Fateful slip on butter turns woman into successful masseuse

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Most people change their lives by switching jobs or going back to school. Michelle Moe changed hers by slipping on a pat of butter.

Not on purpose, mind you. It was 1992, and Moe, the conference concierge at the Ritz-Carlton, Kansas City, was just walking down a flight of stairs. Then she hit the butter. The resulting fall cracked her tailbone and sent shockwaves of pain up her back.

It was all she could take. Moments before she had found out that her second husband was leaving and that she would be raising her two children as a single mom. Sprawled at the bottom of the stairs, she cried out in pain and wondered if things could get any worse.

Instead they got better.

A lot better.

Author, lecturer, CEO

The only thing she's slipping on these days are the buttery soft leather seats in her champagne-colored Cartier edition Lincoln Town Car. Recently she drove the car to St. Luke's Northland Hospital to give a speech. Dressed in a crisp camel pantsuit she delivered a talk to nursing home caregivers about her life, the benefits of massage and positive thought.

The 39-year-old Kansas City woman is an author, international lecturer and CEO of her own company.

Ten years ago you couldn't have convinced the biggest gambler to put $20 on the chance that her life would turn around like this.

She grew up poor. Her parents split up. She was overweight, had low self-esteem and got teased about her flat nose. She never learned to read well and even into her 30s was a functional illiterate. She earned poor marks in school and dropped out in the 10th grade. Twice divorced, she raised two children as a single mom with few prospects and little money.

But several years later, in the late '90s, Kansas City Chiefs tackle Jeff Criswell invested $100,000 in her without a business plan. In two years that investment swelled to $1.3 million.

The money helped Moe found Kisses From Heaven Inc., a wellness store in Independence. Her first product, an infant massage kit, is still one of her best sellers. The kit, which contains a 36-page illustrated manual, bottle of almond oil, tiny neck roll and an instructional video, has been endorsed by Missouri's Children's Trust Fund as a tool to help prevent child abuse. Through grants, the organization has paid for thousands of the kits to be distributed to new mothers in seven hospitals from Kansas City to St. Louis.

Fear disappeared

She credits an encounter with God.

God entered her life on Nov. 2, 1992, when she was financially strapped and worried she might lose her home. Never much for religion, she fell to her knees and prayed.

"God help me," she pleaded in a desperate voice. She continued praying until she cried herself to sleep. The rest is hard to believe, she said, but true.

"I woke up the next day and literally my whole body stood right up," she said. "It was the most profound thing that ever happened to me."

All her fears were gone. A peace came over her that even she didn't quite understand.

Today she has learned to read, lost weight and restored her self-esteem. She's moving into a new house, and her business is thriving. It's going so well she stopped massaging clients several years ago to devote herself to her business full time. In addition to the kits, she's marketing a massage program, Touch for Life, to nursing homes.

And just recently she returned from a business trip to Germany, where she is presenting massage seminars to Army families. The Army is now considering distributing her kits to its bases in Europe.

Promised not to sue

But none of it would have been possible without the butter.

After the slip, Moe left the hotel's employ and agreed not to sue. In return the Ritz gave her $5,000 and sent her to get therapeutic massages.

The money was nice. The massage was nicer. Thumbs kneaded her muscles until the stress melted away. The good touch not only healed her body, but it also nourished her soul. Then she made a decision. She would be a massage therapist.

She paid several thousand dollars to an Overland Park massage school. Only one problem: They used books. And they expected students to read them aloud in class.

Panicked, she ran from the room. Later she asked for her money back. The owner told Moe she had already spent it and offered to train her personally. No books. Oral exams. She agreed and finished 1,000 hours of massage training and was certified.

Now all she needed was some business.

Moe had one corporate client but needed more. She opened up the Yellow Pages and started with A. Business after business turned her down. Then she came to the Kansas City Chiefs. She called the locker room and talked to strength and conditioning coach Dave Redding.

"Hi," she said. "My name's Michelle Moe and you need me, you just don't know why."

Redding sighed.

"I got things to do," he said. "Call back later."

Persistent calls

So she did. Every two weeks for three months. Her persistence paid off. Redding finally agreed to a massage. Afterward, he told her he would send some Chiefs players to her.

Moe doesn't remember the first Chiefs player Redding sent to her. But she remembers the second -- a new quarterback named Joe Montana.

Whether she knew it or not, she was headed for the big time.

But not right away. In fact, during Montana's first massage with Moe, she was still so poor she had food stamps in her back pocket that she would use to buy dinner for her children.

Other Chiefs players followed.

But it was her relationship with offensive lineman Jeff Criswell and his wife, Nita, that changed her life yet again.

Nita and Jeff Criswell had been trying to have a baby for seven years. Finally, in 1996, Nita became pregnant. Wanting to give Nita a special gift, Moe decided to miniaturize her massage studio, and the kit was born. The Criswells loved it. And when Moe said she'd like to market it, they became her partners.