Three bulging discs at age 16 changed the direction of Dr. Dan Ruitenbeek's life.

A competitive hockey player growing up in Canada, Dan reached the point where he says he could no longer voluntarily contract his left quadriceps. Surgery was becoming a possibility.

Then a friend sent him to a chiropractor.

Within approximately three weeks, Dan says he was essentially pain-free. Within three months, he was back playing hockey.

That experience eventually led him to Life University, chiropractic practice, Recover X, entrepreneurship, and Shockwave Centers of America.

In Episode 813 of the Chiro Hustle Podcast, James Chester and Dr. Dan Ruitenbeek DC explore what happens when chiropractic changes someone's life—and that person decides to build systems that can strengthen the profession.

Dan discusses why chiropractic students must intentionally pursue mentorship, technique training, internships, philosophy, and business education beyond the classroom.

He also explains his approach to accessible “biohacking for real people” and how technologies can support patients without replacing the unique role of chiropractic.

Then the conversation turns toward one of chiropractic's most overlooked opportunities: the chiropractic assistant.

Dan believes better education, certification, responsibility, and career pathways for CAs could strengthen practices, improve staff retention, expand service capacity, and help chiropractors spend more time doing what only chiropractors can do.

Detect subluxation. Correct subluxation. Communicate chiropractic.

From a teenage hockey injury to nearly 3,000 offices using the systems of Shockwave Centers of America, Dan's story demonstrates what can happen when experience, mentorship, innovation, and chiropractic principle come together.

You are just one story away.

Keep Hustling.

#ChiroHustle #Chiropractic #Chiropractor #ChiropracticPhilosophy #Subluxation #VertebralSubluxation #ChiropracticAdjustment #InnateIntelligence #ChiropracticStudents #ChiropracticAssistant #ChiropracticBusiness #ChiropracticLeadership #PracticeGrowth #ShockwaveTherapy #Biohacking #LifeUniversity #SacredTrust

Dr Matt Delgado DC joins James Chester for Episode 812 of the Chiro Hustle Podcast to explore the personal health crisis that transformed the way he thinks about chiropractic, subluxation, and the body's ability to heal.

Shortly after chiropractic school, Matt entered an intense associateship, burned out, and was eventually diagnosed with Graves disease. He describes leaving that environment, simplifying his life, prioritizing sleep and rest, eating whole foods, eliminating alcohol for a year, and returning to foundational lifestyle habits. Matt says his Graves disease subsequently went into remission.

That journey ultimately produced the central metaphor behind his forthcoming book, Stepping Out of the Grave: How to Heal When You're Tired of Trying:

The body is more like a plant than a car.

Matt and James explore what that means for chiropractic. Matt describes pain-focused, structurally focused, and neurologically focused chiropractic; discusses primary and compensatory subluxations; explains how Torque Release Technique influenced his thinking and the development of his Tricord Method; and challenges chiropractors to look upstream at nervous-system function, sleep, stress, movement, toxins, and nutrition.

At the center of the conversation is a distinctly chiropractic question: If the body possesses innate intelligence, should our job be to continually “fix” people—or to address interference, improve function, educate people, and respect the intelligence already within them?

This is a conversation about returning to the roots of health and the roots of chiropractic.

#ChiroHustle #ChiroHustlePodcast #Chiropractic #Subluxation #ChiropracticPhilosophy #InnateIntelligence #NeurologicalChiropractic #ChiropracticAdjustment #NervousSystem #ChiropracticLifestyle #MattDelgado #JamesChester

“That kid was me.”

Dr Amanda Blonigen DC joins James Chester for Episode 811 of the Chiro Hustle Podcast to explore pediatric chiropractic, pregnancy, birth, developmental milestones, chiropractic philosophy, and what happens when chiropractors take the principle beyond the walls of their offices.

Amanda originally planned to become a pediatrician before discovering chiropractic and realizing that children could be adjusted. That discovery led her into chiropractic school, pediatric education, and ultimately a mission centered on children and families.

Today, Amanda works alongside Dr Lona Cook DC with Well-Adjusted Students, a nonprofit bringing chiropractic care directly into schools. The program now serves 17 locations, particularly reaching underserved children, children living in poverty, and children with special needs who may otherwise never experience chiropractic care.

Then Amanda tells a story that changes the interview.

One family loved continuing care during summer, but the mother explained they only had enough gas money to make the trip once per month.

Amanda calls their work a “mission trip in our backyard.”

James immediately recognizes the child she is describing.

Growing up poor with a single mother, struggling with dyslexia, and being told he would never become educated, James remembers his mother saving money so he could receive chiropractic care.

“That kid was me.”

The realization brings James to tears and exposes the deeper mission behind this episode: What could happen if chiropractic reached children who otherwise might never have access?

Amanda believes chiropractic belongs in the conversation happening inside America's schools—and that exposing children to chiropractic today could transform families and the profession for generations.

This is a conversation about the Sacred Trust, subluxation-centered chiropractic, service, access, leadership, and having the courage to show up.

Learn more about Well-Adjusted Students at well-adjustedstudents.org.

#ChiroHustle #Chiropractic #PediatricChiropractic #WellAdjustedStudents #ChiropracticPhilosophy #Subluxation #KidsAndChiropractic #FamilyChiropractic #InnateIntelligence #ADIO #ChiropracticLeadership #FutureOfChiropractic #SacredTrust

What happens when one chiropractic adjustment becomes the beginning of a multigenerational legacy?

Dr David Peltier DC joins James Chester to share a chiropractic journey that began when his future brother-in-law introduced him to principled chiropractic and ultimately grew into an extended family containing nine chiropractors.

After 33 years in practice, Dr Peltier's message to chiropractic students and young doctors remains remarkably simple: **Get the Big Idea.**

In this episode, Dr Peltier and James dive into chiropractic philosophy, subluxation, innate intelligence, certainty behind the adjustment, mentorship, technique, professional involvement, and the importance of preserving a distinct chiropractic identity.

Dr Peltier also shares how chiropractic mission work in Honduras gave him a new avenue for service while helping students develop their hands, confidence, and certainty through real-world experience.

Now retired from full-time practice, Dr Peltier isn't finished. He calls this chapter **reinvention**—mentoring younger chiropractors, supporting the next generation of DCs, participating in mission work, and passing forward what 33 years in practice taught him.

This isn't simply a story about building a successful chiropractic career.

It's about building something capable of surviving beyond your career.

**Get the Big Idea. Develop certainty. Serve for the sake of serving. Then pass it on.**

#ChiroHustle #Chiropractic #Chiropractor #ChiropracticPhilosophy #Subluxation #TheBigIdea #InnateIntelligence #PrincipledChiropractic #ChiropracticStudents #ChiropracticMentorship #ChiropracticLeadership #ChiropracticLegacy #ChiropracticMission #FutureOfChiropractic

What happens when a man who once entered disaster zones to help people rebuild their lives brings that same calling into chiropractic?

In Episode 809 of the Chiro Hustle Podcast, James Chester sits down with Dr Justin Dick DC for a powerful conversation about service, subluxation-centered chiropractic, scoliosis, spinal biomechanics, early detection, research, and tackling cases other people may consider too difficult.

Before becoming a chiropractor, Justin trained in nuclear medicine, computed tomography, and healthcare management. He later left hospital work and entered full-time disaster ministry, serving communities in places including Japan and Haiti.

Then chiropractic became personal.

Justin discusses his history of seizures, his own chiropractic experience, and his wife's significant scoliosis. Those experiences helped lead him to Sherman College of Chiropractic and advanced scoliosis training through the CLEAR Scoliosis Institute.

Justin explains why he believes scoliosis must be understood as more than a lateral curve, why sagittal and rotational mechanics matter, how objective imaging and measurement inform his work, and why early detection during childhood deserves greater attention.

He also discusses challenging scoliosis cases, co-management, CLEAR certification, mentorship, and why publishing chiropractic research may be one of the profession's most important opportunities.

Underlying everything is Justin's calling to serve.

He once stood in the gap for people who had lost their homes and possessions.

Today, he stands in the gap for patients and families confronting difficult spinal problems.

The tools changed. The mission didn't.

#ChiroHustle #ChiroHustlePodcast #Chiropractic #Subluxation #Scoliosis #CLEARInstitute #ChiropracticResearch #ChiropracticPhilosophy #SpinalBiomechanics #ChiropracticAdjustment #ShermanCollege #ChiropracticLeadership #ChiropracticStudents #EarlyDetection #StructureDeterminesFunction

What happens when the chiropractic philosophy that inspired you to enter the profession is almost nowhere to be found in your chiropractic education?

For Dr Laura Priestley DC, everything changed at Cal Jam 2017.

Laura grew up in Australia receiving chiropractic care from age ten after her mother—a nurse who had become dissatisfied with what she was witnessing in conventional health care—was introduced to chiropractic and the principle of Above Down, Inside Out.

Years later, Laura entered chiropractic school already believing that chiropractic was about far more than back and neck pain. But immersed in a heavily mechanistic education, her vision began to change.

Then she went to Cal Jam.

Laura describes the experience as though someone grabbed her by the shoulders and shook the mechanistic thinking out of her. It became her “sliding doors” moment—the weekend she believes changed the chiropractor she would become.

In this episode of Chiro Hustle, Laura and James Chester explore ADIO, Innate Intelligence, subluxation-centered chiropractic, patient education, chiropractic mentorship, social media, student development, practitioner self-care, and the importance of chiropractors living congruently with the message they teach.

Laura challenges students to seek out mentors, seminars, stories, and philosophy beyond the classroom—and challenges practicing chiropractors to ask themselves whether they truly “walk the walk.”

Sometimes an entire career changes because you were willing to show up.

You are just one story away.

Keep hustling.

#ChiroHustle #Chiropractic #Chiropractor #ChiropracticPhilosophy #Subluxation #ADIO #AboveDownInsideOut #InnateIntelligence #VitalisticChiropractic #ChiropracticStudents #ChiropracticEducation #ChiropracticLeadership #CalJam #PrincipledChiropractic

Chiropractic has been the best-kept secret in health care for too long. In Episode 807 of the Chiro Hustle Podcast, James Chester speaks with ICA president Dr. Joe Betz DC about the movement to make chiropractic a first choice.

Dr. Betz reveals how chiropractic organizations and the Make America Healthy Again movement are finding common ground around patient access, prevention, wellness, and freedom from unnecessary over-medicalization. He explains the work surrounding the MAHA Chiropractic Hub, Medicare modernization, an opt-out option for chiropractors, provider nondiscrimination, veteran access, and chiropractic education for families.

The conversation also exposes the profession’s profound research-funding gap. Chiropractic studies often depend on grassroots donations and volunteer researchers, while individual medical initiatives can receive tens of millions of dollars. If the profession wants to document the broader effects of the chiropractic adjustment and subluxation-centered care, chiropractors must support the science.

This is a call for unity in action without sacrificing chiropractic’s identity. The opportunity is to protect the sacred trust, preserve the principle of vertebral subluxation, and bring the specific chiropractic adjustment to more people.

Visit chiropractic.org to learn about current ICA advocacy opportunities.

#ChiroHustle #Chiropractic #JoeBetz #ICA #VertebralSubluxation #ChiropracticAdjustment #ChiropracticPhilosophy #InnateIntelligence #MAHA #MedicareModernization #ChiropracticResearch #ChiropracticLeadership #FutureOfChiropractic #ProtectTheSacredTrust

What would you do to hear your child speak for the first time?

Dr. Ronen Mendi joins James Chester to share a remarkable journey shaped by survival, fatherhood, mentorship, and subluxation-centered Chiropractic.

At 13, Dr. Mendi survived a devastating automobile accident that left him unconscious for 10 days. After living with pain, headaches, weakness, and a discouraging prognosis, he received his first Chiropractic adjustment at approximately 14½ years old. That experience planted three powerful ideas: healing could happen through the hands, he had received his life back as a gift, and he wanted to give that gift to others.

Years later, Chiropractic became deeply personal again. One of Dr. Mendi’s twin sons is autistic and remained non-speaking until age nine. Dr. Mendi recounts traveling to Canada for specialized Chiropractic care and says his son began speaking during that journey. The experience inspired him to pursue further study in serving autistic children and people with brain injuries.

Dr. Mendi and James also explore vertebral subluxation, the spine–brain relationship, lifelong learning, student mentorship, healthy longevity, practice freedom, and Cogniz Spine—Dr. Mendi’s patented concept exploring spinal unloading and nervous-system function.

This is a powerful conversation about trusting the principles, continuing to learn, and recognizing the difference one story can make.

Personal experiences are shared for educational purposes and do not predict individual outcomes or constitute medical advice.

#ChiroHustle #Chiropractic #RonenMendi #JamesChester #VertebralSubluxation #ChiropracticPhilosophy #ChiropracticAdjustment #HealingHands #ChiropracticStudents #ChiropracticLeadership #InnateIntelligence #SpinalHealth #HealthyLongevity #CognizSpine