May 17, 2017

Meet Meagan Purdy of Holistic Health Center of Dallas

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Meagan Purdy.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’ve always been passionate about health. I grew up as a competitive athlete across several sports, but also as a major science geek. I always figured I would be involved in sports medicine in some way. Throughout my pre-med years, I began to use nutrition as a tool to treat my own medical issues and really started learning that there was more to health than just body composition.

Throughout this time I also started learning from my mentors that many of them were unhappy in their current health careers. The medical industry can leave practitioners burnt out and overworked and steer them away from what they love to do: actually help heal patients.

I decided I needed some time to consider if medical school was actually what I wanted to pursue and moved to Korea as sort of a “gap year”. It was there that I started learning about using herbs and natural methods to treat the root causes of disease. I saw how healthy my elderly Korean neighbors were and knew there had to be more to healthcare than just the standard that we use in the US.

I decided it was time to go to medical school, but I knew that I wanted to specialize in integrative medicine. I wanted to expand my toolbox to ensure I left no patients behind. I found the most longstanding naturopathic medical school up in Portland, Oregon and immediately knew it was going to be home.

Since graduation, I decided to bring my practice back to my home in Dallas. The state of Texas puts far more limitations on me than the states in which I did my schooling and residency, but to me it was worth it. These restrictions prevent many NDs from setting up shop here even though there is a great need for diversity in healthcare in Dallas. It’s turned out to be the best decision of my life. My phones started ringing the day I first opened and I’ve gotten to hear countless stories from patients who have felt forgotten by the medical industry or underserved by their current care plan. Each new caller exclaimed how they had been looking for something like this at home and were so glad I was here.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The hardest, yet most rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my entire life was starting a company with no business experience and no capital. When I graduated from medical school, I had surmounted incredible student debt that continued to rise throughout residency when I was making minimum wage. I got laughed at by a few banks before I learned that they were not willing to loan to anyone in that financial situation. I didn’t have a giant savings account after all of those years of living off of debt, so I basically got a small business credit card with a $2,000 limit and tried to be as frugal as possible with startup costs.

I did a lot of googling to find out how to become an official business in the state. I made my own financial spreadsheets because QuickBooks was out of reach at the time. I built my own website by pulling several all-nighters watching YouTube videos on html coding. Then when I was finally ready, I rented the tiniest office imaginable and ordered a stock of my 10 favorite herbs. As patients would call with different ailments, I started expanding my inventory on a special basis for each individual patient until I had built it up. I’ve been so fortunate in that I have experienced nothing but incredible patients. They have sent their friends and loved ones to me after they’ve seen improvements in their own health which has helped me expand to a much better place than where I started out.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Holistic Health Center of Dallas – what should we know?
The Holistic Health Center of Dallas utilizes Naturopathic Medicine, which is essentially health care emphasizing prevention, treatment, and optimal health to treat our patients. Common primary care issues such as infections, hormonal imbalances, skin issues, and minor injuries are successfully treated everyday by Naturopathic doctors. Even more important is the prevention of, relief from, and reversal of chronic, serious, degenerating illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, auto-immune diseases, chronic headaches, allergies, and many more.

One of my favorite patients jokes that I am just the right amount of “hippie”, meaning I use natural therapies (herbs, homeopathic, and nutrition primarily) to treat ailments, but in no way do I demonize pharmaceuticals or the mainstream medical industry. I utilize my medical background to ensure that each patient’s combination of natural and pharmaceutical treatments work safely and effectively together. I always support my patient’s autonomy when it comes to their health care.

I’m most known for my custom herbal combinations and medicinal teas. I don’t use pre-made blends, but custom make each remedy for my patients based on their overall picture. This allows me to treat holistically and find herbs that might be beneficial for a patient’s indigestion as well as their anxiety and put it all into one bottle. I have had to start making pre-made blends due to popular demand from my patient’s neighbors and friends, however.

As a company, I’m very proud to be an inclusive place of business that gives all individuals the same treatment, regardless of ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or lifestyle choice. I also really value a workplace that fosters joy as opposed to a feeling of dread that comes with many jobs. I’m strict with contractors and employees about taking their time away from the office. No emails or calls after hours, as family time is imperative to each person’s wellness. We all try to practice what we preach when it comes to self-care.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
It was and is finding something that I could put my entire heart into and then absolutely believing that I can and will succeed in it. Looking back, I truly had no idea this would work before I started, but I never said that to myself. I just dreamt about my practice where I was helping patients find healing and supporting myself at the same time and knew it would be here “one day”.

There were days in the first few months where a patient would no-show and leave me devastated because I had already counted on their fees to pay my overhead for the month, but each time I got down, I had the support of my husband and family and they helped me to immediately change my mindset. I would use that no-show free time to work on a different patient’s case, because I knew the best marketing was to be a fabulous resource for my existing patients which has paid off in the long run.

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