We recently connected with Alicia Yamamoto and have shared our conversation below.

Alicia , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

One of the most rewarding risks I chose to take was moving to Asia. I am an athletic trainer, born and raised in the United States, and had been working in traditional sports medicine settings with individual teams for the majority of my career. It was my goal to work in professional basketball, and when I had finally made it there I felt like something was still missing. I thought, “Why does life still feel unfulfilling after achieving the only goal I had been working toward my whole life?” I recognized then that there was some deep work I needed to do from within in order cultivate happiness for my life.

I took a leap of faith and decided to make the change from professional basketball to the entertainment industry. I had an opportunity to work with a professional circus on the infamous Las Vegas Strip, and never looked back. It was during this time my healing journey started to blossom. I felt at home in the circus. I felt accepted. And I felt supported to heal and grow.

I fell in love with my life in Las Vegas, but it still felt like something was missing. And as time went on, that feeling grew. It felt like the right place, and the right people, but not quite the right time for me. And that fear that it wasn’t right made me try harder to force it to be right. When you try to clean muddy water, you only make it murkier. If you give it time and let the mud settle, it will become clear. I was making muddy water in Vegas, and knew it was time to find clarity.

It was then that I chose to run away with the circus to Asia. I lived in South Korea for 3 months, and Japan for 9 months. During this time my life began to flow. For the first time in my life I felt like I was exactly where I needed to be, when I needed to be there, and with the people I needed to be with. I learned to balance work and play, adventure and relaxation, and I learned quite arguably one of the most important skills I will ever acquire: reiki.

I sought out a reiki master while living in Japan, the birth place of reiki. I began working with her for my own healing. I had a deep respect for her as a clinician and how she cared for me as uniquely me. This quickly grew into a mentorship. I began training with her on the weekends, and bringing my new skills into work with me during the week. I began blending my Western understanding of sports medicine, with my new Eastern modalities of healing, and recognized the power I had tapped into from within. For the first time in my career I felt like it was truly meaningful work. And when it was time to leave Asia, I knew I had already found a place that I could continue to explore my creativity and growth for this work.

I left Asia and returned home to Vegas. I reconnected with my community, and re-introduced my new self, mindset, and skill-set. I acquired my business license, and am fully investing in myself. While my business Yamamoto Wellness is still in its’ early stages, it has been years in the making before my knowing. I found my clarity, and my belief in myself. I found my happiness.

Alicia , 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?

I only ever remember wanting to be an athletic trainer. I decided from a young age that this was the profession I was going to pursue, and while my goals have evolved over time, I have continuously made choices that further my investment in this field. I obtained my Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate specifically in athletic training. I have worked in almost every setting you can as an athletic trainer from the high school level to the professional level, from the clinic setting to live entertainment, to starting my own business. I have lived in 3 different countries, 6 different states, and 13 different cities all for the opportunity to gain more experience as an athletic trainer. By obtaining only athletic training degrees I have established educational expertise in the field. But by simultaneously immersing myself into diverse opportunities, I have acquired invaluable wisdom toward the pursuit of comprehensive clinical excellence. It was only through these experiences that my eyes were opened to approaches of healthcare beyond my understanding. And it is in this space that I gained a deepened appreciation for the art behind the science of medicine.

Of many of the jobs I’ve held, there was consistently the same underlying theme influencing my employers’ management styles: fear. Fear of not winning, fear of not making enough money, fear of losing employment. The theme of fear was always overshadowing the actual mission we should be focused on as healthcare providers: providing healthcare. I decided to step into the entrepreneurial space and establish Yamamoto Wellness so that I can provide healthcare to the best of my ability. In my own space, I have creative liberties to take care of people in the ways that meet them where they are at. I have the freedom to blend educational and clinical experiences from the Western and Eastern worlds, with the belief that in actuality we are all one world. And the longer we view the two separately, the longer we are missing the mark and the further we become from helping people.

The people who come to me are the people who feel unhelped by our current healthcare system. They are people who have consulted all the specialists, have failed all the traditional means of care, and have made little to no progress in their healing journeys. I am an athletic trainer, a reiki practitioner, and a health coach. I provide services from a variety of manual therapy techniques, such as dry needling and instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization, to energy modulation techniques, such as reiki and lithotherapy, to therapeutic exercise, to guidance on practical application of medical recommendations. But most importantly I blend any and all of these services to provide comprehensive and holistic care to people. I operate from the belief that if you prioritize helping others with compassion and open-mindedness, the work will speak for itself.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

I am proud to be able to confidently answer yes to this question. While there have been many highs in this journey, there have also been many lows. I think in order to make it through those lows at the time, I had to believe that there was a way out from this profession. But as each year went on, I found myself getting further and further invested into it. And as is the hope with any investment, the more I put into it the more I got out of it. Now that I have more experience, not only do I feel like I have more skills to create a life that I want of out this, I feel better equipped to handle bigger challenges that are assuredly going to come up along the way.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

I think one of the most helpful strategies for succeeding in any profession is operating from a space of humility and curiosity. While it is certainly important to cultivate a sense of self-worth and confidence in what you do and know, it cannot exceed the threshold of arrogance and judgement. If you believe that your way is the only way, and you are unwilling to listen to others’ creative inputs, then you will be ineffective and regress backwards in your field. Nothing is forever, nobody knows everything, and every experience holds value. Stay grounded, and keep your heart and mind open to the possibility that anything can be helpful if you allow it to be.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yamamotowellness.com
• Other: email: info@yamamotowellness.com

Image Credits

Heather K Photography