We were lucky to catch up with Brandy Valentine LeBlanc recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Brandy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?

I started with 1 room in an old building full of empty rooms. I had a wheeled cart with chart notes that I wheeled out into the hallway after placing patient needles, and I did their chart note sitting out in the hall until their treatment was finished. From there, I rented more and more rooms in that building until I had 3 treatment rooms and an office. That process engrained a trust in me that I could make anything happen, so I moved several times and have restarted my business in new towns many times. Now that I am older, I like to stay put. I’ve been in my current office 2 years, but I’ve done business a million different ways. I feel like I can help any acupuncturist grow a business anywhere they want and however they dream.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a go-getter. I am confident I can make most anything happen, and I believe I can do it with kindness, honesty, and grit. I like grit, although I’m desiring less grit filled days as I age. I got into acupuncture, because I got sick in college. Ultimately all I had to do was change my diet, and I wondered why no medical providers ever brought that up in the 4 years it took me to figure out. I decided I wanted to help others think outside of the western medicine box, and I fell in love with OCOM in Portland which happened to be an acupuncture school. It is closed now unfortunately. Many acupuncture schools are closed now. Practitioners want the needle effects without the philosophy, so the beauty of the medicine through Eastern philosophy and culture is quickly fading and not expected to be revived.
Our clinic provides care for all needs since Oklahoma does not have many acupuncturists. We specialize in fertility, however we also contract with the VA and Indian Health Services. My philosophy encompasses innovative business, filling needs, sharing health, and providing positive jobs with good pay. When you walk in my clinic, you immediately feel taken care of and cared for. You no longer have to fight for yourself, your health, or your care. We got you, boo!

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

Having processes and sticking to every one of them…
People want to know exactly what to expect at every treatment. They want to know you will wash your hands and put alcohol on the points to be needled. They don’t want to worry about hepatitis or lost needles. You need to count needles in, count needles out, and find any needles that were missed. You need to keep your practice clean and have methods for everything you do. Think about what you would want your acupuncturist to do before you come in. You would want the front desk to address you by name and remember the things you talked about last time (your family, job, etc.). You would want the face cradle and anything you touch to be clean and sanitized. You would want to lay in/on clean sheets that nobody else has been in. You wouldn’t want to get home and find a missed needle. You would want your appointment to run on time and be treated with care and concern. It is such a simple way to think, yet it is not a standard of care in most professions. It takes a great deal of intention and preparation, but it makes the biggest impact on the reputation of your clinic. The only thing I refuse to do is iron the sheets which was a request from a patient. We make them feel taken care of and special, worth my time and effort, worth the staff’s extra effort and preparation, and worthy of health.

Have you ever had to pivot?

After doing everything myself for 18 years, I had a full-on, no question about it, burn out. It became necessary to hire staff, support staff as well as other acupuncturists. I needed rest and relief. Luckily I felt the burn out coming and had a little money saved in my business account, so I did what needed to be done. I learned the hard way how to hire/fire staff, how complicated training was, what the rules and regulations of the state were, how much more money was spent on payroll than I could ever imagine. I tried all the things, many of which were failures, and I did all of this while in the deep black hole of burnout. The money disappeared quickly, and either the patients did not want to keep seeing the acupuncturists I hired or the acupuncturists moved on to their own businesses. It became obvious that my business was dependent on me specifically. I was not scalable or reproduceable. All the dreams I had about slowly weening myself out of day to day care were not going to happen. So I got back up on the horse, had a talk with my ego, and pulled my big girl pants back up. I may die figuring it all out, but dammit I WILL get there one day. Solopreneurship is exhilarating and frightening at the same time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://okacuherbs.org
• Instagram: lotusacupunctureba
• Facebook: Lotus Acupuncture
• Linkedin: okclotusacupuncture
• Twitter: @bvacutcm
• Youtube: dr.brandyvalentine9282