Nicole Hutchison, owner and CEO at Statera Integrated Health and Wellness Solutions, is a physical therapist, certified strength and conditioning specialist, health coach and integrative nutrition coach. Hutchison’s passion is promoting health and wellness as a mind, body and spirit experience. Working with men, women and mature teens to help clarify their goals, she then offers learning, support and accountability to assist clients in achieving those goals. Hutchison grew up in southern Missouri and learned the values of faith, family and work early on. She lived on the beef cattle ranch her dad’s family owned, and she also worked in the clothing store owned by her mom’s mother. Hutchison graduated from the University of Missouri in Columbia in the spring of 1996 with a physical therapy degree. In the fall of 1996 she married her soulmate, and 27 years later they have two young adult children, an 8-year-old yellow lab and a 5-month-old goldendoodle, which they are training to be a therapy dog for Statera. She and her husband are passionate about the mission at Statera, and also they share passions for travel, cycling, camping, hiking and food and wine. In her free time, she enjoys reading, quilting, scrapbooking and jewelry making. Tell us about your field and what attracted you to it.
I was not someone who knew exactly what they wanted to do when I went to college, yet I was always drawn to helping professions. I considered being a teacher, a mental health therapist, a child life specialist.
I was fortunate to have an opportunity to shadow with a few professionals at a local hospital and fell in love with physical therapy. Working one-on-one with individuals to get to the root of what they were struggling with physically and help them to heal was truly fulfilling.
After practicing for 15 years, I expanded my training to a certified strength and conditioning specialist, health coach and integrative nutrition coach as I was seeing the importance of a broader focus on mind, body and spirit wellness in the work with my clients. What is happening for us mentally and emotionally also impacts us physically and vice versa — our healing also needs to include work for the person as a whole.
From there, God gave me a vision for a wellness clinic where like-minded providers from a wide variety of disciplines could all work together for client care. Statera is literally a dream come true.
How has your field changed in the time you’ve worked in it? How have you adapted? Physical therapy, as well as health care in general, have certainly changed over the course of the last 27 years. We continue to learn and adapt evaluation and treatment techniques according to science.
Although we have the most advanced technology and medical treatment options ever available, we continue to get sicker and sicker. My vision is for what is currently a “sick-care” system will learn the importance of mind, body and spirit wellness and become more of a “health-care” system. Rather than attempting to “fix” patients with medications, let’s look for the root of what’s going on and address that through lifestyle modifications, complementary therapies and traditional medicine as needed. And as health care professionals, no one of us can be all things to all people — let’s work together to collaborate in care for our clients, encouraging them to be an active participant in their healing.
Is there a person or people who have had a tremendous impact on you? I would not say any one person or people have had a tremendous impact on me, but I would say there are many who have impacted me personally and professionally. Over the years I have had spiritual leaders and advisors, friends, family members, teachers, business advisors, colleagues and speakers and authors I have learned from but have also been a valuable source of support and encouragement.
Do you have any advice for young people and/or new graduates? Let go of black-and-white thinking and follow your dreams. Work does not have to simply be a way to live — you can live to work. Find where your passions and your gifts and talents intersect. Ask questions and learn from your elders — we may not seem to know much, but if you give us a chance, we may know more than you think.
Is there a story or an anecdote that illustrates your philosophy either in life or in your chosen field? My philosophy in life and career is to live mindfully and with purpose. I regularly re-evaluate my top core values, and whether how I am currently living reflects those core values. God, myself and my family, my career.
What have you found to be the most valuable resource for learning? Are you an on-the-job learner or do you prefer another way? I love to read, listen to books and podcasts and continue my learning through courses for spiritual growth, personal growth and professional growth. Then challenge myself to put what I’ve learned into practice — what works well I keep and continue using, what doesn’t work well I tweak or let go of.
Math vs. creativity. People person vs. introvert. Slow and steady vs. quick and nimble. Where do you fall on those divides? Do you believe there even is a divide? Life is not black and white, there tends to be a lot of gray. I believe labeling ourselves or others as “introvert or extrovert” limits their view of themselves, how they show up in their lives, and their ability to flourish. For example, I love to spend time with others, teach classes, do public speaking — yet I need my alone, quiet time as well. Labeling myself as an introvert or extrovert would limit me from allowing myself to experience both and enjoy the different ways they each fuel my soul.
How has your professional life helped you grow as a person? The learning and growth I’ve experienced in my professional life — the degrees and certifications, what I’ve learned in working with my clients and colleagues, experiencing the steep learning curve of opening my own small business out of my home and expanding into opening Statera — have all deepened my sense of purpose in my life. Learning more about myself — who I am, how I respond to the world around me and why I respond that way — have all contributed to growth in my own self-confidence as well as in my relationships with others. It is my belief that personal growth and professional growth go hand in hand.
How do you strike a work/life balance? Striving to live true to my core values — and practice what I preach about mind, body and spirit, health and wellness.
