How a lab tech launched a massage school

While massage therapy might not sound like a controversial profession, it was in 1991 when Terry Meyer was forced to purchase an adult entertainment establishment license to operate her business.

“There was a gentleman behind the counter at the state licensing office,” she recalled. “He looked at my husband and did not look at me. But I asked for the license anyway and told him to address me directly because it wasn’t my husband’s company. It was mine.”
Meyer lived a past life as a lab technician for a company from Holland that developed veterinarian vaccines in Delaware. She experienced a breaking point when she had to kill her first animal. It scarred her and drove her to work at doctor’s offices as an administrator and office manager.
On one stressful day she decided to get a massage. “I felt so wonderful,” she said. “I thought, ‘This is what I need to do.'”
So for the next two years, she drove 125 miles every weekend from her home in Lewes Beach to Glen Riddle, Pa., to attend a massage school because there were none in Delaware in 1989. Which takes us back to her experience of applying for a business license in the State of Delaware: She chased her passion regardless of what it was classified as at the time.
Then she ran into a hurdle that small-business owners know all too well after experiencing growth: staffing. To ensure recruiting the best hires, she decided to open her first school in the year 2000. She took a break for a few years to raise her teenage children, but now she’s back. She would like to address the shortage of massage therapists in Delaware, as there are more more massage technicians than therapists. (Massage therapists are a certification level above technicians.)
“My therapists make anything from $25-$50 an hour, so there’s an opportunity to make full-time pay with part-time hours,” said Meyer.
Meyer has been a veteran of the massage therapy field for the past 25 years. Her focus is on helping students through school and after graduation without encumbering them with student loans.
She founded Massage & Reflexology of Delaware in Wilmington. “My tuition is a little over $9,100 and that is all inclusive,” she said. “I want it to be value-based. I’m not looking to make huge amounts of money from my students. What I charge is $4,000 less than other schools.”
Meyer wants to make sure her students are set up for success after graduation, which is why she’s active in the wellness community. “I have addressed the Delaware state senate on massage therapy and its efficacy in healthcare,” said Meyer. She intends to remain an advocate for the industry in the state to ensure a better future for her students.