We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jesse Riley. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jesse below.

Hi Jesse, thanks for joining us today. Can you share an anecdote or story from your schooling/training that you feel illustrates what the overall experience was like?

My school and training experience started with an undergraduate degree going the pre-med route. As I was going through my classes, I felt compelled that I wanted to do something that moved a lot and the people that I worked with moved a lot too. Traditional medicine wasn’t exciting me as much but I was at a crossroads. I ended up going into a Masters of Sports Rehab and Exercise Science for grad school where I decided that I would decide between Chiropractic and Physical Therapy.

Why I decided to go the route of Chiropractic was because, at the time, they were a portal of entry where you didn’t need a slip from a Doctor to see this person. I had shadowed PTs and Chiros as I was in my Master’s program and I felt Chiros, at the time, had a bit more autonomy.

While in grad school for Chiropractic, however, I noticed that I felt the philosophy didn’t align (pun intended) with my science and logic background. This created a lot of doubt about “am I making the right decision?!”. I inevitably paved my own way to become the movement therapist I am today.

Jesse, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

The story about myself is that I grew up in a very small rural town in southern Illinois called Olney (home of the white squirrels…seriously look it up). There wasn’t a lot to do there one might imagine so by proxy I came from a very athletic background playing sports all year, always outside getting into something and just loving the feeling of being physically tired. As I got older, sports became less of a goal for life after school and more of a hobby and task. That translated to learning more about running and lifting which I feel has continued to carry on in personal sense and in my work.

What sets me apart is I have multiple directions I pull from to work with one person. Most people who leave my clinic question “Are you sure you’re a chiropractor? You’re kinda like a (insert what stood out to them)”. I approach each person with a bio-psycho-social approach. This means we may do a lot of movement assessments to see how they move and how biomechanics can explain how their pain came about or even how to enhance performance. This would encompass the bio portion. I am a very intuitive and empathetic individual as well having a minor in psychology as well. The psycho portion of the BPS model approaches the persons mindset about their pain or performance where we may talk at length just about that before we even move. The social aspect is more in relation to their surroundings and how that plays into their pain so we may tackle really tough topics on relationships as well. At the end of the day it all matters in their recovery or meeting their goal.

I feel I often get a lot of stories of where clients felt rushed, pushed out the door, treated like a number, or talked down to from other practitioners and I just want them to know that’s not what you get at Modern Movement Clinic. Our goals are yours. We assess the aspects necessary to get a clear picture to help explain what we think is going on and establish a plan to get towards it. Make no mistake that when you come here, you’re coming to work. If you think this is a place where you walk in, “get cracked”, get put on a table, and then you’re out the door to come back multiple times in a month and so on…you’re in the wrong place because this is not that place. Any therapy clinic can do soft tissue massage and machines here and there but are they taking an approach that works with you or putting you into a box.

What I’m most proud of is that I’ve had my own business open for a year but practicing for many years under other doctors. You get told a lot of things in terms of how you should be doing things. I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt, this place I have 100% done it my way and my clients enjoy the experience and have been amazing in supporting me as much as I support them.

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

My reputation was built on a lot of things. Being as humble as I can, I’ve worked really hard. Even when I was in grad school studying, I was studying other things that I found more applicable outside of class. I would spend weekends at seminars, renting DVDs at the library to learn from, reading other textbooks and blogs, and surrounding myself around people that were moving the needle. This allowed me to have a rare opportunity for me to leave school and have an amazing internship with one of the leaders in our profession.

Being curious and someone who doesn’t like losing, this mentality has carried with me outside of school and into a business where I have established great relationships with coaches, trainers, and Doctors here locally who respect my vision and how I operate with their clients.

Above all that, give a damn. If I can see this the person in front of me gives a damn about something as loving and fantastic as throwing a ball with their kid, run that race they’ve been trying to get back to, or even something like gardening…I’ll do what it takes to help facilitate that.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My journey hasn’t been easy. I think anyone who is in the service field and relies on people finding you, trusting and liking you, and then paying for your expertise, is one of the hardest things you’ll ever do. Putting that into opening and keeping a business afloat during a tumultuous time like COVID certainly didn’t make it any easier.

Additionally, working for past clinics where you try to establish your own identity and morals can often be trying as well. This is part of the reason I opened this clinic in the first place and how liberating it was to do so. The resilience came from working hard for the past few years at other clinics, learning and crafting my method, and the opportunity to put it into practice.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://modernmovementclinic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/docjesseriley/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/docjesseriley
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesse-riley-96144464/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD_mRWtkAYPiH-gMr_tsm-g

Image Credits
Jon Rose