Nicola Hogan Massage & Mentor

28/08/2026

I am a massage therapist, not a medical professional, and I am certainly not an expert in endocrinology or pharmacology.

I hold no position on whether people should or should not use GLP-1 medicines or other peptide products. That is a conversation for clients and their appropriately qualified healthcare professionals.

This article is an educational discussion about their increasing use, the possible ways they may affect a massage treatment and the importance of regularly checking for changes to medications, supplements and injectable treatments.

It is not medical advice, nor does it recommend or promote any particular product.

https://open.substack.com/pub/beneaththetouch/p/peptides-in-the-massage-room?r=2ly740&utm_medium=ios

26/08/2026

Something I find myself reminding massage therapists I mentor:

👉🏻You don’t have to fix everything in one treatment.

👉🏻You don’t have to use every technique you know.

👉🏻You don’t have to chase every tight muscle you find.

👉🏻You don’t need to discount your massage or give it away for free just to get new clients through the door.

👉🏻And you definitely don’t need to leave your client feeling like they’ve been done over by a road roller to prove you did a good job. 😂

Becoming a better massage therapist isn’t about doing more. It’s learning to assess, listen, respond, know your value and know when enough is enough.

If any of this sounds familiar, I currently have space for a small number of massage therapists looking for mentoring.

Sometimes it helps to have someone experienced in your corner to bounce it all off.

23/08/2026

From our first breath as a newborn to our very last, touch is our first language. It is a powerful and fundamental form of communication, one that comforts and soothes.

At 98, Dorothy wore ruby lipstick and told me the same story every week.

Martha climbed the stairs at 95 and taught me to stop hovering.

Both showed me that massaging someone in their nineties is about far more than easing pain.

My new article: The Wonderful Thing About Massaging Nonagenarians 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

https://beneaththetouch.substack.com/p/the-wonderful-thing-about-massaging

20/08/2026

Apart from massage therapy and mentoring massage therapists, I am, at heart, a writer.

It’s just taken my brain a little while to catch up and realise it.

You may have noticed me sharing more of my writing lately, longer form essays and stories over on Substack.

It’s a space where I get to explore the things I’ve spent more than 25 years noticing from the massage table: communication, connection, the therapeutic relationship, the strange and wonderful humanity of this work, and what it means to build a practice and career that can actually sustain you.

There are stories. Reflections. Things I wish I’d known when I graduated massage school. And plenty of thoughts about what really happens beneath the touch.

If you enjoy my posts here, I’d love you to come over and read Beneath the Touch.

It’s free to subscribe, and new essays will land straight in your inbox.

Come read 👇🏻

https://open.substack.com/pub/beneaththetouch

20/08/2026

I’ve said it before, I have the BEST clients 💚

This week I’ve been gifted:

3 live marron 🦞
A jar of herbal tea 🍵
Lovely new pot plant 🪴

Apart from actual payment, what’s the best or most unusual thing a client has ever gifted?

17/08/2026

Have you ever had a client compare you to their previous therapist—and suddenly found yourself questioning everything you know?

Read it on Substack 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

On comparison, confidence and the surprising persistence of imposter syndrome.

14/08/2026

There was an orchestra of fairy wrens and silvereyes here yesterday serenading my massage clients and providing a lovely soundtrack…

Things discussed from the massage table this week, in absolutely no particular order:

Real estate.

GLP-1s and peptides.

Looksmaxxing. (Yes, I had to ask.)

Aged Care Crisis and Death tax.

The Census.

Playing Bridge.

Golf swings.

Strength training.

The economics of buying seafood vs catching your own fresh fish.

And, naturally, recipe sharing.

Massage therapy: come for the sore shoulders, stay for the completely unpredictable conversation. 😂

Honestly, I learn a lot from you lot.

13/08/2026

The price you pay for an hourly massage is not my hourly wage.

Revenue ≠ income.

Something worth remembering next time you look at your massage therapist’s fee and think, “Bloody hell, they’re doing alright.” 😂

My average fee for a 60-minute massage is $130.

But sitting behind that one hour on the table is an entire small business.

Insurance. Professional memberships. Booking and accounting software. Massage oils and supplies. Linen and laundry. Equipment. EFTPOS fees. Continuing education. Marketing. Admin. Tax. Superannuation.

Then there are all the hours you don't see.

Answering messages. Managing bookings. Writing notes. Washing and folding linen. Cleaning and resetting the room. Ordering supplies. Doing the accounts. Keeping up with professional requirements.

And unlike many businesses, there's a very real physical limit to how much "product" I can sell.

My product requires my hands, my body, my attention and my energy.

I can't simply decide to do eight massages a day, five days a week to increase revenue. Well, I could…
But I probably wouldn't be a massage therapist for very long. 😂

This isn't a complaint about the cost of doing business. It's simply the reality of running one.

Because the price you pay for an hour of massage isn't my hourly wage.

It's what allows me to run a safe, professional and sustainable practice — and hopefully still have functioning hands when I'm 60.

📸 Circa 2009, mobile massage Riveresque Retreat, Margaret River

11/08/2026

Here’s something to ponder…

Your massage begins before the massage therapist even touches you.

https://open.substack.com/pub/beneaththetouch/p/a-symphony-of-senses?r=2ly740&utm_medium=ios

Photo circa 2015, StressLess Bodyworks

10/08/2026

It’s a great day for ducks 🦆