Apolonia Silva may have inadvertently devised a fine Park City slogan as she reflected on opening the Aura Vida clinic on Park Ave last year with co-owner Karissa Jackson, empowering Parkites on their health and wellness journey. "Health is a priority here," she said, then paused. "It’s a place where wellness is a lifestyle, not just a trend."
Highly accomplished - Apolonia is a Doctor of Nursing Practice and a Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner with an MBA from Westminster University and a part-time teaching position at Weber State; Karissa is a Board Certified Adult/Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner with experience in surgical settings ranging from transplants to neurosurgery – the pair bonded over their desire to improve service.
"We don't go through patient after patient (as other providers might)," Karissa says. "We take the time to listen and set our own pace."
A Dallas native, Karissa attended high school in the valley. At a senior year BBQ in PC, "It clicked with me that I could live here and enjoy it every day," she remembers. She was drawn to Graceland University's academic programs ("plus the great BBQ!") in Independence, Missouri, before finding her way back to PC for her dream job co-owning Aura Vida.
Apolonia's personal and educational roots are deep in the Pacific Northwest, “which shaped my values of community, nature and wellness,” she says. Earning additional degrees in Utah, "I came to Park City for the mountains and stayed for the sense of intentional living," a value she shares with Karissa, who enthusiastically "loves exercise and getting those endorphins going,” she smiles. “I'm also a total nerd. I love hormones and the science behind it all."
Apolonia's MBA helped the pair prepare for their newly budding business. "I wanted to learn to run a system supporting both patients and providers," she says. Neatly summarizing her and Karissa's approach to helping men and women find a healthful balance, she adds, "Aura Vida is a place grounded in both heart and strategy."