Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Erlich, LAc, FABORM.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Laura. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Holistic Medicine has always been a part of my life, even as a kid. My parents definitely had a “new age” bent, and my dad got cancer when I was 6 years old, so things like acupuncture, meditation, even green juice (!) were on my radar very early in life. As a young adult, I tragically lost both of my parents to cancer, and as I’ve progressed through my life, I’ve always employed holistic medicine over western medicine whenever possible.
My first career was stage acting, which I started when I was about 11 years old. I was a theater junkie, and by the time I reached college, I was ready to devote my life to the stage. I attended Emory University and graduated with a BA in Theater Arts and English Literature, ready to take the theater world by storm.
While I did work after graduation, I realized pretty quickly that the life of a professional stage actor is comprised of lots of odd jobs and financial struggles combined with occasional work that paid very little. By my mid 20’s, I was tired of being a college educated waitress, so I started looking for a job that might complement my theater habit (and hopefully my bank account!). My best friend had just finished massage school and I decided to follow suit. I was living in NYC at the time, and I had the great privilege of attending The Swedish Institute of Massage, which offered an incredible, comprehensive education in human anatomy, physiology, and therapeutic and medical massage techniques, combined with instruction in the Japanese massage modality, Shiatsu, which involved in- depth study of the meridian system and the Chinese Medical model. I was in love.
While I was still in school, I became very interested in prenatal massage. Shortly after graduating from massage school in 1998, I did advanced training in prenatal, postpartum and labor massage and launched a practice specializing in the childbearing cycle. After about a year of practicing in New York, I decided to move back to my hometown of Los Angeles, knowing in my heart that LA was to be my long-term home.
The first few years back in LA were crazy. I was still working in the theater, running a massage practice and in 1999, I became a doula. In 2002, after a summer of repertory theater, a busy massage practice and being on call for births, something had to give. I did some soul searching and I knew that it was time for me to devote myself to my holistic medicine career and let go of my theater life. In September of 2002, I started a master’s program at Emperor’s College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2006.
While I was a student, I continued to attend births and built a very busy private practice, specializing in obstetric massage and doula services. Because of that focus, I really attended TCM school through the lens of fertility and obstetrics, doing advanced coursework while I was still a student and choosing supervisors and mentors with established specialties in reproductive medicine. Thanks to all of this focused training, I was headlong into my specialty when I graduated as a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist in 2006.
I started my practice in 2007, just 3 months after giving birth to my son, and quickly built a business where I specialized in infertility, obstetrics and general women’s health. Still a doula to this day, I’ve continued to attend births all these years, though on a more limited basis. In 2012, I started teaching, offering webinars to acupuncturists in fertility and obstetrics, and in 2015, my first book, Feed Your Fertility was published by Fair Winds Press (co-authored by Emily Bartlett). I really love teaching, writing and speaking and truly enjoy any opportunity to do so.
In 2014, I started working with an associate acupuncturist, Molly Sue Welch, and today she is my right-hand gal. In 2016, we founded Mother Nurture Wellness, a practice specializing in all phases of the childbearing cycle (from pre-conception through postpartum), as well as general gynecology and women’s health. We use acupuncture, herbs, supplements, nutrition and massage as our primary modalities. We attend births together as a team, which makes it a really wonderful experience for us and the clients. In addition to our modalities, we have a few in-house chiropractors who specialize in fertility and obstetrics in addition to general health. All in all, I feel profoundly blessed to have found my way to Chinese Medicine and the specialty of women’s health, obstetrics and infertility. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming that I found such a great career.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Some aspects of my career have been incredibly smooth, others not so much. In terms of building a practice, I’ve been pretty lucky. I think that my well established prenatal massage and doula practice really set me up well for a successful acupuncture business. Honestly, so did my acting background. An actors whole job is to sell their ‘brand’ (themselves) relatively shamelessly, and I definitely brought that to my business, simply because I didn’t know any other way! In the early days, I also offered lots of free talks and classes and spent a lot of time and energy marketing my business to the community.
I also got a few lucky breaks. For example, I called the biggest webinar provider in our field on behalf of my mentor to see if he would be interested in having her teach for his company. It just so happened that I had co-taught a few classes with her and those were the topics he was most interested in recording. So I kind of lucked into a teaching gig only 5 years into practice, which then led to writing Feed Your Fertility and other speaking and teaching opportunities, which I love and am incredibly grateful for.
Of course, being a business owner can be quite challenging. My husband and I really struggled through the financial crisis in 2008, and I had to double down to make a practice that could support both my family (I had a 1 year old son and a stepdaughter in college at the time) and my business obligations. The stress was indescribable and went on unrelentingly for many years. I really just kept my head down and worked, and built my practice one patient at a time. Necessity is the mother of invention, that’s for sure!
Things are great now and I feel very positive about the road we are on at Mother Nurture Wellness. I am profoundly indebted to my associate-now-business-partner, Molly. Having someone who shares your vision is an incredibly comforting, motivating and affirming thing and I am humbled and grateful that she has chosen to work alongside me.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
My business is called Mother Nurture Wellness. Our “official” name is Mother Nurture Wellness and Acupuncture, inc. We specialize in acupuncture and herbs for all stages of a woman’s life, but most especially women trying to conceive and those who are already pregnant. We also offer massage therapy (including prenatal massage), nutrition consultations and have amazing chiropractors in the office with us who work with women on anything from infertility to back pain, to helping position a breech baby.
In terms of what we are known for, I think it’s really all things fertility and pregnancy. We regularly get calls from women who are struggling to conceive, and we co-treat extensively with fertility specialists from all over LA. We frequently work with women who are undergoing IUI’s or IVF, and also work with many women hoping to avoid such treatments.
We also work closely with OB’s and midwives in treating women at all stages of pregnancy and postpartum. Some of the conditions we commonly treat include recurrent pregnancy loss, first trimester symptoms like nausea, “morning sickness,” fatigue, back pain/sciatica, swelling, gestational diabetes, insomnia, anxiety and depression. We are “known” for helping to turn breech babies and preparing women for labor, including “acupuncture labor induction,” though I actually despise that term! In my view, acupuncture helps prepare the body to start labor naturally, but induction is a term that should be left for the hospital. Acupuncture can set a woman up to have a spontaneous start to labor, but it’s all her. We are “making” anything happen, but rather giving the body permission to let go.
I believe that what sets us apart is our genuine love and passion for both our specialty and our patients. As women, we really understand and empathize with the journey our patients are on, from struggles with infertility, to choosing to freeze eggs or become a single mother by choice, to the journey of pregnancy, birth and recovery. Our patients are very important to us, and I think we really go the extra mile in providing care, support, referrals and even a warm cup of tea and a shoulder to cry on. We do so willingly, with love, compassion and humility.
What were you like growing up?
I was a bit of a class clown growing up. Always the actress, I loved to perform, speak publicly and act like a spazz. I was very active on Drill Team in high school and enjoyed performing and competing. I was an honor student, but I wouldn’t say I was super academically driven until I got to college. I loved hanging out with my friends, spending summers at the beach and being a California girl. Always a deep lover of animals, I wanted to be a veterinarian when I grew up, until I found out you also had euthanize them!
My childhood also had an undercurrent of sadness and stress, because my dad got sick when I was so young and suffered on and off with cancer and various other serious ailments throughout my childhood. My mom got sick when I was a junior in high school and passed away right before my senior year started. A few years later, when I was a senior in college, my dad passed away after years of battling one illness after another.
I can see how these two forces from my childhood shaped my adult personality: a Mayberry-ish, carefree sort of childhood with loving parents and amazing, abundant friends, juxtaposed by serious stress, sadness and tragedy. I think I am able to bring levity and laughter to serious situations, and at the same time have a depth of compassion and empathy that helps me relate to my patients and their pain in an authentic way.
Pricing:
- Initial visit: $225/$195
- Follow up visits: $110 (package pricing available), superbills provided
- Massage Therapy: $135 hr
Contact Info:
- Address: Mother Nurture Wellness
2990 S SEPULVEDA BLVD STE 205
Los Angeles, CA 90064 - Website: www.mothernurturela.com
- Phone: 310-598-5209
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @mothernuturewellness
- Facebook: Mother Nurture Wellness
- Twitter: @mothernurturela
- Yelp: Mother Nurture Wellness
Image Credit:
Patrick McEllhenney
Victoria Wall Harris
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