Family owned, family churred
Sargento Foods aims to make positive social impact every single day
January 5, 2026
MEDFORD – Upon her return home from military service a handful of years ago, Kayla Smart-Thompson said she found the available professional opportunities weren’t to her liking.
“I was [in the] military before I met my husband, then I moved back home after and [found] nothing but factory work,” she said. “I hated it.”
So, after she and her husband, Adam, relocated to Wausau for his job – “he works for Canadian National Rail[way]” – Smart-Thompson said she started exploring other options.
“All of my family, friends and definitely my husband said, ‘I know you hate being… in factories and you’re good at giving massages, [so] why don’t you go to school [for massage therapy]?’” she said. “So, I was working 50 hours a week and going to school on Saturdays [for that].”
In 2023, Smart-Thompson said she completed her certification, officially became a licensed massage therapist and established her LLC – Unalome Massage & Bodyworks.
“I am currently [operating out of] the Borealis Wellness Clinic [in Medford],” she said. “I met with the chiropractor, Sam Klinner, when I graduated from school and got my license [and said], ‘Hey, I need a space, [and] I see you’re looking for somebody.’ So, I worked for him exclusively for a year. Then, [last year], he offered for me to go on my own and just rent the space from him.”
When she purchased the former Black River Meat Market building in Medford – located at 235 S. Main St. – Smart-Thompson said, initially, she intended it to be the new home for just her practice.
However, after touring the space, she said she realized the potential it offered – not only for her business, but for other local entrepreneurs as well.
“After I walked through it, I realized there’s so much space in here,” she said. “I don’t need all of this for just me – my one little office [and] my one little table – so I figured we could build some office spaces and offer it up to other small businesses.”
Renovations, historic revival
Though renovations were set to commence before the end of the year, Smart-Thompson said she hasn’t designated an official opening date for the building yet.
“I just spoke with my contractor [in November], and he said they [wouldn’t] be able to get started until [roughly] eight weeks [from then],” she said. “We’re going to try to start on the bones and guts of the place ourselves – like putting up the framing for the walls and such – but the things that need to be [up] to state code – such as plumbing and electrical – we’re going to have to wait.”
Smart-Thompson said her goal with renovations is to revive the building and reestablish its historic glory.
“I actually looked into historical renovation [funding opportunities] they [offer for] old, original Main Street buildings,” she said. “I would love to get the facade back to original… [because] I want it to look like the rest of downtown [Medford] – make it look beautiful and original, like the historic buildings that are on Main Street. I want it to fit in.”
Though the project’s timeline is, officially, undetermined, Smart-Thompson said she “would hope to have the business built by February.”
“Hopefully – if I get the grant [I applied for] – we can take care of getting everything [up] to code after the offices are built,” she said. “And there was one space that I was going to reserve for pop-up shops for local creators who don’t have a storefront [but] want to have their stuff displayed without having a store of their own.”
Still working full-time as a massage therapist within the Borealis Wellness Clinic, Smart-Thompson said it takes “a lot” to balance both her practice and the building project.
“But it’s very exciting,” she said. “I’m very excited to bring more opportunities to the local community. It’s a lot on my plate [and] a lot on my mind, but it will be so worth it.”
Support received = support given
Smart-Thompson said her family’s relocation to Wausau played a large role in her ability to start a new massage therapy career.
“I think if I had lived anywhere else, I might have been in the wrong kind of community,” she said. “If we had [moved to] the middle of nowhere, obviously this would have never happened. But then, if we had lived in a larger city… I probably would have been too intimidated to do this.”
When her husband’s work led them to North Central Wisconsin, Smart-Thompson said they had to live within 30 miles of his “main hub.”
“We lived in Park Falls, and [when] the Park Falls [Paper] Mill shut down [in 2021], he had to go on the road for a year of training and schooling – then he got a permanent hub that happened to be [in] Owen,” she said. “So, we either [had to live in] Marshfield or Medford, and I said we had to at least live somewhere with a Walmart, [because] I’m not living in the middle of nowhere.”
Though she’s not a North Central native – “my parents are from Butternut, just north of Park Falls, but they had my brother and me in Minnesota” – Smart-Thompson said she’s appreciated the small-town support she’s received as a business owner.
“My client list has definitely grown [after] starting from scratch and nobody knowing my name in this community – because we just moved here four years ago,” she said. “I had two or three clients a week, and it was tough, but having Sam offer to have me as an employee definitely helped… I can’t thank him enough. He allowed me to grow my business to what it is, and now I’m booking out into January.”
In her new, forthcoming location, Smart-Thompson said there will be three additional office spaces for community-based entrepreneurs to rent, and because she doesn’t yet know who her tenants will be, the name of the building – if any – is undecided at this time.
“I don’t know if I want to name the building,” she said. “Obviously, I can’t put my business name on it, because it’s not just me… I was thinking about calling it ‘The Body Shop’ if it was going to [offer] body care [and] wellness, but I don’t know who’s going to be in there. So, I can’t call it that either, because I might have somebody who just wants an office space.”
Regardless, Smart-Thompson said she’s excited to welcome additional business owners and operators to the building once it’s completed – offering them support similar to what she received when she first started.
“We bought this building to essentially expand my space, but also bring more small business access to downtown,” she said. “Like the people who I see at the farmers’ markets in the summer – they don’t have a space in the winter. I’d like to have somewhere for them to go.”
