About Nikki
She reads your body and responds to what it actually needs.
How This Started
I've been practicing massage therapy for over 13 years, and what drives me now is the same thing that drove me when I started: I want to understand what your body is actually trying to say.
But this work didn't start in massage school. It started when I was three years old.
I grew up seeing a holistic doctor, a man named George who used muscle testing and hands-on work to figure out what was going on inside the body. That was normal to me. Body awareness wasn't something I learned later in life. It was just how I was raised.
I went to college for opera. Two years in, I was hospitalized with a severe hiatal hernia. CAT scans, X-rays, nobody could tell me what was wrong. My mom drove to Chicago, picked me up, and took me to George. He tested me, found it immediately, and adjusted my stomach. For the first time in ten days, I could stand up and breathe.
That experience broke something open. Through a lot of reflection, I realized singing wasn't my path. But George had shown me what it looks like to give someone answers when no one else can, to restore someone's faith in their own body. I knew that was what I wanted to do.
The Training
I enrolled at Cortiva Institute of Massage Therapy in Chicago, a rigorous 15-month program with a heavy emphasis on myofascial release. That's where my deep understanding of fascia began, and it's still the foundation of everything I do.
After school, I moved to Oregon and went to work with chiropractors, one of whom was the dean of the chiropractic school. Working alongside them locked in everything I'd learned and gave me a structural understanding of the body that most massage therapists never get.
Before opening my own practice, I trained in Ashiatsu barefoot massage, Ashi Fusion, and Sara Body Work, including continuing education in Mexico. I wanted as many tools as possible so I'd never have to work inside someone else's limitations.
Here's something I had almost forgotten. When I was a little kid and people asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, the very first thing I ever said was chiropractor. I hadn't thought about that in years.
I started my own practice in Traverse City in 2016 and have been building it ever since. Now I'm circling back. This fall, I'm starting prerequisites at NMC. And I'm apprenticing with George, the same doctor who changed my life when I was in college. Two paths, one direction.
Life has a funny way of circling us back toward the things we're meant for.
Massage therapy isn't going anywhere. It remains the heart of my practice. School is the next chapter, not a replacement.
The Approach
I specialize in Ashiatsu (barefoot massage) along with myofascial release, deep tissue work, cupping, and gua sha. But the technique is always secondary to the question I'm asking: why is this happening, not just where.
I view every session as a conversation with the body. My job is to listen well. That means finding the fascial restriction that's been compensating for three years, the structural imbalance that's showing up as knee pain when the real problem is in the hip, the pattern your body developed around an old injury and never let go of.
Most massage addresses the symptom. I'm more interested in the source.
Training & Specializations
Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage
Specialist-level training in barefoot massage technique using overhead support bars. One of very few practitioners in Northern Michigan.
Myofascial Release
Advanced work with the fascial system, the connective tissue that surrounds every muscle, bone, and organ. Slow, specific, and structural.
Cupping Therapy
Suction-based work that lifts and decompresses tissue, drawing circulation into restricted areas and releasing adhesions.
Gua Sha
Instrument-assisted technique for breaking down fascial adhesions and restoring tissue mobility.
Injury/Sports Rehab
Specialized work for overuse injuries, repetitive motion patterns, and athletic recovery.
Prenatal Massage
Therapeutic and safe work for mothers-to-be, addressing the unique structural and comfort needs of pregnancy.
The Human Part
I'm a Traverse City native. I trail run, bird watch, practice Pilates, and yes, I originally studied opera before I found bodywork. There's more overlap than you'd think. Both are about listening to the body, reading what isn't being said out loud, and responding to it with precision.
Stoney, my dog, is usually in the studio. He'll probably be snoring on his heated blanket when you arrive. I think that's exactly the right energy for the work we do.
I don't work with everyone, and I mean that as a commitment, not a warning. The clients I take on, I'm fully in it with. If you think we might be a fit, I'd love to hear from you.
The Studio
10691 E Carter Rd, Traverse City, MI · New location as of March 2026
