Meet Andy Lee

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Andy Lee a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Andy , thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

Honestly, for myself I feel that I had a decent sense of optimism as a very young child. Despite having a parent pass away as a toddler, I still remember a feeling they were still around and palpable. This helped shape my life of leaning into our universes mysteries. I certainly don’t want to sugarcoat when there are rough roads. I can also empathize with a childhood of abuse and paramount dysfunction. But I remember thinking about joy, hope and blessings knowing that if I happened to see them or read about them -they were possible. And ultimately I could find them for myself and within my own being.
At first it was a method of survival but later on it became about thriving.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’ve been an RN for over 40 years mostly having worked in critical care and pediatrics. I’m also an acupuncturist and worked in my pediatric hospital as an acupuncturist while having a part time private family practice. A few years ago, I retired from hospital work and returned to school to earn my doctorate in acupuncture.
I currently maintain my private family practice. I would call my practice a blend of acupuncture with traditional styles or more esoteric and intuitive, nutritional, essential oils and hydrosols, Korean, shonishin practices often used.
My practice includes patients whose insurance pays for their treatments, veterans, and private pay. I have a gifting program where patients who can’t afford treatments can receive them and supplements for free. This is a newer feature and so far it is rewarding and successful. This past year I also changed my practice from retail products to wholesale last year for my patients. It became obvious to me that natural care was becoming over priced and this was something I could do for patients to help them when they are trying to get healthier despite mounting cost of living.
We have quarterly books offered dealing with subjects of health such as thyroid issues, mental health, longevity and other topics. Those who read the selected books often discuss their thoughts.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

A strong sense of calm especially when the environment seems to offer nothing but chaos has helped me throughout many decades of my life. An inner calm has lent itself to critical thinking skills which parlays into having perceptive listening skills to hear what my patients or coworkers are truly conveying.

My best advice would be to make yourself a priority. Do the work to help yourself be calm, collected and healthy in all ways that you can. It will pay off in your personal life and your worklife.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

The precision with which my parents ( biological mom and step father) influenced and guided me came directly from their lack of good parental skill sets.
Yes, survival of childhood was the goal initially. And there were times when the wide and varying flucuations of my parents mental disorders made experiences in childhood have strands of normalcy. If it’s true that we pick our parents then I believe that I chose them inorder to provide the spiritual challenge for myself.
One that has enabled me to love more, learn more, and helped to fuel the empathy I bring into my life and practice.

Image Credits

The child featured in the acupuncture photo is my grandson John and his parents give their permission to use this photo.

no other image credits are needed
all photography is my own