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Cre8wellness Balances a Healthy Lifestyle posted on Thursday, 08 January 2009

Finding a healthy and balanced lifestyle in today's world seems even more important given the daunting economic situation facing many people.

By Dave Thomas

Cre8wellness in Encinitas was developed by Dr. Pia Martin over a period of years. As a busy business leader, Martin noticed that the healthier and more balanced her team and she was, the better their performance.

Dr. Pia Martin, Founder, Cre8wellness

"I observed more and more the impact of health on performance and I decided that I wanted to do more about it," Martin said. "The specific idea for the eight dimensions of wellness and the creation of Cre8wellness crystallized during the six and a half years of education to become a doctor of Chiropractic."

Martin noted that as she moved into the marketplace as a health and wellness doctor, she has found that the biggest challenge is educating busy business people about how important their health is to their success and convincing them to invest in their health so they won’t be faced with spending incredible amounts of money to recover from sickness later.

Like making any small business successful, Martin said that challenges do exist, but they can be overcome.

"The biggest challenge in making a small business a financial success in any environment is identifying your market and the challenges they are facing and letting them know that you have the solution to their problem," Martin remarked. "This is particularly challenging in a tough economy because anything that seems discretionary can be deferred, so getting the right message out to the right market in the right way with the right sense of urgency is even more important." Martin adds that although a tough economy can make business people feel like deferring expenses on communicating with their market (marketing expenses) the opposite is true. "Bite the bullet and spend the money," Martin said.

Martin's journey to her current role went from a business executive to a health and wellness professional, starting in her early 20’s. According to Martin, she was suffering from emotional burn out due to a challenging childhood and too much, too soon in her business life.

"Through a timely encounter at a coffee shop I began to study Yoga and Meditation in Sydney, Australia," Martin recounts. "My daily practice led me to a diet of whole foods and a dramatic improvement in my physical and emotional health."

Martin said she was fortunate to spend a year in India with one of the great Yoga masters of our time. Upon her return from India, an opportunity in the cruise industry opened and she enjoyed many successful years as an entertainment executive. Martin said there was, however, always something missing, and (as she stated earlier) she noticed how health and wellness impacts business success.

"I took stock of my life and made the decision to go back and complete the journey I started years earlier," Martin said. "The day I graduated and walked the stage, as a doctor of Chiropractic, was the day I knew in my heart that I had found exactly what I was meant to do - help people have the health and wellness that they need for a lifetime."

As many people discover in life, there were some challenges to making this type of transition.

"One of the biggest challenges was going back to school after many years away," Martin remarked. "As far as other challenges go, as a business executive at a large company you have a team of people at your disposal to provide support and a skill set that offsets your own. As a small business owner, you often find that you wear many different hats - some you are good at, some not as much. You are the marketing person, the sales person, the spokesperson, etc. and you are also the practitioner. The biggest challenge is letting people know you are out there and that what you have to offer is a solution to their problem."

Helping people has been Martin's niche in life, especially with her current business plan.

At Cre8wellness they offer gentle chiropractic techniques, as well as personalized nutritional improvement programs. Martin said she believes that what makes people unique is that as health care providers their approach is to take the time to listen to each patients’ story and understand their unique and individual presentation and by doing so address each health and wellness concern.

"We treat the whole person; we do not treat symptoms, however we use them as a guide to determine the underlying cause of the problem," Martin said. "We conduct a comprehensive evaluation of each person and after review, present him or her with an individualized program designed for maximum therapeutic effect. We encourage our patients to be active participants in their health and wellness, while we act as a coach to help them along the path to a more balanced life."

Martin notes that the team at Cre8wellness is able to respond to a broad spectrum of needs, offering two full-time doctors in the office. In addition they offer acupuncture, massage therapy, corrective exercise, and nutritional diagnosis and counseling, all coordinated by a team of efficient and smiling assistants at the front desk. "Although we have room to grow in our Encinitas office, our long-term plan is to have a number of health and wellness centers in the San Diego area," Martin added.

This year should prove busy for Martin and staff as they continue to engage with the community, speak at events, support committees and offer seminars - all to let people know that they want to help individuals “Cre8wellness”.

Cre8wellness
535 Encinitas Blvd., Suite 120
Encinitas, Ca. 92024
(760) 632-8785
www.cre8wellness.com.

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