Meet Jennifer Emch

Original story at CanvasRebel.

DEC 19, 2023

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jennifer Emch. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jennifer, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?

After meeting my (who would end up being) my business partner, Erin Moore, in 2013; we would often talk about how we would love to open up a holistic clinical practice. With my background in dance and Erin’s background in massage therapy, we both felt that current mental health services didn’t give complementary and alternative interventions and modalities the credit it deserved. When we came across a newspaper ad (yes, a newspaper ad!) in 2015 for a beautiful, historic space on Chardon Square, we knew we needed to see it. Keep in mind, we had no business plan, no money, no experience owning or running a business. So, we went to look at the space anyway (ha!) and immediately fell in love. Knowing our current circumstances, we let our dreams take the backburner while we continued to both work full time at a local mental health agency, yet still never giving up on our dream.

About 5 months later, the realtor contacted me asking if we would like the space because if not, the landlords were going to turn it into apartments. I kid you not, I immediately Googled “how to write a business plan” and sheepishly made my way to a local bank, where (not surprisingly), they shot me down (she was kind however, and said our idea was amazing). Ultimately, Erin and I were able to secure some initial start-up funds allowing us to open the doors to Ubuntu in March of 2016. We were under the false impression that, “if you build it, they will come” but it was incredibly difficult to market our business and balance our other responsibilities and full-time jobs. She and I were both working at our day jobs and then working at Ubuntu by night. By 2017/2018, Erin and I were able to commit full-time to Ubuntu and the rest is history (a beautiful one at that)!

The best advice I can give is to find trusted business mentors. We were very lucky to be surrounded by other business minded people to guide and help us; from business 101 questions to marketing, accounting and beyond. It’s not possible to know everything and it’s crucial to acknowledge what we don’t know and find resources to help. In the realm of running a small business, the pursuit of knowledge is a continuous journey with no finish line, I learn and am challenged every day. We will be celebrating our 8th year next March and now have 35 incredible clinicians and healers who make what we do possible every day.

Jennifer, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Thank you for the opportunity to share the story of Ubuntu Wellness! Our committed and incredible team make what we do possible every day and we are so grateful to serve our community. Our passion for providing a space where people can heal their minds, bodies and spirits has been a gift we are all very proud of.

My path of becoming a therapist and eventually opening a business is a wild ride! I initially thought I would be a dance/movement therapist, receiving my Undergrad in Dance and then my Master’s in Counseling. As I became more engrossed in my graduate studies and work commitments, the time I could allocate to dance and teaching gradually (and sadly) diminished. I have worked at several non-profit mental health agencies in Lake and Geauga Counties since 2000 and gained invaluable experience that have been immensely beneficial to my professional and personal development. However, I felt something was missing from how I envisioned myself as a clinician. I have always found dance/movement to be my form of expression and therapy and was grateful to be reintroduced to the practice from a clinical lens in 2014. This certification (Dancing Mindfulness) really reignited my desire to create a space where both traditional and “non-traditional” therapies could support people on their own journey. Fast forward to 2016 when my business partner, Erin Moore and I found our beautiful space on Chardon Square. Since 2016, Ubuntu Wellness has grown at our original Chardon location as well as our newest location in Chagrin Falls.

Ubuntu Wellness offers services within the mind body continuum. We know that authentic healing manifests in diverse forms and can extend beyond the realms of traditional talk therapy. It encompasses a variety of experiences, practices, and self-discovery that contribute to one’s overall well-being. Our multi-faceted approach offers our clinical counseling services but also yoga, reiki, massage, naturopathy and wellness classes/groups to support one’s journey. All of our services are available à la carte, allowing one to choose individual offerings tailored to your needs. Alternatively, they can be seamlessly combined to create a comprehensive and customized experience. There’s no wrong way to benefit from what we have to offer. Our goal at Ubuntu is to remind people that healing is a universal journey, accessible and beneficial for everyone, regardless of background, experiences, or circumstances and we are honored to walk beside you on your journey.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

In many fields, success goes beyond just having knowledge, technical skills and training. I am of the firm belief in the idea AND action of authentic interactions, personal growth and networking/collaborations to be key factors of success.

The ability to authentically connect with oneself and others is crucial for achieving long-term success, especially in the helping professions. We have the most incredible team of clinicians, teachers and healers who strive daily to provide the highest level of care to those we serve. The ability for our staff to connect authentically with our client and each other fosters trust, enhances our teamwork, and leads to more connected and creative outcomes for our clients and our business. None of the services at Ubuntu Wellness are provided in silos. Our staff collaborate daily with each other to ensure we continue to operate with integrity; keeping the highest regard for our client’s care. These conversations offer opportunities to be exposed to new perspectives and ideas, helping us learn and evolve both personally and professionally in an ever-changing environment.

With that being said, it’s important for us to understand and manage our own emotions, as well as empathizing with the emotions of others while we navigate our clients’ complex interpersonal situations. Working in the helping profession is the most rewarding career I can think of, yet it’s also incredibly important for us to know our personal bandwidth. The burnout rate for therapists over the last 4 years is something like 40%; that number is staggering. While we know the commitment we make to our clients, we need to remember our commitment to our own physical and emotional health.

I also believe building a strong professional network is essential for business growth. We are so blessed to be in communities where the passion to connect and collaborate is very strong. These authentic connections with our peers, mentors, and other professionals have opened up opportunities to collaborate and provide support to the community and each other. Our Chambers of Commerce (Chardon and Chagrin Valley) have been incredible resources for fostering connection. Our relationships and collaborations with other local business and schools and other local, well respected wellness businesses showcase just how important collaboration is in our community.

This year I had the amazing opportunity to be a part of the newly formed Chagrin Valley Corridor of Care. Partnerships included, Dr. Tricia Delzell of Advanced MMC, The Heart Center, ReSet Lounge and Dr. Rob Truax of Chagrin Osteopathic and Massage. Our goal was to offer free, monthly roundtable discussions to the community on a variety of health and wellness topics. This Corridor of Care sessions ran from April through October, and it was a wild success and something we are already planning on continuing in the new year.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

A time of significant pivoting in our business was during COVID. With the orders for businesses to shut down, we found ourselves in a panic (as many businesses did too!). We immediately went into defense mode; with so many different service offerings at Ubuntu, we wanted to ensure access to those as best we could to the clients we serve as quickly as possible. We moved our yoga classes to virtual and found a HIPAA compliant video hosting platform to use for our clinical counseling sessions. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do to accommodate our massage and reiki services, as this was a hands-on modality that wasn’t permitted during the lockdown. I think we all hoped that the lockdown would only be a short period of time, but after a couple of weeks, we all saw that wasn’t going to shift back quickly as we all had thought. We did have many clients who felt the same way and who initially weren’t keen on the idea of telehealth for counseling but again, after the first couple of weeks, we had most of our clinical clients utilizing this format. In addition to that and our online yoga offerings, we hosted several social media “live” chats with topics ranging from meditation, breathwork and overall stress management (to name a few). In addition to ensuring a continuation of care for our programs and clients, Erin and I were also concerned about ensuring our staff’s financial well beings were secure. It was honestly a really stressful time; as a business owner, a therapist and personally!

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Ubuntu Wellness