One Day Mum Suggested Something Different: Acupuncture

I grew up in Coorparoo - only a couple of minutes from where my clinic Ova Acupuncture is now in Camp Hill. At the time, I had no idea I would be working as an acupuncturist around the corner!

I had a fairly typical Brisbane 1990s upbringing. I went to Mansfield State High School and did the French immersion program. Learning another language got me interested in other cultures, languages and ways of living.

School aside, I played a lot of sports and spent plenty of time outdoors. I still love that outdoors lifestyle we have in Brisbane.

After school, I did a degree in business and media and communication at QUT. Like a lot of Australians in their twenties, moving to London was a recurring topic of conversation with friends.

I remember thinking, London? How boring. They speak English there!

I ended up going to Dubai.

I lived there for five years, working in marketing.

It was an incredible period of my life and, looking back, I think I was there at exactly the right time. Dubai was developing incredibly quickly, but it hadn’t yet become quite as enormous and busy.

I loved it. I even learned Arabic.

Dubai also had a very strong work-hard, play-hard culture, and I embraced that too.

Eventually, though, my health caught up with me.

When I became unwell, I tried all the conventional options to no avail.

One day, my mum suggested something different: acupuncture.

I found an acupuncturist in Dubai and started seeing her. That experience changed the direction of my life.

It was more than just starting to feel better. She taught me so much about my own body and about looking after myself. I came from a very corporate environment, and suddenly here was someone whose day-to-day work was centred around helping people feel good.

There was something about that which really resonated with me.

I remember thinking, I want to do that.

To qualify as an acupuncturist, I came back to Australia to complete another degree, this time a Bachelor of Health Science.

Leaving a corporate career to retrain in acupuncture was absolutely a leap of faith.

Acupuncture wasn’t nearly as well known then as it is now. I wasn’t simply changing jobs; I was taking a bet on myself that I could retrain, establish myself as a practitioner and eventually build a business around it.

My family’s reaction was divided.

Half of them said, “It makes perfect sense for Michelle.”

The other half thought I was throwing away a perfectly good career.

As my own health improved, the people around me saw the difference. Over time, everyone came on board. Many of my family members ended up trying and loving acupuncture themselves.

For me, the most rewarding part of my job is watching someone gradually begin to feel stronger and more like themselves again. I love seeing what happens when a person starts to have more physical and emotional energy. That is probably the part of the job that means the most to me — witnessing people come back to themselves.

It’s funny how life works.

Despite all that travelling, I’m still very attached to my little corner of Brisbane.

It’s great to have our clinic in Camp Hill, just a couple of minutes from where I grew up, as well as a second location in Hendra.

Around here, Whites Hill remains one of my favourite places. I also love getting a bite at In A Pickle. At our Hendra clinic, we’re next door to Better Day - I think they have the best coffee in town.

I had to move halfway around the world, get sick, discover acupuncture and change careers before I eventually found myself back home in Brisbane.

I definitely didn’t plan it that way.

But looking back, it makes perfect sense.