We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jared Lien a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jared, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.
The early days as an acupuncturist are pretty tough. Most acupuncturist get out of school, pass their boards and then have nowhere to work. This leaves you with a couple options, go work for someone else or start your own practice. I was no different, I worked at a Hilton Spa and several Chiropractors offices before finally starting my own office 5 years later.
Dr. Curda at Personalized Chiropractic gave me a great opportunity as a new grad. He allowed me to work from his office when he was not there on a per patient split. This was extremely helpful as a new grad so I did not have to pay rent every month, but paid per patient when I was actually using the space. This arrangement worked well for several years so I could build up my clientele and learn how to run a practice. Eventually I started renting space from him before I transitioned to having my first office. I learned while working here that its important as a new grad or a seasoned veteran to keep your costs down.
I was nursing part time during school and while building my practice. Being a nurse was a great asset but it also slowed down my ability to grow and learn as a doctor and business owner. Nursing requires a great deal of energy working 12 hours shifts. This did not leave me with a lot of Qi left over to build my practice. The money generated from nursing was necessary to survive in San Diego but it came at a cost of slow growth initially with my business. For most of us living in California you need a steady job while building up your practice but it does slow the growth of your acupuncture business. Its hard to find a balance while creating a new business however I think the sooner you can fully focus on your passion the better off you are in the long run.
Early on you have to do whatever it takes to find patients; networking events, visiting other doctors offices to create referral partnerships, house calls etc…
Where I found the easiest referrals was doing the hobbies that I was most passionate about; Gyms, yoga studios, family & sporting events with our son. Referrals at these events where completely natural and easy.
The most important lessons I learned early on where maintaining consistency, even though you have no idea what will work and won’t. Do something every day. The number one rule is Never, Ever, Give up!
The best advice I could give any new grad or business owner is seek out mentors and people that are already successful in what your doing. They have already made the mistakes and will be happy to tell you how to avoid them.
I think the one thing I would have done differently is starting my own office sooner. My business has grown exponentially since getting my own space. Its nice to be in control of your space and time.
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 am a passionate husband, father and practitioner. . I grew up with two brothers in Kansas. I moved out to San Diego as a traveling nurse 16 years ago. I had a father that was an entrepreneur who instilled a hard working mindset for all of us.
Nursing is what drove me to Chinese medicine and holistic health. Western medicine is more about sick care and management of disease. I enjoy working on health care and helping people to reinvigorate health and wellness.
I was a college wrestler and unfortunately suffered many injuries which cut my career short. I have a lot of personal experience with sports medicine and rehabbing my body. This is one reason why sports medicine with acupuncture is so fun for me. I can help people recover from injuries and help them enjoy life again. Acupuncture and Chinese herbs can help anyone recover from acute or chronic injuries. We treat all ages from young kids to the elderly. The body has a miraculous ability to heal given the right tools and time.
I was a cardiac and stroke care nurse for over 17 years working in acute care in the hospital and cath lab. Nursing made me interested in internal medicine and drives my hunger to help prevent people from getting heart disease and cancer. Prevention is the key with chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Once you have heart disease or cancer it is a long path back to health; if you can ever return to your ideal state of health.
We get to help a wide variety of patients in our office suffering from acute and chronic pain, stress, anxiety, depression, gut issues and fertility. Its always something new and different and that’s what makes it so exciting. Everyone is different and presents with different symptoms and patterns. We get to treat each individual instead of trying to put everyone in a certain category of disease.. Being a Chinese medicine doctor is a life of learning and presents new challenges every day.
I think I am most proud of being a father, husband and entrepreneur building our practice with my wife. None of these are easy and require great sacrifice. Resolving someones chronic pain of 20 years and giving them a new outlook on life makes it all worth it!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Money is the root of all evil. I heard this all the time growing up. Many times this was just from people that had no money. Money is just a tool to help you get through life. Money by itself is not evil. Money is only a piece of paper or maybe an imaginary coin that you don’t ever actually possess. Money is absolutely necessary for you to be successful in this world. You need it to provide for your family, help others and grow your business.
Greed on the other hand is different. People that want too much money at the expense of others is a major problem in our world and always has been.
One life rule I Love is you can have anything in life, anything, as long as you aren’t hurting or stealing it from others to get it.
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
Never, ever give up! Acupuncture and Chinese medicine is a fairly new profession in our country and we are all walking the road less traveled. I have seen many great practitioners burn out trying to run a business. Keep trying something new if you’re not getting the results you want. Our country more than any other needs health practitioners to step up and promote diet, exercise, stress management, and preventative medicine.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lienonmeacupuncture.com
- Instagram: @lien_on_me_acupuncture
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lienonmeacupuncture
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-jared-lien-dacm-91022615/
- Twitter: @lienonmeacu
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcCFbjZj8wBsIIVcfKJM3Xw
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/lien-on-me-acupuncture-san-diego-2