Looking back on my life has allowed me to realise and discover the really important lessons that were learned along the way.
I encourage you to do the same and to write out your personal story so it is clear in your mind.
How I Started
1994
Aged 16 years old, trained in massage.
1997
Trained in holistic therapies and advanced aromatherapy.
I learned the power of touch and communication and that someone’s entire physiology could change through relaxation.
1998
Trained with the College of Naturopathic Medicine (CNM) in Naturopathy and Herbalism.
2000
Set up my own Holistic Practice going around people’s houses giving Reflexology, Indian Head Massage and Aromatherapy treatments.
2001
Became a receptionist for a herbal and Colonic Hydrotherapy Clinic and saw how to run a physical practice.
2002
Graduated from CNM.
Found my own building and set up Natural Practices Clinic.
It was time to get people coming to me, instead of me going to people’s homes, BUT none of my Holistic clients wanted to come to a physical practice.
I learned that the target audience is vital. The one thing these people had in common is they wanted the comfort of their own home. That had been the promise.
We can see this in all areas of advertising too.
Businesses that promise a free guide on something you really want and then when you get their email series or their main offer there’s a disconnect - something you’d never wanted or signed up for.
And This Is How It Unfolded...
They Wanted to Know How I Was Doing It...
First year: 3 practitioners contact me:
“How have you taken what we have learned and set up a Practice?"
I was only 24 years old - why were people in their 40s contacting me and why hadn’t they been able to set up a Practice. They were missing 2 things:
Finances and knowledge.
I had the finances luckily through my parents and I’d got prior knowledge of running a health clinic after working in 2 different places over the past 18 months.
I Learned the Art of Communication
I did not stop networking.
Networking breakfasts, Leaflet drops, giving talks at events and support groups. I picked up clients fairly easily using this method because they had met me in person and I had gained their trust.
I learned that if you want people to feel comfortable with you, you have to be seen - be that in person or on a Facebook Live.
I learned the art of communication and how to phrase things differently depending on the target audience because I would go to the Heart Association Meetings, the Women’s Association, Diabetes UK and each time use their pain points and create different hand-outs. (put systems in place that could be replicated) I kept EVERYTHING I did and formed templates, so I never had to write anything twice, which is a habit I have kept today.
My Practice Was Overflowing With Clients
So I Built Up My Team
2003
Trying to complete treatments as well as answer the phone, respond to email enquiries, write reports, sweep the floor, clean the toilet, settle the accounts etc. was impossible. I brought on the first member of staff.
Having an additional pair of hands did not equal easier work and here I learned the importance of having a system written down that others could follow. How do you greet your clients? How do you respond to their queries? What reading material should be present as the client walks in through the door? What should the staff member offer them to drink?
I started to create a CLINIC FLOW.
2006
I needed to expand to fulfill the demand, plus the other half of the building I was renting became available. Grew to 4 members of staff and 3 practitioners offering treatments.
This was the time I learned the importance of a natural pharmacy. This should be an extension of the
supplements and herbs you use in Practice but now you need to teach your staff in HOW to use them appropriately.
I learned that practitioners know nothing about running a business. Over many years I saw MANY practitioners come and go. I spent so much time registering new practitioners who wanted to rent a room at my Clinic but they never made a business out of it. Ever. The ones that did were very few and far between.
I learned we are REALLY good at our designated profession but being good at that and learning
how to run a business are like the North and South Pole.
The successful practitioner: Why is it that some make it and some don’t.
I settled on key practitioners and realised how important it is to be part of a team of like-minded people
so you can have crazy conversations, lift each other up and also help each other along the way.
I felt blessed to have a team of amazing Practitioners that I could refer my clients to if needed.
The Only Way to Grow Is to Put Structures in Place
2006-2008
Brought in Client Training:
This was a system I could use which would ensure the clients achieved success by SHOWING them how the body healed. This helped to keep them interested and also meant I didn’t have to keep repeating myself.
This also served the Practitioners I had brought on board so we were all doing the same thing, no matter what condition the client came in with.
2008
I needed a SYSTEM in place as I decided I wanted a baby and my Practice needed to survive me being on maternity leave.
I Created the 5 part healing template system: This was my First system to take clients through a healing protocol. I created it because I wanted to show my practitioners how to have successful health results with their clients and I wanted to show clients what to expect on their healing journey.
I realised this approach would benefit the Client in the long-run to get to the root of their issues, and also the Practitioner, over the following 6-8 months.
Even though I offered individual sessions, due to the understanding from the start of the healing process, the return rate was high.
My Children Were Born and I'd Reached My Breaking Point, Something Had to Change...
2009 Emily Was Born:
Needed time away from the clinic.
Now I had 5 staff running the clinic and also the retail area.
Motherhood the first time around was a blur: I had a child that didn’t sleep for the first 2 years of her life.
Early 2012:
started lecturing for the College of Naturopathic Medicine in Nutrition, Herbal Medicine and Naturopathy.
Edward Was Born in 2012.
I was feeding him and feeding another baby. I had an oversupply issue and another mother wanted unsterilised breast milk as she was quite poorly.
When I looked at the time on the milk bags, I realised I didn’t actually sleep.
Seeing client’s became problematic as I could not make a decision on their health ‘in the moment’, as I had previously done.
Everything became a blur:
Something Had to Change.
I realised I had to automate the systems and make it easier for myself.
I Created a System So I Could Stop Sounding Like a Broken Record
I created a series of emails that would guide the client between their appointments, so I didn’t have to keep repeating myself about hydration and sleep and types of fibre etc.
I also created fixed phrases so I didn’t need to think too much. The ‘fixed phrases’ build the client’s confidence in the practitioner. These would be in sentences of threes.
I’d like for you to increase your water intake, reduce your refined carbohydrate and get to bed by 9pm for example. This gave me confidence in what I was saying and would impart a sense of authority to the client and the emails would then reinforce what they heard in the appointment.
In 2014 I Got Ill.
I had terrible IBS. My tiredness had led to me eating the wrong things and I had awful stomach cramps and diarrhoea. I was in Tesco balancing a baby on my knee and not wanting to put my daughter down onto the floor whilst I was in the toilet.
It was such a difficult time.
I was dealing with that as well as struggling to juggle the Clinic and Motherhood.
Multiple things led to Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.
For 6 weeks I could not see clients nor lecture. Edward was not yet 2 years old.
I realised how vulnerable my business was and that seeing clients one on one was burning me out.
I invested in Software and the appointment book was ditched and replaced by computer software with inbuilt marketing. I put all my ‘Natural Pharmacy’ online.
This is where I learned the lesson of refinement. I took the time to refine the stock, the systems, the software, the protocols. I audited each area of the Clinic.
These days my product sales exceed my Clinic sales.
I Created an Online Business on July 5th, 2014 and
That's When Everything Changed!
I Established an Online Community on Facebook: Called the "IBS Support Group Worldwide"
And it grew and grew to over 20,000 members to date!
I began to investigate the group's pain points.
I wrote a whole IBS course to help the members, with the goal of moving out of a one to one model and helping more people that needed my expertise and experience.
I set up an automated system within my specific niche that earned me more time and the freedom to be with my children.
While I Was Working on the Programme, I Met the Wonderful Desiree!
Desiree got in contact with me.
She’s a Naturopath from Canada.
She said:
"You’ve got this amazing group and you’re doing nothing with it.
People are suffering and need our help!"
In 2018-2020 We Learned:
The Golden Skill of effective communication that allowed us to reach our audience like never before. We finally....
✔ Understood their pain and struggle.
✔ Could speak to them in their language so they would feel heard and understood.
✔ Spoke it back to them so they could identify themselves.
✔ Built authority as the experienced health practitioners that we were.
This Is Where We Learned the Same Lesson of Using Systems.
We created guides to speak with individual pain points, depending on whether they had diarrhoea or constipation, bloating or IBS with anxiety and we created hand-outs to capture their email.
We ran Facebook Lives and Challenges to capture the potential clients within the group. We built an online community.
We converted people from IBS Breakthrough calls, to paying clients and guided them through the IBS course.
I finally obtained what I was so desperately searching for - time freedom and a financially viable business.
Now is the time to guide YOU in creating your successful health practice.
Discover the 7 Simple Steps You Must Implement to Stop the Post-consultation Frustration
It's time to stop burning the midnight oil when you’re not getting paid
Learn how to stop spending hours writing client reports by implementing this effective strategy.
Give this special key to your client so they know how to communicate effectively with you, to avoid the multiple email queries.
Utilise our most effective techniques for your next appointment. Free up your time and quit repeating yourself.
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It's time you discovered new possibilities for your health business. Let's get on a call together, so where you are stuck and map out a brand new future as a health practitioner. How exciting?
