Three generations of local family working as massage therapists
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BLACKFOOT
Blackfoot massage clinic becoming a family venture after 7 years of operation
BLACKFOOT – Terri Quilici didn’t set out to become a massage therapist, but after seven years of running her own clinic, she can hardly keep up with the amount of clients.
The 57-year-old woman launched N-Balance Massage in 2018, which she runs out of her home at 175 North 300 West in Blackfoot. She serves around 35 clients a week.
“Most of my clients are booked out a year,” Quilici tells EastIdahoNews.com.
Though she’s thrilled to have found success at something she discovered later in life, what’s most exciting to her is to see family members follow in her footsteps. Her son Evan Merkley gives massages part time at her clinic while maintaining a job with Bingham Healthcare.
Additionally, Quilici’s granddaughter Abigayl Sanderson is attending school to become a massage therapist.
It makes Quilici smile knowing that three generations of her family have chosen massage therapy as their profession.
“It makes me feel really good,” Quilici says. “I can see the light at the end of the tunnel to retire one day and pass it on to them.”
Still, Quilici is quick to point out that she probably won’t ever officially retire because she enjoys it so much.
“I could see myself working at 80, if I can physically do it,” she says.
Quilici’s journey to massage therapy came about after a long career in nursing. She recalls taking care of her mom in Arkansas shortly before her death and wanting a change.
She helped a friend finance a massage clinic in Idaho Falls years ago as a broker. Quilici had never had a professional massage at that point, and her friend invited her to get one.
“I’m like, ‘I don’t really want people touching me,'” Quilici recalls. “I went and got the massage and the whole time was thinking I could totally do this.”
She went to school at the College of Massage Therapy in Blackfoot and got her license.
Seven years later, she’s working with clients all over eastern Idaho, and what she finds most rewarding is helping them address issues with their body.
Evan has since gotten his massage therapy license as well. The 36-year-old obtained it in 2021 after a brief career in the military.
He’s struggled with mental health challenges over the years, and massage therapy has helped him work through that.
His experience, combined with the prospect of being self-employed, is what made him choose this career path.
Similarly, Sanderson, 18, says massage therapy played a small role in her recovery from a car crash as a high school student and it piqued her curiosity.
“I ripped a couple of muscles in my shoulder, and my grandma massaged it,” Sanderson says. “Most of my injuries were on my face.”
Merkley and Sanderson went through the same program Quilici attended.
Though Sanderson is still working towards getting her license, she occasionally works at her grandma’s clinic to get practice working on patients.
Sanderson enjoys seeing what massage therapy can do for the human body.
“I learned a lot in school about — people won’t always tell you what they need or how they feel, but the body will. You just have to listen to the body,” says Sanderson.
Sanderson’s ultimate goal is to travel while working as a massage therapist, but her short-term goal is to get her grandma to retire so she can take over the business.
Until then, she’s excited to keep working towards getting her license.
Quilici says she and her husband plan to retire at age 62. Until then, she plans to keep working on clients.
“He works for the railroad, and so they allow a spousal retirement. I’ll technically be retired by then, but I’ll still be working,” she says.
To schedule an appointment or learn more, call (208) 681-7546. You can also send an email via Nbalancemassage@yahoo.com or visit the Facebook page.
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