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How does a University of Texas grad, with a BA in
English and a background in marketing, advertising and public relations
become the founder of a corporate chair massage company? To Rebecca
Kahn it was a logical choice.
After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, Rebecca
was hired by one of Houston’s top marketing and advertising
agencies in 1997. Shortly thereafter, the company owner hired a
massage therapist to provide weekly chair massages to the office.
After a few months of this, Rebecca noticed that
on chair massage days, everyone:
Rebecca was convinced that the 15-minutes of weekly
stress relief was the cause of this behavior.
Soon, she became intrigued by the possibility of providing
this service to other companies.
Rebecca learned that most corporate chair massage
was being performed by independent massage therapists with little
or no experience in the corporate environment.
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Corporate chair massage should enhance
a company’s business process " |
Companies frequently complained that independent therapists
would arrive late, had an unorganized approach to client scheduling,
and did not wear appropriate attire.
Rebecca saw this as a liability. Corporate chair massage
should enhance a company’s business process
– not detract from it. If companies were expending energy
to manage the massage therapists – then the massages were
not achieving their intended goal.
The market appeared to exist for a professional,
client-focused corporate chair massage company.
In March, 2000 Rebecca left the marketing and advertising
world and founded Knot Anymore LLC in Houston, Texas. The
company was created to provide the best, most professional, customer-focused,
stress-reducing, performance-enhancing, morale-boosting chair massages.
One month later the company was hired by Methodist Health Care System
to provide chair massage at a health fair for Solvay Polymers.
The event was a resounding success – and the
buzz about Knot Anymore began.
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a Minority/Woman-Owned Business (M/WBE) and
a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE)
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Soon, Knot Anymore was providing chair massage at
corporations, health fairs, trade shows, and company meetings, in
and around Houston, Texas. As the company’s experience
and client list grew, so did the company’s roster of superb
therapists.
In September, 2001 Knot Anymore expanded into Austin,
Texas and was certified as a Minority/Woman-Owned Business (M/WBE)
and a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE).
In April, 2002 the company participated in a pilot
project to determine the feasibility of chair massage at Austin-Bergstrom
International Airport.
In January, 2003 Knot Anymore was awarded an exclusive
contract to provide chair massage services at the airport.
The company currently maintains client accounts and
a roster of excellent therapists in both Houston and Austin, Texas.
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