We recently connected with Michele Renee and have shared our conversation below.

Michele, appreciate you joining us today. We’re complete cheeseballs and so we love asking folks to share the most heartwarming moment from their career – do you have a touching moment you can share with us?

I once had a patient come to my office as a family referral. He had severe back pain for which he had been hospitalized previously. This pain had been present for over 10 years and was sometimes so bad he was unable to sleep, as was the case at the time of his visit. His wife had given him a choice: see me or go to the ER. While he didn’t know if I could help, he knew the ER had little to offer beyond drugs.

This man was in law enforcement. He was a big bear of a guy: tall, stoic, imposing, no nonsense. He had never been to a doctor like me and was clear that he thought chiropractors were quacks.

I began by describing my practice and tools: gentle chiropractic, acupuncture, and massage. His response was “I’m not going to let you crack my back. Acupuncture is voodoo. I had a massage once and hurt worse for two weeks.”

Undeterred, took a full history and did a full examination. I then brought out my skeletal model to show him what I thought was happening. I showed him my adjusting device, an Activator, and demonstrated how gentle I would set it to treat him. I proposed ten minutes of medical cold laser therapy, five minutes of very gentle myofascial release, and instrument-assisted adjustment of his low back as indicated by my exam findings.

He agreed, with the understanding that we would stop the treatment at any time if he was uncomfortable with anything I did.

Following his treatment, he gingerly got up from the table. I asked him how he felt. Silence. He assumed a golf stance (a bit surprising to me, as he had not mentioned golf). I asked again if he felt better, worse, or the same. Silence. He walked across the room and back. Leaned forward. Twisted. Then he looked at me, walked across the room to me, and embraced me in a huge bear hug, saying “this is the first time in ten years my back has not hurt. I don’t know how to thank you.”

He then explained that he hadn’t been golfing in years and honestly thought he never would again. I cautioned him to be gentle with his body for the next day or two. It is not uncommon for people who have been in pain for a long time to get so excited about feeling better that they go a little overboard with activities. He agreed and left my office dumbfounded at the relief he was experiencing.

He returned as planned three days later, generally still feeling much better but beginning to stiffen up. We repeated the treatment and he felt even better than the first time.

We continued care for some time on a fairly regular monthly basis and the pain never returned. We recalled that first visit from time to time and laughed together about how resistant he was to care. He later had neck pain and came to see my about it, saying with a chuckle “do whatever you want, Doc. You can even do that voodoo to me if you want to.”

Not only was this one of the most heartwarming moments of my career. It was also a testament to the body’s ability to heal given the right ingredients and a gentle touch, even for a big bear of a man. And it was a great example of when not to give up, even when the person I’m caring for says they don’t want what I offer. If I know I’m not going to hurt them, then I’m going to explain, give options, and then let them choose again.

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.

I became a massage therapist in 1998 as a means to be self-employed and to help people feel better in their bodies. Little did I know how intoxicating the healing arts would be. After a year in practice, my books were full and I was hooked. I loved solving the puzzles of the body, unlocking healing potential, and partnering with my clients to help them decipher what their bodies were saying.

In a few years, I was ready for a bigger scope of practice. I found functional medicine, a root cause approach to healing that seeks to find the underlying cause of symptoms before they evolve into a disease that requires medical management. To gain the scope of practice I wanted, I chose to go to chiropractic school. This option allowed me to continue touching my patients, providing my hands the opportunity to continue learning and healing through touch. Once I finished chiropractic school, I stayed at my alma mater as a massage supervisor, then instructor, then program chair, and now director of integrative care. I completed two more master’s degrees: one in acupuncture and one in applied nutrition. Well, technically I am one class shy of nutrition degree, because I developed long covid in 2020 as a was completing my capstone.

Since then I have been in what I am calling my Master Class in Integrative Care. Long COVID has been disabling, completely at first, and now partially. I learned I had a pre-existing Lyme infection that was activated by COVID. I have also been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. For several months I could barely get out of bed. I slept for 16 hours a day and was bed bound the rest of the time. I had no appetite. I was dizzy when I did rise. I couldn’t tolerate cold or heat. My digestion didn’t work. Everything I ate made me sick. My whole body hurt: muscles, joints, nerves. I couldn’t concentrate on anything. My speech was slurred and slow. I felt like I was drunk, and like gravity was turned to 11.

My own biases about medicine were tested. My life’s work is integrative healthcare. I prefer natural medicine whenever possible. A clean diet, herbal medicine, acupuncture, manual therapies. But here I was, unable to function, and no one really knew what to do with me. I tried everything I knew, and finally, I resorted to “the big guns.” I went from being on no medications to taking a veritable pharmacy of ACE 2 inhibitors, immune suppressing drugs, pain meds, beta blockers, and antibiotics. And slowly, I got better, Of course, I continued seeing my acupuncturist, chiropractor, massage therapist, shaman, etc. Now, I can function some of the time. I still require a tremendous amount of rest. I still need to pace carefully every day. I struggle with post-exertional malaise on a regular basis. But I am better than I was, and WOW have I ever learned about healing.

I have curated a beautiful healing company that is for people like me. At Stockheart Whole Health, we welcome the complicated cases. We provide open-minded, big-hearted care for folks who have tried everything or don’t know what to try. We help them find a path forward that may include our multidisciplinary care, but will likely also involve others. We help to guide, encourage, and support people as they heal. We do this from a place of deep knowing and never judging, understanding that no two people are the same, and no two pathways to healing are either. That said, we can help to find a path forward and will walk beside people as they travel it.

The most important thing I have learned in my master class (that I am still taking ;)) is that less is more. Less pressure. Less doing. Less busy-ness. Taking care of ourselves is the most important thing we will ever do. I am learning by living this and teaching by walking this talk.

There will be a book…someday. When I have more energy.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

My reputation was build by referring to other providers, including those in my own profession. This demonstrated my commitment to getting clients into the right hands and trusting that more of the right clients would come to me. What I found was that my clients returned to me after seeking the referral I made because they trusted me to do the right thing. They referred their friends and family because they knew that if I wasn’t the right person to care for them, I would find the therapist that was.

This also built a referral network around me to send clients my way. Other providers knew my work based on the results I got with my clients, and they trusted me to always do the right thing by them. I helped build the practices of others and the trust of our shared patients.

Ultimately, I left my ego out of the healing process and brought a clear commitment to healing.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

I find offering bundles, prepays, and memberships to be an excellent strategy for growing clientele. This builds a commitment to ongoing care on the part of the client, as well as on the part of our clinic. We are committed to building wellness over time, and along the way, building strong therapeutic alliances with our patients.

There is never any pressure in these offerings. Just an opportunity to commit to care and make the money piece a little bit easier. As a purely cash practice, this has been key to learning to discuss money and make it easier for our patients to choose us every time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.stockheart.com
• Instagram: @dr.stockheart
• Facebook: @stockheartmpls
• Linkedin: @stockheart