Maria Cardona balanced her ardour for therapeutic massage remedy together with her full-time job in healthcare for 20 years earlier than beginning her personal enterprise.
With the assistance of SCORE mentorship, Cardona was in a position to open Maria Cardona Therapeutic Therapeutic massage on Laurens Avenue and pursue her ardour full time.
“I actually completely find it irresistible,” she stated. “And to me it is nonetheless healthcare. I am serving to individuals differently.”
SCORE is a enterprise consulting program that gives mentorship to small companies without cost, stated Invoice Reichardt, a volunteer mentor.
“We seek the advice of and information them and attempt to give them the advantage of our expertise,” he stated.
Cardona reached out to SCORE to assist her get began and was paired with Reichardt.
“She is a go-getter and an actual star,” he stated. “And it is a pleasure to cope with any person like Maria as a result of I am positive she’s going to get it finished.”
Reichardt stated he had hassle maintaining with Cardona at instances due to how formidable she was.
“He is like, ‘take your time,’” Cardona stated. “I used to be like, ‘okay, doing it tomorrow.’”
Essentially the most difficult a part of opening was discovering a location, Cardona stated.
After all of the places she checked out in North Augusta and Aiken fell via, Cardona turned to a Fb group for assist discovering a spot.
That led her to 113 Laurens St., within the coronary heart of Aiken.
“This was the primary and solely place I checked out,” Cardona stated. “And I completely cherished it.”
From there, Cardona constructed the inside with assist from associates. Her chiropractor constructed the partitions and different associates constructed the furnishings and painted the partitions, Cardona stated.
“I have been in a position to make use of the individuals which are essential in my life,” she stated. “And I really feel like this place is made with love.”
The area is dimly lit with inexperienced partitions and gold accents. There’s a room for the esthetician and two rooms with therapeutic massage tables. The 2 rooms for massages have a door that opens for {couples}, Cardona stated.
Marie Cardona Therapeutic Therapeutic massage additionally has a big ready room for shoppers to unwind in earlier than or after their appointment. Cardona stated she takes pleasure in having the ability to present this ready room for friends.
“Individuals strolling in, they are saying as quickly as they stroll in, they really feel peaceable,” she stated.
As with most small companies, the clientele is what makes all of it value it for Cardona. She has constructed a decent bond together with her regulars and genuinely cares about them like household, Cardona stated.
“I do know their household,” she stated. “They know my household. I learn about their pets. I learn about their infants being born and that’s an honor. It is actually, actually particular to me.”
Whereas Cardona could transfer as much as an even bigger area sooner or later, she is proud of the scale she’s at now and doesn’t need to develop an excessive amount of, she stated.
“I might prefer to develop a bit of bit,” Cardona stated. “I do not need it to be something loopy huge as a result of I nonetheless need to maintain that intimate feeling about it.”
