Today we’d like to introduce you to John McNeely.
Hi John, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
John is a Kansas City local who grew up in the Leawood/Overland Park area. After graduating from Shawnee Mission East Highschool he attended The University of Kansas for his undergraduate degree where he received a Bachelors of Science in Organismal Biology in 2011. While at KU he was a pre-med student, but after shadowing a few MDs he decided he wanted a more hands on type of medical profession. Due to his experience with chiropractors and physical therapists in high school he was attracted to both of those professions. When graduation was approaching he made the decision to attend Cleveland University – Kansas City for his Doctorate in Chiropractic. While at Cleveland, John was a member of several student clubs focused on developing palpation and adjusting skills. He also sought out many seminars outside of school to further develop his skillset. He attended many seminars from the Motion Palpation Institute, and became certified in FAKTR, SFMA, Rock Tape, ART, and DNS therapies. John graduated from Cleveland University – Kansas City with his Doctorate of Chiropractic in 2016.
Following graduation from Chiropractic school John moved to Europe for two and half years where he practiced locally around an American/Polish military base. While in Europe he was able to visit many different countries and experience the variety of cultures Europe has to offer. In January 2019, John moved to Arizona where he was fortunate to join a practice specializing in Athletic rehab. John spent the next 3.5 years working with professional athletes, olympians, and every day families before deciding to move back home to Kansas City.
John started KC Spine and Sport with the goal of bringing elite level care, that is normally reserved for top level athletes, to anyone who is looking to move and feel better.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Opening any business can and often will be challenging at times. The biggest struggle I have faced personally is with the marketing side of things. I offer services and experience that very few chiropractors in the area could match, but starting from scratch with no patient base means building up is a slow and ongoing process. When I was working in Phoenix the majority of new patients I encountered had sought us out for the types of services we offer, whereas here in the midwest many people have never heard of those same services. So the demographic is different and has made me pivot my marketing strategy a few times.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
KC Spine is Sport is a family and sports chiropractic office. We specialize in athletic injuries and rehab, but work with everyone from moms and their kids to elite level athletes. My background is working with professional athletes from a multitude of sports including the NFL and MLB so I approach all of my patients with an athletic mindset. My main goal with all my patients is not to just get them out of pain, but to identify and correct underlying dysfunction so that they can stay out of pain. Our visits are generally longer than the typical chiropractic visit and we offer many soft tissue and exercise rehab option to get people better as efficiently as we can.
I am most proud of our patient experience. We don’t want our patients to feel like a number and will take as much time as needed to answer questions and educate our patients on their issues. We offer services such as chiropractic adjustments, dry needle therapy, active release therapies, Graston/FAKTR/IASTM/scraping, exercise rehab, cupping, kinesio taping, and neuromuscular reeducation.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Helping people to live better and more active lives. Too many people get caught up in the routine of work, home, sleep, repeat until they retire. By then their physical health has usually gotten to a rough point and it is much more difficult to do the things they enjoy when it hurts to move. I try to educate people on how important it is to be active as we age so that we can age more gracefully. You don’t need to be in the gym 7 days a week or look like a fitness model, but staying functional will make life much easier and allow people to do the things they want when they want.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kcspineandsport.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjmcneely
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552651541077
