Dr. Kevin Keyes is the owner and one of 3 other Chiropractors at Woodlands Family Chiropractic, a 10,000 sqft cash based wellness clinic in The Woodlands, Texas.

His clinic is highly acclaimed and serve their community with Chiropractic and their teaching kitchen, La Bella Verita (The Beautiful Truth) a nonprofit (The Keyes Ingredients) that show to implement whole food nutrition as part of the Chiropractic Lifestyle.

It wasn’t always this way… Dr. Keyes graduated National in 1998 and began practicing as a Medipractor in a multidisciplinary clinic of 55+ medical doctors in the North Houston area. It wasn’t until 5 years in and almost giving up on the profession that he had his transformational breakthrough.

He is a strongly principled Chiropractor who has been dedicated to producing great outcomes for his patients. He loves to share his thoughts and experience with other Chiropractors in hopes to elevate Chiropractic and help more people.

TRANSCRIPT

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  You made it to Chiro Hustle! Sit back and learn from the greatest influencers in the profession on the world's number one chiropractic podcast. Before we dive into this powerful episode, please remember to subscribe to our channels and give us a 5-star rating on iTunes to continue hustling.

This episode is sponsored by the Transact Card, A-Line life, Brain-Vased Health Solutions, Chiro HD, Imaging Services, Chiro Health USA, Chiro Moguls, Pure Chiro Notes, Titronics, Sherman College of Chiropractic, New Patients in a Box, Life Chiropractic College West, Pro Hockey Chiros, Pro Baseball Chiros, the IFCO, and 100% Chiropractic. Let's hustle!

LUKE MILLETT (PRODUCER):  Hey guys, welcome to episode 548 of the Chiro Hustle Podcast. I'm your producer, Luke Millet, and here's your host, James Chester.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  So today we have the opportunity to interview Dr. Kevin Keys. We talk about patient volume average and how it's really best for the patient. And that chiropractic is best when it's used as a lifestyle and not a procedure. Stay tuned for the full episode.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  I'm really excited, pumped up actually for this episode. Number 548. I always joke around until everybody. It seems like a lot and I've done them all. So here I am today with Dr. Kevin Keys. We're going to focus on some really cool things. Giving back the philanthropy of systems, ideas, and how to give back to the chiropractic profession. I think it's going to be a really cool topic we're going to talk about today. And making the main thing the main thing. I know that's pretty cool, but you've got to focus on what makes you the chiropractor. And then putting in the work and grinding out the days in between the victories. I think that's going to be something fun to talk about too. Before we give this episode, I let everybody know our big why. Why do we do it? Would you overhear Chiro Hustle? First things first, it's freedom of speech. We've never censored anybody. We know what it feels like, so we never do that. Plus we believe in the truth and the value of this must-care-pratic. Second, it's medical freedom and family health freedom. We really believe in those two things. If you have a confusion on them, they're not the same thing. So if you want to learn more about medical freedom or family health freedom, I actually believe that chiropractic is the last, like, savior in between medical tyranny and medical freedom. So that's a big reason why we do this show. Then we get a bit more philosophical. It's more about subluxation-based chiropractic and how we support that. If anybody's watching from a college campus or they're a young VC and they want to learn more about philosophy of chiropractic, reach out to us and send us an email. I always tell people to pay the fee to us, which is to share the show. So if you like what we're doing, our fees to just share the show. So take a quick break. Hit share this message. Share the show so more people can learn more about chiropractic and the beautiful profession of chiropractic. The sacred trust, if you guys don't know what that is, go and find out what the sacred trust is. You're going to learn so much more about chiropractic than you previously did. I guarantee you. That's a big guarantee of all capitals. And then we believe in in-intelligence and universal intelligence. We believe that when man or woman physical gets adjusted, it connects them to man or woman to spiritual. And with that, Dr. Kevin, welcome.

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  Awesome. Thank you so much, Jim, for having me. Pleasure to be here.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  Yeah. I have a lot of fun with this show, and I think that the world at large needs more information on who they can go to for their medical needs and their health needs. And a big part is people don't know where to go or who to trust. And they fall into this really weird scope of influence where they're getting information from people that might not be credible. So we've been doing this show for six years, interviewed over 1,200 people. And I'm really excited to have you on today. So let's just break right into this one. And I just opened up by telling us your story. I know you said you come down from Canada, went to national, but tell us a little bit about your story and how you got to where you are today.

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  Awesome. So just a real brief back on when I started in high school looking at what I was going to do with my life, I thought originally I want to help people. So the logical thing would be to be a lawyer. So anyways, my soccer coach at the time was the one that told me I'd be a terrible lawyer and introduced me to his chiropractor, walked into that office, shadowed, saw some awesome amazing things. And the day I walked out of that office, I knew I was going to be a chiropractor. It was just infectious. So that put me on the track. Did my undergrad, went down to national, graduated national and moved to the Woodlands, Texas. And so great town, great, great state. Just love it, absolutely love it here. I thought you could golf all year round, but then, you know, from moving to the weather outside now where it feels like 120. I don't really want to golf in that right now, but it was a good migration for us down south. I started my practice in a large medical clinic actually, which was great because I had lots of referrals from medical doctors. And so I really jumped, started my practice. But it left me somewhat unsatisfied because I really wasn't able to practice the way that chiropractic really needs to be delivered. And you see the magic in chiropractic, you know, you're taught certain things in school and my school was great. I loved to, you know, my experience was great. They taught a lot of things, but I would just say, I just, you know, you got to put things together when you get out. And as I thought that this was my dream to be, you know, amongst all these medical doctors and to be recognized, some things became abundantly clear. So we talked today about, you know, I don't want to divert into the whole thing about medical freedoms and everything, but man, I can, I lived shoulders, shoulders, saw those things and our paradigms are just, are just very different. And I can say from seeing it, you know, what makes me unique is seeing those outcomes and clinical outcomes. I don't care what any insurance company says. You know, at the end of the day, make the main thing the main thing. Is the person who walks through your door? Is their life impacted in a positive way? Did you impact that person's life? Are you, you know, and did you hear what they need? Are you giving them their needs and not just the things that they want and really educating them on why that's a good decision to do that. So yeah, that's, that was, that's a bit of the path that I came through. In 2010, left that large medical clinic, been off as Woodlands family chiropractic ever since, love and life, live in the chiropractic health and wellness and lifestyle and, and practicing that and just love every aspect of it and certainly talking about it.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  Yeah, you know, I, I go back to what you're saying about, it's not about the insurance, it's about the chiropractic. And I think that a lot of times when I first started out 14 years ago, people like, thought it was synonymous, they thought that healthcare was insurance care. And they still do to a degree.

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  They still do.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  Yeah.

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  Yeah. And they're like, well, it's a relevant topic and it's one to give the reasons why. So for example, in, in our office, we're only in network with one insurance company. And we just phrased it into when we discuss this with patients is that we are going to, they're not working, we are working directly for you. The insurance company doesn't look at how many years of experience I have, the equipment I have, the time that I've invested in training staff. So they're reimbursing me the same as somebody else down the road. And my heart's desire is to deliver the best to the people that come through my door. So I'm going to go to seminars, I'm going to learn more, I'm going to make my place a nice, inviting atmosphere to come into and train my staff and do these things and pay my staff well. You know, nothing worse than walking into the medical office where the, you know, gal's getting paid, you know, pennies and you knock on the glass and she tells you to sit down and you know, you get your card and you photocopy your card. And I mean, it's just, it's not a really inviting experience. Chiropractic is best when it's in, in turned into a lifestyle and not a procedure. And we have to make that repeatable for people. We've got to get them, you know, when they initially come in, meet them where they are, put in their eyes along the way and take them away from them. Make it a lifestyle form.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  I love that. I love that so much that we can turn people's lives into a lifestyle instead of a procedure. And I think that a lot of times people think that they're going to get one or two adjustments and all of a sudden their life's better or they think that's been going on for 40 years, all of a sudden resolves. And I think it is a good step. I do. But I, you know, I gave a talk yesterday to a group of, I think the class was a 750 class at Sherman College and they had me talking to them about marketing. And I was explaining to them that you have to really like be consider of the Chiropractic lifestyle and it starts from first breath to last breath. And a lot of times it happens in utero. And if we can get to that position within Chiropractic care, like that's my dream for everybody is to get their first adjustment from the womb. And they get their last adjustment last day for pallet of care, you know, I think that everybody should have Chiropractic from cradle to grave man. And I think that if we can really like instill that into people that it's best when it's always like a part of your life and not never notice like how did that ever become like,

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  how did that ever become like a bad thing? You know, they noticed that where people are like, Oh man, you got to see Chiropractic or you got to. And so some chiropractors then they think they're thinking, Oh man, well, I don't want to be that guy. Why don't you want to be that guy? I mean, you're going to, you're going to exercise all your life. You're going to eat wealth or whole life. That's what builds health. I mean, why wouldn't you take care of your nervous system your whole life? I mean, you're going to see you're going to see an eye doctor as well.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  There was a stretch there, Dr. Kevin, where I did 600 spinal screenings in 36 months. I was doing 28 spinal screens a month. And I was out there doing this work and people were like, well, I've been told if I come see the chiropractor, I'm going to have to go the rest of my life. I'm like, good.

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  You can congratulate that person. That would be a helpful and healthy thing to do. Go back and high five that person.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  It's not a bad thing. I'm like, so if you go to the dentist once when you're like, for like, when you're first getting your teeth when you're like three years old or whatever, do you think you should go to the dentist for the rest of your life? It sounds pretty like wacky not to. So I think that we've created this culture where it's not okay to take care of yourself. And it's not okay to be under maintenance care. It's not okay to like see a chiropractor. So we really have to go back and re-culture people and say, look, everything you thought before, we just need to like reintroduce you to this thing called chiropractor again, because whoever got it to you before might not have done a good enough job of explaining to you and telling you how the system of chiropractor can really help enhance your life.

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  Absolutely. I think COVID really shifted the situation to which is a good, it's a positive thing, because I think there's a lot more doubt. I think people see the systems, some of the things that have come out over the last few years now, has changed that conversation. And I think we're really positioned well for the profession to take that on. And I think people are really seeking and they realize now proactive approaches and that these band-aids, these messages, the marketing that has been in the past from the medical field has not really, I think there's probably a little disenfranchised.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  Well, I think people are looking for something that's non-invasive, somebody that can help them with their mindset and a practitioner can help them with their diet, a practitioner can help them with exercise and full body health. And I know they're not getting that from the other side of the medical world. So they're looking for chiropractors. There's some of you guys who call chiropractors. And they're going to a personal trainer, they're going to a nutritionist, they're going to the Reiki people, they're going to massage therapists. And they're looking for that person.

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  And they're saying, hey, the real position is beautifully for that. And just taking the authority in that position is our direction here right now, not trying to hold on to insurance reimbursements.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  Well, back to what I was saying earlier, that we need to go in and we need to clean up the reputation a little bit from what's been done over the past 50 years with chiropractic and let people know that it's not about the insurance game. And it's not about your headaches and neck pain and back pain. It's about a lifestyle. And people that get chiropractic regularly, I always tell people it's all time back to heaven. I understand anybody that got regular chiropractic care that had a worse quality of life. But I will tell you that I've seen people that take prescription meds and I can't say the same thing about them or that had more surgeries. I can't say that, oh, gosh, they have another surgery. Boy, their vitalism just went right up, just got so much better or that person takes 12 prescription. They're so vitalistic. Their life is awesome. I would never say that. I can't say that. That is just not true.

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  That's the shift of going from that mechanistic approach into that vitalistic where yes, our structure in, you know, it's obviously so important and everything but to take from that mechanistic standpoint and put it into the vitalistic of that truly is what chiropractic is. And you know, it's not the pain. It's the nervous system function. It's how we take a look and analyze the spine through various methods and then to work with it in various techniques. Do you notice like it's like pizza. It's all good. All these different techniques have a place and just, I mean, you know, I've been in this since 1998. So that's going on 25 years and I still love learning new things. And there's so much more to learn out there and to tweak and get better at it.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  So, you know, yeah, you know, I gave a talk a couple of years ago at the Boulder Philosophy Night here in Colorado and it was called Unity Through Diversity. And I said, if I go see all of you guys for my first visit, there's not one of you guys are going to do the same intake and same exam and same x-ray style and the same like everything across the board. Each person's going to do a little bit different because you guys are artists and that's a part where chiropractic doesn't talk about enough. They talk about the adjustment, but they don't say that this is art form. And I think that if we got to the public and let people know that chiropractic adjusting as art, they would respect it. They'd have a different level of respect for it rather than just the manipulation. Correct. Nobody wants to get manipulated. Everybody wants to get adjusted.

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  Yes. Yes, I think you're hitting the nail on the head there with just the artistic standpoint and people will have preferences towards us. It's just like a painting. Some people prefer different things subject matter over other things. And that's okay. We have four docs in our office. And I'm the owner of the clinic and I'm not telling them, hey, you have to practice this way. I'm there to support them in how to best take care of what I want for you to change that patient that's on the table. And when they and through and again, that's not just through that's not going to be you might deliver one awesome, amazing adjustment, but they never come back and they don't adopt it as a lifestyle. And there's some longitudinal care. We're not moving the needle. We're not talking to them and having conversations about medical freedoms. We're not talking about nutrition exercise, all these other things. They don't look at us as the expert. We win them over. We win them over with our trust by delivering and delivering what we say we're going to do.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  Amen. You know, earlier you're talking about working in a big medical facility with a bunch of MDs and your PVA was really low and you're maybe seeing people for like two to four adjustments and then all of a sudden they get yanked back to the other side of the medical profession so let's talk a little bit about like marketing and how that happened in your career and then how you moved to a better quality PVA for not just you as a practice to make a healthy practice but for you as a practitioner to make sure you're delivering the goods to the people that are on your table.

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  Awesome. Yeah. So number one, let's reiterate that right there is that that PVA is really for the patient. You know, we can't it's not about it's not about us. It's about them and taking the best care about for them. So yeah, you know, when I was in that practice, we were involved with what they call a eight well, people know what an HMO is, but they also had what they call an IPA, which is an independent physician association and you know, they would allow man, it was just it was those days. That's gnarly, dude.

None:  That saying that like those three words together.

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  I mean, it was because they control the insurance company. Yeah. So I got my hands. Yeah, I got my hands on to a lot of people, but man, it was just so like, Oh, I want to help you. I just want to help you. And that person, you know, of course I could get somebody relief in two, three, four, six adjustments. I mean, we could, but you don't make any physiological change. There's nothing lasting. There's no culture shift. No, no. And so that was, so I think it was far as some new patients. That was primarily an early on in my career. It was through through referral and I was fortunate enough to have that. So I feel blessed. I don't want, you know, that was a great time in my life and I learned a lot from it. But and I learned also being around those doctors about being the authority in the space that you're in. And I had to learn and get scrappy enough to, to be able to tell that patient and look that patient in the eye that their care was, and their, their needs were best served here. And I had their best interest in mind and I was going to take care of them. And they might have to come out of pocket for that. But I'm going to, you pay, if you pay me, I'm, I am going to work for you. Yeah. And that there is, we're going to stay in exchange. I'm not going to provide free care here and there. So, so to the new patient thing that carries over where I don't dangle things that I don't plan on delivering all the time. And I'm not dangling free care out there to lure people in to just to see me. What I did was I ground it out. I would grind and grind and serve those people and get them the outcomes and get them the results that made it an experience that they wanted to talk to others about. And that's the number one thing with, with new patients is, look, I do need to know that you need some social media marketing. And that's great. I just think you need to be authentic in that. Be true to who you are and the, so that the whoever you're working with, be yourself, represent your brand that you want. If you want to treat all athletes and everything, then okay, fine, then target and go that direction. If you want a family practice, go that direction. So you have to know your niches and the things that you're looking at. We're just so fortunate that our patients have had such a good experience that when we use review wave and we push out an automated review, they just give us Google reviews. And it's such a wonderful thing. So shout out to review wave. I know if I'm allowed to do that here, sorry, but I've been a, I mean, you want to talk about new patients, making a simplistic, very easy process. You can book a new patient online. So whatever things you do, you just drive them to book their appointment online, make it easy, remove the barriers, a reasonable cost for your first visit. And if you want to adjust on your first visit, fine, do what you feel is the best. But please give the patient, examine them first. We had a patient come in the other day, did x-rays on them. One of my docs brings the x-rays look, we look at it and C56, the disc is like pretty much gone and we were looking at it. Wow, that's something's up here. And it was like, is this a congenital thing or not? Send it over to the radiologist. Radiologist says it's an infection of the disc. They go over to the ER, they had MRI person. I mean, they had an infection and they're just, this is crazy. Two months that person walked around like that. And if we were to have teed up on that and just adjusted away, God knows what would have happened to that woman. So do a great thorough complete exam, take that, find out what their interests are and it doesn't need to take super long. But then give them recommendations of really what's going to serve them best.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  You made it to Chiro Hustle! Sit back and learn from the greatest influencers in the profession on the world's number one chiropractic podcast. Please remember to subscribe to our channels and give us a 5-star rating on iTunes to continue hustling.

This episode is sponsored by the Transact Card, A-Line life, Brain-Vased Health Solutions, Chiro HD, Imaging Services, Chiro Health USA, Chiro Moguls, Pure Chiro Notes, Titronics, Sherman College of Chiropractic, New Patients in a Box, Life Chiropractic College West, Pro Hockey Chiros, Pro Baseball Chiros, the IFCO, and 100% Chiropractic. Let's hustle!

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  Yeah, you know, you said a lot there about when it comes to the relationship and earning business the old fashioned way by rendering a good service and taking care of people.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  And it reminds me of like treat them like your family, adjust them like your mother. And if you get really crystal clear with your avatar type of practice and you get really crystal clear with your avatar type of patient, yeah, you could run an office under any type of demographic that you want. You just have to get crystal clear on who you want to attract as your primary patient base. And that's going to be how you thrive in a marketplace. And then you can build your personality and you can create the other associates or the other practitioners into your office to have a culture. And I think that that's the hardest part for like a young doctor to understand that what they create today will be the culture that they live in in the next five years. Right.

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  So you got to dream and plan ahead and look at that and see what you want that to look like and build that dream practice in your, you know, what does it look like that day walking through there. And so go and see as many practices as you can and take that in. But I'd have to say, you know, I want to add this in here is that it's a you to realize like I'm living a dream practice. I have a dream practice. And it took I'm in practice now 25 years that it took a long time to build and you had to grind it out. You got to go through, you know, just because you put some ads out there, people aren't just going to just, you know, they're not just going to flood in. And if they do, you know, it's you've got to be able to again, connect with them and then deliver the goods.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  What was John DiMartini? Did he have a practice in Houston?

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  You know, not while I was here. Not that I know.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  Well, he had always told me he's a friend of mine, but he would always say like overnight success happens in 25 years.

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  Nailed it. Yeah.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  Yeah. Yeah. So, so let's talk about your local community a little bit and the way that you stayed in touch with them. I know you we've talked a little bit about doing the Facebook ads and creating a referral based practice, but really I think building a practice is about, you know, shaking hands and going out to your community and actually meeting people where they are. So what are some of the things that you've done to help you do that over your career?

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  So when I first started out, I got involved with some local groups. And of course, as I got busier, I wasn't able to get into those marketing groups. And you know how that goes. Oh, yeah.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  Two years. Two years, guys. Give yourself good two years to join the chamber and the area absolutely.

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  Everybody coming out really, you need to do it. I did it. I spent those two years.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  Thank you for earlier. Right. Two days that we get up like earlier and go to these events and go to the office.

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  Yeah, you got to do the breakfast, the lunches, whatever they are, shake the hands and tell and just tell people what you're passionate about, what you see, what you know, how that's infectious and people people. I don't know too many people that I tell about chiropractic of the chiropractic story and that they're not interested, you know. So you got to press the flash, you got to get your face out there. Speaking in front of groups, just get over yourself. It's not about you. I've just learned that. You know, it's like you have something to give to people and go out there to give. It's not about you standing up there. It's really about a message to be able to help people and they can see that. They see the genuineness of that. So speaking, of course social media and showing who you are, again, your authenticity, get involved in the things that you like. So for example, I enjoyed doing some triathlon work and I got involved with those people. So the swimming and the biking crowd and running is just painful. I mean, so the running crowd, that's a whole other story, but my kids, at their school, we got heavily involved in their school, got involved in their sports and their families. So again, and they got to know us and know that, hey, what are the real deal? We really care about these people and if you're going to get helped out, this is a guy to go to. So those are the things that, again, it's not a super quick response. But I mean, over time, it's a proven recipe.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  Well, I think there's an old saying that 9-10 of it's showing up. Yeah. And I think that building yourself into becoming a pillar of your local community is something honorable. And I think that every chiropractor should go out there and strive for that. They should strive to become somebody that's really referable from the leaders of the community. And if you can go do that, you can build partnerships and relationships with people that are running great businesses in your local community. Like, those are the people that are going to send you the most people. And I've always heard this that like the person that you think will be your most likely referral source will not be, the person that you think would probably be your less likely referral source becomes your most like the person that will refer you the most people. So treat everybody well. Sometimes somebody told me never looked down on somebody because Monday you might be looking up at them or they might be your number one referral source. Let's talk a little bit outside the pocket that I'm not about private practice. But let's talk about this profession. You said it earlier when we were on a pre-interview like chat that you think that the chiropract profession is like positioned to do really well since the whole like scam demi-kitt us and that we've dealt with this whole like dystopian idea that everybody's like sick. So let's talk a little bit about where do you see chiropractic position itself in the next 10 to 20 years?

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  Well, let's just say that in the last few years we've seen more neurological injury. And technology is really impacting our structure and our function as well. I mean, we are the healthcare provider that really can help these people through chiropractic, through adjusting, through the lifestyle of good nutrition exercise habits, teaching good habits, teaching the benefits of sleep and supplementation and these other things in addition. I believe that all of those things are pertinent to chiropractic and to helping our patient. Because ultimately what I see chiropractic is that the nervous system and we live our lives through our nervous system. And so what I'm making an adjustment is to bring people from their high sympathetic stay, their fight flight and bring them into this place where they're connected, right, to the intelligence of their body that knows the best version of them and how to affect their expression of their genetic material. So that being said, I think we're positioned very well. I look forward. So I would just say to everybody is look with optimism, but it's going to take good leadership and some restraint and to do it and to do the work and to just love, put love first, loving and serving others, put that at the forefront.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  You know, I think that you're definitely spot on with what it takes to get us to the next position of caregiving and care providing. I think that that's really the greatest thing is because I've always told people the chiropractic is not in the healthcare profession. It's in the care of health profession. And I think that healthcare has been hijacked. Unfortunately, yeah. And they call it whatever they want to, but it's ultimately sick care. And they want people to have like some type of a symptomatology first before they will administer something to people rather than being proactive. It's staying healthy there that we're always banging the drum for the reactive from symptomatology. So I also think that chiropractic is super, super well positioned moving forward because the real truth is primary care providers are tired of what they're doing. Yes. And they beat down and their patient visit times are like seven minutes and they have to see so many people on day to hit their quoted, hit their bonuses. And I think that people are going to be less and less like excited to become primary care providers and become doctors because of those reasons. And they're probably going to gravitate more towards chiropractic because, oh, we can be an entrepreneur. We can be a real, we can really get people better. We don't have to like bow down to the insurance model and to the pharma industry. And I think that's really what kept chiropractic so valuable for so long now is chiropractic has stood alone and they said, Hey, you guys can do that stuff. Recruit the physical therapists. You guys can do that stuff. We're going to do this over here. We're going to stick to our philosophy. We're going to stick to our own science and we're going to stick to our own art. And you guys can work with those groups, but hey, chiropractic is stand alone. So I think chiropractic has a beautiful future ahead of it.

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  It does. And I think that again, putting that the nervous system and the care of people and health and wellness at the forefront of that. Otherwise we are in this competition with physical therapy. And I mean, I've never, you know, we, when I was going back, going back to my story back in the early days, they wanted to put me in the physical therapy department. And then I dug my heels in and I was like, I'm not, I mean, we're different. This is just unique. You can't, we can't do that. And I think when you meld them in, you just, you lose that we need our uniqueness as for chiropractic. I have so many patients that have been through all the other modes of care. And then I'm okay with being their last resort. Those are the best patients, man. They're so grateful. We welcome them in with open arms and just, you know, love to help those people.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  And then their whole narrative to you is why didn't anybody tell me about chiropractic sooner?

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  Yeah. Yeah. And my question is, would you have listened?

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  So I'm really curious. I have two more questions I want to ask you about. Who are some of your mentors, who are some of the people that inspired you to become the man that you are, whether in practice or for your family?

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  All right. Well, I guess as specific, we'll start with chiropractic here first, specific to chiropractic in my early days and coming up, you know, I went to national. And you know, this is strange because, you know, Dr. James Cox is not really known for the philosophy side or anything like that, but for his, the Cox Flexion Distraction technique, I was on the research team at the time at national and to see an unemboweled cadaver and to adjust the spine with that instrument and see what it did as a student when I came out gave me such certainty in my mind. You know, at that time we were taught the vertebral subluxation complex, these things and I could see, you know, mechanistically what was going on and prove that and have that certainty. And it wasn't until I got into practice for a few years that I really developed that vitalistic certainty that man, I just, I know that the body is created to get well. I just need to do this and you also need to know when that is appropriate to say, hey, you know, this person is in a lot of, you know, severe pain. We might need to put the fire out before we get on to renovating them, you know. So that was one of the, as I went along, you know, Mark Santa, I've joined his group for a while and then I got very, very fortunate to transition into a Dane Donahue with eight weeks to wellness. That was an awesome, awesome time and a lot of growth in practice with him and introduced to, really, he's my brother that brought me in and introduced me to a lot of great people within the profession. And you know, Paul Reed, Alex Vadann, Mike Southwick, just great mentors to me, brothers, mentors. And then Chuck Gibson, you know, he's one of my heroes. And he's only, you know, again, for being at his age to be so spry and to be nimble and mentally just sharp. He's doing podcasts even now at this stage. And so he just has passion. His work isn't done. You know, he has, he's not just sitting on his laurels in retirement. So those are some of my chiropractic and professional mentors. I'd have to say obviously, you know, family wise, I was super, super fortunate to have a great father, great parents. I would say even both my parents, they were just great human beings. Just showed a lot of love in our home. Always had a high level of expectation, but you know, made you do the right thing even, you know, when you didn't feel like doing the right thing. They taught me accountability. So, you know, super grateful for my parents and then, yeah, that's.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  So I appreciate you sharing so openly. I think that there's a lot of takeaways there for people. If you guys are like curious to learn more about any of his colleagues or mentors, listen to this episode a couple of times through just write those names down, reach out to Alex, reach out to Dayne, reach out to Mike. I mean, there's some really good names there's Paul Reed's a great guy. Chuck Gibson, he is actually the first guy I believe to ever start practice management for chiropractors. So, really cool. And actually Chuck's been on our show too. So go look at his episode and find out more about Chuck Gibson. What a legend. And then, yeah, it's really cool to hear like how, you know, family really does have an impact if we pay attention over the years and creating us to who we are and why we're doing what we do. Last, last question. I like to close out with miracle stories. Okay. Is there something that you've seen over your 25 years of practice that you think would inspire the future generation of chiropractors?

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  Man, this was, this is a hard question because I've seen a lot of miracles and miracles. So I, you know, we talked earlier on in this podcast, we talked right off the bat about, you know, having, you know, one or two adjustments and so forth, not really making an impact. In my first year of practice, there was a gentleman, it was actually my father-in-law's buddy who was a policeman, who was hidden in an altercation with a bowling ball in his head. And he had headaches, like his, like we're talking 20 years worth of headaches and one adjustment and still to this day, when I see that guy, he'll tell me, just cured him. One adjustment, the one hit wonder. So I had to, I had to throw that in there because that's funny. But I think the miracle, the true miracles that I see are having to do with life. And I just don't know why this, this just fascinates me in it. It really, I get super stoked about this and it's happened so many times in my practice where during my consult and I talk about it and there's a woman of child-rearing age and she doesn't even share with me that she was having troubles with fertility. And you know, through her care, she's gotten, she's been able to get pregnant. And so I've seen that, I've had people share it, I've had patients come in and when they're under regular chiropractic care, we take them from that fight flights, high sympathetic, bring them into the parasympathetic where their fertility starts to regulate over a few months and these people are able to conceive life and not only conceive it, but bring that through a healthy delivery. And you know, the next thing would probably be those babies when you see, because they can't talk to you, you know, it is what it is. And man, you want to develop some certainty, start adjusting some babies, you know, assess, correct, you know, detect correct, find it, fix it, leave it alone and then see what the parents say. And you know, that, those to me, I just love it because those are, those are miracles.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  Yeah, you know, I think that there's so much love that goes into the, the giving care to people and running a practice. You know, I asked the question today, what would be some advice that you would give to people that were starting out and they're, they're building the practice the first year. And I told, you know, one of my trusted colleagues that, look, man, if you don't love what you do, then you get yourself a job that you don't want than Dr. chiropractic. You have to want to take care of people. You have to want to be a servant to your community. You have to want to be good and apply your skills to adjust people. And whether that's the baby or the guy I got hit with the bowling ball, like everybody's looking for somebody. They just don't know it's you yet. So with that being said, your episode 548 of the Cara Hustle podcast, if people wanted to connect with you or reach out to you, where can we send them to?

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  Yeah. Send them over to my Facebook page, my personal page, they can always Facebook message me there. I've got my email DRKEES Dr. Keys at WFCWellness.com. That's for Woodlands Family Chiropractic. So WFCWellness.com. Happy to, you know, help any, anytime.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  Awesome. Is there anything I didn't ask you that you were hoping to share with our audience today?

DR KEVIN KEYES DC (GUEST):  I guess, you know, I just really appreciate the opportunity to share. I love the profession. I think that if you're new to it, I don't know many people when you get around a good group of chiropractors that are happier, more full of life people. You know, my, I have friends that are jealous of what we do. Like they're saying, man, like you're, you love your, like I don't love my job. They're like, I go in, what I do, you know what I mean? So, so I love my job and I just really hope that the younger crowd that's watching this, that they'll have as much joy as what's brought me in my life.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  Well, that might be our introduction, fall in love with chiropractic, fall in love with it. Well, Dr. Kevin, thank you for being on with us today. It was a real pleasure to have you on the episode 548. I'm going to close up by telling everyone here just one story way. Keep hustling. I'll see you guys on the next episode. Thanks so much, Dr. Kevin. Don't worry, man. Bye for now. Yeah.

JAMES CHESTER (HOST):  Thanks for listening to Chiro Hustle. Don't forget to subscribe to our channels and give us a 5-star rating on iTunes to continue hustling. And check back next week.

This episode is sponsored by the Transact Card, A-Line life, Brain-Vased Health Solutions, Chiro HD, Imaging Services, Chiro Health USA, Chiro Moguls, Pure Chiro Notes, Titronics, Sherman College of Chiropractic, New Patients in a Box, Life Chiropractic College West, Pro Hockey Chiros, Pro Baseball Chiros, the IFCO, and 100% Chiropractic. Let's hustle!

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