We had the good fortune of connecting with Christina Coblish, DC and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Christina, what’s one piece of conventional advice that you disagree with?
A piece of conventional advice I disagree with is the idea that you must be a jack-of-all-trades to succeed in business.
As an upper cervical chiropractor, I chose to specialize in ONE thing: delivering highly specific corrections to the neck in a gentle and precise way. I do not incorporate massive amounts of PT modalities, massage, or pretend to be a master at working with chronic low back injuries. This means I can always be relied on for my ‘one thing,’ the upper cervical spine, and can work to master my craft in this sensitive and important location.
To run a successful business you must be a master at your craft. I have also learned you must have a good team: hire someone to help you with your marketing, hire someone to help you manage your phones, hire someone to help you work with your finances. Focus on your ‘one thing’ and cultivate a team that can help support the rest.
Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
If you’ve ever been to more than one chiropractic office, you’ll see that they are all quite different. There are tons of different techniques and specialities. As a patient this can feel quite confusing sometimes about what chiropractic is and is not.
One thing that sets me apart is that I specialize on one thing: the neck. I do so with a lot more analysis and technology than your average DC. I make corrections to the neck without twisting and popping. I don’t pretend to be anything more than a chiropractor that works with the neck, which means I set clear expectations and my patients really appreciate this. I don’t confuse them with supplements, tests, nutrition, PT modalities, massage etc. Not to say there is anything wrong with practices that incorporate all types of holistic approaches. It’s just not my approach, and I believe that is what sets me apart. Clarity.
This decision was scary. Offering more means more results, right? Offering more means more versatile healing for the patient, right? Offering more means more money, right? Possibly. I also found this means more confusion about what the objective is, what is working, and ultimately I wanted to bring more clarity for my patients about the power of my unique specialty.
Chiropractic can be gentle. Receiving adjustments to the neck can be comfortable and not scary. The results can be tracked objectively. Analysis can be precise, and delivery of corrections also precise.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Hop in the car and drive! ColorRADo is pretty rad. Stop at restaurants on the side of a mountain that has patio lights in the back, you can never go wrong with one of those. No-name-small-hole-in-the-wall places rarely fail me. See the big tourist spots but also get in your car and drive with no destination.
Oh, and come in the fall. If you know, you know.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’m positive I would not be where I am today without the guidance of mentorship. Dr. Ian Davis-Tremayne first hired me at the ripe age of 20 to work as his office admin. It was here I learned what running a successful upper cervical office looked and felt like. I understood the importance of family, actual work-life-balance, and how to care for a local community. He then guided me through school with my technique and overall business principles.
Dr. Ryan Lawlor deserves a huge shout out for making me reconsider a 100k+ business loan to open my practice right out of school. It’s because of an accidental run-in at an Italian restaurant in SF that really reshaped my thinking about how I wanted my life to look when I opened a practice. Learning to keep a low overhead has allowed me to truly enjoy being Christina, first. And Dr. Coblish, second.
There’s a few people I’d love to thank that taught me what I did NOT want for my life and business, but I’ll leave those out 😉
And of course a shoutout is deserved to my friends and family, who helped support my sanity through school and moving to CO and opening a practice without any connections here.
Website: https://www.uppercervicalboulder.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UpperCervicalChiropractor/
Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/upper-cervical-chiropractic-of-boulder-boulder
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChjb1ftaQ8T3Y4JdOt9oHHA