We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jodi Jenks a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jodi, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

We are a family owned and operated small business on the NE side of Grand Rapids. We have been open now for 8 years. The story behind our mission started with a spark of interest in Holistic Health made when I was just a teen. A homeopathic doctor helped our family so many times over the years; where she had answers (as weird as some of them seemed at the time) for things we were struggling with health wise, that the doctors did not have answers for. The more she got right, the more interested I became to learn more and that was how my journey began as a Reiki Master (over 27 years ago) and eventually a Naturopathic Doctor (6 years ago).

In the course of my journey I developed passion for helping others as our homeopathic doctor did for my family. Part of my passion is to help others dial into their specific needs and goals and meeting them where they are and helping them discover their unique pathway to wellness. There are so many options and different ways to heal one’s body mind and spirit. Here at The Remedy House, we strive to provide natural health solutions via services, product, and education.

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 have been a Reiki Master for 27 years and a Naturopathic Doctor for 5 years now. My specialty is being an intuitive healer. I offer many services including Natural Health Consultations where I offer Live Blood Analysis, Zyto Bio Scans, and Iridology; I also offer a full range of body work including Reflexology, Craniosacral, Lymphatic Bodywork, Massage Bodywork, Raindrop Therapy (an essential oil therapy). My passion is the intuitive energy work services which include Chakra Balancing, Emotional Clearing, & Past Life Regression.

I love it when my intuitive side comes through during other types of sessions, like massage/bodywork. Many clients do not realize how or where they hold their emotions, or stresses. They are just aware of the pain that stress puts on the body. Many go years with pain in their hips or lower back for example. During one of my bodywork sessions, I am able to feel into the energetics of the problem areas, and I will share that with the client. Those open to hearing what I have to say and follow my instructions to release those emotions, are usually surprised how good they feel afterwards. Not only is the pain gone, but they feel lighter. Even if it has been chronic pain, once the emotions are released, the pain is gone. I love witnessing that for clients. For even those that are not as open, I am able to help facilitate a release of the stuck emotions and help them feel so much better.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I never dreamt that I would own and operate a retail store along with my practice. However, halfway through my Naturopathic training I realized that was exactly what I wanted to do. In order for that to happen, I connected with an organization in Grand Rapids known as GROW, Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women. I went to an orientation and began a series of classes in order to learn how to start my own business. Each class had an instructor from the community working in the field they were teaching us about, finance, marketing, accounting. In each class we had step by step instructions on how to build a business plan, and were given feedback by instructors and our peers in the class.

By the time I was done with the series, I had a complete business plan and met with their financial expert on hand at GROW, and applied for a Microloan to start my new business. They helped me every step of the way, even asking further questions and helping me find the resources to answer those questions. Where I did not have the right credit to go to another financial institute, and did not have any experience with owning a business, I got my loan and opened my doors a few months later!

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I stared this business as a sole proprietor, with the help of my older kids and my husband of course. My business partner today is my oldest daughter, Megan Smit. She came on board after graduating college with her photography degree. She grew up knowing and understanding holistic health, but was on her own journey. As she started helping me more and more at the store, her photography business became more holistic. She began doing photos for holistic retreats and helping women to truly discover their inner beauty with her photography.

Her leadership & creative skills has become vital to our continued growth and success at The Remedy House. She helped me become more organized then I have ever been able to on my own… haha. When I left the state for three years, coming back just for quarterly visits, she took over managed the store so well I couldn’t have been more proud as a mom, and happy as a business owner. When I moved back to Michigan this year, I knew I had a full fledged business partner!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.theremedyhouse.org
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/theremedyhousegr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRemedyHouseorg

Image Credits
Megan Smit from WaveTone Studio