Dr. Eddie Hansen Co-owner/CEO, Natural Way Chiropractic
Managing pandemic anxiety
BUSINESS P E R S O N OF THE
YEAR
Natural Way spent the year fixing a lot of stress-related pains Kyra Planetz
When Gov. Jay Inslee announced the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order nearly one year ago, Natural Way Chiropractic, like many businesses, wondered whether it would stay afloat after closing its doors due to the governor’s order. Eddie Hansen, co-owner and CEO, said his employees’ fight or flight responses kicked in as they scrambled to figure out their next steps. “It leveled the playing field for big businesses versus small businesses,” Hansen said. To prepare for a partial reopening, Natural Way employees worked diligently to order non-contact thermometers and plexiglass barriers. According to Hansen, the company was among the first to receive these items, and with its strong business model, Natural Way could afford to bear expenses that other companies could not. Natural Way reopened its offices for three days a week beginning in April 2020, and by May, it was open full time, with only its medical massage services closed. Hansen explained that Gov. Inslee had lumped all medical massages with spa services, closing them until June 2020. This decision was a challenge, Hansen said, because he believed that medical massage differs from a massage you might find
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at a spa in that it is targeted to benefit those who have sustained sports injuries or who have been in a car accident. Despite the closure, Natural Way was as busy as ever. Anxiety can cause physical pain, often leading to headaches and insomnia. The daily stress of the pandemic, coupled with poor ergonomics from working at home, brought many patients into Natural Way seeking relief. “I have never seen, in 25 years of being a chiropractor, more people with back and neck problems,” Hansen said. “It is simply because society was incredibly stressed.” The CEO said he believes because Natural Way was able to stay in business during these trying times, his employees were able to cope due to their camaraderie and ability to stay in constant communication. Like many businesses, Natural Way took advantage of online meeting platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Because the company has seven clinics throughout the state, the online meetings proved especially helpful for communication and morale. Hansen said he plans to continue using these platforms even after the pandemic ends. As they worked together through the onset of the pandemic and col-
lectively navigated the “new normal,” Hansen was continuously inspired by the tenacity of his employees. He believes he wouldn’t have been able to make it through the past year without them by his side. “I got to see my employees rise to the occasion through significant adversity,” he said. Looking forward, Hansen is in the process of interviewing doctors and staff to work for new clinics to open soon. Those clinics potentially would be in Marysville, Arlington and Stanwood. For now, Hansen hopes patients will continue to turn to Natural Way Chiropractic as a COVID-19-safe environment that exists to take care of them. “We’re here to help,” he said. ■
