We started this magazine nearly eight years ago and Lisa Goodman was the first person we told. I remember sitting in her office and pitching this idea. She was beyond supportive which gave us the fuel we needed to propel. We are forever grateful and will continually sing her praises. She is a woman to know and love.
You started Wash Park Chiropractic in 2006 as a one-woman practice. Can you tell us a bit about your evolution and mission?
My mission has definitely changed over the last 18 years! I love that you ask about mission AND evolution. When I started my practice in a tiny half duplex, my mission was to start and grow a small, community-based practice helping one person at a time. I was confident at the time that if I could reach people one-by-one with the message that chiropractic care was better than any other conservative care for muscle and joint injuries, that I would grow. And I knew I would grow, because once each person saw the difference chiropractic would make, they would tell their friends, family and neighbors. A true grass roots approach to small business. I also had three smaller missions: spend as little money as possible to grow, be profitable after the first three months, and rather than continuing to lease, I had a goal to purchase a space to run my practice out of.
About a year into starting my slowly-but-surely growing practice, my dad passed away from Pancreatic Cancer and my first son was born. While either of these would have been a challenge as a solo small business owner, I was handling these incredible events just two months apart from each other. It is moments like these where you find out what you are made of. And I found out that I was made from equal parts ambition, and pride. My need to succeed grew even stronger in honor of my dad and my son, and my confidence in my clinical expertise was continuing to blossom.
In 2010 I purchased the office space we are still in today. It was the best business decision I have ever made. My mission for my practice has evolved: to staff only the best practitioners and provide expert level care within the specialties of sports, youth sports, pediatrics and prenatal care.
Did you always know you wanted to work in health and wellness? How did this journey begin for you?
Yes and no. I wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember, but I was not that into wellness during high school and college. I have always known that I had a strong level of medical intuition. That combined with ambition were suited to becoming a medical doctor. I pictured myself living the fast paced life of an emergency room physician or surgeon. The journey I was not expecting, was realizing that there are many types of doctors and not all of them prescribe drugs and perform procedures. The more I shadowed, volunteered and worked in hospital settings, the more I realized that medical health care was largely driven by what a patient’s insurance company would allow, and not what the managing doctor recommended. I saw one two many instances of a patient not receiving efficient care from diagnosis to treatment that I knew it wasn’t for me. I knew I would need to work for myself if I wanted to get patients better from start to finish as efficiently and accurately as possible.
My epiphany about medical health care lead me to explore my second passion, art by way of a career in advertising. After spending 4 years working at prominent advertising agencies in Minneapolis and San Francisco, I met the most amazing Doctor of Chiropractic. She was a mom, owned her practice, efficiently diagnosed and treated people in her community and had fun while doing it. About two years after being her patient, I had my second career epiphany, I would become a doctor of chiropractic.
We’d love to know more about your services, techniques and specialties. What can a new patient expect when they begin working with you?
A new patient can expect to be treated respectfully, as a whole person. We give our patients credit for knowing their own body and listen intently. Our primary goal is to provide you with an accurate diagnosis and an efficient treatment plan. After having a thorough chat, we follow that up with a detailed physical exam, often discovering secondary issues that patients didn’t even know a chiropractor could tackle. We offer our strong recommendation of the best treatment for each person, however everyone is involved in the decision-making process. We often recommend chiropractic manipulation (because it works fast, and is so safe!) coupled with cupping, dry needling, kinesiology taping, scraping/Graston included in every appointment as needed. Down the hall inside our office you will find our expert acupuncturist and massage therapists who further benefit our patients.
It is worth noting, if after your exam, we determine that you are not a chiropractic candidate, we will refer you to our extensive network of pre-screened specialists.
You recently wrote a book called THE MANUAL for the Chiropractic Entrepreneur. What inspired you to take this on and who will benefit the most from this book?
I am driven by a personal mission to inspire people to have the confidence to act, to believe in themselves, and to achieve any goal.
The day I opened my doors 18 years ago I had no Idea how to run a business. I told myself a few weeks in, I am going to figure this out and then I am going to write it down to share with students and chiropractors who are embarking on opening a business. Hoping to reduce their financial and emotion struggles by 2-3 years.
Writing the book was fun! I think it turned out great and the feedback has been awesome. In fact, this book is not just for chiropractors. I would recommend it for anyone in small business, but especially in health care. My examples and experiences are in the chiropractic world, but over half of the chapters focus on things all small businesses will face including the must-dos of opening a business, writing a business plan, profit planning, branding, marketing, risk management, hiring and more.
You are very passionate about Pancreatic Cancer Research and started the Kingsbury Open. Can you tell us more about this?
This is the 10th year of the golf tournament I started in memory of my dad, the Kingsbury Open. What initially started as a way to have a day off work, golf with friends and celebrate my dad, has exploded into an elite golf event and major fundraiser for Wings of Hope for Pancreatic Cancer and the University of Colorado Cancer Center. To date we have raised nearly $500,000. It is so important to me to give, back – why not have a fun day of golf while doing it?! www.kingsburyopen.org
When you’re not working, how do you and your family spend your free time?
My husband of 20 years and I are both accomplished, mediocre golfers! We love playing together and are both in leagues in Denver. We also have two awesome teenage sons who play a TON of sports including golf. You will often see us on the sidelines. We also love to travel. For the last several years, we have attended a professional sport event in another city as a fun way to take a long weekend and see a new place or visit our old stomping grounds. One of the most exciting business/personal commitments I have on my calendar yearly is being part of the Performance and Recovery team for the United States Golf Association treating players and caddies at the US Open and US Women’s Open.
What does the future hold for Wash Park Chiro?
We will be doing what we do! Helping our community with not only aches and pains, but an abundance of healing. We just launched a twice monthly wellness membership to help our community see the long list of benefits of regular chiropractic care. Keep us on your calendar 1-2 times per month and you will avoid injury, improve your athletic performance, sleep better and find more enjoyment in everything you do. I am also excited to share that we have a new clinic director, Dr. Andrew Johnston as I am spending more time outside of the practice speaking to chiropractic students and peers and working with the USGA. If high level athletes like golfers have chiropractors treating them, so should everyone else!
Thank you for sharing your story with us, Lisa! We are forever in your corner. If you’d like to learn more, visit www.washparkchiro.com or go see her in person at 1313 South Clarkson Street.