We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Megan Kussmaul a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Megan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

After giving birth to my two children and having birth experiences with each of them that did not go as planned, I found myself having issues with postpartum anxiety. After my second postpartum experience, I started a daily yoga practice to help with my mental and emotional health and well-being. When I noticed how much it had benefited me, I knew that I wanted to help others in a similar way. That is when I took the 200 hour yoga teacher training in 2017. It was an amazing experience and every weekend of the training felt like a retreat. It was also around this time that I started my chiropractic pediatric and prenatal training, as I knew that I wanted to help women and children in any way that I could, especially the ones who had similar experiences that I had. With yoga, I now primarily market and teach to postpartum women, as I truly believe that they do not receive enough support, and I only wish that I would have had more support with a yoga community after I had my babies.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I discovered chiropractic at a very young age, thanks to my family, as I was apparently a very fussy infant. I also grew up going to the Chiropractor whenever I was sick or was experiencing some sort of discomfort, but when my Mom, sister and I were in a minor car accident when I was 9 years old, I had to go quite frequently. From then on, I knew that I wanted to be a Chiropractor when I grew up and thankfully my dreams came true. After I graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, IA, I worked for another Chiropractor as an Associate for a little over 5 years, and then from there, I was fortune enough to buy a practice from another female Chiropractor in 2017. Here I am, over 6 years later, and I have the practice of my dreams called Primitive Health Chiropractic and Wellness Center in Marquette, Iowa where I see mostly women (pregnant or postpartum) and children. My sister does massage in my office, my office manager does craniosacral therapy and reflexology, and there is another Chiropractor who works in the office with me. We also have an infrared sauna and an ionic foot bath and are always looking to expand and add more modalities. I currently teach yoga about once a month in a space near my office, and my favorite class to teach is a core and pelvic floor flow yoga directed towards postpartum women.
I am very passionate about helping others, and I look forward to helping as many women as possible in their journey to and through motherhood, with Chiropractic and yoga, while also caring for their families and children.

Can you talk to us about your experience with buying businesses?

As I stated previously, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to purchase an already established practice from another Chiropractor in 2017. While she did a lot more energy healing and did not work as much with kids, once I took over, I transformed the practice into what I had envisioned: to work with the prenatal, postpartum and pediatric populations.

Coming from working with another Chiropractor as an Associate, I knew I did not want to be an employee, and at first I did not want to buy a practice because I thought she would want too much money for it. However, we were able to come up with an amazing contract that I could not refuse, as I was able to fully own the practice after a year of working as the business owner instead of taking out a loan in the beginning. After that year was up, my husband and I were also able to purchase the building and equipment. If I had to do it all over again, I would not do anything differently.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

When I started my own practice, one of the first books that I ready that has helped me ever since with collections and money was Profit First by: Mike Michalowicz. This book discusses how to pay yourself first on the very first day that you start a business by looking at money and your profits in a different way. Most business owners have one account, maybe two at the bank where they put their collections, and they tend to pay all of their expenses and bills first before ever paying themselves. This book and all of the protocols in it discuss how it is best to have several accounts at the bank to move money into as percentages. These then change over time with the business and can help set you up for financial success down the road while paying yourself something at all times. It has been a game changer since day 1 for me, and I suggest that all business owners read it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.primitivehealthchiro.com
• Instagram: @primitivehealthchiro
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/primitivehealthchiro

Image Credits
Lindsey Ludvik Photography in the first picture of my family (I do have rights to the photo)