A decade ago, ABMP launched its “I am ABMP” campaign and started searching for exceptional members to spotlight and inspire others. We didn’t have far to look for one of our first candidates. MT Angie Parris-Raney was part of our Massage & Bodywork advertising team at the time. She’d left an unfulfilling career in international imports and exports years earlier to become a massage therapist, so the opportunity to work at ABMP really called to her and allowed her to blend her many skills. She says she loved us before she was part of us!

Today, Angie, now ABMP's director of strategic partnerships and advertising, is blending her dedication to the profession and her love of adventure as part of the Massage Therapy Foundation’s Running for Research Team. On April 20, she’ll conquer the Boston Marathon—her first marathon!—on a charity bib. She’s pledged to raise $15,000, all of which goes to the Massage Therapy Foundation (MTF). This is the third consecutive year Boston Marathon sponsor John Hancock has awarded three charity bibs to the MTF. Angie’s key cheerleaders have led the way for her: ABMP President Les Sweeney and Bon Vital’s Tom Heidenberger ran the first two years and ABMP Education Liaison Kathy Laskye ran in 2014.

Since 2013, this opportunity has raised more than $115,000 at a time when many of the MTF’s donations have dried up. These monies and this momentum are crucial to support the nonprofit’s mission of funding
research and community service grants (www.massagetherapyfoundation.org).

Angie’s commitment doesn’t stop at Boston’s 26.2 miles! For every $1,000 pledged to her run, she’ll teach a one-hour parent/child massage class to families adopting or hosting orphans from Haiti and China through CCAI Adoption Services (www.ccaifamily.org). She’s also blended her love of infant massage and trekking by starting a nonprofit, Project Inti (www.projectinti.org), that helps impoverished families in Peru. She’s even learned the indigenous language Quechua.

Angie now leads ABMP’s advertising and partnership efforts, helping vendors connect with and bring value to our members. She and I have logged many miles together traveling to various massage conferences. Angie always brings her sparkle to the table whether she’s brainstorming a professional win-win for ABMP members and advertisers, addressing a client’s pain, or being a friend. So it’s my honor to cheer her across the finish line and fuel the foundation.