We recently connected with Cameron Call and have shared our conversation below.
Cameron, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?
I opened my office in Summer 2016. I will never forget the first patient to walk through my doors when we opened our office. I watched her get out of the car, struggling to the point where her husband had to lift her legs and pull her to the upright position. She walked in slowly holding onto any wall or surface she could find to keep her balance.
When she finally made it into my examination room I learned that she suffered with severe vertigo. Every time she stood up the world would be spinning and she could hardly function. On top of that, she had been living with chronic shooting pain down her leg for the past several years. She moved here from Chicago because after having back surgery following a traumatic injury her doctors told her the warmer climate might help her better learn to live with her pain.
After a couple years in the Valley of the Sun, with minimal to no improvement our paths crossed. A seed of hope was planted and she came in for her initial testing. We were able to identify some nerve interference preventing her body from healing properly and I recommended a course of action involving upper cervical specific chiropractic care, a unique approach to healing not many have tried – and the technique I specialize in at Horizon Chiropractic Center. When I presented my recommendations I asked her what she wanted in regards to her health. Her answer, though she was slightly sarcastic: “I want to be able to wear my old stilettos!” We decided to keep that image in both our minds throughout her care and set that as a goal.
Fast forward 5 weeks into her care program, she was suddenly getting out of the car by herself, walking without needing to lean against the wall, the vertigo was gone, and instead of complaining of shooting pain down her leg she was complaining about not having enough daylight after work to play in her pool and do water aerobics.
A few months into her care and her and her husband went on a weekend getaway to Las Vegas. While there they went out on the strip and attended a show. And guess what she was FINALLY able to wear? Her Stilettos!
I was more than thrilled when she sent me a text message with a picture of her rocking her high heels. She did it. She reached her goal. To me, this patient is the perfect example of what upper cervical chiropractic care is capable of. Because I specialize in restoring the neurological communication between the brain and body I have no hesitation in saying I don’t hope for, I expect miracles to occur in my office.
If you or someone you know is tired of believing and being told they “just have to live with it” give us a call and let’s get you in for some initial testing of your nervous system. When neurological communication is restored and taking place at optimal levels true healing from chronic conditions can begin to occur. That is when miracles take place and individuals are able to get hope, get well, and LIVE life!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am one of not very many upper cervical chiropractors in the country. As an upper cervical chiropractic specialist our focus on more than joints, adjustments, temporarily reducing pain, and increasing range of motion. Our focus is on getting to root cause of our health problems and restoring proper nervous system function. When nerve interference is present our body is not able to heal and adapt to things as it is designed to. Rather than focusing on each bone in the body and performing tradition – and sometime scary – snap, crackle, pop style adjustments we focus on the upper area of the neck that is closely related to our brain stem – the control center to the entire nervous system. As we improve nerve function at the brainstem by specific adjustments to the upper cervical spine that remove nerve interference we are able to help individuals have huge improvements in neurological communication. Individuals with recurring headaches, migraines, vertigo, chronic neck or back pain, emotional disorders, ADHD, all types of neurologically-diverse conditions are all excellent candidates for upper cervical care. I am proud to be the clinic director at Horizon Chiropractic Center and to be able to provide such a unique and important service to the people of Arizona!
Have you ever had to pivot?
This is a big one and there is so much I could share. I grew up a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was a very active church goer my entire life. I followed the example of my parents and others I looked up to and was raised to believe a very specific set of teachings and principles to live my life by.
I also knew from a very young age that I was different. And recognizing those thoughts at such a young age and learning what to do with them was more than I knew how to process. I am gay. And I was too afraid to admit that to myself. So instead of learning to accept who I am I repressed and denied a big part of my identity. I kept the secret to myself and hoped that if I prayed hard enough and was a good enough person I could change. I made decisions that would never cause anyone to suspect I was any different from them. I played sports. I did well in school. I kept all the rules. I was nearly perfect. I even married a woman and together we created a beautiful family.
As time went on over the years I began to realize that all of my efforts to change didn’t work. I was still gay. And I had the hardest time admitting that to myself. Without getting into too much detail here, I knew that I couldn’t keep living the way that I was. I had built a gap all my life of who I really was and who I wanted people to think I was. The energy required to keep that up became too much and it was impacting all aspects of my life, especially my career.
My wife deserved more than I was able to give her. My children deserved more than a dad who was only living as a portion of himself. My patients deserved more. And I deserved more in my life as well. I finally admitted to myself, and to my wife, that I am gay. After a lot of discussion that lasted over a year, we decided to get a divorce. To say life has pivoted is the biggest understatement. Since coming out and living authentically life has blossomed into more than I ever imagined. My kids are happier than they’ve ever been. Their mom is happy, remarried, and living the life she always dreamed. My business has only grown as I’ve stepped into my authenticity as an individual. And my life has began to become what I always wanted it to be.
The journey continues and I am grateful for each day and it’s opportunities to grow, learn, and do things better than before!
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
I’ve learned over the years that people don’t like being sold to. By engaging in the community through volunteer opportunities, joining my local chamber of commerce, finding a networking group of other business owners. and working hard to create an environment that fosters inclusion, community, and belonging I have been able to build a pretty steady flow of business.
It took some time though and there is always room for growth. When I first opened my office I went around and introduced myself to other businesses in the area. I planned a grand opening block party a few months after I had opened and began seeing patients and invited everyone I could to attend. When it came time for the grand opening I had over 200 people show up! It was an incredible event and a great party.
I’ve found that people appreciate transparency and not wasting time. With my line of work there are a lot of mixed opinions and stereotypes. I choose to be pretty blunt and to the point if I don’t think I can help someone. I think that has helped me grow my business and build the reputation I have as well. Patients I take on and help end up getting great results because I have taken the time to make sure they are great candidates for the work we do. It’s helped keep a high consistency among the overall patient experience which boosts overall morale in the office. We get to celebrate a lot of wins with those who choose to work with us.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thehorizoncenter.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cw_call/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cameron.call/