We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dr. Jennifer Miano. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dr. Jennifer below.

Dr. Jennifer, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

One of the reasons I went into healthcare was to help people, and another was so that I could create a career that would allow me to be an involved mom when it was time to start a family. After a few years working for other Chiropractors, I felt I had learned enough about my chosen profession to be ready to start my own practice.

Very shortly after starting my first job, I realized that there was a very important side of healthcare that we were never taught in school – running a business! I started observing what the support staff was doing and asking a lot of questions when I didn’t understand a procedure or task. I also realized that working with insurance companies was going to be another huge part of serving my community that I needed to figure out. The final piece that I knew I needed to workshop was how to be a Mom and an independent Chiropractor at the same time. I sought out other female Chiropractors and spoke to them about what worked, what didn’t, and what they wish they knew.

One of my biggest priorities was how to remain present in whatever role I was in during the day, practitioner or parent. I knew that location was going to be key – I needed to minimize travel time between home and office. I knew that floorplan of the office was going to be key – I was going to need both treatment space and space where my children could play during the day and rest during naptime. I knew that planning my availability was going to be key – I needed to be able to patients at various times during the day /week, but also needed to have time away from the office so that I wouldn’t overwork and injure myself, as well as have time with my children while they were too young for school. As a Prenatal and Pediatric Specialist, I wanted my office to be someplace comfortable and accessible for families.

Once I had my priorities in place, I was able to zero in on a location, and from there find the most compatible space. I was fortunate to find a location that was fully demolished, and had the chance to build a floorplan to accommodate my needs. As I furnished my space, I made sure that I thought not only about my personal needs, but also where I envisioned my practice growing over time. When choosing my staff, I was sure to find people who were willing to help support my practice as well as help care for my children, as well as be willing to step in to help with the children of my patients if needed.

The biggest piece of advice I would offer to someone getting ready to go on their own would be to decide exactly what you want to do, then to gather as much information as you possibly can. Try to look to the future – 5, 10, 15 years from now – and try to imagine what you want your life and career to look like. Once you have your short and long term vision dialed in, you can figure out where to start. I encourage everyone to spend some time with people in your community who are doing what you want to do, and see what works and doesn’t work for them. Going online and looking at what other businesses are doing in other parts of your state or other states altogether doesn’t serve you. There are so many nuances to any small business, so don’t waste your time researching/comparing businesses that are not near you.

The second biggest piece of advice I would offer is to have some flexibility as your business grows and changes. For example, I knew I would bring my children to my office with me and assumed my staff and I would be able to manage both childcare and patient care. As they babies got older and needed more attention and supervision, we brought babysitters in during the busiest shifts to help with my children. The surprising upside to this shift was that more parents were now comfortable bringing their children in during their appointments as well. As a result, patient scheduling improved and we started seeing more family units – which was one of our long term goals!

Dr. Jennifer, 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?

As a high school student feeling the pressure to decided “what to do” for the rest of my life, I landed on a career in healthcare. I had made the sort-of random decision to become an optometrist, because I felt I could help improve quality of life for my future patients without needing to perform surgery or prescribe medication all day long. One of my good friends approached me with a college flyer that included a pre-optometry program, and when looking closer at the flyer, I also noticed a pre-chiropractic program. I immediately knew this is what I wanted to do. I knew that Chiropractors helped people to feel better, they helped teach people how to be healthier, and that they also did not perform surgery or prescribe medication all day long. Let me be clear – surgery and medicine are fascinating and life-saving! I simply didn’t envision that for myself, I wanted to be hands-on with my patients and to be in a position to teach my patients how to take better care of themselves after they started to feel better.

As I made my way thru Chiropractic School, I was drawn to working with families, and more specifically with prenatal and pediatric patients. I found the energy, excitement, and inquisitiveness of working with this demographic to be just right. After graduating and practicing for a while, I went on to complete additional post-grad work and obtain my Certification as a Prenatal and Pediatric Specialist.

We live in a unique time and place where there is so much information available to answer questions about your body, your symptoms, and potential treatments. We are also privy to an abundance of information about products, gadgets, and devices that are marketed to have you believe that you shouldn’t live another day without them. As a mom of 3 who has been in this field for over 25 years, I can pretty accurately tell the difference between information and advertisement when asking the famous “Dr. Google” a question – which is not as easy as it sounds! I want my patients to feel educated, safe, and able to ask me anything. I spend time the during a first visit to take a complete health and condition history, perform a comprehensive examination, and make sure my patient fully understands any recommendation I present. During subsequent visits, we discuss things that may have contributed to their current condition and how to modify their ergonomics to prevent future issues. I educate patients as we move thru treatment plans about stretches, sleeping, drinking enough water, and any other factors that may impact their overall health. I consider each person in my office to be a unique patient, and cater the recommendations to that person so they can achieve optimal results.

As a family provider, children are always welcome in our office, even if they are not actively seeking treatment. I understand that flexibility is a must when working with families, and will do my best to create an environment where everyone can relax and have the attention they deserve when it is their turn for their treatment. One of my unofficial goals is to make sure each person is smiling when they leave, and hopefully we are sharing a chuckle by the end of their appointment as well. Everyone who comes thru our doors is treated equally, with respect, and with the same care that I provide to my own family. I figure I must be doing something right, because I am often one of the first phone calls after a prenatal patient has her baby, or someone who has been trying to get pregnant finally gets a positive pregnancy test. I have had families stop at my office on the way home from the hospital so that I can meet their new baby as well – how exciting for everyone in the lobby when this happens!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I believe transparency is what has helped build my positive reputation and reliability in the community I serve. My recommendations are very clearly explained to all of my patients, as well as why and what will likely happen if they are not followed. At the end of the day, each patient will decide what is right for them, so my objective is to give them all the information I have so they can make an educated decision. I refer out to other colleagues when needed or co-treatment is in my patients’ best interest. If I’m not seeing the results I expect, I will dig deeper for second opinions, perform additional testing, or order appropriate imaging to find out what’s really going on. When you are under my care, you are treated with respect and that is something that many people have grown accustomed to missing in a relationship with their health care providers.

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

Given the opportunity, I would absolutely choose to specialize in Prenatal & Pediatric Chiropractic care again. I feel this is a demographic that is often shuffled thru the health care system, sent from physician to physician, often without much choice or explanation why. I consider it an honor to be able to slow down, take the time to figure out the root cause of discomfort and/or dysfunction and help to not only facilitate actual healing, but also to help set my patients up for success in the future. I know that therapy that includes touch is pivotal in healing. Many times, when working with prenatal patients, they will report the baby is moving around more comfortably in the womb, and when working with infants, by their 2nd or 3rd visit, the babies immediately calm down once they are in my hands. There is something uniquely rewarding for both my patients and myself to know someone will walk out of my office feeling better emotionally as well as physically.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.drjennifermiano.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miano_family_chiropractic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MianoFamilyChiropracticCenterLLC
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/live/rgdpHY-H7y0?si=c0Y4N3tWNJGsCUcc