Deandra Hennemann has helped and healed people for years as a trauma therapist. When personal tragedy turned her world upside down, she could have closed off and turned inward. Instead, this incredible woman fought for her life and won. Read on to find out how Deandra turned her holistic approach to well being into a business that allows her to empower others.
When Deandra was seven years old, as kids around her dreamed of being TV news anchors and roller skating waitresses (was that just me?), she had a revelation: wouldn’t it be cool to talk to people as a career? Unlike my short-lived roller skating waitress aspirations, Deandra stuck with her dreams and worked hard to become a mental health counselor. She volunteered to help other kids with reading and tutoring, and served many people in her life by simply listening and being present to their problems.
After high school, Deandra became the first person in her immediate family to go to college. In the counseling practice she joined after graduating, Deandra blossomed. By the time she was 30 years old, she was the clinical director for 10 facilities. She felt that she was following her calling by helping survivors of domestic abuse and people who struggle with substance abuse to process their trauma.
The healer needs healing, too
Deandra’s progress in the therapy field came to a screeching halt when she was involved in major back to back car accidents. After sustaining multiple concussions, she had a hard time remembering things and suffered from extreme anxiety. She faced frequent bouts of vertigo and chronic migraines. On top of her health issues, she’d lost her driving privileges after the accidents, which meant that she didn’t have a way to get around to the clinical sites she directed. Her world was turned upside down.
Deandra underwent a spinal tap and was put on twelve medications. Out of the twelve, only two helped, she says. She also had to get an expensive recurring injection, which her insurance quickly stopped covering. She didn’t feel like herself. “I felt like a zombie,” she remembers. “I couldn’t live like that.”
A believer in holistic approaches to healthcare, Deandra began to research alternatives to the mountain of pills she’d been prescribed. After trying many different herbs and CBD, she found that the CBD was the only thing that completely eradicated her migraines and vertigo. With the CBD and changes to her diet, she was able to stop taking all twelve of the medications.
Finding her entrepreneurial calling, and a bigger audience
Feeling like herself again, Deandra wanted to share the healing powers of CBD with others. Just like that, Rocky’s Remedies was born.
Named for Deandra’s dog Rocky, Rocky’s Remedies sells CBD-infused products and humans and pets. When Rocky became despondent after the loss of her other dog, Carmela, Deandra researched and found that CBD is safe and effective for dogs, too. And it really worked!
Deandra is now able to reach a much larger audience than she was able to before through one-on-one counseling. Although she loves her therapy practice and continues to meet with clients, she is grateful to be creating a legacy that can continue without her. Through Rocky’s Remedies and her coaching and speaking engagements, Deandra spreads a message of empowerment and healing after adversity.
What has been your biggest challenge in building this empire?
Marketing and all of that, that’s new to me. Putting myself out there, that’s new to me,” Deandra tells me. But she realizes her value: “I talk to people and recognize I don’t have to sell them anything, if they gravitate and understand and they meet with my story. If they don’t, that’s ok! God bless them. It’s really taking stock in knowing that everything’s going to work out, and I don’t have to hard sell people. People have to do what resonates with them. Do I want people to understand and ‘get’ the healing thing? Of course! I know it’s powerful. It’s worked. There’s a lot of science backing it and more empirical research every day. But if people have this stigma about marijuana and cannabis, I’m not going to force things down their throat. I’m going to educate them and let them make that decision.”
What advice would you give aspiring women entrepreneurs?
Do it now, and don’t second guess it.”
Learn more about Deandra Hennemann and Rocky’s Remedies at https://www.rockysremedies.com and on Instagram!
RELATED POSTS: If you enjoyed Deandra’s story, read about more fabulous female entrepreneurs like Amy Tokos and Betty Gulko in my She Launched It series.
Leave a Reply