Katrina Koleto

A lifetime of kinesthetic interest has led me to many body-focused pursuits throughout the years, including a dance minor in college, a year as a group fitness instructor, and several years as a Physical Therapy aide.

Eventually, ​I was working as a caregiver for a man who was partially paralyzed by a spinal cord injury. His Physical & Occupational Therapists and Massage Therapists taught me several bodywork techniques that I used with this client daily, to improve his function. Eventually, it dawned on me that doing this bodywork with my client was my favorite part of the day, and that with a little training, I could make bodywork my primary occupation.

Unfortunately at that time, I also broke my wrist in a scooter accident. The wrist was so painful I had to quit my caregiving work, and I took on a couple of part time jobs that were easier on my wrist. I spent the next two years trying to figure out what to do with my life if I wasn't going to be a massage therapist.

Then, one day, it dawned on me that I was sitting there with a healed wrist, and that there was nothing stopping me from going to massage school anymore. Within a year, I was enrolled at the Cortiva Institute, and in 2013, I became a Licensed Massage Therapist in the state of Washington. I began working right away, both in a supervised setting with others and in a part-time private practice, and in 2017, I left my position as an employee and transitioned to a thriving full-time private practice.