New Orleans Pelicans and Saints massage therapist shares her journey of grit and resilience - NOLA.com

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Amanda Martinez is a Mandeville native and massage therapist for the New Orleans Pelicans and New Orleans Saints, as well as the owner of Massage D'ville in Mandeville. She has been practicing massage therapy for 11 years and is a mother of two.

Martinez's road to business ownership and working with professional athletes was not an easy one. In 1999 when she was 15, she was in a difficult place and ended up going to Boys Town in Omaha, Nebraska, where she lived with other teenage girls in a family home and graduated in 2002.



Boys Town is a nonprofit child and family care organization that has been helping others since 1917. Based in Omaha, the organization has programs across the country, including New Orleans. Boys Town Louisiana was founded in 1989 and offers Head Start programs, parenting courses, diagnostic and assessment services, Family Home sites, in-home services for families in crisis and a work development program.









Amanda Martinez, on the left, stands with Rashaine Carriere-Williams, the director of Boys Town Louisiana, at the Spirit of Youth Awards in October 2024.

PROVIDED PHOTO

How did your experience at Boys Town shape your life?


I was a hard-headed teenager, and it was the best decision for my life at the time, to go there. While I was there, Boys Town taught me lots of skills. Before, I didn't really have any guidance, so they gave me the guidance I needed on how to be a good student.

They pushed me to step outside of myself, and it was more of a family environment than what I had come from. They created an environment for kids to thrive. I had family teachers. There were seven other girls in the house, but we all lived as one family.


We all cooked for each other and took turns doing chores. We were like sisters. I'm still in touch with a lot of the girls who I was in school with, and it's just an extended family. We still maintain that connection.







We would do family outings, just normal stuff that families do. A lot of us came from environments where going to movies with your family wasn't something that you did. In my situation, my mom was always working, so it was me raising my sister and brother. We didn't really get to do fun things like that. Boys Town gave us the opportunity to be a kid and to be a teenager.


Are there any lessons that you learned there that you still implement today?

Boys Town taught us problem solving skills. A lot of us were so reactive before we went there. They gave us a chance to slow down and think, to be able to handle a situation in an appropriate way.


They helped us to find the confidence in ourselves. By putting us into sports and pushing us to do electives, we were able to find that grit within ourselves and push ourselves past our boundaries. We were able to dig deep and find who we are, and find our inner strength.







I always have the Boys Town motto, "He ain't heavy, he's my brother," in the back of my mind. This has instilled values of being of service to others in the community when there is a need. We were taught to give back and honor others.

Whenever you have conflict with your daughters, what comes back to you from your experience at Boys Town?



Boys Town definitely had an influence on how I raise my daughters by teaching them how to problem solve and think situations through — teaching them how to navigate through issues and that mistakes are not the end of the world. A mistake is a learning opportunity.

Also, helping them to get involved in extracurriculars and step outside of their norms, and pushing them to be the best version of themselves that they can be.







I keep the door open for them and allow a safe space for them to be themselves. A lot of kids don't have a safe space where they're able to be themselves. And that's just one thing that I like to try to do as a parent.


What do you think people don't understand about teenagers in tough situations?

These kids have so much more to worry about. Some of them go to school and fear for their lives. Some of them don't have, especially in New Orleans, a lot of extracurriculars to go to.


They're not provided safe spaces. Boys Town provided that safe space and that network of people there to help. We were put in an environment that helped us to thrive.



Amanda Martinez working in a massage therapy session with a Saints player.

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How do you use your Boys Town experience in working with professional athletes?







When I was actually at Boys Town, I worked with a lot of the athletes. I was their version of an equipment manager. It was an easy transition.


I find that my experience helps me connect with some of them better, because I was once in an environment where I was surrounded by a bunch of people I didn't know. A lot of these guys are coming in from all over the place. Yeah, they're professional athletes, but they're people, too.

So just providing warmth and being a friend to them. They have such a different mentality at the professional level. They seem to naturally have those personality traits that Boys Town kids have, so there's kind of a connection — that determination, that grit.



How would you describe the kind of environment around a professional sports team?






It's a team environment. With my employees, we're a team. We pick up where the other lacks. We all have each other's backs. It is inspiring to know that everybody's there for a bigger purpose than ourselves.

It's humbling at the same time. I'm definitely grateful to be there. You know, every time I walk in, I get a chill.


Do you know someone who is making a difference or creating solutions? Let us know about them. Email Joy Holden at joy.holden@theadvocate.com.