Resource flow + financial transparency

Why I’m offering bodywork this way

I’m offering bodywork as a way to support myself financially, and as a way to support my community and Great Salt Lake in the unpaid organizing and facilitating I do. Rather than being a for-profit business, I’m trying a needs-based resource flow model — a bit different than a typical exchange — and I’m inviting you into this experiment with me.

Transparency + where resources flow

I intend to be as transparent as possible with my financial needs in order to co-hold meeting them with the community of clients I work with. I intend to use the resources that flow toward me to be of benefit to my queer/trans and organizing community, and to keep these resources local wherever possible — for example grocery shopping at the local co-op and small stores when I can, and supporting local businesses, vendors, and artists to meet other day-to-day needs.

Session costs

What these rates are meant to do

Charging $125 for a typical 75-minute session is what would be deeply supportive to my life. I’m willing to negotiate this cost based on need — at this point, at the start of my practice, I have a limited number of sessions available for a lower and/or trade rate. Trading for material things such as food, skilled house/truck/bicycle maintenance or repair, and similar support is what would be most supportive in this realm at this time.

If a small group of clients can pay the full rate, this will support me in continuing to offer my work and in offering lower-cost bodywork to my community. In practice, this amounts to around 22–26 sessions total per month when I’m in town (approximately 8 months a year). If you are able to offer more than this rate, it helps me meet my needs and lower the cost for those who can’t afford the full rate.

One year, with support

I’m going to try this model for one year, and I have a support team who is going to help me quarterly to check in, assess how it’s going, and see what needs to change going forward. It’s my intention to offer something that works for you and for myself — thank you for being a part of the beginning of this journey with me.

Estimated needs + line-by-line transparency

I offer this level of transparency as part of this experiment to help you be in your own discernment about where to flow your resources. My intention is to be clear on where the resources you give to me will go — to connect on a level deeper than what many of us are used to with more capitalist models of transaction, exchange, and profit.

These are my estimated costs for the next year, based off my averages from the last several years. I try to keep my expenses minimal and simple. I’m very fortunate to have low housing costs, and I strive to use the time this saves me from working to give back to my community and to be in a season of life of extended meditation retreat practice. I currently spend over a month a year in silent retreat, and I bring this practice into my bodywork and my organizing.

In round numbers, my annual baseline needs come to about $24,410 per year (about $2,034 per month), including basic material needs, medical and body care, life tending, transportation, and massage-related expenses — retreat practice, education, facilitator training, and ongoing practice costs are folded into that picture.

For the full breakdown — line items, monthly and yearly estimates, and categories like food, retreat travel, massage continuing education, insurance, and more — click here to see a detailed document of estimated needs and financial transparency (PDF; opens in a new tab so you can read it in the browser).

Savings, retirement, and how I’m thinking about risk

In the effort to be radically transparent, I want to note that I am able to engage with this experimental model because I have a safety net of savings. My intention is to give you clear information to help you be in your own embodied discernment of how much feels good to give for a session to help me meet my material needs, based on each of our economic situations.

I truly hope to meet my needs through this bodywork practice (and occasional side gigs like babysitting, cooking for group gatherings and retreats, and offering facilitation), and I am fully oriented to making that dream a reality. That said, I have the privilege of this cushion and can fall back on these savings if this experiment doesn’t work and my immediate financial needs aren’t met.