We were lucky to catch up with Zeynep Tuzcu recently and have shared our conversation below.

Zeynep, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?

Coming from a retail management background, I had no idea I wanted to be a chiropractor initially. As a yoga teacher by trade, I knew I wanted to be in the field of helping people, but it wasn’t until I left my retail job and started teaching yoga at a chiropractic clinic that I realized it would be a perfectly aligned pathway for me. A non-pharmaceutical approach to health and wellness? Sign me up! So I started chiropractic school, got my butt kicked by the extremely challenging Doctorate program and then got into my clinical residency and everything changed – I realized…wow, this is why I’m here. To actually listen to my patients concerns and build a game plan together with them.

The main steps I had to take consisted mostly of administrative things like figuring out how to purchase an LLC, finding the financial support to get my business needs covered, securing a physical clinic space as well as reaching out to everyone in my circle and network to ensure I had enough patients to actually open my doors. I also had to create a business plan and personal goals both of which are ever-changing!

I ran into some logistical struggles with obtaining my license in the middle of a pandemic, learning how to use my new patient software and business website, learning how to create and promote content, file my taxes, all while keeping up with continuing education to maintain my license.

If I had to go back, I don’t think I would have done anything differently – I believe every struggle we face comes exactly at the time it’s meant to and I wouldn’t be where I am without the path I followed.

My advice for a young professional interested in starting their own practice is to find someone who does what you’re interested in and ask them how they got there! *Then* you can narrow down what it will be that makes you unique. Ask for help. You can do anything you really, really want. I can promise you that.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Sure! My name is Zeynep Tuzcu and I am a chiropractor and solopreneur/business owner working out of my clinic, Evren Chiropractic, in the Loring Park neighborhood of downtown Minneapolis. I was born in Turkey but grew up in this city and I have so much love for the community here.

I studied psychology in my undergraduate career and worked in retail management at Target for a few years before dropping everything and pursuing a career in wellness. I graduated with my Doctorate in 2021 and opened my clinic that Fall after realizing what I wanted in a clinical practice didn’t yet exist.

As an activist, my mission with the clinic is to create an inclusive healing space and provide equitable, accessible and trauma-informed care to the community to help manage and prevent pain. I take a very biopsychosocial approach to care and factor in mental, spiritual and physical health in my treatment plans. I also spend a long time with my patients, truly listening to what they have to say as many folks don’t always have a safe space for that within the medical field, particularly the BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities.

I am most proud of sticking to my vision and values of quality, whole-person care in a field that largely encourages and operates within the opposite – get as many patients in and out as physically possible.

Ultimately, I help people get to know themselves and their bodies better. This is what helps us get to the root cause of whatever pain they are experiencing and gives us the tools to address it in an accessible way. I want folks to feel like they can advocate for themselves just as I do. I always tell patients, you’ve been living in your body for longer than I’ve known you. So if anything doesn’t feel quite right, let me know and we’ll try something else.

It’s been a challenging journey in many ways, and I’m so honored to serve my community in this way. Each day gets better and better.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Sticking to your own values and mission as an individual is the best gift you can give yourself in succeeding in your field. This will sound cliché, but whatever it is that you want to create, do that. Sometimes I think we ask so many people for advice and guidance that our own intuition gets clouded. There’s a balance to strike between asking for help from many people and listening to your gut.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

As a Minneapolis native, I had already built a large network within the community largely through the yoga space and through supporting other small business owners over the years (artists, aestheticians, stylists, musicians, etc.) and this is really what helped me the most because I exchanged trust with a lot of people who felt comfortable sending me referrals which is a huge honor.

In addition, my presence in the community as a yoga teacher, student, small-business supporter, and overall advocate, I built a reputation as a healer who truly cares about people, because I really do.

Every time a new patient comes in, I have an opportunity to build a caring, compassionate relationship with them which also builds my reputation. I want people to know I’m on their side, always.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.evrenchiropractic.com
• Instagram: @evrenchiro

Image Credits
Danielle Dutcher Markert Mara LeBlanc