Selling Your Practice, Embracing AI, and Building a Business You Love with Dr. Courtney Gowin [Episode 177]

Molly: Hello. So you may or may not have noticed, you probably didn't notice, but I've actually bumped down the podcast to every other week instead of weekly, um, for the foreseeable future. I'm sure I'll go back to weekly at some point. I just have so many irons in the fire right now and so many... A lot of really good things, but a lot of growing pains.

It's been a really tough couple months, but it's also been a really amazing couple of months. I know a lot of you are business owners yourselves, so you completely understand that constant push and pull of being a business owner. So anyway, it was-- I was kind of looking to like, okay, where's somewhere easy that I can scale back my time?

And yeah, the podcast was just kind of like the first place that I thought, all right, y'all can do every other week. I've got 170-something episodes you can go back and listen to, countless free resources on Instagram, and obviously, if you haven't jumped into Holistic Marketing Hub yet, what are you waiting for?

Come, come to us. Come to me. Okay, the next thing I wanted to talk to you about is my guest today is Dr. Courtney Gowen. A lot of you know her from, um... She does, like, the WonderLearn retreats for chiropractors. If you don't know her, she's just so fascinating. I've hung out with her in real life several times now at different conferences, and she's just like human sunshine.

Like, she makes me look like not sunshine, if, like, that makes sense. She's just, like, this radiant, wonderful, beautiful person, and she's so smart. When I saw her at the ICPA conference, I was like, "God, you're so smart." So she's just-- I don't know, she's just a whiz. So today's episode, we're talking about, like, sh- how she sold her practice and, like, you know, talks about-- We talk about the WonderLearn retreats.

We talk about AI. We talk about business ownership, all... You know, she's a mom of three girls. She was a single mom for years, all kinds of things. Which also, I want to tell you before we dive into the episode that if you are a chiropractor who needs CE, October 23rd and 24th of 2026, uh, I will actually be at a conference that she is helping co-host with Dr.

Rose Marie Badansky and Dr. Jennifer Bondi. I don't know if you g- know them. Um, so I'm actually literally gonna be leading two marketing sessions in a cabana poolside. So this is not your typical conference that's gonna be held in, like, a big conference room. This is, like, actually, you know, like I said, like, it's gonna be pretty cool, and it's also...

So it's called The Growth... I'll, I'll just let you go to their website, and we'll put it in the show notes. It's called The Growth "Weekend," and, like, we is in, like, quotes, like "we." Um, and it's supposed to be f- a conference for you to bring your whole team, and you can earn up to six CE. Like I said, so it's in Dallas October 23rd to the 24th.

I think they still have tickets available. Yeah, I'm on the website right now. I know I have a few clients and friends who are already coming, and I would absolutely love to see you there. So okay, without further ado, let's jump into this awesome episode with Dr. Courtney Gowen.

Hey, welcome to Holistic Marketing Simplified. This podcast boils down to the fact that we wholeheartedly believe that more humans need to know about holistic health solutions, and you didn't go to school to learn how to be a full-time content creator and show up on Instagram and do all of this marketing stuff all day, every day.

So let's come hang out while we chat all things easing your marketing, and my goal is that you shift your mindset around your marketing from a, quote, "should" to a, "I get to." More dream patients and clients? Yes, please.

Dr Nick Belden: My name is Dr. Nick Belden, and I'm a functional medicine practitioner and chiropractor living in beautiful sunny Phoenix, Arizona, and I listen to the Holistic Marketing Simplified Podcast, and you should too.

Molly: Courtney Gowan, I am so excited to have you on the show.

Dr Courtney Gowin: I'm excited to be here. We've had the best time together.

Molly: We've been chatting for 40 minutes.

Dr Courtney Gowin: Have we really? Yes. We just use that for the

Molly: podcast. Yeah, yeah, I wasn't recording that part, but that's okay. We were just talking about... Well, I'll just let you introduce yourself quickly, 'cause this has been a long time coming, and I'm so- And I, I feel like a lot of the chiropractors on here who listen will know who you are, but for my non-chiros and the ones who don't know you, I'll have to have them, have you give your little who Courtney is, 'cause you do so much cool stuff.

I don't even know how to- I don't even know how to introduce you. Like, I'm not even gonna try.

Dr Courtney Gowin: It's like ADHD things that I'm, "Oh, let's start this business," like why? I, uh, I mean, like, I own more domains than shoes. Like, I literally will think of something and be like, "Oh, let me buy that domain. That's... I'll do that one day."

Molly: So- You're a domain collector.

Dr Courtney Gowin: Yeah. Um, but so I'm in Dallas, based in Dallas. I have three daughters. Um, I run a prenatal and pediatric practice, uh, called Free to Be Chiropractic, and then The Nest. It's a holistic women's collaborative where we had 10 prenatal pediatric providers practicing under our roof.

Did that for 13 years and just recently sold it for, um, in, I guess two months ago, so I'm two months into retirement. Two years ago, alongside of running the practice, I started a global travel company where we take chiropractors all around the world on retreats, experiences, just incredible, so much fun.

And then I just recently, like, dove into the tech world and, uh, took a lot of courses on AI and building and, uh, just built a, a mastermind/social club for women chiropractors called SheAdjust. And then, like, behind, behind the scenes, I've been running private clients for building scaling solutions for their businesses through AI.

So it's a bunch of just, like, fun, playing, like, having a blast creating phase of life, and it's been really fun. I

Molly: have so many things I wanna talk to you about, so I'm gonna start. I'm like, let me look. I'm like, "What time is my chiropractor appointment today? I think it's at 1:30." So I've got to like, let me not miss that.

So I love you've, you've actually executed on something that, like, I, you know, I have not been, and I am not a chiropractor. I always joke, it's my bit that gets people to laugh every time, and it's starting to get really old to my own ears. I'm like, "I'm not a chiropractor. I just play one on Instagram," and everybody's always like And so I'm like, is it really funny, or should I just, like, stop saying that?

It's not really-

Dr Courtney Gowin: It's good. It's good content ...

Molly: it's not really, not really funny anymore, Molly Even before when I was in corporate, right? Like, it's not like chiropractic seminars are unique and that they all suck. Like, n- no offense to everybody. Like, but human beings are not meant to go sit in a room with fluorescent r- fluorescent lighting for three days and listen to people about and be sitting.

And there's, you know, there's only so many ways around it. Like, sometimes you can't, you know, it's just it is what it is. Um, I actually had a great time at the ICPA conference, this last one, and I was ... It's not like I've never been to any that were done well. But I feel like in that model, there's only so much you can do to make it not suck.

Dr Courtney Gowin: It's true though. Like, it's just especially when you have that amount of people, it's just like, what are the options here? You know, it's just the model that's been done for ages.

Molly: I mean, I ha- Can I give you, like, an outsider looking in?

Dr Courtney Gowin: Always, yes.

Molly: It actually kind of scared me when I saw what people were getting CE for.

I was like, "Wait, now you're gonna go back and do this technique to a patient on Monday?" I like-

Dr Courtney Gowin: No thank you. It's funny. Like, oh, okay. I know I bring my fiance into a lot of these trips and seminars, and he's like, "What is happening?" I'm like, "It's the chiropractic..." You know, it's our world. It's incredible.

Molly: No, and like I said, I've never, y'all, I've had- obviously I love what I do.

Like I help, I, my, my deep why is to help get more people under care because chiropractic has changed my life. And, you know, and I don't just work with chiro- like acupuncture has been so wonderful for me. Massage, like all of these different modalities have helped me so much, and it's just wild to me. My nine-year-old is getting a, um, hour-long CST massage thing next week.

I'm like, "She's nine." My husband's like, "What are you...?" I'm like, "Listen."

Dr Courtney Gowin: No, it's training them early to tune into their bodies. It's the best gift you can give your children.

Molly: You know what she will say? And I'm like, okay, there's a lot of things, like on Monday I think she watched six or seven hours of TV because we had come back from a family reunion and she was exhausted, so don't hear this as I'm like mom of the year, 'cause I'm definitely not.

She's so... The way she thinks and talks about her body is where I feel like I have won. She's like, "Oh, my body's so smart." I'll be like, "Oh my God, do you see that cut? It just healed. Wow."

Dr Courtney Gowin: Uh-huh.

Molly: Yeah. You know? And so I've really instilled that into her of like, you take care of your body and it will take care of you.

And there's no mistakes, there's no flukes. You get a fever? Cool. Your body's so smart. Look at it. Getting... And she'll, and she'll say, "Now I'm getting an upgrade." Like-

Dr Courtney Gowin: But I think, too, like instilling vitalism into the subconscious of children early on is gonna affect their decisions when they come to birth a baby.

If they've been told their whole life that that cut is gonna heal itself and it's not the Band-Aid from the outside in, then they're gonna make that choice of like, you know what? My God designed me to birth this baby innately. You know, like maybe that's, it's just a generational shift of us educating our children, and that's where like real, real change, in my opinion, for chiropractic is so beautiful, is just like being able to educate the kids and then the parents, too, and it's how you live your life at home.

Molly: Yeah, and that's my deep why, and I think that, I mean, that's like, you know, one, you know, I think talking about lesson one from this episode is that's what I teach all of my students. I'm like, y'all are coming at this from the wrong... Molly said I got a post on Instagram to go, and I'm like, well, yeah, we're doing that because there's someone in your community who needs you and they don't know you exist.

So it's not like you're doing it because anybody said so or it's like a checkbox or a to-do list. And I don't say that as like a rah-rah thing, it's just like if you don't stay focused on that North Star of why you're doing what you're doing, like It all sucks.

Dr Courtney Gowin: Yeah. Exactly.

Molly: None of it's

Dr Courtney Gowin: good. It's... I love what you're doing too because we didn't go to school to be social media managers.

You know, like, it needs to be delegated if you're running that CEO mindset, and being able to say, "You know what? Like, patient care is my jam, but let me hire somebody or h- delegate that out to be able to have good, good content that's gonna impact more lives."

Molly: Yeah. And I do just wanna go back to the whole, like, vitalism thing.

Like, I have very much exited the crunchy mom community. I feel like it is very toxic in its own... It's so toxic because then you're like, "The mold, the air, the what..." You know, and you're like...

Dr Courtney Gowin: It's good in, like, the education sense and to feel supported, but there is an extreme that you can just feel like, "Oh my gosh, my, my pans aren't the right pans, like, I'm poisoning my children."

Like, that's whenever you just just have to take a step back and say, "You know what? Like, if I'm mostly holistic and I, like, you know... It's if we eat Chick-fil-A once a week and j- it's gonna be okay, you know? It's all gonna be okay."

Molly: Yep. Yep. So yeah. So like I said, I had to, I had to give them that little disclaimer because, um, I don't wanna go too far down this path, but every Sunday I give, uh, content, like, post- for post ideas and to my Holistic Marketing Hub members.

And for a lot of people they're like, "Oh my God, this is why I stay. This is, like, the best part of the membership," because I'm really seeing this more, like, anti-wellness content kind of trending. Have you seen this?

Dr Courtney Gowin: It's interesting. Yeah, I have.

Molly: Yeah. And I'm like, y'all have the opportunity to kind of be, like, on a little bit of a cutting edge here of its actual practitioners themselves going like, "Hey, you know what?

You know you're gonna be okay if your kid eats some Cheez-Its, right? Like, you know you're gonna be okay." Like-

Dr Courtney Gowin: Well, I think it's just being relatable. That's the magic of social media, is like, oh, people see you as a human, not of this... And that's, like, our retreats too. People always see these speakers as these, like, elevated on the stage people, but whenever they're traveling with them, they're like, "Oh, wait, you're just another person," you know?

And I think that social media allows us as chiropractors to be super relatable to people and to be like, "Listen, mama, y- you're already hard enough on yourself. Like, this, you know, there's some steps that you can take to live this lifestyle, but let's also be human here."

Molly: Exactly. So, um, yeah, I didn't mean to zag too far down that p- but it was like I said, it was just, like, anchoring back to the why, like, why we're, we're doing all this and, like, the North Star.

So going back to your, your Wander Learn retreats, for those of you who don't know what they are, that Courtney's doing... Are you, are you still planning to, like, keep-

Dr Courtney Gowin: Yeah, for sure.

Molly: Okay. Okay. I was gonna say. I was like- I know, I know ... can I say this on the show?

Dr Courtney Gowin: I, like, took a moment this past few months because I, we've hosted...

We just hosted our 47th Wander Learn in, uh, two and a half years. And so I'm-

Molly: What does your passport look like?

Dr Courtney Gowin: It... I, I have, like, five. It's literally, like, stamp, stamp, stamp, stamp. It's insane. Because I've literally been living on a plane. And five years ago, after my divorce, that was by design because I, I had a two, four, and six-year-old, and I couldn't be in an empty house.

And so I literally just, I ran away from my problems Not really, but I actually, I did the work, but I got on a plane and I went somewhere in the world, and I just started traveling the weeks I didn't have my daughters, 'cause it just felt so like empty and sad. I was like, "If I can be out on the ocean empty and sad, I'm happy with that."

Sure,

Molly: yeah.

Dr Courtney Gowin: You know?

Molly: I get that. Yeah, I mean, not different context, but I totally- Yeah ... totally hear what you're saying. So, so tell us about like why... So okay, we go from this seminar environment where you're in this big conference room and these harsh li- and then you're like, "You know, there's gotta be a better way."

So for the people who don't know what WanderLearn is.

Dr Courtney Gowin: Um, uh, so it's basically taking the seminar model and flipping it upside down. So like I was just in Canada at a seminar. I was speaking, but also attending. Incredible seminar, but I was in Canada. I was like, "I've never been to this city before. Like, I wanna go explore on a hike or do something cool," but I didn't have the time to.

And so it was like eight hours, been there 8:00 AM, done by 6:00 PM, in a conference room, fluorescent lights. They had like a great box lunch available for us, and I was like, "Ugh," you know, like, "Okay." And it was all so like so affirming that this is why we do WanderLearn, because we take the hours in a seminar, so say you go to a seminar over the weekend that's two days, 8:00 to 6:00 PM, you're getting 12 hours of CE.

I basically took that model and said, "If we can go Wednesday to Sunday on to Greece, or we can go to Mexico, or we can go on a yacht for like a few days, like, and then do two hours in the morning, and then the rest of the day is self-care or exploration or some life-changing, and like ride a camel through Morocco, like let's do that.

And then at the end of the day, do one or two hours of touchpoint CE." And so it's... It- I took that two, two-day model, expanded it to four to five days, and, uh, ch- cha- like, changed the way people see CE, because it's a time for us to be away from our business. We should be pouring into ourselves as healers.

And then that was a big why for me, is to be able to take all of these chiropractors who are grinding it out and then say, "Hey, pause your daily rhythm, and then come, pour into yourself, be in community, get clarity on what you want next, and then go back into your community and serve at a higher level."

And so that's what I've started seeing.

Molly: What else I love that you're doing is you're encouraging people to bring your spouse, bring a friend.

Dr Courtney Gowin: 100%. Family, travel, travel, travel with your family. And uh, at first it was like, "Okay, how do we like make this appealing?" And one, you're traveling as a business write-off because you're getting all your CEs.

Your business is paying for your trip. And then two- All of our trips now have a $500 add-on to bring your spouse, and that covers their meals, their lodging, their experiences, everything in that trip for people to come on. So it just... And it's, it's fun, you know? And we have so many husbands or wives or whoever the significant other is come on the trips, and they'll sit through the classes, 'cause they're great classes, they're incredible teachers, and they're like, "Oh my gosh, I understand your world more."

Molly: Oh, that's so cool. That just gave me chills. Yeah, I just love it. I love what you've done. And my, one of... I love my business coach, and one thing she taught me that's, like, infinite ROI in what she taught me was, "You are the biggest asset in your business." Because I told her, I was like, "You know, I work from home, and then some mornings I'll sit down to work, but the kitchen is a mess and I can't work.

And so I'll go clean the kitchen, and then I feel guilty because I haven't been working." She's like, "But you made the right choice because you needed, you are your asset, right? So, like, you needed to clean the kitchen because you couldn't focus." And I was like, "I never thought about it that way."

Dr Courtney Gowin: You have to pour back into yourself for your headspace.

Molly: Yeah. It's like, yeah, 'cause if you go to these seminars, and then you're just, like, so drained. Not saying there's not draining with travel and stuff and jet lag and all that, but, like, it's a different type of tired, I feel like. You know? Like, where you're like- Exactly ... that was life-changing. The things I thought were so important, I now see are not that important, and now I get to go practice and show up differently when I go back to practice.

Dr Courtney Gowin: Right. Exactly. And I can't tell you how many people have messaged me and said, "Hey, from that time I've spent at the retreat, I was able to build, sell my practice, move across the country, and, uh, live on the beach," because that's what I've always wanted to do. Like, the, our thing is, like, live because you only get one chance.

You know? Like, if you're doing it, then just, just go. Do. Like, get dirty.

Molly: So that's kind of, like, the North Star with this episode, I think, for you is, like, you're just such an inspiration of, like, I think sometimes we get in these ruts and we get so busy to where people talk about time. I'm like, I don't even think it's time as much as it's...

I was listening to, um... Are you a Brene Brown fan?

Dr Courtney Gowin: Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Molly: Yeah. So do, have you lis-

Dr Courtney Gowin: Vulnerability superpower.

Molly: Yes. Have you listened to Cur- Curiosity Shop at all with her new podcast with Adam Grant?

Dr Courtney Gowin: No, I haven't.

Molly: No. Oh, it's so good. It's very cerebral. I will say sometimes I'm kind of like, "Wait, am I smart enough to be listening to this?"

Like, I think... But there's a lot of good things to think about. And she was talking about cognitive dollars.

Dr Courtney Gowin: Mm-hmm.

Molly: And she's like, "It's not always time management, right? Like, I might have another hour in my day, but I'm out of cognitive dollars." And I'm like, oh my God, that's so brilliant, right? Like, so I feel like with you, like that's your whole thing is like giving people back their cognitive dollars.

Dr Courtney Gowin: Yeah, exactly. I love that. I've never heard that before, but I'm definitely

Molly: using it. Yeah, right. When she said that, I was like, "Oh, that's brilliant." She's like, you know, she was mostly talking about like AI work slop, and this would actually be a perfect segue into talking about that. She was talking about AI work slop and how when someone on the team sends her something, and then she's like, "Now you have spent half my cognitive dollars because, A, this sucks what you sent me.

B, I have to tell you why it's not good. And like, C, now I don't really trust you because you're s- " So you really have taken AI and just, like, run with it. I wanna talk about She Adjusts too, so I'll let you kind of steer how to fit those two things together.

Dr Courtney Gowin: They're very connected.

Molly: Right. That's why I was like, "I'll just let you take- Yeah.

take it."

Dr Courtney Gowin: Um, I really dove into AI probably about a year ago. I was at a conference and it, it was outside the profession. It was business, it was investments, it was AI, and I got to, like, sit down with a lot of the speakers and have lunch and chat with them. And I was running Wonder Learn, and I just got so frustrated with the VA team because they would take forever, and their output was not growing my business, and it was just a lot of frustrations there.

And I was telling that to, um, one of the speakers in AI, and he goes, "Fire them and build your own team." And I was like, "What?" Like, "What?" And so from that, he, like, gave me a lot of resources to start diving into, and then I enrolled in Harvard's Data Science program in agentic AI, and I started doing an intensive.

And- I don't

Molly: even know what that means. What is agentic AI?

Dr Courtney Gowin: So agent- agentic AI is basically building agents to run-

Molly: Oh, oh, oh ...

Dr Courtney Gowin: a task. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure, sure, sure. And so it basically was an intensive on like, "Hey, how do we..." And people are always saying, "Oh, AI's gonna take your job, take your job," and it's completely false, because you can't have AI agents running loose and running everything.

They'll hallucinate because they'll get out of control.

Molly: Running loose.

Dr Courtney Gowin: What it really- They're

Molly: running a- the agents are running amok again, Courtney. Oh, no. One's crossed the border to Mexico. Go chase it. No, I'm just

Dr Courtney Gowin: kidding. Exactly. And it's just like like they, they called it upgrading your mindware of understanding a new structure of business where your employees are more efficient because they have those menial tasks that are able to be delegated to a trained AI assistant or agent.

Um, so that was really fun to learn and d- like deep, deep, deep dive into that. And I've always like built websites, done everything on their own. I love the creative space and the digital world. And so then I started playing around with... I knew I wanted a mastermind. I knew I wanted a community of female chiropractors to come together.

Um, and I was in Tulum, and I was like really just sitting there, like manifesting, like meditating, just trying to figure out what's next, because I knew I was selling my practice. And so I knew like, "Okay, this chapter is closing of being with patients. What is next?" And it was downloaded like a She Adjust- female mastermind that feels like a social club, but people can actually learn from the best in the profession.

And so I feel like I've been able to have incredible friends, mentors in this profession, and it was a way to, like, scoop them all up and put their brain in the mastermind for students, young doctors, and then even seasoned doctors to come and mentor. Um, so I was like, "Okay, here's the idea," but There were so many tools out there.

It was like Circle, School, Gmail, like you name it, there's hundreds, hundreds of things. GoHighLevel was a beast, and I was like, "I just, I want everything at once." And so I started really, really playing around, and I ended up custom building the platform for SheAdjusts, and then I built a custom CRM, and then the website, and then I was able to layer on 10 agentic AI employees that basically run that entire business 10X more efficiently than when I hired a full team of six people for WanderLearn for, and I run it all from WhatsApp on my phone.

And so it's just like under, like once you kind of hook into it, and I was like, "Oh no," like here's my like... I have that type of ADHD that like hooks onto something and has to like complete the circle. And so I like started really, really diving deep into it, and I was like, "Oh my gosh," like I couldn't sleep at night.

I was just, "Oh my gosh," like, "What can I create?" And it just like kept going and going, and so it has been a blast.

Molly: Literally breaking my brain. I'm so excited. Like I just like am so ha- I'm like, "God, I know the coolest people." So first off, thank you for inviting me to be a part of SheAdjusts. I am so, so honored.

But yeah, tell us more about SheAdjusts.

Dr Courtney Gowin: You know, it just launched this past week, and we almost have 100 members, and so it was just, I think, a huge need for people. I think we have over 60% of women coming into the school, and after five years, almost half of those women in pract- are out of practice because they're diving into, uh, a model that feels lonely, that's male-dominated, and they don't have the support or mentorship.

You know, like there's incredible coaches, and I thought, "You know what? If we can bring all of that wisdom into one place for people to access it and say, 'Oh my gosh, Molly, I really resonate with you and your program. I wanna be a member.'" And then you get the perks of being a SheAdjusts member of your insider pricing or your downloads or things like that.

So I know I didn't wanna go back to that time for money model of coaching or adjusting. Like that was just completely against like how I wanted to be a mother. And then also in my travels, I wanted something that I built for people to come into to feel the community, the support, but also like the adventures and fun in life too.

So it's like retreats, pop-ups, events, social club, like everything all in one.

Molly: And you do a lot of CE opportunities as well, which is- Of course.

Dr Courtney Gowin: Yeah. And your CE should be fun. Like we're about to do a CE in two weeks- That's like we're gonna start the morning with a wealth walk. So it'll be, we'll walk around the trail of the lake and we'll talk about investments, your practice, your business.

Like, kind of like get a partner and chat through, and then we'll go sauna and cold plunge at this incredible studio, grab coffee, lunch, and then we'll do four hours of intraoral cranial adjusting, CE, and then also understanding, like, neurodivergent children and how your practice can help serve that population.

It's just, like, really, it's just, if we just kind of made our education more congruent, where we're moving, we're outside, sunshine, good food, good people, and that's where I think your nervous system actually takes in information better because it's experiential.

Molly: Okay, not to give you more business ideas, but I have another one for you.

So you need ... Like, how, this is such a segue, but we'll, we'll zag back, I promise. I- what I'm the most amazed by you is like speaking about nervous system, all the travel you do, how do you stay well? Like, how do you keep it-

Dr Courtney Gowin: Well, I didn't... So you know what's really interesting is I'm really good in a group for about three days, and then I'm like, "I need to go, like, not talk to somebody for a week."

I'm like, I think it's been good for me to build up that resiliency within my nervous system, but it was trip after trip, after the third day, I would get sick because my body was so run down with the travel, the experience, the everything. And I think it became something of, like, monitoring my output and knowing, like, this is the time that I can actually be present and run these events and make them happen.

And I also have to slow down and force myself to enjoy and, like, be on vacation with people because I'm, I just, I'm a driver and I really want people to have the best experience ever, and I just, like, put so much pressure on myself. And it was so liberating to be like, "Court, chill. Like, you're on the beach in Greece.

Like, just lay on the beach for a little bit." You know? And then so it's like giving myself permission to relax is where I started getting like, okay, I can run these events now and it's actually fun.

Molly: Yeah, I need you to coach me through that 'cause I, I hosted two retreats and they were so great, and they both sold out so quickly, and the groups of women were phenomenal.

Like, we all stay in touch, like, they're great humans. But that, after that second one, I was like, "I can't do this again," because I'm such an empath and stuff, like, holding that space for people for that long, like, I was just so drained. Um, and of course, this last one, the first day we get there, we have no hot water in this really nice Airbnb, right?

And, like, people have flown across the country and they just wanna shower. And I'm like, "Sorry, it's cold," you know? And then it's like, I know they don't blame me for that, but still, at the same time, like, you feel responsible and, like, I was just like, "I need to-" Yeah. Okay, so that, not that I'm happy you got sick a lot, but I'm like, makes me feel better you're not completely superhuman.

You learned your lesson. Yeah,

Dr Courtney Gowin: I, I learned my lesson, but it also made me think of, like, the business model, and it was after that, I flipped the business model of being, like, a direct access retreats to a B2B business. And so our model now is, hey, you have a following of people, then we come in and create the retreat experience, certify your CE, plan everything on the back end, give you a link, you promote to your audience, and then when you show up, I'm running it or one of our contractors is running the experience, so you get to teach, but also relax knowing that we have all the logistics handled.

Molly: Yeah, and then Courtney's not the point person e- like you are, but you're not like, it's not your retreat per se.

Dr Courtney Gowin: Exactly. We're-- Like, I found out, like, I don't love the spotlight. I literally love being in the background, watching, like, the curator, making sure, like, that long dinner table on the ocean at night is, has the right candles and the flowers and music and the guitar guy's over here.

Like, that's my gift is the curation and being in the background, making sure things run smoothly while you're, like, leading your people, having the best time, and your nervous system is actually resetting. Yeah. So that... And then it was getting sick and, like, realizing, like, no, no, no, like, I, mm-mm, this is where my gift is.

And so once I shift that model of a B2B, it became like, oh yeah, absolutely, like, these are done in my sleep.

Molly: See, this is why I definitely gotta send you a Loom after this, 'cause I just wanna show up and teach and lead people. I don't wanna do, I don't wanna do any of that stuff.

Dr Courtney Gowin: are, but I honestly love it.

I genuinely am planning a wedding right now, and I was like, "Oh my gosh," being able to, like, take these skills and to negotiate the contracts, like know the ins and outs of the travel industry and, like, all the little things that people don't know that you can get or have or have included, um, that has been really fun for me to do.

Molly: So we'll link in the show notes the information to join, 'cause it's on- ongoing, uh, and, you know, for female chiropractors if

Dr Courtney Gowin: they wanna- No, we'll do a retreat for our SheAdjust members that are VIP people. They have that included in their membership. It'll be super fun.

Molly: So I do just kinda wanna, like, go back to, I don't know, a couple things.

If you were to pick, like, one place for people who, like, "Okay, yeah, I have ChatGPT or I have Claude on my phone, and I'm using it very surface level", like if you were to give people kind of like that next step first, you know, with AI, what would it be? Like, what would you tell them to do? How, how are they- I mean,

Dr Courtney Gowin: I think you're only as good as your prompts.

And so if you don't have the clarity and you're just conversational AI building something with Claude or ChatGPT, it's gonna be very generic, and I think there's a lot of, like, AI slop out there that people are like, "This feels so impersonal that I just, I don't trust you anymore", and it just feels like, okay, you ran this through here.

Like, I think there's a way to use and leverage AI to make, yeah, your life easier, but at the same time I think we talked about it making it more authentic to you. Like, use the tools where the tools are used. Um, but my biggest thing is, like, how do we build something into people's lives that gets them off of technology?

And so that's the most, like, the coolest thing that I have realized is I don't have to be at my computer 24/7, like with a startup company that I've built with SheAdjust and Like not spend time with my kids. And so it's been really cool to understand and leverage the tools and say, "You know what? I run this business from WhatsApp on my phone and have 10 employees."

And but that you would never know how to prompt that and not know that it's possible if you didn't have the clarity. And so I think if you're a business owner, getting a 10,000-foot view of your business, seeing all your profit streams, all your whole, like where everything might be leaking, and then be able to say, "You know what?

Here's the big picture where we want to be, and then here are solutions that need to happen." And then working through those prompts on ChatGPT or Claude and like really putting that problem, and then working... Like that's where the conversational AI comes in and being able to talk it through, get intelligent solutions, and then get that prompt refined where it's like a beautiful like solutions-oriented prompt, and then put that into your building tool.

And it's like having a computer talk to another computer for clarity, but you have to have the vision first to be able to know, like you're only as good as your communication, if that makes sense. So getting clear on your business, what you need, getting a clear prompt communication, and then putting that into your building tool and knowing that like, hey, your life can be simplified by these tools, and you can actually leverage them to like step away from technology.

That's what I love about AI.

Molly: That is cool to me. That's like really attractive to me for sure But I'm gonna need you to take it even back another step and be like, okay, so where do, where, like, where do you go to do, to learn this and do this? And I... You have, of course, you're building something to teach people this too.

Maybe by the time... It won't be li- it won't be live by the time this

Dr Courtney Gowin: episode- It should be live, um, the goal is August 1st.

Molly: Okay.

Dr Courtney Gowin: So that should, that's the goal. But yeah, it's the Well OS, um, and it's just, I wanted it to be like a well of information for people to come to, but also life operating systems.

And so it sounds like blah, blah, blah, but it honestly is just cor- interactive experience courses. You're not watching modules. You're literally interacting with an AI, and it's giving you, as a result from the course, your custom solution and step by step how to build it. And all of our builds, they start at 20 minutes or less.

And so in 20 minutes, you can have an executive assistant running your Gmail, your LinkedIn, your socials from WhatsApp on your phone. And so that's really, really... I think the course, I didn't wanna sit in front and record a course, like, for 12 hours. I, I, no thank you. I was like, how do we build something that's interactive and actually takes your personal needs?

And I learned that from the Harvard course. It was super interesting. We had 1,200 people in our cohort, and, uh, I was like, okay, this is gonna be like, are we just gonna be watching these Zooms every, every week, and then, like, having these interactive lessons every single day? And what I realized was so, so cool, and the best thing I took from that was at the beginning, your pre-work was a questionnaire interactive interview, and it told you, and I was like, "I wanna build an agency that is an educational AI agency."

And so it basically took that goal and broke it down, and then every day after the lesson inter- it was like a podcast of two people talking about your product and how to build it. And it was so cool. And so that was a big thing.

Molly: So essentially, if you're like someone's, a, a practice owner right now, they're already, you know, they're seeing a million patients a week, they're stretched so thin, and they're like, "I don't even know where to start," they could jump into this Well OS and be like, "Here's my issue."

Like- 100%,

Dr Courtney Gowin: yes ...

Molly: and it's gonna direct you, like, what knowledge level is needed to basically beginners can come into this, right?

Dr Courtney Gowin: Zero knowledge is needed.

Molly: Okay.

Dr Courtney Gowin: Because it's like, hey, let's take your problem, and then let's build the solution, and then give you step by step by step how to do it. And then the next level of that agency is like, "Don't have time for that?

Cool, we'll build it for you."

Molly: Yeah. Oh, that's amazing. Which is like I say, I'm about to send Courtney a big fat Loom video and be like, "Fix me. Come fix all this." Right. This is exciting. Okay, so I do wanna wrap up with, like- If you, I feel like you're this wealth of, you know, we were talking about this before.

It was like people are like, "Oh, things must come so easily," and like, what if... It's like, no, you've definitely had a really rough Yeah ... go of it the last-

Dr Courtney Gowin: Five years. Yeah.

Molly: Yeah. Um, so this is not, like, kind of how did you pull yourself out of that more like, ugh, victim mindset of like, "Oh, I'll never get ahead," like hamster wheel-

Dr Courtney Gowin: Mm-hmm

Molly: to be like, "All right, that's, I'm bored with that version of Courtney. Like, let's freaking go"?

Dr Courtney Gowin: It is, and it takes a lot of, uh, faith and trust to recreate yourself. You know, like, to go from, like, I've spent all this money, all this time as a chiropractor building this business, running it for 13 years. Like, that's my identity, and then it took a lot, and like, I'm a believer, and I feel like the Holy Spirit, and it was on a retreat in Costa Rica, and it was just like a really, like, time of introspection.

And the Holy Spirit said, "No, now it's time for you to change and sell your practice." And it was, like, such a strong download. And, uh, you know, I d- and this is wild. And I was like, "Ah, you know, like, I, yeah, I still-"

Molly: Ha ha, that's cute, God. Thanks ...

Dr Courtney Gowin: cute, cute, cute. And I was praying about it. I was like, "All right, God, if that is, like, the, the path you want me to take," 'cause I was like, "I don't know what's next."

Like, that's a har- Like, I'm doing Wander Learn and these things, but I was like, "I don't know." I prayed. I was like, "Give me a sign." And three days after I freaking prayed that prayer, I was running across my backyard, and it was around the pool, and I slipped, and I broke my wrist in half. And, uh- I've never broken a bone in my body.

Genuinely the most freak accident, and I couldn't practice for three months. And thank God, 'cause I had that three months to get all my financials in order, get everything prepared for a sell that I genuinely would have never done. And so it's just like, okay, whenever you innately... It's what we talk about vitalism as chiropractors, like to loop back to the beginning.

It's like once you understand that vitalistic pull and, like, that voice from the inside, listen to it, and whenever you listen to it, that's divinely connected to God, to source, to universe, and that is coming through above, down, inside, out. And so whenever you get that clear message, you know it. Like, you know truth hits you.

And then it's being bold in the faith and knowing that, hey, God's got that next step for you, because if He would not have given you that vision, if He didn't also prepare the path for you. And so it's just stepping out in faith and understanding that you know what that next step is. It's you don't know what it is yet, but it is gonna be beautiful if it's coming truly from divinely within.

And so it was a lot of faith. A lot of fear was in that too, but it's like, oh, you know,

Dr Nick Belden: like, I don't know.

Molly: I kind of feel like, and maybe this has just been my personal experience, like, and I don't wanna project it on other people, but I feel like if you don't h- you have to have the fear stage. I just feel like you get to skip that.

Dr Courtney Gowin: Yeah. And I feel like that's- Yeah, exactly ...

Molly: you know, I, I go through, so, like, this is, like, a per- personal tidbit. It's like, you know, we've always lived-- When I was in corporate, I was the major breadwinner, but I hated my life, right? Like, and so we've kind of flipped, and, like, we've always gotten, like, our mortgages and everything based on my husband's income, and then mine has always been extra.

Well, now I've, like, matched his income again, so it's all our fun stuff. It's all our trips. It's, like- uh, home renovations we've been doing and all that, it comes from mine. And when, like, I had a couple months of the business where I'm like, "Is this what I wanna do anymore?" And it was so, and I, it, it is. I found out there was a different problem, that I just wasn't feeling supported.

I was like, oh my gosh, like, it's so scary to think like, oh my God, our vacations, we're not gonna be able to go vacation anymore 'cause I can't, you know- But you spiral.

Dr Courtney Gowin: Yes. Oh, you spiral. I literally- Yes ... as a single mom for five years.

Molly: Mm-hmm. Oh, I'm sure.

Dr Courtney Gowin: I literally was like, if I don't, like, grow or build this, like I was in fight or flight for so long because it was like, I have these three little humans that it's just up to me to build and provide for them.

Like, and if this patient doesn't come in, or this blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like, you spiral and you're like, we're gonna be homeless. That's just where we're at.

Molly: Yeah, I know. I always think I, I was like, well, Matt's mom has extra room here. But I'm like, Molly, what are you saying? Like, you know what I mean?

Dr Courtney Gowin: But like- Exactly, yeah. But it's, it's, and you need those mentors, and those people, and like the community. Like, that was the biggest thing with She Adjusts is like, how do we, whenever you're feeling like that, a safe space for somebody to come in and be like, "Hey, I'm unwell." And like, you have a community supporting you in that time and that season, 'cause we all go through it.

Molly: Yeah, yeah. And to see people who have kind of come out the other side too, and be like, "Yeah, it sucked, and it wasn't a month, it was five years."

Dr Courtney Gowin: But

Molly: like-

Dr Courtney Gowin: So many facts,

Molly: yeah ... but let me like quantum leap that timeline for you because I've already done it, so here, let me help you. And like, I think mindset is so important.

A lot of people poo-poo it, but then there's also people who go only mindset and don't give any strategy. And so that's what I was kind of attracted to She Adjusts, is 'cause it feels like a really nice balance of-

Dr Courtney Gowin: Yeah ...

Molly: both

Dr Courtney Gowin: Absolutely. Yeah, it's real. It's re- real people doing real life together.

Molly: So with She Adjusts, do you have a lot of the AI, like, resources in that as well?

Or, okay. Yeah. Okay.

Dr Courtney Gowin: Yeah, so we have a whole portal. Um, I think we have 15 AI tools now. That's everything from, like, our students just coming up, they have a AI student or an AI student loan companion, and so you basically talk to it, and then it gives you the best strategy for your student loan repayments.

And then all the way at the other end are VIPs. They have a different portal that's like, "Hey, how do we do syndications for apartments investing?" Or, "How do we build our net worth?" Or, "How do we save on taxes?" Like, all these AI tools are so fun. They're fun for me to create, but it's also gonna be a living, breathing experience of like, hey, you know what?

Like, you've experienced these AI tools. What tool can help you in your business, in your practice?

Molly: One of my clients who, she's been a client for, like, six years, and she's one of my absolute best friends. I'm always like, "God, it's so unfortunate we don't live near each other," just 'cause I love her so much.

She texted me the day She Adjusts launched, and she was like, "Hey." To be-- This is so odd. This is such an honest thing to say, uh, and on air. She was like, "Hey, I see you're a part of this. Like, what is it?" I'm like, "I don't know." I was just like... She's like, "Should I join?" I'm like, "Listen, I don't really know what I signed up for.

I just saw an email from Courtney asking me to do something," and I'm like, "Yeah, whatever, because I just know that whatever, whatever you're creating, I know that I wanna be involved with because that's the level of, like, respect I have for you and, like, what you're doing." I remember at the ICPA- Life respect.

Yeah. Well, at the ICPA conference, I was like, "Courtney, you're so smart." I was like, "You're just so smart." So I call it the, I've dubbed it the Courtney Effect, and like, you're just like, you just, you know, you're just so good. So I told her, I was like, "Listen, I don't really know, but, like, I would feel confident putting my name-" Even without even...

I was like, "Yeah, cool. Like, I'll do whatever. Whatever you tell me

Dr Courtney Gowin: to do" And I feel that pressure too. Like, a lot of people in the same boat. They're like, "Yeah, whatever you're creating, I'm in." And I was like, "Oh, my God." And so I was like, okay, there's a lot of pressure to, like, perform and make sure this is something epic for people, and to, like, keep it, like, the soul of what it is.

I appreciate you saying that, but it also is like reflecting-

Molly: Oh, sorry. I hope I

Dr Courtney Gowin: don't- ... what I want. No, it's like, it's what I want, like, the experience to be is, like, I always say Ritz Carlton experience through and through. Like, so treats through anything that I'm creating, like, I want it to be incredible, but I also want it to give people value, and that's the biggest thing.

And

Molly: I know it. Well, well she texted me like an hour later. She's like, "I joined." I'm like, "Cool." Like, "I knew you-" Good decision. Like-

Dr Courtney Gowin: Great. Yeah.

Molly: Great, great decision 'cause whatever she's doing it's gonna be good. Like, I can tell you that. So- Very

Dr Courtney Gowin: sweet. Thank you.

Molly: Yeah, whatever are your... I'm like, "Here, take my money.

Whatever. I don't know." If you could tell, you could've told me anything. I'm like, "Yeah, whatever. I don't know." So we'll put all of those links, um, and then how can people find... You have like a million Instagram accounts, but-

Dr Courtney Gowin: I know. It, it's disgusting actually. Um, the main one is Dr. Courtney Gowan. So you can just...

And I'm about to change my name. Like, do you... Like, let me ask you this for social media, like, I'm getting married in three weeks, and I'm getting a new last name. Like, what do I need to do? I like do a full rebrand, or like what if... What do I do? Help me.

Molly: Yeah. I don't... You know what you could do, is you could change your handle and leave your name line as Gowan, and then like add your new last name to that just for a while until people kind of...

That way people could still find you via typing in Courtney Gowan, 'cause that name line is searchable as well. But you've, you're starting to kind of like-

Dr Courtney Gowin: Rebrand the,

Molly: the- Yeah. It, and it takes a couple years, right? Like-

Dr Courtney Gowin: I guess so. I don't know.

Molly: I feel like it was a couple years before I stopped it. Now and when I say my maiden name, I'm like, "Oh, that sounds weird."

Not that this is your maiden name, but you know, or is it your maiden-

Dr Courtney Gowin: No.

Molly: Did you... Okay, I was gonna say it's your- Maiden name. Yeah Yeah, I didn't think so. Uh, well, I know a lot of chiropractors never change their name in the first place because- Right. Exactly ... of licensing and stuff. Mm-hmm. But you're not practicing anymore,

Dr Courtney Gowin: so you

Molly: don't have to.

No, exactly. What's gonna be your new last name? Busby Okay, with, spell it. B-U-S-B-E-E. Okay. Oh, I've never seen it with the two Es.

Dr Courtney Gowin: Oh, that's cute. Courtney Busbee. It's just a little Courtney the Bee. Courtney Bee. It's cute, yeah. Courtney Bee. Oh my God. Flying around. Courtney Bee. Yes. Oh, that's cute. I like it.

Molly: So yeah, so if you can't find her as Courtney Gowan when you're listening to this, she's Courtney Busbee now. When's your wedding?

Dr Courtney Gowin: Uh, July 21st.

Molly: So soon. Yeah, so you will be, when this airs, you'll be a married-

Dr Courtney Gowin: I know ...

Molly: woman.

Dr Courtney Gowin: I'm so excited.

Molly: Oh my God, Courtney was telling me about her wedding. She's like, "Then we're gonna get on a yacht, and then we're going over here to do this, and then..." I'm like, oh my God, I'm exhausted just, like, listening to you.

It's just won-

Dr Courtney Gowin: I know. It's a three, it's like a progressive wedding. It's gonna be, um... But I think too, like, and that's the experience I want all the people who are flying to France, I want to give them this, like, it's almost like a Wonderland experience. You know? It's like, it's, I want them to, like, they're spending time, energy, and resources to come be with us.

Like, I definitely want them to, like, have an incredible experience.

Molly: And they will. Are you an HGTV fan?

Dr Courtney Gowin: Oh, uh, yes. Always.

Molly: Do you watch Castle Impossible?

Dr Courtney Gowin: Yes.

Molly: Okay. It is like, do your, you watch it with your girls?

Dr Courtney Gowin: Yes. They love

Molly: it. Yep, okay. Yep. It's, MJ's like, "We have to wait until next Wednesday for another?"

'Cause we're caught up, you know?

Dr Courtney Gowin: Yeah.

Molly: I'm like, "Yeah, welcome. This is the '90s, kid." But I'm like, now I wanna go visit this chateau, you know?

Dr Courtney Gowin: Mm-hmm. It's a real thing. Gives you the travel bug, for sure.

Molly: Um, I love you so much. Thank you for being in my world.

Dr Courtney Gowin: Thank you for, thank you for having me.

Molly: And yeah, yeah, if you're a female chiropractor listening to this, you need to...

And if you're not, you need to check out WellOS. Hopefully that'll be-

Dr Courtney Gowin: Mm-hmm, that shows- Yeah, it- I think that will help a lot of people simplify, 'cause it's just so overwhelming of, like, all the tools. Yeah,

Molly: it is.

Dr Courtney Gowin: And this is just, it teaches you on one tool, and then maybe, like, outsource and API connect a few things.

But generally, it's like 20-minute, 30-minute builds that give you back your time.

Molly: Mind blown.

Dr Courtney Gowin: Thank you so much. All right. Thanks for having me.

Molly: Bye. Bye. Thank you for listening to Holistic Marketing Simplified. And hey, you know how every podcaster at the very end of their episode asks you to rate and review their podcast?

Well, that's because it's super important. These podcasts take a lot of time and heart and effort to produce to bring you free information. So in order for me to be able to continue doing that, we need more people to find out about the show. So if you could, please just take, like, two minutes out of your very busy day to leave me a rating and share this on your Instagram stories, and tag @mollyacahill.

That's C-A-H-I-L-L. I would greatly, greatly appreciate your support. I know your time is valuable, and I can't wait to see you in the next episode.