2024 Year-End Startup Grant Awarded to Holiatry Health and Wellness

WomensNet is pleased to announce the recipient of its 2024 annual $25,000 Year-End Startup Grant.

Shelby Pope, based in Skiatook, Oklahoma won the August 2024 Startup Grant, and is the founder of Holiatry Health and Wellness.

Take a few minutes to be inspired by her interview with Marcia Layton Turner about her business growth this year and her plans for the year-end grant.

Video Transcript

WomensNet: We are speaking today with our first-ever Year-End Startup Grant winner Dr. Shelby Pope of Holiatry Health and Wellness. I’m Marcia Layton Turner and I’m one of several WomensNet advisory board members.

Shelby, how about if we start with a quick recap of what you’ve been able to accomplish with your startup grant from earlier this year?

Shelby: I’m really just completely humbled to be here with such amazing women. A little bit of imposter syndrome actually sitting on this call. It’s phenomenal.

So, I thought initially [that I would be a] one-man show of a holistic medical practice. I started a primary care clinic that is based more in lifestyle medicine and homeopathy with the goal of being more proactive and preventing chronic illness.

And what I did with my $10,000 grant was hire a front office person to help with answering the phones and scheduling. And without that, I have no idea what I would have done because initially, I thought I would be fine. I could just answer calls between patients. Well, apparently the community was very excited about us coming to town because there’s absolutely no way, I would have been able to do it. I think there’s been a couple of days of a week where we had 40 and 50 calls. So it’s a little overwhelming, but in such a good way. So, that’s what I did with the grant is hired a staff member that is; she’s completely priceless. I don’t know what I would do without her.

WomensNet: Amazing. Great job. Making that hire is always such a big first step. So, congratulations.

WomensNet: What are some highlights, or other things that you are proud of from this year that you’d like to share.

Shelby: So, big things. We finished the remodel of the clinic and officially opened December 6th. Overwhelmingly, it’s amazing when you lean into your passion, what just kind of falls into place when you’re serving what feels like your purpose. It’s just been completely overwhelming to see all the hard work for years come together. And it’s just wonderful. It’s absolutely wonderful.

It’s amazing too, whenever you answer the call of the community, how they band together and join you. Like, just posting about the Amber Grant, I had patients that I had previously taken care of, share this across the United States, which was unbelievable. And then that too, reading the testimonials from patients about just the care that they were provided over the years and knowing that it made a difference, it’s just really empowering. And at the end of the day, like even if I fail, even if I fail at this, I know that we are trying to make a difference and we do make a difference.

And even in winning the grant, I’ve had women, friends, peers, reach out and just say, “Oh my gosh, you’re such an inspiration.” And, you know, it’s not that I’m intending to be, that’s never why I sought out to do this. But if it encourages other women to have confidence and pursue the things that they feel passionate about, then that, in itself, is a success in my book.

WomensNet: You’re already a success.

WomensNet: Now that we’ve heard a little bit about your business, what’s one thing that you learned this year that you could share with our community, maybe help them in their businesses?

Shelby: I’m going to circle back again to the community because from my opinion, when you answer a call of the community of what they’re asking you to do or what you’re serving a purpose that they’re seeking to utilize, I don’t like asking for help. I’m type A. I struggle with delegation. But it’s difficult when you start your own business, there are things you have to delegate. You can’t do all of the things, especially if you’re working a full-time job like I was and then trying to build a business on the side.

And after announcing the Amber Grant, the initial startup grant, I had a lot of people reach out to say, “What else can I do? Tell me what else? What else? What else?” And at first, I was really guarded about it. But then eventually I started manifesting more of the dream for Holiatry.

One of the things specifically is I’m a bookworm. I love reading. I have tons of books. I wanted to integrate my books, get them out of my house because I’m looking like a book hoarder at this point, into the clinic so that I could share books that have meant a lot to me, you know, lifestyle, personal development, just health knowledge in general. So, I developed a room in the clinic that is an apothecary with homeopathic items in it, prescription grade supplements, and then books on an honor system so patients can take them out and read them and then just bring them back when they’re done.

Well, when people were asking, you know, “What can I do?” I was like, “You know what? I’ll start a wish list of books I haven’t read yet and that I’m intrigued by that have been recommended by patients.” I asked other community members, like, “Hey, what are books that you would recommend?” And before I knew it, I was getting dozens of packages shipped to my house from Amazon Wish List for three weeks straight. It was like Christmas every single day and it was so moving. Like every day after these long days, I’d get home and have boxes from Amazon that were as tall as me to unpack. And it would just solidify, you know, that if you ask for help or if you build it, they will come. So, yeah, don’t be afraid to lean into the community.

WomensNet: Now that you have won an additional $25,000 to invest in your business, how are you going to use it to help your company grow?

Shelby: Actually, the way things are looking, I’m booked well into January. So, I’m probably going to end up having to hire — hiring another staff member most likely and expanding our inventory for our apothecary. It’s gone over way better than I anticipated. So, I keep continuing to add new items of some fan favorites, you know, of families. So, expanding inventory.

And I would really love later in 2025 possibly partnering with a midwifery center and possibly even getting a counselor in the clinic. It would be wonderful to be able to provide mental health services on site that align with our patient care philosophies.

WomensNet: I love that your vision is so clear. That’s awesome.

Shelby: Thank you.