MikesMen's Personal Masseur Interview

Last Updated: Oct 21, 2021

- Without counting the time off for the worst of the pandemic, I have just a bit over two years of hands on experience with massage. I see doing this work for a long, long, time.

- I like to write and have written a couple of creative non-fiction books, "Drama Club" and "A View From The Podium". Look up Gerle on Amazon if you want to read about growing up in Idaho during my senior year in high school as a Mormon kid who also had a boyfriend. And the other is a book about the moment I stepped onto the podium as the winner of International Mister Leather.

Not sure if it's a hobby or an orientation, but I'm very much kink and BDSM. I love the power dynamics and the tools to build sacred, ritualized space for cathartic personal transformation.

I'm an avid Star Trek fan. I even have the star ship Voyager tattooed on my right forearm. I love a vision of the future where we teams of diverse individuals work together for a higher purpose.

And if you love country music and two-stepping, I'm your man. I'm a good lead and a great follow.

- I am committed to creating sacred space, ritual processes, and personal transformation, for both me an my clients. I believe in self reflection, in taking responsibility for our own happiness, and providing ourselves with both the hard work and the loving self-care we each need.

Sacred and ritual processes require that we take risks. But taking those risks are worth the rewards. When we have the emotional courage to allow ourselves to be vulnerable, to acknowledge our desire for connection, for care, for love, for bonding, that's when the magic happens. That's when we touch the Divine in ourselves.

That may be a LOT more than you're seeking from a massage session. And that's okay. I just want you to know that is where I'm coming from and I invite you to come along with me.

- During my time pursing a profession career in ballet, I learned that receiving massage was essential. Often the dancers would work on each other while in rehearsal spaces. In addition to feeling the physical relief, I enjoyed the sense of care and bonding that happened while we massaged and stretched each other.

And to be honest, after leaving ballet, I was in Los Angeles waiting tables and pursing an energy draining career in entertainment that was going nowhere. I decided to ask a masseur how he got into it and that led me to where I am today. Enjoying the care and bonding that happens while I massage and stretch another man.

- My very first client was perhaps the most nervous client I've ever had. Maybe we were projecting on each other, because I was pretty nervous as well. He was my very first paying client. He was an acquaintance of mine, a friend of my roommate. He had a bit of a crush on me. His shoulders and neck were so tense, they were practically solid, nothing like the supple muscles I'd worked on with my fellow massage students. Knowing how to speak to him, to get him to breath and make some audible sounds, lead to him relaxing and having a wonderful experience.

- My background in yoga, meditation, BDSM, and as a life coach have taught me how to authentically connect to each man who enters my space, to experience him as an individual whose needs are unique to him. I use the power of all these disciplines to facilitate a safe space for a him to ask for what he really wants. That is often permission to let go and enjoy his own body and the touch of another man. Sometimes it's a need to be nurtured and held. Sometimes it's a need to be worked over with a stronger physicality. I'm intuitive and can find what's underneath the presenting problem, then provide a path to a deeper experience. Mind, body, and spirit are all touched when the magic of connection happens. Bonding and release. Freedom and confidence.

- Empowered. Rejuvenated. Seen. Held. Understood.

- Has a study been done on this? I volunteer to be the client for 50 of each kind, highly trained and otherwise. :) Although training is very useful and maybe even necessary, I think there is an instinct that fantastic masseurs have that sets them apart. It's an instinct of caring, of curiosity, and gentle control.

- At the moment, I do not travel often. But I love to travel and am open to any offers that include travel.

- Do it if you like other people and are ready to give a bit of yourself to see the light come on in another man's eyes.

- When my clients show up at my door I often see a man dealing with all the normal stresses of the world: work, relationships, COVID, and a "to do" list that never ends. I see that and hold space for it. As men who like men we often silently share aspects of a collective a shadow complex that stings us with doubt, fear, and shame.

When my men head for the door, I want them to feel powerful, grounded, and full of mojo, that easy feeling that all is as it should be, a feeling that says, I'm fine with the world the way it is.

- Yes! For two reasons: 1) Financially, I'm lucky enough to book all the sessions I need to support my revenue goals. 2) More importantly, I have regulars who have become important people in my day to day life.

- Heck yeah! I'd miss the connection I have with my clients, both energetically and physically. Communication through touch has even worked its way into social situations. At casual parties, at bars, and even in the steam room at the gym, I often reach out and give guys a squeeze on the neck or back (with permission of course) and that always brings us closer together. That closeness is very addictive.