This month marks the 10 year anniversary of Milwaukee Community Acupuncture! It has been an honor and privilege to serve the community ever since. Continuing to make lasting partnerships with patients and providers in the area is why we...
This month marks the 10 year anniversary of Milwaukee Community Acupuncture! It has been an honor and privilege to serve the community ever since. Continuing to make lasting partnerships with patients and providers in the area is why we started the clinic 10 years ago.
To mark this momentous occasion we are having a 10th anniversary fundraiser party the evening of Saturday, October 12th. Tickets for the event can be purchased at MCA or online at milwaukeecommunityacupuncture.org/10yearparty. There will be food, music from local musician Lisa Gatewood and a silent auction filled with loads of goodies from other local businesses!
I sat down with the founders of Milwaukee Community Acupuncture, Amy Severinsen and Olive Crane, to reflect.
After 10 years, what are you most proud of?
Amy: I’m so proud of so many aspects of the clinic, but I would have to say our growth! I knew a Community Acupuncture (CA) clinic would thrive in Bay View, but I had no idea we would expand to six full-time acupuncturists and being open seven days a week. Our community has really embraced us, but that’s also thanks to our amazing staff, of which I am also very proud. See what I did there? I snuck another one in. ;)
Olive: When we first opened our primary goals were to create a clinic that was accessible & affordable and create jobs for ourselves that we enjoy. After 10 years I’m very proud to look back and feel like we have achieved all of these goals! We’ve been able to steadily grow, expand our hours and hire amazing acupuncturists, all while keeping our sliding scale low. I feel so grateful that I have a job that I love. Sometimes I get asked if I get bored doing the same thing over and over and I don’t! I love working with a diverse clientele and meeting new people all the time and I find that developing treatments is a great creative outlet for me.
So, 10 years ago...that would have been during the recession? How did that affect your business?
Amy: We were so lucky that our business model focuses on making our service affordable. Being high volume, we are able to see more patients per hour, and therefore charge less per treatment, which allows patients to afford to come back regularly. If we were charging market rates for private room acupuncture I don’t believe our business would have thrived, much less survived the recession.
Olive: We might be a business that people turn to in a recession for many reasons. The primary reason would be our low cost, but recessions are also very stressful for many people. Acupuncture is great at managing stress and all of the other health imbalances that stress leads to.
What is your favorite part about owning a community centered business?
Amy: My favorite part is knowing that we are doing something that truly fosters a healthy community. By easing pain, reducing anxiety and depression, and balancing hormones we are able to create healthier community members that are able to function better in their day to day lives.
Olive: I love being a resource that people can turn to when they need it. We have a lot of patients that have been with us for years, some steadily and some here and there whenever something pops up for them. It’s great to know that we are often one of the first places our patients think of when a new health condition arises, stress gets unmanageable or life just feels a little out of balance.
Where do you see MCA in 20 years?
Amy: Our biggest complaint from our patients has always been that we need another location. Or three. Haha. While I can assure you that nothing like that is currently in the works, I will say that I’d like to make that happen eventually.
Olive: Good question! I definitely see ourselves still here and possibly with another location depending on how it all shakes out.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Olive: I just want to thank our patients for supporting us and spreading the word. Most of our new patients come in because they have heard of us from a family member, friend or colleague, or because they read positive online reviews that our patients have left. It means so much to us that our patients continue to refer people our way and we wouldn’t be where we are today without their support.
