Navigating Loneliness as a Wellness Center Leader: Insights and Strategies
Oct 10, 2024In this enlightening episode of the Wellness Center Creators podcast, hosts Kendall Hagensen and Anna Rudel tackle a rarely discussed but crucial topic: loneliness among business owners in the wellness industry. Fresh from a four-day retreat, they reflect on the isolation that can come with leadership positions, even when surrounded by a thriving practice and team.
The conversation begins with an acknowledgment of the paradox many wellness center leaders face: building beautiful practices filled with people they want to be around, yet feeling unable to be part of the group themselves. This separation, while necessary for maintaining professional boundaries, can lead to a profound sense of isolation.
Kendall and Anna explore various strategies for combating this loneliness:
- Seeking peer support: Both hosts emphasize the value of connecting with other business owners who understand the unique challenges of leadership. Kendall shares, "Whenever we do this retreat or have a group come together with wellness center creators, that is all, you know, clinic owners or wellness center owners, it's more of a peer to peer relationship."
- Hiring coaches: They discuss how working with business coaches can provide both guidance and a sense of connection. Anna reveals that her path to coaching began "from that place of isolation and realizing I needed that peer support."
- Building community: Kendall stresses the importance of creating a network of support, both within and outside the industry. She says, "If you're going to do it this way and go out on your own, the most important thing is to create a community around you of other business owners, mentors, coaches, colleagues, that, where you can give each other support, hold each other accountable."
- Balancing relationships: The hosts discuss the challenges of maintaining personal relationships while managing a business. They touch on the importance of intentionality in nurturing friendships and family connections.
- Professional boundaries: They explore the delicate balance of sharing work-related stress with spouses or partners, acknowledging the need for processing time and the constraints of client confidentiality.
The conversation takes an introspective turn as Anna and Kendall reflect on their own experiences of isolation over time. Anna shares a poignant observation: "As time has progressed, I'm actually more isolated, if anything, because at the beginning of my practice, I was doing everything right. I was practicing. I was learning how to be a boss, I was learning how to hire, I was networking."
Kendall agrees, noting that as leaders become more removed from day-to-day operations, the sense of isolation can increase. She emphasizes the need for intentional community-building: "Just knowing if that's your goal, then this is something to actually watch out for as you go through time is how do you continue to build community around yourself in a meaningful way and still maintain that goal of separation from your day to day of your company?"
The hosts conclude by acknowledging that loneliness in leadership is an under-discussed topic in the business world, especially among wellness center owners. They encourage listeners who may be struggling with isolation to reach out and share their experiences.
This episode offers valuable insights and strategies for wellness center owners and business leaders seeking to combat isolation and build supportive communities. It serves as a reminder that even in a people-focused industry, leaders need to prioritize their own sense of connection and support.
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About Anna Rudel
Anna Rudel, L. Ac is the owner and founder of Lokahi Acupuncture Clinic in San Jose California, founded in 2003. Anna is a master organizer and clinician, and as a Coach she specializes in working with Clinic Owners in the state of California, and Acupuncturists and Acupuncture Clinic Owners, or groups wanting to add Acupuncture worldwide, as well as teams that need support with employee retention and satisfaction. Born in the UK, Anna has traveled extensively in Asia and now has a thriving multi-practitioner clinic in the US!
Anna's Website and Links
- Website: https://lokahiacupuncture.com/
- Learn Group Coaching: https://www.wellnesscentercreators.com/group-coaching
- For info about Individual Coaching: https://www.wellnesscentercreators.com/individual-coaching
About Kendall Hagensen
Kendall is a Somatic Mental Health Therapist, Multidisciplinary Clinic Owner and Business Coach. She specializes in, and is passionate about, working with healthcare professionals to create the businesses of their dreams. Big goals always have a psychological component beneath the surface, so Kendall uses her background in Somatic Psychotherapy and EMDR Therapy mixed with Business Coaching tools to help clients develop a healthy relationship with their business and their strength as a leader.
As someone who lives with a chronic illness herself, Kendall feels that health happens best within community, which is why she takes a holistic, integrative, and collaborative wellness approach to her personal and professional life.
Kendall’s Web/Social Links