Meet Tracy Kwong / Kaiming Wu | Chiropractor & Physician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tracy Kwong / Kaiming Wu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tracy / Kaiming, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
We wanted to create a one-of-a-kind clinic that offered services that no other clinic has done before – chiropractic and aesthetics, the best of both. We wanted our patients to have the option of feeling good and looking good as well. Kaiming and I wanted to make sure that both of our career goals “aligned” with each other, “alignment” is another term for a chiropractic adjustment and those that are coming for aesthetic services want their facial features to be “enhanced/balanced/aligned.” The “wellness & beauty” is pretty much self-explanatory!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Tracy: I have always wanted to have my own clinic and after working for two different clinics 3 years post graduation, it was time that I decided I wanted to branch out and become independent. I have always planned my life meticulously whether it be in my personal or academic life. I stay focused on my goals and know what it takes to succeed. However, nothing in my planning prepared me for September 2021 when my father contracted Covid-19 and ultimately suffered 2 strokes within the span of 24 hours. It was then that I learned the depth of what it felt like to be a patient and through this perspective, have a new found respect for all of my patients. After 12 days in the ICU and months of rehabilitation, thankfully my father pulled through. I had to put my newly hired job on hold temporarily until I was assured that he would survive through all of this. I knew that my new job needed me to work as soon as possible but family always comes first. I knew that once I developed the courage to have my own practice, I would be able to put a hold on my schedule for as long as I needed to and have the ideal work/life balance that I’ve always wanted to have. My dad is a retired physician and owned his own clinic as well. I wanted to make sure that I would be able to follow his footsteps and make him proud. Less than a year later, that’s when I decided to partner up with Ming to create Align Wellness & Beauty.

Kaiming: I am an interventional radiologist in the medical center/surrounding Houston areas. When I moved to Texas, I took an aesthetics course and built a good clientele. When Tracy mentioned to me that she wanted to open up her own clinic, I pitched the idea to her that we could merge the treatments (chiropractic and aesthetics) together into one clinic. We wanted to be unique and stand out from other clinics by combining both services into our clinic. My ultimate goal was to make the clinic into everything she’s always wanted since she’s always dreamed of owning her own clinic.

Ghost, the Siberian Husky (Align Mascot): Arf! My name is Ghost and I am 4 years old. I love hanging out with my “pawrents” at the clinic and greeting the patients as they come in! I love treats, tug of war and long walks!

We are a one-of-a-kind clinic offering both chiropractic and aesthetic services (botox and dermal fillers). We are both first time business owners and this is our first time opening up a clinic together! We started this journey in June 2022 looking for potential places to open up our practice and we opened up our books in the middle of October 2022. We had our grand opening a week before Thanksgiving! We had a great turnout and it was a successful event. It’s crazy how much time has flown but we are excited for this new chapter of our lives!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
This is a perfect question because we are both foodies and love to explore great eateries! The M-K-T area has a little bit of everything – La La Land, Mendocino Farms, Sweetgreen and more! We are huge sushi lovers so we recommend MF Sushi and Neo HTX as our top choices for omakase style. As far as places to visit, the Houston Galleria is a fun place to visit especially during the holidays with all the lights and huge lit up Christmas tree in the center of the ice skating rink! If it’s crawfish season, definitely check out Crawfish Cafe on Bellaire Blvd! It’s worth the wait and all the hype. Katy Chinatown also has Haidilao Hot Pot, Ten Seconds Yunnan Rice Noodles, The Alley and Tim Ho Wan which are all great selections if you’re in the area! If you’re in the mood for Korean BBQ, we recommend Handam BBQ and Bori! As far as tapioca drinks, we recommend Kung Fu Tea, Tiger Sugar and The Alley! For Vietnamese food, definitely check out Thien An and The Pho Fix! Post HTX is a really neat food hall spot with lots of eateries to check out and they sometimes have concerts and live entertainment there as well! The outdoor patio overlooks the Houston Skyline which is really eye-catching especially at night time.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Family is really important to the both of us and we cannot thank our families enough for their endless emotional support throughout our journey of us starting our own business together. Although our families have offered to help us plenty of times throughout this process, we didn’t want to put any stress or burden on them. There’s quite a bit of physical labor involved and we didn’t want to have them risk their lives to help us. We were just fortunate enough to have them support us emotionally!

Website: https://www.alignwellnessandbeauty.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alignwellnessandbeauty

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086322786028

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/align-wellness-and-beauty-katy

Other: https://alignwellnessandbeauty.janeapp.com/