I’ve worked on Massage & Bodywork magazine for 24 years. I began as the associate editor and then graduated over time to become the editor in chief in 2017. (Karrie Osborn, Amy Klein, and Angie Parris have also worked on this publication for more than 20 years; Karrie even hired me.) 

Back in those barely-there Internet days, print was the belle of the ball. The magazine was 168 pages, and a small, dedicated team of four worked together to produce the magazine you know so well.  

Of course, things were much simpler then. The smartphone wasn’t even a figment of Steve Jobs’ imagination, let alone something called an “app.” And many people still read newspapers . . . in print. 

Massage & Bodywork began as a quarterly newsletter in 1992. It moved to a bimonthly publication in 1998. Karrie shepherded the publication at that time, and I joined the team in 2000.

After a handful of years, we were challenged by Bob Benson, our chairman at ABMP, to improve our thought leadership by gathering the best authors, improving the content we produced, and winning awards for the work we were doing. Today, with more than 100 national magazine honors to our name, we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished. And we’re even prouder to have helped so many practitioners sharpen their skills and grow their practices. 

Along the way, we were also quite frugal. Annually, we visited our printer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to learn about cost-cutting measures that delivered the best product in an efficient manner. Most people wouldn’t associate the editor role with watching the numbers and production costs, but along with Amy (our creative director), we became quite adept. 

As you can imagine, over the years, things became more expensive—especially print. Since 2000, print pricing has gone up exponentially, mainly because of paper and postage costs. You may have felt this most when the pandemic hit, as many of the magazines you loved and enjoyed likely went digital-only or went away altogether. 

I’m proud to say that our ABMP executive team believes in the power of print but also believes in being conscientious with membership dollars. That’s why moving into 2025, we’re adjusting our print publication frequency. 

Massage & Bodywork magazine will be moving from six issues a year to four issues. You’ll still get the best publication in the profession; it will still be printed with the largest printer in the world (Quad Graphics); and we’ll still put forward the best names in the profession writing to deliver you growth content, skills-based learning, and challenging opinions of the goings-on in the massage and bodywork profession.

The decision to do so also honors where members are today. Things shift. Print seems like a luxury in a digital-first world. Life is now lived on our phones. And today we provide more member benefits that weren’t even conceived of 30 years ago. Our resources are spread across many products and benefits. Back in 2000, we never could have predicted we would produce more than 70 podcast episodes a year, make two online CE Summits annually, produce numerous videos, and make apps, blogs, and enewsletters, among other offerings. 

Our team has been lucky to work for an association for so long that believes in the power of print and will continue to print Massage & Bodywork magazine. Our focus as a team has never waned. Karrie, Angie, Amy, and I still work together on this wonderful publication that’s made in-house. And we’ve been joined by some new, talented folks along the way. We will continue to make the best publication in the profession and will continue to innovate on the content front. We’re excited for what’s ahead in 2025, and we look forward to seeing you in the spring!