Early Influence
When I was growing up my mother suffered from debilitating headaches which kept her up at night with pain. The pain was so severe at times that she was barely able to function. Her headaches would get so bad that she would not be able to keep her medication down; when she was able to take her medication, it hardly provided any relief. She would lie on the floor absolutely miserable.
Very early in life I discovered that working my mother's muscles helped relieve the pain from her headaches. I practiced working on her muscles to help give her more and more relief. I got a feel for what muscles needed to be worked and developed a routine. I eventually got to the point of being able to take her from sick to sleeping in a short period of time.
Seed Is Sown
From this beginning, I started to work on other people during high school. On several occasions during trips with organizations, a line of people would be waiting for me to work on them. I didn't put two and two together right away but it did leave an impression on me and when people asked me about my career plans, I would say that I wanted to be a chiropractor. At that time, I had no actual experience with chiropractic and neither did anyone in my family. Life went on and I decided to attend Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA where I studied biology and chemistry.
The Phone Call
By this time my mom had discovered chiropractic and told her doctor about me. I was finishing college and had decided to explore Physician Assistant and Nurse Practitioner schools. I received a phone call one night from my mother's chiropractor. He suggested I was going in the wrong direction and that I would make a great chiropractor. After doing some research, I decided that I agreed with him. I had the natural inclination of a physician but a real understanding of mechanics which is a requirement to being a skilled chiropractor. The rest, shall we say, is history.