Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Bartel.
Hi Jessica, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I am one of the few people born and raised in the good ole ATL. I grew up in Tucker and lived in the same house my whole life until I went to college. In fact, my mother still lives in that house if you can imagine that. As a junior in high school, I took AP US History and completely admired my teacher, Mrs. McKinzey. She was tough and kind. She made history interesting in a way I never saw it before. When the year ended I asked her what classes she was teaching the next year. One of them was AP Psychology. I asked her what was Psychology. To this day, I have no idea how at 17, I had never heard of Psychology, but it didn’t even matter because if Mrs Mckinzey was teaching it, I was going to take it.
Senior year in high school was rough because I wanted to go to a religious school across the country, and I didn’t have parents in any sort of financial position to help support me. It was all up to me. I had to skip classes on occasion in order to work and make the money I needed. I worked every single break either babysitting, working as a dental assistant, or filing clerk for an accounting firm. Yes three jobs, played sports or extracurriculars year round, active in my church community, took AP classes, and maintained great grades. I had goals. I wanted to go to college out west, and for me, there was no other option. Just a few years later, I received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.
I think being raised extremely poor but having the right people in my life led me to believe I could do anything with hard work and ambition. I believe choosing to go to a Mormon school, though I am no longer Mormon, was a critical part of my journey in becoming who I am today. I know from struggle comes great reward.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My professional career started late in life. I had always known I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, so after receiving a Bachelor’s in Psychology, I put it aside to raise three children; Riley, Jada, and Bradley. My then-husband was struggling to support the family, so I took odd and ends jobs to help with the bills, all which required me to bring the children along. This was not easy to do, but as a child my family was extremely poor, so I knew struggle, and I knew what it takes to survive, hard work, and determination at all costs.
After 11 years as a stay-at-home mom, in 2015 my then-husband asked me to help his company. He had created a dietary supplement product and created the structure of the company, but was lacking the ability to run the day-to-day. At first, I was brought on to help with social media and marketing, but it didn’t take long before I saw the holes and needs of the company and in a short time was managing nearly all the operations of the company. We grew exponentially during this time, and I discovered running a company was actually something I was pretty good at. And honestly, I loved every minute of what I did. My passion and commitment drove me through some tough times with inventory and employment issues. However, the struggle of working with my ex-husband became unbearable, and it was time for us to part ways and for me to create my own path.
How I found neurofeedback and decided to build my new life around it was due to my own personal trauma. I was a victim of infidelity and psychological/mental abuse. Upon the discovery of the infidelity, I was able to compartmentalize and put away my feelings for quite a long time, but once the abuse really picked up, I felt like things were spinning out and everything was out of my control. I felt I was in constant fight or flight and everything felt urgent and big and important. I was insanely angry at being put in this situation and how unfair it was that I had to suffer so greatly, while he seemingly felt no shame or remorse and simply moved on with life.
One night, I had this realization that I needed a reboot. Nothing I was told in therapy was able to sink in because it was like the wires in my brain were spaghetti. I heard what the therapist said, but when it came time to being exposed to the triggers, all strategies went out the door. As clear as an angel speaking to me, the idea popped into my head to try neurofeedback. I googled the closest clinic and sent an email inquiry, and had an appointment the next day. Within about four sessions I started exiting the constant fight/flight and started receiving some perspective of my situation. I went to neurofeedback for many months and had a 56% successful change and was a whole new person from when I began. Neurofeedback completely changed my life, and all the while I was being exposed to the abuse. I can’t imagine how I could have endured without it.
After my success, I decided to start taking my son for his emotional dysregulation and to monitor his progress to decide if this was something that I could have all of the same passion and build my new life upon. His emotional dysregulation restored back to normal. It was gone. Now, his emotions were appropriate for a normal eight-year-old. I was so thrilled and signed up for training as a technician as soon as I was able to get in. Running a business has its own challenges, but I feel there is nothing else in the world I would rather do. I am one of the few people blessed with complete job satisfaction.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
BrainSpa uses neurofeedback to improve multiple aspects of your life. Neurofeedback training is an effective, FDA-approved, safe, non-invasive, non-pharmacological intervention that should be considered as a type of therapy for mental health struggles because it promotes the healing, instead of masking, of a dysregulated brain. The goal of neurofeedback is not only to change how you think and feel but also to change your brain on a biological level for better functioning.
My experiences have led me to connect with others going through life, either in a moment or chronically, feeling like something is off, and they are not being the person they know they are supposed to be. I know that feeling and also know it doesn’t have to be that way. Neurofeedback can restore proper balance and allow space for healing whether that is suffering from PTSD/trauma, pain, depression, anxiety, headaches, OCD, behavior and emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, mood swings, anger, memory, brain fog, attention/focus, insomnia, and so much more.
In the creation of the brand, I had a clear direction that I wanted a non-medical spa-like atmosphere with soft lights, relaxing music, candles with healing aromas, and a beautiful well decorated interior. The name BrainSpa matched the vision I was looking for and my logo was created by my web team after one attempt. Everything was falling into place, and I knew this would be my new path to creating my own financial future after having my life flipped upside down. I opened BrainSpa at the age of 42, having been bruised, beaten, and disadvantaged but with the knowledge and conviction of someone who was born to provide neurofeedback services to the community.
I also have cultivated a relationship with other local business owners in the mental and physical health space so that I can collaborate with them to make sure my clients are getting support on multiple levels.
Pricing:
- QEEG Brain Map $250
Contact Info:
- Website: brainspawellness.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brainspawellness/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brainspawellness
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-bartel-332a9ba9/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@brainspawellness
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/brainspa-marietta
Image Credits
Stuart Hasson at Hasson Studios
