with kids + life, reupholstering keeps getting pushed back. A fellow therapist who doesn’t love chair massage generously passed one along, so I’m making it work for now.
At the event, I reconnected with familiar faces—from a former spa owner who employed one of my massage school instructors, to an American Family employee I used to see regularly when I did chair massage at their St. Joe’s office for 8 years before everything shut down. Then a vendor looked at my name and said,
“Oh—you’re Tess Bravo. You were the go-to for chair events.”
Even mentioned another therapist who said the same.
The last few years have shown fewer chair bookings and a different rhythm to work and family life. It can feel frazzling. There’s definitely some nostalgia too—this fall marks 20 years since I graduated massage school.
Still, moments like this remind me that the work I poured into my hometown left an imprint. And that means more than I sometimes realize. ✨
