I have always felt fortunate to have known exactly what I wanted to do for a living since I was young. It made college planning very easy. I did my undergraduate work at Ohio University, then my doctorate work at Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa. When I started the chiropractic program, I told myself that if chiropractic wasn’t everything I hoped for, I would leave and go to medical school. The further I got into the program, the more impressed, excited, and interested I became.
I was fortunate enough to intern with an incredible doctor in Dewitt, Iowa, giving me the education and experience that allowed me to start my own practice once moving back to Ohio. I remember having many people tell me that Twinsburg was not a good area to start a practice and that they thought it would not do well. After going door to door, introducing myself, and asking the locals questions about what they thought, I decided that Twinsburg was the perfect place to start a practice.
Because there is an art to chiropractic, I did not want to stop working with my hands on patients while waiting for my Ohio license. At that time, I was living in my parent’s home. I started to see family and friends, then their friends and co-workers. Because I was not licensed yet, I did not accept any money. It was so fun to practice that way. Removing that aspect allowed it to be a truly doctor-patient experience. Of course, they would reciprocate by bringing me bread, fruit, steaks, etc.
As I waited for my office to be built out and ready, I continued seeing people out of my bedroom at my parent’s house. And as people continued to tell others about their results, my practice started to grow. I’ll never forget coming down the stairs and seeing five or six people sitting in the living room with my mom bringing them iced tea. I can see my father, while we were sitting at the dinner table, shaking his head and asking what the heck was going on around there.
We finally had the office set up exactly the way I had envisioned it, I had one staff person, and when I opened my office doors, we became very busy, very fast.
We outgrew that first office, leading me to build the building I am in now. This new office gave us the space to continue to grow. We have been in this newer space for almost twelve years. I have had four different doctors serve with me over the years, have had interns, and regularly have visiting doctors spend part of the day with me to observe how we run our practice.
As these other doctors look for the “secret” to running a successful, busy practice, I emphasize that the procedures are important, but it’s the philosophy behind those procedures that determines a practice’s success. From day one, I had one intention… to help as many people as possible. One thing I believed to be true was that if I trained to be the best chiropractor possible, gave people the best care, and treated all my patients the way I would treat myself or my family, no matter what, then the business stuff would take care of itself.
It’s hard for me to believe, but last month marked the 22nd anniversary of my practice. Wow! Time flies! My number one emotion when reflecting upon these past two decades in private practice is gratitude. I want to thank you and this community for your trust. I have had almost a half million patient visits in the past twenty-two years. And I am thrilled to say that I am just as excited about what I do today as I was when I started…actually even more excited!