Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Sarah Duke.
Hi Dr. Sarah, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My husband and I met while working as massage therapists at Lake Austin Spa Resort almost 20 years ago, and as we grew our love for each other, we dreamed of opening our own business together one day. After a 10 year journey of having 3 kids, getting through chiropractic school and moving back to Austin to raise our kids, we finally realized our dream of opening a business. We opened Austin Community Wellness in April of 2017 in a shared space, and we slowly grew it to its own location. We started extremely small with the cash we had in the bank and grew it into what it is today.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Being a business owner is not for everyone. There are times when the cash flow is plentiful and there are other times that it is lean unlike recieving a salary that is quite steady and reliable. I think the biggest struggles are the uncertainty of the economy in situations like COVID and inflationary periods of time. One of the struggles we have faced recently is realizing that we needed to raise our prices to accomodate for the ever rising prices of everything around us. Since we are a service based business, we didn’t think that inflation would affect our business as much, but the rising costs hit you differently than you expect. It is also important to constantly reevaluate where your pricing structure is in the market you are in because you could unknowingly be selling yourself short and unnecessarily struggling when you could raise prices to make up for the loss.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Dr. Sarah and Shane are passionate experts in all things surrounding child birth. We have worked with pregnant women, babies and children for decades utilizing gentle techniques that decrease symptoms and relieve conditions in all those populations. Dr. Sarah is a Webster certified doctor that uses gentle manual and instrument assisted adjustment techniques, and Shane has the magic pregnancy pillow that allows women to be massaged face down. Together, Dr. Sarah and Shane are the dream team for the whole family.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
When I was in school 10 years ago, only 2% of the population saw a chiropractor, and I’ve really seen a big shift of thought toward more natural therapies over the years. Younger generations seem more apt to taking better care of their bodies and mental health, and that is really a big part of bodywork. We are all about taking care of the mind, body and spirit.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.austincommunitywellness.com
- Instagram: @austincommunitywellness
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AustinCommunityWellnessClinic
- Twitter: https://x.com/AusCmtyWellness/status/1832479531279516103
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@AustinCommunityWellness
- Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/austin-community-wellness-austin
