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From Finance to Dentistry – Pierre Chaker’s Strategic Shift into European Healthcare Networks

The Chicago Journal Staff on September 19, 2025

In recent years, cross-border healthcare has developed considerable momentum in the European continent. As care became increasingly expensive and patient queues lengthened at home, a growing number of people began seeking care outside their home countries. Medical tourism, which was once an exclusive market, is today a rapidly growing billion-euro industry, and dental care is one of the most frequently sought services. With this change comes the rise of various private clinic networks that position themselves as high-end service providers, offering affordable options without compromising quality. Behind some of these networks are people who have come from unrelated sectors, bringing with them exceptional operational know-how. An example of such an individual is Pierre Chaker.

Chaker’s professional path is quite atypical for a healthcare executive. His initial professional course started in finance, a domain distinctly different from dental treatment rooms. Yet, this experience in financial services was at the heart of how he would eventually shape the path for Helvetic Dental Clinics, a network of clinics that would become widely recognized.

In the late 1980s, Chaker began his professional life at Bacot Alain Warburg, which later became UBS, a Swiss investment bank and financial services firm. In 1991, he co-founded a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) alongside Baron Jean-François Empain, navigating the turbulence of European financial markets. During this time of his life, his knowledge of risk, strategic thinking, and the intricate dynamics of global markets was further developed, an education that would serve him well beyond mainstream finance.

Following years of working in the financial industry, Chaker shifted into healthcare in 2008. This move aligned with the increasing demand throughout Europe for cost-effective and efficient dental care. The attractiveness of medical tourism was evident: patients in Western Europe, particularly the UK, could visit neighboring countries to receive procedures that were reportedly 40% to 70% lower in cost while maintaining similar standards of care. By identifying this emerging demand, Chaker saw an area with significant potential to be disrupted.

Chaker co-founded Helvetic Dental Clinics in 2013. The business started its first center in Hungary, a country with a high population of dental tourism providers. But while other competitors often relied on flashy marketing, Helvetic took a more formal, quality-oriented stance. The clinics were ISO 9001-certified, which regulated everything from clinical hygiene standards to patient records and administrative policies. It was an attempt to implement a degree of operational transparency that had yet to become common in the business.

The Helvetic model focused on a one-stop, full-service methodology—consultations, complex procedures, and recuperation—all in the same building. This not only helped patients improve their experience but also reduced the treatment timeline. Chaker’s financial experience emerged here. Efficiency, cost management, and systematic expansion helped the company grow without compromising on quality. In the following years, Helvetic Dental Clinics expanded its clinical operations into France, while establishing administrative offices in Switzerland and Luxembourg. Each location was tailored to its respective country’s regulatory landscape and cultural expectations—an effort that highlighted Chaker’s eye for detail and strategic planning.

Based on the Global Clinic Rating (GCR), Helvetic was ranked among the Top 10 dental clinics globally, a seal of excellence that aided in its credibility in multiple markets. The GCR rates clinics against a range of factors, including patient reviews, clinic facilities, and the quality of care. It was a noteworthy achievement for the relatively young network of clinics.

Additionally, Chaker’s cross-border expertise enabled Helvetic to meet the regulatory requirements of various national health authorities, a task that many clinic chains find challenging when pursuing international expansion. The legal and tax structures across Hungary and France—where the clinics operate—and Switzerland and Luxembourg—home to the network’s offices—vary significantly. Helvetic’s success in navigating this complex backdrop reflects a flexible yet thoroughly informed approach to international expansion.

In essence, Chaker’s healthcare strategy depends on applying key financial principles—risk reduction, operational effectiveness, and long-term investment—to a healthcare framework. In doing this, he has assisted in creating a system that balances patient demand with commercial sustainability.

To this day, in 2015, Helvetic Dental Clinics continues to attract patients from all over Europe. Whilst the brand derives support from word of mouth and reviews online, it is the backroom operations that contribute to its reputation. Chaker continues to be engaged in maintaining the structural and fiscal aspects of the company, though clinical work is fully dealt with by licensed dental practitioners.

The shift to healthcare from financial services is not typical, but it has enabled Chaker to bring a new angle to an industry that is often founded on traditional practices. Using his experience, he helped develop an operational model that not only supports patients effectively but also creates standards for operational integrity that others have been trying to follow.

Pierre Chaker’s transition to healthcare was possibly unplanned, but the way it was carried out tells a different story. His transition from stock brokering to operating an international dental clinic chain demonstrates the flexibility of skills acquired in one sector to reshape another. In a healthcare market in which patients demand affordability and quality, and in which providers have to navigate the intricate system of global regulations, entrepreneurs such as Pierre Chaker are part of an increasing number of individuals who work outside the confines of one business sector.

From Chicago Streets to Healing Hearts: How Melanie Hall’s Childhood Empathy Became a Movement for Mental Wellness

The Chicago Journal Staff on September 19, 2025

By: Cameron Wells

Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor Melanie Hall is helping transform how Chicagoans approach mental health—one conversation at a time.

The disparities were impossible to ignore, even for a child. Driving through different Chicago neighborhoods, young Melanie Hall could see the stark contrasts without needing an adult to explain the obvious: some communities had more, others had less, and people were struggling. While her mother tried to shield her from the harsh realities, her father took a different approach, pointing out what to avoid as they walked certain streets. But where others saw danger, Melanie saw need.

“I remember thinking ‘if people are begging for money or food and living on the street, it’s because they need help,'” recalls Hall, now a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and founder of a thriving group practice. “I wanted to help people be better, especially if they WANTED to be better.”

That childhood empathy, born on Chicago’s streets, would eventually grow into an approach to mental health that’s been helping to transform lives across the city and beyond.

The Making of an Urban Healer

Growing up in Chicago’s inner city taught Hall early lessons about unspoken struggles. “You learn how much anger, grief, financial strains, and survival stress show up in households, relationships, and communities,” she explains. But it took years for her to recognize her natural calling as a healer.

She was always the friend people called for advice or just to listen. It was her sister, also a therapist, who first pointed out Hall’s gift for dissecting issues and her relentless need to understand the “why” behind human behavior. Even during her time as a licensed realtor in Illinois, Hall found herself spending more time helping clients navigate the emotional complexities of buying and selling property than discussing square footage or market values.

“I realized how much time I spent helping them manage their feelings around money, financial wealth, and the grief of letting go of property that no longer suited their needs,” she says. “I wanted people to feel grounded in what they were doing.”

When Hall finally entered clinical mental health counseling, she brought with her both professional expertise and lived experience. “Counseling gave me the language, the science, and the structure. But the heart of it? That’s always been there,” she reflects. “Now, when I sit with clients, I carry both pieces. That combination is what helps me connect on a deeper level.”

Meeting Chicago’s Unique Challenges

Chicago’s mental health landscape presents distinct challenges that Hall knows intimately. “As a Chicagoan, your emotions can fluctuate as much as the weather,” she observes. Her practice regularly encounters clients who are either survivors of systemic inequities still carrying PTSD or those currently experiencing the daily impact of these challenges.

“Before you can get to some of the clinical tools, you’re having to meet clients where they are, and sometimes that means discussing resources for basic needs,” Hall explains. “When clients are concerned with how they will meet the needs of tomorrow for themselves or others, their emotional needs are constantly put on the back burner.”

This reality has shaped her therapeutic approach. Sometimes she’s working on helping clients access resources and regulate their nervous systems before diving into deeper therapeutic work. It’s a holistic understanding that healing happens differently in different communities.

Building Community, One Conversation at a Time

Hall’s group practice represents more than expanded mental health services—it’s become a community hub for healing. From day one, her vision was clear: build a space where people could feel truly seen while closing the gap between struggling and thriving.

“We try to show up differently. We show up as a member of the same community,” Hall says. Her team actively engages with schools, community events, churches, and offices, hosting fireside chats, couples’ events, and therapeutic conversations that feel “like a family dinner with impact.”

The results speak for themselves. Clients have confronted generational trauma, processed grief, identified their purpose, and changed the tone of their households. “That’s healing that spreads,” Hall emphasizes. “It’s the impact and transformations we show up for, not just sessions.”

Innovation Born from Real Conversations

From Chicago Streets to Healing Hearts: How Melanie Hall's Childhood Empathy Became a Movement for Mental Wellness

Photo Courtesy: Melanie Hall

Hall’s “We Didn’t Have That Conversation” relationship communication cards emerged directly from her Chicago practice, addressing a pattern she witnessed daily: couples who loved each other deeply but lacked the tools for healing dialogue.

“I realized quickly that people were avoiding hard conversations not only because they didn’t have the language but to avoid fear, pain, heartbreak, and exhaustion,” she explains. In Chicago, there’s often pressure to “look strong,” to not “air dirty laundry,” or to avoid anything that sounds like therapy-talk.

Her solution was characteristically practical and culturally aware. “So I stripped all that out. I made sure the questions felt like things you’d talk about at the kitchen or at a gathering with friends.” The cards are designed to be disarming, easing people into honesty without clinical overtones.

Training Tomorrow’s Mental Health Advocates

As a Mental Health First Aid Trainer, Hall is expanding her impact by training other Chicagoans to recognize and respond to mental health crises. “As a clinician, I cannot be everywhere,” she acknowledges. “It’s helping people develop an awareness and interest in how to help those around them that might be struggling.”

For Hall, this work represents active participation in building resources for Chicago’s most vulnerable populations. “Chicago is a great city, and just like other cities, the communities are in need of trained individuals to help at the most critical moments.”

From Chicago Grit to National Grace

While deeply rooted in Chicago, Hall’s influence is expanding beyond city limits. Her book “Change Your Words to Change Your World” and frameworks like “Keep it, Tweak it, Trash it” are gaining recognition nationally. But she credits Chicago with giving her the foundation for this broader impact.

“Being rooted in Chicago means something to me because my grit and grace intersect,” Hall reflects. “Chicago gave me resilience and realness that make my messages accessible and adaptable across state lines, especially with people and communities who’ve felt unseen or underserved.”

Her vision is expansive: frameworks being used “in boardrooms, classrooms, barbershops, and kitchens”—universal tools grounded in emotional intelligence but delivered in language that makes sense to real people facing real challenges.

From a child witnessing disparities on Chicago streets to a mental health innovator transforming how we approach healing, Melanie Hall’s journey embodies the city that shaped her: resilient, authentic, and committed to lifting others up. Her approach remains rooted in that early insight—as long as people are asking for help, she’ll share every tool available to provide it.

In a city that’s seen its share of struggles, Hall represents something powerful: the possibility that our deepest empathy, when paired with professional expertise and community commitment, can create ripple effects of healing that extend far beyond any single therapy session. She’s not just treating symptoms—she’s transforming lives, one honest conversation at a time.

Breaking the Mold: Amy Vasterling on Challenging “The Model” and Coming to Life

The Chicago Journal Staff on September 19, 2025

By: Michael Beas

When Amy Vasterling sat down to write Know: Where the Status Quo Ends and You Come to Life, she wasn’t simply penning a self-help book. She was attempting to give voice to the unspoken. Drawing from a lifetime of lived experience, intuition, and deep observation, Vasterling crafted a book that aims to expose what many may feel but find difficult to articulate. This is the quiet ache of living a life dictated by systems, expectations, and societal norms that might suppress authenticity and silence inner wisdom.

At the core of Know is what Vasterling refers to as “The Model,” a system of control that could be rooted in hierarchy, societal roles, and emotional posturing, which tends to keep individuals disconnected from their truest selves. “What I came to understand,” she explains, “is the influence of who society, our parents, and others may want us to be often outweighs being who we truly are.” This constant need to perform or conform, she argues, may contribute to anxiety, burnout, and a sense of internal misalignment that seems to be increasingly prevalent in today’s world.

From Frustration to Freedom: A Personal Turning Point

For Vasterling, these ideas are more than philosophical musings. They’re grounded in real-life moments that reshaped how she views herself, parenting, and the human experience.

One pivotal moment occurred while raising her young children. She noticed herself erupting in anger without fully understanding the cause. “After a few outbursts,” she recalls, “I knew something had to change.” Instead of reacting as usual, she sat with her children and said, “I feel angry today, I’m unsure what to do.” Her daughter responded by crawling across the hallway and playfully pounding her fists on the floor. Vasterling followed suit, and the moment dissolved into laughter.

But it didn’t stop there. This experience led her to two parenting methods that prioritized honoring a child’s identity over enforcing obedience. “That was important to me,” she says. “Because I could see the anger was a signal I was not being as true to myself as I could be.” Over time, those methods became her new foundation. Friends began calling her a “magic” parent—not because of tricks or perfection, but because of her commitment to alignment and respect for personal truth.

Through such moments, Vasterling began to see The Model in stark contrast. She identified two extremes—authoritarianism and enabling—both functioning as mechanisms of control, creating a system so normalized that it often becomes invisible.

Exposing What’s Hidden, Healing What Hurts

The heart of Know is not just about critique. It’s about offering a path to liberation. Vasterling’s mission is to help people recognize the structures that may keep them stuck—particularly the emotional postures we might unconsciously adopt—and provide tools for potentially leaving those patterns behind.

One powerful story in the book illustrates this well. A young boy, an avid baseball player, became overwhelmed with anxiety mid-season. His father, rather than seeking to understand, berated him for wanting to quit. The boy’s mother, a counselor, took a different approach: “How will you feel about this decision when you’re 30?” she asked. He responded, “I probably won’t even remember it.” With that insight, she let him step away from the team.

What happened next is telling. The boy found peace, explored new interests, and later pursued a PhD in physics. “This is what it might look like when a child is given permission to be themselves,” Vasterling explains. “When we stop forcing people to fit the mold, they often thrive.”

Living Life as Art, Not Algorithm

For those feeling trapped by the status quo, Vasterling offers both encouragement and challenge. “This hustle life may not be sustainable,” she says. “We’ve been taught to follow trends and look to the next shiny thing. But life, in many ways, is an art, not a science—and we should try to live it as such.”

She invites readers to start with one powerful shift: become aware of how you “posture” in daily interactions. Are you shrinking to keep the peace? Performing to gain approval? Resisting conflict out of fear? These subtle adaptations, repeated over time, can keep us embedded in The Model and disconnected from our true nature.

A significant part of her work focuses on healing what she calls “inner child parts” through somatic work—an embodied method of restoring trust with parts of ourselves that have been long ignored or suppressed. “I’ve had some miraculous things happen in this work,” she says. “It’s powerful because it respects how your inner world wants to express. That’s where real change can happen.”

A Vision for the Future: Beyond the Model

Looking forward, Vasterling hopes Know will do more than inspire individual transformation. She sees it as part of a larger cultural shift—a move away from immaturity masquerading as power, toward a world grounded in what she calls “natural equality.”

“The Model is fueled by hierarchy, where some people face no consequences while others carry the weight of all of them,” she explains. “This imbalance has kept society emotionally immature—stuck in a perpetual adolescence. But when we reclaim our inner knowing, we grow up. We see clearly. And we begin to live fully.”

She envisions continuing her work as both author and speaker, with a second book already in the works and new ideas unfolding. “I didn’t realize I was the writer I am,” she says with humility. “But I’m here to share what I’ve seen. And I’m honored to be part of ushering in what’s next.”

The Takeaway: Come Back to Life

Ultimately, Know is a guide for returning to yourself. It doesn’t offer quick fixes or shiny promises. Instead, it asks hard questions, illuminates hidden truths, and offers a path forward—one that is honest, human, and whole.

As Vasterling puts it: “We can successfully leave The Model, but it requires being honest about who we are and making some tough choices. When we do, life becomes what it was meant to be—something akin to magic.”

 

Disclaimer: The content of this article is for informational purposes only and reflects the personal views and experiences of Amy Vasterling. It is not intended to substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Readers should seek the advice of a qualified healthcare provider or mental health professional for any concerns related to their well-being.