Moving to Alaska with Teenage boy

[Shelley05]

Thank you all for enlightening me,I appreciate the time all of you took out of your busy schedules to help me in my endeavors. Its still realy sad that people still see Massage Therapy as a Prostitution, its an insult because of the education you have to endure to become a Licensed Massage Therapist almost as if your going to school to become a Nurse or Doctor but onky to come out and struggle to live with an Associates Degree behind you. Oh well,thanks again everyone. :'(

[Shelley05]

Thanks so much everyone!!!

[Haolejohn]

Originally Posted by Shelley05

Thank you all for enlightening me,I appreciate the time all of you took out of your busy schedules to help me in my endeavors. Its still realy sad that people still see Massage Therapy as a Prostitution, its an insult because of the education you have to endure to become a Licensed Massage Therapist almost as if your going to school to become a Nurse or Doctor but onky to come out and struggle to live with an Associates Degree behind you. Oh well,thanks again everyone. :'(

Some people do see it the way you say, but there will always be the joke that was mentioned. For the record, I automatically assume someone is legit, but having a best friend that chose this profession and two cousins that are massage therapists, I know that it is a legit profession.

I personally think your best bet to make money in the field is to get hired at a resort or cruise line.

[MountainHi]

I assume the OP is going to school in IT for a reason. I see no reason why she can't combine the two professions. She'll need extra income to support a teenager, anyway. OP, what are your plans for your IT degree? What's your experience been so far, in the massage field? I've had friends who were in that, and they said it's hard to get a steady job that provides anything close to full-time employment; you have to combine several different employers, and you end up getting run ragged. I think the new company, Massage Envy (IIRC) is the only one that has a guaranteed schedule, guaranteed paid hours, and actually provides benefits.

[Crossfire600]

Originally Posted by Alaskan Mutt

Unless Alaska is somewhere you have always dreamed of living or you have just been offered the job of a lifetime I would not advise moving there. While running away from a bad situation might not be a bad thing, running away to Alaska to get away from a bad situation usually does not end well. There is no such thing as cheap housing in Alaska. Just like everywhere else, many of the jobs available are part time minimum wage. While being homeless anywhere is not fun, being homeless in Alaska is down right awful. To make matters worse once things turn sour it gets very hard to run away from Alaska. You can not simply hop on a bus and leave town.


One last thing to consider...Alaska leads the nation with the highest suicide rate. Not exactly the greatest place to be if life has you down.

The only thing I'll add is its just as expensive to get out of Alaska as it is to get here. Couple that with trying to get out because you can't find a job etc. well, just make sure you have a good escape Alaska fund in the event it doesn't work out.

[Shelley05]

Thanks everyone,I worked for Massage Envy for 1yr,it was not very good,you have to depend on tips in order to make it,and people here in Alabama are majorly cheap they do not like to tip,if they do its $2-5 and every now and then you may get a really good tip, but Massage Envy pays $15 per client if you only have 2 people in the 6-7 hours you work,you've only made $30 for the day,and pray they left a really good tip. So Massage Envy is a not so the best place for a single parent to work. There are no Resorts in Alabama it's the Deep Dirty South, Alabama is still trying to come up to the 21st Century.

[Dakster]

You might find things a tad different in Alaska, so I might still check out massage envy. Just for reference and not implying this is way I would go, but as an example the wal mart near me is always advertising for jobs and most start in the $13/hr range. It's not great, but it sure beats $30-$40 for 7 hours of work.

Regarding the massage place, you might even try to build up some private clients. My daughters personal trainer did that. She used to be a personal trainer at a local gym and then she opened up her own place.

HOWEVER - the 500lb Gorilla in the room is our economy. While I am starting to see some changes, things haven't really reacted yet to the budget shortfall... Wait until the PFD is actually gone and income/sales taxes hit... I hope that the Military has decided to delay pulling troops out as well. I know that it was presented to delay the troop reduction here, but I don't know if a formal decision has been made yet.

[SarisaSMouse]

Originally Posted by Shelley05

Hello everyone! My name is Shelley,Iam a Licensed Massage Therapist and also attending school for Computer Technician/ IT Tech. My son is 16Yrs old and we were wondering if Achorage Alaska would be a great place to practice my profession. Iam originally from New Jersey but have been living in Alabama for 8yrs now by no choice of my own,we were abandoned here in 2005 by my daugjter and her now ex husband since then it has been a struggle to live here with my profession there is no money to be made here because it is heavily populated with Massage Therapist and its the Country not a Major Metropolitan atea. So,i was wondering if anyone knew of the need for Massage Therapy Practice there or is it heavily populated as well with Therapist already. If its good what areas should i consider and what ate the best highschools there? Thanks for your help anybody that answer me.

With a teenager, you're right to look into where the best school is for my son, and work around that. You will want to make sure your son's education is taken care of first and foremost. You do not want to put him into a situation where he's caught in a bad or hopeless clique, especially in a state known for the number of suicides among its population.


I'm not sure what you mean by being abandoned by your daughter and her husband at the time. That was unusual enough to make me re-read your post. Parents usually look after their children until the children start their own families, unless the parent is disabled mentally or physically. You don't say whether your daughter was an adult or was barely an adult, whether she was the primary breadwinner, etc. I won't make any judgements about the situation with your daughter and her husband versus you and your son, that would cause your daughter to abandon your extended household. I will just say forgive them for the pain they caused you and your son, and move on.


Everyone's advice about concentrating on the computer industry is correct. Depends on what you mean by Computer Technician/IT Tech, though. There are still jobs to be found telecommuting from home. If you can self-advertise yourself and your skills as a massage therapist, you'll make even more money self-advertising yourself and your computer skills. The best jobs will be from word of mouth after you get your first gig. But, again, that depends on what you mean by computer skills. Look around the telecommuting sites at what people are willing to pay for. Then learn those applications. Keep learning, outside of what goes on in the classroom. The computer programming and graphics design industries are ones in which the best are always taking the initiative to learn something new.


Good luck.