Today we’d like to introduce you to Gregg Stern.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I graduated college with a finance major & accounting minor. I worked at Arthur Anderson as an auditor for a year then did real estate finance & accounting work at JMB Realty (in the city). At this point I got a call from my brother telling me if I wanted to come into the family business (jukeboxes & pinball machines), I would have to do it then. This was always the plan but my uncle, who took over the business from my father after he passed, told me to get business experience before coming in). I went into the family business but after a bunch of years found it was too small for myself, my brother & my uncle so I left. I bartended while doing some soul searching. I interviewed many successful people in Chicago and got a lot of advice and ended up in the vacant land business selling large parcels to home builders. This fit the bill of the advice I got as it was lucrative and could provide freedom to do things you enjoyed. The problem was, I did not like being treated like a broker & I did not like seeing great open spaces developed. Of all the successful people I interviewed, no one ever said do what you love to do. While I was in the land business I met a chiropractor in my karate club. I had already been interested in the martial arts, meditation, energy & eastern medicine. I started going to the chiropractor & loved it. I did research & found I could practice acupuncture along with chiropractic and I decided to go to chiropractic school. I started taking night classes, pre-med, while working and at the age of 31, I went back to school. As I learned more, I loved the chiropractic & healthy lifestyle elements and still very much enjoyed acupuncture, but chiropractic was definitely my main focus. As I started to practice in the clinics I would bring my portable chiropractic table to family events. At one Thanksgiving I cared for my 9 month pregnant sister-in-law who was very uncomfortable & it really helped her. At this point I became interested in working with pregnant moms. 2 years into practice I started my certification in Chiropractic Pediatric, Maternity & Family Wellness Care which I achieved & then went on to get my Diplomate in Chiropractic Pediatric, Maternity & Family Wellness Care in 2006. I continued to be active with the organization that offered this certification, the ICPA (International Chiropractic Pediatric Association) and eventually became the international examiner for chiropractors looking to have this specialty and the President of the Academy of Chiropractic Family Practice’s Council of Pediatrics.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
All roads are filled with curves & potholes. We have the choice of seeing these situations as challenges or opportunities to learn. If we learn and grow from the situation, it was worthwhile. I have not learned & grown from every situation but I hope that I have benefited from more than not.
Please tell us about Stern Chiropractic.
I am a Pediatric, Maternity & Family Wellness Chiropractor. Combining the incredible power of the chiropractic adjustment with our bodies amazing innate ability to heal & grow produces mind blowing outcomes, I have seen infants with failure to thrive, kids with autism, allergies, asthma, colic and countless other health issues grow to be healthy high functioning teens & adults. I have published a paper on chiropractic and infertility. I help change lives for the better on a daily basis. By helping our kids understand how to make healthy lifestyle choices, they can take this information and become the change we want to see in this world. If we don’t like how our healthcare system works maybe we have to change our understanding of what is health as it is not just an absence of illness but a full expression of life. As our kids grow with this understanding, they will become the decision makers and we will see positive change. I help people learn that their nerve system is the master control system of our bodies. When it is working well, we function well. When there is interference in our nerve system, like road construction on our information superhighway, our bodies won’t work well. Chiropractic care removes this interference allowing information & energy to flow freely and our bodies to function as they should. Our lifestyle choices are what create this road construction. When our chemical (pollution, medications, alcohol & tobacco but mostly poor food choices), physical (falls, traumas, accidents & injuries but mostly poor posture & lack of activity) & mental/emotional stressors become more than our bodies can handle, this creates the interference in our nerve system and the decline of our health & function. Kids get it & after starting care they can experience how it helps them perform better in school & sports & improves their immune function so they don’t miss school because of being sick … I am here to serve as service is what it is all about. I am the president of our Chamber of Commerce & regularly talk in the schools. Our kids are our future and helping them have their full expression of life will not only benefit them but everyone they touch (this applies to adults as well).
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I don’t have a lot of memories of childhood, my dad passed when I was 5. I had a wonderful mother & a great upbringing.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.SternChiro.com
- Phone: 847-537-2225
- Email: docstern@SternChiro.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SternChiro/
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