This longtime Denton business could soon have locations in other cities around the country.
, which has been operating in Denton for about 15 years, is now expanding by offering franchise opportunities.
鈥淚 fell into massage because I was looking for purpose, I guess, in my life and in my career,鈥� owner Amber Briggle said. 鈥淣ow, I鈥檓 franchising, and it鈥檚 just continuing to scale.鈥�
While living in Boulder, Colorado, and working in a preschool, Briggle realized she wasn鈥檛 passionate about her job and began searching for something new.
She had always been interested in health and wellness, so she jumped at the opportunity when she found out that there was a top massage school in Boulder that offered a one-year program.
鈥淎ll of this was just kind of a happy accident,鈥� she said.
Briggle moved to Denton in 2009 after her husband got a job at UNT. In 2010, she had a booth at the Denton Community Market where she offered chair massages.
The massages were free. All she asked for were email addresses and phone numbers, which helped her build her client list.
鈥淚 still have clients from that first community market,鈥� Briggle said. 鈥淥ne of the very first people I massaged at that first event 鈥� he has since passed, but his widow is still a client here today. And many of her co-workers have been or are clients here.鈥�
Briggle initially saw clients in her home before moving to a location on Malone Street in 2013, where Soma grew to four treatment rooms and about 13 massage therapists.
Soma moved to its current location, at 531 N. Elm St., in May 2021. This location doubled the size of the business, which now has seven treatment rooms and about 25 massage therapists.
鈥淚f we鈥檝e experienced this degree of success during and after a global pandemic, I think there鈥檚 probably something really special going on here,鈥� Briggle said.
There are several things that set Soma apart from other massage therapy centers.
Briggle said that usually when a client books an hourlong massage, they are not actually massaged for a full hour because the massage therapist has to check in with the client, wash their hands and do other prep and transition work.
At Soma, clients get a full 60-minute session because are booked out for 75 to 90 minutes. She also said Soma does not charge more for a deep tissue massage than a Swedish massage.
Because it offers medical massages, Soma can accept payments from health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts. Soma also has a 鈥渘o-tipping鈥� policy.
鈥淸Tipping] places us, as massage therapists, more in the service industry, when I really believe that we belong more in the medical field,鈥� Briggle said. 鈥淎s we explain to our clients: If you鈥檝e never tipped your physical therapist and you鈥檝e never tipped your doctor, why are you tipping your massage therapist?鈥�
Briggle has brought the same amount of care and detailed attention to franchising Soma. About a year and a half ago, she hired a consulting and coaching firm to teach her about franchising.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to be a massage therapist to own a massage studio,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f someone has an interest in wellness, they鈥檙e a hard worker, they are a good communicator, [and] they鈥檝e got good boundaries ... I want to teach them how to do what we鈥檙e doing here.鈥�
Now, she is equipped to help .
鈥淲e see, at this location here on Elm Street, probably about a thousand clients a month,鈥� Briggle said. 鈥淚magine, if we had a thousand Somas in communities across the country, how many more people we could be providing this healing touch to.鈥�