WHEN NATHALIE ROACHFORD was about 15 or 16 years old she realised she had a healing or soothing touch, at least that’s what her mother Dulcie Forte told her.
Until then the massage practitioner did not know she could have “made a living from it” but yet, after leaving school, she did not pursue it immediately.
Instead, at the age of 18, she became a “cute security guard” stationed at the United States Embassy where she often stood for long hours.
“I only stayed for three months in the security business . . . I realised it was too much on my knees and . . . it forced me to think about what I was going to do and how I was going to do it,. I did not know what I really wanted to do but I wanted to find something where I’m not going to be supervised and could work in my own time and on my own terms,” she said.
“This is where I found massaging, or massaging found me. I started in my dad Oliver Roachford’s kitchen. I would take up his olive oil and brown sugar. After rubbing the olive oil [on] my face I realised it had such great benefits and I was seeing results from using it. It also made me realise the therapeutic nature of a massage,” Roachford said.
That experience got her thinking about scrubs and really got her started on her journey to owning Body Wise Mobile Spa, which is two months old.
Eager to learn the trade, she enrolled in a three-month basic massage therapy course at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic but the information she gleaned was not enough to satisfy her appetite.
Her pursuit of knowledge, technique, physiology, and the anatomy has led her to the Peace Haven Holistic Therapy School Inc., which she said is great.
“Massaging is not just massaging. You also have to do the correct techniques, such as squatting during sessions,” she said, while disclosing that as a former ice skater and gymnast it comes easily.
Roachford told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY that she was born in Sweden to Barbadian parents and came to Barbados when she was seven years old in 1994. She did not know any English and remembers her mother initially having to stay in her classes at Bayley’s Primary School translating English to Swedish.
Another memory she has is picking blueberries in a forest in the cold European country and then coming to Barbados and not knowing how to dress for the weather.
Fast forward to 2015 and she is now more than home, a comfort that extends to her massage business. She said that when a client is being massaged “you have to be grounded, really and truly be at peace, and be one with yourself” because that person will “feel your energy”.
“If you’re still off balanced they’re still going to feel your energy. As soon as your put your hands on the person you either transfer energy or you can receive energy,” Roachford explained.
Additionally, there is so much that can be ascertained from touching someone and one of her aims is to advise clients on the types of treatments they could have depending on how they feel and what they are going through in their lives.
“For instance, a person may want a Swedish massage which is really good for calming you, de-stressing you if you have aches and pains, but suppose the person experiences a trauma in their life, then a Swedish massage wouldn’t be as effective as a lomi lomi, which is a Hawaiian massage,” she noted.
“That massage is great for persons who have suffered through trauma for want a change in their lives. It helps rebalance their chakra energy, they have mental clarity, are able to become more efficient and outgoing and their skin starts glowing,” she said, adding that one of her aims is to ensure people are body wise.
In explaining her decision to be mobile and visit clients, Roachford said that before starting on her own she was involved in the sector for six years. She worked at a spa and some clients cancelled appointments because they could not make it to the location, or they preferred to be massaged in their homes or offices.
And as the business grows, she wants to be very professional in her approach and demeanour. She intends to let people know that trained massage practitioners can be trusted and that they had more to offer than healing hands.
Also in her future is the pursuit of sports massages and her own line of body products. (Green Bananas Media)
