Behind the Needles

Annie Alvarez
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Alternative Health
  • Monthly

Everyone meets the healer. Almost no one meets the person behind her. Behind the Needles is the honest, unfiltered story of what it actually took to build Cedar & Sage Acupuncture LLC — told by the co-founder who ran the marketing, the financials, and everything else while her wife went through doctoral school to become a licensed acupuncturist. Real stories. No script. The quiet part, said out loud.

Episodes

  1. Sep 26

    E4 - Menopause

    "I'm either dying or I'm going crazy, and nobody will tell me which one."That's what a patient told us at one of our community acupuncture events. She wasn't dying, and she wasn't crazy. She was in perimenopause, and nobody had told her.In this episode, I take on the transition that half the population goes through and almost nobody talks about: why medicine has historically filed menopause away as "minor and unavoidable," what Traditional Chinese Medicine has understood about it for over 3,000 years, and what treatment at Cedar & Sage Acupuncture actually looks like.IN THIS EPISODE* Cold open: so what does acupuncture actually do?* The bird's nest, revisited: why the important stuff is almost never volunteered* The quietest part of all: why menopause gets under-treated (and the ED-commercial vs. menopause-commercial problem)* The patterns behind the symptoms: yin deficiency (hot flashes, night sweats), yang deficiency (running cold, fatigue), Liver qi stagnation (mood swings), and Heart-Kidney disconnect (that 3am wake-up), plus why most people have more than one* What treatment looks like: how often you come in, why point selection shifts week to week, heat therapy, and treating menopause as primary care instead of an afterthought* The training pipeline problem: acupuncture schools closing, 8-hour weekend certifications, a parallel with nursing, and why depth of training matters"A weekend certification can hand someone a needle. It can't hand them thirty years of knowing which pattern is which."Check us out:Cedar & Sage AcupunctureJennifer Faigin DAc, Dipl. Ac., LAc.Scottsdale: Thursday–SundayMesa: WednesdaysBook online: cedarandsageacupuncture.comCall or text: (480) 754-9059NEVER MISS AN EPISODEJoin the Behind the Needles email list: cedarandsageacupuncture.com/podcastFOLLOW ALONGInstagram & Facebook: @cedarandsageacupuncture

  2. Aug 30

    E3 - Being Findable

    Being great at your craft and being findable online are two completely different skills — and nobody warns you about the gap between them. This week, Annie tells the true story of how Cedar & Sage nearly stayed invisible: wrong business hours on Google, a beautiful website nobody could find, and two advanced degrees that were no match for a drop-down menu. It's a candid, funny, occasionally humbling look at SEO, Google Business Profiles, and the moment they finally admitted they needed help — because sometimes the bravest thing isn't doing it all yourself. It's just Tuesday. 🔗 cedarandsageacupuncture.com | @cedarandsageacupuncture

  3. Aug 15

    E2 - The Business Basics Nobody Teaches You

    Acupuncture school taught my wife the medicine — nobody taught either of us how to run a business. In this episode, I pull back the curtain on our first year at Cedar & Sage: why we chose to go cash-pay (and the insurance-vs-research gap that made that decision easy), my own "dry needling nightmare" that almost kept me away from acupuncture for good, and the humbling realization that being great at your craft isn't the same as being findable. It's the money talk, the marketing reckoning, and a few laughs along the way — because admitting you need help isn't weakness, it's just another Tuesday.

  4. Jul 25

    E1 - Lucy Lived in Our Kitchen

    What do you do when the person you love decides to blow up both your lives — in the best possible way? Annie is the person behind the person at Cedar & Sage Acupuncture. In episode one, she introduces herself, tells the story of her wife Jennifer's decision to pursue a doctorate, and meets Lucy — a Styrofoam practice head who became the world's creepiest roommate. Four people showed up to their first community event. Annie's calling it a win.

  • 4 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

About

Everyone meets the healer. Almost no one meets the person behind her. Behind the Needles is the honest, unfiltered story of what it actually took to build Cedar & Sage Acupuncture LLC — told by the co-founder who ran the marketing, the financials, and everything else while her wife went through doctoral school to become a licensed acupuncturist. Real stories. No script. The quiet part, said out loud.

Information

  • Creator
    Annie Alvarez
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    4
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Annie Alvarez
  • Show Website
    Behind the Needles