Caitlin Clow
Contributor
It was the snow that initially called Stephany Trinker to Revelstoke in 2011, but now her roots run deep and she’s looking forward to sharing her love for the mountains with her son, Arrow.
Steph grew up in the neighbouring Shuswap area and decided to hand out resumes in town while visiting a friend. She scored a job in housekeeping at Sutton Place and made the move. After that, she worked as a tree planter before starting at the CMH Monashees Lodge.
It was here she had her first massage and that mindblowing experience started her on a journey to become a registered massage therapist and eventually lead to her opening her own business – Alchemy Massage.
“I remember just wanting to know myself and the human body better and be able to help people,” she said. “That, combined with the lifestyle.”
She enrolled at the Okanagan Valley College of Massage Therapy in Vernon and it was no easy feat.
“School is a grind but the career is so worth it,” she said. “But I had seen the lifestyle and I knew what was coming after. The contrast (of school and career) was sort of laughable.”
Her desire to learn more about the human body also led her to be trained as a yoga teacher.
“I always loved it and practised it for years,” Steph said. “It really was the magic of yoga teachers that drew me to it.”
Steph credited her close friend and now business partner for telling her to go for it.
“She said, ‘you’re ready whenever,’ and that was such a permission slip,” Steph said. “You have to start somewhere. You don’t have to be the thing to be the thing, you know?”
The benefits of yoga have been incredible for Steph. She was diagnosed with Stage 3 endometriosis at a young age and suffered from chronic pain.
“Practising consistently, I’ve seen that pain go away,” Steph said. I do it because it makes me feel better.”
Being able to share this relief with her students is a real motivator.
“Massage is really special, too,” she said of its healing and pain relief benefits. “But I see people, if they’re lucky, once a week or once a month or maybe even once or twice a year. It’s really up to them to do the work to continue healing.”
Yoga is just another tool that people can use on their journey.
These two practices come together at Alchemy Massage Studio on King Street. Steph and co-owner Jamie Kidd lease their massage space from Rebecca Marchildon, the owner of The Alchemy Studio.
“It all really fell into place,” Steph said of starting the massage business. “It really was the right place, right time.”
Her gratitude is what drives her every day.
“I have such an incredible life. I’ve got a dream job that I love so much. I have an amazing partner, a really cute baby, a sweet house in the mountains… if I didn’t get up every single day and have a great time, it would be a disservice,” Steph said. “I am so grateful for all this abundance.”
Revelstoke’s connection to nature is another thing Steph is eternally grateful for.
“Pre-pregnancy, I did all the typical Revelstoke things; climbing, backcountry snowboarding, typical sporty stuff,” Steph said. “In the first part of my pregnancy, I really grieved my old life. I was so excited to be pregnant and I am so grateful, but I had to let go of my wanderlust a little bit.
“Now, what I’m looking forward to, is sharing all those things with Arrow.”
Luckily, Steph’s career allows her the flexibility to mould her work to fit her schedule.
“I’m still pretty new to this mom thing. Arrow is only four months old,” Steph said, sharing his name is a nod to her partner’s mother who grew up in Arrowhead.
She points to her partner, Keith, too, as a source of strength and support.
“My partner is the best,” she said. “He’s amazing. Keith is such a go-getter. He gets it. He’s rad.”
“I’m planning my return to work right now but I’m not too sure what it’s going to look like,” Steph said. “I do know it will work out somehow.”
Before baby, Steph said she realized work-life balance was crucial in her performance as an RMT.
“I try to never massage more than I’m giving good massages,” she said. “If they’re less good then I’m probably overdoing it.”
She said when she first started working, she was giving six massages a day, five days a week when 15-20 massages a week was typically the norm for other RMTs.
“I realized I would just need to live on a little bit less. Maybe I didn’t need all the money,” she said. “We appreciate so much that drive, that hustle, and Revelstoke is expensive, but cutting back a little bit and not having everything is OK too.”
Instead, Steph finds joy in simple things, like being outside in nature or gardening or finishing the day off with her daily bath.
When drawing inspiration from others, Steph looks to people in her day-to-day life.
“This has shifted in the last few months because now I have Arrow and I’m seeing things through a mom lens.
“I’m finding such a deep appreciation for how I was brought up,” she continued. “My parents were so adventurous. I look up to my mom so much.
“She took three kids on ski trips every weekend or she’d hike us into the middle of nowhere. We were always off the beaten path.
“Now, I’m looking so forward to sharing my passions with the mountains with my son.”
READ MORE: ‘Star in the Sky’: Award-winning Revelstoke filmmaker documents grief and healing in new film
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