Let’s dive into the world of compassionate, patient-centered care with the incredible Momoko Uno, founder of Omni Wellness NYC. 🎉 Momoko shares her inspiring journey of blending integrative medicine, nutrition, and empathy to create a wellness center that puts people before profit. 🧡
We explore the undeniable link between gut health, brain health, and emotional well-being — and why listening (real listening) might just be the most powerful tool a doctor can have. 👂💡 From tackling traditional medicine’s blind spots to offering practical tips for better patient communication, this conversation is a must for anyone in the medical field or anyone seeking holistic, heart-led healthcare. 🩺🌱
Plus, we uncover the delicate balance of running a profitable wellness business without ever losing sight of compassion and care. If you’ve ever wondered what it really means to lead with love in business, this episode is for you! ❤️💼
🔥 Don’t miss this powerful discussion! Hit play, and let your heart guide your business journey. 🔥
Key Takeaways from this Episode
- The essence of a heart-led business in healthcare.
- The critical skill of listening in medical practice.
- Integrative medicine and its role in modern healthcare.
- The impact of nutrition on physical and mental health.
- Balancing profitability with passion in healthcare.
- The challenges and rewards of running a wellness center.
About the Guest
Momoko Uno is a pioneer in integrative medicine with over 25 years of private practice. She’s the co-founder and owner of Omni Wellness NYC, a multidisciplinary wellness center, and Edesia Gourmet, a pureed food company for those with swallowing difficulties. A published author and educator, Momoko brings a wealth of knowledge, compassion, and innovation to everything she does.
Additional Resources
Website
Books
- Fourteen Days: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Quarantine Hell
- Bringing Sunshine back to my Mind: A Story about Overcoming Trauma & Finding Wholeness
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Explore the Dialogue’s Treasures: Unearth the insights within! Delve into the profound wisdom woven throughout our conversation.
Speaker: 0:00
Welcome to the heart-led Business Show, where compassion meets commerce and leaders lead with love. Join your host, Tom Jackobs, as he delves into the insightful conversations with visionary business leaders who defy the status quo, putting humanity first and profit second. From heartfelt strategies to inspiring stories, this podcast is your compass in the world of conscious capitalism. So buckle up and let’s go. Let your heart guide your business journey.
Tom Jackobs: 0:32
Brace yourself for brilliance. We’ve got Momoko Uno in the house. She’s practically doctored the dictionary. She’s a master in medicine, merrily making miracles and manifesting a mellow metabolism with magical maneuvers. Her heart heavy health hub, Omni Wellness NYC, isn’t just a business, it’s a blessing. So stay tuned as we work our way into her world of wellness. We’ll bust the bubbles surrounding the tricky terrain of being a heart-led business boss, right here on the Heart-Led Business Show. Momoko, welcome to the show.
Momoko Uno: 1:08
Thank you so much for having me.
Tom Jackobs: 1:10
I’m really excited to talk to you today about your business and how you’ve built that up to what it is today. And then also, being a heart-led business, because that’s not always the easiest thing in the world to be. But before we get into all that, tell us what’s your definition of a heart-led business?
Momoko Uno: 1:29
So to me, a heart-led business is a business that puts the well being of our patients before profit margins. Is about making sure that we hear what the needs of our patients are. And, that means all their concerns, what’s working for them, what’s, especially what’s not working for them. rather than telling them how they should be feeling or why they’re not getting better, so it’s mostly about having a patient-centered approach and letting them lead their medical care.
Tom Jackobs: 2:05
Yeah. So when you said patient centered approach, I also heard patience and having your patient. and I think that fits your definition as well is that, to be an active listener and really listen to the patients, you have to have patience to, to be able to do that. And I know my first doctor definitely didn’t have that. He had five seconds of patience and then he was out the door to the next person. But how do you manage that?
Momoko Uno: 2:33
well, I have a master’s in psychology, so a lot of my listening skills I had extra training with listening and specifically how to listen well. Because you can just sit there and be patient and sound like you’re listening, look like, sorry, that you’re listening to somebody, but not really be listening. But to actually, listening is a skill. It’s I don’t think it’s easy. And unfortunately, when I went to medical school, I didn’t get listening training. I didn’t learn how to listen. I really learned how to listen when I studied psychology. I do think that doctors could, in general, benefit from better listening skills.
Tom Jackobs: 3:12
Yeah, for sure. And what would be some tips that you could give, some of the doctors that are out there that could help them improve their listening skills?
Momoko Uno: 3:20
I think just to reflect back to your patient what they have just said for example, if they said, Oh, this medication, it’s giving me a headache or, my back is hurt. It started to get sore from after taking something X, Y, and Z. And rather than saying, no, that’s not true. That can’t happen because a lot of doctors are just dismissive, right?
Tom Jackobs: 3:42
Yeah.
Momoko Uno: 3:42
it’s not. I’ve never heard that. I’ve never seen that, but you know, if you treated a million people, I’m sure you would have seen some cases of it. So rather than saying that. You would say, Oh, I see. Yes. I, if I understand you correctly, I heard that after you started taking the medication, you developed pain and just saying that it’s very validating.
Tom Jackobs: 4:00
Yes.
Momoko Uno: 4:01
Because the doctor, you’re not gonna, your patient population isn’t going to be so huge that exactly every single side effect that’s possible with a treatment or medication.
Tom Jackobs: 4:11
Yeah. And that’s one thing that, that I train in sales coaching as well is I call it the mirror. So just mirroring back what the prospect says, and your case, the patient says, and I learned that from a communication coach that, and it’s just, it’s a really good communication mechanism in general, in relationships in general to help that other person know that they’ve been heard. And there’s so many of us out there that just don’t feel like we’ve been heard enough and to have somebody do that is just so powerful. So thanks for sharing that.
Momoko Uno: 4:47
Absolutely. Yes. Yes. Thank you.
Tom Jackobs: 4:50
So tell us a little bit about your heart-led business and why you consider it a heart-led business.
Momoko Uno: 4:56
So I am the owner and founder of Omni Wellness NYC, and it is a wellness center. So it’s like all sorts of different types of alternative medicine that many different providers have come together to create our wellness center. And we created it because my business partner, I, Scott Anson, he’s a chiropractor, and I created this business together because I think that there’s a need in the community where the patients to go to places where not just one modality is offered, different modalities are offered together. Now, there’s many of these places that are available in New York City now, but when we’ve started, there weren’t that many. I think it’s great when you have a complicated condition, for example, that some, a patient can come to us and if I can’t help them, then I can offer, I can refer them to somebody else within my practice. And I think the communication is much easier when you’re working directly with different providers.
Tom Jackobs: 5:50
Yeah, absolutely. So you use the word or the term alternative medicine. Would integrative medicine also be an approach or is there a difference between integrative medicine and alternative medicine?
Momoko Uno: 6:04
So integrative medicine just means that you’re mixing and matching different forms, different modalities. So you could be doing multiple different things. In my case, I have a doctorate in integrative medicine. So that means that studied all sorts of different types of, I wouldn’t say everything that’s under the sun, but you know, I went really out there broad in terms of learning about all, not all many different types of alternative medical treatments. I also have a background in Western medicine too. That was my first degree, but so that’s integrative medicine. It doesn’t really mean a whole lot. Even though I have a degree in it, but a lot of people call themselves integrative medical doctors without necessarily that specific alternative medicine just means non-drug based, usually.
Tom Jackobs: 6:48
Yeah. So using food as medicine, using the mind, breath work.
Momoko Uno: 6:53
Yeah. Also anything that’s non-drug.
Tom Jackobs: 6:55
Yeah. Oh, that’s great. Yeah. So you really do have a lot of degrees behind. How many years did you spend in school getting all your degrees?
Momoko Uno: 7:05
Well, pretty much my entire life, here or there, I enjoy studying and learning and being able to provide patients with alternative methods, because there’s always some, a patient that I’ll come across where I feel like I don’t know enough or I wasn’t, whatever I knew wasn’t able to help them. And I think that’s, It’s been the driving force for me to continue to educate myself.
Tom Jackobs: 7:32
A great skill to have, especially, the practice of medicine is a practice, right? And education is part of that practice. Yeah, that’s great that you keep up with the current trends. So what are some of the current things that are in your practice that you’re starting to implement some of the new techniques or things like that?
Momoko Uno: 7:51
I don’t think anything that I’ve studied is actually new. It’s all quite traditional. And so I’m not, I wouldn’t say that I have cutting edge information in terms of new alternative medicine. It’s more traditional types of alternative medicine that I’ve studied. But you know, in terms of what I specifically do, a lot of it’s to do with nutrition and some of it’s science. it’s based in research, right? And that’s actually more cutting edge because there’s so much more information about nutrition that’s available now, when I started school, there were a lot of GI doctors that would say, what you eat does not affect your gut. I don’t know how that’s possible, but I still hear this often. My patients, a lot of patients come to me and they said that GI doctor said that their diet doesn’t affect their gut. I don’t know what they’re talking about. How could it not? It goes, it’s direct contact with it. Right. And, but once in a while, I’ll still get a patient who comes to me looking quite puzzled, how their doctor had told them that, but now there’s so much more research and patients can just directly go to their providers, say, look I found this piece of research. So it’s, that’s great that. That I, for example, like a lot of the food sensitivities, right. And like gluten intolerance and all that’s just, that’s old news at this point, but for many years it was completely poo hooed.
Tom Jackobs: 9:09
Yeah. Yeah. Well, that’s so it’s discouraging, but I’m glad that, the new research and there’s a lot of practitioners like yourself out there that are, they’re bringing up the knowledge for the patients as well.
Momoko Uno: 9:21
Yeah. And it affects lots of different things. Like not just the gut, but you know, your emotions. So that’s a lot coming up on the surf. I think at this point now is how it affects the mind and the feelings to our diet. And I’ve got to that’s more recent, not super new, but you know, pretty, the gut brain relationship.
Tom Jackobs: 9:38
in the gut, the second brain. So many people say that. Yeah.
Momoko Uno: 9:42
it is. It totally is. I think it actually is leading the brain.
Tom Jackobs: 9:46
Yeah. It’s interesting too. Like sometimes when I eat some junk food, yes, I do eat junk food from time to time that I feel that anxiety afterwards of eating, especially if it’s like super gluten laden or just the artificial flavors and things like that. And I feel that anxiousness in my gut after eating it. It’s weird.
Momoko Uno: 10:07
Yes, absolutely. High sugar, processed sugar. If it’s if you have a lot of junk in there, if it’s a lot of preservatives, most people are not going to feel great. Especially if you already have, your gut permeability is already high and you’re going to be absorbing at a higher rate. you’re not going to feel good.
Tom Jackobs: 10:26
Yeah, food really is medicine and it can also be the poison as well if it’s not real food and processed food. Yeah.
Momoko Uno: 10:36
Yes.
Tom Jackobs: 10:37
So let’s shift gears a little bit and let’s talk a little bit about business and, a lot of heart-led business owners. Don’t like to talk about business. They don’t like the idea of money sometimes in their business. How have you, straddled the fence between being a heart-led business, but also knowing that you need to make a profit, and especially in New York, it’s not cheap to live in New York, right?
Momoko Uno: 10:58
So this is, this was challenging for me, and I think it was challenging for most people. And I think that heart-led means that it includes you too, as the providers, the practitioner, like we have to, it has to work ultimately for us, because there is no way that you can have a sustainable business. If you cannot pay your bills, it’s just how it is. And it’s interesting because I’ve had this conversation with many different providers. I used to mentor a lot and, and a lot of what means what is profitable is a very individualized answer. Some people are very comfortable with making a very small amount of money and then other people, if you have children or, for whatever reason, your lifestyle, especially in New York where we are, you have to make some money, you’re not going to survive. It’s just not possible. Or you’ll also, if you can’t save any money, you’ll be working until the second you to just think about it those ways, because, you might be feeling pretty good now, if you’re relatively young. But, one of my friends told me, well, I said to him, well, I can just keep working forever. And I, and he said to me, well, you might feel that way now, but I don’t know if you feel that way if you’re 75. I said, then I realized, good point. Okay. Retirement plan is, I need to do that because it’s true that, you have to think about the future, but a lot of practitioners, I don’t think about the future in that way. You’re feeling fine now but and, but how am I going to be feeling 30 years from now? And you have to have a plan because if you don’t have a plan, you’re it’s going to be an issue.
Tom Jackobs: 12:34
Yeah, absolutely. So how did you overcome some of that challenge of reconciling that? Yeah, you do need to make a plan. You need to make enough money to have a retirement as well and live the lifestyle that you deserve.
Momoko Uno: 12:48
Did I reconcile that? That’s a good question. I think it’s mostly was just to do with math. Just looking at that, being really realistic about the cost of living and looking at it from a from a math perspective. This is, if I want to maintain a modest lifestyle, I’m not driving around in a Rolls Royce or, but just to have a modest paying the bills, that kind of a lifestyle, how much money do I need to make really? And then how much money do I need to put aside to be able to retire? Because also at a certain point, I think we not saying that I want this for myself, but you know, there’s got to be some kind of cognitive decline and I don’t know if I’m going to really be up to serve. my patience at the level that I can now. And to just think about it, look at it in as just as a numbers game. I put that to the side a little bit this is what I need for myself.
Tom Jackobs: 13:44
and I think that’s a good exercise for any business owner to do, especially heart-led business owners to look at, okay, what is the lifestyle that I, and especially for solopreneurs and solo practitioners, what’s the lifestyle that I want to live? What does that mean in terms of cost? Do I need to make 80, 000? Do I need to make 120, 000? 180, 000? 200, 000? Whatever that is. And then reverse engineer. Okay, how many hours do I want to work on a weekly basis serving my patients? And then how many hours do I need to run the business as well? Because a lot of people forget that piece as well. And then just do the math. I need 20 patients paying me 30, 250 an hour or whatever it happens to be, and that’s your number that you go after. That would be, that’s the math, right? Yeah.
Momoko Uno: 14:35
So if you just think about the math, I think that helps to, I think make it into something real, but also not necessarily about a way that you’re taking away, because I think a lot of doctors feel like they’re taking something away from their patients they’re getting paid, but not to really think of it that way.
Tom Jackobs: 14:58
Yeah. It’s an exchange of value, right? You’re providing a value to the patient who definitely needs it and they’re providing payment for that value. And it’s all relative at the end of the day as well, in terms of what certain people will value versus others.
Momoko Uno: 15:15
Absolutely. So when I was going to school, I was told that, because most of these, the people that go into this field aren’t necessarily looking to get rich, but you also can’t be poor either. And if you want to have a sliding scale for people who don’t have enough money to pay for your services, that you can do that, but to make sure that you don’t have that to be above 10 percent of your income, because otherwise you will also be poor with them or you won’t be able to, not poor, but you won’t be able to pay. So that was always in the back of my mind. Yes, you want to do community service and give back to people, but it can’t be so that you put yourself completely out of
Tom Jackobs: 15:52
Right and ultimately at risk as well, because if you’re not able to pay the bills, you’re going to go out of business and then you’re not going to be able to help anybody. And that, that sliding scale is going to be your sliding scale at some point.
Momoko Uno: 16:04
Exactly. And then you’ll end up or you’ll end up working extra hours. Which is fine when you’re younger, but then you’re gonna, if you have a family, then that’s going to be taken away from your time, from your family or your own personal interest. And that’s going to also drive your life out of balance too. So these are all things to
Tom Jackobs: 16:24
Yeah, absolutely. And so what type of really good surprises have happened because you are a heart-led business? Do you have any stories to share about that?
Momoko Uno: 16:33
I think just the interesting people that I’ve been able to meet throughout my career. I think that’s, it’s been great, like minded people, just kind, good people.
Tom Jackobs: 16:42
Yeah. Yeah. Both patients as well as other practitioners or just.
Momoko Uno: 16:47
Yeah, both. And it’s just lovely, going to work with a group of people that, who are like minded and we’re all there with similar purpose. And it’s just nice. Everybody’s just so kind and lovely. so I walk into that and then I see patients who, of course they have their challenges and they come to see me, but they’re also drawn to that kind of a business. And so they’re all, in general, they’re all really nice too. everything is just nice.
Tom Jackobs: 17:17
What a great way to work, there’s so many people that go to work and dread going to work and that really shouldn’t be right. That’s if work isn’t fun and enjoyable, then it shouldn’t be there, and that’s affecting a lot of people’s mental health. It’s too, I think.
Momoko Uno: 17:32
Yeah. I do get patients who really hate their job too. And I can see how toxic their work environment is and how much it affects them. And how lucky I feel that I’m in a work environment that’s so supportive and kind.
Tom Jackobs: 17:50
Yeah, I spent 12 years in corporate environment and oil and gas and last year of working there, I, at one company, I was on the trading floor and it was so toxic. There was one guy that would yell and scream at other coworkers. I’m like, why? And he was always bright red. I was like, we’re going to have the AED machine ready to go at any moment. That, that. This guy’s going to pop because he was just always bright red and, super high blood pressure, I’m sure. But yeah, that, that environment was just like, Oh, I need to get out of here. And ultimately, starting my own health and wellness business was the savior. And while, I’m sure there’s moments in your career and in your job that you don’t particularly like, but that’s, that should be a small portion of the overall experience, right?
Momoko Uno: 18:41
Absolutely. So they, it’s very small percentage of the time that I spend. Like for example, I don’t really like dealing with insurance companies, but it comes with a territory. You have to, I have to, I have to do it. I really don’t like it. It’s really just, stressful.
Tom Jackobs: 18:58
Yeah.
Momoko Uno: 18:59
but anyway, to do it, but that’s We were all, unless you’re a hundred percent cash practice. Which many people can do.
Tom Jackobs: 19:07
It, I think it is changing because a lot of, insurance costs are going through the roof in terms of premiums. So why not just pay cash anyway? For your own, except for catastrophic events, of course. Yeah, I think there’s a lot of practitioners that are going fully cash pay or private pay so that they can treat the whole person and not worry about what billing code that they have to put down to get reimbursed. And if they are, will it? be reimbursed at all.
Momoko Uno: 19:35
Yeah. So the whole insurance thing is very, really challenging, both for the provider and for the patient too. And I don’t know which way it’s going right now, but it’s not trending in a, not trending great, but for now, most of us do have to take insurance because some of it does pay, does pay providers and there are also, most importantly, a lot of patients wouldn’t be able to afford it if you didn’t take their insurance.
Tom Jackobs: 19:59
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. What type of advice would you give to a new heart-led business person that wants to start a heart-led business, but might be a little afraid of going down that route?
Momoko Uno: 20:12
I think, as I mentioned before, the heart-led means your own heart as well. So to make sure that you keep yourself in the mix, it has to be a win situation for both you, as well as your client or patient.
Tom Jackobs: 20:27
Awesome. Well, that’s great. Great advice. As a flight attendants always tell us, put your oxygen mask on first before helping others. So yeah, we definitely need to take care of ourselves as well. So Momoko, how can other people learn a little bit more about your business and get in contact with you?
Momoko Uno: 20:45
My is omniwellnessnyc. com. So that’s the easiest way to find me. All my information, my bio, everything is up there.
Tom Jackobs: 20:55
Okay. Awesome. And we’ll definitely link that up into the show notes so people can find that very easily as well. And thank you so much for coming onto the show today and showing, and sharing your wisdom with the listeners and the stories that you shared as well. I really appreciate it.
Momoko Uno: 21:11
Thank you so much for having me on your show.
Tom Jackobs: 21:13
Absolutely. And thank you listeners and those watching the show on YouTube. We really do appreciate it. Make sure you’re checking out everything that Momoko is doing and we’ll provide that all in the show notes down below. So make sure you’re checking that out and connect with her if you’re in New York and need a little tune up as well. And if you could do me a favor and do what other smart and considerate listeners are doing, and that’s giving the show a rating and review. And that really does help spread the word about the show and lets the listeners know like how we can help those that want to be a heart-led business. And until next time, lead with your heart.
Speaker 2: 21:54
You’ve been listening to the heart-led Business Show, hosted by Tom Jackobs. Join us next time for another inspiring journey into the heart of business.
