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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Just one year after moving to Yellowknife, registered massage therapist and young mother Melinda Irwin has opened her first business.

Registered massage therapist Melinda Erwin has opened a new massage therapy clinic downtown, Body Solutions Massage Therapy inside the Nunasi Building. - Thandiwe Vela/NNSL photo

Irwin does the bookkeeping, marketing, business planning, appointment scheduling, and is currently the lone massage therapist at her new business Body Solutions Massage Therapy inside the Nunasi Building, and so far, business is good for the entrepreneur.

"I love it, I really enjoy it," she said. "I finally found something that I do well, where I can help people for certain," Irwin said. "They come to me with sore muscles, or an injury, and I'm able to help them get through it or ease it."

Irwin has been practising massage therapy for about five years, since 2007, after graduating from Alberta Massage Training in Edmonton.

She moved to Yellowknife with her family last year and soon after began planning to open her own massage therapy business.

"I've worked with other people in the past and it was nice. But this has been a long time coming and I really enjoy the freedom and the flexibility of schedule I can create," she said. "I really like it and I like being here in Yellowknife. It's a really nice place to start a business."

Body Solutions opened in February at the Roman Empire Building, and moved to the Nunasi Building, below Top of the World Travel, this past summer.

The new space has two massage rooms, and Irwin plans to have a second massage therapist eventually join the business as she grows her clientele.

Clinical therapeutic massage, relaxation massage, sport massage techniques and prenatal massage are the main services offered at the new clinic.

"People feel really good afterward, to have somebody to take some time and talk through their issues with them," Irwin said, characterizing her treatments as alternative options to create health and wellness. "Just to help people get through their everyday pain, or injuries, in an alternative way, as opposed to taking medication all the time," she said.

Irwin estimates up to 95 per cent of her business is return clientele.

Body Solutions will also soon provide retail products, Irwin said.

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