‘When you gave me a massage I saw the light’, Jack Black wrote. Pharrell Williams texted: ‘My body thx U’. And Will.I.Am said: ‘You have magic hands!’ All three of them were referring to Esther van der Plas who after completing her studies in the U.S. started working as a massage therapist for lots of different artists. And this year she opened the third branch of her massage therapy company Doctor Feelgood right here at the Zuidas.
Esther van der Plas. PHOTO: OONA MAKES PICTURES
‘Did you open another business? I’m proud of you’, Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music told her when he was in Amsterdam recently. Esther has been kneading the muscles of virtually every celebrity artist: from Bruno Mars, Lionel Richie, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and John Mayer to Justin Bieber and Rihanna.
Stressed-out people
“A long time ago I was on a plane to the U.S. to visit my father and I saw so many stressed-out people around me. I was convinced they’d feel a lot better if they had a massage regularly. I went to Taos, New Mexico, where I studied massage therapy and ended up staying for fifteen years. There I met many special people such as Sting, Julia Roberts, Paul Simon, Dennis Hopper and the cast of Friends.”
“To me it’s a great challenge to work with people performing at a very high level; I can help them to feel totally relaxed so they can get the best out of themselves. I really love doing something with a deeper meaning and for me that is massage. It makes me very happy and it gives me energy. And I feel I can really make a difference. Whenever Lionel Richie is in the Netherlands, he says: ‘Get me my Esther!’”
Read the whole interview in our magazine; ZUIDAS. magazine is also in written in English and you can find a copy in every public area on the Zuidas.
Earlier we published stories with Martje Statema, Willemijn O’Connor, Marleen Evertsz and Janine and Anna Uittenbosch.