Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Ben Westcott, Chronicle Staff Writer
Medical massage clinic Outta Sight Massotherapy, located in the Mount Royal Plaza on Route 9 in Queensbury, gets its name from the fact that one of its owners, Brianna Gregory, a 2008 Queensbury grad, is legally blind.
Now, after two years in business, Ms. Gregory, 34, and her fiance John Krieg, 33, are planning to open a new business called Blind Rock Wellness across the street at 17 Sweet Road, in a pair of buildings that previously served as storage for Total Lawn Care and a work space for equipment repair.
“Crossing Route 9 is really scary,” Ms. Gregory said. “That’s the downfall of having [Outta Sight] over there. This building will eliminate that risk for me.”
She said 17 Sweet Road is “the end cap of the road that I own my house on, so it’s a two minute walk for us and I can go here myself. I can’t drive, so the accessibility…is very important to me.”
Ms. Gregory bought the 0.55 acre Sweet Road property a year ago for $225,000. She said she’ll put up to $450,000 into it.
Rucinski Hall Architecture will be designing the project, which goes before Queensbury’s Planning Board on Dec. 19.
Ms. Gregory said she originally went to Adirondack Community College for graphic design and worked as a graphic designer until she was diagnosed with macular degeneration and glaucoma.
The diagnosis led her to shift gears. She decided to attend the Center for Natural Wellness School of Massage Therapy in Albany during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I can’t really work on a computer anymore, so I chose a career for myself that would have longevity, and it turns out that I absolutely love it, and it truly has become my passion,” she said.
“My goal was to always have a job for myself that I can do myself. This was the way, so I started my business right out of school, and this is what it’s become.”
Ms. Gregory says she doesn’t personally know any other blind massage therapists, but noted that “in other countries it’s a profession that’s kind of reserved for visually impaired people.”
“It’s something that’s easy to do and makes sure that you’re a working member of society, which is another one of my goals. I don’t want to be on disability. I’ve been working all my life not to be. So this is my way of doing that.”
Mr. Krieg said he grew up in Salem and has been a massage therapist since 2019. He went to the same massage therapy school as Ms. Gregory. Previously he said he was a home health nurse, but “wanted a job where people wanted to see me.”
“It’s nice when you have that connection with a client,” he said. “Everyone’s just so happy after a massage. Nobody gets off a massage table and is upset.”
“We don’t have the funding yet,” Ms. Gregory notes. “Hopefully with our business plan we can get some funding. We’re always looking for funding from the community.”
They envision space not only for their own practice, but to rent to chiropractors, physical therapists and other care professionals “to offer their services in an accessible way, which is kind of something Queensbury is lacking,” she said.
They plan to connect the two buildings with a 427 square foot addition that would become a reception area.
The larger building, 1807 sq. ft., would have six offices, a break room, a washer and dryer, and a bathroom. The smaller building, 577 sq. ft., would be a community space that could facilitate community meetings, yoga classes and the like.
“We want our focus to be affordability, so it’s going to be $25 an hour” to rent the community space, Ms. Gregory said.
She said she would love to do a small community garden in the backyard.
Ms. Gregory said, “Our main goal is just to support people to feel better in a less invasive way. Massage in general is becoming more and more medically recognized. We take insurance.”
Mr. Krieg said they give massages to people who are dealing with physical pain or recovering from injury, but also to people struggling with mental health.
“If you’re a person who is chronically stressed out by your job, life, kids, etc., then just coming for a relaxation massage is incredibly helpful,” he said.
Ms. Gregory said Blind Rock Wellness would be named after historic Blind Rock at the corner of Route 9 and Montray Road, which according to Queensbury’s website is “an ancient gneiss boulder which was known to Native Americans and early colonists as the bounds between lands held by the English and French prior to the French and Indian War.”
Copyright © 2024 Lone Oak Publishing Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved
