Abrie Koupal and Amanda Boni, the dedicated owners of Boulder Birth and Holistic Health, have been pivotal in the clinic’s success since taking over. Since its inception in 2014, this Boulder-based clinic has welcomed nearly 1,000 babies. Under Amanda and Abrie’s leadership, the clinic has expanded to include holistic services such as acupuncture and mental health therapy. As recent recipients of the Energize Community Program loan, they are poised to continue serving families in the community. Learn more about their inspiring journey in our Boulder Birth and Holistic Health case study.
What is your name? And what is the name of your business?
Abrie Koupal, Boulder Birth & Holistic Health
How long have you been in operation? And what services/products do you provide?
We took over ownership and rebranded with a new name and logo, new business license, and expanded care model on 10/1/2023 – however this birth center has been operating in the same location since July of 2014, and we have welcomed nearly 1000 babies earthside since then. We are a freestanding birth center that offers midwife-led prenatal, birth, postpartum, and early newborn care to low-risk families. We also offer a wide range of holistic health services beyond birth to our community regardless of gender, including sexual health and gynecological care, acupuncture, functional medicine, lactation support, mental health therapy, and more.
What has been the driving force behind your business? And in what ways are you hoping to grow in the future?
The driving force behind our business is the belief that individualized, client and family-centered care that views clients as active participants in their healthcare journey should be the standard. That birth – and the way people are treated and supported as they journey toward birth and in the time afterward – matters, and directly impacts families for a lifetime. That midwifery care should be integrated into and valued within the mainstream healthcare model and if recognized and utilized appropriately could be an integral part of the solution to the maternal health crisis we are facing in this country. That we can expect better from our healthcare system.
As an entrepreneur what is one challenge you’ve faced in the past? And how did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge we have faced and overcome so far is standing up to the hospital that owned us previously when they tried to close our doors, and refusing to let them do so. With an incredible amount of determination, creativity, community support, and blind faith, we pulled off divesting from hospital ownership to private ownership without interrupting client care – all in an absurdly short amount of time and with no prior experience in business ownership nor plans to assume ownership.
We were notified by the hospital at the end of March 2023 that they were going to close our practice in mid-June. The hospital, like so many in the post-pandemic landscape of healthcare, was unable to financially sustain ownership of many practices it had acquired, including our birth center. Our center fought hard and stood up to the leadership at the hospital, advocating for the importance of our care model and its widespread benefits in our community. A longtime administrative coworker, Amanda Boni, and I organically ended up taking the lead in negotiating with the hospital executives. We bought ourselves some time, extending their ownership while negotiating for several more months and investigating every alternative scenario we could dream up, none of which panned out. When it became apparent that the center would actually close unless we took it back ourselves, the two of us asked ourselves and our team to take a long, hard look in the mirror and decide whether we wanted to create and be a part of the birth center’s new vision and leadership team, whether we wanted to stay through the transition but not assume a leadership role, or whether we needed to leave the practice. About half of our staff decided not to stay due to the financial instability of doing so. The other half stuck it out with us but did not want a leadership role.
Amanda and I committed to taking the leap together. We got the word out and accepted the support of anyone who would offer it. We threw a community fundraiser in August and raised over $60,000 between our silent auction and other contributions – a great amount of money and yet not nearly the amount we needed. At the 11th hour, we had an angel investor pull through and provided $100,000 – still far short from the nearly $400,000 we anticipated needing in order to bridge the gap between taking ownership, continuing operations, and having regular income streams due to near-certain delays in insurance contracts being finalized, but enough that we found the courage to sign our names on the dotted line.
We assumed ownership of the birth center on October 1, 2023, and while it’s been a steep learning curve with challenges facing us almost daily requiring constant problem solving, adaptability, and creativity, we are immensely proud of the fact that our families have never stopped receiving the evidence-based, family-centered care we are known for while navigating this massive transition – and that we’ve been able to successfully introduce critical services such as mental health and lactation support, both of which we have wanted to be able to offer for many years – since taking over ownership.
What we’ve learned is not to give up. To buoy each other on days when it feels impossible. To keep pivoting, keep dreaming, keep aiming high. To never lose sight of why this matters and is worth fighting for. And that our plans for expanding our holistic health offerings and improving systems will stabilize our center so that we can thrive, not just survive, and be able to thus serve our community for many, many years to come.
How was your overall experience working with Energize Colorado? What solution did Energize Colorado provide? And how did/will the solution benefit you and your business?
Energize Colorado literally kept our doors open with their quick communication, genuine caring, and rapid funding. I applied to Energize before we had any bank history. The Energize team heard our story and let us know our application would be held open and to return when we had 3 months of bank history to share. That ended up being just in the nick of time to help us avoid running out of operating funds at the end of 2023. They have been supportive far beyond my wildest imagination and have continued to reach out with resources for success and simply to check-in. With their gap loan, we have been able to maintain services as we continue to ride out the delays in reimbursements we are experiencing with two major insurance payors who make up more than half of our client base. I couldn’t be more appreciative.
What is one piece of advice you would give to someone with aspirations to start a business of their own?
We had 3 months to prepare to take over ownership of our birth center. Ideally, take more time than we had the luxury of having to plan thoroughly and obtain the maximum funding you think you will need in order to set yourself up for success rather than be constantly trying to make ends meet as you go along. Make sure you have a business partner you implicitly trust and a strong support network. Get ready for the ride of a lifetime – the highs and the lows and the learning curves are humbling!