Questions: Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business. Please include what your business is all about, in which city you are located and if you have offces in multiple locations/cities.
Answer: Pure Health and Wellness is a physical medicine offce located in Downtown Naperville, Illinois. I treat biomechanical issues, and am determined to fnd the root cause of my patient’s pain that can infuence the dysfunction of other physical issues; ones that can progress either in the short term or long term. I see chiropractic as a whole body approach to pain management and wellness. As such, I treat patients for their current pain, but also educate them on body biomechanics, exercise, and wellness to help them take charge of their own health and make improvements on their own. My practice stands out from the rest due to my commitment to giving local, personalized 1:1 care. I speak to and treat patients for the entire duration of their appointment (unlike standard medical offces where you typically see the doctor for only 5-10 minutes.) I see patients of all ages (from young children to elderly adults), and many of my patients are athletes and families of all ages.
Questions: Kindly give us a brief description about yourself (it should include your brief educational or entrepreneurial background and list some of your major achievements).
Answer: When I was a kid, I wanted to draw cartoons for Disney World. I started working on a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts & Graphic Design from Bradley University, but I wasn’t sure if this career path was best for me. After graduating, I felt a huge desire to go into the medical feld in some way, shape or form. I completed 2 years of undergrad at DePaul University, fnishing all of my basic sciences with labs. Eventually, I hurt myself at the gym, and when I went to the doctor, he was insistent on treating my pain with drugs and some physical therapy (and I wasn’t a fan of the drugs he was pushing); my Mom suggested that I see a chiropractor, and once I did I immediately felt better; that’s when I realized that chiropractic was the best feld for me. I received my Doctorate in Chiropractic from Palmer College of Chiropractic, and am a part of the American Chiropractic Association, Illinois Chiropractic Society, and Naperville Chamber of Commerce.
I also enjoy volunteering with the Naperville North High School – Health Occupational Class, where students can shadow working professionals as they prepare for life after graduation. I have done that for about 4-5 years, and have volunteered with their sports programs for 8 years; specifcally with the girls/boys track, girls feld hockey, and as a sideline trainer for the feld hockey team.
Questions: What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make signifcant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
Answer: I started my own practice right out of school, with a passion for helping people.
Questions: What three pieces of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
Answer:
- Work with others for your frst couple of years out of school to gain additional experience from your peers (3-5 years).
- Buy into a practice, fnd someone to buy into it, with an end result being a continuously-growing business plan
- It will be hard and time-consuming, and you will fail countless times, but don’t let it get to you and don’t be afraid to fail.
Questions: What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful chiropractor?
Answer:
1) Being open-minded, 2) good listening skills, and 3) perseverance
Questions: How many hours do you work a day on average?
Answer: As the sole employee, usually it’s about 10 – 12 hours; I also try my best to not bring work home.
Questions: To what do you most attribute your success?
Answer: Not being afraid to fail.
Questions: How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
Answer: I work with a local agency to focus on my SEO, social media marketing, and other digital / print marketing efforts. The best way to do it on your own is to network with new people.
Questions: Where did your organizations funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it? How did you obtain investors for your venture?
Answer: Not applicable to our business, since we are in the medical feld and don’t receive funding or investors. SKIP
Questions: What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
Answer: Patient retention, which can speak volumes for you as a physician. In terms of business strategy, if you are able to fnd someone who can help provide the opportunity to start a practice (buy into the practice), then you’ll have a better chance of being able to advance it long term.
Questions: Where do you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
Answer: In 5 – 10 years, I hope to be looking at someone else taking over my business, and joining with a partner to do a transition of power.
Questions: Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
Answer: I admire McDonald’s, because they were able to successfully enter a food industry, even though they are essentially in real estate. Basically, they own the land that all of their restaurants are built on. They have the mega success of creating a hamburger, while being the largest real estate corporation out there.
Questions: How important have good employees been to your success?
Answer: Extremely important. If you don’t have employees that buy into your system (psychologically), then you won’t have a stable practice. It makes it so much easier and more rewarding to run a practice if all who work there are wanting the same goals for the practice.
Questions: How long do you stick with an idea before giving up?
Answer: At fault, too long. I’ll see things to the end, and am very loyal. It all depends on the idea.
Questions: What motivates you?
Answer: My family; specifcally, my wife and daughter
Questions: How do you generate new ideas?
Answer: Primarily I read and listen to relevant podcasts. The best way for me is to talk to people that you fnd successful, and ask them about how they got to where they are.
Questions: How do you defne success?
Answer: For me, success is helping people with their long-term physical health.
Questions: How do you build a successful customer base?
Answer: You listen to your patients and be genuine with them; be YOU, and don’t put on a fake persona. Authenticity is extremely important.
Questions: What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?
Answer: I love being able to help people, and being my own boss.
Questions: In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.
Answer: Blessed
Questions: If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
Answer: I would choose to work with someone for a few years to gain more knowledge before starting my own practice right out of school.
Questions: How has being a chiropractor affected your family life?
Answer: It has given me a great career to provide for my family. It is unfortunate that, in the medical feld, the job requires the time you would have rather put towards being with your family, but because of this I value time with my family more than ever before.
Questions: What is your greatest fear, and how do you manage fear?
Answer: My greatest fear is the failure of not providing for my family. However, I use that fear to drive my motivation to continue doing good work.
Questions: How did you decide on the location for your business?
Answer: I originally started in Woodridge, but after some time I realized that I needed to move to a location that had more of a need for a family chiropractor. I was born and raised in Naperville, and felt familiar with the area. It’s been a great place to run my practice.
Questions: Do you believe there is some sort of pattern or formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur?
Answer: No; people are successful in different ways, and people have different defnitions of success. It all depends on the person and their journey.
Questions: If you could talk to one person from history, who would it be and why?
Answer: I like to laugh as much as I can, so Robin Williams would be my choice. He would be great to talk to!
Questions: Who has been your greatest inspiration?
Answer: Specifcally my wife and daughter, but overall my family has been my inspiration long term
Questions: What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve made?
Answer: The biggest mistake I can think of is being so hard on myself when I fail. I can be really hard on myself, but know that at the end of the day, the best thing you can do when making mistakes is learn from them and improve yourself in the future.
Questions: How can you prevent mistakes or do damage control?
Answer: You can’t. Mistakes and failures happen. The best thing to do is learn from your mistakes and failures, and improve yourself so that they don’t happen again.
Questions: What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?
Answer: I love spending time with my family, gardening & yard-working (like trimming trees), and DIY home improvement projects.
Questions: What makes you happy?
Answer: My family, and laughing (which is the secret to life in my opinion).
Questions: What sacrifces have you had to make to be a successful entrepreneur?
Answer: In general, sacrifcing my personal time for my practice; specifcally, sacrifcing time with my family.
Questions: If you were conducting this interview, what question would you ask?
Answer: “Do you have any regrets in life?”
