In Part 2 of our deep dive with Amber Briggle, we explore how she leads with heart and markets with meaning. From navigating scarcity mindset to building a franchise-ready brand, Amber shares lessons in alignment, self-care, and strategic growth. If you’re a purpose-driven entrepreneur struggling with burnout or decision fatigue, this episode is a must-listen!
Three Key Topics Discussed:
- Marketing That Puts People First: Amber explains why she skips traditional ads in favor of investing in her community.
- Big Dreams and Bigger Vision: From scarcity mindset to awarding franchises, Amber shares what it really takes to scale with heart.
- Hard Lessons and Humble Moments: From team tension to getting fired, Amber reveals the moments that shaped her leadership and clarity.
Check out Part 1 here!
Follow Amber:
Amber Briggle | LinkedIn
Soma Massage Therapy | Website
Soma Massage Therapy | Facebook
Soma Massage Therapy | Instagram
Soma Massage Therapy | YouTube
Transcript:
Hello. Before we dive into part two of this episode, I gotta ask, did you catch part one? If not, hit pause real quick. You’ll wanna start from the beginning to get the full effect. The link to part one is right down in the description below. Go ahead, catch up, and we’ll be right here waiting for you. Ready to dive into part two when you’re all set. It’s worth it, I promise.
Beverly:
So what has been the hardest thing about marketing for your business?
Amber:
Money. I want to stay true to our values, which is people first, right? I don’t need to do a lot of digital marketing’cause my people are here, they’re hyper local, right? So marketing’s gonna look different for everyone. For my business, I’m actually doing like a whole webinar on this in a couple of days. Go to our YouTube channel’cause it’ll be posted there. I’m doing a webinar on, finding your target market and ours is the people. It’s the people who care deeply about the community. And rather than me sending a directed mailer to everyone who makes, X amount of dollars within a certain zip code I’d rather give that money to the PTA. To the United Way when they’re doing their next fundraiser, I’ll buy a table for$500 and I’ll invite some of my team members and some local officials and, someone from the Chamber of Commerce and we got our sign there and we get a shout out from the stage, and we’re top of mind. And I’m in that room with all those teachers or business owners, whatever it is. We invest in our community. We’re corporate sponsors for the roller derby team. Like they align with our values, they’re baddies. Oh, I love that. We donate a ton of gift certificates. If you are listening and you’re in the Dallas area and you’re doing a thing and it’s a nonprofit and you need something for your silent auction, a hundred percent, I will give you that gift certificate, and that brings more people in our doors. I’m investing in the community and I’m investing in the people who will then invest back into my business. And really ultimately all of this is because I’m looking at this from a very holistic standpoint. If I want my clients to be healthy and succeed and thrive beyond our doors. Then they need to live in a community that’s healthy, successful, and thriving. It can’t just only be here at Soma Massage there, but it needs to go beyond. And so we go hard for our public schools, our nonprofits the arts community.’cause Denton’s a very artistic town. We’ll invest in events that bring people to our downtown square. So I would say money’s been the hardest part for us for marketing, but there’s been so many other creative ways that we can stay top of mind and support the community, which will then support us in return. And that’s one of the things that I’ve really learned. And it’s all part of our marketing plan if you choose to purchase. Soma massage therapy franchise. I’ll share all more of these tips with you.
Beverly:
So what’s the biggest marketing mistake you’ve made and how did it help you grow?
Amber:
Biggest marketing mistake. I didn’t hire a front desk team soon enough. Not exactly marketing, but also it is. Yeah. Because if you reach for that coffee cup and you sneeze and you throw your neck out and you call and we don’t answer, you’re calling the next place. And for years. Years, Beverly, I did it all. I was the massage therapist, I was the front desk. I was payroll, I was hr, I was tech, I was marketing. And I was trying to be a mom and I missed out on a lot because if I wasn’t there to answer that phone didn’t get answered. And then we didn’t book that appointment and then we missed out on that sale. And for a long time, because I was chasing that scarcity mindset. We pay our massage therapists per project, right? And we stay like 95% booked. So they’re never standing around like not doing anything. But that meant that if someone came in for a massage, I knew I’d have money to pay that person to provide that massage.’cause someone was on their table. How do I pay someone who sits at a front desk? Like, how are they making their money? And I was into this, the scarcity mindset instead of thinking about the greater good for the business. And I really wish that I would’ve hired someone much sooner. To answer the calls, to answer the emails, to help with the bookings, to help answer the questions, to help sell the gift certificates. We did those random walk-ins, like I didn’t have anyone there and I missed out on a lot, so it’s not exactly marketing. But it’s still in the same vein, wasn’t investing in my business and the way I needed to invest it. My front desk team is outstanding. Like they, customer service, have got it down. They do all the amazing work to keep our business running smoothly and props to them. I love them all. They’re so fantastic.
Beverly:
One of the things that so many solopreneurs and entrepreneurs, especially at the beginning struggle with is doing all the things, wearing all the hats, doing everything, and not investing in either automation or support or whatever it looks like to have that. We talk a lot about drivers versus drainers. The drivers are the things that inspire you and keep you excited and love your business, and it might be doing the thing like massage or whatever, like you need to have time to be able to do the thing that you started the business for. The actual love, the purpose, the why, the passion, right? And then what are the drainers that just suck your soul because there’s a lot of them in business I can promise you, I, as a marketer did not get into business to do spreadsheets. That is not what I ever intended. So while I understand the value of the story, that the numbers tell, I am not the person who’s gonna put all the numbers in. Literally just poke my eyes out. No. But really the first hire was a cpa, and an accountant. I will just say this, accountants and CPAs are amazing. Not like dissing them in any way. Super. Oh no, for real. I need them desperately, a hundred percent. But making those investments, I should have done it way earlier, like you said. And. When I did it freed up so much mental space and time for me to do the thing that I loved. And still, every quarter I look at myself like I do a quarterly of planning what is draining me right now that I need to somehow figure out how to automate, offload, do something in some way. And every time it’s getting more refined and better and like less draining. But if I wasn’t intentional or conscious about it, it’s real easy to just get sucked in. I call it the tornado of overwhelm of all the shoulds you should be doing. You should all over yourself and then you aren’t doing the thing that you love. A really important thing is to look at the things that you love to do and then also where you could be doing better. And what does that look like, like for you as a front desk person? For somebody else? It might be a marketing person for somebody else like me, it’s a cpa. Whatever that is for you. It’s like you said, don’t think it’s scarcity. Think an investment because it’s gonna allow you to grow in ways you would never have imagined before.
Amber:
Yes. To just piggyback off of that a year ago when I started this franchise journey I hired this fantastic consulting firm, the franchise bible coach. They’re amazing. But I knew that I was gonna have to invest all my time. I can’t be working on my business if I’m working in my business. And my lead at Soma, she’s fantastic. Jordan, I love you. I gave her a monster raise because I’m like, you’re now in charge of everything. Go for it. And I went home and I had a panic attack and I was like, scarcity mindset. How am I gonna pay this? And I was like, wait, I just gave myself a promotion. Is what I did. I elevated myself to CEO and she has killed it at Soma. She’s doing amazing. And now I’ve been able to really focus my energy on franchising, which is really the future of the whole business. So yes I agree with you a hundred percent. It’s investing in you and investing in your business.
Beverly:
Yeah. So we’re gonna shake things up a little bit with a little bit of magic. And before we do that if you’re listening here and you’re enjoying this conversation, if you know someone who needs to hear this, someone who is being drained or sucked dry from all of the work that they’re doing, all the balls that they’re juggling or balancing, send it their way. It might be exactly what they need to spark their next idea for their growth and it would be such a gift. Plus it helps us reach more people, which would be amazing. Okay, so now I have a magic hat round Amber. Love it. It’s several lightning round type quick fire rapid fire questions. Everybody loves this round. It’s in a magic purple sequin hat and there are tons of questions in here.
Amber:
Oh, they’re stickers. What are they?
Beverly:
They’re like laminated paper with questions on them. We’re just gonna spend a few minutes and we’re gonna answer quick fire just go with it. If you could wave a magic wand and solve one current challenge for your business, what would it be?
Amber:
I wanna be bigger. I’m doing all the work and I want people to come buy franchises.
Beverly:
How many franchises?
Amber:
Coast to coast.
Beverly:
So like 200.
Amber:
More. Why not? Let’s go big. Everyone needs a massage. Why not one, like every, in every zip code.
Beverly:
One of the clients that I work with several franchisees for Camp Bow wow. Have you heard of Camp Bow wow?
Amber:
I think I have actually. Yeah.
Beverly:
We do marketing for them. They have a corporate marketing department, but we do like the local marketing for them.’cause every franchisees is a little bit unique and different. And what they do is a little bit unique’cause they have their own local events and things like that. So we do help them. And there’s 200 and some odd franchisees and they’re coast to coast and I think they’re even in like Canada too. Because people who have dogs need to travel and they need a place. So they have that, which is cool. I love that. What fear have you had to overcome to grow your business?
Amber:
That scarcity mindset that I talked about. If I fire this person who’s not aligned with my values and is sabotaging all my efforts, if I fire them, who could I ever hire to help me with this thing, right? No. And then I’m not gonna have enough massage service. If I hire front desk staff, like how am I gonna pay them? Yeah. My biggest thing has just been getting over the scarcity mindset. And tell you what, when you go through Covid and there’s no bread and there’s no toilet paper, and when you come through on the other side, with a million dollar annual gross revenue business you realize like maybe the scarcity mindset isn’t serving me and maybe I’m capable of solving more problems than I realize.
Beverly:
Covid happened to me, but Covid wasn’t the thing for me. I lost a couple key clients. And it was scary because I was like, oh. But they should never have been clients in the first place. It was like a light bulb, wake up, spark moment of who exactly am I, who do I really serve? Yep. What is the transformation that I offer? And then really getting clear in that space. Because that hard work, saying yes to everyone, saying yes to everything is that tornado of overwhelm as well. And getting really clear, as scary as that was to lose those clients, it was the best thing that could ever happen.
Amber:
Oh, a hundred percent. I mean we have some problematic clients in this industry. And sometimes it’s obvious from the start, like from the moment we pick up the phone.
Beverly:
Yeah.
Amber:
Sometimes it’s like after they’re checking out. And sometimes they might be with us for a while before I finally put it all together. And I fire them so fast, Beverly, now I do. Yeah. And it feels good to like clear that energy out. That does not belong in my space. Am I clearing that out? You make room for the energy that you do wanna track. So a hundred percent like, I’m sorry that you lost those clients, but isn’t that amazing?’cause like now you’re not like bending over backwards, like trying to make them happy all the time. You are attracting the people that are attracted to you.
Beverly:
Yeah. What I learned too is that you can’t, no matter how much you believe in someone’s business, no matter how much you can do for them, you cannot carry them across the finish line.
Amber:
Yeah.
Beverly:
And what I’ve learned in that too is that we are true partners and if the person can’t be the true partner, then it’s not gonna work. No matter how much I do on my end, it’s not gonna be the right things because you’re not involved Yep. It just was a really powerful moment of awareness. And, I think in those moments like where you feel like scarcity, those are like the biggest learning opportunities for you to really reflect on what’s happened. We even had an issue recently with a team member who lost a client, and she was devastated and I was like, wait, hold on. What are we learning here? And she was like, oh my gosh, so much. So you can take that moment and it can really create confidence in ways you never thought possible. Yeah. Good stuff. I think that’s where the rubber meets the road for sure. Yeah. If your brand could have dinner with one iconic brand, who would it be and why?
Amber:
So I recently went to the international Franchise Association Convention in Las Vegas in February. It was my first time ever going to a convention like that because I’m a rather new to the franchise scene. And I got to have coffee with Kathy Dino, who’s the CEO and founder of Painting With A Twist. Have you heard of that brand? She was fascinating and I loved that our origin stories were so similar that we both just stumbled into this work. I would love to sit down and just spend more time with her. She was just so very generous with her time and her insights and her wisdom. She was really super down to earth. Honestly, being in that franchise space for several days. I really appreciated how collaborative everyone was. You think of the business world as being really cutthroat and competitive, and everyone was really collaborative and encouraging and helpful. I’ll be honest, I can’t think of a single person or brand that I would wanna sit down with. But being back in that space sometime soon to just absorb all the positive creative daydreaming north star energy that was going on is very much my vibe. Do you have a suggestion for me?
Beverly:
I would probably say Oprah or something like that. I just feel like she started like communications marketing, kind of similar background in that. Maybe it’s where the podcast is my mini Oprah moment. I get to interview people. Yeah. Oprah. Yeah. But I just feel like she’s so incredibly smart. She’s gone up against every. Possible blockage, all kinds of issues. I think she’s very fascinating. So I would probably say her, but I don’t wanna be her. I just, want to learn from her, I guess that’s the thing. That’s my answer. Okay. How do you keep your entrepreneurial spirit alive? What do you feed it?
Amber:
I’m a daydreamer. I like to think really big and bold and outside the box ideas. One of the things I loved about being a massage therapist when I was practicing is how many awake hours I had without anyone to talk to. I’m doing my thing and I’m getting in those glutes and I’m just chiseling out these trigger points and I’m just, what if I hired someone? What would I name my business? Where would I move my business to? What if we wouldn’t it be cool if someday? And the bigger we get, like the bigger my ideas get. This was not part of the plan. I was a music major. And now I’m the CEO of a burgeoning franchise brand. What I do to keep my entrepreneurial spirit alive is I just keep dreaming. What if we did this and how do I get there and who do I need to support me on this team? And what resources do I need and who can help me achieve these goals? And, if you’re not on board you’re not part. I surround myself with people who are my biggest, boldest, baddest cheerleaders. And we just push forward. Where’s my North star? And who can help me get there?
Beverly:
What’s been your most humbling lesson as an entrepreneur?
Amber:
I had a couple of team members who were fantastic massage therapists and were really hard for me personally to work with. They wanted to do things their own way. They were very opinionated in how they were going to be doing massage in my business. And I put up with it for a really long time until I realized that I didn’t have to, and I did let them go and it was a difficult conversation but a necessary one. And what ended up happening similar to when you lost those clients. You’re like, what’s happening next? It gave me the breathing room to not have to appease these people who were not on board with my vision. And I could attract people who wanted to be a part of this. So that was actually really liberating, even though I put up with it for a long time. I think the other really humbling sort of thing was very early on. I had just graduated massage school and I wasn’t quite sure which avenue I was gonna take. I knew I wanted to work for myself, but also scarcity. I’m like, I don’t have any clients, so how am I gonna pay the bills? So I started working as a massage therapist at a chiropractic clinic. And I got fired within two weeks. I wasn’t doing anything unethical, but he had a very clear idea of what I was there to do, and I had a very clear idea of what I was there to do. And they were not compatible, right? Similar to my other team members. And he let me go. And then I went home and I sliced my thumb open while I was washing a wine glass. And then I couldn’t work in my own business and I just had to sit there for a while feeling really uncomfortable and broke, figuring out what I was gonna do next. And I realized, and I’m sure that some of your listeners are in the space too, where they’re like trying to work on their business, but they’re working on someone else’s business too.’cause they gotta pay the bills, right? And when you’re splitting your energy and your intention like that, you’re not gonna go anywhere in either one. Because you gotta focus. And so I was like, okay, I’m gonna do this. I’m gonna work for myself. I had to go to the farmer’s market and do chair massage and tell someone would book an appointment. It was up to me. And once I entered into that mindset, I’ve taken off since then. So that was also humbling to like, love being a massage there’cause you get fired from your first job. But ended up being a really great learning opportunity for me and set me off on this course I’m on now.
Beverly:
Yeah. What was the moment you realized your business was successful?
Amber:
When we reopened after Covid. It was such a transformational moment for me personally, professionally, and for my business. We closed March 20th, 2020. By order of the governor, we reopened May 20th, 2020 with down to one location, only a handful of therapists. No clue what to do, but just determined. And then May 20th, 2021, we opened in the location that we’re at now. And I wish your listeners could see the old charming place that we were in before. Now we’re on a hard corner, on a very busy street, a couple blocks from downtown, a block north of the Chamber of Commerce. I’ve got twice as many treatment rooms. It’s gorgeous. It’s a gorgeous facility. And when we reopened there a year later, I was just I can do anything. I am capable of anything. And that for me was like, where are we going next? And I just really focused for a couple of years on really staffing the space and making sure that we had the capacity. And then what happened as I went on vacation to the Pacific Northwest, it was so gorgeous. And I’m like, someday my business is gonna be so big that I can move to the Olympic Peninsula and live my best life. And I came back from that vacation and there was a text in my inbox from someone saying, do you wanna franchise your business? And I was like. Now that’s an idea. And I reached out to them, and it was a bad fit. It was some sales bro in a cubicle in Miami who just wanted me to basically fill out the paperwork so he could sell my franchise, not teach me at all what to do, and then my franchise would fail, but he’d walk away with all this money, right? But it got me thinking and I started vetting other organizations and consulting firms and landed with Rick Grossman and his team at the franchise Bible coach. And they’ve been fantastic. So now I just keep, pushing on it’s a really weird, expensive, bold, midlife crisis that I found myself in. But I’m really enjoying this and I’m super excited for what the future holds. I just turned 47 and I, have the second half of my life ahead of me, and I’m determined to make it as big and bold and. Beautiful and amazing as I can
Beverly:
I love it. That’s the last question in the lightning. See, it wasn’t that bad. So because it’s wickedly branded and I’m the fairy godmother of brand clarity. I also have a wand.
Amber:
Love it.
Beverly:
And the wand is like a time traveling tool. I’m gonna wave the wand and we’re gonna go back in time to the day you graduated with your liberal arts degree.
Amber:
Okay.
Beverly:
What advice would you give that Amber, that you wish she had known then?
Amber:
I wish I would have believed in myself more. I was a baby. I was, what, 22? Because I just graduated from college. Not a clue in the world what I wanted to do, and really had a lot of self doubt about what I was capable of doing. And I wish I could go back and tell myself, oh, I wanna cry. You’re gonna make me cry, Beverly. Why is this like emotional for me? I wish I could go back and tell myself that I’m worth it, that I’m smart, that I have all the tools that I need to solve any problem ahead of me. And I don’t have to have all the answers. No one has all the answers. But if you just keep an open mind trust your gut. Follow your heart. Care for people and lean into the networks, the people who do know more than you in other areas. You have all the tools you need to build a successful life. I wish I could have gone back and told myself that,
Beverly:
so what would she say to you? If she saw what you made, what would she say to you?
Amber:
I think two things. I wonder if she would call me a sellout because I’ve gone corporate because I was that hippy that wore like the seashells and the beads. But I would hope that she would be proud of me. That even though, yeah, I’m corporate and I do like money, I care for people first and foremost. And like I said before, everything just follows from that. So if you’re chasing money, yeah, you’re a sellout.’cause that’s not what life is about. No one’s on their deathbed wishing they would’ve worked more or saved more money. At the end of your life you’re thinking back about the relationships that you had and the difference that you made in people’s lives. And that’s what I’m trying to do as a mom, as a community member, as a business owner, as a CEO, is just trying to improve the lives of the community I’m in and the people around me. And so I’d hope that she would see that and see the positive changes I’m trying to make.
Beverly:
So that leads right into my waving of the wand again. I wanna go forward decades and decades.
Amber:
Okay.
Beverly:
To your funeral and what your eulogy, the impact that you’ve made on the world. What do you think people are gonna say that Amber did in this life? With what she had, what did she do while she was here?
Amber:
I hope people tell me this before I’m dead’cause I wanna hear it. I hope that people can see that I really led with my heart. And I try to care for myself while caring for others that I didn’t, like a lot of your listeners, didn’t put my own needs second. That I stayed healthy, I stayed active, I stayed engaged. I cared for myself. I secured my own oxygen mask so that I could help others with theirs. And I did those things, not necessarily just because I wanted to feel good in my body, but because I needed that strength. And that foundation to keep pushing forward. And I hope that people will see that I cared for others and cared for myself, and found that balance to make the world a better place. I look at the needs of the L-G-B-T-Q community, our immigrant and minority community today. I’m doing what I can as just Amber Briggle trying to make their lives better. And then I look at the needs of people who don’t have a college degree or people who are trying to buy a house or people are just like trying to build a stronger financial future. And how can I, as Amber Briggle, the CEO, help them meet their needs as well. I feel like I’m rambling, but I really hope that people look back and see that I was a helper and that I didn’t neglect myself. Through all of that, that you have to care for yourself. Our tagline at Soma massage therapy is self-care is how you get your power back. You wanna care for other people, you gotta stay hydrated, you gotta stay rested, you gotta stay focused, you gotta stay grounded. And when you have all of those things, you use your power To lift others up and rising tide lifts all ships.
Beverly:
Beautiful though. It’s perfect. For those listeners tuning in today with us that are listening to this interview, what is one strategy that they can put into action today or tomorrow or this week that can help them awaken their brand magic? That clarity that you have, what do you think that they can do today?
Amber:
There’s a bazillion things you can do. You can vision board, you can make a Gantt chart. One of the things that I really like doing is pretty regularly in the morning when I have my first cup of coffees, I journal and I write down things as if they’ve already happened. I’m manifesting my future. And I sit down and I write something like, I am so happy and grateful that I awarded three franchises this month and we’re now in like Waco, Plano and Fort Worth, and like I just put it out there. I’m so happy and grateful that my kids are doing so well in school and that, they’re loved and supported. And I manifest these things through my writing as if there’s like a multiverse and it’s already happening I really believe that, the energy you put out there is the energy that is attracted back to you. Just write it down, make a to-do list or manifest things in your journal. I think there’s a lot of power to that. Just put that energy out there.
Beverly:
Every year like the first week of January, I write a letter to myself to open the next January. This year for us, for me specifically, is about simplification. How do we simplify things so that it’s just works easier, right? So it’s not so complicated.’cause marketing doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be simpler. Our business doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be simpler. We have the power to create the exact business that we want to have. So this here is really about simplification. But it really is like a love letter to myself for the year. What I hope is gonna happen, how I’m gonna evolve and grow, how the business is gonna evolve and grow. Before we leave, I have a quick favor to ask of our listeners. If today’s episode has sparked something in you, would you take a moment to leave a review? Your words help. More business owners find this podcast and ignite their own marketing and business magic. And if you really loved it, share it with a friend who needs inspiration today. So Amber, please share with our listeners where they can learn more about Soma and about Amber. Where can they find you?
Amber:
Great questions. Thank you. I was hoping I would give it a plug again. So the name of my business is Soma Massage Therapy, SOMA. It’s short for Somatic, which means body and feeling. It’s Soma Massage Therapy. You can find us online at mysomamassage.com. You can read more about our origin story and see our styles and modalities. There is also a link on that page. If you’re interested in learning more about our franchise opportunities, you can click on that link. You can find me on LinkedIn at Amber Briggle. We also have a YouTube channel at Soma Massage Therapy. We’re also on Instagram at my Soma Massage as well. So awesome.
Beverly:
Yeah. Amber, it’s been such a fun conversation today. Thank you for sharing your wisdom, your journey, and the magic you’ve awakened in yourself. I know our listeners are gonna walk away from today’s episode, feeling inspired and really ready to take some action. I’m so grateful for your time today and for the impact that you are making on the world.
Amber:
This was so much fun. Beverly, thank you so much.
Beverly:
I hope that today’s episode lit a little bit of a fire on you and gave you some new ideas, some different takes on how hard and how easy business can be. Because here’s the thing, your message matters. Your work matters, and the world needs to hear what you have to say. And if you don’t show up for yourself, you can’t do that. So marketing isn’t just about visibility, as Amber said, it’s about impact. But connecting with the right people in a way that feels true to you. So keep showing up, keep sharing your brilliance and keep making magic in the world. And hey, if you ever feel stuck, I know that you don’t have to do this alone. We are here to help you turn that spark and ignite it into a wildfire. So in until next time, keep sparking and igniting.
