When I first became a nurse, I followed the rules. I worked in hospitals, did my shifts, charted endlessly, and did everything by the book. I respected the structure, and I learned a lot. But I also saw the cracks. I saw the people falling through them—patients whose concerns were dismissed because they didn’t fit into a ten-minute visit, and clinicians who were burning out trying to keep up with productivity quotas. Over time, it became clear that the system wasn’t built for real healing. It was built for efficiency. That realization is what led me to take a different path.

Today, I run my own healthcare practice—Holistic Medical Services—and every single thing about how we care for people here has been shaped by one belief: healthcare should be human first. It’s not about checking boxes or rushing people through. It’s about listening, connecting, and treating the whole person. That’s the power of building your own practice—you get to make the rules, and you get to do things in a way that actually makes sense for the people you serve.

Why I Chose Holistic Care

When people hear the word “holistic,” they sometimes think it means alternative or unproven. But to me, holistic just means whole. It means seeing the full picture—body, mind, and spirit. You can’t treat someone’s high blood pressure without also asking about their stress, their sleep, their relationships, and even what they’re eating. You can’t talk about health in pieces. People aren’t puzzles with one missing piece—they’re whole stories.

That’s what drove me to start a holistic practice. I wanted to create a space where people felt safe being themselves, where they weren’t just a diagnosis on a chart, and where we could look beyond symptoms to the root causes. We blend traditional medicine with wellness, mental health, and lifestyle support. And we do it at a pace that allows for real connection.

Freedom to Choose What Matters

Owning my own practice has given me the freedom to put values before volume. I don’t have to rush people in and out because some system says I need to see 30 patients a day. I can take the time to hear someone’s story. I can build treatment plans that actually fit their lives, not just their lab results. And I can focus on prevention and education instead of always reacting after something goes wrong.

This freedom also means I can hire people who share my vision—providers and staff who believe that kindness is just as important as competence. We’ve created a culture where everyone is encouraged to slow down, to care deeply, and to take pride in doing things differently. That kind of work environment doesn’t just benefit our patients—it keeps us healthier as providers, too.

I’ve worked in settings where burnout was the norm, where people were so drained by the demands of the system that they stopped feeling joy in the work. That’s not the world I wanted to live in, and it’s not the kind of practice I wanted to lead. So I made my own.

The Challenges of Doing It Your Way

Now, I won’t lie and say that building a practice from the ground up is easy. It takes grit, sacrifice, and a lot of late nights. There’s risk involved. You have to wear a hundred hats—clinician, manager, marketer, and sometimes even plumber when the office sink breaks. But the tradeoff is worth it, because every decision you make is yours. You get to decide what kind of care you offer, how your space feels when people walk in, and how your team interacts with patients.

There’s also the challenge of unlearning what the system taught you. I had to remind myself that I didn’t need permission to do things differently. Just because something has “always been done this way” doesn’t mean it’s the best way. It takes courage to step out of the mold, but once you do, the possibilities open wide.

Patients Know the Difference

One of the most rewarding parts of owning a holistic practice is seeing the difference it makes in people’s lives. Patients tell us they’ve never felt more heard. They stay with us for years. They refer their families. They become partners in their own care instead of passive recipients. That kind of trust isn’t built in a rushed visit—it’s built over time, through consistency, presence, and genuine compassion.

We’ve seen patients transform—not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. We’ve seen people heal not just from illness, but from years of feeling overlooked or dismissed by the system. That’s the kind of impact I dreamed of when I first started down this path.

A Model That Can Grow

What’s exciting is that this isn’t just about me or my practice. I believe this model can be replicated. There are so many incredible nurse practitioners, physicians, and therapists out there who are ready to take the leap—to create care spaces that feel different, that work better, and that honor the humanity in every person. My message to them is simple: you can do this. You don’t have to follow someone else’s blueprint. You can make your own.

Starting a holistic practice isn’t just about building a business. It’s about building a better way to care. It’s about giving yourself the freedom to lead with compassion, to serve with integrity, and to bring heart back into healthcare.

For me, there’s no turning back. This is the kind of medicine I believe in. This is the kind of leadership I want to model—for my team, for my patients, and for my daughter Clara as she builds her own path in the mental health field.

In this practice, we heal with more than medicine. We heal with trust, time, and a belief in the power of treating the whole person. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.