UpClose & Personal - Lynda Solien-Wolfe

As Public Relations Director for Golden Ratio Woodworks, I have the pleasure of traveling all over the country meeting great professionals in our Industry. In this column of From the Field, I have the honor of featuring a massage therapist right in my back yard of Central Florida.

The American Massage Therapy Association recently honored JoAnn Fekany at their national convention in Portland, Oregon in October by awarding her the 2002 National Humanitarian Award for her efforts of giving back to her community and the massage profession.

JoAnn has proven to be a dedicated professional in the field of massage throughout her community and the country. She is responsible for developing, implementing and coordinating with various community leaders programs such as Infant Massage, and Mall-Walkers.

The Infant Massage or the “Baby Bonding” program focuses on teaching teen mothers the benefits of massage therapy and how the bonding between mother and child is enhanced through specific techniques.

The Mall-Walkers or the “Hands for Life” program focuses on performing chair massage for seniors who participate in year-round morning walks throughout one of the local malls in Central Florida.

For both of these programs, JoAnn was honored with the Disney Teacherific Award. These awards, given by the Walt Disney World Corporation, are specifically granted to teachers who design programs that enhance the community.

While developing and implementing these programs, JoAnn was teaching massage therapy full-time. She still managed to provide 140 additional hours of community service to various programs which centered around the field of massage programs. These included:

Leukemia Society
Orlando Business Expo
Osteopathic Society,
Health Central Park Rehab
Health Central 5 K run
Ocoee Founder’s Day
Central Florida Women’s Expo
Business Expo Florida, Rosen Health Show
International Health Show, Disney Epcot Marathon,
American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life
Orange County Golf Tournament

In addition to all of the above, JoAnn continued to develop her own abilities as a therapist. She has over twenty types of professionally-recognized certifications and continues to strengthen her skills.

Currently, she serves on the AMTA Florida Chapter Board as Meeting and Planning Coordinator. She works with the MD Anderson Cancer Institute to develop massage therapy programs for “Camp Bluebird,” a camp for cancer survivors. She also works with local physicians to incorporate generalized pre/post-operative massage therapy protocols.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Ms. Fekany and asking her a few questions in Portland right after she received her award.

LSW: How do you feel about winning the 2002 National Humanitarian award?

JF: I am very honored. I realize that there are many therapists who give their time and attention to many worthy causes especially those who focused on NYC in 2001. So I accept this award somewhat humbled by the experience.

LSW: What interested you in giving to your community?

JF: I became a massage therapist to help people. Sometimes I get more of a “high” when one of my clients benefits from my massage than they do. To me, there’s nothing more rewarding than to have someone get off of my table and feel better.

LSW: What year did you become a massage therapist?

JF: I was licensed in 1989.

LSW: How long have you been on the AMTA Florida Board?

JF: I have served on the Board intermittently for approximately four years. To me, it’s always a learning experience. I sincerely enjoy working with my colleagues since I am always learning from them. My passion lies with the development of educational programs for therapists.

LSW: What is your next project?

JF: After 15 years in this field, it is still amazing to me how many new techniques pop up every year. This year I am focusing my attention on women and breast cancer recovery. I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend Camp Bluebird this year in which I performed massages on cancer survivors. I can honestly say that this program was one of the most rewarding professional experiences of my career. So I plan to focus developing programs to benefit not only breast cancer survivors but also all types of cancer survivors. I am also focusing on post surgical massage in order to enhance the healing process as soon as possible.

Thank you JoAnn for sharing your love and passion for massage with everyone you touch!

I would like to end with remember:

‘It takes the best in each of us to bring out the best in all of us”

See you in the Field,
Lynda

Contact Lynda at GoldenRatioPR@aol.com