Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lisa Jewell. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Lisa, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.
My practice started out of opportunity and necessity. I had been practicing at another established practice seeing the general population and I noticed that the new moms who had recently returned to work were coming to see me on their lunch break and so grateful for the care I gave them in those 30 minutes. I started to realize that they needed so much more support though, and that is where the idea of a perinatal-focused wellness center began. That first office was a leap of faith, I started all by myself in a 500 square foot 2 room office down the street from the practice I had been at for 3 years after it closed. I started training with other types of providers, physical therapists, pelvic floor therapists, doula’s, lactation consultants, and business coaches. I spent a lot of money that I didn’t think I had in the beginning, but that trust and investment is what got me to the group practice I have today. Since that first year I’ve continued to take those leaps of faith for every expansion and bit of growth we achieve.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
The goal of our practice is to provide an all inclusive wellness center for mom’s during the child bearing years. Starting with support and education during pregnancy through postpartum. This includes bodywork through chiropractic, pelvic floor therapy, core and exercise rehab, acupuncture, massage and naturopathic medicine, as well as emotional support by spending more time with our patients and providing the best quality trauma informed care. Talking with them, learning what they need and how we can best support them. Having in house services like childbirth education and postpartum planning classes, birth and postpartum doula care, baby wearing and lactation support as well as free community offerings like new parent support groups, carseat safety checks and our gear swap, where postpartum and baby items are donated by families who are done with them and regifted to families who need those items.
That village that every parent keeps asking about, that’s us. We have created the space and we’re ready for mama’s to come join us. It will not be a surprise when I write that we have some of the worst maternal healthcare of any first world country. That parents, but mom’s especially, are the most burnt out and undersupported group not just in our healthcare system but in our socioeconomic culture as well. To see real change in the way things are done we have to be real change and that’s what we are trying to do. I believe Portland is one of the best places in the US to give birth, and yet there are still so many women having un-neccessary traumatic births and living with injuries from their pregnancy or delivery. Imagine if everyone knew this type of care was possible, imagine if it was standard, imagine how much happier and healthier our families would all be.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
For us what has grown our practice is referrals. I’ve never spent a ton of money on marketing, promotional offerings, I have never done a spinal screening at a farmers market or offered a discount for my services. I started small and expanded when I reached max capacity. I provided good care and patient’s referred their friends to me. I went out and met other providers, other business owners anyone connected to the perinatal world in my town and actually got to know them and had them get to know me which created an honest long standing referral network from other providers as well.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I think the biggest lesson I had to unlearn was the feeling of imposter syndrome. The feeling that I couldn’t do big hard things. That I couldn’t be a woman with a family and a growing business. That I wasn’t smart enough, that I wasn’t capable enough. Growing up as a girl in a traditional midwest family I never aspired to do anything other than what I saw most of the women around me doing, having a family, maybe working a job but mainly taking care of a home. I recognize in that, I came from a place of great privilege, but I still had to believe I could do big hard things in order to try. As the years go by and I accomplish more and more, that doubt and that feeling of imposter syndrome gets smaller and smaller.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jewellchiropractic.com
- Instagram: @jewellchiropractic
- Facebook: Jewell chiropractic
Image Credits
by Kimmi Burk Photography