About Jo
I’ve built it, broken it, and built it again.
Jo Davison is a chiropractor, practice owner, author and lead mentor at Blue Cow Practice, which she co-founded with her husband, Steve Davison, in 2011. Together they help chiropractors, in the UK and internationally, build practices that give them more life, not less.
Where The Blue Cow Way began
“We were trained to be brilliant chiropractors, but nobody taught us how to build and run a successful practice.”
Steve and I qualified from the University of Surrey in 2001 and opened our first practice that same year: one room in a sports centre in Brentwood, Essex. It grew quickly, and from the outside it looked like success. Inside, we were overwhelmed. We knew how to be chiropractors, but we had no idea how to run the business we’d created.
We reached a crossroads: leave practice ownership altogether, or completely rethink how we were doing it. We chose to rethink it. That decision became The Blue Cow Way: the belief that you don’t have to settle for a practice that isn’t working for you, and that you can decide what success looks like and redesign around it.
Since then we’ve lived through a lot of chapters. We grew into a team-based practice across two sites, in Brentwood and Maldon, sold it in 2013 and invested the proceeds, then took a sabbatical in Spain. In 2025 we opened Elaris Chiropractic and Wellbeing Centre in Great Totham: a boutique practice, and a very different model for a very different chapter.
Since 2011, Steve and I have also worked with hundreds of chiropractic practice owners at Blue Cow Practice, where I lead the mentoring. See how consulting and mentoring for chiropractors works.
Not a straight line
The chapters that shaped how I teach.
Overwhelm
Steve and I grew our first practice fast without knowing how to run a business, and nearly walked away from practice ownership.
Team lessons
Wrong-fit hires, difficult people situations and associate turnover, until we learned to build culture, leadership and systems that don’t depend on any one person.
Building and selling a practice
Growing into a team-based practice across two sites, then selling it in 2013 and deciding what came next.
The juggle is real
For me, motherhood alongside practice and business ownership brought periods of overwhelm and burnout. Later, perimenopause meant rethinking my capacity, my priorities and how I wanted to work.
Recession and COVID
Steering our businesses through both, and learning what makes a business resilient.
The launch that flopped
Our first online launch completely flopped and we were ready to give up. We regrouped, learned, tried again, and built an education business from what we learned.
Career timeline
25 years in practice.
Three very different practice models, from one room in a sports centre to a team-based practice across two sites and now a boutique centre. That’s exactly why I don’t believe in one definition of success.
- 1998 BSc (Hons) Nursing Studies, University of Surrey.
- 1998 President of UNISSCA, the University of Surrey Chiropractic Association, from 1998 to 2001.
- 2001 MSc Chiropractic, University of Surrey, and associate chiropractor with Dr Terry Chimes at The Back Pain Centre, London.
- 2001 Opened Family Chiropractic in Brentwood, Essex, with Steve.
- 2003 Moved to a new site as The Spinal Health Clinic, and began training our own associates.
- c. 2004 Vice President of the United Chiropractic Association.
- 2006 Moved to a larger site and became The Spinal Health Centre, Brentwood.
- 2010 Opened a second site: The Spinal Health Centre, Maldon.
- 2011 Launched Crack It, our first coaching business, which became Blue Cow Practice.
- 2013 Sold The Spinal Health Centres. A sabbatical in Spain, and consulting internationally.
- 2025 Opened Elaris Chiropractic and Wellbeing Centre, Great Totham, Essex.
- 2026 Elected Secretary of the board of Women Chiropractors, having joined the board in January.
Credentials
Dr Jo Davison
BSc (Hons) MSc DC
- Degrees
- MSc Chiropractic, University of Surrey (2001) · BSc (Hons) Nursing Studies, University of Surrey (1998)
- Registration
- General Chiropractic Council, the UK’s regulator for chiropractors: registered as Joanne Davison, no. 01580, since 11/12/2001 (search for 01580 on the GCC register). “Dr” is a courtesy title: Jo is a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC), not a medical doctor.
- Practice
- Practising chiropractor at Elaris Chiropractic and Wellbeing Centre, Great Totham, Essex
- Roles
- Secretary of the board of Women Chiropractors, 2026 (Women Chiropractors’ announcement) · Member of the Women Chiropractors Speakers Council · Former Vice President, United Chiropractic Association · President, UNISSCA (1998 to 2001) · More on Jo’s work for women in the profession
- Memberships
- United Chiropractic Association · McTimoney Chiropractic Association · International Chiropractic Pediatric Association
- Books
- Five current titles, four written with Steve Davison: Jo’s books
- Press
- SUCCESS, Global Woman, Absolutely Essex and the UCA’s 33 Principles magazine: in the press
Co-founder
Steve Davison
Steve is my husband and business partner, co-founder of Blue Cow Practice, a practising chiropractor and the creator of the Elaris Method. His background and his own work are on Steve Davison’s site.
Quick answers
Questions people ask about Jo
Who is Dr Jo Davison DC?
Dr Jo Davison DC is a UK chiropractor who has mentored chiropractors since 2011. “Dr” is a courtesy title: she is a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC), not a medical doctor. She is co-founder and lead mentor of Blue Cow Practice, co-author with Steve Davison of three books for chiropractors, a speaker, and Secretary of the board of Women Chiropractors.
Is Dr Jo Davison DC registered with the General Chiropractic Council?
Yes. She is registered with the General Chiropractic Council, the UK’s regulator for chiropractors, as Joanne Davison, registration number 01580, and has been registered since 11/12/2001. In the UK the title “chiropractor” is protected by law, so anyone using it must be registered, and the register is public.
What is Blue Cow Practice?
Blue Cow Practice is the mentoring and education business for chiropractors that Jo and Steve Davison founded in 2011, where Jo is lead mentor. It works with chiropractors at three stages: getting fully booked, creating their dream practice, and going beyond their practice room. Its own website is bluecowpractice.com.
What is The Blue Cow Way?
The Blue Cow Way is the philosophy behind Jo and Steve’s work: there is no single definition of chiropractic success. It starts by asking what success actually looks like for you, in this chapter of your life, and whether what you’re doing now is taking you towards it. The 5VT framework is the practical method used to build it. The Blue Cow Way is also the title of their 2021 book.