Spotlight on Arvada Wellness Collective

Q&A with Owner/Founder Sophia Arnesen

This week, I’m excited to spotlight Sophia Arnesen, owner/founder of the Olde Town Arvada Wellness Collective. With a commitment to serving her community, Sophia has woven her extensive background in acupuncture and Chinese medicine into the fabric of Arvada, offering a holistic approach to health that transcends traditional boundaries. Our interview is below:

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Q: Thanks for sharing your story with us! Please introduce us to your work and your business.

A: I'm the owner of The Olde Town Arvada Wellness Collective and Arvada Acupuncture & Holistic Medicine located on Grandview Avenue in Olde Town Arvada. Our business focuses on providing comprehensive wellness services to our clients by offering a range of services aimed at promoting overall wellness including acupuncture, herbal medicine, cupping, intuitive massage therapy, reiki & energy work, ayurvedic medicine, skincare & esthetics, yoga therapy, assisted stretching, and more! We strive to create a welcoming and supportive environment where clients can explore different modalities and find what works best for them on their journey to optimal health.

As the resident acupuncturist at The Olde Town Arvada Wellness Collective, I specialize in traditional Chinese medicine techniques including: acupuncture, herbal medicine, cupping, and gua sha as a means to treat various health conditions, but I have a special interest in the treatment of women's health, hormones and fertility.

Q: What inspired you to open The Olde Town Arvada Wellness Collective?

A: Opening The Olde Town Arvada Wellness Collective was a two step process. I started my private acupuncture practice Arvada Acupuncture & Holistic Medicine in May 2020. I completed my Masters of Science in Traditional Chinese Medicine in December 2019 (I completed this 2,850 hour -equivalent to four years- program at an accelerated pace in three years which included 795 hours of clinical practice) and became licensed as an acupuncturist in March 2020. Opening a business, especially in a field like acupuncture, during the peak of COVID was daunting, not to mention being a first time business owner with very little support. I'm very familiar with being an underdog and I thrive under that pressure. Being a first generation college student from a Mexican-American family has exposed me to various forms of adversity and challenges but it has also provided me with valuable opportunities for growth and resilience.

I took a leap of faith and rented the back studio in Electric Cherry Shop + Studios and never looked back. My acupuncture practice blossomed and I had a waitlist within a year of opening. Ally (the owner of Electric Cherry) was the biggest supporter of my business and she showed me the value of true community and support. When it came time to expand my practice, I opened The Olde Town Arvada Wellness Collective in 2022.

I'm often asked what "collective" means and the answer is simple... community. As a healthcare practitioner, we are often isolated and feel like we have to run our businesses alone and it is TOUGH. As healthcare practitioners in private practice, we wear a lot of hats including (but absolutely not limited to) practitioner, accountant, bookkeeper, tax specialist, cleaner, inventory manager, receptionist, scheduler, social media, content creator, and the list goes on... and a lot of these hats are worn at the same time. I wanted to bring together a group of wellness professionals with a passion for wellness, who can work together, foster collaboration and promote overall wellness; thus The Olde Town Arvada Wellness Collective was born.

I am infinitely grateful for the community I've built and my business has changed exponentially because I feel less alone and more supported on a daily basis. I hope to continue to grow the collective and support the community of Olde Town Arvada in the best way I can.

Q: What modalities or services offered at your practice do you see the most interest in currently? Why do you think those resonate so much with clients right now?

A:  As an acupuncturist who specializes in women's health, hormones and fertility I love that I am able to make a positive impact on the lives of my patients, promote holistic healing, and cultivate meaningful connections. Women are often overlooked in healthcare - especially moms - and I strongly believe it's important to empower women and help them lead their best lives. I use the principles of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to help women using modalities such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, cupping, and gua sha. TCM can help women's health in a multitude of ways by regulating menstrual cycles, alleviating menstrual pain, supporting fertility, helping to balance hormones, reducing stress and anxiety and so much more. Most of the women I see in my practice are frustrated with the limited options they receive in traditional western care and it's important to me that they know that they have options beyond hormonal treatments and surgery.

Over the years, I've seen the quality of life improve for so many women who were told they didn't have options. I've seen women who have recurrent unexplained miscarriages carry to term and have beautiful healthy babies. I've seen women who have never had regular menstrual cycles be able to travel on their periods without pain or fear. I've seen women build their stress resiliency at work and home and stay calm under pressure because their nervous systems can relax and they no longer live in fight or flight 24/7. The power of acupuncture still blows my mind to this day, but helping women live happier and calmer lives is ultimately why I work so hard.

Q. How could the Colorado legislature better address the unique challenges faced by small business owners?

A: I truly believe that small businesses are the backbone of America, especially in towns like Olde Town Arvada. With that being said, being a small business owner is constantly an uphill battle and it's constantly getting more difficult. I certainly feel that the legislature can play an active role in helping small businesses like mine flourish. As an example, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to afford rent in a centralized business district such as Olde Town Arvada.

Part of the charm of shopping or supporting small businesses in small towns is that you can find unique items for sale, individualized services and actually meet and build relationships with business owners. I can foresee a day in the future where a place like Olde Town Arvada has priced the small businesses out and as a result only big boxes, investors or corporately backed franchises are the only ones who can afford to stay open in our town. This would inevitably mean that those with less capital, such as female or minority-owned businesses, are forced to rent in less desirable locations or, worse still: not even be able to operate in the very community in which they live. 

Our legislature should most certainly support small businesses by helping through rent assistance, control, or other such measures to ensure small towns can retain small businesses. Many of us are drowning in rental fees and barely making ends meet as rent increases annually. Owners and landlords are price gouging and something needs to be done to give small businesses more opportunities to not only rent, but actually purchase commercial spaces so that we're in better control of our businesses and futures. It can be very disheartening owning and operating a small business as a solopreneur to then be "beat out" by investors who don't even live in or know anything about our community. It's the reason for high turnover of small businesses in small towns such as Olde Town Arvada.

Beyond these measures, our legislature can also help small businesses such as mine by streamlining business processes such as licensure or taxation for example. People talk a lot about how hard it is to be a small business owner: yes, it is hard to market, gain and retain clients, and to offer high quality goods and services. However, believe it or not these are not actually the “hard” aspects of running a business; the difficulty actually lies in compliance with local, state, federal laws, regulations, and mandates. Even with the help of a financial professional for example, when it comes time to submit my taxes I am often aggrieved and frustrated by the sheer volume of taxes and ways in which I am to submit them.

To be honest, it feels as if the system is set up to prevent people from setting up small businesses in an effort to prevent people from taking the risks associated with opening up a small business. Our legislature should instead embrace small business and individuals like me, and make a concerted effort to streamline the ways in which we can create and retain businesses. The American dream is alive and well for people like me, but without government action I fear that small businesses may eventually be more of a rarity than the norm. Colorado can be a leader in small business development and show the rest of the nation what small communities and thriving businesses can truly look like. 

Q. What are your future goals for the Arvada Wellness Collective, and how do you plan to continue evolving the services offered to meet the needs of your clients?

A: I have a plethora of goals for The Olde Town Arvada Wellness Collective, and truly the sky's the limit for me. I'd love to eventually grow into a larger space with more space for more wellness practitioners and a community space (for events, movement, yoga, etc). I truly believe that being in Olde Town Arvada has grown my business in ways that it wouldn't have grown otherwise. I'm also a resident of Arvada, and what I have to say about Arvadans is that we really rally for our community in a way I've never experienced. Our business has grown because of this community and 90% of our clients come from Olde Town Arvada or the Arvada metro. With that being said, I'd love to grow in a way that we can host more events (ie fundraisers, support groups, book clubs, etc) as an opportunity to give back to this community.

On a personal level, as we grow, I'd love to be able to give back to the community by hosting community acupuncture events with the option for clients to "pay what they can". Acupuncture is an amazing medicine that can help so many people, but it's not easily accessible and community acupuncture is a way to bring it to those who cannot generally afford this type of care. I want to share this incredible medicine with the community and continue to be a safe space for our clients and local community.