A Portage Life in the Spotlight: Kim Mrak

A Portage Life in the Spotlight: Kim Mrak

Kim Mrak lives, works and breathes the Brain Balance Center of Valparaiso. Her life to this point has culminated years of experiences and passions into a career that Mrak enjoys more and more each day.

A few longtime friends partnered with Mrak and her husband, Joe, to open a Brain Balance Center on Route 6 in Portage. They became official franchisees with the doors opening in January 2015. It was a journey that Mrak had been searching for, for a long time.

The story begins at Portage High School, where Mrak met her husband. They both grew up in the community that they would one day serve. They left so he could attend Ball State University, but it was not long before they were back in the neighborhood.

“This is home,” Mrak says. “This is where we grew up. We have friends here, family here. It’s a part of our lives.”

Their lives have grown together over the past 38 years. Joe Mrak became an architect while Kim took an accounting job in a grocery chain, then doing office work at an infectious disease clinic.

She was at the clinic for 12 years. It was run by 12 doctors specializing in treating diseases like pneumonia, AIDS, and infections common after surgery. One day soon her business experience at the clinic and exposure to maximizing the effect of procedures would help her run a company. Back then, it was as simple as lending a hand to someone who was struggling.

“I felt like I was making a difference. A lot of people needed our help. We took care of really sick people.”

Mrak’s mother instilled in her a strong sense of community responsibility. She always had a drive for nurturing others. Wherever there was a need, Mrak would respond.

Her hobbies echo the care she has for others. She reads mystery novels and watches NCIS, for the thrill of solving problems. The decisions of the characters interests her - she likes to see what choices they make and the resulting twists and turns of the plot. It makes sense, given that her career now is a study of the brain. At the Brain Balance Center she sees first-hand how mental balance and function affects every area of a person’s life.

As a mother, she got an even closer look.

Mrak and her husband raised three sons together. When they were very young, Mrak’s children struggled with academic skills and behavioral problems. Brain Balance would not exist for another twenty years, but she searched for other ways to help the boys.

“Never give up your search for something that can make a difference for your child,” Mrak advises parents going through the same issues she did. “Leave no stone unturned. And remember to take one day at a time.”

Her children grew up into successful young men, although they always knew the boys could do better.

Mrak was reminded of the struggle it took for them to get there, when friends told her about the issues their grandson was having. She returned to her quest for answers.

At this point, Mrak was already familiar with the nuances of the human body and brain. She had watched her children develop and overcome. Her job in the office of an infectious disease clinic exposed her to cases of physical and mental change in the body.

So when she stumbled upon Brain Balance, she saw an opportunity. She saw hope. She saw a resource that needed to come to Portage.

Mrak and her husband flew to New York to learn more about the program. They took training that would prepare them for the opening of their own local center. To this day, they continue their education that updates facilitators and administrators of the latest strategies and breakthroughs in child development.

They filed the paperwork and, with the partnership of their friends - the Hammonds - they opened the Brain Balance Center of Valparaiso.

“My life has been consumed by bringing the center here,” says Mrak. “Things that I used to be interested in have been put aside for something bigger in my life. In most cases, everyone has a family member affected by one of the issues our students have. It is an issue our community in general is aware of, but needs to be more aware of. We can help the community by helping these kids.”

The Brain Balance Center helps children ages 4 to 17 struggling with cognition, sensory processing, physical exercise, and nutrition. The program sharpens the brain and body functions by strengthening the weaker hemisphere of the organ that controls them all: the brain.

While Brain Balance does provide a holistic alternative to medication for issues like ADHD, autism and OCD, children do not need to have extreme problems to go there.

“We want every child to have the opportunity to succeed. The tools exist - why not take advantage of them?”

Mrak’s organization likes to partner with local physicians, educators, psychiatrists, and anyone else taking an interest in the wellness and development of children in the community; even other learning centers are potential allies.

“We’re not competing,” Mrak reasons. “We’re all working toward the same cause.”

That cause is the betterment of our community as a whole, starting with our children. Mrak spends more and more of her free time at the center. It is her goal to give the opportunity of achievement to as many children as she can.