Photography by Jonathan Garza

Debilitating back pain marked the first 20 years of Derrick Amoriko’s life. Growing up, that meant a lot of chiropractors and back braces. Even so, by his early 20s, there were days Amoriko could barely walk. 

Then, soon after he arrived in Austin, a friend suggested massage therapy. Growing up in a small town, that had never been an option, yet Amoriko was willing to try it, figuring it wouldn’t hurt and might even help. 

It was a life-changing decision. With each massage, he became stronger, he stood straighter and he even started jogging again – something he thought he’d never do again. The experience inspired him to train as a massage therapist. 

“Regular bodywork changed my life,” Amoriko says. “I realized that I wanted to change other people’s lives like mine was changed.”

Fast-forward to 2006, when Amoriko opened his first Massage Harmony spa. Today, there are three – and all reflect the bond their founder feels with the city. He deliberately chose the company name to reflect Austin’s much-heralded status as Live Music Capitol of the World.

“I was thinking of music, and harmony came to mind,” he says. “So the business became Massage Harmony.”

Amoriko says Austin also has a great sense of community – more so than any of the many other cities he’s lived in. 

With that in mind, he’s deliberately chosen to open his spas in some of the most vibrant and well-established community shopping centers in town, namely Westgate on South Lamar (the first location to open), the Bee Caves Road location in West Lake Hills’ Westbank Market and in the 26 Doors shopping center on 38th Street, (the smallest location with six treatment rooms that opened just a year ago).

Massage Harmony now employs 120 therapists who have all been personally interviewed and “road-tested” by Amoriko and his business manager, who, like her boss, is an experienced massage therapist.

From the outset, one of his business tenets has been to make massage therapy affordable to all, while maintaining the highest quality and professional standards. 

“A massage should not be a luxury,” Amoriko says. “Everyone deserves a good massage, and we provide a professional massage at a relaxing price.”

Austin is a very health-conscious city, he says, and many people regard massage therapy as a necessary part of their weekly routine. 

“We keep it really simple: come in, get a massage, leave.” 

No products, no steam rooms, no body treatments, no memberships. Amoriko believes people just want a massage, and are not interested – on an ongoing basis – in the additional services offered at large resorts.

“I want my therapists to focus on their art – on the massage,” he says.

At a Massage Harmony spa, even the phone at the front desk rings with a soothing tone, complementing the subtly soothing green-and-gold palate of the reception area. The minimalist urban chic vibe is a marked contrast to the riot of excess found in many spas. 

Amoriko says the aesthetic at his spas steers a deliberate middle course, particularly as they are seeing an increase in the number of men taking advantage of the benefits of massage therapy.

Traditionally, the three most popular services at Massage Harmony have been Swedish massage, deep tissue massage and sports massage. 

“With Austin having so many athletes – both professional and amateur – we have a lot of clients who want us to concentrate on the therapeutic aspect of massage,” Amoriko says. “Other clients are focused on the relaxation they get from massage therapy.” 

Regardless of their focus, people want a massage that gets results, he says. 

Massage Harmony recently became one of the few spas in Texas to offer Ashiatsu bar therapy, and it now has Ashiatsu rooms at each location. Described as “the deepest massage on the planet,” Ashiatsu is very popular, according to Amoriko. 

“After they try it,” he says, “most people don’t go back to their old treatment.” 

The word, “Ashiatsu,” combines two Japanese words: “ashi” (foot) and “atsu” (pressure). The therapist uses clean, soft feet to apply deep, flowing strokes to the back of the client’s body while he or she relaxes on a massage table.

Whatever the treatment, the underlying benefits remain the same for massage, popularly regarded as the most transformational and among the oldest of the healing arts. 

The most widely recognized benefits of massage include the release of emotional and physical tension, the reduction and elimination of back pain, a decrease in chronic pain, improved sleep patterns, relief from sore muscles, increased energy and improved body and mind awareness.

Today, Amoriko works mainly behind the scenes, and he prides himself on having personal oversight in his business. He makes it a point to be accessible to all of his staff and also to meet customers at the spas.

“I don’t ever want to be a faceless business owner of a faceless company,” he says.

Prior to opening Massage Harmony, and after training as a massage therapist in Austin, Amoriko took off around the country to hone his craft in a wide variety of resorts and rehab clinics, all the time observing how other massage therapy businesses were run. 

That synthesis of knowledge has culminated in Massage Harmony being run with such consistently high standards across the three locations that some people assume it is a national chain or franchise. 

“It is all privately owned by me, and that way, I can keep a tighter rein on quality and customer service,” Amoriko says. With an eye on future growth, he adds, “I want to make sure each store has the same quality as the store that came before it.”

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, a gift certificate makes the perfect his or her gift, Amoriko says. Massage Harmony introduced online gift certificates in the fall, anticipating the holiday buying season.

“We sold more gift certificates in the month of December than any other month,” Amoriko says. 

January through May is also a busy season, he says, with the peaks coming around Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. 

However, with the number of men now discovering the benefits of massage therapy, Amoriko hopes massage therapy gift certificates for Father’s Day will start to increase. After all, hasn’t dad already got enough ties and cologne?

For more information on Massage Harmony, visit www.massageharmony.com.