Member Profile – Claire Luckman & Emma Wiseman
Tucked down the side of WorkLife Coledale looking out upon our leafy green space; are our resident Naturopaths Claire Luckman and Emma Wiseman. I often walk past their door just to inhale the wonderful botanical aromas permeating the air. Their onsite dispensary is filled with pretty glass bottles of unusually coloured liquids in varying sizes, reminiscent of an old apothecary. Both Claire and Emma are busy balancing their thriving (independent of each other) Allied Health businesses whilst raising four delightful (most of the time) small children. Claire; Amalia 6 and Spencer 4. Emma; London 6 and Ellery 4 yrs. I managed to find a window in their busy schedules to chat with them to find out a little more about their businesses, families, and relatively new lifestyles on the South Coast.
How did you two meet? Did you study together or have you been lifelong friends?
We met at the Endeavour College of Natural Health, Sydney. We shared the same cohort for twelve or so months whilst studying our undergraduate degree. Strangely we didn’t really have much to do with each other, even though we were a bit older than most, and were both pregnant. It was only after graduating that we connected, probably because our kids were almost identical ages. In fact our second children are only a week apart. I think we caught wind of each other on social media, joined the dots that we had both moved to the South Coast (nearly three years ago now), only six months apart and the rest is history.
So let’s talk a little bit about your businesses, which you run independently of each other although you share an office suite with us at WorkLife.
I guess for both of us, the sharing of one space enabled us to split the overheads of fit out, rent and set up costs. For example, we share our little dispensary and split the time we are onsite in consults. Importantly neither of us have ever felt threatened by the other as far as competing for clients. And that’s why going in together was such a good idea. In addition, working in your own business can be lonely, so to have the support we offer each other is so valuable. In our industry you work with clients when they are at their most vulnerable point, so it can be very emotional and exhausting at the end of each day. To be able to process and discuss case studies together with a close, like minded colleague, is wonderful. It’s healthier to be able to process it with each other and to be able to walk away from the day without having to download at home and or on family.
What kind of clients do you manage day to day?
We get everything from; food intolerances, gut complaints, female fertility, menopause, mood and mental health, skin conditions, adrenal support, to infants with reflux, Asthma, Eczema. Then there is immune health, lots of thyroid conditions, ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). Actually the list is endless. In addition, there are many, many chronic illnesses that have no cure, so we treat those clients with additional holistic support to help strengthen their bodies whilst they’re dealing with their conditions. So our work is ever changing and challenging.
Unfortunately, we often find we are approached as a last ditch effort. And that can be really heavy. A client has tried everything. We commonly hear “I have never really done much with naturopathy but I just thought I’ve got nothing to lose”. We see it as a privilege to be able to help, because we love our jobs, but at times, it can weigh heavily on our shoulders.
We have our wins, they are wonderful, and we have our losses, some can be really upsetting. But this is the nature of being a practitioner in the wellness industry in today’s day and age. Every client is in need of some form of solution for an area of wellbeing and or bettering their health.We like to remind people that as holistic practitioners we can work concurrently with Western Medicine. No one needs to pick one or the other. There is room for both in today’s world.
EMMA
For example, you may be working with your IVF specialist to fall pregnant but we can additionally help the reproductive system be as ready and as healthy as possible to enable conception.
CLAIRE
For a child with ASD, ADD or sensory issues, tailored changes in diet can help reduce inflammation in the gut, body and brain, which offers significant support alongside any meds they are on or, help manage it sufficiently without.
What areas of Naturopathy do you both specialise in Emma? I hear you are great at making babies a reality
EMMA
Well thank you! I specialise primarily in women’s health although I do see a lot of kids. But with regards to women, I work predominantly in preconception and fertility support, then pregnancy support. It’s a joy to have a client who is finally able to conceive and goes on to have a healthy happy baby.
There are definitely some really complex cases. When talking about fertility, I feel it’s always really important for every practitioner, holistic or otherwise, to be mindful of working within your scope of practice and when you reach an endpoint, to be clear with your client and to comfortably be able to outsource help. I firmly believe we can never be the only person responsible for whether or not that woman falls pregnant. In saying that, there are many lovely treatments we can offer in conjunction with IVF.
Claire, You specialise in Naturopathy and Nutrition. Tell me about your treatments for clients and in particular children?
CLAIRE
I see all ages, and all sorts of complaints and conditions. I love the areas of pregnancy health, thyroid health, female reproductive complaints, and children’s health, particularly behavioural and development conditions. I like to offer a lot of options within the area of behavioural support, and in particular for kids (and adults) with ADHD, ASD and sensory processing disorders. It’s just a little bit more interesting for me than other areas. Often, with tweaks to the diet or addressing underlying nutritional deficiencies we see amazing results. For me, witnessing success with these clients, big or small, is so incredibly rewarding. With kids, we can make really big changes to their little lives, especially where their parents don’t want to use traditional medication and or may want additional support to already prescribed medications.
Nowadays there is a multitude of data and research supporting nutrition aiding many disorders. I’m really big on research and being able to demonstrate a treatment or therapy backed up and accepted by science, which encourages perhaps a more unsure parent to get onboard. I often work in conjunction with paediatricians and other more traditional health practitioners, who are at last realising that holistic treatment can co-exist and benefit patients across the board.
So ladies, what does your work life balance look like? And how does that differ from the lives you were living prior to living on the South Coast?
EMMA
It’s definitely different for me, and actually, probably this might apply to Claire as well. Aside from my very last stint prior to moving South, where there was a six month period where I was working at home, I’ve always travelled a distance to work. So now I think we are naturally immersing ourselves in the coastal lifestyle because; we work here, we live here, our kids go to school here and there’s no time lost driving all over the city. At times we don’t leave the bubble. We love it and it feels a lot more balanced.
CLAIRE
Yeah, I agree and driving along the coast to get here, well it’s pretty beautiful. Isn’t it? Incredible? And I don’t think you could ever get sick of it. One big difference is that with our kids’ schools being so local, it frees up a little bit more time so we can immerse ourselves in work a little bit more. But the juggle is still a juggle with little kids. We have both worked all the way through. We were both pregnant at college and finished our degrees with newborns. Neither of us really took time off. So yeah, I mean, it’s a juggle, for sure.
My partner works at home full time, which has been such a blessing as he used to travel into Paddington. So I do have a lot more flexibility. I can go for a quick walk, things like that, to try and balance out the work. We are in our cars less and there is only one traffic light we need to manage to get to school. But yeah, it’s still a balancing act.
What was your greatest fear moving yourselves and your businesses to WorkLife?
EMMA
I suppose it was just the financial overhead. But splitting it between us, it certainly took any worry away. We had no hesitancy in sharing it with each other and each other’s businesses and clientele.
People told us that this market was saturated with practitioners which made us a little nervous, but we come from Sydney where there are practitioners on every corner, and we feel we have made a niche for ourselves and there certainly was and is room for both of us and certainly up here, on the North side.
Biggest hurdle you have had to overcome so far in your new business?…let me guess!
CLAIRE
Oh my god…Covid! Lockdowns! Thank god for Zoom.
And thank god for WorkLife. There is no way I could have done consults from home. My husband works from home, the kids were at home. Nightmare! During lockdown a couple of my friends in our street said “you are so lucky you can go up to WorkLife and get out of the house”, and I was. It was a life saver.
EMMA
I agree, otherwise you are in a consult on zoom with “mum, mum,mum” in the background…all day long. Impossible. WorkLife was a godsend.
What’s been a surprise to you being in the WorkLife family?
CLAIRE
The people, the location. We stumbled upon WorkLife and all the ducks fell into place. We had been looking around and aesthetically nothing was right. I’m a bit fussy. WorkLife ticked all those boxes. It has exceeded our expectations.
Do either of you have a side gig aside? A passion project? Is there anything else that we need to know about Emma and Claire?
Emma
We are flipping a house which is horrible. That’s all I can say about that. With that and the kids, and work, that is enough for now.
CLAIRE
I don’t really have a side gig but a lot goes into my work. I do a lot of additional courses. In our profession we have to constantly stay up to date, fine tuning our craft…so my work is it. Food nutrition, herbs, up-skilling and continuously learning….and the kids of course
EMMA
We have to continually build on our businesses, there is always something new to learn or research. It’s a lot.
CLAIRE
If I could, I would have a horse as a side hustle.
EMMA
Really, a horse?!
CLAIRE
Well, maybe? That’s the beauty of living here. There is a little bit of country thrown in with the ocean and our ability to work just down the road all at the same time. It really is so beautiful.
What is the one book from your bookshelf everyone should borrow?
CLAIRE
Mine would have to be – ‘The Body Keeps The Score’ which is a really good book about trauma and how it gets built into our physiology. And how different types of therapy can help release different kinds of trauma. It’s a really good book. It’s by Bessel Van Der Kolk
EMMA
Mine would be…. stock standard. ‘The Period Repair Manual’ by Lara Briden. She has fine tuned the craft of breaking down everything from every perspective for any area of period health in a simple, easy to read and understand way. Anyone and everyone can pull something from it, whether it be Endometriosis, or PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) or any female reproductive conditions. Great book.
Okay, in each of your homes, what’s the one piece of furniture in your house that makes you the happiest?
CLAIRE
My leather lounge. I’m a sergeant with my lounge suit. It’s covered in a nice big kaftan throw rug and if anyone or the kids move it when they are eating near it I freak out. I’m not a neat freak….but…
EMMA
My house is filled with crap and I don’t like any of it, so can I pick the chair in here? The office chair? It’s a Boucle. My house is filled with temporary rubbish, children friendly, sensible stuff….but this chair gives me the ‘warm and fuzzies’.
What’s your favourite food on the South Coast?
EMMA
Cheese at the Throsby in Wollongong, oh and the wine
CLAIRE
Bar Franco for good Pizza
What’s your go to listen to music or favourite podcast?
EMMA
I’m music all the way, I love to belt out a tune. I don’t care what it is, give me a Spotify playlist so long as it drowns out the sounds of the children in the back…is that bad?
CLAIRE
On those long trips to Sydney, when I still had a clinic up there, it was Health and Wellbeing podcasts. But often it’s just a playlist or sometimes, it’s silence…which was amazing. I did that when I last went to the dentist. Amazing.
What’s your best productivity hack?
CLAIRE
I’m a list maker. That, and trying to avoid flicking between jobs. I like to set aside time for emails, time for admin, invoicing rather than flipping between tasks.
EMMA
So am I. It focuses me, otherwise it’s Muuumm!
CLAIRE
It’s only just come to me lately, it’s learning to focus and doing one thing at a time. That has actually made me more productive.
What’s the best thing about your membership to WorkLife?
CLAIRE
It’s a sanctuary whilst having a cohort of community around you, who are all lovely.
Imagine tomorrow is a perfect snapshot of your best life. What are you doing?
CLAIRE
(Breaking into giggles) Are my children in it? A nice balance between work and homelife…or actually….a day to myself, where i didn’t have to talk to my kids or my husband….it’s just me…freedom
EMMA
Ditto, except my husband is at home cleaning our house, parenting the children and I am sitting on the deck in the sun, just watching….thats my best life.
