IB Woman
Issue No. 32 - December/January
Training, passion the best medicine
by Penelope Herbert
As a registered nurse, Tracey Cook’s interest in the health and well-being of patients has always been the mainstay of her career. But her move to naturopathy 17 years ago was instigated by her severe eczema for which she, finally, sought naturopathic treatment.
“In desperation, I went to a naturopath because no medication had ever helped me,” she says. “Within six months my eczema had completely cleared and has never recurred.
“This stimulated my interest to the point I decided to undertake a full-time four-year course. At that time, naturopathy was still considered unorthodox, ‘fringe’ medicine but now my former colleagues are also my clients.”
Tracey is passionate about preventative healthcare which is why she set up her home-based business, Botanica Medica, eight years ago. With two small children to care for, the hallway as a waiting room and two front rooms used for consulting, Tracey found that working from home was no longer an option after about six years, so she set about looking for premises convenient to the school her young son was about to start attending.
“Working mothers generally have to consider their options in unison with child care because they are the ones who have given birth; men don’t usually have the same constraints,” says Tracey.
“It’s a stressful conflict and one of the most difficult aspects of being a working mother.”
Having built a clientele, Tracey was dispensing ‘practitioner-only’ herbal products in such volumes that her suppliers were surprised when they realised she worked from home. Moving to premises in Glen Osmond Road also gave her the opportunity to provide retail products.
“My concept was to acquire a high-profile site where I could sell products complementary to my consulting and dispensing business,” she says.
“I wanted to provide it all, not just be a health food shop, so I determined we would only sell produc...
