Practice: Rivulet Chiropractic in Lafayette, CA
Dr. Christina graduated Life West in June. After her graduation she has been incredibly focused on taking all of her hard-won skills and education and creating her version of success.
What has been the outcome of that determination, focus and effort? Not just success in opening the practice of her dreams within three months of graduation, but also experiencing the joy of making a impact in her community every day. Christina has achieved what so many young chiropractors set out to do: making a significant difference in the world while becoming a thriving entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurship is not new to Christina. She came to chiropractic as a second career after working as a brand strategist and marketer in New York City. When she graduated Life West, she knew she wanted to get into practice for herself as quickly as possible and she formulated a plan to make that happen.
In the summer after graduating she undertook a three week internship in southern California with a successful chiropractor. She chose to intern with this doctor based on his track record of having built multiple busy practices with subluxation at the center of the business model. Christina says this three week period was invaluable to her building the systems and processes that have become the bedrock of her practice model.
Alba also prepared for practice by immersing herself in her new community. She became actively involved with the Chamber of Commerce, and attended many community events that she learned about through the chamber. She also went to the gym in her new community, went out to dinner in her new community, went to the farmers markets and local fairs and sought out every possible way to authentically engage in her new home.
Christina says that she learned many of the skills she needed while she was in school at Life West. She found the school to be a strong resource for her to build her professional abilities. Alba says that you can predict a lot about someone’s future based on how they approach chiropractic school. “Your clinic performance is a good indicator of your future. Your attitude, your work ethic, your ability to find patients, how you communicate with patients, attention to detail, looking for a variety of kinds of patients in the health center is a good indicator of how you might do in your own chiropractic business. Clinical experience is critical time to find and mature your voice as a chiropractor. Everything matters, from explanation of care – to how you adjust and how you talk to your patients when you adjust. Once you switch into practice you have a real “wake up call” – your capacity to lead and make things happen makes a difference from getting paid and having work – to making it. That is somewhat scary but also liberating. You can make it if you want it.”
Like many chiropractors, Christina has her own definition of what “making it” looks like. Christina says her definition of success is “Being happy doing what I’m doing and being financially rewarded for what I do. Being able to eat great food, to be able to travel and to start paying off my student loans.”
She feels like she has already achieved a substantial measure of success, just eight months out of school. She can measure that success by being able to meet her overhead expenses, paying down her student loans, and now being able to hire a CA part time (with full time potential). But equally importantly she feels proud of the significance of her work. She is very empowered by her ability to help the community of Lafayette CA, by providing chiropractic philosophy and seeing the value of removing subluxation being understood and valued by the community.
With five months in practice under her belt, Christina Alba is a “success story”. She knows her success is fluid. She continues to measure her success as more than financial reward. She is already mentoring other chiropractic students and recent graduates. She is driven to continue to build her practice so that she can help more people. She says her best advice for people looking for the “secret” to her success is simple hard work and determination. She recommends knowing when you need help and not being afraid to ask for it.
She says none of it was easy but building her practice has been fun and an extraordinarily satisfying experience.
How does she make it look so easy?
“Have fun. Love your time with patients. Enjoy the experience.”
