Why I Decided to Open My Chiropractic Office in Seattle WA

First, let’s start with the how. Emerald City Spinal Care in Seattle did not come to be overnight. The story goes back to northern California, where Dr. Zapata grew up and went to school. After graduating from Life Chiropractic College in California, and working as an associate for a doctor in the San Francisco Bay Area, Dr. Zapata came across a very unique opportunity, one so good that she couldn’t pass it up.

Moving to Seattle in 2007 to pursue her dream of one day opening a Chiropractic clinic of her own, she went to work as an associate doctor in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. Originally, she had anticipated spending only a year or two in Seattle, citing the cold and grey weather as an obstacle. She did come from California after all. However, after spending a year in Seattle exploring the city and the various neighborhoods, as well as meeting some awesome people, Dr. Zapata was hooked on the city!

Flash forward 4 years, and after building a successful, thriving practice in Seattle, her mentor provided her with the opportunity to open a clinic in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, located less than a mile up the hill from Downtown Seattle. Capitol Hill is a bustling, vibrant neighborhood associated with music, tech, creativity and a hugely diverse population. Coming from San Francisco, Dr. Zapata immediately felt at home in Capitol Hill. It is not uncommon to hear the wail of a V12 Ferrari tearing through the streets of Capitol Hill right outside our office, nor is it uncommon to hear live music playing at one of the local bars after a day in the office.

Dr. Zapata wasted no time in creating relationships with local businesses, apartment buildings and residents alike. She actively reached out to the community in Seattle, focusing on downtown Seattle as well as Capitol Hill. She was laser focused on achieving her dream of a thriving chiropractic practice in the city of Seattle, one that would educate and inspire patients to live a healthier, more active lifestyle! She spent time working with business large and small to get employers and employees alike to understand the benefits and importance of being under chiropractic care. Community outreach events were frequently held in Seattle. Health fairs held in skyscrapers became a common occurrence, as did ‘Wellness Happy Hours’ held in Seattle area apartment buildings.

After almost 3 years of building her practice under her mentors guidance, she finally had the opportunity to buy him out and take ownership of the clinic. This occurred in January of 2016, and once again, Dr. Zapata set her sights on creating the clinic of her dreams. The first thing that had to happen was a name change and a complete re-brand of the office.

This was the genesis of Emerald City Spinal Care! In just one short year, Dr. Zapata has undergone a complete re-branding and has laid the foundation for a clinic of her dreams! She has hired on additional staff, some who are Seattle locals and others who have come seeking a dream of their own. In addition, her husband, Jeff came on-board in February to help support the back-end and marketing operations of the business. Most of 2016 has been a blur, but Emerald City Spinal Care (as it is now known), has had the opportunity to reach and serve hundreds of new patients in Seattle as well as the surrounding neighborhoods with a primary focus on Capitol Hill, Ballard and Seattle.

Now, let us focus on the ‘why’ of opening a chiropractic clinic in Seattle. To understand the ‘why’, you would first need to understand how Dr. Zapata came to find chiropractic, and how it changed her life forever. Here is her story:

I met my first chiropractor as a scared and sick 17 year old.  I didn’t know anything about chiropractic and I wasn’t too sure about it after my first appointment.  But on the ride home after my first appointment, my father knew I was going to get well.  “I think this will be good for you,” he said.

During my sophomore year of high school, I had suffered three concussions while playing soccer and had been involved in a serious car accident, injuring my neck and back.   My health took a bad turn and I suffered from migraine headaches and neck pain, off and on, for an entire year.  Eventually, a friend of my father convinced him to take me to a chiropractor.  My parents were desperate, so they did. 

My recovery was amazing, and because of that, my parents were ready to learn all about chiropractic!  My entire family started chiropractic care and we began to notice migraine headaches, neck pain, back pain, sleep issues, and poor health in general went away.  What we learned about chiropractic, we believed and knew was true.  Chiropractic was good for life!

I decided in my early 20’s to become a chiropractor.  By the time I showed up at Life Chiropractic College West, I had already spent hundreds of hours in chiropractic reception rooms waiting for dozens and dozens of chiropractic adjustments.  The results of those adjustments proved again that chiropractic was good for life.

Toward the end of my training at Life Chiropractic College West, I put the pieces together, and made one of the most important decisions of my life.  Here it is:

To be healthy, I need 100 percent connection with the life giving, healing power of my Innate Intelligence (resident in my brain) flowing through my body.  My serious car accident at 16, along with my concussions, hurt that connection by causing a subluxation (vertebra putting pressure on nerves) in my neck.  I regained my health when the subluxation was corrected.

Over time, I was subluxated again, got sick again, went to the chiropractor again, and got healthy again.  Because of what I know, and my desire to live up to my best potential, I decided I need to live subluxation-free, and I will never go any longer than a month without a chiropractic check-up and adjustment.

It’s been over a decade since I made that decision, and without a doubt, I can say my commitment to regular chiropractic care is why I stand before you healthy and enjoying my life.  I invite you to join me in choosing chiropractic for life.

As far as chiropractors in Seattle go, Dr. Zapata prefers to take a very active approach to managing a patients overall health. The focus is on getting people to understand that good health should NOT be treated like an accident. Instead, it should be understood that good health, like almost anything else in life, takes a conscious effort. She understands that true healing takes place over time, and she is committed to getting patients in Seattle to understand that chiropractic should be part of a healthy lifestyle, just like going to one of the many local gyms or getting out for a bicycle ride on the Burke-Gilman trail. Thankfully, people in Seattle are more receptive to health than those of some other cities. In fact, Seattle is known to be one of the fittest, most outdoorsy areas of the entire country.

Opening a chiropractic clinic in Seattle has been a tremendous experience (even the weather), and with so many people moving to Seattle from all over the country, not a day goes by where Dr. Zapata doesn’t learn something new from someone with an entirely different background and perspective on life. With so many tech opportunities in Seattle (from Amazon to Google to Microsoft and more), it has brought an incredibly diverse group of people to the city of Seattle. For many of those patients, they have not found a chiropractor in Seattle whom they trust with their health!