We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sophia Murphy. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sophia below.
Sophia, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I believe my work ethic is two fold. I grew up in a large family where helping each other out was our way of life in order to maintain the chaos. I babysat my younger siblings, worked at an agricultural farm starting at the age of 14, and was a teachers assistant at a local art school in high school.This was all while dancing 4 nights a week, finishing high school and taking college courses. I graduated high school with my associates degree and transferred to a university for two years after that. I was a 20 year old college grad. But I don’t believe that is the only reason for my work ethic. I am a ballet dancer. I use present tense because, although I am not actively dancing now, I will always be a dancer. The training of 20+ years of ballet does not stop the second you step off the Marley floors. my focus, dedication, determination, strength, integrity, and passion are all qualities I learned from ballet. I wouldn’t have a passion for the work I do today if it weren’t for the countless injuries I endured as a dancer. I also wouldn’t have the drive I have if it weren’t for the way ballet trains you to endure discomfort. My parents and my dance career were my trainers in working hard. Im so grateful for both influences because it brought me here.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I offer Fascial Stretch Therapy in the heart of Green Hills in Nashville, TN. Fascial Stretch Therapy is a modality like no other. It is a table-based, pain-free, guided stretch technique that specifically targets the neuromyofascia – the body’s connective tissue. We’ve heard the term, “everything is connected”, and your fascia is the reason why.
As a dancer, I was chronically injured and told I was on my way to needing a hip replacement before I was 30. I had chronic pain and numbing in my hips and I never found relief from anyone in the medical field who said they could help me. their “help” led to more pain and more “you’ll just need to have surgery” and “You’ll never dance again”.
After college, I became an athletic trainer specializing in injury prevention for athletes. I was working at a small family owned gym when I experienced FST for the first time. it was the first time in my 10+ years with chronic pain that my pain was absolutely gone and also didn’t return for a week. After the next session, the pain was gone for 2.5 months. And as you can guess… yes, I am pain free today and feeling incredible!
This is what Fascial Stretch Therapy can do. it changed the trajectory of my life, my body, and my overall health.
My results are the reasons why I embarked on my journey of becoming a Fascial Stretch Specialist and starting my own business. I had no business training, I had never imagined owning/running a business. It was never something I thought about. But when my life was so dramatically changed for the better, there was no question. I had to share FST with everyone I could.
Imperium Stretch & Recovery started as a mobile business that I did part time while maintaining my athletic training job. I never imagined that through a pandemic, my business would grow 3x what it started out as within just one year. I was so busy, I was working 6 days a week and needed to find a location to take clients so that I could eliminate travel time to accommodate more people. I opened my physical location in October 2020, and was booked three months out with a massive waitlist. It was then that I hired my first employee, and have just continued to ride the waves of our growth.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I think having been in the work force since I was 14, and specifically being a cashier at the farm and waitressing in college, I learned how to create conversation out of thin air. This helped my bed side manner not feel awkward.
My dance career taught me how to work on clients in a safe and appropriate manner. Having worked with a dance partner, I knew before even being taught how important strong, stabilizing touch is and how to make clients feel safe and comfortable.
I have experienced not only a lot of injuries, but a lot of hardships in my short life. This has not only helped me understand the body on a deeper level, it also means that I know that no pain is the same. No life trauma is the same and the way it affects an individual is just that… individual. I can however, take all the things I’ve experienced personally and turn it into fuel to not only Encourage but help. my clients along their healing journeys.
My advice is to dive into what you love and keep your head down. It is so easy to give up when there are so many people who may not believe in you. You are the only one who needs to believe in you. It’s cliché, I know. But I know for certain I had plenty of people in my corner who were waiting for me to fail or give up. Let your passion fuel you, and you’ll prove them wrong along the way. Lastly, don’t forget where you came from. It makes you human. Being you will attract your unique client base.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
They encouraged me to pursue what I loved. Not one of my 7 siblings pursued a traditional job or career. Each one of us were encouraged to pursue what we found ourselves most passionate about and each one of us are successful in our own unique niche. Im so grateful that they saw the importance of nurturing our passions. It gave me the confidence to follow those passions and create a career out of them.
Contact Info:
- Website: imperiumstretch.com
- Instagram: @imperiumstretch
- Facebook: Facebook.com/imperiumstretch
Image Credits
Kenzie Maroney Sarah Elizabeth K Photography Nate Francisco
