At 829 Pitkin Avenue, Glenwood Springs, a charming white-brick house with a notable garden stands welcoming to all who pass by. In the house, the mix of modern plush blankets over massage tables fits perfectly with the historic door frames and original glass windows. This is where Zach Parks, a blind massage therapist, runs his practice, Invision Massage Glenwood Springs.
“I wanted to do something to play off of blindness,” Parks said of the name of the business. “It was just something we had come up with because of the play on words, like being blind and then you can envision what you want to do. And clients in massage have a vision of what they want or what results need to happen … so it kind of plays on every piece of it.”
Another member of this business is Raider, Parks’ guide dog, who lays near Parks ready to greet clients. Parks jokes that Raider runs the place, and it almost seems true with the detailed oil painting of the handsome, dark-haired dog hung above the desk in the entry room.
Sheila Mossman, his business partner, chuckles over the phone as Parks explains Raider got up to find her when he heard her voice. Mossman handles admin and other work that is challenging for Parks to navigate. Parks began taking clients at the location last December.
“The house came on the market in January of 2025, and we had been looking for a place,” Mossman explained. “We were thrilled to find it because it is a beautiful house, and it has a lot of character and a lot of history.”
Mossman and Parks talked about the extensive renovation process of redoing the electrical, putting in a new HVAC system, adding a hallway to create two beautiful massage rooms, one for couples and the other where Parks usually works, and much more. Parks also shared that he has a woodshop in the basement and that he did a lot of the work around the house himself, like adding matching baseboards to a new hallway.
“My daughter and I went into the basement and we just built it,” Parks said, pointing to the baseboards as he gave a tour through each room.
He shared one special vision that has stayed with him from when he transitioned from being sighted to no longer being able to see.
“I remember my kids being little. That’s how I picture them and see their faces still … but they’re not little anymore,” he said.
His kids, now 16 and 19, are both over six-feet tall, just like their father.
Parks was 28 when he became blind. His total loss of vision happened over the course of five months. “I took a blunt force trauma to my right eye and got a bad surgeon, and here we are,” he explained.
Before he went to school to become a massage therapist, Parks went to the Colorado Center for the Blind in 2017 where he learned home management, travel, technology and braille. He emphasized that braille was difficult to learn as someone formerly working in construction with very little feeling in the tips of his fingers.
“Now that I do this, and I can feel different muscles and tendons and strands in people’s bodies, I could probably start to learn braille better now,” he said.
Parks worked many odd jobs before coming into massage therapy and creating his practice.
“Back in the day, it was a stereotypical blind person’s job,” Parks said, clarifying why he was originally apprehensive about becoming a massage therapist, “and I didn’t want to be a stereotypical person.”
Today, Parks exudes joy and appreciation for his work.
“I love it. I really enjoy it, and I get to talk to different people every day; I like to socialize,” he said. “I know a lot of people think it’s weird to talk during a massage, but I usually don’t start the conversation. A lot of times people are curious about me being blind and how we got here, and so then it opens up a door to talk about all kinds of stuff.”
Parks’ practice is focused on massaging with insight and his sapience seeps into his practice.
“I will say that Zach has an amazing memory, so never question him when he remembers things differently than you do,” Mossman laughed along with Parks. “He’s not taking in visual stimulation so he remembers everything you say.”
Invision Massage in Glenwood Springs also staffs certified female massage therapists. Find information about Zach Parks’ practice at invisionmassagegwsco.com