Tranquil Touch Therapeutic Massage owner expands in Downtown Willoughby

Tranquil Touch Therapeutic Massage and Wellness owner Kara Smetana has made herself right at home in her business’s new space in Downtown Willoughby, up above Finestra Gallery.

Located at 4080 Erie St., the business specializes in therapeutic deep tissue massage and uses hot stones to help soften not only clients’ muscle tissue but also their minds.

“If your mind isn’t relaxed, your muscles aren’t going to relax,” Smetana said, noting that she wants clients who come into her new space to feel they’re at home and like family. “I’m close with my clients. They are friends and feel like family to me.”

Smetana recalls when she was attending college at Kent State University for a couple of years.

“I couldn’t figure out my major and I got a massage one day randomly,” she said. “I don’t know why, where or how, but I loved it and decided to go to massage therapy school. I was a nanny at the time.”

Upon starting massage school, Smetana said she realized it was harder than she thought.

“Every state’s different, but in Ohio, massage therapists are licensed by the medical board. They don’t have their own massage board, so we have to know everything about anatomy and physiology, let alone learn how to do a massage and do it well.”

After Smetana graduated and got out into the field of massage therapy, she found building a clientele was a challenge. A year or so later, she became pregnant with her twin daughters and took a year off.

Smetana ended up in Downtown Willoughby after she started to get back into massage therapy.

Tranquil Touch Therapeutic Massage and Wellness Owner Kara Smetana has...

Tranquil Touch Therapeutic Massage and Wellness Owner Kara Smetana has relocated to a new space above Finestra Gallery in Downtown Willoughby. (Marah Morrison — The News-Herald)

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Tranquil Touch Therapeutic Massage and Wellness Owner Kara Smetana has relocated to a new space above Finestra Gallery in Downtown Willoughby. (Marah Morrison — The News-Herald)

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“I found my way to a girl and I took over her space 14 years ago,” she said. “I decided to leave there, move my studio to Mentor and built a thriving, successful, massage therapy business. I was renting a space — kind of like here, but different.”

Smetana has known Lisa Longo, the owner of Finestra Gallery, for 15 years.

“She’s like, ‘I want to book a massage,’ ” Smetana recalled. “She loved her massage and she’s like, ‘I know you’re looking for a new space. The space upstairs is available.’ A week later, I signed my lease.”

Smetana signed her lease on Erie Street in the middle of January and it was then that she started to remodel the upstairs space with her husband.

“What I realized about myself in the past year or so is I don’t do anything small,” Smetana said. “I loved the size of this room and the windows. It had a drop ceiling with LED panel lighting. We had to take the light fixtures out, we had to shop vac in here, utility lights, drywall, spackle and paint brushes. We took the ceiling out, hung crown molding, painted the ceiling, decorated and hung all the stuff I designed and picked out.”

Construction was completed by the middle of March, Smetana said. Another two weeks was spent putting furniture together and finding places for Smetana’s plants, a passion of hers.

“The whole room works well together,” she said. “I am extremely happy with how it turned out. When you have a vision in your head and you try to piece it together, and you’re using graph paper to design it, it’s overwhelming, but in such a good way.”

Many of Smetana’s clients have been with her over the years. Although she started massage 22 years ago, it wasn’t until 15 or 16 years ago she started to grow a steady clientele.

“They’re loyal, supportive. They come in happy; they’re relaxed when they leave. Their body’s put back together, and their soul’s filled up,” she said.

Smetana has a mix of monthly, weekly and biweekly clients who book hour-long sessions or other offerings.

“It varies,” she said. “I try to work with everyone so they can experience what massage has to offer. There is a misconception I feel where people don’t realize the value in massage. I feel a lot of people think massage is relaxing and fluff and just stress relief. It absolutely is that, but it’s so much more.”

Through her massage therapy offerings, Smetana tends to neck, shoulder and sciatic pain, as well as helping older clients feel their best as they’re aging. She also has newer clients who are in their mid 30s and who are also new mothers.

Hours include weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bookings can be made through Smetana’s Instagram account, @tranquiltouchmassagedtw.

Going forward, Smetana would like to take over the entire space above Finestra for a wellness center and plant shop.

“I’d love to have other wellness things in here that add to stress relief, therapy and wellness,” she said, noting she would also love to hire someone to work with her.

When Smetana got into massage and started to grow her business, part of the inspiration was her mother who owned a hair salon.

“Self-made business owner for over 50 years,” she said. “I couldn’t be more proud learning that from her. I was in my teens when she expanded her business, and my girls are in their teens and I’m expanding my business. I feel like I’m carrying on women’s small business.”