We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Juliann Abecassis-Walsh a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Juliann, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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?

After the completion of my post graduate medical internship and board examinations, I was left with the scary reality that there are virtually zero drops on the market within this field of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture. I had really only one option: I could start my own practice with no previous business experience and hope I could forge my way.

Heres the thing: in school and during clinical internships, and through our medical board examinations, we are only taught how to be medical providers. Once we hit graduation the stark realization was we also need to learn how to be business professionals since there are almost no jobs waiting for us in our industry. We can’t just go apply to a bunch of places and wait for an acceptance offer. There is no where to apply to. So if you want to be successful in the industry, you have to take a leap of faith and open your own business.

Statistically only 20% of those who graduate and pass their medical boards go on to become long-term practicing Acupuncture Physicians. I believe this is one one of the biggest reasons why.

I opened my practice in 2016 with a wish and a prayer. You know the saying “if you build it, they will come” – that was my mantra for an entire year. And somehow by the grace of God, they started coming. Little by little I’d get patients trickle in, they saw results, then they referred their friends and family. To my surprise I actually outgrew my first office space 9 months into my 12 month lease.

Within three years I purchased my own office suite, a gorgeous brick building with four bright rooms, a lobby with hardwood floors and a peaceful ambiance that encouraged healing.

I’m approaching seven years in private practice with a heart full of gratitude and a community of patients who have shown me how beautiful each and every healing journey is. I guess it’s true after all… “if you build it, they will come”.

Juliann, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Oh course! Going into college I was extremely driven and focused. I quickly decided that medicine was going to be my path and I was determined to reach my goal as efficiently as possible. I maxed my schedule out at 17-21 credit hours a semester, instead of the recommended 12. I was ruthless in the pursuit of learning everything I could about the field I was so sure I wanted to be in. My goal: to be a medical doctor.

During this time I became a Certified Nursing Assistant and worked at the local hospital in my college town. It was there where I had a life altering realization. I didn’t want to practice the medicine I was witnessing. I had a moment of panic where I realized I didn’t have a backup plan. Everything I was doing during those three years was preparing me for medical school. So I took a pause and reflected on my confusing state of emotions. I loved the idea of helping people, I was fascinated by medicine, but I didn’t want to be doing emergency medicine or chronic care management. I wanted to be on the opposite side of that: health care, not sick care. I decided to look into alternative methods of medicine, specifically Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).. TCM is a complex medical system within its own, focusing on restoring balance and correcting underlining dysfunction to address root cause and ultimately bring the body back into homeostasis. I was sold. Instead of going to traditional western medical school, I applied to a master’s program for Traditional Chinese Medicine. Over the next four academic years I immersed myself in this new way of approaching health. And of course, me being me, while I was in school I also interned at a nearby practice run by one of my professors. Additionally, I was one of the first of several students to spearhead a Veteran’s only acupuncture clinic when it was time for my clinical rotations. I wanted to soak up and absorb everything I possibly could. Upon graduating I did another 8 month internship specializing in allergies prior to opening up my own business, then several years into private practice I had the opportunity to work part time at Mayo Clinic in their integrative medicine department.

Life has a funny way of working out. In the end, I still ended up in the field of medicine – just lightyears away from where I thought I’d be once upon a time. I’ve realized in life you can’t have such a solid plan, with every detail worked out ahead of time. Life will happen as it’s meant to, and as long as you’re open and listen to your heart, you’ll end up in a place even better than what you could have imagined for yourself.

I currently own my own practice, Balanced Healing of Jacksonville, where I work with patients on a variety of different ailments and complaints such as infertility, autoimmune conditions, healing from mold illness, sports injuries, gut dysfunction, bowel irregularities, chronic fatigue and more. I offer detailed comprehensive consultations, functional labs, NAET allergy elimination, emotion code (a modality to address trapped emotions that have not been appropriately processed), acupuncture and homeopathic injections.

Many of my patients find me after hitting dead ends within the traditional medical system. At Balanced Healing they find hope that they can heal and they can feel better. They start to realize the body isn’t a segmented group of parts (gut problems? fix the gut) – it’s an entire system that is intricately woven together (gut problems? Look into gut, adrenals, hormones, toxins, detox pathways, emotional stress, etc), and to heal one part you must heal all parts.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Absolutely. Several years into my private practice I realized I was busy enough to expand. I decided to hire additional medical providers and eventually front desk support. It quickly became an additional stress I was not prepared for. Over the next two and a half years I continued to use every ounce of my energy to support my staff but over time the work load became crippling for me. In addition to having my own patients, I was also overseeing and ultimately responsible for all of their patients (since this was my practice and my business’ reputation). I found myself working around the clock, on weekends, double checking work, reviewing patient charts, doing rounds with my staff on their patients and following up to see which of their patients fell off the wagon and why (so we could continuously improve). I was burning the candle at both ends and my health was struggling because of it. It wasn’t sustainable.

After pouring years of time, energy and finances into advertising and building an image around my team I realized I had to pivot. It was the hardest decision I have made so far in my business: I had to go back to the single provider model. It was an emotional rollercoaster for me, on one hand I felt like a failure, on the other hand I felt relief.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

In society we are subliminally taught that in order to be successful we have to be BIG. Everywhere you look: TikTok, Instagram, Self Help Books… they are all encouraging you to “Build an Empire!”, it’s nonstop “Grind Culture”. It’s never enough. You’re super successful and at capacity? Time to expand! Time to make a social media presence. Get brand deals. Become an influencer. Time to publish a book! It’s endless. It’s just never enough.

That programming worked its way into my subconscious. It was the reason I expanded in the first place. I thought that was the natural progression of things: max out your practice, expand, franchise, etc. So I started to take those steps. I maxed out. I expanded… but then I realized how toxic it was for me. When is enough, enough? Is it worth the stress? 90% off all illness and disease is stress-related. As a medical provider I should’ve known better. I was getting sick from stress but I kept grinding, and for what? Eventually I hit a point where I had no choice, my body decided it was time to change the trajectory. I had to take a step back and re-evaluate. Was I happier running a bigger multi-provider practice? No. Was I healthier? No. Then what was I doing?

Overcoming societal and cultural pressures has been one of the most liberating experiences for me. I’m now back to a single provider practice, working manageable hours with a patient load that allows me to be my best self for each and every one of my clients. Additionally. my new schedule allows for time outside of work – something I was not familiar with at all. It’s given me a work life balance which has allows me to be a better medical provider and a happier person.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.BalancedHealingofJacksonvill.ecom
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/healingofjax/
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@balancedhealing

Image Credits
Lunic Visuals