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Meet our Staff

Wellness Department

Duke Harvey

Co-Owner, Personal Training & Fitness Professional

Hello, my name is Duke Harvey and I would like to tell you a little story about me. I was born in Cleveland, MS a long time ago. I have two brothers and three sisters, mom and dad. I’m the youngest of my brothers. We moved from Mississippi in 1976 to Chicago, Illinois. What a major change for me. From slow pace to fast pace, overnight. Stayed in Chicago a few years and mom’s decided it’s time for another change. We moved to Middleton, Wisconsin in 1981. What a culture/ethic shock. I’m very proud to say that I have a very KOOL mom that always showed me love and taught me how to understand and accept the good things that life has to offer. As my journey continues with day-to-day changes, I left Middleton and moved to Madison the following year. There I went to Verona High School and graduated from West High School. Yeah, I know a lot of folks.

After high school, I continued to explore life and landed my first full time job in 1984, Humana Insurance Co. In April 1985, my son was born. I have been a single parent since 1986. I resigned from Humana in April 2002 as an Account Executive Medical Underwriter. During the 18+ years in Corporate America, I tailored my life on what keeps me happy. I really enjoy communicating and dealing with people. It’s a natural niche for me. I got into Personal Training 20+ years ago and took that to the next level. From there I moved forward to Natural Bodybuilding, that’s a major “rush,” extremely fun and exciting. I met Nichol Schumacher (business partner) at Bally’s Health Club (in which the gym was my second home). Eleven months later in December 1997, Nichol and I purchased Kneaded Relief Day Spa. Another goal completed. I enrolled at A SpiriTouch Massage School in July 1999 and completed the 700 hour program in: Swedish massage, deep tissue massage, Reiki I, Posturology by Paul St. John, trigger point, acupressure massage, sports massage, lymphatic drainage massage (head, neck and shoulders), St. John’s Neuromuscular Pelvic Stabilization, utilization motions massage, hydrotherapy and aromatherapy massage. I graduated from A SpiriTouch Massage School in May 2000. Finally, my life is in COLOR. I truly embrace the loyalty of love and have found peace in my journey to believe in fate (all things happen for a reason). Massage, what can I say: I truly love it. It’s a passion that I can’t put into words. As I have been told, “there’s nothing like a Duke massage” Well, this chapter is coming to a close; I would like to thank you for reading this.

My next journey is to get to know “you.” Live in peace and keep smiling.

Kisha Mahone

Certified Personal Trainer

Born and raised in Wisconsin, my first dose of fitness was at age 2 when my mom signed me up for ballet class – I was totally hooked. I started dancing seriously ever since. I trained in ballet and modern dance at the North Shore School of Dance in Chicago for many years. I also danced throughout high school. I won many cheer and dance competitions and taught dance and aerobic classes since I was 15 years old.

My cheerleading scholarship brought me to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I continued studying ballet and modern dance. A month before graduating from the University, I was in a bad car accident and ended up shattering my humerus. My life seemed to stop, while everyone else’s kept going. Since the doctors said I’d never be able to use my arm again, I was determined that they were wrong. I worked for years and years to get my arm back to normal. It was a hard, long road, but it happened. And not only did my arm heal, but it became even stronger then it was before I broke it. Watching my arm and rest of my body transform after a horrible accident, was amazing to me – the power of fitness!

I ended up graduating in 2000 with degrees in English and Creative Writing. I then moved to Chicago and worked as a writer at an advertising agency for approximately 5 years. I actually started missing all of my dance and fitness past, so I began dancing for the Luv-a-Bulls, the Chicago Bulls Cheerleaders. After my Chicago stint, I began dancing for a famous burlesque group, FortyDeuce, in Hollywood and Las Vegas (Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino) a few times a month. Flying out there, practicing for 8 hours a day with famous choreographers, and performing – it was the best time! I began to concentrate more on my dancing vs. my writing job. For my dance job, I had to work out A LOT to get in to the best shape. And this became my life. Loving fitness so much, I decided to get my certification in Personal Training (Fitour).

I moved back to Madison to enroll in law school (that’s on hold…) and came across Kneaded Relief. I definitely felt a connection here, and have loved every second since I’ve been here. I think energy and atmosphere is so important, and Kneaded Relief has the best of both. I work as a Personal Trainer here at Kneaded Relief, and I’m still dancing with FortyDeuce, and teaching dance classes at Memorial High School. I believe that anyone can change their body, and I’m totally here to help them reach their fitness and health goals. Yay!

David Welther

Tai Chi Instructor

Ni hao (Hello), I’m David Welther and I came to Kneaded Relief because of their unique emphasis on “wellness”. Their desire to provide healing and fitness services along with comforting experiences made me want to be a part of their team. As a Tai Chi instructor, I believe that to achieve wellness our health should be cared for on a daily basis instead of only fixing things once they’re broken. I grew up outside of Chicago and began martial art training at a young age. As a teenager I was introduced to Chinese Kung Fu through a friend and it became my sole passion for many years. So much so, I eventually graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a B.A. in Languages and Cultures of Asia.

One of the many things that amazed me about my Kung Fu teachers was that if one of us got hurt they always knew a remedy. They knew just the right massage techniques or they had just the right liniment (which they brewed themselves) to take the pain away and speed up recovery. Deep within the Chinese martial art culture is the belief that if you train your body to hurt others you have to also know how to heal them. Therefore, Tai Chi and herbology were part of my martial art training. Tai Chi especially mystified me because it was considered firstly a martial art but also a healing exercise that strengthened the body, mind, and many believe - extends life.

While training in China in 2001, I woke up early to go to the park one morning and I saw a large group of people, young and old, practicing Tai Chi. I asked a local if there was a special event going on and he told me “this is what people have been doing here every morning for hundreds of years.” It was then that I began training the Tai Chi I learned in my youth as an investment into my own overall health and wellness.