sometimes, the biggest, strongest, most beautiful things come in the smallest of packages.

Don't underestimate her strength because of her five-foot height, her gentle demeanor, or her beaming ear-to-ear smile as she greets you for the first time. Kirby is a kick-ass massage therapist. I know first hand. I have known Kirby since she was a awkward pre-teen with braces and pigtails. I remember going over to her house when I was about 14. I was in a 'band' with her older brother, and she would come down into the basement to watch us play awful covers of Hole and Babes in Toyland. She adored her big brother, and still does. From music, to motorcycles, Kirby has been strongly influenced by her brother. I think that relationship opened the door for her to realize her inner strength and power as a woman. She always wanted to be one of the guys, and was never put in a corner and told she was too small to ride that harley or too weak to hike that mountain, or too fearful to train that bulldog even after he attacked her face, leaving a permanent scar along her cheek bone. She pushes all resistance aside and forges ahead, all with this sense of gratitude and incredulous positivity.

A few years back, I had wanted to buy a massage for Mathieu for Christmas.I knew that Kirby was practicing massage, so I messaged her and she had some time available just before Christmas when we were going to be in Connecticut. So I booked him a 90 minute massage, and surprised him with it when I dropped him off at her private studio. I came back an hour and a half later, and waited about another 15 minutes for him to come out. He walked out the door of her studio, and I could just see in his face that it was amazing. He got into the car and said, 'Wow. She is really good. That was hands down the best massage I have ever gotten.' Mathieu had been to massage therapy school, so I knew that he was a tough critic. Well, I was sold at this point, and had to book her for myself for the next time we were down! And he was right. She is amazing.

I think what makes Kirby such a great massage therapist is not only her love for what she does, although that is a huge part of it. I mean, she loves her job. She will tell you how lucky she feels to be able to do what she does for a career. Just having a conversation with her about it, you can see the excitement pouring out of her! She is continuously educating herself on different techniques and she wants to share everything she learns with her clients. But what REALLY makes her good at what she does, I think, is that she isn't afraid of it. She is a beautiful, brave, and incredibly strong woman who is able to deflect the negative energy in her life. This alone puts her in a position to excel at what she does. One of the reasons Mathieu decided not to do massage for a living was that he said it was so physically and emotionally draining. He said that you need to be able to deflect that stress and toxic energy that you are working out of each person as you massage them, and that for most of us, this is a really difficult thing to do. Thankfully, for Kirby(and  all of her clients), it just comes naturally.

Kirby is currently practicing out of ANEW You skincare and spa in Avon, CT.

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