Liz Yerkes opens new massage business

There’s a new massage business in town, but it’s run by a familiar face. Massage therapist Liz Yerkes, who has worked in several offices since the early 1990s, reopened her own office on March 1, at 595 Bay Isles Road, Suite 220. 

From the time Yerkes, 65, shut down her Centre Shops office in late April 2020 to the time she started working again in late June, it was the longest she’d gone without practicing massage since she got licensed. For nine months, she worked in the offices of friends Debby Debile and Brandy Mixon.

“I just felt like I needed my own space again,” Yerkes said. “But they were so gracious to let me work.”

Massage is her first love, but Yerkes is also a personal trainer, a member of the Society for Oncology Massage and is working on learning reflexology and aromatherapy. She’s been all over the place on Longboat Key, from Harbor Square to the Centre Shops to the most recent place above the Lazy Lobster. Breaking her lease was devastating, she said, but she doesn’t regret it. She’s been able to keep many of the clients she’s had for years. 

Yerkes came to Longboat Key in 1991 and had gone to a Boulder, Colorado, massage school. She was already certified in massage by the time she came to town, but actually worked at various salons on the Key for two years. After running around between multiple Ana Molinari salons, she wanted to start a less stressful career. She began working as a massage therapist in 1993. 

“I like people, and I was a potter before, so I really like using my hands, and I'm strong,” Yerkes said. “And my mother really encouraged me a lot. I still have the table that my mother bought me for my 40th birthday. I still love it, but it lives at Plymouth Harbor now.” 

In addition to her regularly scheduled clients at her office, Yerkes does massage at Plymouth Harbor and Sarasota Bay Club. Working with those in assisted living has been good for both parties, for Yerkes recognizes the depression many suffered without others to talk to during the pandemic. Restarting massage was a fraught decision, but she’s glad she started working again when she did. 

“The people even last June and July were very safe, very trusting, but there were some people I wouldn't work on, because they had just flown,” Yerkes said. “My rule was don't work with anybody that doesn't have respect for COVID, so I screened and continue to screen people pretty carefully. And the clients I want to work with are the ones that are cautious, they're OK with that extra (step).”

There are many extra steps these days. Yerkes puts extra time between appointments to run a UV cleaner and sanitizes anything her clients may have touched. She also gets tested for COVID-19 twice a week due to her work at Plymouth Harbor. The cautiousness has paid off and because she moved into her own place, business has been increasing. 

“Now that I'm vaccinated, and a lot of my clients have had both vaccinations now, I am turning people away every day,” Yerkes said. “I just need to clone myself.”