Dan Rupp lives in the middle of everywhere. At least that's what he tells those who doubted he could create a thriving massage business in his rural Darlington, Pennsylvania, setting—the middle of nowhere, or so his children liked to say.
In the early years of his practice, being the only massage therapist for miles around had its challenges. His clients had to drive up to two hours to visit him. Rupp even had one family of seven people who would rent a van and all travel together to see him for regular massage therapy sessions. Once word got around that this amazing therapist was performing beneficial work, Rupp saw more and more people making the two-hour trek to Darlington.
Eventually, Rupp opened his first satellite location, so clients only had to drive minutes, instead of hours, to receive the work, and his business flourished. Currently, Rupp operates several satellite locations within two hours of the home that he shares with his wife, Tina, making it easy for anyone in the community to access his work.
"At one time, I had five generations of family members seeing me on a regular basis," Rupp says. "Typically, I have families of three and four generations on the schedule. A few times, clients have even brought their pets for me to work with. I've worked with all kinds of four-legged creatures."
Rupp has always been a hands-on type of guy, working for his dad's electrical business when he was just 5 years old, and later working in construction, plumbing, and as an electrician himself, so finding a new career where he could still use his hands came naturally.
Learning a range of new techniques and modalities and applying them to problem-solve client issues drew Rupp to the world of massage therapy, and that's part of the reason he advises new therapists to "always place education and new techniques on the top of the to-do list."
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