We were lucky to catch up with Michelle Wendt recently and have shared our conversation below.

Michelle, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.

The truth was although I had been working in corporate America for over 15 years, I had no clue how to start or manage my own business. When I founded Indigo Healing Acupuncture, I envisioned a thriving medical practice within a few months of announcing a grand opening. Despite many hours/days/weeks of setting up my business with a great location, professional logo, and a polished website, I was desperately missing the most important thing… patients! In the first few months, I was able to attract a few patients referred by a local fertility clinic and make enough money to pay my rent and cover the cost of supplies. There was no pay for myself the first few years, but I felt rewarded for doing a job that helped people feel better.

Fast forward to today and I wish I could go back to my younger self and tell her to hire a coach or mentor before starting the business. Having a professional advisor would have saved me from making expensive mistakes and wasting energy on things that didn’t matter. During the past four years, I’ve invested in coaches and mentors that have helped me skip the learning curve of building a profitable and sustainable business. As a result, my current practice is helping more people than I ever imagined possible!

Michelle, 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?

At Indigo Healing Acupuncture, we treat chronic pain/illness, infertility, migraine headaches, insomnia, and anxiety in adults and children with treatment strategies that are clinically-proven and backed by over 2,000 years of knowledge. We provide an effective alternative to physical therapy, chiropractic care, pharmaceuticals, injections, and surgery. If you’ve tried everything without relief, we’re ready to be your last resort with the best results.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Throughout graduate school I heard many iterations of the belief that natural medicine should be free to all. Some of my peers and teachers understood that it takes money to run a business, so they recommended offering low-cost or pay-what-you-can-afford treatments. While it would be a wonderful world to offer holistic medicine for free or at a low-cost, the truth is it does take money to run a medical practice. In addition to the professional education required to practice medicine, there are many expenses incurred such as fees for professional licensure, malpractice insurance, a suitable practice location, equipment, supplies, continuing education, and wages for practitioners and staff. I had to learn that it is acceptable to collect payments for helping people heal. After all, if I can’t afford to keep the lights on in my clinic and pay my clinical team, how can I help anyone? I now believe that high-quality medical services are valuable to my patients and charge accordingly.

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

Our reputation is everything in our line of work. We’ve built our reputation with each treatment resulting in a beneficial outcome. It is amazing to look back over the years and see every life we’ve transformed from illness into health. Our patients are excellent storytellers and often share their personal health journeys with their friends, co-workers, doctors, and even bank tellers. We work closely with other doctors in our area to coordinate patient care and we are known for achieving the personalized goals of our patients. We are proud to say our reputation as experts in holistic medicine is built upon the joy felt by our patients!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://indigohealingacupuncture.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indigohealingacupuncture
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/indigohealingacupuncture

Image Credits
Rising Oak Images