Those that are blessed to call Jefferson County their home know the benefits and advantages to living in a small town and building strong relationships and friendships from an early age. Many business relationships are formed because your father was friends with their father, or you went to school together years ago. This is a great part of rural American entrepreneurship, and can be a large blessing to those fortunate enough to be born in a rural area.

This can also be a challenge to someone NOT originally from our community. Forging relationships, building networks, and integrating into a tight-knit community is not for the faint of heart.

Teddy and Nichole LeMaster were faced with just such a scenario when new jobs brought them to Jefferson County in 2017 from Buffalo NY.

Nichole remembers “Teddy had already moved here to get the apartment ready, and when I arrived, I stepped out of the truck and remember just hearing a deafening sound of cicadas singing and woods everywhere. I thought to myself, where in the world did we just move to?”

Teddy is originally from Indiana, and didn’t have as major of a culture shock as Nichole, who was raised in the Maryland and Washington DC region.

They met at Indiana University, where Nichole was studying Human Biology and Psychology. Her original intention was to become an OBGYN, having a strong desire to support and strengthen women through excellence in healthcare. Teddy was studying Psychology as well, but later switched to double major in Math and Physics “to impress Nichole” Teddy laughs.

They were introduced through mutual friends and had their first date with friends on Teddy’s 21st birthday. They went out for drinks and remember the night slightly differently. “She was making eyes at me all night long” Teddy recalls, “I was going to start my legal drinking age with an Appletini, but decided it wasn’t manly enough, so I ordered a Guinness to impress her.”

Nichole remembers “I was certainly NOT making eyes at him, I barely knew him! He was goofy and funny, but I immediately was attracted to his love for life and his drive to be the best at what he was doing.”

While continuing their relationship, they both completed their degrees at IU, and Nichole continued on to Chiropractic School while Teddy completed his Masters degree at John Patrick University in South Bend Indiana. Nichole also had the opportunity to teach some classes there in Anatomy and Physiology.

After a year and a half, Teddy was hired as a Medical Physicist at Versant Medical Physics in Buffalo NY. When hearing about a physicist, one might be tempted to think of socially awkward brainiacs from the Big Bang Theory sitcom. Teddy is a delightful mix of right brain and left brain, being very personable, an amazing musician, and of course a brilliant mathematician. He uses his understanding of physics to assist the medical world in the development and use of medical radiation treatments, devices, and technologies.

While living in Buffalo, the happy couple were married in May of 2015.

Their next position would bring them to Southern Illinois. Teddy was originally working in Carterville, and Nichole took a position with a Chiropractic practice in Nashville IL. They agreed on Mt. Vernon as a suitable home base located about halfway between their two jobs.

Nichole had loved Chiropractic medicine from an early age, having been a patient herself. She had been diagnosed earlier in life with Fibromyalgia, and lived in chronic pain for many years prior to being introduced to a Chiropractor. She recalls sleeping through the night without pain for the first time in memory at the age of 16, shortly after beginning chiropractic sessions.

Nichole remembers “my chiropractor became more than my healthcare expert, she was also a friend. She attended my graduation party, was at our wedding, and shared so much of my life that I’ll always be grateful for her.”

In fact, the personal attention she received herself became the benchmark for how she wanted to treat her own patients. To affirm them as real people with real needs, and who desperately needed someone to listen to them, and support them as a whole, not just in one specialty.

Nichole found that in a busy office environment, it was easy to lose focus on the one on one attention she longed to give her patients. She found herself locked into a fast paced, high volume management mentality and she knew it was not what she wanted for her career.

She heard of a woman named Lydia Knox who operated Stress Knot Massage in Mt Vernon who was well liked, and gave her clients caring, personal attention. She decided to come be a patient of, and eventually work with Lydia, adding in her years of experience to the practice. She called her part of the business Chiropractic Wellness Center, and combined with Stress Knot Massage, provided a full range of holistic services focused on patient well being.

The two became good friends, and so Nichole was sad when the time came for Lydia to move away, and offered to sell the business to the LaMasters. They agreed, and on June 4th, 2018 they officially started business as the new owners of the Chiropractic Wellness Center and Stress Knot Massage.

Business was booming immediately, building on the years of quality services they had already offered their customers. Help was needed quickly, and Nichole hired a young lady named Lauren to help with the front desk and scheduling. Lauren is proud to still be a vital member of the team to this day!

The next four years were spent building their business one client at a time, earning their trust and respect by giving personal, caring attention while truly listening and hearing the needs of those they served. Business grew so much that they found themselves in need of more space. They looked at a couple spaces around the Mt Vernon area, but nothing quite fit their needs.

They eventually found a building at 1708 Jefferson that needed a lot of updating, but would afford enough space to house not only their thriving business, but also have room for some new partners as well.

Teddy and Nichole purchased the building in 2022 and invested the next year to overhauling the aged building. Remodeling an older structure brings hundreds of problems, both big and small. The LeMasters labored to move walls, battle major plumbing and electrical issues, and update the structure to meet today’s building codes. They worked tirelessly month after month to build the vision that Nichole had for a multi-practice facility that would minister to peoples health needs aside from simply popping pills or resorting to unnecessary surgery.

Mt Vernon and Stress Knot Massage, but also welcomed Frost Aesthetics and Float Life to their family of specialties.

Frost Aesthetics specializes in skin treatments ranging from Botox, Chemical Peels, Dermal Fillers, Microneedling, and even Testosterone Replacement Therapies. They help you create a customized medical-grade treatment plan to help get your skin where it needs to be. 

Float life is an exciting new option opening in July, offering sensory depravation pods filled with over one thousand pounds of magnesium salt water where one can experience a 60 minute session of tranquility and relief to escape the chaos of daily life. Imagine floating in a shallow pool in complete darkness and with no sound, allowing your brain to experience zero-stimulation for perhaps the first time in your life. Peace and serenity can now be had without traveling out of town! 

Stress Knot Massage has several calming private suites staffed by multiple therapists offering all kinds of massage therapies including traditional services such as Swedish or Deep Tissue Massage, or unique services such as Prenatal Massage, Couples Massages, Hot Stone, Cupping, or Sinus Massages.

Massages are a great way to relax, and are a great way to improve circulation, healing time, range of motion, and can even lower blood pressure.

Nichole’s practice continues to offer Chiropractic treatments and tapping into the body’s natural recuperative powers to heal itself without the use of drugs or surgery. Treating patients of all ages, they offer chiropractic services ranging from prenatal adjustments, infants, elderly, and everyone in between.

According to their website @ chiromtv.com, “Chiropractic focuses on the relationship between the structure of your spine and your nervous system that affects the whole body. Chiropractic care is an all natural alternative treatment to reduce neck pain, back pain, headaches, migraines, sciatica, arthritis, and much more…”

Nichole and Teddy have overcome many challenges in their life together. They have moved to a new community, integrated excellently, and provided caring service for the community they now call home. They have welcomed two children, Thea and Cole, and look forward to creating new memories with their growing family. 

Jefferson County is lucky to have such dedicated professionals who are investing in the community that has chose to invest in them. Please support Elevate Wellness Center and their four quality businesses. If you see Teddy or Nichole out in the community, thank them for investing in our community and being amazing members of the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce!

Story brought to you by: the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce Small Business Council