Jeremy and Leah Meadows celebrate 16 years as partners in life and business

Remembering anniversaries is easy for Jeremy and Leah Meadows. They both were married and started their Kirkland business, Meadows Family Chiropractic, in 2000.

Jeremy and Leah met at Western States Chiropractic College (now known as University of Western States) in Portland during orientation.

“We sat at the same table,” Jeremy said, adding they started dating a couple months later.

Following graduation, they went on a five-week road trip through Oregon, Washington, British Columbia (where Leah is from), Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah (where Jeremy is from), Nevada and California. The Washington part of their trek included a stop in Kirkland.

“We found Kirkland and just fell in love with it,” Jeremy said, adding Leah started the business in summer 2000 and he joined her in the fall, just after they were married.

“Kirkland had a great community sense,” Leah added. “We liked the small-town feel.”

In the last few years, their business has relocated and grown to incorporate more services and a larger staff, including associate chiropractors Michelle Irwin and Kayla Clark. They currently occupy three storefronts on 13300 block of 100th Avenue NE, at the Juanita Woodinville Way NE intersection.

Jeremy takes pride in the business using cutting-edge technology, including digital motion X-rays, as he said they were the only chiropractic office in the state to use them. They both see the other services they provide such as massage and spinal decompression as complementary in the chiropractic work they do.

”By combining traditional chiropractic care with cutting-edge technology, we’re able to deliver an exceptional level of service and help improve the health and function of our patients,” Leah said, adding they have extended hours to accommodate people with busy schedules.

Jeremy found his interest in the chiropractic specialty after going through sports injuries in his youth and having to make trips to the chiropractor. “I realized the benefit (of going),” he said.

For Leah, her interest in the field came a little later. After growing up with problematic headaches, she started seeing a chiropractor after a recommendation from a friend at age 22, while she was applying to dental school. Her headaches went away after the first couple visits, and she changed her mind about her career path. “It changed my future,” she said. “It made my life so much better.”

They both see many positives to working together. “She gets to use her strengths, and I get to use my strengths,” Jeremy said, adding Leah is really good at running the business, allowing him to spend more time on the clinical side of things. “We really are a strong team.”

At the same time, there can be negatives to it as well, including finding a good work-life balance. “It can be tough to leave work at work,” he said. “It always encompasses my thoughts.”

Leah added that it can be hard to schedule family vacations, too, but that has been alleviated since they hired more people at the business. “(Hiring more people) was important to do,” she said.

As their business has grown, their family has as well with their two kids. Jeremy said having kids has been important in improving patient care at their business, as things they do to promote their kids’ health also can be beneficial to patients.