Roseanne Parke is a wow-man!
I am a wow-man! My daughter coined that term in a birthday card a few years ago. In that instant, I knew all the sacrifice had been worth it. Until that point, I was simply a nurse who left the bedside to pursue a corporate sales career. When that market became unreliable, I opened an esthetic clinic – my third career in my fifties.
Money and job security were my initial drivers, but in the process of ‘selling my services,’ I had to ask questions to uncover my customer’s goals and needs. Listening to them, I began to see a common thread of underlying health signals that needed answers, e.g., why do some women not lose weight even with dieting; how can you look like you’re on the top of your game physically with diet and exercise yet rely on caffeine to keep you going during the day, and wine to unwind at night.
All too often, women miss these subtle signals and attribute them to ‘just life’ or getting older. I started my new journey researching articles, attending conferences, and talking with experts to understand what might be lurking deeper.
You know the motto, “build it and they will come”? That’s what I did. I pitched my vision of ‘healthy inside and beautiful outside,’ and I found doctors with the genius, shared passion, and willingness to move from traditional family health practice to join an integrated clinic. Here, they would help our clients achieve their goals of optimal health and natural beauty.
There were challenges. Although I was passionate about developing this model of care I had very little business intellect to guide us. There were the inevitable bumps in the road, but as tough as the lessons were, I persevered. I am inspired by a quote from Martin Luther King, “The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where they stand in times of challenge and controversy.”
I am a woman who questions run of the mill thinking when it comes to disease and aging. I don’t sell services; I provide information to empower my clients to make the right decisions for their journey.
