Welcome to fearless and flawed. My name is Sara Ferrer. I am a small business consultant and I am here today with my fearless and really not that flawed co-host Serena. Serena. Go ahead and intro yourself. Girl. Hi, I’m Serena. I’m based in the UK. I’m the owner and managing director of Conceptiv  limited because I’m English. And um we’re joined today by another fearless woman called  Colleen Norris and she’s a chiropractor and she specializes in, in a very special um chiropractic um special t the no crack technique.

Now, she, I’m sure she will go into that and tell you more about it. I’m fascinated. I’m not too keen on the cracking of bones. So it’s all good to hear that there’s a no crack technique and um let’s stop. Thank you so much cast. So happy to have you. So, just tell us a little bit about before we dive into the no crack technique. And I know that you’re very big into healing and energy and there’s so much meat to your story, but just kind of get us into the early days of how did even the chiropractic world become something that you were interested in or dipped your toe in.

What does that look like? Yeah. Yeah. So, first of all, thank you so much for having me here. I’m honored to be here. Um And, and just really excited to have this great conversation with you both. So my  my unique, my chiropractic journey started in a unique way. I was in undergrad and I was  at the University of Toledo in Ohio. I grew up in Ohio and I always thought I wanted to be a physical therapist. I was like, in my head, I’m like, yep, I’m going to PT school.

I’ve done all these volunteer hours. I went to a, a school specifically that had a physical therapy program and then lo and behold, I apply my sophomore year in my mind, there was no other option than I was getting in even though like there were 217 spots and I think 21 or 22 and 22023 people applied and I got rejected. And so it was at the time, devastating, horrific. I thought my world was literally over crashing down. And I was like, ok, I’m just gonna finish my Bachelor’s, get my bachelor’s in exercise science and just kind of regroup.

So I graduated  with my Bachelor’s and at the time I’m, I’m waitressing, I’m working in a gym and I’m just kind of like low key kind of depressed. Like, what am I doing with my life? Like seriously, like, I can’t just be a waitress and, um, and work in a gym and this is gonna sound crazy. Maybe, maybe not, but I literally like you like crazy. OK. Good. OK. Good. OK. So I woke up one day and it was literally, I just had this knowing I have to go to chiropractic school.

Now, what is very bizarre about this is that I had never been to a chiropractor. I didn’t know any chiropractors. I, I literally, I barely knew anything about chiropractic and I just was like, I’ve got to go to chiropractic school. So this is like 2020, late nineties. And so I go to the, I go to the computer lab at the college and I’m like, because we don’t have computers, I’m like, typing in chiropractic schools and I find this chiropractic school in Atlanta, near Atlanta called Life University. And within four months of that, I was moving from Ohio to Georgia, um, starting chiropractic school. Now.

I didn’t even get adjusted. My first adjustment was not till I was in school and I was like, oh my God, this is incredible. I’m so glad I did this. But that’s the adjustment. You mean a crack? Yes. Originally, yes. In the first part of my, the first decade of my career was the traditional cracking, kind of chiropractic. But way in the early days. Yeah, it was all cracking. Um, so that was my first adjustment. But that’s how I kind of got into it. It was like a divine intervention if you will. Mhm. Mhm. Wow.

And so, like, when you’re, when you’re there, and I know again as someone who I’ve been to a chiropractic chiropractor once, but I, I see. And again, I think that this is really important to address too when I told kind of friends and family I was going, there was a bit of like, oh, oh, do you know what you’re getting yourself into? There’s a bit of that like negative kind of um and and again, like, let’s let’s face it head on and, and my experience was neither good nor bad, you know, it was just like it wasn’t the right fit for me.

But there was a bit of that like, oh you’re going to, oh you should see a real doctor. So yet the same time I thought, but there’s a lot of chiropractors out there and there’s a lot of success stories. So how do you when you were going in school when you were in school or even deciding to go to school? How do you navigate those kind of those negative, quite frankly conceptions of what a chiropractor is? How do you navigate that? How do you say? Yeah, but I’m not that type of chiropractor or this is the misconception, right?

And I, and I love that you asked this because um when I was in, when I was in undergrad, my mentor, leading up to graduating with my, um, Bachelor’s. She had a very strong response when I told her I was going to chiropractic school. It was very similar. It was like, 22023, I’m, you know, I’m really sorry, you’re about to have a lifetime of, like, people telling you you’re a quack and like this and that, and it was like, it was just so clear in me that this is what I was meant to do it, honestly, it didn’t faze me at all.

Um And so I kind of got to the place where I’m like, you know what, if someone’s not open to it, I’m not, I don’t have to change their mind and what they think about me or what they think about what I’m doing is actually none of my business. That’s a reflection of them. So if they’re scared or they don’t understand something or whatever, it’s ok if they’re open and they want to ask me questions, I’m always open to having a conversation. But if someone’s not open minded, then i it’s not my job to open their mind.

So that’s kind of how I dealt with that, let’s say, and this is a great opportunity to say, ok, so someone comes in and they are open minded, right? Let’s say, says, hey, like me, I’m walking through the doors. This is what I’ve heard my family say, or friends say, how, how do you now kind of take that open mind and, and what’s, what’s kind of your intro into what you do and the benefits of it of chiropractic chiropractic chiropractor. Me chiropractic chiropractic. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So um so with now the kind of chiropractic I am doing, like I mentioned, my first decade was in the traditional cracking chiropractic.

I left chiropractic for about eight years because I had a spiritual awakening that was like related to like childhood trauma coming up and all of this stuff. So I took kind of a hiatus to really understand more about how trauma affects your health and your nervous system. And I just kind of was like, you know, what the kind of chiropractic I’m doing, I don’t feel like I’m able to help at the level I want to help people. So I, I took a step back and then I got back in the chiropractic because of this technique because I found this technique.

And I was like, ok, this technique not just addresses the physical, but it addresses like mentally, emotionally, spiritually when we’re in these, um when we’re, when we’re quote unquote out of alignment, so to speak the impact these things can have and how, how those impacts can stem all the way back to unresolved childhood trauma. And that’s really like where my specialty is, is like, I because of all the healing I’ve done with myself and all the things I’ve been trained in and all the things I’ve learned.

I have a very unique understanding of how deeply abuse  sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect, emotional abuse, um going through a divorce, going through a loss of a, of a significant um parent and even kind of like the smaller t traumas like, you know, bullying or having like a sibling that’s always critical or um you know, really harsh to you, like all of these ways, all of these experiences that shape us live in our nervous system. And when they’re not addressed, and when we don’t have the tools and resources to be able to process them, to be able to kind of let them go, we hold them and our body holds them and this energy does not magically disappear because we’ve forgotten about it or because 21 years have passed it, shapes how our body processes energy and information.

So if we have these unresolved traumas, our body is constantly in this place of hyper vigilance in this um fighter flight of like, oh let me, let me always be on the defense and let me always prepare for the worst case scenario to happen. And that creates your body’s intention. 2100 7, you can do all the massages in the world. You can do all the tradition of chiropractic acupuncture, all of the things. But if you don’t get to the root of that and help your body start to get into a place where it can process and heal from those traumas.

It’s the tension is gonna be there forever and that’s gonna lead to health issues, to chronic pains, migraines, neck issues, back issues, like autoimmune issues, all kinds of things. So this is sorry, I’d love to know what actually is the no crack practice. How do you go around? What is that? What do you do? How do you help these people? Yeah. Yeah. So um when, when someone first comes in, I do a very thorough history. Um like I just finished up with a new patient and I like to like a very holistic approach.

OK, what are the things you’re experiencing now? You know the details about that when they started and all that stuff? But also what have you experienced in your life? And I feel like really this is a missing piece in medicine in health care is we’re, we’re taking these like, oh here’s this one symptom and let me, let me fix this one symptom. But oftentimes like for the person that I was just working with, they have a chronic um a history of neck and, and shoulder issues and their body is always tense and that stems from childhood trauma.

And so the nervous system is consistently in this place of fight or flight. So after I get all that information, um I have them go on the table and I’m doing, I’m doing a check of like really what state their nervous system is in and the analysis I use has to do with the feet. So I go through a series of things where I’m having them turn their head and do this thing and I’m seeing what’s happening with their feet and legs. Um And from that, I gather which pattern of tension their, their nervous system is in right now.

And from that pattern of tension, I go to a very specific location. It’s either gonna be in the neck um up at the occiput or down in the sacrum specifically because there’s attachments there that can impact the system globally. I’m not looking to take one bone and crack it back into place. I’m looking at where can I put the least amount of force and make the biggest change in the system? And so when I make that contact, it’s like a contact like this, that’s, that’s it. And with the contact that I’m making, I’m activating the body’s innate healing ability.

And so I’m, it’s like I’m gathering that energy and then when I make the contact with my other, like I’ll go like this right with my thumb. It then starts the unwinding. So the body is innate intelligence that is more powerful than any medication. Any, anything more powerful than me, then is unleashed in the body and goes through and unwinds the tension and makes the adjustments in the nervous system reorganizes how everything is functioning. So it’s in a place of what’s called the parasympathetic where it can heal, where you can heal and grow and evolve and feel safe.

Does that make sense? It, it almost sounds like when I used to work at a spa, it almost sounds like almost an element of Reiki when it comes to like energy, movement or shifting of energy. I’m not sure. Are you familiar with Reiki at all? I am? And is it, is it kind of because you talk so just kind of describe when I hear because I’m a very technical person. So when I hear like movement and shifting, it’s hard for me to almost visualize or to understand completely.

But by, by opening up these maybe these stuck channels just to dab a little bit more into that. So I can feel what does it look like to the client for somebody because you the table and like, right? This is awesome. I’m loving it. This is why I want to know, you know, obviously that’s always the intention. That’s not always what happens but, but just a little like, and first of all, I love Reiki, I receive Reiki. So it’s not like it’s just different because this is specifically about the nervous system.

We’re using the bodies, we’re using the nervous system and we’re using what we call the body’s innate intelligence. That’s just a fancy word for its natural healing ability that the body can’t access when it’s in that fight or flight, it can’t access that it’s natural healing ability. So we’re getting it into a state. We’re shifting the nervous system into a state where it can access that healing energy and then that healing energy goes all throughout the body and does the unwinding. So what you’ll notice when someone’s on the table, they’ll notice their breath starts to deepen and all of a sudden where they were breathing really shallow and it was like they couldn’t take a deep breath.

All of a sudden the breath can go all the way up from like the tail bone up to the neck. And that what that does in the system is create the sense of safety of I am OK. I am safe and then the defenses drop and the the system relaxes. And so people commonly will feel very peaceful, very calm, very like in their body, very grounded and they’ll be like hang as you’re speaking, I’m actually breathing to sitting up straight to and I’m, I’m feeling this. Yes. Yes.

Yes, I’m in a different country. So, you know, I mean, this, this, this is, this is cool. Um Yeah. So, so could you tell more about, could you  speak more to the divine intervention that led you from um from the, from the crack chiropractic technique technique? Thank you. Um To the no crack to this small um spiritual alignment is spiritual alignment. Is that, is that a good phrase or i it’s like, I feel like it’s like an alignment and, and I’m, I’m not personally looking to align anyone.

You know, that’s not my intention, which, you know, traditional, some traditional chiropractors are like that. You know, again, that’s how I used to. It was like, oh, let me make sure everything is lined up here, you know, over each other. Um That’s not my intention here. My intention is to help the nervous system get into a state where it’s has the largest amount of its own healing ability and then just trusting that ability that goes and it does its own alignment. It knows how to align things, it knows how to reorganize things, it knows what needs to be healed, it needs knows what needs to be like, let go of like it’s this intelligence that like we don’t consciously have access to.

So do people have to tell you their deepest darkest moments? Is that part of it? Do I have to share? They don’t have to tell me um because I am very intuitive. So it, it is easy for me to pick up on. I don’t always have to know the details of what someone’s gone through or what they’ve experienced to. Um I’m also an empath right? To be able to feel what they’re feeling even if I don’t know all the details.  People do commonly say I’ve, I’ve, I’m telling you something, I’ve never told this to anyone in my life before, which I feel is always an incredible honor um to be able to witness that but they don’t have, you know, I definitely not, you know, making someone tell me anything.

Um but really like my journey from going like tra like traditional to the, the no crack is like I mentioned, I went through a spiritual awakening. So in 2010, I started getting severe anxiety and panic attacks and I was like, I have no idea what’s happened to me. Um It was, it was very, very stressful. And so I found this holistic medical doctor at the time that did energy work. And so after working with him for um I think it was like two months, I had  I ended up recovering memories of um of childhood trauma that I didn’t even know happened.

And so there was like that point for me was like, it, it was, it was like the life shattering kind of thing where, oh wow, you think these things happened? And it was like this way and then it would just like all shattered. So from that point,  I just, I was constantly looking for. Um so basically it was, it was like PTSD, I was, I was having experiencing PTSD from those traumas. And so it was a severe anxiety. I had times where I couldn’t leave my house, I couldn’t drive a car.

Um It would, it would show up at all like at its worst. I sometimes it would be triggered if I was standing in line at the grocery store and the line wasn’t moving. And if there was any even feeling of like I’m stuck in something I would, I would have a panic attack. So, again, that was at its worst. And so, um through the years I learned a lot of different techniques and I did a lot of different healing. And then in 2022 I went through a divorce and that triggered the deepest level of um anxiety and depression and, and just, you know, having everything that I had relied on for safety and security um was gone.

I moved out of the house I had lived in  for the past 15 years. Um my ex is a chiropractor as well. So we had a business together. So he brought me out of the business, he bought me out of the house. So all the things that I relied on for safety and security were were gone. And so it was like kind of like rocked me to my core of um like, can I do this? Like will we get in these situations where it’s like we have this kind of big life altering moment or, or a series of moments?

And we’re like, can I do this? Can I support myself? Am I do? I have what it takes to do what I like, think I can do. And that. So my lowest point was in um May of 2022 where I actually went to a voluntary crisis center and I had a divine 12 divine interventions in there. And one of them, um, was really from the, um, one of the other people in the crisis center. It wasn’t from an employee, it was from someone in there on his, for his own struggles.

And we had this super deep conversation one morning and I was just telling them about like, oh, you know, things I have gone through and what I was feeling and I just said, I feel like I’m worthless. Hm. And he, yeah, he stopped what he was doing. And it was like, again, this is someone I would have never met in my regular life, ever. It’s someone that I literally knew for two days. And I was like, just like burying my heart and my soul. And he looked at me and it was like he pierced through me and all the trauma and he just said, Colleen, you’re worth it.

And in that moment, something changed in me and I left the Crisis Center still having severe anxiety, still having heart palpitations, all the things I went in there with. But what I did have that I didn’t walk in with was my worth. Even though I had no home, I had no business. I had no job. I had nothing, nothing but I decided to believe I was worthy anyways. And it was from there. I’ve built everything that I’ve created today. Snap it up, snap it up. I got, I got, we got to snap it up to avoid me.

Fry yoga. Yeah, me too. A stranger, stranger. I give you a hug. Pretty much. You, like, hug my soul. See, see, everyone just needs to be nicer to people. Yeah, it’s just in general. But what that meant, I mean, that was a real trajectory shift, right? You, like you said, you, you and I think that this doesn’t seem to, to, to note because many times we hear kind of the Instagram stories where it’s like I went in one way and I came out fabulous and it feels, and then those of us who might be feeling down or having a, a season of just depression go oh God, there must be some wrong with me because I still feel the same way when I leave the building.

But to your point, you said, wait, wait, wait, I was still experiencing some of those symptoms, but I left with something bigger and better, which was worse. So it doesn’t mean I was fixed or cured. Oh, I was far from it. Right. So that’s very important though to hear that it was still a journey, but it feels like what you gained allowed you then to build in a deeper, more meaningful way because your foundation was not broken anymore. There was strength in it. Exactly. And I realized that everything that I had created in the past fell apart because it was built on the foundation that I was not worthy and that it would constantly be reaffirmed of my worthlessness because that’s the foundation I built it from. Wow. That.

Hm. Let’s just take a step back because I’m, I’m digesting. I know I could see an instrument. We’re like that so you can keep running the race. But if you are running the race scared and feeling like you’re, you’re, you’re, you’re, you’re drowning or slipping. How can you ever get ahead? So, it’s that mental emotional shift which then allowed you to create shifts the, in your job, your career, your family. Ok. I’m, I’m all ears. This is pretty cool in the sand. That exactly. You needed to shift it. Wow.

So, from that place. Ok. So when I left the crisis center in May of 13 I did a solid year of E MD R therapy and I did a couple of other things too. What is E MD R therapy? Ok. Yeah. So, E MD R. Um, oh, gosh, let’s see. Em, eye movement, desensitization something. Um, it’s a form, it’s, it’s like on the website we look it up. Ok. Perfect. So, it’s a form of, um, it’s a form of therapy where you have, you, you, it allows your brain to process traumatic events with either, um, a sound alternating at the same time or buzzers, you’re holding on to things and they buzzing and so it, it, it shifts how your body is able to process what’s happened in the past, done with a therapist.

And when you’re, when you’re reliving a memory, so you’re reliving a memory and it’s in a contained environment. But, but basically, it’s like I did that. So again, it wasn’t like I left the crisis center and was like, oh, hey, like, awesome. Like, let’s go. I did a solid year of re of like building that foundation and, and really working on um what I wanted to create. And so it was then last, the end of last August. So August of 2023 is when I opened my chiropractic office, um where I am right now.

And so I’ve been in business, right? I’ve been in this business for just over a year. Um and I’m just about to cross, well, so if we not, so if we go from January of this year till now, I’m just about to cross six figures. Awesome. Put in the work, build the foundation from a place of like, I am worthy of this. I am worthy of all of the things and I’m doing things that I thought my former self thought were, were not possible. So, how do you now?

No, I mean, the road is never, never smooth. You’re going to come across bumps in the road, you’re going to hit the holes. Um And you’re gonna have those down days. How do you not then let it take you back to a place of, I’m not worth it. Yeah. And, and, and again, it’s not to say that I don’t ever have that feeling. I would be lying if I was like, oh, I’ve never fucked that again since that day. You know, that’s not true. But what I can do is I recognize it. Right. Exactly. Right.

It’s like you’re lying. Um, I recognize it and I, and I remember the path of what happens in my life when I believe it and I never wanna go back to that. And so it’s really a commitment to myself of just saying, you know, maybe I’ll hang out in that energy and I’ll believe it for like, you know, an hour or maybe 24 hours or 48 hours. And then I’m like, all right, not doing that because I already know the end result. I know what my life looks like in that trajectory.

And I won’t ever go back there again. I won’t ever go back there again. Do you, do you feel like this is kind of the, the balance of life where now that you are aware? Right? You had to go through that journey, that rough emotional journey. But that journey led you in your career to a point where would it, would it be, would it be correct to say you feel more fulfilled in your career because of the journey you’ve been on? Absolutely. And I wouldn’t be able to, to hold the space that I can hold for people or, um, to have the conversations I have with people.

If I hadn’t gone through everything I’ve gone through myself. Like, because I’ve gone to them, like, the deepest scariest, you know, darkest parts of myself. I’ve sat with that and I’ve sat with how uncomfortable that is. And so then when someone else is in that place, I’m, it’s, I’m not afraid to be there. I’m not a, I’m not afraid to hold the space for someone. Um when they’re in that place in their own journey, I don’t have to jump in the cave with them. I don’t have to go in there with them and try to rescue or fix them, but I can hold the space for them to be there and I don’t need to like leave, right?

So just on a galley kind of thing here, you said that you were an empath? So are you not, are you not concerned that you, you, I mean, how do you feel at the end of the day? Do you feel incredible when you leave work or do you feel the weight of the people that have come to you? Are you, are you absorbing it? I mean, you said about saving space. I love that analogy. I love that concept. Yeah. And, and this is something that I really learned um through the journey, right?

Is because I have taken on in the past, I have taken on people’s stuff and I have, you know, it like that is definitely a pattern of, from the past of like, oh, let me take your pain for you. Let me help you. Right. Which is, you know, well intentioned and all. But at the end of the day it’s actually not gonna do anything to help that other person because you can’t do anything with that pain other than just carry it and then it becomes a burden for you and it’s not even yours.

So I’ve learned to have a lot better energetic boundaries where I can still feel where someone is again. But I’m not jumping in the pot with them. I’m not, you know, swirling around in the energy. I’m like, OK, I can feel where you are. I don’t have to take on anything because it’s not mine, but I can be a witness. I can hold space for you. And that’s, I think is um that’s been a journey of learning that for sure. But generally I feel great, like, generally like it, it like, you know, people have said that it was like, oh my gosh, it’s like all this, I’m like, I freaking love this because I have people come to me that are like, oh my God, no one’s ever connected these dots with me before.

Like I never even realized this was connected to this or this is happening and this is causing this like I, I had no clue. And so it’s like that just fuels me and that just feeds me of like I’m, I know that I look at things in very different ways than most other health providers. And I think that’s something that’s unique that sets me apart. Um, and I love it. That’s what I was gonna ask like that, that’s your kind of your niche. That’s what sets you apart.

Is that yes, you can with this no crack technique, you’ve done the traditional now you do the no crack but you bring this layer, this layer of healing, understanding of creating space. It kind of feels like you’re the best of many professionals in one, right? You’re almost, well, it sounds like the, you know, the, the fact that you have mentioned earlier that people could say I’ve never told this to someone that sounds like a therapist. Yeah. Absolutely. Right. Right. And I am also very clear that I am not a therapist.

I am right. I’m not a therapist. Um And I just know as a human being, I know how to hold space, right? But, and again, it’s like, and I love that she’s not a therapist. So we don’t want to put that out there as, but it’s like when you go to, let’s say you go get your annual physical and someone actually looks you in the eyes and says, how are you doing? And you go 00 I thought you were just gonna, you know, gonna hit my knees and check my therapy.

There’s that human connection as well as the medical connection. I never have any idea how to answer that question. How are you doing? I know that is a loaded question. Right. Did I really want to know? You’re right. Well, how, how would like? It sounds also like with your, you’ve been in business now for a year, you said a little bit over a year, just a little bit over a year. How is that like with, is word of mouth? A very, is, is that the big referral type of system?

Because I can imagine if I’ve hopped off out of your bed and, you know, I, I, I feel better. That’s one of the greatest testimonials of like how one feels. So how do people find you? How is it like a network of just people telling their friends? Is it like your website is inundated? How, how do people find you with this beautiful technique and this kind of this specialty that sets you apart? Yeah. So one definitely, one way is referrals  which is always, yeah, I feel like it’s the greatest compliment when someone trusts, you know, your services and shares them with friends and family also. Networking.

I do a lot of networking. Um I’m in a couple of networking groups so just getting my name out there building relationships and then speaking. So um speaking, I, I’ll do workshops, I’ll do classes. Um But also like health expos, wellness expos, things like that. Um Like there’s a health and Wellness Expo in November 16th and 17th in um in like Central Mass that’s called the Natural Living Expo. It’s a large, largest holistic expo in New England. So I have a booth there. So I’m offering treatments, many treatments at my booth.

I’m doing a talk about um healing anxiety naturally, how to build resilience. So it’s like just getting myself out there just speaking. Um social media too. I do a lot of posting on social media and then there’s another network chiropractor,  Doctor Serena who is actually in Orlando. She has a very large  Instagram following and she has created a directory because she’s had so many people all over the world that follow her page. Um So I’m in her directory so people can like say, oh my gosh, I want this kind of chiropractic.

So I actually get a number of people that find me from um her directory that are local. You were, you are just out there, girl, you like you were there like you were checking off all the boxes of leaving no stone unturned. And I love that because you have to show up and you’re showing up, you have to show up, you have to show up. And I just, every time I go into like a doubt or like a fear or worry, I just say, you know what I have not come this far.

To come. This far. I bought too much stuff. I’ve faced too many demons and to stop now, I can’t, I will not, I will not stop. I got you your fist. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like you have to have right. When you have your own business, it’s not gonna be rainbows and sunshines in all the time. You have to have a level of fierceness to move through the challenges. Right. Hm. What would you tell your younger self, knowing your story, knowing your journey and knowing where you are right now, what would you in this moment, say to Colleen who, you know, before she entered  you know, any type of treatment or before any of the, these big t traumas were on earth?

What would you say to her? Hm. I would say you’re worthy. Um And would you still be here? Right. Right. Would you have still made your journey? Maybe you needed these things? That’s, oh, absolutely. And, and I, because one of the biggest traumatic events was my dad passing  when I was three unexpectedly. And so, and then the trajectory that that was from of the trauma that then, you know, happened with that change. Um In one of the healings I’ve gone back and I’ve, and, and it’s come to me kind of like in a spiritual message of like whether it was from my dad or, or whatever, I’m not sure, but it was like, if you hadn’t gone through all of that, you wouldn’t be where you are right now.

You wouldn’t, you wouldn’t be helping people in the way you are right now. And so this is part of your mission. This is part of why you’re here and that my dad, it wasn’t in the cards for my dad to be, you know, there and protect me and be the, you know, the, the dad that I thought he should be in my life, you know, seeing my kids and all of that, it was like, this was the story in this life. And the more that I was able to come to a place of accepting that instead of just being that like, gosh, for decades, that was like the cross I was gonna die on was is how that should have never happened.

And that created so much pain and suffering in my life. But coming to a place of accepting that now it’s changed everything. It almost, it’s reminiscent of, I heard this phrase on a Netflix show recently where, you know, an older guy had lost his son and he was, of course down and the world was against him. And then he kind of had that shift and someone said, what changed? And he said, I finally realized that I was just going to play with the cards I was built is that, is that kind of, instead of being mad that these are the cards instead of resisting it, wanting to change the 1st 2nd I was gonna play the hand that I was dealt. Yes.

And you got to that point. Many people never do. They live a whole life. Resentful, angry, blame me. You said this is just, wow, that’s, that’s easy to do though because, you know, if you look at it, right? Like I was three years old. You know what I mean? Like you can, it, it was just, it was so easy to get caught up in. That should have never happened. You, you have no idea what life would be like any other way. I Right. Right. But I can’t, I can’t change that.

And the more that I dwell on that that should have never happened, the more pain and suffering I have and I just carry that with me everywhere I go. And I just got to a point where I was like, I, I’m no longer willing to, to torture myself like this anymore. But isn’t that the whole thing about this whole, the whole Instagram lifestyle? The whole we, we only show the glossy side of ourselves, the happy side. You know, we post pictures of our family on vacation. Don’t worry about the argument we’ve just had or, or, you know, the fact that we haven’t spoken for two weeks or whatever it is, we show the glossy sides of us.

It’s really important for people to, to sh to share the less glossy sides to be real, to be out there and to show up and say, you know what? This is life, this is real, this is reality. And II I it’s an incredible story. Thank you. And I, and, and that is one of the things that is, is one of my highest values is to be real. So on social media, I share the good, the bad and the ugly. I all share my greatest high and my greatest wins.

But I’m also sharing the, the deepest, toughest things like um one like last quick story is, is like, I went for a year where I didn’t have a quote unquote, you know, home. And so I woke up, you know, in,  it was actually in like a clip season of, of 2023 and I was like, I was paying all this money for an apartment and I’m like, it was like the message like you’ve got, this is your, you’re just, you’re paying way too much money, you gotta get out now.

So within two weeks of that, um I was able to, to get my, um my lease, someone else bought like kind of came in and took over my lease and I rented a room. So this was May of 20 end of May of 2023. I rented a room for three months over the summer from someone and then um starting in September from September to December. I pet sat so I hopped from, from place to place. So I didn’t have to pay because I couldn’t afford a place to live.

So I didn’t have to pay. I went from place to place and I had a period of time, I had three weeks where I wasn’t, I didn’t have a pet sitting, um, gig and I didn’t know what I was gonna do. And I remember there was a woman I had met at a networking event a couple months before and she told me if you ever need a place to stay, call me and she gave me her card. So the night before I was gonna like not have a place to stay.

I called her out of the blue. Now, mind you, we had met once and I said I need a place. And so I went and lived with her and her family for three weeks. People that were complete strangers. At first I went and I lived with her family for three weeks and, and it was like the most, just the biggest miracles, the most like the best part about humanity taking in this per this woman who you don’t even know, you know, she had her like three teenagers and, and it was like by the time that ended, I found a winter rental.

And then so I moved from the um from the pet sitting to a winter rental from December of last year until end of May of this year. And just in June 1st, I just moved into a one bedroom, um, in the town I’m in. So I’m in a, like in, in last year, it was almost a year to the day I had sold half of my stuff and put the other half in storage. So a couple months ago, I was able to bring all the stuff from out of storage and move into my place where I am now, like in like living.

So I shared that on social media. That’s incredible. It’s absolutely incredible. You, you, you have this great, this very unique gift. You’ve a enlightened me very much on the world of, you know, chiropractic and what it means. And all of that, the chiropractic world, which I think is so important. You’ve educated, right? Which is like, hey, here’s kind of the differences but at the end of the day, people want to buy or have services from people. They they don’t like and trust, right? It’s like you can, you can have all the accolades in the world.

But if there’s no feeling heard or likability, then you know, then, then then the next and you really through your journey, it’s like now I almost feel like when people go oh a chiropractor, it goes. No, no, no, no, wait, wait, wait, there’s different techniques. It really does empower and educate. But also I just think through your journey on a human level, it’s like I want to be around that more. You know, I want to be around that energy, that spirit because it’s as Serena and I always preach it’s authentic.

You know, it’s not, it’s not living in the, the dwelling together because that now that becomes more of an unhealthy environment. But respecting the life experience. You, like you said, be playing the role of therapist even though again, that’s not your career. But understanding that that’s almost like a footnote of what you offer is understanding. Yes, that is. And I’m sure your patients or your clients, I should say. Um That’s something you cannot find out there, which is what makes you so uniquely you. Thank you. That’s incredible.

How do people find you? Like someone’s like, hey, Serena and Sara Colleen, she, I need her, I need her in my life. I find her on our website and flo. com on the. com that we will pro pro pro that is our value. But if someone says, hey, you keep talking about her Instagram and I, I want to connect to it right now when we talk on Insta. Yeah. So um it’s at Colleen. So Colleen Norris, N as in Chuck, Norris, Norris Wellness. Um that’s my handle on Insta and then my website Colleen Norris wellness.com.

Another thing too is that um you know, for, obviously for the people local that would be interested in coming in for chiropractic. My office is in Newbury Mass, but I also do virtual sessions and that. Now, that’s not chiropractic, of course. But I do virtual healing sessions for people that have, again, it’s nervous system based work. It’s just, it’s not chiropractic, but it’s the intersection of what people are struggling with and their health and, and how past trauma could be impacting that. So that is also an option if someone is not local and they would still like to explore how I may be able to help them.

Wow, you are just such a, a plethora of and again, I can’t emphasize this enough. You had to go through some of the shit to like get point where I’m like, I can feel it through the screen. I’m like, this is a, it’s Friday and I’m like, just stay on, stay on the zoom call Colleen. Keep talking me all weekend long because it’s magnetic. She’s given me a sense of like how kind everybody is. Yes, you can feel it. You know, it’s incredible. I mean, you had the complete stranger tell you were worth it, which was your sliding door moment?

That, that moment that pivoted your, your, your trajectory. And then the woman that, you know, the, the, the one that you met once at a networking event housing you for three weeks. I love this. This is, this is I, I would love to hear more stories like this 100%. And now the fact that you are absolutely smashing it in the business world. And um incredible in a year. Um, I mean, that, that’s amazing and, and to totally so worth it, you are the fearless and flawed and that, that we, you are the epitome doesn’t sound right to say flaw though.

No, no, no. But here’s the thing, here’s the thing. I know sometimes if someone says flaw but to pretend we’re not, is to not be authentic and to be ignoring the reality of, I don’t want to go to someone who’s so perfect that they can’t understand that, that, that there’s stuff that we all go through. So we’re almost in a, in a way, in a weird way. We’re almost changing. That idea of flawed equals bad because it would not be flawed would be perfect. To be perfect.

Doesn’t exist to not. So then it’s kind of a cycle of flaw. Yeah. Flaw is actually a great thing. I love float. I’m, I’m the first to admit that I’m flawed. There’s so many mistakes I made and I don’t think it’s that right. And like you’re saying, I think it’s actually, I think it’s human. It’s a very human thing, right? Like we’re perfectly imperfect and it makes you very, again, it makes you very likable. Iiii I feel like I know you because you represent a piece of me, which is like I felt that way too.

Yeah, I think love that. I love that Colleen. This has been such a fantastic time, Serena. Have we missed anything in this journey of Colleen Norris. Well, I am sure we have missed loads and I know a lot more  Colleen could tell us. So, um but I think we’re up on time now.  But you have, I feel like we’ve hit the big points, we’ve hit the major points. Well, here’s the beautiful thing. I think that if anyone feels inspired and really feels like, hey, this feels like they know how to find that’s really our role is to say kind of the big point who you are your uniqueness, which I think we have a great understanding.

If someone should feel compelled to just wanna follow you. Because hey, in a world of Instagram, there still are people on Instagram who are authentic. And so now we feel like we can offer viewers listeners as well as ourselves, just another avenue of someone else out there that has a real life experience. So thank you, Colleen for Sha for sharing. I wouldn’t and wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was somebody out there that listened to this and thought, you know what I’m in a similar place to that?

I’m not. Yeah, life changing life changing moment. And that’s, and that’s why I share them. That’s why I share, you know, of course, like what I do, I love being out here sharing like I went to a voluntary crisis center. You know what I mean? It’s like I share these, these deeply personal moments with the intention of, if there’s one person that gets something out of sharing that story that I’m doing exactly what I meant to do. Mm. I, well, well, I’m the one person, please. I got, and I’ve talked to you before.

I mean, to be very transparent, we have spoken before the podcast just to do intros. And I have said this to Serena the minute we’ve ended the call, I’m like, wow, that’s always what I say. Wow. I feel it and I know Serena feels the same. Wow. Like if, if she can do it, this is always my feeling. Well, if Colleen can do it, why can’t I do it like that feeling of her, right? I’m not special. I’m not, you know what I’m saying? Like, you know, like I’m not, I don’t have something superhuman. Yes. Yes.

And I don’t have some superhuman thing. You know what I mean? Like, it’s just, yeah, we all are capable of these things. Amazing. It has been such a treat, chatting with you. We will have all your info on our website if people want to reach out. But thank you for sharing your story. It is so the essence of everything we like to represent here, strong, fearless picking yourself back up and again, not pretending that you’re not gonna have bad days, but, but in your own words, acknowledging and that’s keeping it moving and that is nothing else I think is kind of the aura of what you represent is acknowledging, keeping it moving.

So your days are ahead and you are living proof of that. Thank you so much. Just throw my pen around there. Um Just before we finish, what we try to do is ask our guest a question for the next guest. You don’t know who the next guest is. You don’t know anything about them. What question would you want to ask? Another fearless and flawed female? Mm Just oh my gosh. Um Putting you on the spot here was I know, right? What, what do you feel as a time in your life that defined your greatest strength?

Write it down, Serena because we asked the question and then we forget to write it down and then we’re like, what? And that’s a great question. Feel a time in your life that mhm That’s that your greatest strength, what your greatest strength? Mm And there’s always a story behind that question, Colleen. You have done it well, you’ve done it so good. OK. Good. I was feeling for, I was like, oh my God, I gotta come up with so good. No, you, you, every now and then someone will say a question that’s like, tell us your jo tell me about your journey.

And I’m like, no, that can’t be the question. That’s the whole point of the podcast. Like a question with it. That is wonderful. We will ask that to our next next fearless. And flawed guest Colleen. Thank you for spending your Friday with us and for just sharing your story. Thank you so much. This has been amazing. I am so grateful to be here.