We recently connected with Dr. Krysten Jacobs and have shared our conversation below.

Dr. Krysten, appreciate you joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

When my now husband, Dr. Matthew Jacobs, and I met in Chiropractic College in upstate NY, we both had a dream of owning our own chiropractic practice. Once we got engaged and married, that became a shared dream that evolved as we deliberated over exactly what type of practice we were going to establish for ourselves, our future associate doctors, and our future employees. We developed specifics of what type of people we were hoping to have on our team; how we were going to foster the positive, inclusive, open and collaborative environment we knew others yearned for; and what work-life balance was going to look like for us once we started our family.

We practiced as associate doctors for a few years once we graduated to be mentored and learn the business side of owning and operating a chiropractic practice from other established, successful chiropractors. Thankfully, we were both blessed to have worked for great doctors and we truly feel that we were able to learn from some of the top chiropractors in the State of Maryland. The collective experience we gained from these mentors provided us with the confidence to pursue our dream of owning a practice 2 years after we graduated.

We were living and working in Maryland at the time. The process of finding a practice to purchase proved to be difficult: we looked at at least half a dozen offices all over the state before we seriously considered that Maryland may not have exactly what we were looking for, both professionally and personally. We researched various other states to find areas that would have what we were searching for, and we were happy to discover middle Tennessee! We took a long weekend trip in the fall of 2019, met and spoke with five doctors who were looking to sell their offices while also taking in everything the greater Nashville area has to offer. We drove over 600 miles in 3 days. By the end of our whirlwind trip, both of us knew in our hearts that Murfreesboro is where God was guiding us to build our practice and our family. One of the doctors we met with on our trip was transitioning into retirement and his office felt like home as soon as we walked in. Thankfully, after speaking with us several times over the next few months, he felt confident and comfortable to sell us his practice and take care of his beloved patients. We were ecstatic! Shortly thereafter, I found out I was pregnant with our first child – we were definitely counting our blessings at this point!

However, the acquisition of the practice came to a full stop in March 2020 along with the rest of the world. I was one month into my pregnancy, Our original projected close date on the practice was in June 2020, but we did not restart negotiations until June 2020. Dr. Matthew and I were constantly discussing what our new timeline for moving and purchasing the practice looked like. Because of COVID, we hit several roadblocks, the largest being many banks were not providing SBA loans due to the pandemic, Our broker was working overtime attempting to help us secure financing. We were so discouraged that our dream was about to slip through our fingers and this was definitely not part of our plan for when we had our first child. The seller of the practice was also feeling discouraged because his dream of retirement was also being prolonged for who knew how long. Thankfully, we were able to lean into our faith a bit more during this trivial time with truly unknown outcomes: what if we couldn’t purchase this practice? Will we ever find another one that “fit” us so well? Will we have to find new associate positions in Maryland and postpone our relocation to Tennessee until after our baby is born? At this point, Dr. Matthew’s office had been closed for months because of the pandemic and he tried week after week to pick up any temp work he could find, chiropractic related or not, but no one was hiring or looking for temp employees. This was a financial strain we were not anticipating on having as we were diligently saving for this big life transition of becoming practice owners, parents, and moving across the country. Thankfully, Dr. Krysten’s office was operating as usual, so we were thankful that only one of our offices was nonoperational during that unprecedented time.

While we were in limbo, it was definitely a roller coaster of emotions. Some days it was difficult to keep positive and trust that everything was happening the way it was meant to. Even though this was not part of our plan, we had to learn even more now that it was always a part of His plan and He would not lead us astray from something that was truly meant for us. Thankfully, Dr. Matthew and I did not share doubtful days, so when one of us was feeling discouraged, we were able to lean on one another to find comfort and support when we needed it most. Many times our family members and friends had talks with us about deviating from our plan, questioning if this was the right time to continue to pursue purchasing a practice given the state of the pandemic world, and that we had to make more sound decisions since it was going to affect more than just us now – we had a little one on the way expected in early November. Despite the outside noise, Dr. Matthew and I were able to lean into each other and into Him to keep our faith in our path, even on our bad days, because we knew in our hearts that this was meant for us.

There were other hiccups along the way with the acquisition that made us want to abandon the deal because we couldn’t see a way out to the other side, but somehow, all of these obstacles worked themselves out time and time again, much to our surprise. This was also a driving force for us to not lose faith in that we would be able to live our goals in the near future. All the while, we prepared and submitted our applications for our Chiropractic Physician licenses for the State of Tennessee and successfully passed the exam we were required to take in order to be able to practice in the state we hoped to make our new home.

In late August, we were finally able to successfully secure a SBA loan and could take the next steps towards achieving our goal! Our moving date was finally able to be solidified: October 1st, 2020. We gave notice at our current offices, finalized a house rental with the amazing Tennessee realtor we were working with virtually from Maryland, booked our rental truck to move our entire life across the country, found new health insurance, and found an obstetrics office who agreed to take me on as a patient so late in my pregnancy (my due date was November 4th, 2020). Most of our family and friends still thought we were crazy for taking this leap of faith considering the acquisition was not finalized nor the deal closed, but we somehow knew that all of this was going to happen in time.

Once we moved to Tennessee, Dr. Matthew was able to find temp work as a chiropractor at various offices in middle Tennessee, while I was unpacking and hurriedly trying to get the nursery ready for our baby who was due any day. We were balancing all of this while simultaneously fielding phone calls from various insurance agents, our SBA loan officer, our attorney, the selling doctor, and the other people intricately involved in the sale of this practice to get everything finalized as soon as possible.

Our son was born on his due date and we were still in the thick of trying to close the deal – Dr. Matthew had no choice but to take a couple phone calls while I was laboring in the hospital because of how time-sensitive everything was. Thankfully, he was gracious enough to let everyone else know I was preoccupied at the moment giving birth to our child. Once we were home from the hospital, we were attempting to balance our new life as parents, I was trying to take care of my mangled body as best as I could, all while continuing to field phone calls and sign time-sensitive documents to ensure the acquisition happened as soon as possible. Thankfully, my parents were finally able to travel down to the States from Canada, where I am originally from. The two of them being here was invaluable: they cleaned, cooked, helped take care of our newborn son, and tried their best to reason with me to rest and recuperate since they knew from experience that I needed it. It was the first time I had seen my parents since Christmas 2019 because of COVID. When I decided to live in America, the American-Canadian border was never something we ever imagined would be an issue, but then again, no one saw COVID coming.

November 23rd, 2020 was the second best day of our lives that year: we were officially practice owners! It was a bittersweet moment because unfortunately, my parents had to take an emergency flight home early the next morning. My father had a serious medical event, and since he was an active cancer patient, he had to receive his medical treatment back home in Canada. All of a sudden Dr. Matthew and I felt the emptiness my helpful parents left with two babies to take care of without any support system: our newborn son, Luke, and our new practice, all the while being worried about my father’s health and praying that he would receive timely medical care once he was back in Canada. Thankfully, he did, but because of pandemic restrictions, that was the last time we saw my father in person before he passed away at Easter of 2022.

Upon reflection, my father never tried to discourage us from continuing to chase our dreams, even once the pandemic hit in early 2020. I would call him often and discuss what was happening (or rather, not happening) with the practice acquisition and he always was able to shift my mindset back into the positive and to keep my faith in what was meant to be.

Once we officially acquired the practice, there were other decisions and risks we had to take that were unforeseen, but we continued along our same path of prayer and leaning on those we knew we could rely on, outside of ourselves.

We just celebrated our 2nd anniversary of being in business as Broadway Chiropractic & Wellness on November 23rd, 2022! The trivial 2020 (and parts of 2021) we experienced were all worth it because we are living our dreams, right here in Murfreesboro, Tennessee: we have established a growing, thriving practice with team members who love coming to help our patients everyday, Luke is growing and developing well as a now 2 year old, we are expecting our second child in March 2023, we have established ourselves as professional leaders within our community, and we wake up everyday and choose happiness. There are still obstacles that we face on a daily basis both personally and professionally, but after all the deterrents we have faced, we know that these hardships are meant for us to grow and learn from, and we can overcome them together and with God’s grace.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

We believe everyone should be able to enjoy life without constant aches and pains. Life is a contact sport: everyone gets bumps and scrapes, but with the proper functional and neurological support, the body will heal itself. We believe Chiropractic helps people live their most functional and healthy life.

We believe the community deserves better options than:
– Being told to take pain medication for the rest of their life
– Their only option is to be cut open, bolted, plated or screwed back together
– Being told that they “just have to live with the pain”

We believe in raising the standard of healthcare for everyone by providing quality and transparency so you can understand and be empowered to live the life full of health and happiness that you deserve.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Our entire team as a whole has helped establish us within Murfreesboro as one of the top Chiropractic offices. Our Chiropractic Physicians are personable and relatable. We are always striving to be leaders through action. For instance, I was asked to be the city ambassador for the Murfreesboro chapter of a women’s networking group, TN Women Connect, and for professional and personal service needs, we are constantly providing business to other local business owners to support our Murfreesboro community.

Our core values are what truly set us apart:

INTEGRITY: We never cut corners with patient care. We always put our patients first and we take great pride in getting results for our patients. We treat them like we would our own family. As a result, word-of-mouth referrals are high for our practice, which is rare for a practice that is as young as ours. We help people get where they need to go for proper healthcare, chiropractic or not. We do our best to do the best for other people.

PROFESSIONALISM: We respect all of our patients and employees and do not show favoritism. We do not abuse our power as Chiropractic Physicians and leaders within the Murfreesboro community, and our licensed Chiropractic Therapy Assistants also do not abuse their power as leaders in our practice.

EMPOWERING: We believe everyone has the right to completely understand what is going on with their health and what the root cause of their condition may be. We believe education is powerful and we strive to educate each and every patient so they can ultimately make the best decision for their health.

CARING: We create a fun, exciting, warm environment where our patients feel loved and comforted.

TRUSTWORTHY: We do not give patients care that is not needed nor do we skim on care that is required to help them get their life back. We create a safe space for all of our patients to feel comfortable and, as a result, our patients trust us to help them. Again, we have a high number of patients referring their family and friends to our practice, which shows that they trust us to do the right thing with the health their loved ones.

COMMUNICATION: We love that we are a bilingual office. Being able to serve both the English and Spanish communities is truly a blessing. We always take the time to help all of our patients understand the “why” of their care. We are also happy to be able to provide a much-needed service to the Spanish community especially, because they do not have regular access to someone within healthcare to explain all of their options and to hold their hand through sometimes difficult decisions, all in their native language.

ALWAYS DO THE RIGHT THING: We never take a cookie-cutter approach, so no patient gets the exact same treatment, and each treatment is catered to the specifics of their personal condition and injury. We pride ourselves on delivering treatment that is deliberate and precise to maximize our patients’ results with care.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

This is a fun question! I know many people out there can’t ever imagine working with their spouse, let alone own a business with them. I definitely used to be one of those people, until I met Dr. Matthew.

Dr. Matthew is from rural Maryland and I am from Ottawa, Canada. The combination of small and large life events that we each endured to bring the both of us to New York Chiropractic College (now known as Northeast College of Health Sciences) at the same time to meet, we always attribute to Him and His plan for us, because otherwise, we have no idea how we would have met!

Our first encounter was during an orientation the college had in the fall of 2014. We were both in the same tour group and we were an average of 2-3 years older than most of the other prospective students. I attended with my mom and Dr. Matthew attended with his father, and our parents ended up chatting during the orientation, so Dr. Matthew and I reluctantly said our polite introductions and hellos, but not much more. I had the mentality of finishing my doctorate as quickly as possible so I could move back home to Canada and start my career. Dr. Matthew had a similar mentality, as we both already had promising positions lined up with chiropractic offices for when we graduated in a few years.

When we both showed up for the first day of classes a couple of months later, we did not cross paths until a social event was had for the new students. Dr. Matthew was very chatty compared to the man I had met at orientation and I enjoyed his company. I knew I had to make some friends while I was at school to make it more worthwhile, so I thought Dr. Matthew was a good first one to make. However, Dr. Matthew could sense he was being put into the “friend zone” and he did not want to be lumped there with everyone else at the school. Two weeks after arriving for the start of classes, Dr. Matthew decided to tell me that he liked me, to which I replied that yes, I liked him too and enjoyed our friendship so far. Dr. Matthew did not like that response and clarified that he was interested in me as more than friends, to which I brushed off telling him that we don’t really know each other that well yet and his feelings are premature… but, again, Dr. Matthew did not like what I was saying, so to stop me on my tangent, he silenced me with a kiss. I can still remember the feeling that first kiss gave me, and Dr. Matthew went from being my friend to being someone I wanted to date. Our relationship blossomed during our time at Chiropractic College, and after 2 years, we got engaged and were married 1.5 years after that.Dr. Matthew was so unlike any one I had ever met or dated before and we fell into an easy partnership early on in our relationship. Seeing how we were true teammates in love, school, and life made it easy for us to make our dreams the happy reality we are building here in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.broadwaychiropractic.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/broadway.chiropractic.wellness/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/murfreesborochiropractor
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bcw615/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bcw.615
• Other: https://www.holistictn.com/directory#!biz/id/634ec6226a22e220f244ab96 https://www.615local.co/tennessee/murfreesboro/health-wellness/broadway-chiropractic-wellness https://www.tiktok.com/@broadwaychiropractic

Image Credits
Personal photo by Lifestyle by LeBlanc Additional photos by Shaylin Media