Member to Member

Just about everyone dreams of joining the circus, but Tiffany Richards really did it. Today, Richards owns The Back Rub Company, a successful Phoenix-based business that employs more than 50 wellness practitioners, including massage therapists, fitness instructors and wellness speakers. She’s hit the big time.

But before that, there was the Big Top. Her path to massage and the circus grew from a desire to study holistic healthcare. When this Page/Lake Powell, Arizona, native was in high school, she witnessed as her grandfather got very ill, had several major surgeries all in one day, and died soon thereafter. Upset by the insurance company’s refusal to keep him in the hospital as long as he needed and the overall poor care allopathic medical providers gave, Richards moved to Phoenix in 1996 to pursue a future in holistic healthcare.

Though she first intended to become a naturopath, she got hooked on massage as a career. She was accepted into the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, where she found a work-study job to help subsidize the tuition. Richards practiced her own juggling act while attending classes and working full time in the school’s marketing department.

Upon graduating, she began her own private practice, while also working as the school’s ad art director. She also provided massage in a fitness center and chiropractor’s office.

And then the real Circus came to town. “In 2002, I was offered a position with Cirque du Soleil during their stint in Phoenix. I massaged the acrobats and musicians,” Richards says. “They liked my style of work and … they invited me to finish the North American tour with them. What can I say? You have to take an opportunity like that. I threw all my stuff in storage and literally ran away with the circus!” The tour took her across the country over the next several months.

Richards also got to see the inner workings of a complex business and the overlooked importance of massage in an entire corporate structure. “There were over 120 people who worked on the show. The artists were the only ones who received massage on-site. Some of the staff moved props all day. Others had the equivalent of office jobs. They all needed a massage.”

Richards’ experience carried over to her practice. “When I returned to Phoenix from the Cirque tour, I really took notice of the high increase in workplace stress,” she says. “I started visiting local corporations and providing chair massages. They were so well-received I got the idea to develop complete, customized wellness programs—massage, fitness courses, nutrition, and lifestyle education.”

The Back Rub Company was born in 2004 as a result of her practical experiences as a massage therapist, her vision, and her expertise in marketing and advertising. She also researched how companies could reap vast financial rewards by incorporating employee wellness programs into the workday.

Richards says, “Our tagline is ‘We Create Productive Downtime!’ Performance, in both our personal and professional lives, depends on many different abilities: mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. When we take time to recharge and rejuvenate, everyone whose paths we cross is better for it.” The Back Rub Company provides education, healing, and stress-relief to thousands with their on-site massage and wellness programs. They also offer mobile massage and spa services, community wellness workshops, and massage at their four valley clinics.

The Back Rub Company’s clientele demographic covers a very wide range, but Richards says her personal clients are always active and, very often, athletic. The Back Rub Company provides many massage techniques, but Richards’ own standard modalities are sports massage, trigger point, and myotherapy. She also incorporated the energy theories of Chinese medicine.

Richards’ success is evident, but does she ever miss the Big Top?

“Oh, I’m done with the road, I think. But I still work with Cirque du Soleil whenever they come to Phoenix. I always welcome its challenges. It’s such an international cast; you get to meet people from all cultures. The language barrier is sometimes difficult and it really shows how much can be understood through the body without having to say a word. Still, I learned the word for pain in three different languages!”