Leslie's Story: KneadALaugh

Today's story comes from Leslie Kahn, of KneadALaugh in Chicago, IL.

Stress is a tough part of day-to-day life, especially at work. Leslie knows all about the damaging effects it can have on employees, so she founded her company, KneadALaugh, with the goal of alleviating stress in office environments. Through massage therapy, humor therapy, and other stress-reducing techniques, KneadALaugh provides a one-of-a-kind service in corporate environments. Just think about it - when was the last time you had a good laugh at work? Didn't you feel great afterwards? Now think about what it would be like to get a professional massage at work - now that's service.

"I guess you could say I have led an unconventional working life. I've lived on a (mostly) self-sufficient organic farming community in West Wales gardening, farming, making pottery, and keeping animals, I've trained on the job as a gemologist for a wholesale diamond company, and most recently I became a licensed massage therapist in Chicago, having attended massage therapy school at age 40.

It has always been a struggle for me to make what most Americans would consider a 'good living', and it's very difficult to be a massage therapist when you are doing all the work yourself. The job is extremely demanding, both physically and emotionally; I recognized that fact very early on in my massage career. My intention has always been to 'run the empire from my penthouse' by owning a company that provides corporate massages, and hiring/managing other therapists rather than doing all the hands-on work. Don't get me wrong - I love giving massages and helping people relax, reduce stress, and become free of pain, but at age 55, after a spinal cord surgery, a broken ankle and an auto-immune disease called sarcoidosis of the lungs, I need to take it easy.

That is why I created my company, KneadALaugh, three years ago. We Americans are under a huge amount of stress to perform at work, and that stress leads to many different conditions ranging from back and neck pain to heart attacks and strokes. Workplace stress leads to ill employees, decreased productivity, absenteeism, increased health care costs and an overall demoralized staff.

While I have been promoting on-site massage therapy all these years, often I would encounter the decision maker at a company who would say to me, 'I just don't like the idea of massage' - and then I would have nothing else to offer. So I decided to try and find other services that would appeal to a larger audience while employing my husband, an actor, at the same time. The 'Laugh' in KneadALaugh refers to a service I created called 'Humor Therapy' - this is where my husband Martin comes in. He's one of those wacky Brits who entertains and informs in a sort of stream-of-consciousness babble. It's very funny and great for stress relief.

I also met a kickboxing instructor and thought that offering kickboxing, TaeKwonDo and personal training at the workplace was a brilliant idea. I'm striving to offer TaiChi and meditation as well, for those who prefer relaxation to aerobics as a way to get rid of stress.

Everybody loves the name of the company, 'KneadALaugh'. Unfortunately, in the current economy, it is a challenge to convince penny-pinching CEO's (who, in some cases, are not even supplying their employees with tissues) that paying for stress relief services actually makes good business sense. I am sure their opinions will turn around with the economic climate."

To learn more about Leslie's company, visit the website at KneadALaugh.com. You'll also find them on Twitter @KneadALaugh and Facebook.com/KneadALaugh.