Who's Who: Kathy Cesa, Nurse Turned Massage Therapist

Name: Kathy Cesa

Age: 61

Occupation: Retired registered nurse, massage therapist on Stockton Avenue in El Cerrito

What led you to switch from nursing to massage therapy? Middle age is a hard time. I’m the kind of people person who liked to work the med search floors – I liked the one-on-one contact. I would always be the one coaxing people on bed after surgery. When I transitioned from there – I’m not exactly the indoor housewife type – I had taken a massage class. I’ve always liked doing massage, and opened up this area because she wanted to open up an office. I just happened to hear about it.  She thought she’d use some of these other rooms for massage, because it was a doctor’s office, and I said, “Count me in.” It was absolutely crazy, because everyone is doing massage these days, and I’m older.

I left the hospital in 2004, rested up, took a class in Hawaii. When I started in 2006, I took two or three classes every year, because I didn’t want to go into debt in my 50s.

It sounds like you have a supportive clientele, too. I do. I built it – I have no idea how I built it. I became friends with the folks, and I would go over and volunteer to do people free – hands, neck, shoulders, whatever – and I’d always do their hands because they are always working with them. I had coffee at . I told myself whether I had clients or not I was going to just be here and think about them coming, and they did.

If you build it, they will come. It was sort of like that. That’s a cliché, I guess, but it’s kind of true. It’s because people were talking about having a sore spot here, or they were stressed, and Jenny K would say, “Go to this one,” because there were four of us working in this (space). Or Diane at Reflections, if people were complaining about this or that, would say, “You need to go to Kathy across the street.”

I’ve used word of mouth. I’m not computer based because that’s just not my thing.

So has being a part of the community on Stockton has been a big part of what you do? It is. We think of ourselves as a little supportive environment here that has grown. A lot of my clients have grown out of Well Grounded, Jenny K and Reflections. Their family, friends and neighbors have come. I really haven’t advertised much because I want it to be an El Cerrito business. I don’t want to worry about not knowing who this person is that is coming. I know who referred them, and I know it’s someone from El Cerrito, and that makes me feel good. Or they know someone who lives in El Cerrito … part of a neighborhood support system. A lot of the folks I have tend to be in the 40-to-60 age range, starting to feel the stress of sitting in their jobs, or having children and not exercising enough, or getting older.

People who come to me probably like me because I have a nurturing style, but I generally listen to what people say, I learned that in the hospital, and if they don’t want something deep I don’t give it to them. 

And you’re talking about opening up a Thai massage here? Three of us (massage therapists) have taken a Thai massage class from a gentleman in Marin who took classes in Thailand. Thai massage is clothed, so for those people who don’t feel comfortable taking their clothes off. And it’s more for people who are athletic because it kind of stretches, somewhat like yoga stretches, plus sort of pressing, palming with thumbs or hands. It’s done on the floor or the mat, and the person who does it uses their body to move people, move the joints. We’d like to get the word out about that, so we’re going to have (an event on) Saturday, September 10.

How long have you lived in El Cerrito? I moved here in 1985. There weren’t the jobs that I wanted in the Midwest, so that was a big move for me because I’m a country girl.

Where are you from? Wisconsin. All of my family is back in Wisconsin and Minnesota. I thought if I have to move to Milwaukee, which is a big city, I might as well move to California. I knew two people here, and told myself I was going to be here for three years, no matter what.

And you’re still here. I met my current husband, and that changed everything. We’ve been married about 23 years.

I took my first massage class in 1985. What was I going to do with my spare time? I didn’t know anybody. I’ve always been a nurturing person, and when I first grew up – in nursing you’re not supposed to sit on the bed – you’re not supposed to touch people, and I just found out that, no, that’s not a good thing. People are vulnerable when they’re ill.

I’d hold their hand and I’d say, “There are those days when you wish you had your mom. Your mom’s not here, but I’ll be your mother for the day.” And the tears would come. I would say what I thought they needed.

With massage, I think it’s somewhat the same. People come and some of them need to talk, or unlocking their shoulders brings out emotion, or they’re stressed out about life. I thought my work would go down with the economy, but mine’s increased.