State: Florida
Center: SBDC/VBOC at UWF Pensacola FL at Gulf Coast State College
Client: Jennifer Clark
Business Name: Back to Center Wellness Associates

Author Jennifer Clark served nearly eleven years as a Physician Assistant in the United States Air Force. She has written and published a book “166 Days: My Journey Through the Darkness.” In 2008 she was deployed to Afghanistan; she was assigned to a team of Green Berets as the leader of a Female Treatment Team where her mission was to treat local nationals and run the clinic.

The clinic was located on the border of the firebase, separated only by barbed wire and a checkpoint guarded by local Afghanistan National Army (ANA) soldiers. Not much shielded Clark and her team from the unknown dangers of the Middle East. Her covert mission was to gain information on her patients that could be used in the war. She gathered intelligence while treating local Afghans, who would often travel for days to seek treatment. Due to the lack of infrastructure and perils of war, many of her patients had nowhere else to turn for life threatening conditions.

It wasn’t long before she was exposed to a whole new side of war. Clark said her tour in Afghanistan was made up of “some of the best moments of my career and some of the worst moments of my life.” Clark’s business philosophy is striving to provide the best care possible for patients in order to help them improve their quality of life. In addition to her passion for medicine, Jennifer is also a Life and Wellness Coach certified with the World Coaching Institute.

VBOC met Jennifer at the Congressman Steve Southerland Small Business Conference, and began working with her in early June. She was in the writing phase and seeking direction on how to use the book as a source of income. She has since developed a wellness concept. Jennifer says she is very thankful for all the guidance provided by the Veterans Business Outreach Center and looks to a successful launch and promotion of 166 Days: My Journey through the Darkness”.

Jennifer says of the Veterans Business Outreach Center: I’m embarrassed to say that prior to meeting Brent Peacock and his team in June 2013, I had no idea what an incredible resource VBOC was. The entire team has been extremely helpful to me as I start out on my new endeavor. They’ve provided a wealth of information and points of contact. I can’t thank them enough for the resources they’ve provided to me as I release the book and launch Back to Center Wellness Associates.