How The Trainer’s Table got here

The Trainer’s Table opened in August 2019 as a walk-in stretch clinic built around Patrick’s 20-minute Total Body Stretch. The routine combined principles from Neuromuscular Therapy and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching, along with a very simple slogan: “You need to stretch. Let us stretch you!”

Starting a hands-on massage therapy business shortly before a pandemic is not generally considered the ideal business plan.

In July 2020, The Trainer’s Table reopened with scheduled appointments and a simplified menu: the newly branded 30-minute Ultimate Stretch and a 60-minute massage. At first, most of the business was stretching. But clients kept asking the same question: When should I get my massage if I don’t want to skip my stretch?

The answer became the 30/30 and 30/60, combining assisted stretching and massage in the same appointment. Today, our table time is split almost evenly between stretching and massage, and the 30/30 has become our most common first-session choice.

People ask surprisingly often if The Trainer’s Table is a franchise. It isn’t. The original plan was three to five locations in three to five years, which seemed perfectly reasonable right up until a pandemic arrived and we discovered something else: opening another location is easier than finding and developing enough therapists who meet The Trainer’s Table standard. So we slowed down. Growth still matters, but not more than the experience we are trying to protect.

Another location is not out of the question. As Patrick and Christina focus more heavily on mentoring, education, and training the team, the goal is to build the kind of consistency and leadership that would allow The Trainer’s Table to grow without losing what made it work in the first place.

Leadership

Meet the owners

Patrick Mammay

Owner, Founder & Master Massage Therapist

Master Massage Therapist (MMT)
20+ years in software before retiring from corporate work

Christina Lee

Owner & Licensed Massage Therapist

Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
MBA, PMP, and 200-hour Certified Yoga Teacher
15+ years in technology before retiring from corporate work

Patrick’s story

I had the idea for The Trainer’s Table years ago, but not as an owner. I was looking for it as a client.

I’ve had all the aches and pains of doing too much or too little in life—and plenty of experience at getting older. After inconsistent experiences with chiropractic care, physical therapy, massage, and every self-care remedy I could find, I wanted a place that covered the whole body and delivered a service I could understand and trust.

Another early inspiration for The Trainer’s Table was my dad’s experience with back pain. It had gotten bad enough that he spent about a year sleeping in a recliner. I eventually found a Neuromuscular Therapy (NMT) massage therapist near him, and he continued seeing that therapist for more than 15 years.

That experience stayed with me. I wanted The Trainer’s Table to be the kind of place my dad would feel comfortable walking into, and the kind of service people could actually find and understand without already knowing the language of massage therapy. You should not have to know which modality to ask for, or whether something is called neuromuscular therapy, deep tissue, myofascial work, or something else. You should be able to explain what is bothering you and trust us to help choose the right approach.

Finally, I decided to create it myself. I went back to school, passed the MBLEx massage board licensing exam, and continue taking classes to expand my knowledge.

The team