EPISODE 365: How Chiropractic Business is Like 1980's Video Games

Hey, chiropractors. We're ready for another Modern Chiropractic Marketing Show with Dr. Kevin Christie, where we discuss the latest in marketing strategies, contact marketing, direct response marketing, and business development with some of the leading experts in the industry.

Dr. Kevin Christie: [00:00:00] All right. Welcome to the show, Brian. I really appreciate your time today. I'm excited to have you on. This is going to be a little bit of a unique episode. Uh, before we dive into that, tell us about yourself personally and professionally. Uh, yeah, well, thanks

Brian Strump: for having me first, Kevin. This is awesome. I'm excited.

Um, I, Currently, I'm living in Fort Mill, South Carolina, which is a suburb of Charlotte. Uh, I graduated from chiropractic school from Logan in 2003 and kind of been practicing. And I started with a group for about two years. 3 years in Cleveland, Ohio doing mostly P. I. M. workers comp. Then my wife and I moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2007.

so we're looking for a different group. That's, uh, we work to put put smaller offices inside global gyms, you know, uh, valleys lifetime or, uh, well, Jim, stuff like that up and down the East coast. And then in [00:01:00] 2000 and, uh, 2007, I was introduced to cross it for by a guy that was in that group. And then, uh, May 2000, June 2008, , I told my wife, you know, I wanted to open up a gym and put a doctor's office together.

And so June 2008 is when I stopped working with that company and it kind of went all in just like figuring out what I was going to do. And, uh, April 2009 is when we, uh, Collected our 1st dollar doing that. Uh, we had since moved from our original space. Original space was we had about 3200 square feet in, uh, 1600 square feet each for the gym and doctor's office in Charlotte in 2012.

We started renting this 12, 000 square feet, so it's about 2000 square feet of office and 10, 000 square feet of of of of Jim. And then, uh, recently bought that, that, that 12, 000 square feet, uh, two or three months ago. And then right [00:02:00] now in the office, it's me working part time. We just got a physical therapist.

That's going to rent a room. We had a chiropractor with us for five years prior and just left. And, uh, me and me and one other person up there and, and, and, and then the gym. Yeah, that's

Dr. Kevin Christie: cool. You know, and I know you've had a background with, um, two brain business consulting, right? Uh, how's that been for you?

It's

Brian Strump: awesome. I, uh, I've been, I've been working with them, Bruce Cooper, the owner. I met him, uh, in 2013 when I was kind of at this, uh, Fork in the road. I guess I had the doctor's office in the gym and both are grown. We were open for four years, but I knew that I wasn't going to be able to do like both of them.

As good as I wanted to do, so I had to make a choice whether it was going to be like the gym and the doctor's office and I chose the gym for a number of reasons that maybe maybe we'll get into later. But I chose the gym for a number of reasons. So I still practice, but I really spent most of my [00:03:00] time delving into optimizing the efficiency of the gym and kind of growing that and then 5 years later after working with them, which I still work with them.

Like, my staff does, I kind of went to the other side of mentoring. Mostly gyms, I would say like 90% of my clients are, are, are, are gym owners of some capacity, whether like larger global gyms or a franchise gym, like nine rounds, FF 45, something like that. And then a couple of chiropractors, physical therapists that want to do something similar to, to what we've done in terms of like most of those chiropractic, most of those doctors have a gym, uh, have a doctor's office and they want to add.

Like the gym portion. So I've kind of worked with some of those people as well. It's awesome. Just teaching and talking about it. It just kind of keeps me, keeps myself kind of sharp and learning. So it's been really like selfishly. It's super beneficial for me as

Dr. Kevin Christie: well. Yeah. And it seems like you guys are doing a lot of great work at two brain for gyms and gym owners.

And it's really cool. And I think an early connection that you and I [00:04:00] have was with Josh Saturday and you know, he's got his model. Uh, you've obviously, uh, gone big on the gym. Right. So, whereas a clinic gym hybrid might be, you Equal parts clinic and gym or more clinic and some gym, uh, your big gym, some clinic, right?

Yeah. Yeah. And that's fair. Yeah. That's a good way. Uh, I mean, obviously it's, it's, it's, uh, growing for you exponentially, which is great. And then on the outside, I mentioned this as a unique episode because ultimately what really stood out for me, cause we were just friends on Facebook. We've never met before.

And, you know, I've got quite a few friends on Facebook and so do you and, but some people's posts just stand out to me and, and I was like, you know, I got to get that guy on the podcast. Even though we've never. Talked and I didn't have a huge understanding of your, of your model, but you've had some really good posts over the, over the years.

And so I said, I reached out to you as a, could I cherry pick like four of your posts and let's just talk about them on a podcast. And so you were [00:05:00] kind enough to oblige that. So that's what we're going to do today.

Brian Strump: Yeah, it was awesome. I went, when I got it, I was like, my wife, , I was like, You're never going to believe , what he said he wanted to talk about.

And she's like, politics, religion, this, that chiropractic gym. I said, no, what I write on social media. And she's like, Oh my God, because , want to think of myself as pretty practical and, level headed and, um, more pragmatic than emotional. Yeah. So sometimes I post and some of these people.

Lose it, right? But I really just try to post like something that's thought provoking and things like start a conversation. Um, I don't, I don't think of myself as somebody that I'm not going to be able to like be friends with somebody because you think differently, but I mean, boy, there are a lot of people out there that, uh, don't think like me.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yes. And that's why I want to have you on, but we're going to keep it to the business side. It was funny. Yeah. Yeah. [00:06:00] Yeah. Yeah. Of

Brian Strump: course. And even that stuff. Yeah. That's great. Yeah. But when

Dr. Kevin Christie: I had sent you the screenshots of your posts that I wanted to talk about, you're like, okay, good. Uh, cause you were, I think you're worried about it.

I joked around.

Brian Strump: I would have been pretty surprised if you, and it's not like I do any post anything on there that's like super controversial. So I would have been surprised if. Um, if, if you would have been like, yeah, let's talk about this one. I was like, ah, okay. I mean, it's your podcast.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Well, I know you've got a background in CrossFit and when I spoke in Parker, the first time I think it was 2018, I had a kind of a joke in there about, we were talking about social media and all that.

And I said, you know, it's okay to be somewhat polarizing. You're built. Don't be too polarizing. You know, you probably don't want to talk too much about religion, politics, and CrossFit. And everybody laughed. And so I had sent that to you when, when you were happy that we were going to be focusing on business.

So yeah, we try not to talk about religion, politics, and CrossFit. Too, too [00:07:00] controversial on this podcast. I agree. I agree. Let's dive into the first one and I'll just read it and then we'll go from there. Um, if you want a life where you get to do what you want. Every day, you'll need to live a life doing a lot of things you don't want to do.

One of the things that I appreciate about your posts is they're, they're to the point, uh, and they're, and they're thought provoking. And so what are, what are your thoughts on, on that

Brian Strump: one? You know, I, I don't, I mean, I'm 45. I don't know how old you are, Kevin, 44, I'm assuming I was going to say I was, I was going to guess around that state within like three to four years.

It's like when I grew up, I always had to work. I never felt like if I didn't work, I was going to get something and we didn't have the internet, right? So that was helpful that we didn't have the internet. But now I feel like in the last six or seven years, there's people that are writing and sharing about how easy running a [00:08:00] business is, how easy entrepreneurship is.

How much money they make and which is like 99 percent not true, right? Um, I'm just trying to get you to buy like my ebook or something and then there's a lot of people and I think it's like 10 X over, over COVID over like the last three years over the, over that time when, uh, and I, I'm not, I don't really know the reason why, but it's like a lot of people would say, you know, maybe not necessarily to me, but it's like, Oh, you know, it must be nice.

Or I wish I could do that or or kind of things like that to somebody to like make you feel bad But they don't see all the work that you do. Right. Or it's like, you know, there, I know a guy here that, you know, his name's Bruce and he was taking, he was taking pictures for people in our gym in like 2016 had another [00:09:00] job doing it.

And now he's taking pictures of all sorts of famous people. He's at the super bowl. He's at the NBA, all star games at the CrossFit games. And like, I knew this dude when I was probably paying him 200 bucks for the, for three hours to take pictures of our gym. Right. And, and, and, and some people I'm sure would be like, Oh yeah, you got lucky.

It must be nice. Right. Because we're not, you're not necessarily posting about all the, all the shitty time. I don't know if I could curse on here, but all the, all the bad times.

Dr. Kevin Christie: You're from New York. You're from New York too. So

Brian Strump: all the, all the bad times and all, like everybody's using social media to post about, Oh, how great stuff is.

They don't really show. Like I was up all night. I didn't sleep. I was up early in the morning. I'm doing kind of all this stuff. And everybody's like, Oh yeah, I want to open up a business. It's like. Look at all these people, I think it's a big step, you know, and, and a lot of the, and whether it's sport or whatever, you know, I've got a 12 year old daughter that I'm trying to teach.

Like, you don't just wish your way to being good at something like you have [00:10:00] to do it. It's not good. You have to do all the things like you don't want even just being, being like the, being like the owner of your gym. Like when I walk by a piece of paper on the ground. I can't expect my staff to pick it up if I'm not picking it up.

If I'm not going to make the call or do this, I can't expect other people to do it. The only way other people are going to do it, either they're scared of me. So they know if Ryan, if I don't do it, I'm going to get fired, which is like, not how I lead or like, man, like. He's working his ass off. I saw him cleaning some equipment the other day and plunging a toilet.

And yeah, that's not like, my ideal job. But if it's, if I'm there and it needs to be done, I'm not gonna be like, Hey, Kevin, can you do me a favor? There's, Toilet bowl needs to be plunged. Unless your job is like, toilet bowl plunger. But let's assume it's not, and your job is also to be coaching and doing other things.

I need to be doing those things. You need to be doing those things. So other people will eventually [00:11:00] help you out to make, And create whatever it is that like we want to be doing. And I just feel like a lot of people aren't now, right. A lot of people aren't

Dr. Kevin Christie: willing to work. They aren't. And you know, it's, uh, interesting.

Like I mentioned, I've been with strategic coach for a while and they have a concept called front stage backstage, and they usually apply it to businesses. Right. Or, um, they, they use the play analogy. You see the. The play, but you don't see the backstage that, you know, the dress rehearsal and the costume designer and the makeup artists and the writers and producers, you don't see all that, that you just see the front stage.

And that's what you see in the gym. You walk in, if it's really nice or, you know, all that, you don't see all the hard work behind it. And it's the same way with. Someone's, uh, let's just call it professional success is if you get to a certain level, uh, you know, like you and I are in our mid forties now, we got probably 20 plus years underneath our bell.

Things have gone pretty good for you. Pretty good for me. Uh, they see the front stage of it, um, but they don't see the [00:12:00] backstage. Which was like, you're talking about the things that you have to do over the years and day to day to, to make it happen. And they, you know, ultimately we'll see chiropractors or gym owners doing really well and think that they just want that right away because they got the degree.

Right. And I, and that's not, that's just not how it works, obviously. And it's

Brian Strump: like every day, like someone's like, oh man, you know, today, work sucked or this happened to that. I was like, every day work sucks. Right. Like, I love it because I could control it. But like, I never have like four days in a row where I was like, man, I'm coasting and everything is amazing.

Like it's infinitely harder than. You know, and I, I, I just, I was mentioned before that I just kind of came into a partnership with it, with, with this other gym and he's been working me for seven years, but I've been trying since we decided on buying this, like he'll come to me with something huffing and puffing.

I was like,[00:13:00]

Susan, you're gonna have to make soon. You gotta like, somebody's not gonna like you. Somebody's going to write something bad about you or talk shit to somebody else behind your back, you know? So you just have to be able to be used to that. And it's like, they just don't, it's just, it's just hard to understand because it's not like you're watching a football game, you're like, Oh, we could go out and throw a football.

And wow, football's hard. Or I could go play golf. I'm like, man, it's really hard to be like Tiger Woods. Like it's really hard to hit a 95 mile an hour fastball. Like people feel like it's much difficult to comprehend how to like. We're on a small business.

Dr. Kevin Christie: It's it's a lot, there's a lot to it. So I, I love that one because I, you know, I just think it sums up a lot.

And again, you know, yeah, there's some generalities in the sense of the, the different generations. Right. Um, but it's probably like that for a reason. I, and I, and luckily I think, you know, I've been meeting a lot of people that are bucking that trend. So hopefully, uh, they'll continue to do it, but yeah, you know, you, you gotta do the things that no one else wants to do, [00:14:00] and that's, what's going to get you to the point where, um, You could have a level of success and do what you want, right?

It's kind of like Tim Ferriss. We'll just kind of last little thing and then we'll move on to the next one. But, you know, Tim Ferriss gets to do a whole lot of things he wants to do right now on his own terms. Part of that's because he doesn't have kids, right? But the, but you don't, you, we, we soon forget what that guy did to get to where he is now, right?

Like that guy put in some work that, you know, Very few human beings would be able to do if you ever hear his backstory about the supplement company that he built the book, the way he wrote his books and lived his books. And like you just really very few people would put in what he did. And he arbitrage and obviously now he gets to do what he wants, but, uh, it

Brian Strump: wasn't pretty still probably works really hard.

Right? It's not like he's right. Like, it's even then it's like, it's he's still working hard to do whatever he wants to do next. It's it's, you know, it's kind of like in some people's

Dr. Kevin Christie: DNA. It is, it is. So moving on to the next one. And I picked this one out because it [00:15:00] was kind of funny. We, um, I don't know if you know, Greg Crabtree, but Josh Satterley is the first one I heard of him from, he's a CPA.

Simple numbers.

Brian Strump: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

Dr. Kevin Christie: yeah. Great. And you know, I, I had him on, uh, paid to have him on a two hour training for our mastermind group. And he's mortem accountant where he's just doing your taxes. He's really. Planning businesses. And he's worked with many industries and he talked about this for a second, but I want to read yours first.

Uh, this, but that's why I picked it. And the, what you said was quote, almost everyone wants more money. Almost no one is willing to work harder and spend less. Um, I really liked that. And one of the things he said, he's seeing it across a lot of industries. Employees are wanting more money. But they're not wanting to perform anymore.

And frankly, they're wanting to perform less. [00:16:00] Uh, and they obviously there's people that are having, uh, spending problems in their personal lives. And so they're coming, uh, and some of that's inflation and we'll get to inflation in a minute, but it's also, they're, they're not disciplined in their spending.

And so they're, They're just wanting more money for the sake of more money, but they're not willing to perform or sacrifice to do that in a lot of ways. What are some of your thoughts on why you posted that and what you're seeing?

Brian Strump: Yeah. I wish now that I knew what the, what the thing was that was like, like, sometimes I hear something similar and I was like, let me see.

I'll like take a little note in my phone. And then like, I want to write something about this, like that contra one thing Yeah. We'll talk about

Dr. Kevin Christie: that. Um, but, uh,

Brian Strump: Yeah, like, I'm a, I'm a big, like, finance and, like, business finances piece. I think, like, that's where I do some of my best, uh, work, whether it's using debt to do things or [00:17:00] making sure I could do what I need to do.

Some people call me cheap. I think, I'm just smart with my money, right? Like, I do have a problem of not celebrating wins. So I don't spend a lot of money on myself on things. I'm not like a thing person. I don't like 10, 000 watches or 100, 000 cars. I can't drive a stick, you know, in a car. So it's like, I'm pretty limited there.

Um, but yeah, I think between, and you know, whether that's, Somebody at work, which like this, I know for sure it wasn't somebody coming to me and say, hey, Brian, I want to make more money and work less, but that's not to say that that certainly doesn't happen. Right? Or more, more, more likely it's listening to people say, man, like, man, you can't live in Charlotte without making more than like, 150, 000.

You certainly can. And people that spend so much money, you [00:18:00] know, I, I do, I do like 50 to 60 percent of the sales in the gym and I kind of, uh, even now I still project what, what people are, how people show up, what people drive. And if they come in and they look like they're driving a Toyota, I don't mind.

And if they want to spend 500 to a thousand dollars a month in the gym, because they, they see it's valuable, great. It's the people that come in with like 150 pants, 400 shoes. Um, I don't know any fancy kind of. Gear, but I'll say Lululemon. That's like the fanciest stuff that I know. So let's say it's that, right?

And, and 150, 000 car, and it's like, well, you know, I don't know, like the cost is a little bit. And this is like a pre diabetic guy that wants to lose 40 pounds, right? I'm, I try to be kind and polite, but I also need to tell this person the things that like nobody else is gonna tell him. Like, you're gonna die soon, and your kids are gonna miss you, and I think if you stop spending so much money on this [00:19:00] crap, you're Quality, whatever you want to call it, maybe we can invest in, in, in, in something different or, you know, so I think like those are the things it's more from a, I wrote that more from like a, a, a spending and keeping up with the Jones is there's another one that I probably wrote that you probably heard something similar to.

It's like, everybody keeps up with the Jones is not realizing that the Jones is a broke. You know, it's like the same kind of like the same idea. So it's like,

I go pick up my daughter for practice and I'm in like shorts. In a college shirt. In 2020 we used to take walks all the time and I'd be in sweatpants and a college shirt. And one day I came and picked her up from work in like slacks and a polo. She's like, you got dressed up today. And all these other guys are there from work in like suits or shirts and ties.

I was like, Lila, like, Keep it quiet, you know, don't embarrass me and, uh, but that's just, that's just how I, I've always kind of been. So I, I kind of feel bad for people that feel like they need [00:20:00] to do something outwardly. I drove in 2020, I had a 2019 Hyundai, I'm sorry, 2009. 2008, 2009 and 2020. And the only reason why I bought a car then was because everybody was saying, Hey, like people are giving away cars.

So I, so I bought a used Lincoln for pretty cheap and I was like the most expensive car I ever had. And we was everybody's like, Oh man, it must be nice. Brian must be making all that. I was like, fuck you. You're driving, you're like upside down in a Cadillac. And I paid 21, 000 for a 40, 000 Lincoln. And I was driving a car that was 11 years old.

Yeah. So I think like, that's, I think it's, it was, it's, it's more the spending thing. I was like, whenever I speak to somebody like, oh man, this is so expensive.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah. And I'm going to tie it into the previous one, right? So I'm going to reread this one. Almost everyone wants more money. Almost no one is willing to work harder and spend less. And [00:21:00] then going back to the other one, if you want a life where you get to do what you want every day, you'll need to live a life doing a lot of things you don't want to do.

And that could be. If you want to live that life, you get to do what you want. You need to do what a lot of things that you don't want to do, which could be not overspend money and be conservative in your spending. And because what happens a lot of times people get pigeonholed into, uh, the, the rat race of trying to make X amount of money to, to fulfill a life that they've overspent on because they never were able to do that.

To really reign that in. And so now they don't have that freedom to take a leap of faith. Maybe. Right.

Brian Strump: Yeah. I mean, I talked to a lot of, yeah, for sure. I took it a lot of people that have good jobs in banking down here and they are miserable and we'll sit down and like, you know, maybe you could do this.

Like, nah, I can't. What do you mean? You can't go from making 175, 000 to 110 or 90 for a little bit. Nope. Like. [00:22:00] Drop 80, you know, they just get accustomed to this job and they get stuck with the debt or Yep. Golden handcuffs as they call it. Right. And it's like, man, like I feel so bad for some of these people.

Yeah. You know, that just like, get, get, get, get. Like, I don't look as retirement as like, like an end game. It's like, I want to keep playing this until I die. I want, I'd like to work less and, and have other things make me some money, but like, still like being active and feeling productive. So, you know, uh, but then, you know, the other people like, oh, you know, you only live once like, oh, yeah, but, uh, and, you know, one thing in regards to this that I think a lot of people don't like to talk about money because it's like, you know, taboo.

I don't I'll talk about with whoever wants to talk about it, whether you have a ton of it. And you're teaching me something or you got none of it and we could help you help you out. But when they say, oh, like, it's not all about the money, uh, Chris Cooper, who, you know, wants to be in [00:23:00] that that you mentioned before, he said something that kind of really that resonated.

It's I don't know, I'll butcher it, but something along the lines, and this is this is what I say to people now it's like, you know, it's not about the money, right? If I can make the impact and the money will come. But if I asked you like, you know, uh, you know, who do you like, you know, if money was no object, who would you like to help?

You're like, oh, I love dogs. I love foster kids. I love whatever. It's like, do you think you'd help more or less people with money? And you're like more okay, then why wouldn't you want to make more? And then you could help the people that you just said that you wanted to help more of, or if you want to give away, or you want to do something for free, it's like, yeah, I could, I could do these things with more money.

I can't. Take care of a friend that needs something or buy something for someone that needs something or pay for somebody's tires if they need it or treat a group of people out to dinner if they need it if like me, myself, I'm looking at the menu and hoping that when we split the check, I only have to pay for my 17 dollars and somebody else got a 50 steak.

And now I'm like, man, why am I, why am I paying for your meal to like, [00:24:00] you just don't have those opportunities. So it's not about the money, but it's like, if you can help more people with it,

Dr. Kevin Christie: then, you know, Yeah. And it gives you financial peace of mind, which then allows you to have kind of a better state of being when you do show up to work and you're not stressed out about it.

Brian Strump: One less, one less thing to be, there's a plenty of things to be worried about. One less thing to put a little bit of a buffer. And it's like, if I have like, A one year, you know, a one month rainy day fund or a three month or a six month or three years, like the bigger that buffer gets, the more comfortable

Dr. Kevin Christie: it's different.

You get on one end of the spectrum, you know, you could have the practice owner that again is bringing in plenty of money, but overspending, that could be a situation. Or you got the new associate who, um, you know, maybe isn't making a Ton, but they're 27 years old. Like they can obviously, they need to just probably grapple with, you know, what, this is an early phase of my career.

I'm not, this [00:25:00] isn't a money making venture right now in my twenties. It's, I think you, me, we, we, we lived the typical good trajectory, which. You know, our twenties was about growth, uh, of education and learning how to practice and do all that. It wasn't a money making venture. We were able to grind it out and make just enough to live and do okay.

But then, you know, start to set a good platform in our thirties and really start to make hay in our forties. Like that's, uh, that's kind of how it

Brian Strump: works. Yeah. It's not to say that, like when, when I was first out of school and I got my first paycheck that wasn't from Sallie Mae. I didn't go blow it and the next one and the next one and the next one and the next one and all my money from Sallie Mae was spent at the Harris Casino in St.

Louis, you know, it wasn't like I was always what I always I know it wasn't the best use of my money, but it's different when you're in your 20s and you're like, oh, I've got a lot longer now that I'm going once I hit maybe 30 or had my daughter when I was 33 is like, okay, now I got these put a roof over

Dr. Kevin Christie: somebody's head.

Yeah. And so sometimes it's your relationship [00:26:00] with the money that's going to be where it's at. It's not about the actual money. And so, uh, I love that one. We're going to move on to the next one. It kind of, uh, helps with this because a lot of people are impacted and I really liked this one, but it's, um, quote relationship capital is not impacted by inflation.

Treat it carefully. Uh, that's a pretty, pretty powerful one in a short period there. What are some of your thoughts on that? Yeah, that,

Brian Strump: um, I'm glad you picked that one because, uh, I mean, obviously people are talking about inflation and your money and stuff like that. But I, I, like, I'm, I'm, I'm from New York.

Right? So automatically people think like you're mean and abrasive and whatever. But I tell people that like, there's a difference between being nice and being kind. Right? Nice people just bullshitting you. The kind person is like, when the guy comes to my gym and is like, and I say, listen, nobody's ever told you this before because they don't want [00:27:00] you to be upset with them.

But that's not my job. My job is to get you to realize that this is a serious problem you need to take care of. Right? Um, so I think most people. Even if they don't like what they hear will at the end of the day be like, I needed to hear that. And I try not to burn bridges, not to say that I haven't done stupid things in the past, but I do my best to, like, not burn any bridges in the future and keep some of these relationships kind of going.

And I feel like those things put you in position to, um. Get lucky from like a business perspective or a money perspective. If you need, if you want it to do an investment and like you need a hundred thousand dollars, like it's easier to get it from somebody that likes you because you're good and you show that you're a good steward of money and you're a good person, you're kind and you care and all those things versus like you're not.

And I think from a relationship perspective, from like, if you lead in your [00:28:00] business from like more with the carrot than with the stick, And I think that's the same way. Like if people like working with you and you're kind to them, then people will stay. And some people be like, Oh yeah, Brian, he's probably tell we'll work with.

Meanwhile, 80 percent of my team has been with us from like six to 12 years. So if I was such an asshole, it's not like I'm paying him 500, 000 to stay. You know, if I was such an asshole, you would have gone someplace else. Um, but also like the, the, the cost of running a business is also, you have to stick to your principles or your, you know, if you have a cancellation policy, like this is what it is.

If you have this policy, this is what it is. It was like, Oh, why are you being like that? I was like. Not being like anything like you, this is what you write. So I think there's like that, the people that know me know who I am and other people will make a choice to say [00:29:00] one thing or the other, but I think it comes down to those relationships.

And even the ones that you just kind of touch base with every, you know, every quarter doesn't have to be best friends that we see all the time. Like I'm in a few different mastermind groups that we might meet quarterly. I might not talk to those people except for those 70 hours that we've got. And they're some of the best people that I know, but I maybe talk to them, like, 20 days a year, based on Based on and they would do anything for me and vice versa, based on the relationships that we've kind of

Dr. Kevin Christie: built.

Yeah. And one of the things I thought about this for myself was it was two stories. One, uh, my dad's been in sales since the early seventies and heavy equipment, like all the wire ropes and teeth and buckets for all that down here in south Florida. And, and he's not a salesy type of guy, but one thing that he was taught early on by, by his sales manager was that he wasn't in the business of sales.

He was in the business of relationship building. The, the sales will follow. And, and he's done well with that over the years and that's [00:30:00] something that I. Took to heart when I was building my practice, we're, we're building MCM was, is not, uh, you know, not being a salesman per se, there's sales and you had to have that, but really being in the business of relationships, because then that will sustain itself long term.

And, and that leads to my second point around it was that when you do build good relationships, like I did a good job in my community and my patient base. With relationship building that it allowed me to go from an in network practice to an out of network practice and higher cash rates. And I didn't.

Lose a ton of patients. We lost some, but the relationships were there. And that kind of goes to your point. It's not impacted by inflation. Uh, you know, if I decide to raise my rates, which I'm going to be doing soon, um, you know, it's not gonna, uh, it's not going to impact that because you've built strong relationships with, with your patients or clients or community.

Uh, however it may be. And I think that's just very impactful for, for people to realize. [00:31:00]

Brian Strump: And so, you know, my, uh, on this, like my, when I, when I go around here, you know, my, my daughter thinks I'm famous because everywhere we go, people, I mean, I was at a beach in sunset beach, North Carolina, I'm walking the beach.

And I was like, Brian, it's like somebody from the gym or somewhere, somewhere else. So it's like, they know me from, from somewhere. And for the most part, I like to kind of be, be pretty private. So she's like, yeah, everywhere you go, you always know somebody. So I'd like to think like also, like if I was unpleasant.

People, because I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm shy at heart. If I see somebody I know out that I kind of know, I'm not going to be like, Oh my God, Kevin, I can't believe we're at the same place. I will try to make myself so you don't see me. So we don't have that awkward comment. Like, I don't know what to say. Right. So, um, I'd like to think that part of that's a show of like.

I could create good relationships and keep them to the same way in the gym. I do a lot of those sales and it's [00:32:00] much more relationship driven than, you know, people do business with, with, with who they think cares about them. And that's kind of how, how we run our stuff. Yeah.

Dr. Kevin Christie: And they don't feel like they're being sold to, which is Holy grail.

So, um, all right, let's put a cap on this, you know, as a, as a fellow Gen Xer, um, you know, we, we came up at the age of Nintendo, which was. The best video game console ever, uh, you had a couple of different, a couple of different posts, how you were relating, uh, video games to, to business and the two video games.

Uh, again, our millennial crowd here may not have never heard of them, but one was Contra, which was probably my favorite game, uh, aside from tech mobile, but, uh, Contra, Yeah. Tecmo ball is probably everybody's favorite, but Contra was high up there. And then two was, was Tetris. Uh, what, what's your relationship between business and Tetris and business and Contra?

Brian Strump: You know, uh, I can't remember the exact posts, right. [00:33:00] But um, I think in the Tetris one I wrote more recently was just kind of things about, uh, looking at, like, just, I was, I was, I was thinking about how they were related and I think in Tetris was, like, looking ahead and being prepared versus just, like, letting, like, just working the business head down and you can't, like, see ahead to make any, any decisions.

I think something else in that Tetris was about just like chaos and problems and like, being able to, uh, like, not freak out like, oh, shit, I put this space in the wrong spot. And now I'm, I'm screwed. And then I just like, die on purpose. You know, those people. Oh, yeah. So they throw their, they throw their controller over the across the wall to the other side.

And so it's like being able to like, be calm under pressure. Right. Um, And then also not also going for the home run. Like, I feel like [00:34:00] back to the, you know, Instagram and tick tock. It's like, you only see the home runs. You don't see, like, singles and doubles and singles and doubles in in business because, like, nobody freaking cares, like, if I sold 2 memberships today.

Nobody cares about if somebody came in paid me 1400 bucks or 1, 700 for a membership a month like like if I just posted those the people would so it's like that kind of stuff and in general business like like the The day to day monotony is the important part So it's like just being patient do this singles doubles one line two line every once in a while Well, I'll get Tetris, but I can't wait for that red.

I can't wait for that wet red red bar down the middle Otherwise I'm gonna be

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yeah, that's great. Yeah. You wrote how Tetris teaches, uh, entrepreneurship one, expect mistakes. And there's a little bit of paragraphs in there, but we'll skip that too. There was no perfect piece. That's for sure. Uh, three, always look ahead [00:35:00] and in four be flexible.

Uh, so it was really makes sense. Then you got a cool old school picture of, of Tetris, which I like by that. It really does sum up Tetris and entrepreneurship. I'm sure. What were

Brian Strump: they? Uh, um, I think it was, I know. I remember the cheat coach. I wrote something about there in the cheat code. What were like the, what were the topics that I probably listed like five

Dr. Kevin Christie: things.

Yeah, that was under the, the Tetris one. And then, um, I've come to realize that life and entrepreneurship is a lot of, a lot, uh, is a lot like a game of Contra. You'll find some cool tools to help you, but it won't last forever. So you need to really be sold solid on the basics. Your feelings of invincibility only last for seconds.

You feel like the current level you're at is impossible and there's no way to get it through it. You think that the only people that pass the level must have some secret that they aren't willing to share. You're relieved when you finally get to the next level only realize it's 10 X more difficult than the prior level.[00:36:00]

Your mindset on the people you surround yourself with is the cheat code. You need to win the game up, up, down, down, down, down, down, left, right, left, right. A B select start. A lot, a lot of people, your, your age and my age will actually remember that cheat code from

Brian Strump: heart. I don't know that for dinner last night, but I remember that for like 35 years ago.

Yeah. And you know, it's weird. Uh, I woke up one morning and I'm not sure how I, I, I wrote it that morning and I was like, I don't know if I heard something about it, but yeah, right. Like I think from those pieces, the invincibility piece, we kind of touched on at the very beginning. It's like, I think every day is hard and I don't have too many days in a row that like, something's not like, I don't want to just like burn the whole thing down and go live in a hole somewhere.

Right. So it's like, I'll have a good day or a good month. And Like this month was okay and trying to not get too high with the highs or too low with the lows So I just remember that like invincibility one when [00:37:00] you kind of run and same thing in mario brothers, right? You kind of run in and or uh pac man, right?

The ghost turns purple right before you're about to eat them and then you die um The other one with like the with like the tools, right? I remember like spread gun and laser

Dr. Kevin Christie: gun Oh, yeah spread gun was the best

Brian Strump: i'm gonna murder people with this thing And then you lose it and i'm back to like one little at a time little white little bullet You And so like being able to like being agile there and being able to hide and get around and, and, and be smart and, and, and, and be patient because I can't just like go in with reckless abandon with the spread gun and blast in people.

Right? So the same thing in in, in, in work. I, I think especially even more so in like the doctor's office, you know, there's all these tools now, like when, when we graduate, it's like, all right, you got your hands. Yeah, and that's it. Now it's like I got this thumper and that thumb and needles and other needles and these instruments and those instruments, and [00:38:00] it's like, oh yeah, the practice is struggling.

I think I'm gonna start doing dry needling. Or the gym is struggling. I think I'm gonna not be called CrossFit anymore. Whatever. It's like, nah, I don't think either of those things are really gonna matter. Right? So like what are those basic things? And probably creating relationships. Creating a market and selling the market like to create an audience and, and, and, and, and sales like the two important things you can write, you know, you know, people that have like the greatest adjusters, but they can't get a person in the door.

Dr. Kevin Christie: Yes. And I, and I, and I, I want to go back to the one here. If. If you want a life where you get to do what you want every day. So let's just sum that up as like, you're struggling in practice and you want to have a successful practice. Uh, you'll need to live a life doing a lot of things you don't want to do.

And I think a lot of chiropractors in our heart of hearts know that if, whether they're an associate and they're not producing as they should to hit bonus, or they're an owner and they're having cashflow issues, there's probably a lot of things, you know, in your heart of [00:39:00] heart that you need to be doing.

To then be able to, to have or do the things you want. And again, the have doesn't mean you have to have things, but it may be, I, I need some more free time. I need some peace of mind. I need a team member. I need to pay for groceries. Like, whatever it is. You gotta like, just be honest with yourself and, and say, are you doing all the things that you should be doing?

And, and

Brian Strump: that's what's gonna get you there. Yeah. I'll never forget. And then now people look at you now, right? Or maybe some people look at me like, Oh, Brian, you're telling me to do this, but you don't do this anymore. So I think you get to a point where like, whether your relationships or social or referrals, like, I don't, I remember when we moved to a state, I didn't know nobody, and we opened up this office and the guy's like, we should go knock on doors.

I'm like, knock on doors. No. And I would knock on doors, praying to the gods of gods that these people wouldn't answer. I'd knock so [00:40:00] light. I guess I knocked on doors, but I guess they didn't hear it or they weren't home. And some people are like, Oh, Hey, my name is Brian. I'm a new chiropractor. I worked on the block.

I just moved here and I hated it. And I don't know if I ever got anybody from it. And you know, uh, but it was, it was that act. And, um, Andy Priscilla talks about when he first. Started in St. Louis, he would go to Bergs or Harris, or not Harris Deer. He would go to Deer Bergs or sns. Schnucks. Yep. Yep. And he goes, every day I would go and I had to talk to three people and not like, Hey, do you like black beans or pinto beans?

But, and not, how are you doing today? Good. And you pass by with your wagon, but like have three conversations

because it scared the shit outta me. That was, that was his way to start selling, you know, whatever, uh, whatever products he had, you know, so it's like, he doesn't have to do that anymore. Right. You might not have to do that [00:41:00] anymore. But when you're starting, I talked to like, Hey, you know, maybe you should kind of, but also like the argument can be made, like maybe you should still be doing something different to get you to the, like, In that contra thing, when it's like, oh, you get to this room and they've been doing these other things, like now he's just doing something different.

Instead of going to Dearborn and Schnucks, where you're talking to one person who's uncomfortable, now he's doing something that's more uncomfortable to talk to. I don't really love doing podcasts and talking in front of people, right? I was always the kid that was sick when I had to present and had to go to the bathroom and had to get in front of the classroom.

Um, because I'm not comfortable doing that. Right. But like talking on stage to people or doing podcasts is like the next difficult thing or the next test that I need to be able to do to like, when, when you get to that next level in Contra and it's like, what are these people doing? Like, They're doing more difficult stuff, not knocking on a door, knocking on doors, like like step one.

And then it's the next [00:42:00] one, right? It's like those people that keep moving forward and are never satisfied or just doing a difficult thing. Like you can't even comprehend right now because you're just not You're just not there yet. And there's people that are like light years ahead of me that are doing things.

I'd be like, eh, hope I never get to that level because I'm not sure I could do it. And then you get there and you're like, ah, well, shit, I guess I got to do it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's always, it's always worse in my

Dr. Kevin Christie: head. Well, Brian, this has been a pleasure and, uh, maybe we'll have a round two in You know, 10 more Facebook posts after this that I like, and we'll sure dive into those, uh, hopefully we get to run into each other in person some point, but this has been great, man.

I really appreciate it.

Brian Strump: Yeah. Thank you, Kevin. Appreciate it.