The Letter

Last night 9:30 PM, Ed had telephoned us to find out what was going on. Apparently he had heard through the grapevine that we weren’t coming back. There was no way I was going to explain everything on the phone at this hour so I told him I wasn’t ready to talk about it.

Jason and I spent the rest of the evening and part of this morning composing a letter to give to him. We didn’t mention anything about how we’ve heard from other practitioners that they withhold their paychecks and expect free services for their acquaintances. We tried to stick with just the facts that affected us and not betray any confidences.

Dear Ed,

I’m sorry that I couldn’t talk to you on the phone when you called last night. I feel that too much had happened to be able to discuss it over the phone in a timely manner and I didn’t want to end up going to bed late or upset.

I don’t know if you are aware of all of the events that happened during your Open House as you weren’t present for any of it besides the first incident when I was sitting behind the desk beside Peggy. In fact, you may not have even been aware that I could hear Sharon quite clearly make the comment: “I don’t care who she is, she’s not sitting there.” I was taken a bit aback by that comment, but tried to brush it off as I believed Sharon may have been under some stress due to the Open House and trying to get everything ready. I wish that I could say that was the only incident as that could have been overlooked with your apology on your wife’s behalf.

I would have preferred if Sharon could have apologized for herself either on the phone or face to face though as it would have been more meaningful. Again this showed a lack of respect on her part. As for your explanation of why I couldn’t do my case studies there, I was a little confused about that as 1) Lynda is an Osteopath Student herself and not having completed her program at school and certified yet and 2) I was going to be providing my own insurance from the Canadian Federation of Aromatherapists and their Insurance partners which would have covered me under their Student Insurance to perform case studies outside of the school environment.

I’ll give you a play by play as to how the rest of the Open House progressed. After you left the area, I noticed Sharon struggling with the balloons and asked if I could help. I was given a very short and curt “NO” where she proceeded to ask one of your children to hold the balloons instead. OK, I said to myself and again dismissed it, but I was starting to get the feeling that she was having an issue with me personally as she was more pleasant with everyone else.

I don’t want this to be a Sharon bashing letter, however I have to let you know everything and why I am so upset, disappointed and hurt. What happened next was that I was asked to go and sit in the waiting area because the desk area had to be kept clear and she them proceeded to move the chair to the back of the building. This is when I started to get upset. I didn’t appreciate this passive-aggressive behavior. I am a very understanding person and if she would have simply explained that this area has to be kept for staff only due to legal restrictions, I would have understood and not felt like I was being reprimanded like a grade school student. For Sharon to have made up some nonsense about keeping the area clear was simply an insult to my intelligence, as I was well aware that this was not the actual reason she was asking me to move.

So I sat in the patient waiting area while awaiting Elena’s arrival to give her the planned Aromatherapy treatment for my case study. After Elena had left, I contemplated leaving as well. The only thing that kept me there was that I made a promise to you that I would stay for the Open House and try to help drum up some business for you by letting prospective patients know how much all of my treatments here have helped me and how I’m in Fibromyalgia remission because of what you and the rest had done for me.

I didn’t need to stay for the Open House. I knew your operation and everything involved. I was not promoting Aromatherapy, Reflexology, or myself in any way. In fact, when the subject was brought up, I quickly acknowledged it and changed the subject back to massage, chiropractic, etc. My mission was to help you and the clinic. Yes, I believe that making money is important, but I also believe that people’s health and a positive atmosphere is even more important.

I also didn’t like the fact that I heard Sharon tell a staff member while Kim was in her room giving a massage, (can’t remember who she was saying that to) that she didn’t care if Kim said that she wasn’t going to do massages outside in this heat and to bring back that massage chair and put it back outside after Kim had moved her chair back inside. She was going to give free massages, outside in stifling heat, having had nothing to eat all day, on her own time, at her own expense, like it or not. I thought to myself… this sounds rather dictatorial. I don’t think I could ever work with someone that is this controlling and uncaring. Notice that I said “work with” and not “work for”. That is because I believe in working together and not in the old fashioned “boss” atmosphere. You get further ahead when you look at it as a team rather than ownership of people.

At one point, I was explaining how wonderful Nancy’s nutrition program was working for me to a client and when Nancy came by, I asked her to come over and talk to the gentleman. Half way through our little 3-way conversation, Sharon came by, interrupted, and asked Nancy to give someone else a tour of the place. He looked a little confused at the abrupt end of the conversation so I tried to fix it by telling him about Homeopathy. Then Brindusha came by and I told him that she’d be able to explain it much better. Again, we had this little 3-way conversation going when Sharon came by, interrupted, and asked Brindusha to give someone a tour. This guy was very confused by now and I didn’t think I could say much more to fix it. I saw that Kim was outside with no massage in progress, so I pointed him to Kim’s direction for a free massage. I was hoping that maybe this would make him forget what had transpired with the last two practitioners. I wasn’t sure if he was an existing patient or a potential patient, so I wasn’t taking any chances.

I was pretty upset by this time and I couldn’t understand why Sharon was behaving this way. Was this her normal behavior with all of the practitioners? If so, I could never work in that kind of environment, let alone feel like I was getting treatments as a patient that would be as beneficial as possible. I calmed myself down by walking around for a bit and went outside for a smoke. When I came back in, I was feeling a bit better and I thought I’d try again.

This next scenario is what really made me angry. Jen was standing behind the desk talking to a few people. I can’t remember if she was talking to staff or patients. Sharon was seated in the patient waiting area with a potential patient trying answer some questions about Reiki. She called over to Jen: “Jen, come here and explain Reiki”. As Jen was busy talking and I was standing right there doing nothing, I turned to Sharon and said: “I just completed the course with Jen and Kim for Reiki Level 2. I can help explain Reiki.” Sharon glared at me, didn’t say a word, looked over to Jen and said: “Jen, come over here now and explain Reiki.” It was extremely rude. I see no reason to treat any other human being with such contempt regardless of whether or not she knew who I was.

I don’t know what I had done to deserve this kind of treatment, but I had had enough. All I wanted to do was be helpful and I kept getting a virtual slap in the face for my efforts. I said my goodbyes and left. The only thank you I got was from you and I did appreciate it. I then sat in my truck for the longest time, fuming with anger. Then I realized that I wasn’t really angry, I was deeply hurt and disappointed. Then I ended up sitting there and crying for the longest time before I was able to compose myself in order to drive home. I had incredible pain in my lower back from the stress. Strange how getting upset always takes itself out on my back.

Once home, I ended up talking to Jason at work on the phone for about an hour and a half while he tried to calm me down. The next day I had a horrible time trying to concentrate at school. I don’t think I remember most of the day. By Thursday, my back had gotten so extremely stiff and painful, I had to cancel my morning clinic day at school and book an emergency massage with Kim at the other clinic.

I’m so sorry that it had to come to this Ed. I always loved you as my chiropractor and liked you as a person very much. I really wanted to see your business succeed and I believed that I could work with you at one point. I truly believed that it would have been financially rewarding for both of us. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to work with Sharon’s business practices and treatment of fellow practitioners. I saw enough to know that I could never be happy working under that kind of iron hand. I was under the impression it was a team, but from what I saw with how she treated the practitioners first hand, this reminded me of bad places that I had worked in the past.

I can only offer this advice… if Sharon is to be your Clinic Director, she really has to be made to understand how Alternative Medicine works. The Mind, Body, Spirit Connection is a real thing. You cannot run a Wellness Centre like it’s a factory with unionized workers and producing a product. This isn’t an assembly line of cars, but people with pain and medical issues. Even before all of this had happened, I had noticed that all of the practitioners didn’t smile as much as they used to in the beginning when the clinic first opened. It was a steady increase of unhappiness that I could sense. If you think patients can’t pick up on the negative vibes in the clinic, you are very wrong.

I know from first hand experience with receiving treatments at both clinics, that what I received at Total Health link are good, but not as therapeutic as what I receive at Core Link. If the practitioners are under stress or not happy about something, that negative energy flows through to the patient without a word being said. I can only imagine how much better all the treatments could have been with a happier, and less negative atmosphere. If you believe that all of your practitioners are happy and satisfied, take a closer look and see through the smiles they put on for the patient’s benefit. As a relatively good judge of people and a lot of psychology training, I see through it rather easily without anyone saying a word. I just didn’t know what the cause was until witnessing it first hand.

I can’t blame Sharon in this respect as she doesn’t have any Alternative Healthcare experience and most likely doesn’t understand the whole “Mind, Body, Spirit Connection” that is such a huge part of Alternative Medicine. With all that has transpired, we don’t believe that we can get the health benefits that are possible at your clinic. I’m sorry that it had to come to this, but it hurt me very deeply and I have a low, if not zero tolerance for passive-aggressive behavior. I honor and respect when people when that are honest, up front and rational instead. They key to financial success is to have a happy team that will back you 100% and that can’t happen when they are treated like school children.

I have had my own financially successful business in the past in the graphic arts world with a staff of 6 people outside of myself, so I do know what I’m talking about. I ended up having to sell my business because it grew too big and I was no longer happy in that field. I always treated everyone with the utmost respect and kindness and they reciprocated by giving their all at work and then some without me having to ask for it or order it.

The people who work with you have the training and experience and if you lose them, you lose all of that. What you bring to the agreement is, in reality, little more than a treatment space, and without the practitioners, all you will have left is empty space. It is our honest opinion as outside observers that you need these people more than they need you, and we believe that you will be much better off to treat them accordingly. We hate to see this dark cloud over everything you’ve worked so hard to build, but we do see that it’s there, and we have to do what is right for our own health and wellness.

It’s with a sad heart that I have to type this letter, but I thought it was important for you to be aware of everything. Jason and I still want you to be successful in the future in helping people find their way to wellness and live a pain-free and productive life. I can’t thank you enough for how you have helped both of us and we wish that things could have been different. None of my words here are meant to hurt or are said in spite, but rather I’m hoping to help you see things a little differently and hopefully make the improvements you need to do to reap the financial benefits of bringing people their lives back to them. If we didn’t care about your success, we would have simply just disappeared and never bothered to explain why. Both Jason and I wish you the best of luck with everything.

Sincerely,
Norah Bleazard & Jason Bleazard