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June 11, 2008
Libby Motika , Senior Editor
What do flying an airplane and starting a business have to do with the price of beans, you might ask. Actually, if you put the question to the incoming Chamber of Commerce president, Antonia Balfour, you'll discover the logic. Balfour, who's been flying since she was a teenager and keeps her pilot's license current, compares the bravery required for both challenges. And as you talk to her, you see that there is indeed a common thread. "I've always been a thrill-seeker,' explains Balfour, who made a cross-country flight with her father two years ago. 'As a girl, I looked forward to risk-taking. I was the one who went bungee-jumping, skydiving, anything like that. When you think about it, starting a business, being an entrepreneur, is really the ultimate in risk." After completing four years of her Chinese medical education at Yo San University in Santa Monica, Balfour ventured into unknown territory. "I was really good at being a student, I knew how to do that, but when it came to hanging up my shingle, I didn't know what to do next." So she did whatever she could think of to let the world know that she had established an acupuncture business in Pacific Palisades. "I wrote articles for the Palisadian-Post, I participated in networking groups, I joined the Chamber of Commerce and volunteered at the Health Fair." That was in 2000. Now Balfour has migrated from sharing an office with chiropractor Bruce Beddoe to co-owning Oasis Palisades with Stephanie Kanan. Late last year, she and Kanan opened the health and wellness center, which offers acupuncture, herbs and massage in the Marquez commercial area. While Balfour, 37, is sold on the Palisades village atmosphere, she admits that doing business here is more challenging. Were she located in a large medical building with a select population seeking other medical needs, she thinks that building her business would have been easier. "My practice depends on word of mouth; it is a destination." Most of her clientele are local, but she does have patients who come from some distance; one woman drives up from Long Beach for infertility treatments. But success in business doesn't ever relate solely to making money, says Balfour, who follows the same principles in her business as she uses in Chinese medicine'yin and yang. Balance. "Your goal is to try to help somebody feel 100 percent as quickly and inexpensively as possible," she says. "And if you achieve your goal, you would theoretically put yourself out of business.' In order to maintain a personal connection with her patients, affording each time and attention, Balfour has developed other business outlets, including creating a line of canine herbs. As she begins her leadership of the Chamber (she will accept the gavel at tonight's installation dinner), Balfour intends to focus on the health and wellness of the community, just as she does with her clients. "We are inundated with so much bad news in the world and with the economy that people get scared,' she says. 'So for me, health and wellness has to do with a positive attitude, motivating people to keep a positive spirit.' Balfour intends to nurture hopefulness by bringing Chamber members together to work on new projects while maintaining the traditional Chamber activities that aid business growth. She has selected sustainability as the theme for her year in office. Her three-pronged plan includes locating recycling bins around the town on city property, expanding business recycling through a contract with Chrysalis, and introducing restaurant waste composting. To extend recycling throughout the Palisades, the Chamber has applied to the city for a permit to place those familiar blue bins on sidewalks and street corners. 'The city gave us a $10,000 matching grant to underwrite this plan,' Balfour says. And Chamber members have met the challenge with sponsorships. Balfour hopes to expand business recycling to reach every part of the town. Currently, the Chamber pays Chrysalis to maintain the village sidewalks and recycle trash. The nonprofit organization helps economically disadvantaged and homeless individuals become self-sufficient through employment opportunities. Balfour has already held her first meeting with restaurant owners to encourage an effort to recycle waste for compost. 'The city relies on pockets like our community to help them out in these efforts to green the city,' Balfour says. 'They recognize that they cannot possibly do this alone.' Balfour was originally drawn to Los Angeles from her native Florida to study Chinese medicine, which turned out to be propitious. Not only does California offer the best schools in the country, but Balfour found a community that she could embrace as home. Her sense of commitment to Los Angeles and to Pacific Palisades persuaded her husband of 2-' years to relocate from his beloved East Coast. 'Marc is a true New Yorker,' she admits, 'but he enjoys a passion for life that we both share.' The couple, who live in Culver City, still travel to Manhattan, albeit not as much as they did when they were stoking a bicoastal romance, but enough to satisfy the pull towards the 'city that never sleeps.'
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