Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Maggie Stupakewicz.
Hi Dr. Stupakewicz, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My back story starts at the age of 5 when I brought home a flier in my bookbag for learn to skate classes at the local ice rink. I used to go every Friday night to the roller rink with my dad and I decided I wanted to give ice skating a try. I fell in love with it! I started lessons and after a year or two, started competing. At the age of 12, I was practicing a competition program with my coach, and one blade got stuck inside the other blade underneath of me and I fell. I landed directly on my coccyx (tailbone) and hit the back of my head on the ice.
Everyone was yelling “Maggie, don’t get up!! Don’t get up!!” so I froze and just laid there. My coach came over, checked me out, and helped me up. It took me about 20 minutes to get off the ice because I was in so much pain. The next day, I went to my primary doctor and they took x-rays. I was always fascinated by the human body and seeing images of bones so this was a cool experience even though I was in a miserable amount of pain. Turns out, I fractured my coccyx and to mine and everyone else’s surprise, it was a second break, meaning I had fractured it many years before and never knew.
The doctor sent me home with instructions to ice the area and to take Ibuprofen for the pain and swelling, but other than that there was nothing they could do other than to wait and let it heal. During my healing process, my mom had been seeing a chiropractor for herself and decided to take me in with her one day for my own visit. They took x-rays and did a complete analysis of my spine. My coccyx had broken in an unusual direction and it was positioned 90 degrees to the left in relation to my sacrum instead of being a straight continuation of the sacrum.
The chiropractor said that this would cause problems with the way the muscles and ligaments of my pelvis would function meaning my pelvic floor, hips, and lower back wouldn’t function properly anymore unless we were able to adjust the pelvis and release it the pull on those muscles. I started chiropractic care that very same day. While I was lying face down on the table after the examination was completed I looked over at my mom and told her “Mom, this is what I want to do with the rest of my life. I’m going to be a chiropractor”. I was fascinated by everything this doctor was telling me and the way he described what was on the x-rays, the examination, and talking me through the entire adjustment.
It was more involvement from a doctor than I had ever experienced before, instead of having my temp and blood pressure checked, sitting in a cold quiet room by myself for 45 minutes, and then the doctor spending 2 minutes with you without listening to anything you have to say. I had fallen in love with the profession of chiropractic! An aspect of my back story that I didn’t know was related at the time was suffering from migraine headaches. Around the age of 10, I started having migraine headaches that were awful and we didn’t know why I was having them. I went to my primary doctor who referred me to a Neurologist.
The neurologist put me through blood work, MRI, and a brain scan with contrast dye. They could not find the source of the migraines so they gave me the diagnosis of “Complicated Migraines”. We did not like this diagnosis so when we went to the chiropractor I included migraines on my intake paperwork. The x-rays showed that I had a history of whiplash injuries. My neck was starting to straighten instead of being curved the way it is supposed to. The chiropractor also treated this and after that very first adjustment all of my Migraines went away. I still to this day have not had another Migraine since that day!! Forever grateful.
So, I started high school at the age of 14 and planned the next 4 years toward the chiropractic curriculum. I took anatomy, physiology, biology, chemistry, and of course all the normal classes of math, history, and English. In my senior year, I was offered a figure skating scholarship to Lindenwood. Yes, Lindenwood had a synchronized figure skating team for a few years and it just happened to be when I was there like it was meant to be! Lindenwood had a chiropractic program that they created with Logan called the 3+3 program.
Students would attend Lindenwood for 3 years to complete all the prerequisite courses and then attend roughly 3 years at Logan in the Doctor of Chiropractic Program. The 1st year at Logan counts as the 4th year at Lindenwood and students can go back and graduate with their Lindenwood class. This is essentially what I did, except I finished my time at Lindenwood in 2 years and lengthened my time at Logan by 1 year. I graduated Logan with my Bachelors of Science in Life Science and my Doctorate of Chiropractic in 2017 at the age of 25.
I have since then completed the Webster Technique certification to be able to work on pregnant patients and have already started more classes for pediatrics. I opened my practice, Love Yourself Chiropractic, LLC in the spring of 2018. There have been a lot of ups and downs and moving locations through this journey but I have found a home in Wentzville, MO in my very own building that I plan to fill with other like-minded services as a one-stop-shop!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Life would be way too easy if going through doctorate school and opening a busy was a smooth road! The Doctor of Chiropractic Program at Logan is considered an accelerated science program. Students finish a 7-year degree in 3 1/2 years consisting of 10 Trimesters. The very first trimester is 36 credit hours and to put that into perspective for you, most students choose to take 12-15 credit hours a semester in undergraduate schooling to be considered a full-time students.
So straight out of the gate Chiropractic school is difficult. Time management was a major skill that I had to learn very quickly. Some classes were a breeze and in others, I felt like I was constantly studying and having exams every week. There was one class in particular that I was actually really struggling with and I just wanted to give up and change careers altogether because I was just not understanding the material. Turns out, I knew the material exceptionally well I just didn’t understand what the professor was asking during his exams.
The way the questions were written I was answering them with the completely opposite answer, but when the professor would verbally ask the questions in class I would get them all correct. It was pretty frustrating for a while until I figured this out, and then once it was figured out I was starting to pass the exams with flying colors and I didn’t want to give up anymore. The adjusting classes were my favorite, we would hope so right! Hands-on activities have always been my strong asset in school so it is only fitting that I would choose a career that requires all hands on treatment every day.
After the first year of the program, students start taking National board examinations. Chiropractic consists of 4 parts plus a physical therapy portion. Students can not get their chiropractic license to practice unless they have completed and passed all portions of National Boards. The first 3 and PT are written exams and part 4 is the hands-on portion. I am a terrible test taker and having to take an exam on a whole year’s worth of different courses sounded frightening and stressful!
Preparing with the correct study habits made it a little less stressful knowing you are prepared for anything they can throw at you. Luckily, I made it through and passed the National Board Exams and was able to get my chiropractic license and start seeing patients after graduation! I decided to open my very own cash practice called Love Yourself Chiropractic, LLC and a friend of mine worked in a salon in Bridgeton, MO that was willing to rent me a room a few days a week to start building a clientele.
Unfortunately, the salon was filled with mostly older clients who wanted to use their insurance for free chiropractic care and I did not take insurance at the time so this location didn’t end up working out. However, I was put in contact with a gym owner who had extra space where I could see patients. So I packed everything up and moved the practice to Flint Hill, MO hoping for a more realistic shot at this business-owning thing. This location at the beginning was working out fantastic. The gym members were excited that I was there and would get adjusted before, after, and sometimes during their workouts.
About a year in the gym was planning to move locations and asked me to go with them. So I packed everything up and we moved to Wentzville, MO. I was still bringing in new patients from the gym and from outside the gym so things were going well for me! About 6-9 months into this location, I was told that the gym was struggling and was going to have to shut down. The rent for space we were in was extremely high for me so I was not able to take over the space for myself and was looking for a new place to go.
At this point, I started to really doubt myself and think that hey maybe I’m not meant to run my own office the way I once thought but I wasn’t quite ready to give it up yet. I started offering home visits and I would drive to my patient’s houses with my portable table and treat them in the comfort of their own homes. This was working out for a little while and then… COVID.
The Covid pandemic started and I lost just about everyone. I had some patients that still wanted to see me but a majority of them didn’t want to leave their homes and didn’t want me inside their homes so I was once again looking for what to do next. All of this, honestly, took a huge toll on my confidence and my self-esteem. I found an office in O’Fallon, MO that was hiring chiropractors, specifically looking for a female chiropractor, and was still open to seeing patients! The deal sounded perfect so I reached out to the owner for an interview. After the interview, I was asked to join this practice and I accepted!
The cool part about this was I was brought on as an independent contractor so I was able to keep Love Yourself Chiropractic, LLC open and operate within this other practice. Win-Win, am I right?! I began seeing patients and my schedule filled up quicker than I ever experienced before. Patients were excited that a female chiropractor had joined the office so I was rocking and rolling. I thought this was it, I had found my place with my people and I wasn’t going to struggle anymore. To my surprise, this actually didn’t last. One of my colleagues had begun to harass me.
Everything went downhill at this point, as the harassment got worse and worse the more time I spent at the office. I don’t wish this struggle or experience on anyone but people need to be aware that it happens and it can happen anywhere to anyone. This colleague was removed from the practice, however, I was still going to my place of trauma every day and I started developing medical issues of my own. I knew it was time for me to find a new home and I would be going back out on my own into my own space again. After that awful experience, I told myself I would never work under or for another person again.
I set out looking for a new space and sure enough one found me! A friend of mine who owns a commercial building had reached out to me saying that one of his tenants was leaving and I should come to look at the space. I went a looked at it and it was perfect! We both agreed on the details and I started reconstruction the very next week and gave my notice to the other office.
The last year and a half have been the hardest part of my journey thus far but myself and the practice can only go up from there and that is exactly what we are doing!
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am the owner of Love Yourself Chiropractic, LLC located at 1082 Crosswinds Ct. Wentzville, MO 63385. I am a chiropractor who specializes in Pregnancy adjusting via Webster Technique, however, I also treat all different types of patients. The office desk job patients, athletes, weight lifters, laborers, infants that have just been born, scoliosis, pre-surgical and post-surgical, personal injury cases, etc.
To my knowledge, there is only one other chiropractor in the Wentzville area that has the Webster certification so between the two of us we are taking care of all the pregnant patients we can. Our office also offers other services aside from chiropractic. We have Nurse Practitioner Amy who provides IV hydration therapy, PRP, B12 injections, Botox, Microneedling, Fillers, and more. We have Nancy the Psychic who does psychic readings and medium work.
We have Jenn our yoga instructor who teaches classes every week. We have Sandy who makes homemade incents and they smell so wonderful. We have Shannon the lactation consultant who does home visits for our new momma who is learning and trying to figure out the ropes of breastfeeding.
We are wanting to incorporate a massage therapist and an esthetician in the next few months so if anyone has any leads I would love to sit down and chat with them!
What are your plans for the future?
Plans for the future are to fill the office space with more specific, hand-picked services to create a self-love empire! I look forward to experiencing the endless opportunities of self-care and self-love for a better, happier quality of life for everyone.
Contact Info:
- Email: dr.maggiestup@gmail.com
- Instagram: @love_yourself_chiropractic
- Facebook: @loveyourselfchiropractic
Image Credits
Clay Captured Moments by Bria
