“I attended the University of Vermont in the mid-‘80s and after graduating, I moved to Marietta, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta, where I attended Life University and studied massage therapy. I began working for a chiropractor, who encouraged me to go into the field.

“While at the University of Vermont, I had become good friends with the members of Phish. In 1994, while the band was passing through Atlanta on tour, the lead guitarist and vocalist, Trey Anastasio, came to see me; he had fallen through a hole in the stage, sprained his ankle and was unsure he’d be able to continue touring. After I gave him a chiropractic adjustment and a deep-tissue massage on his ankle, he said, ‘You should work with us all the time.’ Musicians have a tendency to lean forward while they play, which affects their muscles and posture. So I started flying out to be with the band in different cities on weekends, giving the band, crew and staff massages and adjustments. Over the summer, I’d go out and do a group of shows, and the following year, I took off to tour with the band—we did 60 shows in 90 days.

“Eventually I began touring with the band full-time and became their road manager, as well. I scheduled interviews, tracked down friends at concerts and took care of their health needs. I met a lot of people while on tour—Jimmy Buffett, Neil Young—and even visited Prince’s recording studio. One of my favorite memories is of the Big Cypress Festival at the Seminole Reservation here in Florida on New Year’s Eve 1999; there were 80,000 people in attendance and it was the largest paid New Year’s Eve event in the world.

“After doing over 500 shows with the band from 1994-2003, I became busier in my private practice and decided to stop touring. In September 2007, my family and I left Vermont to move here—we have family in Clearwater and Longboat Key, and we wanted to be closer to them—and had a wonderful opportunity to open Natural Healing Arts. My goal is to improve people’s quality of life.”

—Megan McDonald