Today we’d like to introduce you to Shawn Stewart.
Hi Shawn, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
To me, massage is more then a job to me its my passion, when I give a massage I want the person to come off my table saying that was the best massage I have ever received, that’s why I became a massage therapist 15 years ago, funny thing was right after school I was not sure what i wanted to do with my life. One day I was working at Burger King and we were slammed all day, im talking about orders non stop, no break, just busy. One of my co-workers came down with a headache and the upper management asked if anyone knew how to do massage. Now I didn’t know the first thing about massage, all I know is I want off of this register. I raised my hand and say I do and they looked at me and said “you know how to do massage”? Yes I do, I said. They said I had 15 minutes to go to the back and work her neck and shoulders. Never in a million years would I have thought that my whole life was about to change. I was able to make her headache go away. I knew at that moment that I wanted to do massage. As a kid I always had the itch to help people or make someone else that was sad feel happy again. A prime example was if someone was crying I was the type of person who would purposefully run into a trash can and proceed to say “ who puts a trash can right here”? In that moment it didn’t matter to me that they thought I was silly, the only thing that mattered was they were not crying anymore.
This itch helped create the passion that I have for massage, I love giving massage therapy and I love even more helping people feel better. Life is short and I feel we should be living the best versions of our life. This comes from when I was 17. I was on my way home from work on December 19th, 1999 and I had just left work because I was in training to become a manager. It was like two in the morning and I was 5 minutes from home so I decided to turn my heat on in my car because I had driven the whole way with my windows down and I was freezing. I fell asleep behind the wheel and ended up hitting two trees at an estimated 75 mph because my foot relaxed on the accelerator. Right before impact I felt like someone was tapping my shoulder like they were trying to wake me up. I woke up right before the impact. I still remember the sound of the tires hitting the gravel, the impact into the tree, being knocked out by the rearview mirror. The car ended up hitting so hard that the motor was pushed through the passenger seat into the back seat. When I came too I was still in the driver seat and I looked to my right and there was this bright shining light, like someone was shining a flash light in my car, then I felt weightless as someone pulled me out of the car through the passenger side. When I got up there was no one there, this scared me and I ran, yes ran to the nearest house in search of help. Remember it is 3am about this time when I ran up and started knocking on this couple’s door. They opened the door and saw the blood running down my face and they quickly jumped into action to help me. I walked away from this accident without hardly a scratch. I had a huge knot from one side of my forehead to the other, two black eyes, a few cuts and burns but no serious injury. On the way to the hospital the EMT said if I had hit just one inch to the left I would not be here today. Remember the tap on my shoulder, I was awake just enough to steer that one inch that saved my life. When we got to the hospital they did a MRI and the doctors were amazed to see that I had no signs of concussion, or brain bleed, everything was okay. The next day I went and looked at my car and everything was gone except that cross that I had gotten when I had gotten baptized. I knew at that moment that God saved me for a reason and I believe that reason is to help people and serve people. I came away from that accident with two main staples in my life 1) Life is short and 2) everything happens for a reason. I say that because my best friend was supposed to ride home with me that night and he would have been in the passenger seat. Minutes before we were supposed to leave he had a change of plans which saved his life. I still wear that cross today to remind me that life is short, so if there is something i need to say i’m going to say it. If I’m unsure about doing something , I’m reminded that life is short and we only get one shot in this life, so when I saw an advertisement for the first ever American Massage Championships I knew that I had to be a part of this. I knew nothing about what was going to happen, I just knew I wanted to be a part of history. At this Championship in 2022 I ended up winning a gold medal for my wellness massage. Then in 2023 i competed with team USA at the world massage championships and walked away the 4th best sports massage therapist in the world! After that I went back to the American Massage Championships and I won Silver in Sports Massage. In 2024 I had the extreme honor of being inducted into the Massage Therapy Hall Of Fame. Then in 2025 I became a Teacher with the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. In 2017-2023 I was voted top 5 best massage therapist in the city of Fredericksburg.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
On my very first day of class my teacher asked me to stay after class, I thought oh man my first day and I am already in trouble. She sat me down and told me point blank that as a male I was going to have a very hard time in this profession and asked me if I was prepared to deal with all the things that came with being a male massage therapist. I’m so glad that she did because she gave me the drive I needed to go out and prove that I have the talent and the gift from god to be able to be successful. Now she wasn’t wrong, there were challenges and setbacks just because I was a male but I was determined to succeed because it was my passion.
As you know, we’re big fans of Stone Tower Massage. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Why the name Stone Tower Massage you might ask. When you look at the castle the first line of defense is the tower, you can see the enemies coming from miles away! As a massage therapist I want to be your tower, to protect from injury, to help you heal quicker, and make sure to keep your body safe from the enemy. At Stone Tower Massage I specialize in Sports, Therapeutic, and Thai massage. I also offer prenatal massage as well. I am most known for my sports and therapeutic massage. At Stone Tower Massage we have one of the only service’s in the area that offer 3 hours of hands on massage. This service combines my award winning sports massage with my award winning wellness massage, finished with my signuatre face massage. I am so excited to be included as the top 5 best massage therapist in the Fredericksburg Neighbors voting. I am nationally certified through the National Certification Board of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork as well as licensed through the state of Virginia.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to me is what I do with my talent that god gave me. Like Leo Buscaglia said “Your talent is god’s gift to you, What you do with it, is your gift to god”. When I massage my clients I feel I’m in total connection with God. I am taking out the bad, giving it to God, God makes it new, gives it back to me, and then finally I give it to the client. I care for and about people which makes doing massage even more profound for me. It’s not just another massage, or a body. It is an opportunity to give someone the gift of pain relief, or stress relief. It’s my opportunity to show compassion and understanding when someone is hurting. It’s my opportunity to make a difference in my community.
My wifey is also the most important thing to me, without her pushing me to be better, giving me the courage to stand on my feet, supporting me in the struggles, none of this would be possible. She is my partner in crime and she is the backbone of Stone Tower Massage. She does so much for the business that I am able to just focus on giving the best massage I possibly can and that in itself is one of the greatest gifts anyone can ask for.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.vagaro.com/stonetowermassage
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stmassage_shawn
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sdslmt
