Maria Cardona Therapeutic Massage opens in Aiken with help of SCORE mentors - Charleston Post Courier

[massage]

Maria Cardona balanced her passion for massage therapy with her full-time job in healthcare for 20 years before starting her own business.

With the help of SCORE mentorship, Cardona was able to open Maria Cardona Therapeutic Massage on Laurens Street and pursue her passion full time.

“I really absolutely love it,” she said. “And to me it's still healthcare. I'm helping people in a different way.”

SCORE is a business consulting program that provides mentorship to small businesses for free, said Bill Reichardt, a volunteer mentor.

“We consult and guide them and try to give them the benefit of our experience,” he said.

Cardona reached out to SCORE to help her get started and was paired with Reichardt.

“She is a go-getter and a real star,” he said. “And it's a pleasure to deal with somebody like Maria because I'm sure she's going to get it done.”

Reichardt said he had trouble keeping up with Cardona at times because of how ambitious she was.

“He's like, ‘take your time,’” Cardona said. “I was like, ‘okay, doing it tomorrow.’”

The most challenging part of opening was finding a location, Cardona said.

After all the locations she looked at in North Augusta and Aiken fell through, Cardona turned to a Facebook group for help finding a place.

That led her to 113 Laurens St., in the heart of Aiken.

“This was the first and only place I looked at,” Cardona said. “And I absolutely loved it.”

From there, Cardona built the interior with help from friends. Her chiropractor built the walls and other friends built the furniture and painted the walls, Cardona said.

“I've been able to use the people that are important in my life,” she said. “And I feel like this place is made with love.”

The space is dimly lit with green walls and gold accents. There is a room for the esthetician and two rooms with massage tables. The two rooms for massages have a door that opens for couples, Cardona said.

Marie Cardona Therapeutic Massage also has a large waiting room for clients to unwind in before or after their appointment. Cardona said she takes pride in being able to provide this waiting room for guests.

“People walking in, they say as soon as they walk in, they feel peaceful,” she said.

As with most small businesses, the clientele is what makes it all worth it for Cardona. She has built a tight bond with her regulars and genuinely cares about them like family, Cardona said.

“I know their family,” she said. “They know my family. I know about their pets. I know about their babies being born and that is an honor. It's really, really special to me.”

While Cardona may move up to a bigger space in the future, she is happy with the size she’s at now and doesn’t want to grow too much, she said.

“I'd like to grow a little bit,” Cardona said. “I don't want it to be anything crazy big because I still want to keep that intimate feeling about it.”



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