Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Shannon
Hi Jessica, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started chiropractic school without ever receiving an adjustment actually. I just witnessed my parents get into a car accident at a young age and watched their health paths unfold before me. One picked a chiropractor as a solution to back pain. One picked modern medicine and opioids. You can probably guess how the rest of that story goes. One was thriving and making healthy progress and lifestyle changes. The other kept falling deeper and deeper into western medicine. We’ve come a long way in western medicine and it has its place. I’m very thankful though to offer a non-invasive solution to pain.
Now my understanding before chiropractic school was that chiropractic is for pain. That’s why I never personally got adjusted myself. I quickly came to realize adjustments support the whole body. Our body is one and everything affects everything. There’s chemical stressors on our body like diet and the products we choose to use everyday from cleaning and hygiene. There’s emotional stressors like our relationships and family dynamics. Then of course there’s the physical stressors like strains/strains and concussions. They all show up in our spine and nervous system. I address all three in my office for a whole person approach.
I was always drawn to gentler adjustment techniques in school. Instead of the twisting, popping, and cracking approach, I fell in love with the tool adjusting and breathwork side. People can lay on the adjusting table and fully relax without worrying about being twisted into a pretzel. It’s not a better or worse approach to chiropractic, it’s just different. It’s a different some people crave and need. They leave feeling refreshed and ready to heal.
With a different approach it left me with little options in terms of graduation. It was either work for someone else doing a style of chiropractic that wasn’t me or it was open my own practice and pray the people I am meant to serve would find me. I chose the latter and now have a practice of congruency still 7 years later. A practice of Kindred spirits you could say at Kindred Chiropractic.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Struggles along the way have been imposture syndrome. I started my practice at 27 so I kept hearing “oh, you’re a young doctor,” or “wow, that’s brave of you to just jump in an open your own place.” This left me wondering if I was enough. If you have ever started an entrepreneurial adventure you know the imposture syndrome never leaves you just learn to overcome it.
I would also saying adding to my family this last year has been a hurdle maybe instead of a struggle. I welcomed a little boy into my life early in l2024 and I never fathomed what that would do to my heartstrings. I love my practice and I love my child, so it was a matter of finding the correct work/life balance to make my heart happy. I now work 4 half days a week and it feels like a perfect balance. It gave me a new perspective on motherhood that I couldn’t tap into until going through it myself. It really has helped me relate to my clients more. My ideal client has always been women who are newly empty nesters trying to identify where they fit into the world again after being a mother first for decades.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Kindred Chiropractic?
I specialize in gentle chiropractic. I use the integrator to adjust which uses tone frequency to make lasting changes. There are times where I do work on the cranial bones of the skull mixing in emotional oil supports to help the body process through the emotional stressors. The goal of each adjustment is to get the body to a place of peace and ease with a low and slow belly breath. That’s how you know the nervous system is healing. It’s one on one care where my practice members are more than just a number but instead an extension of my family and friends.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I have joined a handful of networking groups. Some are better than others and I would say try many before committing to one. You can learn so much from other business owners and being in community with them. Networking has helped me present myself professionally, it’s supported my public speaking skills, and of course a quality referral networking of people I trust.
I would say focusing on other businesses that are similar to my own professionally has been the most helpful outside of networking groups. Partnering with massage therapists, naturopaths, and physical therapists has been game changer. People need more than one healthcare provider so having a tribe of providers to work with as a team has been the most beneficial.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Jessicashannondc.com
- Instagram: @Kindredchiropractic
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/kindredchiromn/
