Motherhood led Deanna Hunter to the massage table.
Now she is the co-owner of A Sound Massage & Spa on Piperberry Way in Port Orchard.
“I’d always wanted to do massage, but other things got in my way,” said Hunter, 37, a former optician who got into the field about a year ago.
When her twin daughters were born three months early, one of them had extremely tight muscles as a result of cerebral palsy, and Hunter decided to become a certified massage therapist so she could help her.
“She is the reason I do it,” she said of her daughter. “She’s what got me motivated.”
Working at a different massage place got Hunter thinking about how she could do things differently, and she approached longtime friend Linda Preston, 42, and asked if she wanted to invest in her idea.
A Sound Massage and Spa opened on April 20, and sees customers from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
Walk-ins are welcome, but with only two massage therapists on staff, availability varies by the day.
They also employ an esthetician trained at the Aveda Institute, and are hiring.
“Those people that get off late can come in and get a nice, relaxing massage before they head home,” she said. “Any hours that we’re not open, call, make an appointment, and we’ll come in.”
Massage services include a relaxation massage that will “melt you into another world” ($50 for an hour), a deep-tissue massage ($60 for an hour; $90 for 90 minutes) and a hot-stone massage ($80 for an hour; $120 for 90 minutes).
All include aromatherapy and a hot towel.
For an extra $10 each, customers can get a couples massage that includes cucumber slices for the eyes, Perrier and welcome cards.
Use of the spa’s shower room comes with massages, and it is a full-on body-scrub room with a shower.
Scrubs include sugar, salt and coffee — which rejuvenates the skin.
Waxing services are available, as well as “buff and bronze” self-tanning.
Hunter said they are looking forward to servicing bridal parties, with the bride and maid of honor in one room, and two additional rooms for attendants.
They can close the spa for special parties, too.
For the month of May, the spa is offering a MOM package — appropriate given how Hunter got her start in the business — that consists of a one-hour massage for $49, or the massage, plus a paraffin foot treatment and lunch prepared in the spa, for $99.
Blondie’s Restaurant and Lounge prepares the lunch, and Hunter is hoping to have a future partnership with their neighbor, such as a couple’s night, or family night, where parents can get a couples massage and dinner, and kids can go to SK8TOWN, which is located in the same complex.
“We’re pretty relaxed here,” she said. “It’s like coming home.”
