Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Paris.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
From San Francisco, I’ve been a chiropractor since 1994. After moving to Austin, I opened Whole Family Chiropractors in Mueller in 2009 when the office was surrounded by mostly fields. We grew and became a fixture in Austin.
In late 2017, personally dealing with hormones, body changes and aesthetic desires, I opened RejuvaWell; an integrated regenerative medical spa, I wanted to create a 360 whole-person experience that was not simply injecting Botox for wrinkles. Of course, we can plump up lips, but we are more interested in regenerative care addressing the nexus between internal health and external manifestations. We tend to cater to not just 30 years old wanting botox and filler, but older women in their 50’s and 60’s who just want to look and feel like they did in their 40’s. This is perfect because it’s exactly aligned with where I am in my life.
Because I was running between two locations and the offerings of the two practices were complementary, both practices merged locations in 2018. We were effectively able to create the solutions I had wanted to address. And then the pandemic hit.
With an ill son unable to get a Covid test in March 2020, and a desire to protect my family, staff and patients, I decided to attempt to offer free and reliable PCR and Antibody testing. I witnessed the enormous governmental pitfalls in dealing with Covid-19 and felt I needed to help.
Demand for testing grew so quickly, but the landlord at Overture Mueller, where we are located, refused to let us test outside! They claimed it was hurting rentals. , They threatened to lock me out of my office and seize all the assets. I spent a legal fortune fighting this, but their attorneys took a Trumpian tactic and simply refused to respond to my attorneys. I faced eliminating much needed testing or being shut down entirely.
I took a huge leap in November and leased a 2nd, hopefully temporary space on E 51st street. We opened and on day one tested 95 people. It was literally a speed of 1-100 in one day. We hired over 40 people and began testing 200-300 a day, including many businesses and restaurants in Austin. It was strange to wind up with a business that I wanted to go out of business.
This May, we moved testing back to our original location and continue to test businesses, but not the volume we once did. Fortunately, as vaccination increases, cases decrease. I am looking forward to getting back to my core business offerings. We do really good work!
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?
Aside from the challenges with Overture Mueller, each business has had its own challenges. Now I mostly manage my incredible team and the three businesses and am less in the office itself. Our biggest challenge now is space. We need another 1000 ft2, but there is no room to expand into. As with any business, managing people is always the biggest challenge. They each have lives and their own struggles and I try to accommodate as much as possible, but it is hard. We currently have an extraordinary group of people working together…
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?I manage all the businesses and still see patients for all three.
Contact Info:
- Email: reception@wholefamilychiropractors.com, reception@rejuvawell.com, info@austincovidlabs.com
- Website: www.wholefamilychiropractors.com, www.rejuvawell.com, www.austincovidlabs.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rejuva_well/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wholefamilychiropractors, https://www.facebook.com/RejuvaWell
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/whole-family-chiropractors-austin-7
- Other: https://www.google.com/search?q=google+reviews+whole+family+chiropractors
https://www.google.com/search?q=google+reviews+austin+covid+labs
