Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Sanchez.
Amanda, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
During college, I always knew I wanted to be in the healthcare field and I planned on going to dental school to be an orthodontist. So I began working as a dental assistant to gain experience. In my senior year of undergrad, I was involved in a motor vehicle accident and severely hurt my shoulder. A friend recommended I try acupuncture so I did and was amazed at how after only a couple of sessions my shoulder was practically pain-free.
After much souls searching I decided this is what I was meant to do and my car accident was no accident at all. I found a school in Houston, applied and began the program. After I completed the very intense four-year master’s program I began the process of starting my own business. Since then I have been treating patients in Houston and the surrounding areas for pain and other medical issues. It is my passion to help people recover from pain, give them hope and guide them through a difficult situation so they can move forward towards a happy, healthy and pain-free life.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
During my journey, I have had several obstacles but truly believe they have only made me stronger and prepared me for other challenges. During my graduate program, I continued to work full time as a dental assistant in order to reduce student loans and debt. I am very happy about that decision now but working full time in a busy dental office and attending a four-year medical program at the same time was stressful, time consuming and exhausting. I just took it day by day and semester by semester towards my goal of graduation. I had to be extremely committed, dedicated and focused on my school work and had to miss out on a lot of time with my family in order to study.
My grandmother also passed away while I was in school and I watched her continuously suffer from pain. Her doctors prescribed her pain medications but they would only help temporarily and she then became very dependent on them. This situation encouraged me to continue my studies so I could one day provide an alternative healthcare service to people who are in pain and do not want to become dependent on medication. I wanted to give people other options so they know when conventional medicine does not work there is still hope.
After I graduated I soon realized there is not a lot of employment options available and if you want to practice acupuncture and herbal medicine you basically have to be self-employed. I continued to work as a dental assistant and began my practice part time until I was able to quit and build my practice which took about six months. Slowly but surely I purchased everything I needed and my schedule started to fill up. My current challenges are educating the public on the benefits of acupuncture and herbal medicine. I think people are willing to try it but do not know it is an option to treat pain and other medical issues. Also, another challenge is most people are very scared of needles and think the treatments will be very painful when in fact they are so small and thin most of the time you do not feel them at all.
Please tell us about Holistic Healing Acupuncture.
Holistic Healing Acupuncture is a health and wellness center that provides natural medical treatments such as acupuncture and herbal medicine. We specialize in pain management and women’s health. Acupuncture is a natural way to relieve pain by stimulating your body’s own healing systems. It is also very beneficial for stress, anxiety, depression, fertility and weight loss. The best part about acupuncture is that it is a minimally invasive procedure with no side effects. Holistic Healing is known for relieving pain. Most patients come in after several months or even years of suffering from pain. They have done all types of conventional treatments such as shots, medication, and surgeries and are still in pain which restricts them from doing normal daily activities.
After the practitioner does a complete evaluation and exam the patients will begin a course of treatments. Most patients feel a reduction in pain after 3-5 sessions. At Holistic Healing, we evaluate our patients as a whole and consider all contributing factors of their lifestyle that may be making the patients condition worse without them realizing it. At Holistic Healing, we pride ourselves because we do not treat conditions we treat our patients.Each patients body is unique and no two patients treatments are ever alike. Every patient gets a personalized treatment plan based on their own body’s specific constitution. What sets Holistic Healing apart from other medical practices is that we concentrate on treating the root of the disease and not just treat the symptoms. This helps the patient achieve long-term relief and benefits. Our specialize care treats patients as a whole mind, body, and spirit.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I think the biggest lessons I have learned through this process is to believe in yourself and your dreams. No matter how long your goals may take you or the challenges you face along the way if you stay committed and dedicated you will get to your destination. And even when you do you will then have a new set of challenges and the difficulties you have already faced were just preparing you for the new ones. The most important aspect of being a business owner is the mindset. Every day you will face some type of obstacle but you have to figure out what you can do to fix it and move forward. Having your own business is not easy, some people think you’re the boss, you can do whatever you want.
But in reality, you do what you have to do to make sure your business continues to grow. In the end, all the responsibilities fall on you, if you are successful it’s because of you, if you fail it’s because of you. I believe everyone can truly become successful but you definitely have to put in the work and most of all take care of your patients because they are what truly matters.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2202 W. Alabama St
Houston, Texas 77098 - Website: www.holistichealingacupuncture.com
- Phone: 832.647.5358
- Email: houstonholistichealing@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/holistichealingacupuncture
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/houstonholistichealing
Image Credit:
Lisa Garcia
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
