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

Hi Jen, thanks for joining 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?

About 4.5 years ago I was at a turning point in my career. I had only been practicing for 3 years but I was feeling burnt out and unsatisfied working for someone else. I absolutely loved being a Chiropractor and was passionate about educating people and helping them lead happier and healthier lives but, I was tired and frustrated. I wanted to spend more time with my patients. I wanted to educate them and build relationships with them. I wanted to build a business in a way that felt authentic and congruent to my beliefs, personality and lifestyle. I wanted the flexibility to travel and be there for my family, but still have a healthy, thriving practice.

It was at that time that I met Dr. Michelle Wendling, DC. She has a thriving practice that she was absolutely passionate about and she also mentored Chiropractors to help them build the practice of their dreams. I started coaching with Dr. Michelle and it quickly became obvious that I needed to start my own practice. I was scared and hesitant at first. But as I continued to work with her I gained more confidence, knowledge and clarity to take steps to open my own practice.

The first step in the process of opening my practice was through my initial work with Dr. Michelle. She helped me create a business plan. In the process of creating a business plan I defined a mission and vision for my practice, I devised a marketing plan and a budget. I dug into the demographics of my ideal patient and began to look at areas of town and the type of space that I would need to create the practice that I had envisioned.

By creating a business plan I was able to secure funding for startup costs. After securing funding I began looking for a space to lease, purchased equipment and supplies, opened a business bank account, began creating a logo and marketing materials and hired someone to help me create a website. There were a lot of little steps in between but all of this hard work led to me opening my practice on June 4th of 2018 in Lakewood, CO.

Some of the big challenges I faced when opening my own practice included: knowing how much money to borrow for startup costs. It was difficult to foresee what the true costs of opening and operating a business would be and balancing borrowing enough money to get things off the ground versus borrowing too much money and taking on debt. One of the other big challenges was shifting from an employee mindset to a business owner mindset. As a business owner you have to make every decision related to your business and whether it fails or is successful rests on your decisions, actions and inactions.

The advice that I would give a young professional about starting their own practice or business is to really know your finances so you know if you need to borrow money and how much. Have a solid marketing plan and hit the ground running from day one. Don’t take your foot off the gas. I’ve learned that much of my success in business has been a product of my mindset and momentum.

Jen, 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 am a Chiropractor, wife, dog mom and Colorado native. I’ve been married to my husband Cardo for 4 years and we love to travel, hike, camp, spend time with family, friends and our 8 year old German Shepherd rescue, Tika.

I’ve been fascinated with the human body since a young age. I always knew I wanted to work with the body and help people heal but I never liked being poked and prodded and taking medication. So I knew I was going to take a more holistic, hands-on approach. I initially wanted to become a physical therapist. Then in undergrad I was in a car accident with my boyfriend at the time. He sustained a concussion and was experiencing debilitating headaches. He was unable to function, had a constant headache and lost his full ride scholarship because of his injuries. He saw medical doctors, neurologists, acupuncturists, etc. and nothing helped with his headaches. Finally his parents found a Chiropractor in his hometown that specialized in head injuries and neurological conditions. After seeing a Chiropractor for just a few weeks he started to get relief and after about a year and half of care he was back to his preinjury condition. Seeing his miraculous recovery and experience convinced me to become a Chiropractor.

At Elevate Health Chiropractic, we offer whole body Chiropractic care that is tailored to you and is sustainable. We offer full body Chiropractic adjustments which includes adjustments of the spine and all the joints from your head to your toes. We also utilize soft tissue therapy to break up scar tissue, decrease tension and pain and facilitate faster healing. We also utilize simple, functional exercises and stretches that are designed to improve the brain-body connection and help you get better faster and stay better! Kinseotaping is another service that we offer to provide additional support and relief throughout your healing journey.

We also offer a variety of CBD products and nutritional supplements to help support overall health and wellness.

At Elevate Health Chiropractic we know you want to be healthy and active. In order to do that, you need a release from the pain that holds you back.

The problem is you haven’t found a solution that works for you yet. You might even be facing invasive procedures, medication, or being told this is your new normal. You’re frustrated at the lack of holistic options and are sick of missing out on the activities you love. You’re worried that life will pass you by.

We believe you don’t have to accept pain as an ongoing part of your life—even as you age. Your body is a powerful healing machine!

We understand that it’s hard to say no to the activities you enjoy. Which is why we educate and treat active people like you with a whole body approach. Our goal is to get you back to enjoying life free from pain as soon as possible.

I think what sets apart is the personalized, sustainable, whole body approach that we provide and the relationships that we build with our patients.

I am really proud of the practice that I’ve built. I’ve created a space where people can be seen, heard, understood and accepted. I meet people where they are and act as a guide to help people to truly heal and get back to the life that they love and build lifelong relationships and partnerships.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

I think the two things other than education that have been most helpful in my success as a Chiropractor are: a solid understanding of Chiropractic philosophy and mindset.

Understanding the why behind what we do is vital to creating a mission and vision that not only inspires you but, your patients and your community to embrace Chiropractic and the wellness lifestyle and to make the biggest impact. It also helps to ground and guide you through all the ups and downs of Chiropractic practice and business ownership.

Another piece that is vital to success not only in Chiropractic practice but anything in life, is mindset. If you don’t have your mind in the right place it can be easy to get derailed and discouraged by the twists and turns the life and business ownerships throws your way.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

If I had to go back and pick the same profession, I absolutely would choose Chiropractic again. The only thing that I would change is that I would have taken more seminars and explored more techniques while I was still a student. This would have been helpful in helping me to build the skill set to find my niche earlier in my career and it is much more affordable to get all this education as a student.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.elevatehealthchiro.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/elevatehealthchiro
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/elevatehealthchiro
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-jen-andrade-chiropractor-035a61a3/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJUDXHGvZKJeSfWQlGFBHfw
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/elevate-health-chiropractic-lakewood-4
• Other: Google my business: https://g.page/r/CUDPeRdLOQKmEBA Phone number: 7206886372

Image Credits
Profile Photo: Natalie Morrow Brand photos: Tara Weber