Meet Your New Neighbors

Last July, Emily and Paul Sandholdt moved to Tehachapi from a small country town in Central Illinois called Loda. The adventure came about when Paul, who had spent the last five years with GE Wind, was offered a job with them in California. It was not an easy decision as both of them had grown up in the Midwest ; however they had friends in Los Angeles and Paul had two sisters who had moved to Northern California 15 years ago, so west they came. Emily says that Tehachapi reminds her of the rural area they came from so that has helped with the separation anxiety from her family.

Both Emily and Paul were born and raised in Clinton, Iowa, on the Mississippi River. Emily is in the middle of seven girls. Her parents have owned Van Kampen Therapeutic Massage and Wellness there for 30 years. Emily did her massage therapy training at the Institute of Therapeutic Massage and Wellness in Davenport, Ia. over 15 years ago while she was still in high school. She said that she had expected it to be a stepping stone to a possible nursing career. Now she is Nationally (NCTMB) and State Certified (Iowa, Illinois and now California) as a massage therapist. She worked in the family business along with her six sisters for eight years. The services offered by the business ranged from hot stone massage to prenatal/doula services and nutritional consulting.

Paul had been working in construction when, at the age of 29, he decided on a career change to the wind energy field and the family relocated to Spirit Lake, Ia. for his two year training program. Emily said that it was a scary move at the time. It was in Spirit Lake that Emily launched her own business, Massage Elements, in a local chiropractic clinic. She began to expand her services toward energy healing and trained in Usui Reiki, reaching level three. With the addition of essential oils, reiki and chakra clearing, she was able to create an individualized healing program for clients.

Paul was transferred to Illinois in 2012 and the family again relocated, this time to Loda. Emily opened Massage Elements in the State Street Mall in Paxton, Ill. The business thrived in the rural community and attracted a wide range of clients including farmers, blue collar workers, teachers and athletes. “Working with a variety of all peoples is what I love most about my job,” says Emily. She found that eventually she needed to employ other therapists and an office manager. She sold that business when the family moved to California last summer.

It didn’t take long for Emily to find her niche in Tehachapi. For the last few months she has been offering her services through a wellness center in Old Town; however, in January she will be opening her own business in partnership with her friend Judy Keller. Holistic Hearts Massage will be located at 21030 Mission St. Suite A in Old Town. She will be offering many modalities of massage therapy including Swedish, deep tissue, hot stones, cupping, prenatal, raindrop or aroma touch, ashiatsu and reflexology. She also offers other services such as Reiki, herbal and nutritional consultation, ear candling, paraffin dip and spa wraps.

Emily and Paul love spending time with their two children. They are an outdoor and sports-loving family. They love boating, biking, hiking and skiing. Paul loves to fish and has recently begun working with his two new racing pigeons. Emily practices yoga meditation. They both attend their children’s sporting events. Their daughter, Irey, is a freshman at Tehachapi High School and their son, Iven, is a sixth grader at Jacobsen. Irey plays JV volleyball, Varsity basketball and is looking at softball as well. Iven loves baseball and currently plays with the Tehachapi Outlaws.

A huge Tehachapi welcome to the Sandholt family and I am certain that we will be hearing much more from all of them.

If you have moved to the Greater Tehachapi Area within the last six months and would like to know more about your new community, call (661) 822-8188. We will be happy to make an appointment for a hostess to come by and give you lots of helpful information, some valuable coupons, gifts and much more. Many families and individuals who come to the area are pleasantly surprised with the amount of knowledge they gather about their new home. Publishing your welcome article is completely voluntary and is not a requirement of being welcomed.