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Welcome to ChiroSecure’s weekly show Chiropractic, Connecting People and Communities with this week’s host Dr. Kim Hoang, as Dr. Kim says, and I quote, “Starting off as a female chiropractor and also Vietnamese, I found that there are a lot of challenges that I’ve been able to overcome and have built two successful practices with a lot of determination and a lot of hard work. And now here’s Dr. Kim.
Hello? Um, hi ChiroSecure nation again. Um, nice to be back. Uh, my name is Dr. Kim Hoang chiropractic physician in the new Orleans area with offices in Gretna and also Metairie, uh, Louisiana. And, um, I wanted to, uh, offer you guys, um, a copy. I’m also coauthor of a book called Wake Up Happy Brain. And, uh, this book, um, has, uh, a lot of the co-authors, uh, basically talked about either whether it be a personal or either professional ways of being able to have, uh, in, in, uh, a happy healthy brain, uh, in, in, in my chapter, uh, it actually talks about my life journey and, uh, how I got to this point.
Um, but if you click on the, or, or, uh, log into the website, www.metairie-gretnadisccenter.com on there, it’ll have the contact and on the contact. Um, once you email, it’ll go to my email and then I’ll send you a copy, just make sure that you give me your address. Um, so anyways, today I wanted to talk about how your mindset and your identity reflects your practice, um, back in, uh, 2005. And that was a changing time here in new Orleans, because that was a year of hurricane Katrina. That was whenever I actually started or actually was going to open up my private office. Um, I had been practicing for about four years prior, and my opening date was supposed to be September 1st, 2005. The hurricane came August the 28th, 2005. The office was not functionable, so I ended up not practicing in, in that location, but in any event, um, that I think everything that happens leads you to, uh, th th there’s a reason that, um, things happen in your life and, um, the practice where I was going to be.
Um, I think when I have done as well as where I am right now, my current location, but anyhow, I did start it off with a management company back then. And whenever I closed or did not open up the office, they allow for me to cancel my contract. And as I started my private, uh, my, my private clinic for probably I want to say, Oh, gosh, it may have been maybe five years or so. Um, I did it on my own, and I thought that I did pretty well. Um, actually it was more than five years. It was probably more like 12 years. Um, and each year I was growing on my own and I felt like I didn’t really need to pay a management company. So I’m going to tie that into my personal story in, in, in one of the questions that I’m going to ask you, my fellow chiropractors is that, should you have a management company?
Should you have a coach? Is that worth it? Um, but, uh, also wanted to, um, to thank ChiroSecure again, for allowing me to, to, to have this platform to speak to my fellow colleagues. And one of the reasons I wanted to do it was to hopefully be able to touch, um, lives of, uh, of some of, uh, the, um, my, my, my colleagues and, and actually I had one person reach out to me. Um, and Dr. L uh, I’ll, I’ll just say that much. And it was so heartfelt. I really felt like, um, it made a difference and, and, and I was excited to, to get her phone call. Um, but again, please feel free to reach out to me if you have, have any questions, practice management, um, or just staffing personal questions, whatever the case may be, I’d be happy to, to help anybody.
Um, and also, um, just a shout out to, to ChiroSecure as well, too. Um, it’s the company that I’ve used as well as my two associates. And I think one of the reasons, or one of the, my draw to ChiroSecure was they cover, they cover, um, uh, the, uh, uh, the, the, the cybersecurity, just in case if there was any other issue in a lot of the other companies, we only would charge more for that. So the amount, if you have it. Um, so any event back to the, uh, to my story, as far as, uh, whenever I started my practice, and again, um, I had been doing pretty well each year. I grew, uh, for about, uh, 12 years. And then, um, I went through some personal issues. Uh, I went through a divorce and at that time, uh, I normally am pretty good about separating my personal life and also my professional life.
Um, I did not realize how my, my personal life led into my professional life and I, I came to work and I felt like I was present. Um, but my mind was not there. And, uh, my stats went down about 20% and I saw that in the numbers, but as a chiropractor physician, I think you guys know sometimes, and especially dealing with personal injury and, and we, we probably see about maybe 30 or 40% personal injury. I didn’t see that until the following year. And that was whenever I panicked and I knew that something needed to be done. And I reached out to my friend and colleague, Dr. Bragg Bradley Kerzner who he and I started our private practice at the same time. And he had always been with, um, with master circle. And, um, so I then reached out to my, my now coach Dr.
Bob Hoffman, and he wanted everything. He wanted all my stats and, you know, it was pretty much an open book. Um, but, um, I knew that I would not continue if I didn’t not feel like it was a good return of investment. So my office, and also my book who were open for my coach. And, um, I was very reluctant at the beginning, um, because you’re as a, uh, as a, uh, private, uh, a practicing physician, you always feel like you can do it on your own. You really don’t want to listen to anybody. But at, at, at that time, I knew that I needed to. So being able to be open-minded and listen to, uh, uh, my coach, because he’s done this so many times really made a difference in my life. Um, initially it was professionally, and I knew that again, if my stats did not show it, then I was not going to pay him the following year.
And he knew that, and he was up for the challenge. And, um, I think that, uh, I’ve been coaching with Bob probably since maybe 2013 or 14, I forget. Um, it’s, uh, you know, cause it’s, it’s, it’s been such an amazing journey, but, um, my point to you is that, you know, even the best athletes have coaches. So I feel that whenever you have someone that is there to be able to make you accountable for what you want to be able to do and have more clarity, um, whether it be, you know, patient visits to, uh, what am I goals? What am I goals in the future? What are my financial goals in the future? When do I really want to retire? I mean, those are the things that you don’t talk about at the beginning, but, uh, actually Dr. Dennis, um, uh, pyramid is also, um, it’s Dr.
Bob’s partner. He was able to, um, do a master financial plan with me. And again, you know, they’re asking for a lot of numbers that sometimes you don’t even know what these numbers are, but once you’re able to have more clarity, it makes a huge difference as far as what your goals are, uh, whether it be in your business or also what your goals can be in terms of when can I retire. So, um, and, and, and more recently, um, I am, um, one of the doctors with dissenters of America and on there, I have two coaches there as well, too, Dr. Kaplan and also Dr. Bart. And they’ve been able help me, uh, through my journey as far as being a disc decompression specialist and also peripheral neuropathy specialist as well, too. So again, I think that if you ever question yourself, uh, as far as, should I have a coach, or should I not have a coach, just, just talk to the, to, to, to, to the, um, to the person and see what their track records are, see what they want to get from you and give them the information.
And then of course, if you do not see your return investment, then you just cut ties with them. All right. But it takes both part as it’s a partnership. So it’s not about, let me give him the information and he’s going to do all the work for me. It’s just like with your patients, when your patients come in to see you, they’re gonna think, Oh yeah, you know what, I’m going to go ahead and tell this doctor what I have and the problems that I have, and I’m going to expect for him to cure me. No, it, it, it, it, it takes both part, it’s a partnership. They have to do their part and we’ll do our part as well, too. So being invested into, uh, your coach, uh, giving them the information that they need, but also study into, uh, what you, what, what, what your goals are, uh, together.
So it’s, it’s, it’s not, it’s not a cookie cutter for every single person. Um, I actually listened to Dr. Dennis yesterday, and, and he was saying that, um, whenever you, whenever he coaches with someone everybody’s different everybody’s needs are different. Um, and to be able to understand where your weak points are. I think that that’s where that coach is, is, is, is able to make a difference. And again, Hey, look, if that, if that coach is not really giving you the time and, and, and, and being able to cater to your needs, cut ties with them. Okay. Um, within the, uh, two coaching companies that I have, practice management companies, master circle, and also disinterest of America, I am invited to many different seminars throughout the year at the beginning. Whenever I started with master circle, I will tell you that I didn’t really understand the seminars as far as having to travel, spend money, um, you know, at the hotel, bring my staff things of that nature.
Um, but it made a difference. And initially I went by myself after that, I handpicked certain, uh, employees, and you can just see a huge difference whenever we’re there at the seminar, we hear what, um, is being lectured. And, and, and, and as a boss, uh, we come home and we’re so excited. Um, but if your staff doesn’t really understand your passion, then the message is then not relate on the patients because in your office, it’s not just one person, it is a team. Um, so be able to, so for me to be able to bring, uh, uh, certain members of my team, it’s, I tell you, it just makes my job so much easier. Um, my, uh, senior associate, Dr. Kim Trane has been with me for 10 years, and I take her with me almost everywhere. And, um, she gets to hear and listen to the message that, um, that I’m getting and that, uh, you know, uh, that we want to be able to convey them to the patients or bring back to the office.
And with two offices, it’s hard for me to try and train her, or either try to, you know, get that spark or that passion. So bringing your staff I think, is important to the seminars. And, you know, at the seminars, I will tell you that I have learned so much, um, again, you know, I’ve practiced on my own for about 12 years. And at that time I would just do the minimum CE requirements and I would come home and maybe I would get something out of it, but not much, you know, normally it’s the chiropractic adjustment. I do a little bit passive therapies and the patient was out the door. Now we have incorporated so many things like brain tap to the ACA spinal decompression table, more recently, the, um, neuro med matrix machine. Um, and, uh, I mean, we, Dr. Jane and I are both certified in doing try kneeling, and I had a patient that actually commuted or not commute.
I’m sorry. Um, she was living in, um, New York city and, uh, she’s a traveling, uh, uh, surgical tech. And she said that she’s, she’s been to many other chiropractic offices, but she’s never seen an office like this, where there’s so much technology. And, and, and I said, technology has come so far and chiropractic, yes, we practice with our hand. And I love that. And I still, you know, we, we, we adjust every patients, uh, with the technology. It makes a world of difference. And also you don’t have to be there hands on. You don’t have to spend 30 minutes with them to do decompression. You don’t have to spend 25 minutes with them, uh, for, uh, any types of peripheral neuropathy with a matrix. Um, you don’t have to be with them, uh, whenever they’re on brain tap and they’re listening to positive words of reinforcement for 20 minutes.
Um, so, you know, look into that, uh, again, these seminars are, are really amazing and, and I find that I’m able to rub shoulders with so many great and probably one of the best chiropractic physicians, uh, in, uh, in the world. Um, uh, I’ve, I’ve met doctors Aruba to, um, Italy, um, and, uh, you know, there’s, there’s so many great things that, uh, our colleagues are doing. And if we can just open up our vision, you know, we can kind of see what they’re doing there and bring it home to where your city is and offer it to your patients. We want to be able to spread the word [inaudible] and how was better to do it, but be able to learn it from the best and, and bring it home to your hometown. Um, and so the seminars is definitely something that, um, I highly recommend.
Um, and, um, I think that, uh, also, um, recently I had the pleasure of listening to Dr. Guy Riekman. Um, if anybody, I think most of you guys knows, knows who he is, but, uh, one of his many, many accolades is he was the president of college, brought them back, um, uh, from the time whenever they had issues with the CCC, that CCE. But one thing that I got out of his talk, and, and it was so profound, uh, was that you want to have people around you that shares the same vision as you, and it’s not only in life, but also in business. Whenever at the beginning, whenever I started my private practice, I had one employee as one employee would come in late and I couldn’t do anything about it. I was dependent on her. Uh, granted I was not seeing as many patients as I was now, but, um, if they don’t understand what your vision is, if you don’t tell them what your vision is, if you don’t give them a standard for what you want your office to be, then they’re going to take it and they’re going to bring their own vision in there.
Um, and I found that, um, at, at the beginning again, I mean, I had so many employees come and go and some of them would last maybe a year. Um, and now, uh, again, I, you know, I have probably a handful of, of, uh, employees that have been with me for probably almost 10 years. And the reason being is because I demand that they have a similar vision to myself, uh, when I hire my associate or when I hire, uh, you know, any employees I’ll tell them what my expectations are and each expectation is going to be different. Right? So with, uh, my, uh, my, my, my associates, I want them to, to, to, to have the vision of what I feel or how I want to practice with my patients. And I will tell you, sometimes it’s a little difficult because, you know, talk to her is, can be a little bit, um, pitfall.
And, uh, they make just want to be able to do it their way. And also some of the doctors that do have a lot of experiences, uh, they want to be able to kind of do it their way and, and not so much, you know, the, the Hong Kong effective way. Um, but at the same time, you know, if they wanted to do it that way, then they can start their own practice. Um, but giving the associate at the beginning, um, your expectation and also what your vision, uh, in, in how you practice as well, too, whether it be, you know, the frequency of care to, um, you know, when do we normally order an MRI? Uh, I mean, just, just those little things. And I know sometimes I’m, you know, I don’t want to say I’m a control freak, but at the same time, I do want to be able to make sure that my patients are taken care of and being that I’ve had, I have 20 years of experiences.
I know how my patients are thinking, and I want to be one step ahead of them. So, you know, like, say for example, ordering MRIs, if I know that they’re hurting and they’re not feeling any better, you know, I want to be one step ahead of them. I want to order the MRI. And I want to tell them that I do feel that you have a disc herniation at whatever level, but once I get the MRI and I’m able to show it to them, bam, you already have, you know, the, the, the, um, uh, they, they, they already trust you because they, they, they know that, you know what you’re talking about. So, um, yeah, having, having someone who has your own, you’re a similar vision to yourself, I think, is going to be highly important. And I think that that is the same thing in your personal life.
Um, you know, I’ve, uh, I’ve gone through my, my shares of relationship and, and I find that to have someone in. And for me, one of my, my, my, um, sort of, uh, higher on my list is, is having a positive attitude. You know, if, if, if, if I’m with someone and, and, and, and this is a personal, but also even around my friends and my family, you know, if they start complaining a lot and that’s all they do all day, every day, I’m gonna, this is my cell from that person, I’ll say hi. And then I just won’t, um, engage in it. Um, and, and don’t get me wrong. You know, there’s going to be time when we’re going to vent and that’s completely fine. And that should be the, uh, the minority of the time and not the majority of the time, same thing with my staff.
Uh, when I talk to them, whenever they come to my office, I tell them, I said, you know, what, ha whatever happens to you at home, you put it on the front porch, you take that backpack, you’ve put on the front porch, you come in, put a smile on your face and we get through it. And we get to serve our patients. And I mean, for me personally, that was, that was of my therapy. Whenever I went through my divorce is to be at my office. I was able to be surrounded by, you know, patients that, uh, that, that, that, that really, um, love me. Um, and also that I felt like I was able to make a difference in someone’s life. And so, you know, that was definitely a gratitude, um, a feeling of gratitude, and then, uh, with my staff as well, too, and, you know, just, you know, they’re gonna feed off of your energy if you come in and you’re down and you’re locked, you’re, um, you know, not really paying attention to details, they’re going to grasp on to it.
And that’s what they’re going to do. Right. Our leaders have to lead by example. So we have to be able to come in. And if you want a positive energy from your staff, you have to be able to play the part as well, too. Okay. Um, let me see if I am covering everything. I think, uh, uh, I think that, uh, I want to be able to leave you with a couple, a couple of different quotes, uh, from, uh, each of my coaches, uh, Dr. Bob Hoffman, um, he said that where your mind flows is where your energy goes. I think I said that right, Dr. Ball. Um, and again, it just comes back to what I just told you a while ago, you know, just having a positive mindset, you know, coming in and knowing that you’re going to make a difference in someone someone’s life.
Uh, even if they’re not having a great day. Right. So if they come in and they say, doc, I’m still hurting, you know, so to them, it’s, it’s, what’s, what’s still not good with you. Not what’s still great. What’s great. So instead, whenever my patients come in and I say, what’s great with you today instead of, Oh, how are you doing? Cause that just leaves an open a door for them to tell them about everything else that’s wrong. Um, so positive, positive thoughts, positive energy. And then the last thing, doctor, uh, my, uh, Dr. Kaplin, um, he said that the road, um, the road to success is always under construction. So that means that continue, continue, continue, continue to educate yourself. There’s so much to learn this world. There’s so much more than I want to learn, but I don’t want to put my, my, my, my hands, you know, so many different baskets because then I can’t be an expert in, in, in what I really love.
And for me right now, it’s just the compressions. That’s what I have, um, personally. And so I’m able to give a testimony, a personal testimony to my patients. So I’m going to leave with that. And, um, I think that I’m, that I’m going to, um, have, uh, next week’s presenter is going to be Dr. Frank Vaught. Please make sure that you guys tune in next week. At the same time, I really much, um, being a part of the ChiroSecure nation. And again, you know, if I can help out any one of my colleagues, please feel free to contact me from the website that you see below. And of course, um, just let me know if you’d like a free copy of wake up the happy brain book. I’d be happy to send it to you guys have a great day.