Meet Carrie Ballas | Family Nurse Practitioner & Owner of Boulder Integrative Health

We had the good fortune of connecting with Carrie Ballas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Carrie, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Ah, this is a good question. I remember being a senior in high school and realizing that I did not want to work “for the man” when I “grew up”. My parents were both teachers in the public school system and despite loving their careers, there were many dinner conversations around the bureaucracy of business and how this was impeding their way forward in educating their students. Fast forward to being a Registered Nurse, in which I was in the hospital setting for 8 years, I decided that I wanted to pursue a more autonomous career in nursing, where my influence was more directed and more influential in the larger picture of community health and vitality. Part of the alure of becoming an Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) is the autonomy that is allowed in my state of Colorado, which also means owning your own business. Unfortunately, when I was getting my master’s degree the education on owning a business part was abysmal at best, and therefore I realized that if I wanted to hang my own “shingle” it would have to come to me in another way. I worked as a Family Nurse Practitioner with other clinicians for four years post graduate school and then my father passed away in 2010, which was the catalyst to my change. At that point I remember thinking “My father believed I could do this and so why can’t I?” I decided to go out on my own, without any business education but with a lot of passion, to find my own way. I started with a business name, a professional license, a computer, a generous office manager named Lois and took it day by day, challenge by challenge and reward after reward. I am still learning and growing, and of course making mistakes, but not once have I doubted that I could be a successful business woman (and I continue to hear the whispers of support from my loving father 10 years later).

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I own a functional medicine medical practice with two facets of healing, one being the medical side where I see patients directly, and the other which is an Intravenous Medical Clinic called “IV Boulder” (Nutritional IV therapy). Having two businesses in one setting is both challenging and extremely rewarding. I have the opportunity to utilize the knowledge of medicine that I’ve accumulated as a nurse over the past 23 years and can therefore offer a variety of healing modalities to my patients and our community. Myself and my staff work diligently to create a cohesive environment where our patients feel they are a part of something bigger, a network of support where the roots are made from love and true caring, which create a foundation of healing. I absolutely love and value the personalization we have with each patient and we do not stop until we can help someone feel healthy again. I also get such pleasure when I hear my patients are booking appointments for their IV session with other patients they have met here, because they too feel supported by each other. I am excited to continue to educate myself with the most cutting-edge therapies and share this with our community as well. For example, IV NAD (Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is a new and exciting IV treatment that can truly transform your cells and create energy and healing like never before, and in my eyes it’s the anti-aging cure of this century. I have brought cutting-edge IV therapy to Boulder in August as an offering to my patients and our community. I always continue to advance my knowledge and incorporate treatments that can work within my medical setting so that BIH can continue to grow. Challenges and lessons? Oh there are many. I feel that having a well-crafted staff (employees) are key to any successful business. I take a feminine approach to my management, where everyone’s input is valued, where flexibility is supported, where cohesive communication is revered and in return I get wonderful teammates who work hard for me and for our patients. As you can imagine, this is not always easy with life and changes in people’s personal lives and therefore one of my biggest lessons is flexibility. As a Perfectionist (a #1 on the Enneagram) I have high expectations, yet that is of myself first and foremost and I therefore don’t expect more than what I myself give. I want our perspective patients, established patients and the greater community to know that we at BIH are here to help you feel healthy, youthful and energetic again. My goal is to utilize my knowledge and resources to allow people to regain their optimal health so that they in turn can go out into this world and make it a brighter, cleaner and safer place to live for now and in the future. Our children, our earth and those innocent residence of the planet deserve a brighter future, one where we can all thrive together in health, in wellness and in love.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I have the perfect day! We would start at my house and take cruiser bikes Downtown heading westward. We would fist stop at Cured (a local gourmet grocery store) and gather some goodies to take on a picnic to the Creek path. But before we head to the creek we would stop along the way to Laughing Goat (my favorite local coffee shop) for a warm beverage and then proceed to shop at By Elke, Bohemie, Terracotta Plant Shop and more in that area. We would then proceed to the creek path to have a picnic, wade in the water and laugh the day away. Afterwards we would stop at the Boulder Library and see if any exhibits are viewing as well. Then we would bike to the other end of Pearl and stop for a bite to eat at either Jax, Arcana, Centro or another local spot. Afterwards we probably need a little Gelato at the Gelato Boy before walking to the Boulder Book store and listening to some street music flare. After we’ve had our fill at the local shops we would work off our food by riding our bikes back home (down hill of course). Ideally we then have a show to take them to at the Dairy Arts Center to round out the evening of fun, food and local culture!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Lois Yackley was my first office manager who had full faith in my success from the beginning The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine and their professors for the education I have received in order to truly help heal my patients and our community My family and my staff of course!

Website: www.boulderintegrativehealth.com

Instagram: boulderintegrativehealth

Linkedin: Carrie Ballas

Facebook: boulder integrative health @boulder integrative

Image Credits
the head shot- this was taken from a video and permission was given for me to use for my website so no royalties needed