We recently connected with Shabnam Ashtiani and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Shabnam, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
When I was getting my doctorate degree, I knew that I wanted to be my own boss and have my own practice one day. Well to be honest, even as a kid I wanted to have my own business one day. So while working on my degree I made a plan that I would work for someone else for 2-5 years before starting my own thing. My last year of school when I was doing my rotations and preceptorship I kept interviewing with different clinics to find the right fit. Every single interview/clinic was different from the other. And with my profession, your style of practice really depends on your philosophy. After doing a bunch of interviews and completing my last rotation in Houston, I made the decision to finish out the year in Houston then move back home to San Antonio to open up my own practice. This was probably the scariest and riskiest decision I’ve ever made in my life. Not only was I making a big life change by moving back, but also I had zero experience running a business, a bunch of student loans and not much real world experience. But deep down I knew that this was what I wanted to do and had the drive to teach myself all the things.
After graduating I got a job with the last clinic I did my rotations with. The owner made a deal with me that if I helped them revamp their clinic and also make them go electronic (from paper charts) he would teach me a thing or two about the business part of it. I helped them open up their fourth clinic, switched all of the offices to EMR and trained the staff, and was the treating Chiro at the new clinic.
To be honest, I hated that job. The work environment was extremely toxic and inappropriate, a man dominating industry where they eat their young basically. I literally used to cry every day and would call my dad asking if I can just quit. Haha I remember he used to be like ‘you can walk away whenever you want, I’ll support whatever you do. But also keep in mind that there’s an end date and it’s not forever. Work, save as much as you can and finish your time.’
In the meantime I was looking at spaces to rent for my clinic back in San Antonio. It honestly felt like it took forever to find the right space. There’s so much that goes into it that no one ever talks about. Having to hire an attorney to set up your business and filing with the state. Having them review all of the details from the contracts with the property, then the back and forth with negotiations, then the actual buildout aspect of it. We negotiated with one property for about 5-6 months and they just wouldn’t budge on anything, then moved on to the second property which we negotiated for another 2 months. The goal was for me to work in Houston while we were building my office. But since I couldn’t find a property that I liked things didn’t go as planned. My time was up in Houston, I moved back to SA with no job and no clinic.
Then finally the property that I ended with I was actually driving by one day and saw their sign. I reached out to their agent and we literally negotiated, completed and signed everything in less than a month! It was wild! I really feel like when something is meant to be, it works out smoothly.
So in November we signed the lease and in December I opened up my office. To be honest the built out wouldn’t have been possible if my dad and his crew didn’t work night and day to turning a shell space into an office. In the meantime, I went around town marketing, networking, making connections and doing pop up events. The first year I worked like a crazy person. My hours were 7:30 am-6/6:30 pm. And when I didn’t see patients I was out again networking! The hustle is real in the entrepreneur world! So many people had told me to keep working for someone else and to suck it up, that’s just how things are. And that I needed to save more. For me, keeping the big picture is what really helped me get through some of the hardest times! I feel like if I didn’t have the hunger for it i would have failed in a heart beat. It’s definitely not for everyone and being honest with yourself is really important.
Shabnam, 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?
I went to Utsa and was studying to get my biology degree for premed thinking I was going to be a pediatrician. halfway through I realize that that’s not what I wanted to do but I stuck it out finished my degree. While working on my masters degree, I went out to Houston to take a tour of one of the two Chiro schools here in texas. that’s when I decided to apply. While in chiropractic school I joined the pediatric club and started learning more about specialties . I completed a 200 hour training for pediatric and prenatal certification and I also did another 100 hour certification on acupuncture all before actually opening up my practice. Since having my practice I have also done many more hours in pediatric and prenatal training such as lip and tongue tie and cranio-sacral training. In chiropractic school we all take just one one class of pediatrics and prenatal care so there’s not much detail or really anything that we learned that I would say would giving someone enough practice and knowledge and confidence to be able to work with that demographic. I definitely take pride in my training and hours I have put into the specialty with the population that I see. It is a very fun group of individuals and it’s so exciting to be able to help new moms navigate the pregnancy world and also once they have the baby navigate all those first time moments. I love being able to empower our families at the office and educating them with all of their resources and tool available to them to make the best decisions for their families.
Some of the services we provide at the office are prenatal chiropractic services such as adjustments and acupuncture. we also provide postpartum care, pediatric adjustments, pediatric therapy and acupressure. we also provide traditional acupuncture and dry needling, myofascial therapy such as graston therapy and piezo wave therapy.
I would encourage anyone looking for a perinatal or pediatric chiropractor to spend some time researching and making sure their provider has the proper training.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
I would say preaching what you practice. If I tell my patients that eating whole foods, staying active and taking care of your mental health is important that I also better be doing the same thing. People like to relate and personal experiences make such a big difference!
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I think when you do what you love and you do it effectively then people see results along with your passion. When they see results they’ll talk about you and share your info with their friends and family. I truly have amazing patients who have sent their loved ones to our office which is what has helped my practice grow. People also love to see the human behind the business. They want to see the real/raw you and be able to relate to you.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.Essence-Chiro.com
- Instagram: @essencechirosa
- Facebook: Www.Facebook.com/essencechirosa
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shabnam-ashtiani-dc-ms-130894119?trk=people-guest_people_search-card
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC3Cpmd7U8xEGBgNkgohcO7w
- Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/essence-chiropractic-and-wellness-san-antonio
Image Credits
Brittany Reynosa