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Welcome to Suite Independence, the podcast designed exclusively for established beauty professionals ready to transform their careers and build the salon business of their dreams. Hosted by industry veteran Kristin Kienzle, founder of Utopia Modern Salon Suites, this show is your essential guide to thriving independently in the beauty world.
Kristin, with over 34 years of experience, understands the unique challenges and incredible opportunities you face. She created Utopia to be a supportive, inspiring community where independent beauty professionals can flourish, and this podcast extends that mission directly to you.
Forget the styling tips; we're diving deep into the business and personal development aspects that truly empower your success. Each episode offers insight, inspiration, and clarity to help you succeed and build your career in a healthy way. Whether you're looking to grow your client base, refine your business strategy, enhance your financial literacy, prioritize your well-being, or ultimately own your own salon, Kristin shares the wisdom and actionable advice you need.
Join a community dedicated to empowering beauty professionals to reach their full potential, ensuring their businesses thrive and afford them the lifestyle they desire. Tune into Suite Independence and start building the vibrant career and fulfilling life you deserve.
Ep10
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[00:00:00]
Kristin Kienzle: Welcome back to our podcast. Today we're talking with Brittany Thomas, who is the owner of Rooted Wellness Company. We're here in her beautiful suite at our Tyler Point location. Welcome, Brittany. Hi.
Thank you for doing this. Thank you. Tell us about yourself.
Brittany's Background and Education
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Brittany Thomas: Uh, My name is Brittany Thomas, as she just said. I have owned my practice for a little over a month now, so it's very new, it's very fresh, very exciting. I am a nurse practitioner. I graduated from I actually have [00:01:00] two master's degrees in nursing.
My first one was from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. That was with a specialty in neonatology. So I was in the NICU for about. 12 years, I think. And then kids started getting busy and active with life and sports and all the fun things. So I felt like the schedule for the NICU wasn't the best for family life with my kids.
Really active with sports, so I was missing a lot of things. So I ended up going back to school to ku, university of Kansas in Kansas City and earned my second master's with a specialty in family. So that's kind of what got me here. Yeah. That's a little bit about me, a little bit of my background at least.
Kristin Kienzle: That's good. So you got your Master's. Mm-hmm.
Journey to Rooted Wellness
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Kristin Kienzle: So what is your vision at that point? What are you gonna do with that?
Brittany Thomas: I really wasn't sure in the beginning. My program took about a year 'cause I had already had a lot of the core stuff done for my first master's. During school I was very unsure of what I wanted to do. I did a bunch of clinicals at a family practice over in Andover with a good friend of mine.
I served a lot of hours at it was called Health [00:02:00] Court. The place was called Health Core down by Wichita State. And that serves like the underserved community in Wichita. So it was a very interesting wide range of diseases and, different socioeconomic status patients. And so it was, I mean, I learned a ton.
It was fantastic experience. And then I did a lot of hours in. O-B-G-Y-N and I really liked that. I loved the hormones. I loved just kind of helping women through pregnancy and postmenopausal and the younger girls who were kind of like learning about their bodies. Education has always been one of my favorite things about being a nurse, like talking to families, talking to parents, and the nicu.
And I kind of felt that same connection with patients in OB GYN, in women's health, patients have a lot of questions. Their bodies are almost always changing, whether it's puberty, pregnancy, menopause. So it just kind of organically came to be something that I really enjoyed.
Hormones and Personal Connection
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Brittany Thomas: And then hormones have always kind of been near and dear to my heart because, so I have two kids from previous marriage. My husband has a child from a previous marriage. And then when we got married, we decided we wanted one more to share together. And thought that was gonna [00:03:00] be an easy road. It wasn't, and it ended up we had to do IVF to have our baby. And so hormones have always been pretty important to me, pretty emotional.
And so I feel like I can connect with patients on a pretty personal level with that. And so, yeah, I just landed a job with hormones and weight loss was the other part of that job. They kind of go hand in hand. You know, a lot of women middle age, they start to go through perimenopause and their weight changes.
They start getting weight gain. The things that worked for them in the past don't work anymore. And so I just kind of organically formed into this. And then about four months ago or so, I started thinking, you know, like, I could do this on my own.
Starting the Business at Utopia
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Brittany Thomas: I could, mm-hmm.
I could have hours that work better for my family and a location that's closer to home. And yeah. So that's kind of what led me here to Utopia.
Kristin Kienzle: I love it. We're so glad you're here. We love that you bring something different. We have a nurse injector at one of our other locations, and then our suites are filled up with a lot of hairstylists and estheticians.
Yeah. So what you bring is very unique and it's very. It's in high demand. Yeah, I know. [00:04:00] Everybody else is glad you're here too. Yeah.
Impact and Community at Utopia
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Kristin Kienzle: How has coming here impacted your business? Or do you know yet? I know it's, been quick.
Brittany Thomas: It's been quick. Yeah. I'm three weeks in. But so far so good. I know Hannah down the hall a little ways at Wicked Chair, or I think it's the wicker chair.
Excuse me. Mm-hmm. And so she's been a great resource for me to kind of. Promote my business and send people my way. And that's helped a little bit. And I think just the foot traffic in and out of here all the time. Mm-hmm. You know, there's so many different stylists and it's nice to have that constant people coming in and out and walking past our door.
And when I'm here and I don't have a patient, I try and leave my door open so people can pop in and ask questions if they want to. I'm a pretty approachable person. I feel like I want people to know that. If you just have a question, ask me, like I'm not a scary person. I love that. So. Yeah. Yeah.
Kristin Kienzle: No, you're very approachable.
Thank you. Well, that's nice. And with all the clients who come in here, they're mostly women. Yeah. And they check all the boxes you've already mentioned. Yeah. About life changes, body changes, and I love that this works well for your personal schedule. Yeah. I think that is [00:05:00] so important to have the balance with your family and be able to control your schedule.
Yeah. And your income to some degree. Yeah.
Brittany Thomas: Yeah. It's great.
Balancing Family and Business
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Brittany Thomas: It's, you know, family is. My top priority. Mm-hmm. Being divorced, I feel like I view things a little bit different now. Like my family will always come first and mm-hmm. It was very important to me to be present for my older kids with, with their activities, but then also my 2-year-old, I wanna, you know, I wanna enjoy him.
He's our last baby and I wanna be there as much as I can. You work hard to get him here. Exactly. Yep. Yes. That's a big piece of it. Yeah. Yes. So, yeah,
Kristin Kienzle: So how are most nurses like you in your industry typically set up? Where do they. Do their practice.
Brittany Thomas: It seems like in Wichita there's a lot of independent practices. It seems, you know, there's a couple of bigger ones here in town. I'm not sure exactly where they start off, but that's kinda where they end up.
And I know a couple have been physicians at the hospital, for example, who opened their own practice. I know there's a couple of nurse practitioners up in, I think Newton that have their own practice and it's all independent practices. You know, I wanted my growth to [00:06:00] be kind of on a. A slower schedule that worked for me and my family.
Mm-hmm. Owning a business is something that's brand new to me. It's not something that as a nurse I have any experience in.
And so it's scary. It's definitely
Kristin Kienzle: scary. It is. I mean, we find that with, that's the beauty of utopia. I'm not trying to plug us, but all of our hairstylists and stuff, you know, they all wanna be independent and wanna be business owners, but taking on the full brick and mortar and all the responsibilities is a lot.
Yeah. So that's interesting to hear you say that too, that this is a manageable way to start your business. Yeah, absolutely.
Brittany Thomas: And I just, I'm a pretty social person. I love the, I love the interaction with the people next to me. I love, meeting new people. I love the constant traffic in and out. And so I just wanted something that I was independent, but I also had people that I could reach out to or lean on.
Mm-hmm. You're, you've been fantastic throughout this process. I love having the connection of you being here. Thank you. You're welcome. And I just. I just wanted it to grow as it would work for me. [00:07:00] Yeah. And I think this utopia has been fantastic.
Kristin Kienzle: Well, good. It's very manageable. Yeah. That's our goal is to make, you just have to worry about your business.
Yeah. We take care of the rest. So Sometimes people like you start in a place like Utopia, and then eventually as your family matures and your life changes and your practice becomes more solid and maybe more fluid with systems and things, you, maybe not you, but sometimes people wanna go out on their own and do their own brick and mortar.
Future Goals and Business Growth
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Kristin Kienzle: Is that a. An end goal for you?
Brittany Thomas: I go
Kristin Kienzle: back and forth.
Brittany Thomas: I, sometimes I'm like, I, you know, I wanna own something that's big and, has a ton of different services. Mm-hmm. I think when I first had this in my mind I was like, eventually I wanna own something where I have like a massage therapist and a mental health therapist and an esthetician and a bunch of different service lines to just kind of give a person that overall wellness experience.
Yeah. But I, I don't know, how to answer that because I've loved it here. I like that there's people always around. I feel like it's a safe place. Yeah. I feel like it's a really positive environment, which I'm really big on. I love. [00:08:00] You know, the support that we give each other. I love the comradery.
Mm-hmm. I don't know how to answer that 'cause I'm not. It's too early. It is. It is. And I'll ask you
Kristin Kienzle: again in a year. Yes, please
Brittany Thomas: do.
Kristin Kienzle: Yeah. It's definitely too early. But I'm glad this is working for you. Well now yeah. Like I said, we love having you here, so thank you. It's fun to hear that it's working well for you business as well.
What is your passion? What drives you?
Brittany Thomas: Why do you do this?
Passion for Helping People
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Brittany Thomas: My passion is 100% helping people. That is what drives me. I think it started when I was a baby nurse and I graduated from Wichita State in 2013 and had my first clinicals in the nicu. And I loved feeling like I made a difference that day when I went home.
And I think that that has fueled me my entire career. And so. You know, like I said, I still, I still love the nicu. I still love the babies. It's, it's still a passion of mine. It's just not family friendly at this point. And, but I, so I think that, you know, and maybe it's like a connection that I feel like I have sometimes to women.
But I, I don't wanna narrow myself into a box because the men that I treat are some [00:09:00] of my favorites too, you know? I just, I think making people feel better is what drives me. It's my passion and, if that's, with weight struggles, if that's with hormone struggles, I have a couple patients who I schedule them for, you know, a 30 minute appointment and they're here for an hour and a half just because they wanna talk.
And I love that. Mm-hmm. If, if that's what you need out of me, then I'm, I'm here for that. So that's great. I think that's what drives me the most.
Services Offered by Rooted Wellness
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Kristin Kienzle: What all services do you provide? What would someone come to you for?
Brittany Thomas: So weight loss is a big one. Mm-hmm. And then both men's and women's hormones, and so I.
People often ask like, you know, like, what does that mean? What does that mean? Like if you do hormone optimization mm-hmm. Or hormone replacement. Really any stage of life, if you're feeling like there's hormonal issues going on you know, young women who have PCOS or irregular periods women going through perimenopause who wanna start hormone replacement.
Men who start to lose their testosterone and wanna start hormone replacement. Post-menopausal women. You know, like there's, there's a bunch of changes happening high up within our healthcare system that are really [00:10:00] positive for especially women who, you know, for years and years we were scared to take any type of hormones.
Mm-hmm. Because it was, you know, it was gonna give you cancer and it
Kristin Kienzle: wasn't talked about. It wasn't, I mean, I'm thrilled to be in my fifties now mm-hmm. Because 10 years ago and beyond. This stuff wasn't discussed. It
Brittany Thomas: wasn't, and I, I've noticed there's a big generational change too. You know, like there's certain generations of women who.
They went through that time when all the journal articles were coming out saying, it's gonna give you cancer. Stop it immediately. And they still good luck convincing them that this is in their best interest because they just cannot get over that and research and, and data and. Everything has come back out and said like, well, wait a second.
That is not true. That was a flawed study and I think it's fantastic that the FDA is starting to recognize that women do need hormones as they age. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And so it's really exciting to have someone who has suffered for a long time and you know, is. Six weeks after they start therapy, they come back and they're just in tears because I've changed their life for the better.
And they, [00:11:00] you know, one of the most common things they say is, gosh, I wish I had started this sooner. And so if I can help, you know, a few people, like I said, that's what really fuels
Kristin Kienzle: me.
Challenges and Changes in Healthcare
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Kristin Kienzle: I feel like we're in a time where people are also less shy about questioning medicine. Yeah. Common practices. I know I see a lot of it in, in my social media feed.
Just a lot of challenges to what we've always believed. Yeah. And what we've always been told, and I love the, you know, some of the information is false. Some of it's half nuts, but some of it is very true and I love that we are discussing it and putting it out there. Does that get hard, like when someone hears or sees something that.
You strongly disagree with? I mean, for example, that hormone replacement will give you cancer. Yeah. Do you deal with that a lot?
Brittany Thomas: Yeah. Honestly, quite a bit. Are
Kristin Kienzle: you dispelling myths?
Brittany Thomas: I try to, yeah. And like I said, there's certain groups of people that just cannot get over that. And you know that's okay. That's their life. That's their decision. I try and educate everybody, you know, I try and present them with [00:12:00] data and science and research and that's, I I like to read it. I'm sure a lot of people maybe don't, but I'll give it to you if you wanna read it. Yeah. So I think that it's, it's.
Our healthcare system is changing for sure. Mm-hmm. I think it's good and yeah, I do too, I think. I think it's
Kristin Kienzle: great that we're questioning things. I do
Brittany Thomas: too. I think COVID changed a lot. Mm-hmm. And people kind of started questioning things that have always been just kind of normal in our mm-hmm. Healthcare system that are not necessarily.
I don't know the right word for it.
Kristin Kienzle: Mandatory, I guess. Well, I think historically we've always trusted healthcare. Yeah. Wholeheartedly. Yeah. I know older people, my parents and their generations even older than them. If the doctor says something, it's gospel. You don't question it, you don't do your own research or anything.
And now we're getting into an age where. Nothing is gospel. You question everything. Yeah. We had a lot of distrust come about. Yeah. With COVID.
Producer: Yep.
Kristin Kienzle: And so maybe that's a positive that came from that is we're, we're questioning things. Mm-hmm. And looking for alternative answers. I mean, like, like hormone [00:13:00] replacement.
You can be fixed and helped. Yeah. Before you're completely miserable.
Brittany Thomas: Yeah. I think it's a good thing and a bad thing. I think that, you know, like social media has changed our world in regards to like, you can go on there and search. Menopausal symptoms in women, or low testosterone in women or whatever you wanna look and you'll find everything and then you add in, you can find answers to
Kristin Kienzle: support anything.
Brittany Thomas: Exactly. Yep. Yeah, it just kinda depends on which rabbit hole you're gonna go down and which algorithm is currently on your social media. Absolutely. And then AI has kind of changed things too. You know, people, they get something from their doctor and whether it's right or wrong, they'll immediately go to Google or AI and, and type things in and, you know, it's just, it's, I hope that people.
Continue to trust their healthcare provider. But I, at the same time, I don't know there's anything wrong with questioning things. Mm-hmm. And, you know, challenging that system. I mean, take insurance for example. You know, how many times does insurance deny something that's absolutely essential for a person's health?
And, you know, it's. They dictate it because they have the [00:14:00] power, they have the money. Mm-hmm. That, that big pharma concept of, you know, all these things are driven by these companies that are in control. And I think that's what I find encouraging with our healthcare system is that people are starting to push back on that.
Mm-hmm. And you know, the healthcare system is changing and there's so many people out there that don't do traditional medicine anymore because they're fed up with insurance dictating X, Y, or Z. So.
Kristin Kienzle: Yeah, we could probably sit down and talk for hours about the big pharma drivers and insurance drivers and Oh, I know, I know.
It's, it's a lot. It's crazy. It's heavy. It is. But I love that you're someone people can go to and trust. How do you build trust with people?
Brittany Thomas: I just want, I try and come off very, very genuine. I try and let everyone know that I'm listening to what you're saying and I care about what you're saying. I think most of my patients would agree that there's, I'm someone that they can trust and feel heard from.
Mm-hmm. Like, I hear that a lot, that, you know, you're the first person that's ever really fully listened to me. Mm-hmm. And again, like that, that fills my cup. That's what I want people to leave here feeling, is that I [00:15:00] care about you, I want to help you feel better, and I'm genuinely here for you.
Yeah.
Kristin Kienzle: That's great. So how does, your payment work?
Revenue Generation and Insurance
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Kristin Kienzle: Do you take insurance or how do you generate revenue? So, most of
Brittany Thomas: what I do is self pay. I do typically, if, if a person's got insurance that has good lab coverage, I'll file. I usually, my, I go through LabCorp for all my labs and so I'll do insurance to cover labs.
Mm-hmm. And I found that that just kind of helps. Open the door for more people to come because you know, every a hundred dollars adds up. Mm-hmm. And things can get expensive. And if you're on weight loss medicine or hormones, that's a monthly cost that adds up fast.
And so if I'm able to help anyone find little avenues of ways to save money I'm gonna do it. And I think that that kind of stems from my experience in clinicals where I was at Health Core, because, you know, those people are typically uninsured or not the best insurance. And so money's an issue.
They can't afford medications, they can't afford physical therapy, they can't afford to go get an MRI. Mm-hmm. And I kind of feel like it [00:16:00] almost, I don't know the right word for it, kind of changed the way I view. My di I don't know, like kind of change the way that I wanna try and help people.
I want, I want everyone to get care, have access despite, yes. Have access despite their income, you know? Mm-hmm. And if taking off a couple hundred dollars saves, if that makes a difference for someone to come and see me, absolutely. Let's do it. I want people to know that I'm not out here to try and make the most money off of you.
I just wanna help you feel better.
Kristin Kienzle: While making a living and Yeah. Yeah. Sustaining your business. Exactly. Growing it, hopefully. Yeah, exactly. That's great.
So is it common for people like you in your industry to accept insurance for things like labs?
Brittany Thomas: I don't think it's very common. I don't look at a lot of other people's like business models, but it seems like, from what I hear from patients, that that's not a very common thing.
And to me it's, it's a simple thing. You know, it's not. It's just a few extra steps. And typically with labs, they get covered by insurance. You have [00:17:00] to be kind of selective and, and there's certain diagnosis codes that you have to put in there to get things approved. But that's just something that like, I, like I keep saying if it's gonna help the patient in the end game, I'll put the extra effort to do that for them.
Mm-hmm. But yeah, it doesn't seem like it's a very common thing.
Challenges with Insurance
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Brittany Thomas: But again, I think it goes back to fighting with insurance all the time and healthcare providers are getting fed up with doing that. Mm-hmm. So. I'm sure that's really exhausting. Yeah. Battling the insurance.
Yeah. I mean there's certain clinics that I know of that they have people on staff that just deal with insurance. Like that is their Monday through Friday, 40 hours a week job. And to me that's wild. You know, like my husband asked me when I was kind of talking things out with him, like, are you gonna take insurance?
You know, that's gonna be a huge question. And that's what I told him. I said, I would love to, but I just don't have the time. As an independent provider, independent practice owner, I don't have the time for that. Maybe down the road, you know, like, I have hope that our healthcare system will change and that this type of thing will, continue to become more accessible to patients.
But there's no way to predict it.
Kristin Kienzle: It [00:18:00] is terrible how wasteful the time is spent. Just fighting insurance. Yeah. There's been so many times for me where I've needed, or my kids have needed a procedure or even a medication and there's just this back and forth. Yeah. And you end up getting it most of the time.
But why do you have to call the doctor again? Yeah. And again, and just, yeah. Waste everybody's time. Yeah. And resources. And like the
Brittany Thomas: time, the time delay. That's what gets me, you know, it's impacting their quality of life.
Kristin Kienzle: Mm-hmm.
Brittany Thomas: And you know, they could have done something. Six weeks ago. Six months ago.
Mm-hmm. Who knows? It's just, it's crazy.
Favorite Treatments and Success Stories
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Kristin Kienzle: Do you have things that you prefer to treat? What are your favorites, if you have any?
Brittany Thomas: I love meeting with people who have never done any kind of hormone therapy and they're in like, the trenches of feeling symptomatic. then getting them to come back in, six to eight weeks.
And then I love hearing that feedback of how great they feel. And then my other favorite would definitely be. Weight loss patients, you know, like helping someone lose 50, 60, 70 pounds is, I just love it. I'm so happy for [00:19:00] them. It's life changing, you know?
Yes. I have a patient who cried to me one day about, she, her husband's a big, big into biking and she just wanted to go ride her bike with him once a week. And she was in so much joint pain and inflammation and overweight that she couldn't even ride her bike with him. I mean, like she could go maybe a mile and then she'd have to slow back down and he'd take off.
And I mean, it was heartbreaking. Mm-hmm. And so we did both hormones and weight loss for her, and I think it was at her second checkups, so it would've been like two months later. I mean, she's in tears to me telling, telling me how much I've changed her life because now she can go with her husband and you know, so I love that.
That's a great story. I get feedback too that like some people. I changed their life and you know, or I'll help kind of repark the romance in their marriage because hormones have helped repark or relight their libido. You know, like, yes, please share that with me. Like, I will celebrate all of that. Yeah.
All of that joy with you. That's what I wanna do. That's part of the connection I wanna build with my patients.
Kristin Kienzle: Yeah. So you really impact people's lives. I try to. [00:20:00] Do you miss working with
Brittany Thomas: babies? I do. Oh yeah. Every day I miss it's that.
Kristin Kienzle: Were there times where that was really sad though. I think that would be so hard.
Yeah.
Brittany Thomas: I mean, there's times, don't get me wrong, but death is not something that happened quickly or often. Not quickly, sorry. Often for babies. And so there's way more happy stories than sad stories. Oh, good. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, like. To sending a baby home with the parents who have been there for the last three, four months.
You know, that's, that is amazing. That's probably as
Kristin Kienzle: exciting as the woman being able to ride her bike with their hands. Absolutely. Absolutely. Maybe better. Yeah, probably better. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. Yeah.
Balancing Business and Patient Care
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Kristin Kienzle: So what are the challenges of being a business owner while you're being a provider?
Brittany Thomas: Oh, man. There's a lot social media that's become a beast of its own, you know? Mm-hmm. Like, I feel like in this industry. Social media is. A huge piece of business and yes, websites are important, but that daily content that people expect from you on social media in the interaction and you know, you want [00:21:00] your content to look different than other people's, but still have the same type of information.
That's been a challenge. It's not something that I consider myself good at. I am not at all tech savvy, so, you know, there's a huge learning curve for me with that. ~I~
Kristin Kienzle: think you're doing great. Thank you. Your social media is excellent. I appreciate
Brittany Thomas: that. That means a lot because I feel like it's a daily struggle.
Yeah. All the admin stuff in regards to, you know, finding pharmacies to go through, finding charting systems to go through. I've already changed once because the one that I started off with just, I was having feedback that patients were struggling to get booked and, you know, it just wasn't working. And that's been a challenge.
Like I said, I've got zero business knowledge or expertise, so, you know, balancing books and that kind of stuff has been a new eye-opener for me. And then I, I do feel like this industry is pretty cutthroat. You know, there's a lot of competition and I think on the outside it looks positive and, and supportive, but it's not always like, behind the scenes.
Mm-hmm. And that can be really hard. That can feel pretty heavy. So yeah, I mean, I feel like there's [00:22:00] tons of different, of hiccups and issues and I feel like every day something new hits me and yeah, I, that was one thing of this that I was not expecting were some of the. The harder pieces of it, I guess.
Mm-hmm. The behind the scenes things that people don't see.
Kristin Kienzle: How much time do you think you spend working on your business versus in your business seeing patients?
Brittany Thomas: I think I spend more time not seeing patients working on business than I do I seeing patients. Mm-hmm. Which I hate, but I'm just at a point where I'm not ready to hire someone to do that.
And I think it's good to know the ins and the outs of your business. I'm learning, you know, like what things cost and what it takes to do X, y, or Z. And I think for a business owner that's important. Mm-hmm. You know, I wanna stay humble in my practice and appreciate all the different pieces of it.
But it's definitely been, there's definitely a learning curve there.
Kristin Kienzle: It is good to learn it all. And then as you grow, you can offload some of the Yeah. Some of those responsibilities and, yeah. And I think the
Brittany Thomas: first thing I'll be doing is finding someone to help me with social media. [00:23:00] Yeah.
Kristin Kienzle: Yeah. That's been a game changer.
I finally did that several months ago. Mm-hmm. And number one. A professional is so much better at it. Oh yeah. And it's just, there's nothing better than thinking I don't have to think of a post. Yeah. Or
Brittany Thomas: caption it. And they're so quick about it too, you know, like it'll take me an hour to make a post and they're done in five minutes.
And I'm like, what? Why? Like, what did I do wrong? Yeah, yeah.
Kristin Kienzle: So what is something you wish you knew a month ago before you got started?
Brittany Thomas: I think I wish I knew how much extra time I would spend on the business. Not in the walls of Utopia. Mm-hmm. Like all the stuff I'm doing at home, you know, the phone calls and the emails and opening accounts and there's so much that you don't think about.
And you know, then you have to start price shopping and looking, you know, am I getting the best deal here? Am I getting, is this gonna be better? And you know, there's reps that contact you all the time and there's so many steps with that. You know, like you might open, you know, inquire with some company [00:24:00] about.
A product and then someone emails you and then someone's calling you and then someone wants to come and meet with you. And it's just like, that sounds great and doesn't sound like it would take that much time, but it does. Mm-hmm. And so I found that, you know, like I'm only part-time here. I share this space with another girl, and so I have a whole day of.
Kind of admin time that I'm working, I'm trying to get things done. Mm-hmm. Because when I'm here, I'm not, I, I'm not doing that. I'm trying to see patients and, but I also wanna, you know, keep in mind that when my kids come home from school, like I wanna be a mom. Mm-hmm. And I don't wanna be a business owner at that point.
And so it's, there's a big balancing act with finding a time to run a business and. And do it successfully and manage it and all that, and make money. You know, at the end of the day, there's tons of options out there, but you have to find the one that is economically the smartest. And yeah.
I just didn't expect that. I don't know what I was thinking. Yeah. I think I was just like, it's gonna be
Kristin Kienzle: glorious. Open your own business. Yeah. No, I think that's common. I, I. I think a lot of people would say that. I'm also, as you're talking, I'm thinking so much of that [00:25:00] will drop off and get easier. Yeah.
Like it's all downhill from here. Yeah. You've, you're three weeks in, you're in the thick of it. Yeah. But so many things will just start flowing and become habit or just. Systemize and Yeah. And so it'll get better. I
Brittany Thomas: think too, like once I just kind of get myself more established mm-hmm.
You know, kind of make more of a name for myself where people know me and reps know me, and I know the processes and that kind of stuff. I agree with you. I think it'll get better. You'll figure out. I feel like it already kind of has gotten somewhat better, but yeah. Good. Yeah.
Kristin Kienzle: Good. Good. Yeah. So we've talked about the things that are hard. Mm-hmm. But there's a lot That's good. Yeah. And wonderful about it. So what do you hope, where do you hope to be in a year?
Future Goals and Functional Medicine
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Kristin Kienzle: What, what exciting things are ahead for you?
Brittany Thomas: I want to expand my service menu. I want to start offering a wider variety of things.
I think with. Medicine evolving and changing. I think that I have a lot of opportunities to kind of do that, I'm someone who, I feel like my husband would joke that I'm like a chronic student. I just, I love learning. I'm always [00:26:00] in school. I'm always doing the next thing. I wanna continue to do that.
I think education is super important. Mm-hmm. And I think if you're not challenging yourself, then you're not growing. And so, you know, like functional medicine is kind of like a hot term right now and that's a lot of that like root cause disease process. For example, you might have high blood pressure, but I wanna know why you have high blood pressure. You have to kind of investigate rather
Kristin Kienzle: than put a medication on it and move on. Yeah, exactly. Yep.
Brittany Thomas: Yeah, I love
Kristin Kienzle: that.
Brittany Thomas: Yeah. And you know, a lot of that can be addressed with hormones. I feel like hormones are kind of like a gateway for a lot of issues that people have, you know, whether it's metabolic issues or sleep issues or mood issues, you know, a lot of it stems back to hormones, but it can also be a lot more than that.
It can be like vitamin mineral deficiencies. It can be stuff with your gut, you know, gut issues, like the microbiome of your gut and like people don't think about. How every single part of our body is connected. You know, like how you can have issues with your intestines that are causing [00:27:00] mood changes.
Mm-hmm. You know, and so it's just, I find that fascinating. And so I do think that, over the next year or two I hope to expand that and offer more services. That kind of address that I am, I'm really lucky that I have a really good friend who has done tons of trainings with functional medicine.
And so she's a huge resource to me. So yeah, I try and reach out to her. Yeah.
Kristin Kienzle: That's super exciting. I love that and I, think the whole world's kind of moving through that with you. Yeah, I agree with you. I think with the. All the things we've talked about with functional medicine being more common and yeah.
And just speaking of things like hormones. So yeah,
Brittany Thomas: I think this GLP one push too has really changed things because it started off as a diabetic medication and then people started losing weight, and now it is a huge medicine. I'm sure it's probably bigger in weight loss than it is for diabetes. Mm-hmm. And, but the amount of people that I have who come to me and, you know, we wanna be on a super, super low dose, what we call a microdose, is. Incredible because they, they're the ones that have like joint pain relief And inflammation relief and gut [00:28:00] bloating relief. And it's just like, wow. That one peptide could make that big of a difference for somebody is huge.
I mean, I, I would say that about myself. Like I'm someone who's always had gut issues and I have microdosed now for a long time and I feel fantastic. I feel way better on it than off of it. And I, you know, like, I think that, I think as, as. Science emerges and things become more available to people.
I think that the amount of people who will be on these medications to treat things other than weight issues or diabetes mm-hmm. It's going to continue to grow, and that's exciting. I, I think that's exciting.
Kristin Kienzle: I think the fear around it is starting to erode a little bit. Yeah, I do
Brittany Thomas: too.
Kristin Kienzle: Yeah. That's, that's a good thing.
Brittany Thomas: Yeah. I think people are kind of figuring out too how to avoid some of the side effects that were scary.
Producer: Mm.
Brittany Thomas: Mm-hmm.
Kristin Kienzle: Well, Brittany, thank you for doing this in your beautiful space. Thank you. Sharing, having, sharing all this great information. I think what you've shared is super valuable. I find it interesting. Yeah. I've gotten to know you better. Yeah. So this was fun. Yeah.
Contact Information and Conclusion
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Kristin Kienzle: So if someone wants to get ahold of you [00:29:00] and just pick your brain or see you for services, how would you like them to find you?
Brittany Thomas: So I have both an Instagram and a Facebook. On Facebook it's just Brittany Thomas, which is my name, Brittany Thomas Wellness. And then I also have an Instagram and that is Brit Rooted Wellness Co. So either of those is a great option. My personal email is listed on, I think both of those. I know for sure my Instagram, so if you've got personal questions you wanna send that are more confidential, send me an email.
I'm pretty responsive to email. I try and check that multiple times a day. That's probably the easiest way to get a hold of me. I have a website that's launching very soon. I have a business phone number that's coming
Kristin Kienzle: soon, so there's more to come. Great. And another easy way is always just to go to the Utopia website, to the Tyler Point location, and all of your information is there too.
Yeah,
Brittany Thomas: absolutely.
Kristin Kienzle: Yeah. Well, thank you. Yeah, thank you.
[00:30:00]