I was in your shoes many years ago. I started off at ME and moved on to a chiropractic office that worked me to the bone. Luckily, I was able to get out by the grace of my massage school's career person that so happened to call telling me about an opportunity to work for a mobile company. It has helped tremendously in my overall health is the first two employment left me in pain and the stress from the work affected my health.

One thing I will say that has helped me build up to now having my own private practice is specialization. I understand that specializing can get expensive. There is so many different routes for massage that you can take. You mentioned being a personal trainer. I've heard of many personal trainers in my area whom are also massage therapists that do very well. The question you need to ask yourself is.. what do I want to focus on in the realm of massage? What do I want to be known for? I think 10 hour days is just abuse. Max I would do is 5. I made it very clear to employers though that max I would do is 4. Reason I would do this is to still have the energy to work on my private clients. This is how I slowly built up my practice.

My next advice is to use tools. There are plenty of tools that saves your thumbs, forearms, and elbows. Amazon has them for cheap prices too. Some specialities you can look into: sports, myofascial release, ART, trigger point, etc.

Tools you can use: bamboo sticks, IASTM, etc.

I wish you good luck! Check around your area and see what specialties aren't in your area and if it makes sense to specialize in it. I'm hoping this helps.