Today we’d like to introduce you to Miho.

Hi Miho, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?

I was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan until I was 11 years old. One day in January, my mom made me and my sister
sit in the living room and told us that we are moving. I’ve always dreamed of moving and living in a different city so I was really excited. Not fully understanding that we’ll be moving all the way across the globe!

We moved to New Jersey because we had a distant relative there. I was put in the local public school just two weeks after arriving to the United States. That was when it really hit me that I moved to a whole another country. No one in my family spoke English, even though in preparation to the move, my mom put me into a language school for few months. With no one helping me to translate, the experience taught me to be resilient and get comfortable to be silent. Which made me to be a great listener and observer.
At the same time, the most culture shock I experienced during this time was what the school served for lunch. I was shocked to see school serving pizza, chicken fingers, and French fries. In Japan, there was a registered dietitian and a full production kitchen on site where they cooked freshly prepared meals every day. Lunch time is everyone’s favorite in Japanese elementary school. From that experience, I decided to become a registered dietitian.

In 2015, I became a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and was on the board for a couple of dietitian practice groups under the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. One of it being Dietitians in Integrative and Functional Medicine where I served as chair during 2021-2023.

My story is anything but conventional, I started as a RDN in the hospital setting and I quickly learned that nutrition in such acute setting is not what I believed about what food and nutrition can do for our bodies. So I went on to work at an eating disorder clinic, then a virtual nutrition coaching start up, and started my own private practice and now running a wellness studio in Portland, Oregon.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

In 2019, I had an epiphany that I wanted to build a wellness center where we support people to be healthier and keep healthy people healthy. That evening, I did a Google search “wellness center in Portland”, and a small massage studio popped up which was for sale. Although I did not have any intentions of purchasing the business, I reached out to the owner and she gladly responded to me to meet over a coffee. Over a coffee, we really bonded and she resonated with my vision that she somehow convinced me to take over her business. After few meetings, she asked if I’m open to partnership and she had a massage therapist who worked under her inquired about purchasing the business. That’s when I met my current business partner, Sarah.
Our meeting was serendipitous, that we were born in the same year, drove exactly same car in same color, and many other aspects of our life.

In January of 2020, we had taken over the ownership of the business without knowing what’s coming ahead. March 2020, the government mandated to shut down and we were closed for three months. And it really took two years to rebuild the foundation for the business while navigating the challenge of being a first time business owner. We are now in 5th year of running the business and we’re still learning and evolving. It’s been such a rewarding journey despite the challenges, we became resilient and stronger because of these experiences.

We’ve been impressed with House Nine wellness & tea, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

House Nine wellness is a wellness studio in Portland, Oregon. We exist to expand connection through embodied wisdom.

Nowadays in this technologically driven world, people are so caught up in their heads. Stress and anxiety is so prevalent in this society where people are feeling burnt out. Each of our offerings are intentionally developed to connect the mind and the heart. We mainly offer therapeutic massage services and our massage therapists have various specialties that they excel at such as Thai massage, CranioSacral therapy, sound healing. We love when clients come out after a massage feeling open and relaxed.

This year, we are committed to fostering more intentional community as one of our values is Connection. We’re offering various public events such as partner Thai massage workshop, where couples learn some Thai massage techniques that they can use at home with their partners. We’re also offering sound healing and craniosacral therapy group session to hold grounded space for the community.

Also, Miho is offering Mindful Eating program for people who want to be more confident in their body and often struggling with negative emotions around food. Miho is a Registered Dietitian and Mind Body Eating coach, she teaches Mindful Eating principles that are simple yet effective way to make peace with food.

We aspire to keep evolving and offering new modalities to support wellbeing of our clients and communities. As owners, Miho and Sarah, are dedicated to creating a positive and supportive environment for our practitioners thrive in. We’ve seen so many health and wellness businesses who do not take care of the practitioners and we wanted to change that. We believe happy practitioners will result in high quality services. At the same time, we value empowerment and committed to educate and equip our staff with basic business knowledge through open book management and mentorship program for career growth development.

What matters most to you? Why?

Freedom. I’ve always been an adventurous person and for such personality, freedom is essential to be able to express myself fully. I am so fortunate to be born and raised in a developed country and I have great the privilege of experiencing the freedom.
At the same time, I seek freedom in all aspects of life. I feel empowered to have various ideas, thoughts, immerse myself in various cultures and associate with people from different backgrounds. I think freedom gives me the creativity and keeps me inspired to experience new things and live in awe. It shows me how life can be limitless and there’s unlimited potential. I feel free to act on my ideas and I have lots of ideas, so I truly enjoy expressing myself through my creative journey.

Pricing:

• Therapeutic 90 minutes massage $165
• Crainiosacral 90 minute Massage $185
• Mindful Eating monthly coaching $250

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.housenine.com
• Instagram: @housenine.wellness
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/housenine.wellness/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/housenine
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/house-nine-wellness-and-tea-portland

Image Credits

House Nine wellness