Heart to Heart with Hads

Ep. 91 | How Nervous System Chiropractic Improves Whole-Body Health: Dr Maddy Leedom DC

• Hadlea Shaw

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 49:06

We sit down with Dr. Maddy, a former ICU nurse who changes course in the middle of COVID and builds a nervous system based chiropractic practice rooted in prevention and whole-body health. We talk honestly about what she saw in the hospital, what chiropractic actually does beyond back pain, and her journey with me as a client - restoring her menstrual cycle, hormones, digestion and energy.

To work with her visit her instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alignchiropracticwichita/


Apply for 1:1 Health Coaching

Meet Dr. Maddie And Her Story

SPEAKER_01

Hello guys, welcome back to the podcast. Today I have a very special guest, one of my dearest friends, Maddie. And let's give her a little round of applause through the through the podcast. Anyways, okay. So, Maddie, just introduce yourself, like who you are, how we met, and then we'll go from there. Okay.

SPEAKER_03

Hi everyone. Thanks so much for having me, Hadley. I am Dr. Maddie. I own a line chiropractic in Andover. Before I got into chiropractic, I was a registered nurse, and I actually met Hadley because I was a client of hers first. And then we just became besties after that. Yeah, but tell them how you found me.

SPEAKER_01

Because you were a client like when I first started coaching.

SPEAKER_03

And I think I just found you through Instagram.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

You did like I just popped up.

SPEAKER_03

I think I was following you. You might have been competing or something at the time. Yeah, bodybuilding. And then started your own thing. Yeah. Um But you weren't on your own yet. The very first time.

SPEAKER_01

No. Yeah. And then you were like one of my very first like clients when I started.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And you were the worst client ever. Probably. That sounds good. No, you were. But you you were just like finishing up chiropractic school, I think.

SPEAKER_03

No, I would have the second time around, I would have been finishing up school. Pretty sure I was in school when we were working.

SPEAKER_01

You were in school and you were also doing nursing. Yeah. I just never responded. You were stressed. You were doing too much. I was like doing a lot. I was like, this girl's doing too much. But

Why She Chose Nursing First

SPEAKER_01

yeah, why? Okay, so let's backtrack. So you were a nurse before.

SPEAKER_03

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

Why initially did you go into nursing?

SPEAKER_03

I went into nursing. I knew from a very young age I always wanted to do something in the healthcare field and I wanted to help people. Um I had a great-grandma who, for my whole life, was in a nursing home. Um, and so we'd obviously go visit her frequently. Um, and I was always the person like I love to push all the old people down into the dining room and play bingo and like all the things. I just knew that I wanted to be in the healthcare field something that I was helping others. Um, and then specifically what drew me to nursing is I wanted to be a CRNA, a nurse anesthetist. Um, so becoming a nurse is just like a stepping stone for that. So that is why I went to nursing school as a prereq to eventually become a CRNA.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, but that's not where you ended up. So why is not? So I guess my question is how did you like being in nursing? Um the field itself.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, I will preface it by saying that I would not change anything about my journey. If I went back and did it all again, I would do it the exact same way and I would still go into nursing. But once I was in nursing, it was nothing that I thought it would be. Um as far as just the scheduling, I hated the schedule, so I worked, you had to work three 12-hour shifts a week. Usually I picked up extra because the money was good. Um, but I'm a very type A consistent person in my weekend or my schedule wasn't consistent. So one week I'd rework Friday, Saturday, Sunday. The next week I would work Tuesday, Friday, Wednesday. Like there was just no consistency in my life, and I hated that aspect of it. And then when you work a 12-hour shift, it's never actually 12 hours, more like a 14-hour day. So like just consumed my whole day. Like there was, yes, eventually I found a routine, like I could wake up at astronomically early hours and go to the gym and like do all the things, but it just wasn't ideal for what I wanted my life to be. Um, so as far as just like the structure of nursing, that didn't serve me very well. And then um also just being in the hospital and learning how the medical world worked, it definitely steered me away from wanting to continue on and become a CRNA and things like that. Um, it just went against a lot of what I thought morally was right, what healthcare should be,

COVID ICU Reality And Moral Friction

SPEAKER_03

things like that. I graduated in May of 2020. So I graduated right in the middle of COVID. Um, and so there's a lot of things happening in the hospital, and everything was just like system-based management. Um, there was no like lifestyle factors or corrections, or let's actually get people healthy. Um, it was just like, okay, this person is a hundred pounds overweight, their blood sugar is high, let's just give them insulin and let them have a cheeseburger and ice cream for dinner, yeah, type situation. And then they discharge them on uh insulin for the rest of their lives, and like, okay, but the antibiotics and the steroids are making their sugar high, then they eat a cheeseburger, so of course it's gonna be high. Right. So things like that definitely started making me question that and if I would be happy staying there in that environment.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. You said you graduated during COVID. Do you feel like had you been like graduated at a different time, like not in that COVID era, you maybe would have a different perspective or taste in your mouth because I mean I can get that. I feel like just anything that happened during COVID felt.

SPEAKER_03

I honestly don't think so because the part of nursing I liked is I liked the life-saving measures of it and how like intense and I don't even know what the right word is, critical, I guess it was. Like, I mean, I was literally a month out of nursing school and I was keeping these people alive, literally. Yeah. Um, and that is like I like the high intensity emergent life or death situations, and I was in those during the time. No, I was scared shitless. I literally didn't sleep ever because I had the worst anxiety ever that I like killed somebody. Um, but like that is definitely the part of nursing that I like. Um, and that's not always the side of nursing that you get, and so I do I did like that side of care, I guess.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. What where like what unit were you in, I guess?

SPEAKER_03

When I first graduated, I worked on the neuro ACU and I worked there full-time for a year and a half, or no, just a year. Then I went to chiropractic school and I just worked PRN there, and then at the end of chiropractic school, I moved back to Wichita and I worked medical ICU.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So intensive care unit. Wow. Well, that's crazy. So when did okay, never mind. I guess we kind of already answered that. I was gonna say, when did you start feeling start feeling like nursing wasn't it anymore?

SPEAKER_03

But I would say just back to the COVID thing, it was like everyone was quote unquote dying of COVID. Um, yes, people were sick of COVID, but at the same time, it was like people were dying because of their comorbidities. Like I got COVID and was 100% fine because I'm healthy and I take care of myself. Betty, who was 200 pounds overweight with every comorbidity, drinks, smokes, overweight, anything you could name was dying of COVID, obviously. Right. Um, and then they would label it that they were dying of COVID. Like, no, they're yes, they have COVID, but that's not why they died.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Um, and so that like definitely was very eye-opening. And I it was just very eye-opening for me. Like, I don't want to work in an environment where we're just managing symptoms from a medical standpoint and also just being a patient standpoint. Like, I would rather work with people that want to prevent the comorbidities from happening and be preventative in their health.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, no, I love that. That's great. Was there any specific like moment or patient or I guess we kinda I guess we kind of answered that shift that stuck with you?

SPEAKER_03

I would say it was just a combination of all the things that I've already said. Like just people not taking care of themselves and then get sick and dying, and it's just like that's what it was over and over and over. You're just tired, yeah. Um seeing the cycle. Yeah. Um, and especially as a nurse, I would say you do have a lot of autonomy. Like, I mean, the doctors are never there, right? They're just writing the orders, you're doing all the things to keep these people alive, but at the end of the day, you don't have any autonomy either. So that was really I didn't like that part that I had no You're just like taking orders.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that was not meant for me. Yeah, I could see how you wouldn't like that.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Okay.

The Night She Picked Chiropractic

SPEAKER_01

So what kind of drew you into chiropractic? Because you literally went to school to be a nurse, and then you went back to school to be a chiropractor.

SPEAKER_03

Honestly, there was really nothing. It was again, this is all during COVID. Um, and I was just like at home one night and I was like on my Explore page on Instagram, and I ran across, who's now my mentor, but I ran across her business page, and she has a practice in Kansas City. Um, and it's just a family wellness practice, sees a lot of pediatric patients, prenatal uh prenatal patients, um, and just really focusing on wellness and all the things that chiropractic care can do for people. Um, and I was like, oh my gosh, this is what I want to do. And so I literally applied to chiropractic school that night and like reached out to her and asked to shadow that's crazy that night you applied.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's wild. And so how long were you in chiropractic school?

SPEAKER_03

Three years and nine months. A long time, yeah, all year round.

SPEAKER_01

That's wild.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, so what did people say when you told them that you were switching past? Like, how were your parents? Like, were they supportive? Were you what did people say?

SPEAKER_03

I think people were supportive. Um, I mean, everyone in my life was supportive. Right. Um, and I've always been someone that I just do what I want. So nobody was, I don't think anyone was really surprised. Um, if anything, like I think people are like, are you sure you want to do this? Because of the fact, like, if I would have carried on and went on into CRNA, they make a lot of money, they have a very cush job, a very cushion life, things like that. Um, but I knew that I wouldn't have enjoyed my job as much if I went that route. Um, and I love my job and I love my life now, so it's a 10 times over and over worth it. But um, I would say nobody in my life was surprised. I think they were surprised by chiropractic, but I don't think anybody was surprised that like I changed my mind and what I wanted to do, and everyone was very supportive. Um definitely like co-workers and doctors were surprised.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I feel like there's a lot of people that are like anti-chiropractor.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, especially in the hospital.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

Chiropractic Myths And Real Benefits

SPEAKER_01

You should yeah, touch on that. Like, what is what are like the misconceptions about chiropractic? Because I hear, and I've told you this so many times, so like so many people are like chiropractic is a scam, like yada yada yada. So I want to hear your perspective.

SPEAKER_03

I guess from like a medical standpoint, the number one thing that is misconcepted is that chiropractic care causes stroke. There's no evidence-based research that shows that chiropractic care causes strokes. Um the strokes that people have seen that have happened are because the person is already actively having a stroke and the doctor that's seeing that patient fails to recognize that they're having the stroke and still continues to adjust adjust them. Um, but it would be no different than you slamming on your brakes and whipping your head by not paying attention, like the adjustment itself does not cause stroke. So I would say that's the number one thing that I see in the medical world. And then secondly, um, which a lot of chiropractors fail to recognize this as well, but that's a story for another day. Um, it's just that chiropractic care can help with so much more than back pain. I would say probably 10% of the people in my office are there for back pain. Um, we are a nervous system-based office, and so it can literally help with anything. We are just removing the interference within the nervous system so that your brain can communicate with the rest of your body, so everything works more efficiently.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Um, so there's really nothing that there is nothing that we can't help with in a sense. Yeah. And people definitely don't realize that. Even the people that come into my office with they come in with low back pain, um, but they mark that they have headaches, they have anxiety, they have insomnia, things like that. I'm like, well, we can help with all those things, and that's definitely the reason why they stay and turn into wellness patients, not because their back pain's better, um, but because they're more regulated, they're sleeping through the night, they um are better emotionally regulated, things like that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I think like a lot of people I talk to are like, oh, I just need to go because like my neck hurts, like just random little things, and like I feel like I go just for like you said, the nervous system regulation part, because that's piece that I was struggling with when I first came, was like sleep. Sleep was terrible, like my digestion, like a lot of different things, hormones, a lot of things, and I feel like people don't really realize how much that helps because your nervous system is connected to everything, right? But explain why the adjustment itself, like how adjusting your back and your neck and all of that play a role in your nervous system, like how it's connected.

SPEAKER_03

Sure. So your nervous system is your brain and your spinal cord that controls every fiber of your being. So your brain sends messages to your knees, to your feet, to your bladder, um, to your back to your brain, to your ears, whatever. So your brain sends nerves down your spine and they exit at every single level of your spine. And so when there's tension in the spine or there's not movement in the spine, things are stuck, it pinches down on those nerves, and that's what stops that brain-to-body communication. So, for example, if you have stress in your low back, then that pinches down on those nerves that leave that area, which can go directly to your reproductive organs, they go to your large intestine, they go into your bowels, your bladder. So then someone has constipation. Or I see a lot of infertility patients. Oh, they can't get pregnant, but there's a lot of stress there that's keeping the brain from talking to those reproductive organs, so they're not functioning fully to their maximum potential.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that makes sense because I don't feel like people understand that about chiropractic at all.

SPEAKER_03

And so the thing about chiropractic too is like your body functions as one unit. It's not like I think when you go to the doctor, you know, they're just looking at the kidneys, if they're looking at the kidneys, or they just look at the liver or whatever it is, versus like your nervous system is one huge unit that controls your entire well-being. And so it doesn't matter if the stress is in your neck or it's in your low back, we're just looking for those areas where there's stress and there's tension, the tone's not right, and removing that interference so that things can work optimally.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I love that. That was a great explanation of that. Okay, so my next question is did you have any like personal health issue that chiropractic helped with specifically?

How Adjustments Affect The Nervous System

SPEAKER_01

Or no?

SPEAKER_03

Like before I went to school?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Um, I would say yes. I well, I definitely did. So I would say their offices that I went to as a kid are very different than my office now. Yeah, totally. Um, when I was a kid, I was in I don't know, seventh grade. Um, and I was just having, I was a gymnast at the time, and I was just having excruciating back pain all the time, and my legs would give out. Um, I just remember like one time I was playing a softball or playing in a softball game, and I like bent over to pick up a ball or something. I literally just like collapsed right there. Um, and so my parents are a lot of like tough love, which definitely has made me who I am today. But for a long time, they're like, you're just out of shape, like things like that. You need to build your core, run more, do more in the gym so your rack's not hurting when you tumble, things like that. Yeah, and like that's what my coaches were saying too. Um, so, anyways, when my legs gave out, my parents like, okay, maybe something is a little bit further or wrong than we thought. And so I went to the doctor, long story short, they diagnosed me with something called spondy. Um, you still have it? Yeah, it's something that doesn't go away. Okay. Um, you basically just stabilize it and make sure that it doesn't get worse. Um, there's like grades of it. Mine was knowing what I know now, mine's a grade one, it goes up to grade four. Um, and then I had also fractured part of my vertebrae, and they found that. Um, and so we just went to like a traditional medical doctor. Um, actually, back up. I went to the chiropractor once that happened, and they were the ones that found that I had the spongy and everything and sent me off to a medical doctor um for like further imaging and things like that. Um, and they were trying to get me to have surgery and like put me in a brace and all these things as a seventh grader, like was telling me I would never run a day in my life, all these things, yeah. And so my parents were like, Well, yeah, absolutely not. We're she's 12 years old, she's not having back surgery, and she's never obviously like they told me I couldn't even do PE class, like things like that. Um, so then I may as well be in a wheelchair, yeah. So I ended going back to a chiropractic care or went back to a chiropractor, and I did chiropractic for like three times a week for probably like four or five months. Um, and I've been fine since. Again, spondy never goes away, it's just something you kind of manage and make sure that it doesn't. But I've never stopped being adjusted, also since then. What is the specific like definition of so you can have a spondylolisthesis means that your vertebrae can slip, so it can either slip forward or it can slip backwards. Um, so when you draw a line down your spine, everything should be in a nice like uniform line and follow the leader basically. And then if you looked at my spine, um some of my well, two of my spine are pushed forward from the rest of the um line, I guess. And again, like especially knowing what I know now, like a grade one is like fine. Like, yes, I was in a lot of pain then. I've since managed it and I'm fine. Um, yes, I still have pain with certain things, I just know what caused me pain. I don't do them. But I would literally never ever ever send someone to a surgeon for like a grade one swampy epic. Yeah. So yeah, wow.

SPEAKER_01

I didn't know any of that.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, so that's what initially I guess that was my first experience with chiropractic care.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

I love that. And now I get chiropractic care for anything and everything.

SPEAKER_01

I know, yeah, okay. That's my answer. Okay, what do you believe about the body now that you didn't maybe back whenever you were nursing?

Her Back Diagnosis And Avoiding Surgery

SPEAKER_01

Or do you feel like you've always had this like whole body holistic?

SPEAKER_03

No, I definitely didn't like when I was younger because I wasn't necessarily raised like that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Um, like when I was sick, I would go to the doctor and I would get an antibiotic for colds, whether it was viral or bacterial, which is silly, but um, that's just what they do. And like that's definitely how I was raised and things like that until I got a little bit older and like started making like my own health choices, things like that. Um, and my parents have definitely come a long ways too.

SPEAKER_01

Um I'm just thinking about them and how they go to McDonald's. Yes, I do love the McDonald's. Once a month, more than once a day. Like a diet cokes. Okay, not getting anything else but a diet coke. I love the DC.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, they're so funny.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, um, but like now it's just I know that my body is designed to heal itself. Like, we all have this innate intelligence that your body is designed to protect and heal yourself. And so, like, when I get sick, that's not the first thing I do. Like, if I get sick, I literally go to sleep. Like, your body needs rest. The reason you're probably sick is probably because you're run down, increased stress, things like that. So I take a nap. Crazy concept. I drink lots of water, I go sit in the sauna, take extra vitamin C, zinc, those things. Like, I try and exhaust all my resources before I jump to. I mean, I couldn't tell you the last time I've taken something for anything, but um, yeah. So, or if I have a headache, the very first thing I do, I will literally go get adjusted like the minute that I get a headache. Yeah, and then it goes away and it's fine. And again, your body definitely knows how to heal itself, and that's something that I definitely learned in school and in experience um with my patients, and so and again, just knowing that everything should be working together, and there's a reason that things aren't working versus just okay, I have um my thyroid, like you have Hashimoto's low thyroid, so I'm gonna take synthroid, like okay, why is your thyroid low? What are you doing in your day to day? What are you eating? What's your sleep? Like, there's a reason for things, so digging deeper and like knowing finding the root cause for things definitely is something that has changed for me, yeah. Um, and figuring out the answer rather than just. Like covering symptoms up with a band-aid.

SPEAKER_01

Do you feel like that came like as you were nursing, you started to relax?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that was a big thing, also, because I refused to get vaccinated. So essentially, I actually got fired from my job because I didn't get vaccinated. But um yeah. So yeah, that was definitely I was definitely on my own health journey in nursing that I started to become a little bit more holistic and crunchy, and then definitely now with just everything I do, yeah. I love the lifestyle, but yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01

I think we kind of already covered what you wish nurses and doctors understood about chiropractic care, but what do you wish patients understood about still needing traditional care sometimes?

SPEAKER_03

I definitely think the biggest thing that I wish people knew is like chiropractors aren't shitting on medical on the medical profession. There's a time and a place for it. Medicine saves lives, it brings lives into this world, and we're all very fortunate to live in a country that has those resources. And again, there's a time and a place, and I'm so thankful that we do have those. It's just not the first option that we need to seek out, like exhaust your options of changing your lifestyle before you just jump to something and finding the root cause. Um, but doctors aren't bad, medical doctors aren't bad, they really just don't know any better. Like that's how they're trained. They're trained to just manage the symptoms um and prescribe medication. Yeah, that's all they know. It's not like they're trying to hurt you or anything. Um, they just don't know any better, but there is a time and place for it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I also think too, just with how the medical system's set up, like, doctors don't have enough time to sit down with each patient and really uncover, okay, how is your sleep, your relationships, your mental, your emotional, your spiritual, like all these things. And all these things matter so much, but they don't have the time or the resources to be able to do that with each and every patient that comes in.

SPEAKER_03

And they just have a textbook answer. So, like, if you came in with high blood pressure and I came in with high blood pressure, we're getting the same solution. Yeah. Like it's very cookie-cutter in the medical world. Um, again, it's great to have sometimes, but I just would never use as the number one way of fixing an issue or lifestyle.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think if anybody's dealing with any like digestive issues, hormone issues, like you talked about thyroid, any reproductive things that can be fixed from like an inside out approach, I think everybody needs to start there. Like you said, everyone needs to start at the lifestyle changes, yeah. Because I mean, you literally just can't band-aid something forever. Right, it just turns spirals into something bigger eventually. Yeah, exactly.

Missing Cycle After Birth Control

SPEAKER_01

Okay, I love that. So, kind of transitioning into I know we talked a lot about you as like a nurse, chiropractor. Let's talk about you a little bit as a client. So, just kind of what was going on health-wise when you decided to reach out to me for like the second time? Like this kind of like a year ago, right? A little bit over a year.

SPEAKER_03

Um I think the biggest thing, I think when I reached out to you, I'd probably been off birth control for a year and a half at that point, I think. Um, and I'd still not gotten my cycle back from being off birth control. Um, and so that was a big thing that was really stressing me out. Um, and then I just had other like hormone-like symptoms, like I was extremely fatigued. I was slamming the energy drinks, still am, but um literally, but just for fun now, um, I had to slam them to like feel like I could exist. Um, but I was still like sleeping all the time as well. Like I could drink an energy drink and fall asleep in like five minutes.

SPEAKER_01

I think your cord we never tested your cortisol, but I think your cortisol would have had to have been like super low. Yeah, because you like exhausted all of your yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Um, I just remember the fatigue was really bad. I was bloated all the time, digestion, I was constipated. I probably had a bowel movement like once every 10 days. Um, and just the cycle was the my cycle was my biggest thing and not getting that back because I had seen lots of people for it, and everyone was just telling me, like, it's stress, it's stress, it's stress, which like yes, I agree with, but at the same time, like I knew that there was something larger going on than it just being stressed, especially at the time in my life that I was like started to work with you. I don't really would say that that was like a stressful time in my life, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So for sure. What were you already trying? Like, what were you doing before? Because you did have a trainer, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Right, okay, not for that though, but but you have the actual thing. I guess like for I had probably saw three different people for me not getting my period back, and everyone just said, like, it's it just takes time, like everybody's different, this is normal, like it's just stress, blah blah blah. Um, and I hate that answer more than anything. I'm like, no, something is not right. I'm very into my body, I know my body, something is not right, and it's really stressed me out because I wanted to have kids someday, and then also just I hate the answer of like it's normal, like just because something's common doesn't mean it's normal. Normal, 100% agree, especially like not having a cycle, like maybe a month or three months after you start birth control, but like definitely a year and a half that's not normal. Um, and so I really don't know that I had tried things to get my cycle back. Like, there were things like I would take beef liver for a little bit, um, like different supplements I played around with. I would do like a detox type thing and act like there would be certain things I would do. Like, I remember I did this detox once, and like literally the next day I started my cycle, but then it never happened again until I did something like outrageous like that type thing. Um, so yeah, those were the only things I did for that. But yes, I was working out with a trainer at the time, and your macros were like 1300 calories or something like that. Well, you convinced me that I was going to do a bodybuilding, a bodybuilding show, which is really funny because I could never, but um You could I could not, but yeah, so I was like working out. Well, I wasn't, I was supposed to be working out like twice a day, and I my calories were super low, and yeah, my body definitely didn't react well to it.

SPEAKER_01

No, and that's also probably why your period was Oh, and the peptides or the oh yeah things. You were taking clan butyrol. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I'm like, maybe don't put that in since they're preaching about that.

SPEAKER_01

It was like it's it's a it's a performance enhancing. I'm not gonna cut it out, but it's just it's not, it's not an actual, it's not a steroid, it's not anything like that. It literally just increases your yeah, your resting heart rate.

SPEAKER_03

Oh yeah, he was wanting me to take things like that to get ready for the bodybuilding show.

SPEAKER_01

I was like, immediately no. Would you tell me this? I was like, no. Anyways, that's fine. So what are the species can I even talk? What are the specific things that we worked on?

SPEAKER_03

Um, well, the first thing we worked on is I did the cleanse, the gut clean or liver cleanse. Um, that was the hardest thing I've ever done, I think, in my life.

SPEAKER_01

I know. It's honestly hard. I tell people all the time that is like harder than being like in a bodybuilding cat.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that was crazy, especially for someone really picky like me.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I can't believe I did it. But anyways, that's what we started with. Um, and we pulled back on everything. Like, I don't think I trained. Well, I didn't train during the Clinton game.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, for probably like a month.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. I was allowed to do like three 45-minute walks. Um, we did a lot of dopamine do talks. I know, like, on my walks, you like didn't want me to like listen to things, um, just like be outside.

SPEAKER_01

Um basically just city talks of like everything. Yeah. Like on it is like no added sugar, no, it's basically like a Mediterranean style diet. Yeah. No caffeine, no corn, soy, dairy. Literally nothing. For two weeks straight. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

It's something else I remember working on is like trying to regulate my circadian rhythm. Because that was a really hard time because I was also nursing. I was like nursing and owning a business, opening a business. Yeah. At the same time. So like sometimes I would work from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. And then other days I would like be in the office. Like there was no like routine in my life. Yeah. My body was not like that. Um, so those were things we did in the beginning.

SPEAKER_01

But you stopped nursing, so yes, thankfully. Thankfully, which is I mean, you would not even be able to do that now. Your business has just popped off so much, which is great.

Lower Stress And Cycles Return

SPEAKER_01

Okay, what shifted for you physically and mentally during the time that we worked together?

SPEAKER_03

Um, physically, I would say I've definitely body recomped in the past year, but we haven't even tried to body recomp either. Um so just kind of like naturally happened, which was cool to see because again, like I don't think the whole year that I worked with you, I was ever in a cut. Not once.

SPEAKER_01

No.

SPEAKER_03

So um that was really cool just to see, like, when I decreased the stress in my body, um, and just regulated my hormones, what my body could do just on its own.

SPEAKER_01

Um, and you're able to eat so much more.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Um, yeah, I have bowel movements, I have energy, like I've definitely done a 360 with my physical well-being, and then also mental, just I think a big thing that you helped me work on is telling people no. Yeah, and that definitely plays a role, a big role into the stress. Like, I can say no to things I don't want to do, like it's my life. I don't want to go hang out with somebody or go to dinner or like do something for this person.

SPEAKER_01

Like, I definitely like my time is very valuable, and so just recognizing that and recognizing that I'm the timekeeper of my time, and so that's a good point because you I do remember at the beginning you were like every weekend, like we have something Saturday, Sunday, like someone's coming over for dinner, like this. I was like, girl, I think you just maybe need to start telling them no, yeah, to protect your peace and not because like you don't want to be around these people or to hang out with them or like you don't love them. It's like actually I'm just mentally fried, right? And physically, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So that has definitely been a game changer for me.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and then I think you had I don't know how many periods you had.

SPEAKER_03

Back to back. I started my cycle. I've had back-to-back cycles since January of this year. Yeah. So six months because I started working with you July or June.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I mean it I think you had a couple, but they weren't consistent. Right.

SPEAKER_03

Like I had one I think in August, and then I had another one in November, yeah, type thing. And then it was like January. I had one every month.

SPEAKER_01

Which it takes it takes a while. I don't remember the exact terminology, but like 90 days for your eggs, I guess, to like turn over. I don't know if that's the right word. So it makes sense that it takes that much time. And so, say like something stressful happened, super stressful in my life happened today, like that impacts my cycle three months from now. Right, which is crazy.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so crazy.

SPEAKER_01

Really wild, but so okay, yeah. Did anything specifically surprise you about the process, the coaching process? Or like just what happened within your body in itself?

SPEAKER_03

Um, I think also like I just said not too long ago, like I wasn't, it wasn't when I started working with you, like a stressful time in my life. And I just think I was under so much, even though I don't it takes a lot for me to feel stress as a person, but again, yeah, like I was working seven days a week, like from an outsider looking in. I'm like, girl, yeah. Um, so maybe I didn't feel like it was just the grind to me. I had to do it, like again, it paid off. Yeah. Um, so I think like that was surprising that just like recognizing that and removing that, because people again, they were just telling me I was stressed, and that's why I wasn't having a cycle, but like nobody was doing anything to help me eliminate the stress. Um, and stress also in the form like I was definitely kidding to you under-eating quite a bit, so like just in fueling my body, making sure I'm sleeping as much as I could when I could, um not working out. I mean, I think when I came to you, I was probably doing an hour stair step, or like every yeah, and so like just removing things like that from my life and just seeing how my body could regulate when I removed myself. Like, I didn't realize I was in the stress state that I was, but what it feels like when you get removed from it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, just like a breath of fresh air. Yeah, like, oh my gosh, yeah, my body can actually function normally. Yeah, I love that. Okay, what would you tell somebody who feels stuck in the wrong path? Like talking about your path from switching from nursing to chiropractic, what would you tell them?

SPEAKER_03

I would say just trust your gut, like do what makes you happy. And like again, a lot of people in the beginning like commented about like the money difference that I would make. Um, but I knew that I wouldn't be happy in my day-to-day job, and like that's priceless. Like, find what you're passionate about and do it. Um, it doesn't have to make sense for other people, like, it just has to make sense for you, and I'm a big believer, like, you'll figure out whatever's important to you. So um make a pros and cons list or down.

SPEAKER_01

That's huge. No, everybody needs to do that for everybody.

SPEAKER_03

If you know that's what you want to do, just do it.

SPEAKER_02

Let me just preface that.

SPEAKER_01

Every big decision that you want to make, you should always make a pros and cons list, no matter what it is. It doesn't even have to be a big decision, it can be something like small.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Always write the pros and cons.

SPEAKER_03

Um, again, pray about it. Yeah, um, that's a huge thing, I would say. Your story is already written, so like you're going to be destined to go where you're supposed to go. Um, but life's about learning, so if you try something it doesn't work, there's always a different path.

SPEAKER_01

Another option.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. That you can take.

SPEAKER_01

I didn't ask this before, but did you want to start your own practice? Was that the goal?

SPEAKER_03

Because some people become chiropractors and then they like work for somebody else or I knew when well, I knew pretty much from a young age I always wanted to work for myself.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Um, so like even when I wanted to be a CRNA, I knew that I wanted to go work in like a rural place where I would like have more autonomy and like nobody would oversee me. Yes. Essentially. Um, and so I knew I always wanted to work for myself. So definitely when I went to chiropractic school, I knew that I wanted to own my own business, especially like again, how I kind of fell into it and was like finding someone else's clinic and see what saw what they could do. I'm like, oh yeah, I would love to do that.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, let's briefly touch on briefly, I say briefly.

Owning A Practice And Always Being On

SPEAKER_01

We have all the time in the world. We can talk however long we want. Let's talk a little bit on the entrepreneurship side, like the business side of things, and not necessarily like chiropractic itself.

SPEAKER_03

Okay, what about everything? Oh, well, I knew nothing going into it. Yeah. I'd never taken a well, I guess I took a business class. I think we took two in chiropractic school, but they're all about like the insurance parts of the world, which I don't take insurance, so I didn't listen in that at all in that class. Yeah. Um, I remember I showed up actually for that final for that class, and I didn't even think that's what the class final was for. Like I thought I was taking a different final. I literally didn't even study. It was fine. We passed.

SPEAKER_02

Good job.

SPEAKER_01

But yeah, I guess what specifically what has been the hardest part about owning your own business?

SPEAKER_03

Everything. Everything. Um, I would say this is like the best thing about your about owning your own business, but also the hardest thing is like you are your own boss. Um and like, yes, I just don't think people realize the time that necessarily goes into running your own business. Like, yeah, I'm open, I don't even know how many hours a week I'm open. Like, I'm probably open like 35 hours a week, like to see people. Um, but I work probably like 60 hours a week.

SPEAKER_01

Right, just on like the back end.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, the back end marketing, like notes, things like that. Um, like coming up with ideas to promote your business better, like different ways to run different systems, managing employees, things like that. Um, so I definitely think it's nice because you do have the freedom to do what you want because it is your own business, but there's a lot more work than goes in it. Like I don't just I get off at one on Fridays. It's not like I just shut my laptop and not think about work till Monday morning at 10.

SPEAKER_01

You're always thinking about it. I think that's the hardest part about having your own business is like it's always on. Like I go to bed thinking about it and I wake up thinking about it.

SPEAKER_03

A hundred percent every day.

SPEAKER_01

It doesn't matter if it's Saturday or Sunday. Every day, like it's always there, and sometimes that is so exhausting.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I agree. I think it definitely helps like set aside times or days out of the year to just try not to do like I remember I took like one day off in March, like a random day where I didn't do anything work related, and that was the only day I've had this year that I didn't do something work related.

SPEAKER_01

You're gonna have more of those coming soon.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, I am.

SPEAKER_01

But no, I get that for sure. I try Sundays, but like I'll still do something. Something.

SPEAKER_03

And it's like not even like just the people that are available to you, like just people messaging you on Instagram asking a question, even if it's on Sunday, like you're still working, it's still work.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I think it's hard to it's hard to like differentiate like what I am getting on social media, like okay, is this for my consumption or is it for me responding and damn it? Like you're always on, yeah, no matter what.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And I think that's the hardest part.

SPEAKER_03

It's like you never fully And you never know who you're gonna run to run into in like the grocery store that'd be like, Hey, your daughter's walking on all ten toes, like, here, come see me, I can help you with this. Like, you know, you always have to be like approachable, presentable, and again, you never know, you don't want to miss an opportunity, you know that you have the tools to help someone, so why would you not want to share that with anyone and everyone? So you're like always just looking for other people that you can genuinely help, not even from a sales point or like a financial or money point, but just like I have something to offer you that can help you and your family or yeah, you know, exactly.

SPEAKER_01

What's your favorite part about owning your own business? Just the autonomy.

SPEAKER_03

My favorite part of just like I guess uh of owning my own business, not chiropractic. Yeah, do both. Okay. Uh well, my favorite part of chiropractic is easy, just like seeing the results and like what it happens when you do remove the interference from the nervous system and how a body was designed to be um and heal and when it's functioning properly, what it can do. Yeah. Um, I mean, I have tears in my office all the time because of like miracles that have happened, and I just think that's priceless. So that's my favorite part of the job. Um from an entrepreneur standpoint, entrepreneurpreneur, I can't say that word. Entrepreneur standpoint. Um I think just like every decision is I'm in control of every decision. Um, and so whether something good happens or something bad happens, like ultimately that falls back on me. Yeah. Um, and like even having employees, like if there's something that they do that doesn't go well or that they do something wrong, like again, that's still falling back on me. I train them. There's either a lack of understanding or something, like I just like the ownership, I guess. Uh like I can't there's no one to blame but me at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_01

You like that you're like in control of every facet. Yeah, yeah, I like that. I feel like my favorite thing about specifically entrepreneurship and what I do is that I get to like I play the game. Like, you know, it's like kind of what you said, but I'm in charge, yes, and also it's like everything is just trial and error. Yeah. Like what works and what doesn't. And it's basically like a game, right? I view it as a game, and that's why I like it, is because and it's really just like you versus you.

SPEAKER_03

Like, there's never once that I've been in practice where I'm like necessarily comparing there's nine other chiropractors, I couldn't tell you a single thing. thing about them in Andover. Like you're literally just out grinding with yourself. Yeah. That's cool too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I love that. Okay. Where can people do you have any other I asked all the questions. I was gonna say do you have any other questions? But I'm the one that was asking the questions. Do you feel like there's anything that we missed or did I cover specifically?

Marketing Lessons And The AI Rant

SPEAKER_03

No, I would just say the only thing I would add if you were wanting to start your own business um is how difficult the marketing is like that I don't know you have a marketing degree so you might have a different opinion but that is something that I spend probably most of my time on is the marketing. Yeah me too literally um and it's exhausting but I think it's worth it but I mean I don't know how people would succeed without marketing literally no I mean that is literally the backbone of your business. But yeah that is something I would say like if I were to go back to school if I was younger something that I I'd probably uh get my degree well I wouldn't I would still I wouldn't change the fact that I got a nursing I would just wish I would have like minored in like business or marketing or something that gave me a little bit more background on just business yeah before opening because I need nothing I have to Google terms all the time. Really? Yeah yeah my account will ask me something I'm like hang on let me try to be t what that means and I'll get back to you.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah and you know I'm thankful that I have the like business theory for sure and marketing but I don't know that it would like helped me. Maybe it did maybe it did and I just don't realize it yeah I just know nothing especially you know with like social media that's where most marketing is done nowadays and it's always evolving and ever changing like what people like and don't like yeah yeah one time it's reels the next time it's carousels then it's Instagram stores does whatever you do not use chat GPT to make your finger I'm gonna start blocking people too I'm gonna start blocking my mom's face and a half by 11 with the it's like a big picture and then at the bottom has all the information it has the lines and it looks like every moment yeah and I can tell I'm like oh the format's all the same it all looks the same oh my gosh it kills me the exact same font and if we're gonna use chat GPT tell us to take the dashes out M-dash take the M-dash out we don't want to see the M-dash I don't want 5000 replays with commas replace with commas tell it to say because a lot of the times it will be like it will say something like I'm trying to think I know you know what I'm saying but it's like it'll say you wake up and you're tired and inflamed and bloated and that's not normal or like something that's just like it'll say something and then it'll have like a statement of like and it's not this but it's this or like yeah I feel like I really had to train my chat GPT yeah to like talk like me.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah and it's just like in the beginning it was bad I'm like no reword that that's not how I talk I've been using Claude but I think Claude's better for business. I think chat's better if you just want to like chat GPT how many liters are in a gallon or something but not important to make my macros hit this. But I do think Claude is better from a business perspective.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah I mean it just asks more questions to like get to the yeah deeper

Where To Find Her And Closing

SPEAKER_01

behind it.

SPEAKER_03

Anyways enough about the AI because AI aggravates me but okay where can people find you on Instagram or wherever work with you yeah our Instagram and Facebook are align chiropractic witch tall and then our website just alignchiropracticwitchall dot com we're located at Andover follow us my personal Instagrams at Maddie underscore girl Maddie girl you can message me there but yeah come find me yeah everybody needs to go to her she's the best chiropractor everybody yesterday I actually had a headache and then I went and then I didn't have a headache so yeah it's the magic sauce the magic sauce the missing piece it is I think everybody should go to the chiropractor at least once a week I think I started with yeah three or four times that's a thing you know that you'll just get me on a tangent but yeah wellness is once a week everybody needs to be it's not like something you do right one time and then you never go back it's like yeah no you need to actually it's just like with hitting your macros or the misalignments the tension in your nervous system then you can go once a week yeah you wouldn't go to the gym once a week and be skinny no or you wouldn't like hit your macros one day and then no it's like you gotta have consistency first before you can think about having a cheat meal you don't get to have a cheat meal anyways anyways okay thanks so much for being on here I hope you guys enjoyed this episode and don't forget to reach out to Dr.

SPEAKER_01

Maddie if you need to go with Cairo okay bye