Member Story: Sara Posdzich of With Woman Wellness

About a year and a half ago, Sara Posdzich had the chance to come back home to Keene for an extended spell. The certified nurse midwife had been working at a practice in Saratoga Springs, but when she returned north, she noticed: Women in this area have few options for health services tailored specifically to their needs, both physical and mental. 

That realization was the genesis for her new Lake Placid practice, With Woman Wellness.

She assumed the role of entrepreneur with ease, as her mother ran a successful mental health practice in Albany, and her brother, father, and husband had each operated successful businesses as well. But she needed help with financing—and that’s where Adirondack Regional FCU stepped in.

“I was speaking to some local business owners when I first was starting this practice, and that was the first thing they said: ‘You need to go to Adirondack Regional FCU,’” Sara says. “They said they had wonderful experiences there. We live in a small community; word of mouth and reputation count for a lot, and they had a great reputation. So I turned to them first.”

And, as it turns out, last. In less than two months, the credit union was able to give Sara a business loan to outfit her new practice with the specialized examination tables, lighting and medical equipment she needed to open her doors.

Her new space is anything but clinical, though. It’s decorated with rugs, upholstered chairs and other touches that make the office feel more like a home than a medical practice. (It’s like home in more ways than one: Sara’s mom, Tracy, is providing mental health services.)

“Many women who come to us whether it's for mental health, or for gynecology, are in very vulnerable situations. So you want to be able to make a safe, comforting space for them,” says Sara.

“I think it comes back to giving women options, giving them different places to go to for their care and putting them in charge of their care—and not just saying, ‘Okay, we live in this area, this is the one place we have to go to.’”

Sara did the work by pulling together a business plan to get With Woman Wellness rolling, but she credits Adirondack Regional with helping it become reality.

“The credit union gave us this opportunity to bring this to the community,” Sara says. “Because without them, we might not have been able to do this. So the process that we went through was great. And we're extremely grateful for that. And looking forward to, you know, working with them in the future.