Keahi Colleague Highlight: Emma Leigh Burke, LMT
I'm super grateful. I get to work with my best friends. One of them is a massage therapist, Emma Leigh Burke. How'd we meet? Well, I got lucky. Five years ago, I walked into a massage therapy clinic for what I expected to be a basic massage. Instead, I left very relaxed and with a new friend.
At the end of said massage, I awkwardly asked Emma if she wanted to be friends. Thankfully, she said "yes!" But I had no idea that Emma would show me how to become a great friend. One of her mottos is "a rising tide raises all ships" and Emma really means it. She's someone that everyone needs to get to know. And now you can!
Since this is the season of giving and gratitude, my next newsletters will highlight two wonderful friends and colleagues, Emma Burke and Michelle Bennett. (Michelle is such an incredible force that she deserves a full newsletter onto herself so...look out December!)
Connections keep me going. They make me feel more "normal." And relationships are mirrors for me...I see myself in people and come to understand that we share more similarities than differences. It feels good to me to share commonalities and experiences with others.
For instance, while at the Honors College at the University of Oregon, I joined a sorority during Spring recruitment so that I could have this thing called "fun." I needed to balance my grueling 23-credit terms with a good old barn dance every now and then.
Being a single mother of a young child, a small business owner and sole practitioner at my clinic, I rely on my patients and colleagues to keep me sane. And as a closet introvert, I could go deep down into the "rabbit hole" of productivity, projects and academic pursuits. Thank God for my friends, patients, family and coworkers. They pull me out to the surface and ground me into the present and what some would call, "the real world.
Emma Burke has been a Licensed Massage Therapist since January 2013. Her Facebook page says that she is, "Using Mind💡Heart ❤️ Voice 🎤 Hands 👐 (& Feet!🦶) to Create a Better Future For All."
And it's true...you can bring up any topic or problem to Emma and she will have a suggestion, a person to seek advice from or a solution. I've observed her striving to better herself and to give her two lovely daughters the brightest futures possible. Emma loves to learn and is frequently taking classes and joining zoom calls to gather information. Then, she'll generously share what she's learned with others, including myself.
I truly admire Emma as a mother and as a small business owner. But most of all, Emma impresses me with her "personhood." She places relationships with others above all else. Emma really cares and it's palpable.
From Emma: "While not performing therapeutic treatments in Room 1 at Keahi Health, she spends time with her kids, pets, serving as the American Massage Therapy Association Oregon Chapter President, and volunteering with Xpose Hope, an anti-trafficking nonprofit organization.
She loves to learn and has spent many hours training in the following modalities:
*Ashiatsu (barefoot massage) through DeepFeet Bar Therapy
*Holistic Pelvic Floor Therapy through Tami Kent, PT
*Decompression via Cupping (client’s choice of cup shape(s): circle, star, and/or heart)
*Cranio-Sacral Therapy through the Upledger Institute
*Visceral Manipulation through the Barral Institute, and
*Himalayan Salt Stone Massage
Emma encourages massage consistency to help keep clients ahead of pain so offers a loyalty discount, as well as a membership program.
She also chooses to decline gratuity and simply charges for her time in order to customize each treatment to the specific needs of each client each session. If you'd like to schedule a massage with Emma, email her at emmaleighburke1@gmail.com or you can find her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmmaLeighBurke
As always, thank you for doing this with me!
