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Jennifer Gardner, DC, prides herself on providing personalized care to everyone that sees her for an adjustment. Dr. Gardner graduated from Texas Chiropractic College in April 2014, earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Organismal Biology, with a minor in French, at the University of Tennessee at Martin in 2008. At Gardner Chiropractic and Wellness Center in Round Rock, she provides care to the whole family, including expectant mothers, babies, and children. Her chiropractic techniques include Diversified, Activator, Flexion-Distraction, and Webster Technique. She is also certified in Functional Taping for Musculoskeletal Injuries and Graston Technique. She wants everyone to heal better, feel better, and live better when they visit with her. Dr. Gardner is a member of the Texas Chiropractic Association where she has served in various leadership roles, including District 8 State Director on the TCA Board of Directors. She previously served as External Affairs Coordinator and has chaired several TCA state committees. She also is also a member of the American Chiropractic Association, Women Chiropractors, Professional Women of Williamson County, Round Rock Kiwanis chapter, BNI Chapter President, and is a supporter of the Round Rock ISD Partners in Education Foundation. Dr. Gardner was voted a “Round the Rock” Top 3 Chiropractor. Born in Mesa, Arizona, Dr. Gardner lived in several states before movingto Texas in 2008, where she met her husband, Joe, and has stayed since graduating from Texas Chiropractic College. She was inspired to be a doctor by the fantastic care that she was given by her pediatrician in Colorado. She chose to attend chiropractic college to help heal people with her hands. When she’s not caring for patients, she enjoys spending time with her husband, son, and family while hiking, kayaking, swimming, reading, crafting, and playing with her two dogs. She also enjoys trying new restaurants, taking in new movies, attending renaissance fairs, fishing, traveling, and day trips in and around the Austin area. How long have you been a TCA member and why did you join TCA? I started with TCA while I was a student at Texas Chiropractic College. I was involved in the STCA and President for the last two years of school. After I graduated, I took a hiatus while I started my practice and had my son. I started back up with TCA in 2016. When Dr. Mo Jahadi moved up into TCA Secretary/Treasurer in 2018, I was elected District 8 State Director. I have served in several state leadership roles since then. Currently, I am involved at the district level, chair the Education & Events Committee, and co-chair the Texas Women Chiropractic Collaborative. I am a part of TCA because it is important to me that we continue to protect our rights to practice as chiropractors and project chiropractic into the future. I stay with TCA for the community of doctors, especially as a solo doctor in a small family practice, that I can turn to for questions and advice. At this point in my career, I am excited to mentor young doctors and build a community of women chiropractors in Texas that may not have been a part of TCA before. What is your favorite thing about being a TCA member? My favorite thing about TCA is the community of doctors that I now call my friends. The connections I have made in the TCA with not only other doctors, but speakers, sponsors, and students have shaped my career and my practice. I am always learning new things from the people involved. When we come together as a community, we can do amazing things! As TCA’s Education & Events Committee Chair, what were your highlights of last month’s Chiro Texpo ’26 in Austin? Our committee worked so hard to make sure that Chiro Texpo was filled with awesome speakers and sponsors. My favorite parts were our Boots & Bubbles Women’s Luncheon, our Keynote speakers, Dr. Monika Buerger, and Dr. Sherry McAllister, and the Adjust Lab! We had so many absolutely amazing speakers that it was hard to choose who to go see. I think that it is so important that we have hands-on learning at our conferences. Learning a technique in person is so much better than learning about it online. So many of us are tactile learners, and we need to see how to do things in person. Our Women’s Luncheon was Austin Glam this year! We had the pink carpet paparazzi intro, swag bags, and some awards to two of our women, Dr. Alayna Pagnani Gendron and Dr. Sandra Hughes, for their service and leadership to Texas chiropractic! We are already making plans for the one next year! We are bringing fun and fellowship into Texpo! With the committee we are focused on bringing in our favorite speakers for all areas of chiropractic: sports, pediatric, perinatal, integrated, PI, and techniques. We are looking forward to ways we can help the chiropractors of Texas get some great CEs in different ways. Why did it mean to you to be recognized by your peers as TCA’s Young Chiropractor of the Year? I am so honored to have received Young Chiropractor of the Year! It shows the effort and dedication that I have put into TCA. I have been in TCA leadership since 2018, and have put my heart into the TCA with every position I have held. I am humbled to join so many great chiropractors that have received this award before me. Rewards don't come without hard work, and helping chiropractic move forward so that we can practice however we see fit is work, sometimes the best work, but work none the less. It is fulfilling to know the impact that I am making with TCA and that I am serving the TCA with my gifts. I am grateful to be recognized and look forward to what else I can do. What is the No. 1 lesson you have learned so far as a chiropractor? I have always carved my own way in life. Moving around a lot as a kid will do that! I have always shown leadership in the things that I do, whether that was girl scouts, captain of the ski team in high school, or in my sorority in college (ZTA for life). How could I not be a part of leadership for the thing that brings purpose to my life? That lets me use my hands to help others? It is as much a part of my spirit as being a chiropractor is. I am in leadership to secure my profession now and in the future for doctors of today and the doctors of tomorrow. There are so many lessons in chiropractic. 1) The body is amazing, and what we do to help people improve their health and their lives is wondrous. 2) I don't know everything! I am constantly learning about new ways to help people, grow my practice, and continue to do so for many years. Asking the community of doctors around me has helped me to be the doctor I am. Who has been the key influence in your chiropractic career? I have had several mentors in my chiropractic career. Dr. Mo Jahadi is a huge mentor in my life. He took me under his wing, and, though I may not talk as much or project my voice the way Dr Mo can, he is a great friend and mentor. He has led the way for me in TCA. We have so many great conversations and moments through the years. I'm so glad that he has been a guiding light in my life. Dr. Michele Gerard helped me find the joys of being with other women chiropractors. When I interned with her, she introduced me to other women in the Austin area and developed so many connections through them. She helped me understand the value of education to our patients. As a TCA Past President, Dr. Alayna Pagnani Gendron has paved the way for so many women in the TCA by being a force to be reckoned with. She is an amazing teacher and leader, and I am so thrilled to have her to look up to and to be leading the next generation of women chiropractors with. I also want to recognize some amazing coaches that I have worked with. Dr Claudia Anrig, Dr Rosemary Batanjski, and Dr Shawn Powers. These women have helped me learn how to shape my practice, care for women and children, and to be my true authentic self in my practice. What’s something about you (a fun fact) that not many people know about you? I have been traveling internationally since I was six months old. When I was six months old my parents took me to New Zealand… really wish I could remember any of it. But my all-time favorite trip was when I went on a safari in South Africa when I was 10 years old. Seeing the animals in the wild has ruined zoos for me my whole life ??.