Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Richards.
Rachel, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I had an indirect journey to becoming a doctor. My bachelor’s degree was in Chemical Engineering and led to a career with the Navy as a nuclear test engineer on aircraft carriers. It was a good job and I liked some aspects of it but I never found passion in it. After six years there, I was working long hours, sometimes going weeks without a day off, and the expectation was to be on call day and night. With those expectations and on that schedule burnout isn’t far off. Especially if you’re not doing something, you love. One day, as I was walking in from the parking lot to work, a car started to back up next to me and would have hit me if I didn’t move. My first thought was, “Maybe I should get hit by that car and hurt just enough that I don’t have to go into work.” This was an ah-ha moment when I realized how crazy it was that I would rather be hit by a car than go to work.
So, I started to think about other paths and my stepmother, who is a medical doctor, said to me, “Rachel, what do you think about becoming a chiropractor? I’ve been meeting some chiropractors and they are really happy people.” I laughed and thought that was a weird thing to say. What did she mean, they are happy people? Now, I know. Being a chiropractor is nowhere near the easy path and absolutely requires passion and dedication. You don’t do it unless you love it. And now I know what that feels like–doing something you love.
Being a chiropractor is a wonderful and unique way to be a doctor. Patients are happy to see me and they often have immediate positive changes that they can feel. I love that they leave my office feeling better than when they came in. I work for myself and can structure my practice however I please and I know that what I do is improving peoples’ lives. It is a profound source of joy in my life.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Everyone knows that there aren’t any smooth roads in San Diego, haha! Going back to school to get a doctorate, followed by starting your own business isn’t easy but I also think it’s something anyone with dedication can do. There is a huge commitment at the start. For the first two years, I lived and breathed my practice. I thought about it all the time and certainly did not take a vacation. It’s a lot like a newborn, it takes all your time and energy to help it grow and it feels like if you take your eyes off it for a second, it could die.
Once I had children, it became a struggle to balance everything. I knew that I wanted to go back to work but I also wanted to be the one to raise my kids and spend time with them. I feel incredibly grateful that I have been able to work part-time for the last few years while my kids are small.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Harmony Health story. Tell us more about the business.
My business is Harmony Health and my specialty is holistic chiropractic, which means that I look at and address all possible stressors: structural, nutritional, toxic and emotional. Many people have back pain because of emotional stress or they have sinus headaches because of poor digestion. We have to be able to look at the whole picture to truly help someone back to great health.
I absolutely love working with pregnant women and kids. Pregnancy is such a special time but it is also such a challenging time! And there is no better way to improve someone’s health than starting at the very beginning by improving their entrance into the world.
I think that the biggest thing that sets Harmony Heath apart is that we have real love in our hearts for patients. This is not just a business. There are much easier ways to make money but I believe so strongly in what we do and the ways that we help people that I never want to stop doing this. I want to be part of this practice, adjusting people when I’m 90.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
This is a tough question because I don’t usually think of things in terms of luck. I think that most of what “happens” to us is a result of subconscious and conscious decisions, mostly subconscious. There are exceptions, but I have learned that our path is a result of what we focus on, whether that is good or bad. I guess the biggest role of luck that I see is where you get to start your journey. I’m extremely lucky to have been born to parents who loved and took care of me, lucky to have had the opportunities for education that I had, and lucky to be in a time and place where I could start a business and work in it even while I had my babies.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2525 Camino del Rio S, Suite 300
San Diego, CA 92108 - Website: www.harmonyhealthchiro.com
- Phone: 6194589355
- Email: drrichardschiro@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harmonyhealthchiro/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/harmony-health-san-diego-2?osq=harmony+health
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