Loading summary
Transcript189 lines
- [00:02]
A
What happens when you mix medical excellence with a fearless faith and a holistic approach? You get the care and attention of your small town family doctor, but with the most cutting edge practices. My guests today are Dale and Anita, founders of the Danita Clinic. And what they've built is more than just a healthcare facility. It's a mission being nudged by God to leave behind safe, secure career. They are serving their city that desperately needs solutions to medical problems where traditional medicine falls short. Well, their story is full of strategy, courage and a whole lot of grit. This is a conversation about listening to your calling and then backing it up with bold action. Let's get to it. Hello and welcome back to another episode of Locally Owned. Today I'm talking to Dale and Anita Swiss and they are owners of the Danita Clinic. They have a practice that is helping people with, well, with all different kinds of things and that's what we're going to get into. Dale, Anita, welcome to the show.
- [01:04]
B
Thank you.
- [01:05]
C
Thank you, Dave.
- [01:06]
A
Yeah, so glad to have you guys on here. So why don't you give people a brief overview of basically what the Danita Clinic is all about.
- [01:17]
B
Well, we are a family owned business that actually got started because of regenerative therapy. Dale and I were recipients of regenerative therapy and it helped so much that we helped other people and they, they wanted to get into it. So that's.
- [01:37]
A
I want to, I want to interrupt you for a second. Just, just for the listeners, explain what regenerative therapy is.
- [01:46]
B
So we do PRP and regenerative therapy. So regenerative therapy is a natural way for regrowth and for reversing some damage in joints and with joints and other health problems to avoid surgeries. And we do that with PRP as well. PRP is your body's natural steroid. PRP is derived from spinning down your blood and it gives you the platelet rich plasma which contains growth factors and anti inflammatory properties. So that coupled with the natural biologics, it actually regrows tissue and reverses the damage in the joint. So you can avoid surgery and no downtime.
- [02:44]
A
Yeah.
- [02:45]
C
Other indications possible as well. For example, Anita could show now where she actually has pictures. She was diagnosed with moderate COPD and emphysema from years of smoking. And she can pretty much show now she doesn't have it.
- [03:03]
B
Yeah, my lungs are clear.
- [03:04]
A
Oh, wow. Wow. And that's because you were the recipient of regenerative therapy.
- [03:10]
C
Anita has a few vials in her.
- [03:14]
A
Yeah. I think people are a little more familiar with PRP because if you watch sports and all. There's athletes that they mention receiving that treatment for anything from. Well, I've heard of it where it wasn't explicitly said for tendonitis. It was said for elbow issues that are like tendinitis. But what would someone get PRP for?
- [03:39]
B
So basically any pain in a joint. So if you have arthritis, you're experiencing anything that you would get corticosteroids for, regular steroid shots, you would do PRP instead. Because regular steroids actually are catabolic to a joint of any type in the back or knees, anywhere that you put that. You're really only supposed to get three of those in a. In any one area in a lifetime. It's that destructive. It destroys connective tissue, it destroys bone, it destroys all the. All that you're trying to save. Right. But when you have pain in that area, it does help with the pain. Well, so does prp. I have seen some that had prp. They've only, you know, they only had it once and it lasted a long time. Some of them, it didn't last quite as long. But it's not doing anything bad. If you get more than one, you can get them. You could get them once a month if you needed them. Not that you would. But as opposed to getting a steroid shot, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't, but they're. They're going to break down your joint either way.
- [04:59]
C
So the PRP basically helps a joint, like you would use a steroid without having the catabolic effect. But the regenerative therapy is something that can actually help you reverse and help the breakdown or the degeneration and make it better.
- [05:18]
A
Okay, so prp, you're using your own blood, your own plasma. Right. Her platelets, I think you said you spin that down. So instead of introducing something foreign to your body, you're introducing something that's already there to solve the problem.
- [05:36]
C
Exactly.
- [05:38]
A
Yeah. So why would somebody not want to do that instead of. And just get a shot, a steroid shot instead?
- [05:48]
B
Insurance covers a steroid shot. Ah. And in most cases, insurance will cover in some places, I don't know, all. If they're in surgery, while they're in surgery, they can put PRP in that
- [06:04]
C
area
- [06:06]
B
and it be covered. But generally speaking, most places charge about. Most ortho offices charge about $1,000 for a PRP injection.
- [06:19]
A
Okay. Okay. So there's the cost because. And it's not covered by insurance, so. Right, gotcha, Gotcha. Okay, let's go back a little bit to the beginning of you. So you received regenerative treatment which has helped you tremendously list the things that it's overcome for you.
- [06:43]
B
The list is long. I'm a walking billboard. So originally I got it for my back and for the COPD and it helped other things in that, in just that treatment. So along with my back getting at least 70% better within six months to a year, I had extensive damage there. So we're not talking just back backache, arthritis, slip disc, things like that. I had three protruding discs. I had, I had broken my back in three different places and a lot of, well as teens and twenties and as well as a lot of damage in the hip areas and in that connective in that tissue area. So there was a lot. I was in pain every day, like at least a six all the time, a five to a six all the time. And when I was, I'm a nurse so I was working in the hospital and was on my feet for 12 hours. So you can imagine by the time I got off I was in 8 to 9 range and really did not take pain medication. So within a year my back was at least 70% better. The what I was talking about like in, in the beginning by the six month mark was probably 50% better. So it does take time. But it also fixed a busted tendon. I busted a tendon in my finger and it literally was sat down like this all the time and I couldn't grab anything with that, with that finger. Within three months of getting regenerative therapy, my finger was normal again.
- [08:52]
C
That was unexpected, unplanned, very unexpected.
- [08:55]
B
I have a break in my foot from getting bit by a dog and it went through my second metatarsal and they had to put a rod in and then they a pin in and then they took that pin out. Well, it should have been back together. It was a non union. So I'm not exactly sure how long after, after the surgery that it happened that I took another X ray. I want to. It was months and months later, but it was not together. It literally had a separation you could see through. And the doctor just said it'll never, it'll never go back together. It's back together. Wow. It made it go back together.
- [09:39]
C
And this is years actually years later.
- [09:41]
B
Yeah, I have the proof. Like I have the X rays that shows it as a non union and then the X rays that shows it as back together. Several other things you could. As I was healing, I would feel different little places that would burn and generally speaking that would be something that I would burn for like a couple of days and then it would start feeling better. Like it would be better than it was before.
- [10:14]
C
So yeah, there's some people experience what they call a healing crisis, which is, I mean it's not a crisis like medical intervention kind of thing, but it's where people are feeling more pain or they will, you know, they will feel, I don't know what to call it, but like more pain or it's painful, more painful than it was and then it gets better. And some people will have that effect, some people won't, but it just, it's the main thing about this is that it is a natural thing. You know, it's a, it's something that your body has to utilize and put to use. And you know, this takes time. So it takes a while to be able to get through this. And it doesn't happen overnight. It's not going to be something that is, you know, two weeks, a month. I had an injection in my shoulder for. I was diagnosed with a partially torn radiator cuff. I just didn't do anything about it at the time. The doctor said he didn't recommend doing something about it at the time. It sort of started getting worse a few years later. It was getting to the point that I couldn't really reach up into the cabinet to pick something up. And I never felt anything different. Basically for me it was just after a few months I got injected, basically fourth of July weekend and probably about two weeks before Thanksgiving is when I noticed, without thinking about it, because your body forgets about pain. And I reached up and grabbed something and I went, wow, it didn't hurt. I will say that I went from not being able to do something to being able to do it maybe with a tinge of pain. It's not necessarily 100%, but I'm probably better than 90% and without surgery. And so I think with those kinds of results, I would rather not be cut on. I would rather not have to walk around for 12 weeks in a sling unable to use my arm and whatever. Plus time, you know, for some people that's time off work as well.
- [12:22]
B
You can't work and they're still working 18 months. Up to 18 months later, they're still regenerating tissues.
- [12:32]
C
We have heard that the type of people that really get this are the type of people, they're self employed, ranchers, farmers, you know, people who are, they're self employed, they're running their own business basically and they can't afford to be down, they can't afford to Take surgery. They can't afford to sit and wait and heal. And they just write the check to get it done. And they get it because they just can't afford downtime. And I think that's one of the biggest issues is that, you know, we had. We were. The very first time we were injected was in our kitchen sitting on a bar stool. And it was just very easy to do. It's something very, you know, it's just. It's really nothing more than an injection. And then you go about your day and that's about it.
- [13:24]
A
So, you know, for the listeners there, you know, if the PRP is not covered, I would imagine that why most people might not have heard of this is because it's not covered by insurance corrections of it. So now I'm. I'm familiar with. With it because, you know, I've read about it, I've talked to you guys about. And I. And I actually talked to you about somebody else that I met. You know, he was my Uber driver and he told me his age. I can't remember exactly, but it was somewhere in the seventies. Real fit guy. He got out through, you know, threw my luggage in the car, had no problem doing anything. But come to find out, as we're talking, going to the hotel, he. And I didn't prompt the conversation. He just brought it up and told me he had had this regenerative therapy, and although he had referred to it something else because he got it done in another country, but it was. This guy was in a wheelchair and he couldn't walk, and traditional medicine wasn't doing anything for him. So you're exactly right. When people are at that point where, you know, when you. When I met this guy, he's fit, he's, you know, he's in, you know, he's intelligent, he's capable of doing a lot of things. He had a lot of life in him, and he knew that. And so he knew he didn't belong in a wheelchair. And if traditional medicine wasn't getting the job done he was looking for, he was. He was very open to something that's alternative. And, and so I'm just thinking, you know, for the listener to hear, regenerative therapy, there's no surgery. There's probably a question on their mind of, well, then what is it? What is regenerative therapy? I know, I know it's difficult to explain because you have to be cautious about how you explain it, but it's
- [15:29]
C
the words we use.
- [15:29]
B
You do. So basically it is we. We call it biologics and the reason we say natural biologics is because it comes from, it comes from tissue, it can come from yours or others. You do have to be careful because of, because it is regulated by the fda, but it is not FDA approved. Right, that makes sense.
- [16:07]
A
Yeah. Yeah, it doesn't, but I. It makes sense what you're saying.
- [16:12]
C
I. I will say, I will say that perhaps a very good summary, sort of source to check out quickly and easily on YouTube is about a nine minute video of a Joe Rogan podcast with Mel Gibson talking about his father. His father was basically on his deathbed and at the time Mel Gibson wasn't available here in the United States to actually get it done. And so he had to fly his father down to Panama to do it. And what is interesting is to hear him describe, you know, what happened with his father after doing this over time, where he went from being on his deathbed to, I want to say he.
- [16:57]
B
10 or 12 more years.
- [16:58]
C
Yeah, it was something on that order. 10 or 12 more years. So we're talking over 100 years old.
- [17:03]
A
Yeah. And I've watched that video and it's not just another 10 or 12 years. It's 10 or 12 years of an incredible quality of life with a quality that's.
- [17:15]
C
Yes. And that's what I was getting at is the quality of life that he was able to experience going from his deathbed. No quality of life, probably. You hate to look at it this way. It's just probably better off dead where he would feel better. Right. Because he has no quality of life. And living like that is just. You're just bedridden. And he went from being like that to having. Yeah. A better quality of life for that many years longer in over 100 years old. And it's just a very good summary. Nine minutes to listen to that is a decent explanation.
- [17:50]
A
Yeah, I'll include that in the show notes for the listeners to just be able to click on that and check that out because yes, I watch that. It is really powerful. So having the results in your own life for both of y' all and becoming familiar with it, you know, that's still quite a leap to say, hey, I had this done, it works. I'm going to open up a clinic to offer this to people, you know.
- [18:24]
B
Well, at first it wasn't, that was not the first thoughts of it. Like two, two months, two or three months in I, again, my results were amazing. And we had actually people I worked with and family who watched me get better and they wanted us to do A. Another presentation. So we literally called the guy that did ours, that. The one that we went to and said, hey, would you do another one here? He's like, sure. So once that group got theirs, I had another group wanting because they had such success, their friends and family wanting a group together. And I was like, wait a minute. Why are we giving him all of this?
- [19:14]
A
Right?
- [19:14]
B
Why are we not doing this? My daughter is an np. I'm a nurse. So me and Dale were just kind of like, why not? Why?
- [19:26]
C
You know, I'll expand on it a little bit. I mentioned a moment ago how we had this done sitting in our kitchen. Basically, we went and paid to get regenerative therapy done on ourselves. As I mentioned, sitting in our kitchen, you know, quite easy, and got good results. People saw what Anita got. Well, when we did that, they were not capable of doing intravenous, to put it in intravenously. And we wanted her COPD and emphysema issues taken care of. Anita was having difficulty, even with moderate. She was having some difficulty breathing. You know, any exertion made it difficult for her to recover. And so in order to get that, we had to fly somewhere else to get it done, to get the iv. Now, it's not a big deal, but somebody has to know how to do it and be able to do it, and that's where we went. And so at that time here in South Carolina, that was not available. Anita got that done. And, yeah, we had these other. Other people wanting, seeing the results that Anita got. Other people were very interested, and that's how we got other people to start doing it. Well, the clinic that did her iv, we kind of grew a relationship, and we're talking with them about, hey, how could we do this in South Carolina? We followed their model, and so we followed exactly the model that they were doing. We followed the, you know, tried to follow the protocols the way they do them. And because their results were some of the best results, that was something that was recognized.
- [21:14]
A
You know, one of the smartest things that Dale and Anita did, they didn't wait for the stars to align. They saw the need, trusted their vision, and started where they were. That's a strategic move, because if you wait for the right time, you might be waiting forever. Opening this clinic wasn't just a career pivot. It was a calling. They didn't just believe in it. They moved on it. If you're wrestling with whether to take action on something, you feel called to let this be your sign. Sometimes faith is less about having the whole plan and more about trusting your next step.
- [21:47]
C
And so we joined in with them basically. And that's how it started with getting the training and getting our np, my stepdaughter, her daughter trained to be able to do it and the how tos. And of course we still maintain some certain relationships, so we still have the ability to consult with people when necessary. If there's something that we're not sure about, we have the ability to get that kind of help. But it all stemmed from that. It was a pretty simple conversation in Ohio, in a clinic, and just asking, hey, you know, what if? And the what if? Turned into why not?
- [22:27]
A
Yeah. Wow. Wow. So you have this experience where this thing is just life changing for you and you travel somewhere else to get done what couldn't be done. Like, how did that seed, did it hit you both at the same time? Was this a conversation you had on the way back from Ohio or is this.
- [22:52]
C
Yeah, well, you know what, I'll say it this way. So this was like September and you know, she, she got her IV and stuff and, and we had started kind of the conversation and you know, it, it. The conver. It was a start of a conversation. It was then the next step were people and other people, friends of hers that saw her success, wanted it for themselves, literally. She created a room of about 10 or 12 people. And out of that 10 or 12, I think somewhere around eight or nine of them, I'm not sure exactly, I don't recall, but a better portion of the room was getting it done also. And after that there was yet another group saying, hey, we want to do this too. And that's kind of when we went, you know what I mean? This is something we'd like to do. She was very interested in it. She was super excited, of course, because of her results and what she saw. And nobody's ever. Most people haven't heard of it. They're unaware of it.
- [23:57]
A
Right.
- [23:58]
C
And you know, you do have to be careful, you know, you, you, how you do this and where you get this done. It, it's. It. You should do your research. You should know where you're going and what you're doing. And this is new and so, and
- [24:15]
B
where the biologics come from, that's important. Quality of the biologics is very important. And so. And we educate people basically. That's. That's probably one of the biggest things that we do is educate people. We educate them on when we're speaking on regenerative, we educate them on what to look for as far as for research. I send people for research. We don't hard sell anybody. We give them the information, tell them where to go, find it, to look for more and let them make the decision. But at the end of the day, I feel like educating them is the best thing. And we, in everything that we do, we use the highest quality. We make sure, we make sure that the lab that we use is the best lab out there. I think that's the most important.
- [25:18]
A
Right? Yeah, yeah. I mean, especially something like this, you know, to, to go through it and, you know, if it's going to take a little while to work, you don't want to have gone through that, wait six months and go, well, gee, nothing's really happening here, you know?
- [25:35]
C
Right.
- [25:35]
A
So. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So, you know, so you, you guys decide, okay, let's do this. Right? I mean, and so tell me about what it was like to go, okay, you know, like, where did you start? Like you said, this happened in your kitchen. You can't open a clinic in your kitchen. Right. So, so, so, so tell me, like the, the thoughts that had to come together and everything that you had to start figuring out in order to do this.
- [26:09]
B
It was a lot. We didn't know where we were going to practice. We didn't, I mean, we, we had no clue how to do this. No clue how to run a business, a clinic, you know, a health care business. We had no clue where we were gonna, where we were gonna be. I will tell you, I prayed really hard over this because there's a lot of. And just so happened, my best friend runs, ran a foot care clinic and she had what is, is a house basically that was turned into a business and she had a room for rent.
- [26:54]
C
So a 10 by 10 room.
- [26:56]
B
Yeah, a 10 by 10 room. And that's where we started for all the things that we do.
- [27:00]
A
Wow.
- [27:00]
B
So we have like five services and we had one room with one chair. I mean, that's how we started. And probably the first year was so hard because, you know, advertising, marketing, not knowing how to go about all of those things, really leaning on other business owners. You know, my best friend, for instance, she has, she had a successful business, so reaching out to her, I think it's real important to reach out to all the, all of your resources that you could possibly have because you're going to get tidbits from all of them. And we have went from that room and now three rooms is just about. Not enough for us.
- [27:56]
C
So yeah, we went from renting the room to taking over the entire House to buying the house. So now we own it.
- [28:05]
B
Yeah.
- [28:05]
C
And we really needed the location because of where the location is and the simple fact that I don't know where we could possibly go if we had to leave, you know, so plan B was not real good. And the cost of real estate and to rent where we are is, is, it's. It's very expensive. And so we got a good deal, I think, and we were able to buy the house and that secured our position. And that's what I wanted. I was calling it survival. It wasn't really survival. It was just the simple fact that for us to be able to continue to stay where we are, to not have problems or issues later where we had to get out and leave, you know, go somewhere else, re establish, it's really hard to do all that and you know, expensive. The, the house is kind of becoming known and you know, people recognize it. And so, you know, it was a good move. But the, you know, we, I think we asked a lot of questions. We still didn't ask the right questions, having never done this before. You don't know what you don't know.
- [29:18]
A
Right.
- [29:18]
C
And that's the hardest thing about starting a business, I think, in general, even when you think you know what you're doing, knowing how to run a business is not the same thing as knowing what you're doing on a technical level. And so a lot of questions. We went through a lot of growing pains. Marketing, trying to figure out our marketing. We did some things that did not work so well for us. You know, certain mailers and, you know, things like that. You know, we did some stuff where you advertise in golf courses and that, that didn't work. We did a couple of things.
- [30:00]
B
We went through a lot. We went through a lot of different things.
- [30:03]
C
We went through some iterations and finally we landed on a. A company, a large company that could handle the type of marketing we actually needed. We didn't realize that at the time how much we needed them, but they were able to start us out more slowly and slowly meaning less.
- [30:24]
B
On a very little budget, on a
- [30:26]
C
small budget, very little that we could grow. And you know, so we've grown now, but they are skilled in marketing on social media, on the Internet, search other places, doing other things. They got us pretty well established. That is all very, very crucial for people to get to know you. And basically people have to know you before they need you. Now word of mouth and yeah, word of mouth is really starting to kick in now. It's hard to really calculate exactly, you know, how much word of mouth. We figure probably around 30 to 35% word of mouth right now. I think we have, I would say, kind of a secret weapon. My np, Tori, is Victoria is really good. People really like Victoria. They like what she brings and how she helps them. She listens. She is one of the secrets of the business in a way, because of how she treats the patients. And so, you know, a lot of times we are finding patients are coming to us because they've had difficulty and they're looking for help, somebody to listen to them, and they find that they get much more satisfaction from that.
- [31:50]
A
Yeah, yeah. Well, that's. So you started to shape and almost take a sort of a bit of a culture, a company culture that you have with Tori being somebody that people feel comfortable with, which is a huge thing. And in the business that you're in.
- [32:10]
C
And it was really funny. Sometimes clients would come, patients would come in and so Victoria would try to say Anita. She would call her mom Anita. She was trying to keep it professional.
- [32:25]
A
Right, right.
- [32:27]
C
And every once in a while she'd slip and she'd say, mom. And I heard, I heard this and I heard a couple people go, that's your mom. And they were really excited about that. They were excited about being a family run business and, you know, being like that. And I told Tori, I'm like, look, you've got to stop saying Anita. Call her mom. That's what you normally call her anyway, you know, she was changing herself to try to be, you know, to keep things professional or whatever, you know, and it just was more exciting for people to realize that it was a family business. And that's her mom, right?
- [33:04]
A
Yeah, yeah. You know, things like that don't show up in marketing research and studies. You know, that and our building, you
- [33:14]
B
know, our building's like a house. So it's a family run business in a house. And so when people come in, they, they feel that, like they feel like they're at home, they belong there. And we tell people, you know, once they're, once they come in for that first appointment, we, you know, you're a part of the Danita family now. So basically we want them to feel that way. We want them to feel like, you know, they can trust us and they can be comfortable with us and it feels like they are surrounded by family.
- [33:50]
A
Yeah. What I love about their model is that it's not just about systems or processes, it's about people. Everything they're doing is centered around serving their community well, really well, and that's something every business owner can learn from. When your decisions are driven by who you're serving instead of just what you're selling, everything changes. Hey, everyone. I just want to take a minute to share something personal. When I was building my business, there were times when I felt completely out of my depth. I was struggling with employee issues, sales issues. I had ideas, but I couldn't seem to get them implemented. I felt like my company vision was always just out of my reach, and I didn't know what to do. But I was fortunate. There were other business owners, people a little further down the road than I was that stepped in and helped me. They saw potential in me that I couldn't see in myself yet. And out of compassion and probably a little bit of remembering their own early days, they offered their time, their wisdom, their experience, and their perspective. And those conversations had such a huge impact on me. And now I want to pay that forward. If you own a business and you're feeling the same things I was, I want to help you. And heck, if you don't own a business, but you just feel like you can't seem to get your life to go in the direction you want it to. I absolutely want to help you, too. And I think I can, but maybe I can't. But either way, here's what I want to do. Look in the show notes, and there's a private link to my calendar. Click on it. It's called the Listening Coach. And when you get there, you're going to see it's listed as a $297 fee. But I want you to ignore that. Just book it and write locally owned fan in the notes, and I'll waive the fee. Why am I going to do that? Because I'm not trying to sell anything. I'm just trying to help. I'm just trying to pay back and pay forward what was given to me. If you're stuck spinning your wheels, overwhelmed, trying to figure out what to do, I'd really love to listen and draw on my 28 years of business experience and see if I can help. That's all. All right, let's get back to the show.
- [36:27]
C
They're gonna be taken care of like family. Yeah.
- [36:29]
A
Working with family can be very difficult at times. It can, yes. Did you guys decide beforehand the roles that you were gonna have and how that was gonna look, or is it something that's just evolved as the business has evolved?
- [36:45]
B
It has evolved. But starting out, I mean, our roles, we knew that she was going to Be the mp. Once we asked her about, about being the mp, we knew that she was our np. She was very interested also in, in regenerative and all the things. But the main thing, my role was going to be everything at first and it is, it still is somewhat. I was nurse, I ran the front, still do a lot of the days. Janitor, phlebotomist, it's everything. So. And marketing. I was doing marketing. Marketing, yeah.
- [37:34]
C
It's running the front, managing the business.
- [37:37]
B
Exactly.
- [37:37]
C
We, we, we have a division of labor to an extent. Right. So Victoria has to handle the nurse practitioner duties, you know, the, the clinical, more of the clinical types of things. Anita assists as a nurse a lot of times as well within the things that are going on there. And I sit in the background basically just managing.
- [38:07]
B
He does our books. Managing all the things I don't want
- [38:10]
C
to do all the accounting, all the business related, you know, business related things. Yeah, nothing to do. What I do has nothing to do with anything clinical per se. I don't do anything clinical and. But it's taking care of all the things that nobody else wants to do for sure. Nobody else.
- [38:27]
B
But he's good at, he is very good at it.
- [38:29]
A
So.
- [38:29]
C
So, you know, there's definitely kind of that division there and you know, I mean, as things grow, things are going to change and in a sense, I mean it, you know, of course as things grow, you get bigger, you're going to have to do other things. But I will never not be, you know, managing from accounting perspective, you know, that management perspective. And plus, that's all I can do. I can't get involved in the clinic anyway, so I stay in the back and I just take care of those things. We knew going into this, Anita was going to have to quit her job. That was a very hard thing for her because she was going to give up security for her. Of course we're married, she's taken care of. Not having an income is not harming her.
- [39:22]
B
But I was very independent, so of course, yeah, I was, I was just very independent and always have been. So that made it a little harder. And I loved my job. You know, I worked in the er. I worked in supervision some I worked on, I worked on the floor so that I loved my job. And that was, that was right. Right after Covid, so. Or when Covid. Covid was ending. So there was a sense of being needed there and you know, things like that. It was, it was a difficult time. It was a difficult decision. Even though, even though I wanted, I really wanted to do this. And I feel like it was, it was meant to be. And I think that's, that is really how it came, came about. I really feel like that this is something that was meant to be.
- [40:19]
A
Listen to what Anita just said about leaving behind a full time job and steady income. That kind of sacrifice isn't reckless. It is calculated faith. They believed so deeply in what they were doing that they were willing to give up something good for something greater. And you know, sometimes it's not about what losses might be at stake if you do this. It's more about what losses are at stake if you don't. When strategy meets calculated risk, you might just be on the verge of, of building your legacy. Well, it's come together now and you've got three pieces that are all different but necessary. It sounds like running the day to day. You're, like you said that you're, you're trying to do the marketing, you're, you know, doing managerial work. You're helping out with some of the nursing stuff. Tori is the, is a nurse practitioner, you said.
- [41:16]
B
She is.
- [41:17]
A
Yeah. So she does most of the procedural work.
- [41:21]
B
Oh yeah. Any procedures and she. Anything medical mostly is, is her. I draw blood for her and I assist her in procedures.
- [41:38]
A
Yeah. And then, Dale, you're taking care of the business. It's all business. But you know, the administrative side of things, that's an easy thing to forget. That that is a part of every business is that there, there has to be accounting for how this thing is going to be financed, how people are going to get paid, how it's going to be something that generates a profit because you can't stay in business without making a profit. So.
- [42:08]
C
No.
- [42:09]
A
And so you know that work is really important. And when you're small and everybody goes through this, you are wearing hats that you're probably not qualified to wear, but you're doing what you have to do until you can have the staff and the infrastructure to have that do that, you know. So, Dale, this is quite a balancing act because you're still working full time, right?
- [42:39]
C
I am, I am.
- [42:42]
A
Do you ever feel like quitting your job and just pouring your energy into making this work? Or do you love the fact of balancing everything? What's that like for you?
- [42:56]
C
So I do have to balance. That's a good word for it. And I'm, you know, I usually have to do things after hours because I do have to work a regular job. I still have to travel sometimes. And for the most part I'm able to handle the accounting the management types of issues from afar. I can. I don't really have to be there to do it. Do I really want to quit my job? No, and certainly not yet. I mean, the truth of the matter is, after doing this now for a little over two years, you know, we. We can't afford for me to lose my salary.
- [43:40]
A
Right.
- [43:40]
C
And not get.
- [43:41]
B
We're just not there yet. We're getting there. We're just not there yet.
- [43:45]
C
We are growing. We've had phenomenal growth. After a couple of years, we.
- [43:51]
B
This is year three.
- [43:52]
C
The second. Yeah, this is year three, but after two years, the second year more than tripled the first year. So it was really good growth. But like many businesses starting out, you're not really making a profit within two years. That's hard to do for most businesses. People starting out.
- [44:12]
A
Absolutely.
- [44:13]
C
I think that's probably something that somebody could misunderstand when you think that I got this great idea and I'm going to start making money the first. First year. No, you're probably not. Because by the time you are investing and paying the expenses and doing all the things that have to be done just to get things moving, you know, which takes time. And, you know, when you. If you have to borrow to buy something, they want their payment every month, on schedule, on time, the right amount, you have to pay those bills. Right. And, you know, so profit. To be able to pay yourself is going to take a little while. It takes time to grow. So in two years, that was a pretty phenomenal growth for us. For the second year, I think it kind of helps to see that we're providing something good for people in general. Victoria gets a lot of compliments for her service and what she does from clients. And so, you know, it's headed in the right direction overall. And, you know, it's maintaining that because still, when you're running your own business, it's almost like you're only as good as your last trick.
- [45:29]
A
Right.
- [45:30]
C
And you better come up with the next trick in a hurry. Well, I say that figuratively, just to mean that you got to keep moving. You got to be able to keep things fresh. You still have to be able to keep interest.
- [45:43]
B
Yes.
- [45:43]
C
You know, maintaining other areas, letting other people know who you are, where you are, you know, that's. That's all part of growth. And so those are the challenges, as I said earlier. I think. I think marketing is probably our biggest
- [45:59]
B
challenge and has been.
- [46:02]
A
Yeah, well. And some people find, you know, would find what you do, Dale, to be the biggest challenge. A lot of, you know, it's not uncommon for business owners to really not know their financial situation all that well. But they solve that problem by being good at sales and marketing.
- [46:23]
C
Right.
- [46:24]
A
You know, the growth that you've had is double or over double what you did the first year. That's, that's fantastic. I mean was that projected or was that just quite a surprise or.
- [46:37]
C
It was not projected, to be honest with you. It's really hard to project because it's a constantly moving target at the moment. We haven't hit an average line where, where I could make a reasonable projection yet. And so the mark kind of keeps changing. I will probably be able to know better maybe by mid year, this year kind of where we're going to land, you know, once I can kind of see what's happening. So I'm not 100% certain yet what goes on this year. My projection for this year is, is greater, but I'm not sure how much yet.
- [47:23]
A
Yeah. Now you've been an engineer since I've known you. You love it.
- [47:28]
B
He's good at it.
- [47:29]
A
Yeah.
- [47:30]
B
So he's good at his job.
- [47:32]
A
I know. Yeah, he's. And he's always trying to figure out how to fix something every time I talk to him. So it's a disease. Yeah. So how does your background in engineering everything from working for Mercedes to Bosch to where all these places you've worked, you know, has that shaped or prepared you in any way to be doing what you do in the business?
- [47:57]
C
Yeah, I think that things you learn in industry like that, because businesses like that, the way they have to plan, the way that the business is planned around what, you know, what they're going to do financially. They don't willy nilly arbitrarily just go out and say I need something, spend $200,000 or something like that. Even those businesses which are very large businesses. And so you know, things are looked at, kind of studied and discussed and you know, decisions are made based upon the facts that are in front of you and it has to be logical. You know, I've seen business decisions where you would think that is a no brainer, they're going to do it 100% you start putting all the facts together and you start running it down as to what it actually is. And when you start digging into the details and you realize this is a really stupid idea. So I too often have seen those things. But you know, in something like this, because I think we, we have taken a couple of risks to grow the business and to increase, to try to have something else to grow so that fluctuations on one side doesn't affect or doesn't have such a big impact. And so we have an aesthetics business, which we operate out of the same building as well. And we are able to do quite a few things for skin care. I guess I won't go into too much detail about that. That's. That's really Anita's thing. So we have an area that we can address that addresses needs in a natural way without using chemicals or. I say chemicals. I shouldn't have said chemicals.
- [49:49]
B
Neurotoxins.
- [49:50]
C
Neurotoxins. Basically. Botox. We don't use Botox, but we have other things that help with aging and making your skin look better. You know, improvements and wrinkles and things like that. But it's more of a natural.
- [50:09]
B
But from a business sense, doing that was the planning that he's speaking of. Like, we were trying to basically recession proof the other side because there's much more expense on the clinic side. And we, we are trying to get it to where we are showing profit. But not only that, that we're able to hire in more people. We, we want to hire in, you know, a front desk person. We want to hire in whatever else we need another nurse or as we grow, because three people can only do, you know, so much.
- [50:56]
A
Right.
- [50:57]
B
And so we're trying to get to a point to, to hire people in and, and grow, continue growing. And I think by opening the aesthetics, the medical aesthetics that possibly will allow us to do that.
- [51:17]
A
There's no cookie cutter playbook for what Dale and Anita are doing. And that's what makes it powerful. They carve their own path, built their own systems and solve their own problems. And if you're building something unique, don't be afraid to break the mold. The most impactful businesses often don't look like anybody else's. And that's the point. Yeah. Now, have you, you guys have been in business for three years in May. And so in those three years, have you guys hit a moment where you just thought either, like, what have I done?
- [51:56]
B
Oh, yeah, I don't belong here all the time.
- [51:58]
A
You know, where you've just felt like, I'm out of here. This, this I don't think I could do. Because you're doing, you're wearing so many
- [52:05]
B
hats and so almost out of there. We never.
- [52:09]
A
What stops you? What stops you?
- [52:11]
B
I'm out of there. For me, I feel like this is what God meant for me to do.
- [52:18]
A
Yeah. That's powerful.
- [52:20]
B
Truly. Like with all my Heart. I believe that I can confirm that because there is so many times that I'm like, what did I do? What did we do? Why are we doing this? And then I'm reminded why we do this. And I feel like I have felt from the beginning that it was something that we were meant to do. And putting the business together in the very beginning was so much easier than one would have expected. Things were basically laid in our lap, like the room for rent and the location and all the things that should have taken a long time did not. And I feel like every time I think about possibly closing the doors or changing something or whatever, I get this sense of don't. It's like a. It's like something stopping me. I can't explain what that is. It just feels like it's not meant to be. I'm not supposed to do that.
- [53:36]
C
So.
- [53:36]
B
And. And little things happen, you know, like maybe a larger sale may come up when it. When it comes to that. And I'll be the first to tell you, I pray over this business every day. I'm thankful for it. I'm exchanged and. But sometimes it's extremely hard. But that's the thing that keeps me in it. No matter what. No matter what. And there's generally, you know, a patient that'll make a comment or, you know, we. We find something in someone where somebody else, you know, a doctor has let them down, and we find something that they didn't find. A rare disease. We've. We've found several. And I think that's what keeps us coming back every day, even on the bad days.
- [54:38]
C
Sometimes for me, I guess I, I. Sometimes I look at the numbers and I'm sitting there going, how are we going to keep doing this? And I keep coming. Yet we manage to keep doing it. You know, the numbers will work themselves out. I'm always, you know, I'm the cat on the hot tin roof. And, you know, I guess I sometimes have to talk about my frustrations because I'm always thinking about plan B. I always feel like I need, you know, what are. What, you know, what are my options? What's my next plan? You know, how do I fall back?
- [55:19]
B
For me, there's no plan B. And I don't know why that is.
- [55:22]
C
So initially. So plan B had become basically where we opened the metastatic side, because that was a plan B in order to help us to grow and to, you know, one protecting the other. And if something is down on one side, it's so it's not down on the Other side or it's not down altogether. And that became plan B. And so I don't mean a plan B like a parachute to jump out of the airplane. But you really. In my opinion, I think you have to be quick on your feet a little bit in order to. You don't want things to just be a surprise, and you need to be thinking about them, and you need to be planning, and you need to consider, okay, how do I handle this? And what are my options? What are my consequences? Consequences are very real. And, you know, one small moment of time should not define your entire, you know, your entire thing.
- [56:32]
A
Let's stop here for a second, because what we just heard is real. Dale opened up about the weight of leading and the tension of constantly thinking, what if it doesn't work? Work? What if? What's our backup plan? That's a common thread for a lot of entrepreneurs. But then Anita drops a bomb. She says, for me, there is no plan B. And she's not being stubborn. It's clarity, it's purpose. Their fallback wasn't to abandon the mission. It was to expand the model. The metastatic part of the clinic wasn't a parachute. It was a strategic move to strengthen what they were already doing. This is the heart of it. Plan B isn't about jumping ship. It's about building a way that protects the mission, even when the numbers feel tight or the pressure builds. And maybe the takeaway here is instead of looking for your next or for your exit plan, start strengthening your foundation. That's what Dale and Anita did, and that's what resilience really looks like. Well, you. You know, I think a lot of businesses will get started because in very similar circumstances as yours, where someone is more excited about a way that they can offer value to the world. And that goes a long way, because typically they don't have a plan. You know, typically, you know, 90% of businesses that get started, they don't really think through strategically. They just have an idea. And a lot of times, that is enough. Now, at some point, you do have to sit down and assess where things are at and strategize and reshape the business, you know, and I know that
- [58:15]
B
we've done that a couple times.
- [58:17]
A
Yep. Yeah, you do, because some things are not working, you know, and that's typically when you feel the pain of. That is typically when you have a strategy session, you know, when you're feeling the pain. But then you learn to do that regularly. You talk about taking on some new services, and sometimes in strategy Sessions, you figure out which ones you're letting go. Because I know over the course of 28 years of owning my own business, in the end we only offered four different services. We offered a lot more than that along the way. But at some point I got to realize this is what we do really, really well, and it's profitable, and customers are extremely thrilled with the way they receive it from us. So we're sticking with that, and that's all we're doing. And there were other things we could have done. Some of them were even more profitable than some of the things that we stuck with. And so those things that we couldn't do, well, we had to let those things go, you know, and that's just part of moving forward and figuring things out as you go. But you figure those things out and then you land in a place where you go, this is who we are, and this is how we're going to serve people. But if you, if it doesn't fit with you, it. Or at least for us, you know, there's things that it just didn't really fit who we were trying to be. We just had to say, you know what? Here's. Here's a company that does that really well. Call them, you know, and it was as simple as that. Well, you know, I want you to list the things that you offer to folks so that people listening can know what. The help that they can get from you guys. But before we get to that, just one quick thing. Are there anything, any new things that you guys are looking into or things that you're currently doing that you're going, you know what, this is not profitable or this isn't working that you're thinking about? Yeah, I think we're going to scale back. You know, that this is the direction. Is there any sort of pivot or direction you're going in?
- [60:31]
B
So Peptides is something we, we used to. Well, we, we kind of still do offer IV therapies, IV vitamins and IV Peptides, but we, we have really scaled back on that because it wasn't profitable. It took up a lot of time and, you know, took up space that we needed for other things. So far, that's probably about the only thing we do.
- [61:07]
C
We've had to reevaluate some pricing structures.
- [61:09]
B
Yes.
- [61:10]
C
Recently.
- [61:11]
B
Yes. I mean that. I think that's hard, too, because as you're going along, you are, you know, what you want those prices to be. We don't want, you know, I don't want anybody to ever feel like I've gouged them in any way. And I want people to be able to afford our services, but at the same time you've got to keep the doors open. And that's been hard, you know, trying to establish price points because a price point for two years ago is not the same as a price point for now and our prices have stayed the same. So that, that is probably one of our major, major things because we do want to keep the doors open and it's, it's going to be a transition period for our patients, I'm sure, and I'm really scared and hope that we don't, we don't lose any in the interim of that, but we have no choice and I'm sure a year from now we will probably be reevaluating them again.
- [62:22]
A
Yeah, it's a common thing.
- [62:25]
C
They, they want to help everybody and they don't, you know, money for a nurse normally, right, in the hospital, money is not the concern of theirs. They just do their job.
- [62:36]
A
Right.
- [62:37]
C
They don't talk about money, they don't collect money, they don't have to worry about that money coming in or anything. They just get, they get their paycheck. Right. And so it's a different story when you run your own business.
- [62:48]
B
That's been the hard part.
- [62:49]
C
You have to start thinking about charge and what can I do and how much does it take for me to even be able to earn a profit.
- [62:57]
A
Yeah, right. And that is, that is so common for so many startups because, yeah, you don't really know the cost until you sit down and take a look at everything. And it's, it's often shocking. I know when I had my business, I was losing money year after year after year and I couldn't figure out why. And I finally, you know, sat down, looked at all the numbers and realized that, you know, I'm not charging enough. And you know, and I just thought if I'm going to go broke, I'm going to go broke sitting at home on the couch watching TV. I don't want to go broke working 70 hour weeks. You know, that's not a good way to go broke. And so, yeah, you know, and it's, and it's not like, you know, Dale, you know, is probably the guy that looks at the numbers and knows what, where they need to be. You know, and it's not like he's Mr. Krabs back there, you know, wanting his money. You know, it may seem that way, but it's like, look, this is. Numbers don't lie. You Know, and so they, they tell the numbers, tell a story in the business. And that's, you know, well, what a lot of people. It's often a very true story.
- [64:13]
B
What you don't realize is the more people you have coming in, the more supplies you're buying. So you're thinking, oh, well, we made so much more this month. Well, you really didn't. It was about the same profit wise, because you had to pay for more stuff.
- [64:31]
A
Yeah.
- [64:32]
C
So, yeah, the more you bring in, the more goes out.
- [64:35]
A
Yeah.
- [64:35]
B
I mean, never ending cycle. You don't think like that without being a business owner. If you're not a business owner, that makes no sense to you. Like, it's like no big deal. He's got more people now. Eye opener.
- [64:50]
C
David, you opened my eyes here to something that I didn't say. But it reminds me earlier you were asking about me being an engineer. The environment that I come from. Engineers, sit down, look at the numbers. Okay, does this make sense or not? Which is kind of what I was describing earlier. Okay. It becomes. Yes, it's kind of black and white. Well, in the medical profession and dealing with nurses, it's not like that at all.
- [65:19]
A
Right.
- [65:20]
C
And I can't just say, hey, black and white, look right here. They don't get it.
- [65:26]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I, I was a repo man for a while, so that was good training for, you know, hardening me a little bit too. Yeah, that's price.
- [65:38]
C
The price is the price. You and I share that, Dave. I used to be a repo man.
- [65:43]
A
Oh, really? Oh, wow.
- [65:46]
C
When I was in college.
- [65:48]
A
Yeah. We might have had some of the same clients. Who knows? So tell everybody as much as you can, briefly. Just everything that you, as far as the health issues that you can really help people with in a natural way and, you know, and then let people know how they can get in touch with you guys.
- [66:16]
C
Okay.
- [66:17]
B
So of course we've talked about the PRP and regenerative therapy. We also do biot, Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Any hormonal issues starting in your 30s, you, 30s to 40s, you start feeling the effects of, of your hormones depleting. And we see patients from 30s all the way to 70s getting bioidentical hormone replacement.
- [66:54]
C
That is men and women.
- [66:55]
B
That is men and women. We.
- [66:57]
A
I don't know if I can say this, but it's, it's for men that would be. The men that would be interested in that are the guys that are looking for testosterone replacement.
- [67:09]
B
Oh, absolutely.
- [67:10]
A
Yeah. But it's, but it's not. It's not anabolic or synthetic.
- [67:14]
B
No, no. It's bioidentical. So what bioidentical means is that the molecule of. They come from this plant, they come from either soy or wild yams, the stearate from their cells. And that hormone that we have in our body is the exact. Like the one that. The bioidentical one is the exact replica of the one that we have in our body for estradiol and for testosterone. So it's going to fit in those, like lock and key, for lack of a better term, to kind of how it grabs on. It'll go exactly where it needs to go and lock in exactly where it needs to. Whereas synthetic does not do that. And that's why you have spikes and falls and spikes and falls. Whereas if you're doing bioidentical, then you're gonna. And. And you're doing the pellets. You're gonna have a constant even keel all the time, and you don't go through the ups and downs of it.
- [68:25]
A
Right. Right. Now, I wish you hadn't said that about the yams because I can just picture one listener out there going out and buying yams and eating them and thinking that's gonna.
- [68:35]
B
Yeah, it has nothing to do with eating them. But I mean, they, you know, people. People worry about it when you're talking about when they find out, you know, it's pellets or whatever, they literally are the size of a grain of rice. And for women, it lasts three to four months. For men is five to six months. So when you're talking about not having to put on a cream, not having to take a pill, not having to. To get shots every day, once a week, whatever, you don't have to do that. It's very convenient for that. Not to mention the company is amazing. They are the very, very best and have proven it many times over. We also offer weight loss. We use GLP1s. They're compounded. They're compounded with methylcobalamin, which is the natural form of B12. Most places use cyanocobalamin, which is a synthetic version. And it's not as well absorbed. We have both. We have both GLP1s. We have tirzepatide and semaglutide that we offer. We do still have some peptide therapies. We just, for example, and we have way more than this, but we have Samorelin, we have NH D, glutathione, and others that help with a variety of things in a natural way, rather than having to take medications for them. I'm trying to think what else is there on that side? We do some primary care, and we have just recently added TDC metastatics. And that's the medical. The medical aesthetic side that we was just explaining about. And all of those is natural, natural RF microneedling. We don't do any. The only injections that we will be doing injectables is your own prp. So it can also be used not only for joints, it can be used as a filler. With most synthetic fillers, you can have migration. It'll leave the area that. That you feel and can get even plasticky under the skin. And prp, what we found is if you heat it up, it can. It gets viscous and it actually serves as a filler for nine to 12 months.
- [71:37]
A
Oh, wow. Wow.
- [71:38]
B
Yeah. So that's pretty cool. We're getting into that. I don't have an injector yet for that, but I'm hoping that these things are also areas that we will be growing.
- [71:51]
A
Yeah, fantastic. Fantastic.
- [71:54]
B
And you can get in touch with us. So go to our websites. You can go to thedanitaclinic.com for the Danita side and for TDC metastatic. So that is just like it sounds. And it's with an e. So it's tdc. M E D E S T
- [72:17]
A
E
- [72:17]
B
T H I C S. I'll include
- [72:20]
A
it in the show notes. There'll be a link.
- [72:23]
B
Oh, man.
- [72:25]
A
How about the. How about the phone number? If folks want to call and set
- [72:28]
B
up an appointment, it's 864-419-7896. Or for TDC Metastatics, it's 864-419, 8786.
- [72:42]
A
All right, well, fantastic. And. And just for the listeners, I actually drove to South Carolina. Well, worse worth it to get my knee injected. I had a torn meniscus and I had surgery on it. It was still bothering me, and so I had it injected and haven't had any problems since. So I can attest the regenerative therapy really works. Big believer in it and well worth the drive up there. So wherever you are, call Dale and. Well, you won't get Dale, but talk to Anita and she'll get you taken care of. Guys, thanks for being on the show. This was great. Your journey's, you know, just amazing. You guys are just fighting it out and getting there, you know, one day at a time. It's, it's. It really is amazing.
- [73:32]
B
Thanks so much, Dave. We appreciate it.
- [73:35]
A
Yeah. The Danita Clinic isn't just a building building. It's a statement. It's a faith move, a gift to the community. So ask yourself, what's the bold move I've been avoiding because it feels too uncertain? Where am I waiting for Perfect. Instead of just starting with purpose, what would it look like if I put people first? Even if that means it looks odd? Courage, strength, strategy and faith. That's what this episode is about. Hey, thanks for listening to Locally Owned. And if this inspired you, share it with somebody who's ready to take their next step. I'll catch you next time. And remember, what you feed your mind becomes your thoughts. Thanks for listening to another episode of Locally Owned. I hope you found this helpful, interesting and inspirational. And please be sure to hit that follow button so you won't miss an episode. And I'd love it if you let me know what you think of the show by leaving a review. And hey, before you go, I do want to say this again because I mean it. If you're a small business owner and you're really struggling to grow, to work less hours to achieve your goals, whatever it is, I would love to put my 28 years of business experience to work helping you. And heck if you're not a small business owner but you feel like you really need help just getting traction in your life, well, this is absolutely for you too. Look in the show notes and click on the link that says Listening Coach. I offer a one on one coaching session that I'm offering to you right now. Now, you're going to see it listed at 297, but I want you to ignore that as a fan of the show Locally Owned. Just book the time, put in the notes that you're a fan of the show, and the fee is waived. You're thinking, well, why are you doing that? Well, because I'm not trying to sell anything. When I was in business and I was struggling somehow and I think God did it, the right people were sent to me to say the right thing at the right time time. And it was so helpful. And so the kind of conversation that they had with me, I'd like to have with you. So if something is saying to you right now, well, what have I got to lose? Well then consider yourself nudged by the universe. Because who knows, you know, I might not be able to help you at all. But then again, I might just be able to help you see the potential that you have that you just can't see right now. And that would be a huge win for both of us. Thanks for listening to the show. I look forward to hearing from you.