I grew up in small town Nebraska where my father ran a small construction business. Now the majority of the time he was the only employee, although my brother and I started helping in any way we could by the age of 5. Construction is hard work, and takes its toll on the body. I remember some days my father would be in pain and unable to lift his arms above his head. When this happened, he wouldn’t go to the doctor, he would call his Chiropractor. After 15 minutes in his office, he was ready to go back to work. I didn’t realize how big of a deal this was at the time, but since he supported our family he really needed to be able to work!
During high school I played football, wrestled, and got really involved in weightlifting. I remember whenever I was hurt; my parents would take me to our Chiropractor, never to an M.D. I had no idea what a Chiropractor was or how what they did worked. All I knew was that after he was done, I didn’t hurt anymore.
After high school I attended the University of Nebraska—Lincoln. I actually started off as a business major. Do you ever just get the feeling you’re doing something that you shouldn’t be? That is how the economics and marketing courses felt to me. The business classes could not keep my attention, and I just knew that big business was not for me. During my sophomore year, I happened to meet some students who were taking the pre-med courses and getting ready to go off to be doctors, dentists, and even Chiropractors. These students were SO passionate about what they did, which was completely different than the majority of the students in my classes. They wanted to learn and to study because they cared about what they were doing. I changed my major mid-semester to pre-med and was immediately happier with my new classes, even though they were considered much “harder”. I still hadn’t decided what I wanted to do exactly, but I knew I was moving in the right direction. My parents suggested I become a Chiropractor, but I still wasn’t sure. For a short time I thought I was going to become a dentist.
During my junior year I injured myself doing hang cleans. For two weeks I could barely move. I couldn’t work out, I couldn’t take a full breath of air, and I could barely get out of bed to go to classes. I was in bad shape for being only 20! I called my parents and told them what was going on, and they asked if I had been to the Chiropractor. I first had to find a Chiropractor there as I didn’t know any. I finally scheduled an appointment with the closest Chiropractor I could find. He told me I had a “rib out”. He took X-Rays of my neck and upper back and then adjusted my entire spine. The next day I got out of bed and couldn’t believe it, I could breathe! By the end of the week I was pain free, by the end of the next week of treatment I was back lifting at 100%. I continued to get adjusted and got to know this doc more. He was always in a great mood, he always seemed happy. He told me about all the college football players he had helped and how much he loved what he did.
About the same time, I was noticing a growing trend. I started to hear that many people I knew were on prescription drugs. Young college and high school aged boys and girls were taking prescription drugs on a daily basis (prescribed by their doctors). This didn’t make sense to me. Since when did we need drugs to live? I grew up only taking a prescription med if I were very ill, so why are these seemingly healthy people taking them every day? It was around this time I was introduced to the principles of Chiropractic. Chiropractors believe the body is able to run and heal perfectly on its own, without drugs. What a concept! This philosophy fit so congruently with the feelings that I had inside of me, it just made sense. So I went from thinking that Chiropractic just helped with neck and back pain, to realizing it could do so much more. I knew what I wanted to do. I started researching Chiropractic colleges, and decided to enroll in Cleveland Chiropractic College in Kansas City, MO.
After I finished my undergrad, I started DC school in September 2005. Those four years flew by. After eight years of schooling and more tests than one could imagine, I was finally a licensed Chiropractor! Immediately upon graduation, I started working there in Kansas City in a busy Chiropractic office with two other Chiropractors. Working there in a large, successful practice gave me real life clinical experience.
In 2010, I got married on the white sand beaches of Destin, Florida to a beautiful Cedar Rapids girl named Jamie Leidigh. After our honeymoon, we moved here to Cedar Rapids and I opened my own Chiropractic office in February 2011.We currently live in Cedar Rapids and with our son Jax who was born on March 12, 2015. He is now two years old, and the girls at his early childhood education center describe him as “very active”.
Achievements and Involvement:
Zone Technique Certified
2012 Emerging Leader in Chiropractic
2012 and 2013 Official Chiropractor of the Cedar Rapids Kernels
Webster Technique Certified thru the ICPA
Iowa Chiropractic Society Board Member
