The headline of this is kind of a rhetorical statement but the further I go into practice and the more people that approach you, the crazier I think I get.

Would you ever consider bringing on an associate?

I’m never going to say never on bringing on an associate, the issue with bringing someone else on to work, is that everything from practice style to values need to align fairly close.  I’m busy alone by myself and I enjoy my patient base.  I feel that when someone schedules in the office, they know exactly what they are going to get.  It’s on me and my practice style to get them better.  For most people it works wonderful and we get good results, some people not so much.  I have come to understand that I can and will not please everyone, but that’s on me and me alone.  If word vomit comes out of my mouth and I offend someone, that reflects bad on the my practice and livelihood, but its mine.  An associate can reflect bad on the office and I can’t control that as easily as I can control myself.

Would you ever consider sharing space with other professionals?

Not at this time.  Sure I allow a massage therapist to use an extra room in the Minden office but there is a general understanding that she can be there when I’m not there.  I don’t normally play well with others in a professional sense.  I like things to flow a certain way in the office and if that gets interrupted, that’s okay but I don’t really want that to happen all of the time.  I have too much equity and equipment for things that I like to do to be moving things around on a daily basis to accommodate someone else.  I’m getting set in my ways and the extra money that it could potentially bring in is just not worth it to my sanity.

Why are you so passionate about student loan debt and personal finance?

Chiropractic schools essentially don’t really teach anything in regards to debt and money management.  I’m not saying that I’m an expert in these fields at all but I do enjoy the discussions that come about with personal finance.  The most freeing thing that I have ever done in my life was when Kristina and I paid off nearly $180K in student loan debt, basically for a piece of paper.  I at least own my mind and brain at this point.  Aggressive debt payoff is not for everyone but I think more young, aspiring chiropractors should at least consider and think about it for a little bit of time fairly regularly.  If you are waiting for a government program to get rid of your student loans, this may backfire, but I won’t hold my breath.

What kind of car do you drive?

I drive a Honda Civic that I bought when I was a student in Chicago.  Cars are utilitarian to me.  It gets great gas mileage and I haven’t had a car payment on it in probably 7 years. Hell it got sideswiped while parked on the street in Minden.  Guess what, I care but not really because it came down to a little dent and a scratch on the driver’s side, if I drove a brand new vehicle I would have freaked out.  Vehicles just don’t mean that much to me.

What school did you go to and why?

National University of Health Sciences in Lombard, IL.  I wanted an evidence based school in an environment that I would enjoy living in for roughly 4 years.  Patients ask me all the time, did you ever fear for your safety living around Chicago.  Absolutely not, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, I was between the ages of 21-25 years old and loved every minute.  I met some people that I stay in contact with to this day and would tell anyone interested in Chiropractic school to look at National.  It’s a fairly small school and hardly anyone in Nebraska goes there but I would not change that experience for the world.

Can I shadow you in the office?

I’m starting to get this more often.  I don’t normally like people following me around for the day, as I honestly don’t know my schedule from a day to day basis.  Patients come and go throughout the day and when it gets busy, I don’t really like to slow down and ask people permission to have a student step in.  With that being said, I am more than willing to answer questions and give advice.  Being a source of knowledge is more a key for my more than being around the office in a working setting.

These are just a few of the things/questions I deal with on a daily/weekly basis.  Sure, I have my quirks and there are some people out there that think I’m nuts/crazy but at this point we have a fairly good track record for being an office that people get well and feel comfortable in. I’m an open book with an opinion if you ask.  If you plan on starting an uncomfortable conversation, I will more than likely just walk out of the room because if you trap me, you may not like my opinion.  With all that being said, we are going to continue being an office that people can come to for musculoskeletal complaints and DOT physicals, keeping things simple and getting people better.  Crazy, I’m not sure about that but normal with some quirks, sure, I can go with that.

See everyone in the weeks to come.