An Orange County native, Meaghan Walter resides in Mission Viejo, just a few minutes from the Massage Envy where she works as a Massage Therapist. A holistic health advocate, Meaghan says she choose a career in Body-work because she enjoys meeting new people and receives great personal satisfaction from facilitating positive change in her clients’ health. “I learned how powerful massage could be when it helped me recover from physical and emotional trauma I experienced in high school. I want to be able to facilitate that kind of healing for others”, said Meaghan.
Meaghan’s desire to work in the Massage industry prompted her employment at Massage Envy – Mission Viejo North, where she accepted a position as Front Desk Associate in 2013. Simultaneously, she enrolled in the 500-hour Massage Therapist Program at Healing Hands School of Holistic Health – Laguna Hills. Attending at Healing Hands School, enabled Meaghan to continue working full time while moving toward her desired vocation.
A conscientious worker with a “can-do” attitude, Meaghan’s personal initiative became apparent almost immediately after starting at Massage Envy. By month two of her employ, she was promoted to ‘Lead Front Desk Associate’ and by month six had earned the title of ‘Assistant Manager’. Shortly, after completing the 500-hour Massage Therapist Program in August of 2014, Meaghan made her transition from Assistant Manager to Massage Therapist, and has been happy in her chosen profession ever since.
Meaghan’s body-work expertise includes: Circulatory (Swedish), Deep Tissue, Sports, and Hot Stone massage. She is also knowledgeable of acupressure points and the Eastern massage modality, Shiatsu. Meaghan’s demeanor at Massage Envy reflects a quiet confidence, warmth and sincerity that leaves a lasting impression. Perhaps that’s why she has become one of the most requested therapists at her clinic. Management attributes Meaghan’s success to ‘strong massage and inter-personal skills’ while clients attribute it to her ‘arsenal of massage techniques and her caring nature’. Meaghan claims it’s her passion for body-work and says when you love what you do, results follow”
Looking back, Meaghan recalls feeling a strong connection to touch and a natural pull to the Healing Arts, even as a child. Always wanting others to feel their best, Meaghan eagerly massaged friends and family at get-togethers and special occasions. As a Girl-scout, Meaghan was recognized with the 2nd highest honor, the Silver Badge Award, for spear-heading a community drive to create hygiene kits to lift the spirits of disadvantaged, adolescent Foster children. “I remember hand-sewing the draw-string bags and filling them with items like antiperspirant, tooth-paste and make-up. I even selected and included inspirational quotes, they definitely were an act of love”.
Although Meaghan’s original career path was in the field of Accounting, an unplanned pregnancy in 2011 inspired her to pursue something more flexible, immediate and financially viable. The opportunity arrived when she applied and qualified for Financial Aid to attend Healing Hands School of Holistic Health. She says she chose Healing Hands because it’s Nationally Accredited, has a positive reputation among Massage Therapist employers, and offers day, evening and weekend classes.
When asked about her plans for the future, Meaghan said “To assure I give my clients the highest quality massage therapy, I will continue to add different massage modalities to my repertoire. I enjoy my course work at Healing Hands School, because they have such a wide variety of courses to choose from. Next on my wish-list are classes in ‘medicinal herbs’ and ‘advanced sports techniques’, as I’d like to move toward a specialty in Sports Medicine”.