Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Emily Jacobson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Emily, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
At the end of January 2021, just over one year after I had invested in a buildout with a friend to open a tiny little acupuncture/massage clinic, I found myself in a situation that wasn’t working out. I had to make the hard decision to leave that location ensuring this bad situation wouldn’t get any worse and affect my business. In a scramble to find a new residence for To The Point Acupuncture and Tai Chi, I decided that I didn’t want to take any steps backwards, but also knew that taking a side step would essentially be taking a step backward. Growing my young acupuncture business into something big was the only direction I could see feasible. I found a place for rent that was 2,700 sq ft and WAY too big for my needs. The landlord was very interested in my theoretical business plan and was willing to split the unit up between me and another business that was already interested in the other half. Things were now looking up!
By the beginning of March, just over one month after deciding to leave the bad situation, I was lying awake at 2am thinking about the potential of this new unit for rent. After doing a few calculations in my mind of sq footage and the potential of having multiple treatment rooms I could rent out to other practitioners, I concluded it would be in my best interest to tell the landlord that I was interested in the entire 2,700 sq ft! I knew it would be big shoes to fill, but I also knew in my heart of hearts that I could do it. I was now about to expand from a 500 sq ft acupuncture clinic to 2,700 sq ft healing center!
The next few weeks consisted of designing the layout for this new healing center and tapping into my network of practitioners to find a wonderful team of people interested in take on this new endeavor by renting a room from me. I am forever grateful for how this all unfolded. People flocked to me with interest and by April I had a full team and started bimonthly team meetings to dream up what Healing Roots Wellness Center was going to be all about.
By Oct of 2021, the clinic side of the healing center was completed. All 6 treatment rooms were rented and ready to take on clients and start offering our healing services. In November, my cousin flew to our sweet little Midwestern town in WI from San Francisco to begin painting a 30 x 17 ft mural in the studio portion of our new healing center. After the mural was complete and we finished a few other final touches in the studio, we fully opened Healing Roots Wellness Center on Jan 3rd of 2022.
More than a year later, Feb of 2023, we are THRIVING! Our team is so thoughtful and cohesive. The studio hosts a beautiful array of class options and events. And the feedback we are getting has made it clear that we are making a difference in the health and wellness of our community.
I am honored to have endured that hardship back in Jan of 2021. I learned a tremendous amount about my strength and integrity. My capacity has grown more than I could have ever imagined. I was raised to have great faith in myself and have always known that I can achieve whatever goals I set my eyes on. Now I know how to place my heart in those goals and let the goals lead me to the next best thing.
Emily, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Emily Jacobson. I am 44 years old and have been in the body working field since I was 21. I am an acupuncturist, tai chi instructor, and the owner and director of Healing Roots Wellness Center in River Falls, WI. I started my journey in the world of bodywork as a young adult. At 21 years old, I was ready to finally receive a secondary education and was looking for career options. My mom was just finishing massage school at this time and suggested I might be a good fit for that same school. Though massage therapy wasn’t anything I had ever considered, I said “OK!” My plan was to get a “quick” career so that I could support myself while I went to a University to become an Elementary School teacher. After one month of this hands-on schooling to learn massage therapy, it was clear this was the path for me. I remember thinking, “I can’t teach and rub people, I’ll get in trouble. But I sure can rub and teach people!”
While in massage school, I was exposed to and resonated with the theories of Chinese Medicine. When we had an acupuncturist come to our school and do a demonstration, my little 21 year old jaw was on the floor. I said to myself, “I need to do that someday!”
After 12 years of a successful massage practice, I decided it was time to go deeper into my skill set of helping people and applied for a Masters program in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine. Six years later I opened To The Point Acupuncture.
Though acupuncture and Chinese Medicine is a whole system medicine (meaning it can treat most ailments in the body), my specialties are pain management, women’s health, and mental health. Having 17 years of a massage therapy practice prior to starting an acupuncture career is a real asset in pain management. I feel so blessed to have strong skill sets with these two very effective modalities of pain management.
One thing I am most proud of in my career is the ability to create a genuine heart connection with each individual I work with. I take time to sit and listen to whatever details are ailing my patients. I offer compassion and provide feedback when needed. I will ALWAYS be a fellow and equal human with them. I believe when a person is comfortable, relaxed, and at ease, this is when true healing can happen.
As the owner and director of a healing center, it is my mission to create a culture of loving and compassionate practitioners who function with high integrity towards ourselves and towards those seeking wellness. We have a standard of managing our own health first at our center. Self-care is a non-negotiable and an absolute must! As caregivers, we cannot give from an empty cup or we tend to give with resentment. I have seen this too many times in the healthcare and body working field. In our line of work, self-care is the source of longevity and integrity. This is the culture I am choosing to create for Healing Roots Wellness Center.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
I have been managing a team of 15 people for just under 2 years now. There are a few management concepts I started out with and feel they have been very successful for me, and there are a few extra things I have learned along the way. My intention as I stepped into this role of management was to lead from the center and not the top. As a team, I feel we are a unit that is here to support each other. If I lead as if I am in the center of a circle and everyone on my team is an extension of me and my direction, we function better as a whole. The hierarchy system of leading from the top down doesn’t allow for autonomy within the team and tends to overwork the leader and the subordinates. I see everyone on the team as an equal part only playing different roles and having different duties that cater to their strengths.
I have always maintained a friendly, caring and heart centered relationship with my team. Having open, comfortable dialog and continuously offering my human side has allowed for challenging conversations to always end with good feelings and a successful outcome.
Along the way, I have learned to listen to my gut when I need to say no. As a leader, saying no gracefully is a tremendous skill. I have on occasion said yes when my gut said no. This has only made things more complicated. It took some time to learn exactly what the physical feeling of the need to say no felt like in my body. Now I can hear/feel it more clearly and have become more comfortable with listening to it.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
In the healthcare field, we need to make space for listening. Not just listening with our ears but listening with our hearts. Everyone’s needs are different, even if they present with the same pain or ailment. I have learned that when I listen deeply, I am able to find the root cause of the patients suffering much quicker than if I were to just listen with my ears. Everyone of us has a story that lies between the lines of what we have said. As a practitioner providing any kind of health or wellness, we need to hold space for where our patient/client is at and listen deeply with our hearts. This takes practice but has been my number one success tool in my career.
Another important concept in running a successful business in the healthcare field is making sure that our services are affordable. Fortunately the world of healing and wellness has become trendy, but unfortunately it has also become expensive. At Healing Roots, we have developed a scholarship program to allow health and wellness options to be accessible to everyone regardless of income or wealth. We host monthly fundraising/freewill donation classes and an annual silent auction to keep our scholarship funds abundant. We believe it is our duty to empower and nurture people in a way that inspires us all to make the world a better place. Having access to health and wellness can do exactly that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.healingrootsrf.com/
- Instagram: healingrootsrf.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/healingrootsrfwi