Christensen puts 'magic hands' to good use in massage therapy

She has younger brothers named Jory and Jaxon who are known for using their hands and muscles to pin wrestling opponents into submission on the mats for Nodaway Valley, but Jenna Christensen says people have told her that she is actually the one with the magic hands.

The 2017 NV graduate decided that she should put those magic hands to work in a career, so following high school she studied massage therapy. This week, she’s seeing all that hard work come to fruition as she begins seeing clients in Fontanelle in the rear of her mother, Justi’s, hair salon — The Best Little Hair House.

The beauty industry has been a part of Jenna’s life from the beginning. Her mother first owned Justi’s Beauty Barn before moving onto the Fontanelle square.

“I’ve always wanted to do something to help people. I’d always give shoulder massages at family events and everyone would tell me I had magic hands. That got me thinking,” Jenna said.

As she got into her senior year of high school, things came together and Jenna decided to attend the Aveda Institute in West Des Moines. The school has three tracks, for cosmatology, esthetology and massage therapy.

“To give good massages you have to have strong hands and arms. Self care is very big. You have to take care of your hands because you give a lot of massages throughout day and you’ll wear your hands out if you don’t take care of yourself,” Jenna said. “You also have to have 750 hours of schooling, and once you get that, you take your state exam, which I passed my first time. After that, you apply to get your state license.”

Jenna is excited that she’s giving her first massages this week in her new digs.

“When I was graduating from high school, I had all sorts of community members and friends who were excited for me to stay here,” Christensen said. “There’s not really anyone nearby who does massages so I’m excited to be here in the community so they don’t have to travel an hour drive to Des Moines for a massage.”