For Rita Ewing, the process of moving into the wellness industry after co-owning a bookstore for ten years was an interesting one.
“I had done a few creative things,” Rita said. “I’d tried to get a couple of quasi-reality shows produced that never happened.”
When the bookstore’s lease was up, her and her partners decided it was time to transition into something entirely different. Through the process of elimination, and based on her degrees in nursing and law, she chose to foray into the wellness industry with the creation of Massage Envy.
“My health care background was what initially brought me to the area of wellness,” Rita said. “Then, realizing there was a lot of risk and liability in this industry, my legal background made it a little easier for me to understand what I was getting into.”
Rita is also passionate about social justice issues and advocates for people try to see police brutality and systemic racism from the perspective of black people, to try to understand the history of it, and to try to fix these broken systems that create the injustices.
“I think what’s so essential is communication, oftentimes with those closest to you – For white people who have that one or two black friend or friends, and for black people who have that one white friend, to really talk about these issues and to listen."
This story was adapted from the W42ST article, "Rita Ewing doing business while black.”
