We were lucky to catch up with Heather Vaughan, L.Ac, C.Ay, CYT, MSOM with a Specialization in Chinese Herbal Medicine recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Heather, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
My reflexive answer to this question is that resilience springs forth from hardships encountered in life – navigating autoimmune disease and getting divorced while most people were having fun in their 20s, losing my father early in life, among other difficult situations – and the truth is that’s part of the answer. The long view, the wide lens. Each experience demanded I learn to take excellent care of myself, which eventually translated into studying holistic medicine. Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda both provide tools to navigate rough waters in body, mind, and spirit – learning and using those tools in daily life is resilience in action.
But, when I zoom in on where I am now, launching an acupuncture practice in a highly competitive market (there are more acupuncturists per capita here in Asheville, NC, than anywhere in the United States), and being delighted at each early success, hindsight is 20:20. Resilience in this context is something learned through entrepreneurship over the past 10 years (which was never part of the plan, by the way!). Each seeming failure presents fertile ground for getting neutral so you can think differently and ultimately act differently. These little lessons happen a lot when building a business, and after enough time, resilience muscles get very strong. It’s not personal. It’s just time to approach whatever the “thing” is differently.
For example:
Can’t afford your dream space? Find a small space you can afford and make work. And make it beautiful!
Patient bled on the pillow case? (It’s normal, just not pleasant to see as a patient) Flip the pillow over as they sit up.
Your less-than-tech savvy patients struggle with online forms? Anticipate by asking them to come in 15 minutes early and assist them in the process.
Hardships and failure live on a spectrum, with macro and micro equally important for cultivating neutrality, which gives rise to resilience. As my 97 grandmother who still sells antiques would say, “You’ve got to take a chance. Might not work out, but you’ve got to try.”
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Sure. My experience with holistic medicine began out of necessity. When I could no longer run cross country in high school due to pain, I was taken to my first acupuncture appointment (painless Japanese style, thanks Mom!), and began practicing yoga before school at home. In college came the diagnosis – Ankylosing Spondylitis, a severe, progressive autoimmune condition of the spine with no known cure. Unable to find sufficient relief from Western Biomedicine alone, I was lucky enough to find Ayurveda. By combining Ayurvedic detoxification, lifestyle, and dietary therapeutics with acupuncture and craniosacral therapy, I slowly but surely regained my health. “Disease management” came with a bonus- falling in love with the elegance, empowerment, and freedom available to even those in dire circumstances that is possible in holistic medicine. This gave way to intense study of Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda in New Mexico, India, and Hawaii.
Synthesis Medicine is just that – a synthesis of Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine, Ayurvedic Lifestyle Medicine, Craniosacral Therapy, and Yoga/Movement Therapeutics. Each element has its purpose and function to support my patient’s health.
Acupuncture and integrative herbal medicine offer immediate, measurable results: feeling more calm and connected to one’s body, less pain, better sleep, less gas! The trick (spoiler alert) is to establish Ayurvedic practices of diet and lifestyle between acupuncture treatments. Then, your body can continue moving forward, building resilience, and reestablishing balance at a much faster pace.
That said, needles aren’t for everyone. And sometimes, needles are just not the right tool for the moment. Craniosacral Therapy, with its subtle touch and powerful ability to regulate the nervous system, becomes a bridge.
And, since everything begins and ends with movement, therapeutic yoga with precise attention to the smallest of micro-movements rounds out a holistic support system that I am grateful and excited to offer to add to Asheville’s high-caliber, thriving community of healers.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Since Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine assess everything in terms of qualities, I’ll go with that: 1. Grit (aka resilience in the face of getting things wrong)
2. Resourcefulness (aka doing what you can with what you have)
3. Persistence (aka keeping at it when it doesn’t appear to be working. Remember that each experience, even if it seems unrelated to your goal, is an opportunity to learn and gain skills you can ultimately use.)
Practice grit on the small things that don’t matter that much, and exercise those muscles. My first business that worked was called The S’More Pit. My business partner and I had to drill into the minutia of detail related to a s’more, which, while delightful and delicious, is not high stakes. No one’s health or private information is on the line. It was an amazing way to practice trial and error without much risk at the end of the day. We also had a blast. Fun, and delight, I think, are an essential part of grit.
Resourcefulness is how you don’t fall into the trap of spending money that you don’t have, or might not make, or holding you to investors with big expectations. Take advantage of free business set-up resources offered by your State. Take the time to research and lay out your financials. Know how much you can really afford to spend on rent, parking, etc. Is there a cheaper parking lot a little longer walk? Maybe make the sacrifice until you can afford the more expensive parking spot. Who knows, maybe you’ll really enjoy those morning walks.
There’s only one way to develop persistence. You have to just keep going.
Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
I think it’s extremely important to become as well-rounded as possible, especially as a solo-preneur, because it’s all on you at the end of the day. Even if you end up out-sourcing for different services like accounting, medical billing, or web design, you’ll be able to catch mistakes and ask the right questions if you learn the basics. You’ll also be able to take care of each aspect of your business yourself until you can afford to hire out.
For me, the big example is basic web design. I learned to do this, even though the computer often makes me crazy. It has saved me thousands of dollars on designers during the start-up process, and I’ve also turned this skill into an income-stream – I design websites for holistic medicine practices, setting them up to be self-sufficient and successful by creating templates, teaching them how to do basic SEO, upload well-written blogs, and consult on best business practices. Income from design clients has enabled me to breathe a little while waiting for my patient base to grow.
Contact Info:
- Website: synthesismedicine.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/synthesismedicine
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/synthesismedicine
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-vaughan/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/synthesis-medicine-asheville-3
