From restaurant owner to masseur – a story of resilience, renewal

Heather Graves

Staff

August 5, 2024

SCHOFIELD – Local entrepreneur ZiPing “Ping” Pan said her journey to wellness inspired her to open 100% Relaxing Station Massage (2809 Schofield Ave., Suite C) in Schofield earlier this year.

And though massage therapy is a new career for Pan – a Chinese immigrant – business ownership is not.

A career shift

Pan – who worked as a high school teacher in China – immigrated to the United States in 2016.

She, along with her husband, opened Hi Restaurant in downtown Wausau in 2019.

“It was a good business for us,” she said.

Unfortunately, Pan said a significant health challenge, which required surgery, led to the closure of the restaurant and sent her on a two-year recovery period.

When she wasn’t finding relief from her chronic back and neck pain in other forms of therapy, “my husband said I should get a massage.”

“It was during this time I discovered the healing benefits of massage therapy,” she said. “It helped relieve the pain (I was having) and improve my mood.”

The relief she found with massage therapy, Pan said, inspired her to look into what it would take to offer that same relief to others.

“I enrolled in a massage therapy license class and became a licensed massage therapist,” she said.

Pan said this experience restored her health and ignited her passion for holistic healing.

Opening up shop

Having been down the opening-a-business path before, Pan said she knew what to expect in terms of the necessary hoops to jump through to make this happen.

Finding the “right spot” for the studio, she said, wasn’t as easy.

“We loved being in downtown Wausau with our restaurant – that was a good location for us – however, we couldn’t find a good fit for the massage studio. They were either too high (in rent) or too small (space-wise),” she said.

This, Pan said, led them to broaden their search, which ultimately brought them to Schofield.

“It is in a busy area, and other stores are around it, so it’s easy to find us,” she said. “It also has ample parking, which we didn’t have at the restaurant, so that is a good thing.”

Pan said the space offers clients a “soothing” environment complete with “tranquil music.”

The focus

Pan said 100% Relaxing Station Massage is a direct reflection of her commitment to promoting physical rejuvenation and mental well-being through therapeutic massage.

With a focus on holistic wellness, Pan said the center aims to help clients achieve physical and mental balance through personalized treatments.

“Massage therapy has many physical and mental health benefits,” she said. 

Pan said the studio – which has three licensed massage therapists, including herself and two independent contractors – offers various services, such as:

• Foot reflexology – (30- or 60-minute options)
• Couples and signature massage – Swedish, deep tissue or combination
• Hot stone massage
• Head hydro-massage
• Combo massage
• Chair massage

Pan said massage is a general term for pressing, rubbing and manipulating an individual’s skin, muscles, tendons and ligaments.

Some of the benefits, she said, include:

• Reduces muscle tension
• Stimulates the lymphatic system
• Reduction of stress hormones
• Heightens mental alertness
• Increases peace of mind
• Improves circulation
• Lowers heart rate and blood pressure
• Promotes deeper breathing
• Enhances skin tone and skin health
• Increases and promotes joint flexibility
• Increases self-awareness
• Reduces anxiety

So far, Pan said the reaction from the Greater Schofield community has been positive.

“Clients have been recommending us to their family and friends, giving us good feedback on Google and sharing our information on their social media,” she said. “That is encouraging.”

Pan said the focus of massage at 100% Relaxing Station Massage is “not the normal U.S. kind of massage.”

“We use Chinese massage (which focuses more on the manipulation of pressure points within the body versus tissue) because it is better for our bodies,” she said. “We do incorporate some parts of U.S. massage though, too.”

Seeing the relief she can bring to her clients, Pan said, has been the best part of opening 100% Relaxing Station Massage.

“When clients come in, they have pain, soreness or tightness in points of their body,” she said. “And then after our service, they say, ‘I feel so good, and my body feels better.’ That’s a huge benefit of our job (as massage therapists). That is why I am enjoying my store.”

The story behind the name

Regular massage therapy for overall wellness, Pan said, is more common in China than it is in the United States.

It’s this focus, she said, that inspired the name of the massage studio.

“In Asian culture, we focus on taking care of our bodies 100% – mental, physical and mood can be helped through massage,” she said.

Full steam ahead

Pan obtained the business permit for 100% Relaxing Station Massage in early May, held a soft opening shortly after and was in full swing by Mother’s Day.

The studio, in partnership with the Greater Wausau Chamber of Commerce, held an official ribbon cutting/grand opening celebration in early July.

100% Relaxing Station Massage is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

For more information, visit the massage studio’s Facebook Page.