The Shakarians Open Pacsun Chiropractic

As chiropractors Andrea and Jesse Shakarian gaze out their office window overlooking Gladstone’s and the Pacific Ocean, they have a joyful sense of accomplishment. ‘It’s been our dream to be on the West Coast,’ said Andrea, who met her husband when they were students at the Life University for Chiropractic in Marietta, Georgia. Their business, Pacsun Chiropractic, shares offices with Wagner Chiropractic at 17383 Sunset Blvd. In 2004, after Jesse graduated (Andrea graduated two years earlier), they opened a practice in Livonia, Michigan, where Jesse was raised, but Andrea, who grew up in Atlanta, had difficulty adjusting to the winters. ‘You could go a whole month without seeing the sun,’ she said and this prompted them, after two years, to sell their business and move to Knoxville, Tennessee. When Andrea became pregnant, the couple began discussing where they would ultimately like to settle. Although they felt that Knoxville was physically beautiful, they wanted to be in a place with more cultural opportunities. While visiting Jesse’s brother, a chiropractor who settled in Beverly Hills in 2000, they discovered Pacific Palisades, which Jesse calls ‘the perfect family town.’ After putting their business up for sale in early 2009, their son Zane was born that October. While waiting to sell, Jesse contacted businesses in Los Angeles to see if he could find an office. ‘I contacted Dr. Wagner,’ Jesse said. ‘But he said he didn’t have room.’ Even though they didn’t have an office in L.A., the Shakarians made the move last October, just 24 days after their Knoxville business sold. ‘Some said that we were crazy to move without a job,’ Andrea said, but they remained optimistic. Once they arrived, Jesse spoke again to Wagner, and the doctor told him, ‘It’s the perfect time, I have a space for you’and your wife.’ They opened their office on December 10 and started becoming part of the community. They joined the Chamber of Commerce; Jesse has attended a Rotary Club meeting and may join, and Andrea plans to attend a Junior Women’s Club meeting. They hope they can eventually buy a house in the Palisades. ‘You’re still close to the city, but it feels like you’re in a little sanctuary,’ Andrea said. ‘We’ve traded mountains and lakes for oceans and palm trees.’ In addition to performing traditional adjustments, the Shakarians use a BioMeridian machine, which measures energy flow to the different meridians of the body. They explained that acupuncture uses meridians and the machine operates on the same principle, but uses low-voltage electrical frequencies instead of needles. ‘We look not only at structural issues, but chemical and emotional ones, too,’ Andrea said. The chiropractors can see where a person might be blocked, then determine whether this condition is due to bacteria, pathogens, emotional issues or food allergies, ‘Once we see where the weaknesses are in the system, we can match up nutritional supplements to build that area back up,’ said Andrea, who once worked with a doctor who also looked at nutrition, muscle testing and energetic medicine, all disciplines they bring to their current practice. ‘We have been able to help with stubborn cases, using different approaches,’ Jesse said. Visit www.pacsunchiro.com or call (310) 230-2145.