Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Dr. Mara Raden, co-founder of Raden Wellness, located in Highwood, IL, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Raden Wellness is a progressive, integrative medical practice focused on longevity and health optimization. Through thoughtful investigation, comprehensive medical testing, and 100% personalized protocols, we guide our patients along their journey to true healing and optimal health. We aim to facilitate true and lasting wellness through the empowerment of the individual. By proposing a different way of living - one in which we take the steps we need today to feel better than ever - we experience lasting health in our later years.
Most healthcare professionals learn almost nothing about "health" in graduate school; we only learn about diseases. Integrative medicine is about the science of creating health. It teaches us how to optimize the essential functions of our body to create balance. Our immune system, our gut microbiome, hormones, energy systems, how we make energy in our bodies, detoxification pathways, muscles, and nutritional status all use the fundamentals of integrative medicine.
Our clients are engaged in their health and wellness. They’re those seeking a proactive approach to longevity. Our patients come from all walks of life: currently healthy adults, children and seniors who want to optimize their overall health, individuals with cancer or preventing disease, and elite athletes looking to reach the next level. No matter where you are in life, restoration and prevention are of paramount importance for your health.
Tell us about yourself
Growing up in South Florida, I had a strong interest in health and wellness. After graduating from the University of Florida, I completed a PharmD (Doctor of Pharmacy) degree and went straight into a clinical role in a large hospital setting. While I greatly enjoyed the one-on-one care I was able to provide patients, I became increasingly frustrated with the conventional model of matching “the ill to the pill.” That early experience taught me that Western medicine is great at providing acute care and treating symptoms but, all too often, fails at treating diseases at their root causes and/or providing preventative care.
Preventative care and lifestyle solutions were rarely ever discussed with patients in that large hospital setting. I decided to use my lengthy commute each day to further my education and understanding of alternative medical approaches. During those 2 hour drives, I would listen to lectures through an integrative fellowship on environmental medicine, peptides, ozone therapy, and innovative approaches to health. I knew there was a better way to provide patient care. Today, I empower my patients to live happier, healthier, longer, and more energetic lives through nutritional IV therapies, regenerative medicine, and other functional health protocols.
In 2017 I founded Raden Wellness, a progressive functional medical practice, along with my husband, Dr. Donald Raden, MD. At Raden Wellness, we provide what traditional medicine often misses: a clear and complete picture of a patient’s health down to the cellular level. While other medical practices utilize “standard lab panels” for every patient, we believe that because each individual is unique, so should each set of lab tests. This allows the team to look at the bigger picture and assess everything from imbalances in hormones, nutrient levels, and toxic loads to immune dysregulation and mitochondrial health, which may be causing your symptoms.
Since the practice’s inception, we have grown the practice to include over a dozen full-time practitioners ranging from physicians and naturopaths to psychologists, nutritionists, and integrative physicians specializing in oncology, psychiatry, addiction, regenerative medicine, and hormone health.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
At Raden, we empower our patients to invest in their health. We guide our patients in their journey, giving them a wealth of science-based knowledge regarding their health. We’re allowing everyday humans to make small to large changes in their lives - not waiting for illness to happen. Primary prevention is key.
Overall, as a company, we have meshed the barriers between healthcare and hospitality - a layer that has historically been left out of medical settings, including a wellness curator that acts as a personal guide and concierge for patients. From this, we have been able to engage a wide variety of patients from all walks of life and have been able to personalize their journey.
I have watched our patients become more and more engaged in their health. Their success in taking the steps towards overall wellness enables our success, and watching them thrive is frankly remarkable. Since the onset of the pandemic, we have seen patients and guided them towards being proactive rather than waiting for the onset of disease.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Starting out, my instinct was to handle everything myself. I took on most tasks, including front desk, operations, and compounding, and did not have enough support underneath me. It was hard for me to give up control over my business, and I wanted things to be done a certain way. Within that, it meant taking on too much responsibility and even within areas in which I don’t thrive.
From this, I’ve learned that medical training does not incorporate the necessary tools to succeed in the business world or start your own business. You need a strong foundation, a team of advisors, and experts within their fields. I’m strong in pharmaceuticals and integrative medicine, but I lack in operations and administration - hiring the right people, and continuing to adjust and learn, allows the business to continue to flourish.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Make balance a priority. Remember: you own the business. The business doesn’t own you.
- In order to be successful, you have to be passionate about it and put yourself out there - you have to be willing to embrace criticism.
- Focus on you/your business and know what you do best compared to your competitors.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
As a population, we are now living longer than any time in history, but unfortunately, most spend the last few decades and sometimes more with dysfunction, disability, and suffering from preventable and reversible diseases, all with a medicine cabinet full of pills. Modern medicine is more advanced than ever, yet we are sicker than ever.
Advances in surgical procedures and new pharmaceuticals may help many of us live a longer lifespan, but what about the concept of healthspan? Your lifespan is how long you live. Your health span is how many years you live a healthy life. Our goal is to have your health span equal your lifespan. Rather than living the last 20 years of your life disabled and/or sick, think about living to 90 or 100 and being able to be engaged in life?
One statistic sticks in my mind: currently, 60% of Americans suffer from at least one chronic disease, and 40% have more than one chronic disease. It has been predicted that 83 million Americans will soon have three or more chronic illnesses that are almost entirely preventable (think, obesity, metabolic syndrome). We have access to more information than ever before, more technology, more therapies, and more sickness.
We are passionate about creating a change in medicine that focuses on longevity, including both emotional and physical health. We take a different approach and are thrilled to provide various services and therapies, including peptides, ozone therapy, ketamine therapy, and targeted IV nutrients. This enables us to enhance and benefit our patients' lives and, most importantly, customize protocols to target patients' needs and goals.
Already, the Raden way has expanded beyond our four walls, and I couldn’t be more proud. We have built a robust nationwide corporate wellness program, provided telemedicine to patients across the United States, and expanded our offering. As we look forward to the future, Raden is expanding to its second brick-and-mortar location in Chicago and has plans to expand to various other cities within the next few years.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://radenwellness.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/radenwellness
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raden_wellness/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/raden-wellness/
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