Pat Cherubini:

People think you’re a chiropractor and you’re so much more than a chiropractor. Yeah. And you can fix a lot of things and, you know, word of mouth is huge, but it’s slow moving. You know, people need to learn about you and with the things that you do and you know, the training you’ve got, you’re a super educated, smart guy. You use different words than people, you know, the normal people know. And that’s one, one thing we talk to all businesses, you know, you, you kind of gotta talk to the it’s about them until they get in there. And then it’s about you

Announcer:

Starting sustaining and having a successful small business is hard, but you already knew that, but wouldn’t it be great to have a podcast that talks to and digs in to the people who’ve made it problem solved. This is local vibes, small business success stories, talking to successful small businesses from around America. You’ll hear awesome stories about how they got started and how they survived and thrived online. And in their communities. We find out their special vibe. Welcome to local vibes, brought to you by ultimate online marketing.com. Now, here are your hosts, pat and Angie Cheri. All right, let’s do this.

Angie Cherubini:

Hi everyone. It’s pat and Angie CHII. And today we are featuring, um, my friend, our friend, Dr. Derek Myers of connect rehab here in Newark, Ohio. So let’s

Pat Cherubini:

Welcome, Derek. Thanks for stopping by get started. We’re gonna ask you some questions and, and find out if we can learn a little bit about what you do, because what you do is a little bit different than what yeah.

Angie Cherubini:

At least in our area, it’s a little

Pat Cherubini:

Different. Let’s just start by, you know, telling us the origin story of how you’ve got to be a chiropractor. I don’t know what you call yourself now. He’s still a chiropractor, but you know, how, how started and you know where you’re at now.

Dr. Derek Myers:

So, um, I started out, you know, going to college. I was gonna go, uh, to medical school initially. Um, I kind of decided not to do that, um, later in college and, uh, just didn’t want to go that route. And, um, wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. So I went and got, uh, some massage therapy training, so I could go to graduate school and have a very flexible job during grad school. Um, and I’m going to grad school in Texas and, uh, working on, um, biochem. And couple years into that, I just got kind of fed up with it. Uh, I was doing massage therapy in a rehab clinic there, uh, there in town. And that was the best time of my life. Right then I, my best 10 hours of that week were 10 to 12 hours were in that clinic.

Angie Cherubini:

How come and

Dr. Derek Myers:

Well, it was rewarding. Um, for starters the environment. I mean, people come in hurting and they leave feeling better. I mean, that’s a very, that’s a, that’s an immediate, tangible reward, uh, watching people’s lives change. And, you know, it’s, it’s just, it’s hard to put into words, but I mean, people do it, not just in healthcare, but in other areas too, you know, other, other service industries. So it was just very rewarding. It was, it was just a much better environment. Um, the environment that I was in was, it’s not for everybody grad, school’s not for everybody. And it’s, my grades were fine. It wasn’t an issue. It was just, it was kind of a toxic environment for me. Everybody’s kind of built different. So, um, I’m grateful for it. I learned a lot. I’m glad I did it. Um, but it gave me a solid foundation for what I do now, as far as healing and tissue recovery and what’s happening and, and making better decisions about how to recover tissue and what’s going on on that level.

Dr. Derek Myers:

So, um, about two years in, I was just having a bad week and, uh, I, you know, I just remember going into work that day and I’m absolutely miserable. And everybody around me is laughing and hugging each other. It’s a great time and all this stuff. And I was just, that was it. That was my come to Jesus that I’m not, I’m not doing the right thing. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, I felt like I battling that for two years. Um, and it just felt like the wrong path, like I was swimming, upstreaming it. And I’m, I, I’m not one to back down from, from a, from a challenge or a fight, but, um, two years in that was enough. And it was, that was the wrong thing for me to be doing, but, um, got me to where I, I needed to be at Texas chiropractic college, um, and, uh, got out and, and kind of specialized beyond there. So now I do all the fun stuff we do here.

Angie Cherubini:

Now. I know you started it just because, you know, of course, like I always say a lot of the people that we have on here, I already know are current clients, um, you started your practice in Tennessee, correct? Correct.

Dr. Derek Myers:

Right. So I went to Nashville initially and was there for about 15 years. I had a very, uh, concierge style practice. So I saw a very limited number of patients. It was all cash, uh, worked, got to work with some, um, some very different eclectic group of people, uh, from the music industry and the sports industry, and then also in pain management. So I got to see a lot of crazy stuff that I never would’ve seen just being a traditional chiropractor in that setting. A lot of just crazy cases, uh, that were, that that really helped shape and, and gave me a lot of, um, I guess I don’t know what the right word is experience in, uh, in areas that I might not have otherwise had. So

Angie Cherubini:

Is there, is there, can you tell us about a few of them?

Dr. Derek Myers:

Yeah. So, um, it was never a dull moment in pain clinics. I don’t know how familiar everybody is, but, uh, you know, one day I’m a bouncer and the other day I’m a clinician <laugh>, but I did have to physically remove somebody from a waiting room. One time you did. Yeah, he was, the guy was strung out and he was swinging this kid around. It was a whole thing. And, um, so we had to, we had to help him to the front door and wait on the police. So, oh my goodness. Yeah, the whole jiujitsu training came in. Helpful.

Pat Cherubini:

I was gonna ask, was that before or after the

Dr. Derek Myers:

Jiujitsu? Yeah, that was, that was definitely after that was a very helpful tool. Um, but, uh, you know, there was a case where, you know, people would come in. I had a lady who was told that she was gonna be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Um, no paralysis just had a lot of lower extremity and lower back issues. Um, a year later she’s out of a wheelchair hiking with her husband and did that for years. Um, there was a case where a, uh, a young lady was shot in the back of the head. Uh, a stray bullet went through an apartment wall and caught her and we helped her recover, um, recover the left side of her body after that injury. Um, that’s an amazing story. Her, her name was Tara. She was, she was just, it was just an incredible thing.

Dr. Derek Myers:

How long did it take? Um, that was several months worth of work. I mean, mm-hmm, <affirmative> fortunately we got, we got her, right. Like as soon as she was cleared from the head trauma, we got her right away. Um, and that’s the key with any kind of neurological injury is, is timing how fast you can get on it. Um, mm-hmm <affirmative> so that was awesome. Um, just, uh, oh my gosh. Um, postsurgical stuff, um, saving people from surgery, being able to, to, to recover somebody without needing to go to have a lumbar fusion or, or a cervical fusion, um, things, uh, there was a, a lady here in town that, that had, um, there’s several of these cases actually, but this one particular had headaches for, for years, years and years, it spent almost a hundred thousand dollars out of pocket over the time trying to resolve these.

Dr. Derek Myers:

And we were like three or four weeks with it and her headaches were mostly gone. Oh my goodness. Stuff from here to here. So, um, just to have those types of, of things, the need, the dry needling has been a huge bonus for that. Um, you know, one of the most memorable parts was, you know, my father had a lot of health issues, um, from transplants having to learn to walk again cancer several times and being able to be there for that. There was a, there was a point where he, um, he had to lea