Today, we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Beckman.
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?
I began my career as a pharmacy technician and worked in that world for ten years. I saw firsthand how many medications people end up taking in an attempt to address various symptoms and health issues. Early on, the thought occurred to me that there must be a different way to help patients rather than just throwing a bunch of prescriptions at different symptoms.
I worked in a long-term care pharmacy and joined with several others from there to start a hormone clinic. It was there that I met my current business partner, Barbara Stuart. After 18 months there, Barbara and I realized there was a way we could make this better for everyone, so we teamed up and started our clinic, built around the things we value most–principally, putting the patient first and finding ways to address the root cause of health issues rather than sporadically treating symptoms. We have been in business now for nearly ten years.
Barbara and I want to provide a service to patients that is more affordable (historically, hormone therapy has really only been an option for the rich). We work hard to take good care of our patients. In the early days of launching our business, we had no money for marketing, and we were just trying to make enough money to pay our rent each month. By really giving our patients care and attention and great customer service, our business started to grow organically.
Our patients were telling their friends and family; before we knew it, we were booked out months later. We never had fixed goals for productivity or revenue. We just wanted to earn a paycheck while taking care of people. Focusing on that aspect has really paid off for us. We’ve been able to help over 3000 patients to date. It’s very rewarding knowing that we’ve been able to make an impact, sometimes life-changing, on so many people. Not only are our clients our patients, but many have become friends.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The biggest struggle was just having the courage to start.
Not knowing when you will be getting your next paycheck, using savings or credit cards to pay the bills. It’s scary. It was also difficult as we were growing, and it was just the two of us. We didn’t hire our first employee until 2020, so we wore many hats for many years, and honestly, we still do.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe you can tell us more about your business next?
We are a hormone therapy clinic–but we do more than just hormones. We genuinely believe that knowledge is power, and educating our patients is the best way to help them.
We focus on the body as a whole and treat hormones (including sex hormones, thyroid, stress hormones, and insulin), gut health, and autoimmune/inflammation. We work to provide options and solutions for patients that fit within their budget and life. After all, they’re the ones living inside their body. It isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach.
What sets us apart from other practices and clinics is the personalized care we provide and our whole-body approach to improving health and wellness. We also work with patients to identify their personal wellness goals and give them the plan and support they need to reach them.
On the note of knowledge is power, in this industry a thirst for continued learning is crucial. We take that very seriously. I’ve always appreciated that my business partner (Barbara Stuart, nurse practitioner) has continued to look for new education opportunities and is always asking “why” as she seeks to learn more about the human body and how it responds to different things. She’s never content with just accepting things as they are.
Learning and offering better solutions to patients is key to having success. For example, we have been offering peptides for eight years now – long before they became a pop culture sensation. Medicine is a science, but there’s an art to applying medicine in the correct and most advanced ways to treat individuals on a case-by-case basis. We’ve found that putting our egos aside and being willing to ask questions and learn more has been key to building a good medical practice.
Since we opened in 2014, we have added another nurse practitioner to our practice. We are a female-owned business staffed by all females, and we are proud of that. Of course, we treat both females and males.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from growing up.
One of my favorite things to play as a child was ‘business.’
I would recruit my friends to type, fill out papers, stack, and staple. I don’t even know what our businesses were – but I loved the organization of playing business and always assigned myself the role of boss. I’m the oldest daughter, can you tell?
Contact Info:
- Website: www.vitalizehormone.com
- Instagram: @vitalizehormone
- Facebook: Vitalize Hormone & Wellness
