OUR STORY

Hi I’m Melissa Vanderipe, founder and lead massage therapist at Salt Earth Massage & Dry Salt Therapy in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1997, I started my career in the spa industry as a manicurist at a really popular spa here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Throughout the years I ended up in different spas and learned a lot about what to do to create an amazing experience for clients. What I found is I was really interested in creating my own way of treating people so they could feel seen, heard, and loved, and I knew I would want to implement some day in my own spa. I just didn’t know at the time what my specialty would be.

In 2012 I came across a client who had taken her family back east for vacation. Her son dealt with severe allergies because the plant life there was so much different than it was at home and it really plagued his respiratory system. They came across some people while on vacation who recommended they visit a salt room to clear up the symptoms. So they did. And it worked. My client’s some saw such improvement, he was able to enjoy the rest of their vacation without issue.

As she was telling me this story I thought, “Oh my gosh, everyone I know has allergies!”. And I knew, this was it. This is what I can do different to set us apart and allow us to serve clients beyond regular spa services like massage and facials. As I was processing this new pathway, I researched, visited other salt spas and learned so much. I learned salt therapy has so many other benefits aside from respiratory health. It does cleanse your lungs, it helps with asthma, COPD, allergies, bronchitis, even cystic fibrosis.

And that was the one that sold me on dry salt therapy, cystic fibrosis. I was visiting a salt room in Dallas, Texas, and I met a lady there who had suffered with cystic fibrosis. She was 39 years old and she told me that dry salt therapy had dramatically improved the quality of her life. After that conversation, I knew we had to bring this kind of holistic wellness to Tulsa.

Armed with this newfound passion and all of my research, I began to look for our building and putting together all of the elements for the spa. It didn’t happen in the timing I expected, but the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The plan was to open in 2020, but as we now know we were so blessed to avoid the shut down, and Salt Earth officially opened its doors in November of 2020. Because of this timing, we were able to help numerous people recover from the respiratory virus so many were experiencing.

While I knew a lot of different things about the vision and the foundation of Salt Earth, the way it would evolve and grow came out to be around community. When I began this venture, I brought with me about 400 clients, and in the first year we were able to add about 1300 clients. It has been amazing to see how community has formed around health and holistic wellness.

One thing I always knew in my heart, is I wanted it to be more than a spa, more than an experience. I knew we needed to have a strong, solid mission. So here, the mission that God gave us, is to do what we could to eradicate human trafficking on three different levels. We support three organizations, a local organization called The Demand Project, a national organization called Divine Horse Reflections and Yoga Faith, and an international organization called Life Impact International. A portion of every sale at Salt Earth goes monthly to support these organizations, and work to end modern-day slavery.

Here at Salt Earth, you are seen, you are heard. We see you and we want to know you. Thank you for letting us be a part of your life.