It has been a pretty exciting couple of months for Chantalle Shank and the Brantford businesswoman has a bit more to celebrate than most these days.
In April, she was the recipient of this year's entrepreneur of the year by the Chamber of Commerce Brantford-Brant. Less than a week after attending the chamber's business excellence awards gala, she reached another milestone.
Shank, 33, became a mom for the first time. "Yeah, it has been a little hectic, but we're a really good team here and I've got a lot of support at home," Shank said. "My mom has been helping us out and that's been great."
Shank is the founder of Kneaded Care, a health care clinic that provides massage therapy, hot stone massage and low intensity laser therapy at its Stanley Street office. The clinic is a dream come true for Shank, who was managing a local restaurant when she decided she wanted to change paths. She chose massage therapy and, after earning her registered massage therapist certification in 1998, she started her business in one small room. After holding down two jobs for a while, Shank had to make a decision. If she really wanted her massage therapy business to grow, she was going to have to put more time into it and give up the other job. It was scary, challenging and exciting. "I went from a steady pay-cheque to nothing," Shank said. "The biggest challenge was financial. "I still had to pay the bills and to do that I had to grow the business." However, by putting more time into massage therapy, she was able to attract more clients, most of whom came from referrals from existing clients.
Before long, she had to expand from one room to two and had to hire another massage therapist to help her out. Along the way, she received advice from the Business Resource Centre to develop a business plan. She joined the chamber of commerce and became active in its women in business group. In addition, Shank offered her services at local fundraising events. All of those efforts resulted in more referrals and more clients. She has through her business supported a variety of community agencies, including the Brantford Food Bank and the Brant Community Healthcare System.
Kneaded Care now employs seven registered massage therapists, one Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner & Acupuncturist and two laser therapists. They provide care to people of all ages with a variety of ailments or issues, including those who have a sports or occupational injury, headaches and problems with their sciatica. Pregnant women and infants can also benefit from the services provided by Kneaded Care.
The professionals at Kneaded Care provide preventative care as well as care aimed at repairing injuries. "Our goal is to make a positive difference in the lives of our clients," Shank said. "I think it's really important that we listen to our clients and do what we can to help them. "We work as a team, we share information and techniques and help each other to ensure our clients are getting the best care we can provide."
Shank is a member of the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario and the Ontario Massage Therapist Association. Kneaded Care is a member of the chamber of commerce.
She was delighted to have been chosen as a finalist for this year's chamber of commerce entrepreneur of the year award and thrilled to have been selected as the winner. Shank was just a tad nervous to be going up to the podium to accept the award after her name was called. "I was so nervous, I couldn't move and when I finally did get up I was a little wobbly," Shank said. "But it was pretty exciting and really the award belongs to everyone at Kneaded Care. "Like I said, it's all about listening to our clients and working together. That's why we've been successful."
