Business Panel Discussion

Tonight I can't sleep.

I left the clinic at 5:30 tonight to be a part of a panel discussion on naturopathic practice management at CCNM. There was a panel of 3 different NDs all with varying business experiences discussing the trials and tribulations of opening a clinic and/or starting a practice. We talked about leases, bank loans, patients, marketing, etc., to a group of 4th year interns and new grads.

As many people know I didn't start off as the sole owner of Zawada Health. I started right out of school opening the clinic as part of a partnership. For many different factors the partnership didn't work out but the clinic is strong 5 years later with me at the helm and my fabulous crew of massage therapists, a chiropractor, a hypnotherapist, and a psychotherapist. It was a great experience for me to re-live the opening of the clinic, the hard work and all the people that were instrumental in me succeeding.

At the end I was asked who is my mentor and who was instrumental in my success. Along the way I had many people that helped in one way or another, but the 4 people that I couldn't have done it without are my sister, my parents, and of course my husband.

My sister was and still is always there for laughs and unwavering belief that I can do anything I want. I learned work ethic and how to manage people from my self-employed parents that worked so hard every single day on the farm. They will drive 2 hours to help out at the front desk when my receptionist is gone; they will paint, fix, or clean anything in the clinic; they were and still are always there to help me and love me. And Chris has seen everything from the beginning..... he heard me say at the beginning how excited I was to have one new patient the first week of opening (and still thinks I should tell my first patient ever that she was my first patient and give her her money back!!!); he was there to listen to me, and struggle through the first couple of years; he was there to edit my articles, or write a quick press release for me; he was there when the business partnership fell apart and keep me strong and keep me laughing to get through it all.

What a journey it has been so far!