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INSTRUCTOR
BIO
Carola
Stepper, Licensed Acupuncturist and retired Registered
Nurse, facilitates and operates a healthy Acupuncture
business with clinics in Hood River and The Dalles,
Oregon.
In
2001 she graduated from the Oregon College of Oriental
Medicine in Portland, Oregon with a
Master's in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. 
Initially
she started multiple small Acupuncture businesses at
once, ranging from doing home visits and working out
of her home, to working part-time in a beauty shop as
well as providing care to seniors in a retirement home.
She also worked for five years as a part-time employee
at the Celilo Cancer Center at Mid-Columbia Medical
Center in The Dalles, Oregon, giving supportive Acupuncture
care to cancer patients undergoing chemo and radiation
treatments.
During
that time she and a partner started a business called
Hood River Acupuncture Seminars, LLC. They organized
CEU seminars for Acupuncturists, inviting Richard Tan,
O.M.D., LAc and Giovanni Maciocia to Hood River to teach
professional seminars. After some success, she gave
up the seminar business to focus on opportunities for
growing her Acupuncture practice.
Sighting
the need for her skills in rural areas, she accepted
an opportunity to practice part-time inside the Family
Practice Clinic in Goldendale, WA. She converted two
medical exam rooms into treatment rooms, practicing
alongside Medical Doctors for almost two years, until
she sold the practice to focus on her clientele in Hood
River and The Dalles.
Practicing
as an independent contractor in each location, she was
eventually faced with unplanned external changes in
both situations. In order to keep practicing and serve
her growing clientele she founded Cascade Acupuncture
Center, LLC, opened her own clinics in Hood River and
The Dalles and employed six staff members within 16
months.
Cascade
Acupuncture Center, LLC was awarded the Columbia Gorge
Region Small Business of the Year Award by the Small
Business Development Center for 2007 and was the runner
up for this award for the State of Oregon.
Today,
she provides Acupuncture care to the people of the Mid-Columbia
region together with a caring team of employees: two
Licensed Acupuncturists, one Operations Manager, one
Office Manager, one Marketing Director and one Marketing
Assistant.
Carola
Stepper endeavors to be an exemplary Acupuncturist,
Businesswoman and Employer, as well as an inspiration
and resource for her Acupuncture colleagues. Four years
after hiring her first staff member, her six employees
receive paid holidays and vacation, matching retirement
savings, health insurance
and bonuses.
As
part of her outreach last year she delivered 40 educational
lectures on health related topics in the Columbia Gorge.
She describes her lecture style as "informational,
motivational and mildly entertaining", which brings
high marks from her audience. She encourages audience
participation, and often people linger after the lectures
to express their enjoyment of the seminar and the inspiration
it gave them.
She
has been approached by fellow practitioners for business
advice and asked to teach what she has learned many
times over the years. Anybody who has met her can testify
to her passion for Oriental Medicine and for running
a thriving business.
Starting
Cascade Acupuncture Seminars, LLC is her way of expanding
upon her purpose to help as many people as possible
to get well naturally with Oriental Medicine. She wishes
for all her course participants to be inspired, have
an even higher job satisfaction and see even more clients
getting well with Oriental Medicine. Her courses are
suited for practitioners and students alike.
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