Today we’d like to introduce you to Larissa Macko
Hi Larissa, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Take a seat, it’s been a long journey.
My story starts volunteering in the hospital at 15 years old. I studied Western for 10 years, got my massage license in between and then transitioned to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Acupuncture. My last medical job was in the Emergency Room and that is when I realized it wasn’t the path I wanted. I took a break and discovered another way to help people and treat them through TCM. I then got my Masters in Oriental Medicine. During a short period of time I was teaching in the Massage Therapy Program, while in the TCM program, too. After graduation I happened to join a pageant and was Miss India in the Miss Global International competition, although I didnt win and it was my first time doing anything like that, it meant a lot to represent my ancestral land. See, I am first generation american, Jamaican Indian, and what many do not know is that when the British colonized Jamaica, Indians were brought over (hence the Spices and Ganja influence) and I got to did into family history. So this led to me wanting to share my family history and story, so I am developing a couple projects there in respects to my ancestors journey that led for me to be where I am today. After the pageant, I was studying for my Acupuncture board exam, I found a space to study at The Hub @ Office Logic and was exposed to tech. From there I learned to program my own GPT bot and came up with an idea on how I would leverage technology to share with the world about TCM. I am working on developing an app, currently, that leverages AI so I can bring the knowledge to the people. I also just started the Knight Foundation Fellowship in Healthcare Technology Innovation at Baptist Health South Florida. I’m really excited to see how I can integrate all Medicine to help our healthcare system transform into a positive direction, especially post COVID.
I am a part of the membership committee for the Florida State Oriental Medicine Assosication (FSOMA), driving memberships to this resourceful entity. I am the Holistic Business Network City Director for Miami, where I bring together Holistic Practitioners and the community to network and engage with each other. I am also an ambassador for the longest weekly AI meet up in Miami, GPTuesdays, which shares information with the community on how we can use and leverage Ai as it continues to rise. I am the Business Development for AugierAi.com, which is an online platform leveraging Ai to help these businesses win federal government contracts and grants, I am a big advocate for small businesses, especially woman and minority owned and sharing the knowledge of these opportunities is important to me.
I am an advisor for Space Kidz India, where we empower less privellaged girls worldwide to learn STEM and Space to contribute to the overall growth of the sciences and innovation. I also host Girl Time Miami, which i an event to bring women together in a positive direction with four pillars, Health, Wealth, Love and Abundance and now technology so that more woman can understand the opportunities in that space. Lastly, I am the Wellness Coordinator at The Hub @ Office Logic, where we host events around Wellness to engage the coworking space amongst founders and the community.
As many things as I do, it all comes into full circle for my desire to help humanity ascend and build awareness in the Artificial Intelligence Age we are in now, especially with integrating Eastern and Western Medicine practices and healthcare in America overall. I believe the more conversations we have, the better place we can move forward as a whole. Hence, my podcast “Lotus Talks,” let us talk and highlighting the journey of people and their lives that resemble the growth we all experience, like a lotus seed. A new project I hope to take more time towards, as well.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Absolutely not. I thought I would be a doctor in America, I had settled on wanting to be a physician assistant (PA) and a week before applying, I lost my older brother, traumatically and suddenly. No one could’ve seen that coming. At that point, you rethink life and your purpose. So I withdrew my application and quit the ER shortly after because I knew it wasn’t as fulfilling as I felt my life could be.
But when exposed to Eastern Medicine, taking the Hippocratic Oath to do right by my patients with the knowledge I had wasn’t enough. I felt like there were more layers to how we treat our patients than just prescriptions and procedures, especially surgical. I respect the advancements and knowledge for modern Western medicine and I believe it is important to acknowledge. But I am more concerned with the disruptive innovation in the healthcare industry, especially post COVID. Before I left the ER, i would always think “ I just wish they knew” because people treated the ER as their primary care and the amount of resources I saw exhausted, let alone the staff of superheroes, was extremely concerning and then COVID hit. Reality kicked in and now considering alternative ways of treating and what I have learned in my time in the hospital, we can leverage an opportunity within the market of medicine and integrate. Having these discussions is not an easy road when you are basically trying to reset the medical system but I have high hopes as awareness through social media grows and the payers, patients and providers are also tired of the old ways.
As for my personal integration of technology, I programmed my bot and the next day jumped into a Hackathon. I cried from being challenged and having to learn something new but there were also tears of joy because something clicked, this would be how I could also leverage my studies and share it with the world, too. So, since then I have just been learning the game and how to truly be a mover and shaker and promote transformation for the betterment of this city and hopefully the nation as a whole.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’ve struggled many times trying to put myself in a box. I truly am a problem solver, I feel like I can have a solution for something even if it’s connecting you to figure it out. One thing I am really good at is Massage and Chinese Medicine/Acupuncture, where I create an entire experience. I am not the typical deep tissue, sports, or categorized massage therapist. I think this view is to split and we need a more holistic approach where we understand all the modalities and treat accordingly. My business is named ‘The Lotus Hands’ because I believe like the journey of a Lotus, we all have to grow through our own muggy water in order to emerge on top, in a metaphorical sense of the human experience. Integrating my TCM knowledge lets me understand the client, precisely. We are all unique and should be treated according to the state we are at to find our balance and continue on in our journey.
I am most proud of me programming a bot to then develop an app. While transitioning to understanding tech and how I can leverage AI and an application to spread awareness of TCM is so fulfilling. If the system isn’t going to provide the information to the people, I figured I will. It all goes back to the ER room moments where “ I just wish they knew.”
I believe what sets me apart is my family history. I am Jamaican Indian, not just one parent Jamaican and the other indian but a niche culture that was a minority amongst minorities and had a big influence on the island. When the British brought indentured servants over after slavery was abolished to the island, the Indians, specifically my family, brought spices, worked on acres of farmland, raised cattle for beef-stock and milk, and dealt with the vegetation and even brought herbs over, including Ganja (which many don’t realize is Hindi). Amongst the community of Indians, they married and had children and eventually, I was born. There is less than 1% of us on the island but a significant cultural influence. There is a joke about Jamaicans hustling, doing many things at once. Considering I do so many things and don’t get exhausted because it fuels me for the bigger picture of change is powerful.
Apart from most, my desire to have conversations that will provoke an integration from all medicine, Eastern and Western, as technology continues to advance is a big one. It’s asking the questions of what does the room look like when AI starts to take roles and responsibilities from doctors and they have to connect with the patients. Not only building a trusting relationship between practitioner and patient but how the doctor will observe and diagnose more precisely. Also consider how to train doctors in the West to think more holistic than just the next prescription they will sign off and foster a genuine relationship. I was in the Western Medicine and transitioned to Eastern Medicine and I have the ability to imagine what the integration could look like for our healthcare system is not as common but growing. It’s now a matter of planning, finding others out there like me, building awareness and execution. I am also someone in TCM who has thrown myself into tech and most run away from these advancements to preserve the nature of the practice but it is important to understand how this integration can help advance true Healthcare overall.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Being an ambitious and discerning, Jamaican Indian female, hands down. I am also someone who loves to learn more about myself and strengths in order to leverage executing my God given purpose. So according to a multitude of personality tests, I would say my ability to Woo, Communicate, Analyze, Maximize and Include is a recipe for me to be a great Commander in the mission I am on.
Pricing:
- $200 Mobile Massage
- $50-100 Consultation/coaching
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.Thelotushands.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/larissamacko?igsh=dDdlaWp4cjVrNm56&utm_source=qr
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@lotustalks?si=hkI-OO_qmApWklPv
