BOSSIER CITY, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – For some veterans, coming back to daily life after serving the country is difficult.

“I joined when I was 17 years old so, I’ve never known not being a military member as an adult so, 21 years I goes by fast, but it’s a very long time. And transitioning from the military it’s a different world,” said veteran, Brandon Jacobson.

Jacobson served in the Air Force and retired in 2020. He says that he has always suffered from back pain.

“While we have physical therapy, it’s not the most efficient, not everyone gets the benefit from it, and traditional massages are getting more and more expensive,” said Jacobson.

His wife, Grace, gifted him a massage that relieved his pain. He was inspired to start a business to continue to serve his community, even as a retired veteran.

Grace & Peace Wellness Center provides health services through a heated, automatic massage bed. There are jade stones that work up and down the spine. The center also has Normatec leg compression sleeves to help relieve stress by targeting pressure points.

“If you’ve suffered from any kind of long-term pain, 1-3 days of that pain being gone is magic so, when we retired and decided to move here, we were just inspired to offer that kind of relief to other people,” said Jacobson.

The center has been open since 2022, and both Jacobson and his wife are thankful to the community for supporting a local, veteran-owned business. He says starting a new business can be scary.

“I know that not being from a local area, especially something as small as Bossier or Benton or Shreveport can be intimidating, it’s easier to do in a large city,” said Jacobson.

To help support and promote veteran-owned businesses to the public, there is the Louisiana Veterans First Business Initiative. The program provides a database for owners, with 51% ownership, who are veterans, active-duty or reserve military, or gold star spouses.