Welcome And Guest Background

Dr Andrew Greenland 0:00

Hello everyone and welcome back to Voices in Health and Wellness, where we explore how practitioners, founders, and innovators are reshaping what modern healthcare looks like. Today I'm joined by Dr. Jeff Matz, a functional medicine practitioner and founder of Via Nova Health, serving patients across the Carolinas and the wider southern southeastern US. With over 15 years of clinical experience, Jeff has built a reputation as someone who helps patients finally get answers, especially those who've been told everything looks normal yet don't feel well. His background is incredibly comprehensive with a doctorate of chiropractic, a master's in exercise science, and a foundation in food science and nutrition. Clinically, he works across hormonal imbalances, autoimmune conditions, GI disorders, and metabolic health using a blend of lifestyle interventions, supplementation, and advanced therapies like peptides, IV therapy, and ozone, always with a focus on root cause care. So, with that, Jeff, I'd like to welcome you to the show and thank you so much for joining us as I think. Thank you for having me. Really appreciate it. So perhaps you could take us back a bit. How did your journey into functional medicine begin?

Education And Proactive Ageing

Dr Jeff Matz 1:03

My initial uh clinical experience was in pain management. And those folks are just so beat down, so worn out. Um, and I there was a gap between the physical medicine treatments that we were using and then the lifestyle aspects that they were missing. So they would come in, they would do your traditional physical therapy, rehab chiropractic, they do injections, whether that be trigger point injections or epidural facet blocks, but there was no lifestyle support past that point. So they'd spend a few months with us, they would they would spend about an hour a day, three to four to five days a week. And then it was just kind of this revolving door because they didn't have the tools that they needed to be successful in their own lives at home. And then that's where I really started looking and researching and learning more into foods to eat, supplements to take, different things that to empower people on how to live a better, healthier, happier lives. That now they're like, oh, I can do this. I know what I need to do to be successful, as opposed to being reliant and dependent on somebody to do something, perform something, whether that be a procedure or medication, whatever the case happens to be. So that was the initial evolution of my practice and my education. And then it just is morphed and grown from there. Lovely.

Dr Andrew Greenland 2:26

So it's always helpful for context as to where this has come from. So tell us about how that has evolved and where you are now. Tell us a bit about your practice and how you're helping people.

Dr Jeff Matz 2:36

The biggest thing that I focus on now is still that education and empowerment place or piece of it where I want patients to be educated, knowing this is why I have what I have, most importantly, though, this is what I can do to manage and support the things that I know that I need to support and manage going forward. And the bulk of the patients that I see probably is the case with most functional medicine practitioners, I would suspect, is those 35 to early 40-year-olds, up to that early age retirement person of I don't feel like it did when I was 20. I can tell where this is going. I see mom and dad in their 70s and 80s, and I know I don't want to be that. How can I be more proactive? And that demographic, at least in my own practice, is shifting down. So it used to be the mid-50, early 60-year-olds is turning into the early 40, mid-40 year old of we're living longer, we've got the longevity, but we don't have the quality. And you can see that in a number of different stats, a number of different data points where we've got, like I said, we've got the longevity, don't have the quality. And people are finally recognizing if I make steps and be proactive now, that longevity that I know I'm going to have is going to go along with quality as opposed to just quantity.

Dr Andrew Greenland 3:52

Thank you. So you've built and scaled multiple practices. What pushed you to eventually start Vyanova Health? And how does that fit into the grand scheme of things in your journey?

Dr Jeff Matz 4:04

So the previous practice I was associated with, my business partner and I sold it to a different group that wanted to take an entirely different direction than what we had. When we started, it was purely functional medicine. It was labs and supplements and lifestyle. Uh it we he built it from him, he brought on me. I became a partner. We took the two of us and we added in MDs and nurse practitioners. And as you add in additional medical people, the training is different. The type of things that they want to do, different than what I would want to do as a chiropractor, more traditional functional medicine. My business partner was a doctor of Oriental medicine and an acupuncturist. And in those two philosophies at times were at odds, where oh, we could do this, but we could do it with medication. But that's not what the patient wants. The patient wants lifestyle and supplements and education. It just got to the point where there was just too much friction in that model. And it was easier for us to sell the business at the time than it was to unwind it and start all over again. Um, he's at a stage of his life where he wants to retire. I am not. I was doing a presentation uh for some folks earlier this week and telling them like I enjoy and love what it is that I do. There's not a day that goes by where I wake up dreading, oh my goodness, I have to see patients today. I have to run a business, I have to do all of these things. Um it's very motivating for me and very rewarding to see lifestyles change, people saying, Oh, I I I knew that there was something wrong, but no one has ever been able to explain this to me. There was a lady I was talking to earlier this week who's been who has graves, um, had a ablation, so her thyroid doesn't work. She's like, I I look at my numbers and they scream graves, but my symptoms scream something else. Like I go to my endocrinologist and I get my levithyroxin, but I'm not moving in the direction that I want to. Um, so it's very rewarding for me to help kind of pull back the layers, look a little bit deeper, and educate people on different lifestyle things. She had no idea, like foods that she could eat to be in support of this underlying autoimmune problem that she has. Like, no one's ever talked to me about that. I'm like, well, you're not going to a person that's going to have that conversation with you. I feel that my background is very unique in the fact that I started in food science and human nutrition, and that I may be slightly better equipped than others to have that sort of conversation with people. Like, this is the way that you prepare meals, and these are the different things that happen on a chemical standpoint when we're cooking meals and the foods that we're adding and the way that everything comes together to be able to educate and empower people in that regard.

Giving Patients Real Treatment Options

Dr Andrew Greenland 6:51

Amazing. You have a pretty impressive toolbox with all the things that you've trained in and become experts in. Do you are you um providing an eclectic kind of consultation? You can deal with the physical side of things with the manual therapy, you've got the functional medicine in food and nutrition. How does it look to your patients in terms of how you help them?

Dr Jeff Matz 7:12

The the thing that I feel that I do a really good job on is giving people options. And I think that at least in the American medical system, like that's something that is lacking. It is you have this, you do this, it's very singular and linear, um, where there's multiple ways to use an old adage, kind of skin the cat. So here's three or four different ways that is going to get you to the same place. Let's talk about them. Let's let's really give you consent and informed consent on this the pros and cons to each one. There's the slow boat, there's the bullet train, you're getting to the same place. But what kind of what is your risk tolerance for some of these things? How, how many changes do you really want to make? And you say that you want to do these things, but when it comes down to a kind of uh brass tacks, if you will, are you willing to make these concessions to get to where you say that you want to go? And if you're not, then all right, we've got another option, let's go in that direction. So I feel it's it's meeting the person where it is, a truly patient-centric approach to treating and helping people with the conditions that they have. And I I know, at least in my own life, like I like options. Just don't don't just give me one thing, and this is the way that it is. Give me two or three things and let me choose because it's my health, it's my body, it's my life, and I want to I want to be the one that's in the driving seat, recognizing obviously that people need help, um, being able to give them that help, but then also, like I said, meet them where they are.

Dr Andrew Greenland 8:44

I love that um thing about giving options, really, really important because, like you said, there's so much limitation in conventional medicine. But have you found that some patients almost overcomplicate their health journey and you have to pull them back?

Supplement Overload And Simplifying Plans

Dr Jeff Matz 8:57

Oh, without question, yes. Uh, is I'm sure is the case. It's so easy to just throw, just take one more supplement, just do one more diet. Let's combine a couple of diets together. So a lot of the patients that I see who will have been to two, three, maybe a half a dozen other functional medicine practitioners, all of which making their own recommendations, but nobody wanting to say, well, you don't need those. So I'll see patients that come with a list of 15, 24 different supplements that they're taking 30 or 40 different pills on a daily basis. I'm like, well, slow down. You've got so many things here, you're never gonna break it down, you're never gonna absorb it. You've got three different things in here that are doing the exact same thing and all these built-in redundancies. Like, let's let's narrow it down, make it manageable, make it sustainable, and really drive home and hit those pieces that are really important.

When Testing Is Actually Useful

Dr Andrew Greenland 9:47

Totally agree. And as we're in functional medicine, I know we tend to do a lot of testing in the functional medicine space. How do you decide when to go deeper with testing versus just focusing on the fundamentals?

Dr Jeff Matz 9:59

I feel testing is really, really important. I got that um from a lot of the additional postgrad work that I've done. And I think it's being there's a lot to be said with being conscious of what are you gonna do with the test? So is the test going to give you actionable information? And then with that information, what are you going to do? Kind of back to that whole different options for different for different treatments. Um, if that if that test is not gonna give you actionable information, that then you are willing to make the change that is going to be attached with that test. That test is worthless. Don't do it. That's merely my opinion. And and as hard as it is for other practitioners or other people that I've worked with to be like, well, wait a second, we need that information. You don't need that information if the patient's not willing to do something with it. Um, at that point, it's just in my opinion, it's it's weight, it's a waste. Um, so one of the things that I'll do with a lot of people is almost talk them out of doing testing. Um, because this is the information that you're going to get and this is the direction that it's going to drive you down. Is that a direction that you're willing to go? No, not willing to do it. Great. Then we don't need to do that test because the information, regardless of what it says, if it's if you're not willing to follow what the recommendations are going to be coming from that, then there's no reason to do it. Inverse, though, also true, where you're saying, well, you've got this piece here. We really need to figure out what the underlying nature of that problem is because it's directly going to drive the treatment recommendations that are being made to you. We need to do that for that reason.

Why Women 35 To 55 Arrive

Dr Andrew Greenland 11:36

Got it. Now you've chosen to focus quite heavily on women in the sort of 35 to 55 bracket dealing with hormonal transitions. What drew you to that niche? I know you were talking earlier on about the group of people in that age bracket more generally in terms of not feeling quite right, but what specifically drove you to this particular um sector?

Dr Jeff Matz 11:56

I think it was more just coincidence than a drive or motivation internally to help that group. It's you do a really good job in helping a few people, and then those few people tell their friends that are suffering with the same problem that they're suffering from, and now you've got that referral, and it just kind of branches and morps from there. So people seem to attract and associate with people that are like them. So folks that are dealing with weight gain and hormonal imbalances and being willing to share that experience with their friends. Oh, yeah, I'm dealing with that too. And then they give, oh, I saw this guy, you need to go see him. He really helped me, he could probably really help you. So it was not an intention on my part necessarily that this was the group that I wanted to help. It was more, like I said, just kind of happenstance that that is the way that life goes and this way it turned out, and that that is the group that I'm blessed in in helping in healing.

Dr Andrew Greenland 12:50

It's an interesting uh age group, and I'm just curious to know what typically patients are coming to you with. And I know every patient is completely different, trying to get a sense of what is the general or typical complaints that come to you, and what have they sort of previously tried that has made them want to come and look for a new direction?

Dr Jeff Matz 13:07

I think you could narrow it down into being maybe a half a dozen or fewer concerns and complaints. It is, I'm tired, even though I sleep six to eight hours a night. I know I wear a Fitbit or a whoop or an O ring or something. Like I know my sleep quality is there, but I wake up and I'm still dragging and I don't have any energy through the course of the day, regardless of what it is that I try to do. I go to the gym three to five days a week. I'm exercising. I look at my caloric burn. Like I know that I should not be gaining weight based upon what I'm doing. Maybe not losing it, but certainly not gaining it. But I'm only gaining weight regardless of what I try. Whether I eat less, whether I exercise more, the number on that scale doesn't budge or it's only going up. Um, those are probably the two biggest concerns right there. And then you can kind of go out from there where my hair is falling out, my skin's not as healthy as it used to be, sex drive is down. Like I look around and I see all of my friends, and they're able to do these things, and I'm not, what's wrong with me? Or I go to my general practitioner and they do their regular panel of CBC and metabolic and maybe hemoglobin anyone seeing lipid panel, they say they're fine. There's nothing wrong with you, but internally they know like there's something going on here, and I'm not getting the answers that I'm that I'm that I deserve. I mean, my health, my life, I should, I should be able to live the best, best quality of life that I can with the with the cards that I have. Um, so I think it just out of frustration and not getting answers and just kind of being fed up. They're all right, what I'm currently doing is not working. Definition of insanity is keeping doing the same thing, expecting a different result. They're like, we're gonna go in a different direction, and ultimately that's what leads them to me.

Dr Andrew Greenland 14:54

And I know you're intentionally not defaulting to HRT or prescription routes. Can you walk us through your philosophy behind that?

Dr Jeff Matz 15:01

As far as do I think it's a good thing?

Dr Andrew Greenland 15:03

Well, no, I know it's not your, it might be in, I guess, the the realm of some practitioners, that will be their default position. I know it's not yours. You kind of have other steps in place. I just wondered if you could talk a little bit about your philosophy behind that.

Dr Jeff Matz 15:14

I think everything has its place. I think too often we fall to what's the easiest thing, the path of least resistance, which maybe isn't the best path. Um, there was uh something that I was reading six, eight months ago. Like every every good decision is formed in struggle and strife. So just because it's the easy thing to do, like you said, doesn't necessarily mean it's the right or the best thing to do. It's just the easy thing to do. And I think HRT falls into that category to some extent. Without question, there are people that like benefit and a whole new life opens up in front of them with whether it be testosterone or estrogen or or pellets and creams and all of that. Um, but I think we're we're too often looking for the easy, simple solution without maybe looking at the long-term effects of what is this really doing to me and is this the best course of action that I can do. And then another piece of it is like you're also then tied to, I need to go every three months to get my blood work done, and I've got to pay this membership, at least here in the US, a lot of hormone clinics are our membership kind of concierge or GPC-based practice, where all right, I've got the monthly membership, and then my insurance doesn't pay for that, my insurance doesn't pay for the medication. So it's just this compounding uh investment or expense that goes on every month, where it could be something as simple as like, just don't eat that food, or you just take this one twenty dollar supplement. Um, but due to lack of education, the way that marketing is here in the US, like big pharma kind of brainwashes us to think like this is the direction that you need to go down, and doctor knows everything. And granted, people are becoming better informed and better educated in that aspect and kind of recognizing like maybe that is not the way that it should be, but it's a slow process.

Dr Andrew Greenland 16:56

And where do um sort of peptides, lifestyle, and supplementation really shine for this group compared to conventional approaches, in your opinion?

Dr Jeff Matz 17:04

I think it's the bazooka versus the BB gun. Like a peptide is is a slower, low, in my opinion, a lower risk sort of treatment option compared to hormone replacement. Take like growth hormone as an example, like tesamorlin, semomorlin, um, kind of those growth hormone secretogogs that you can get where you're supporting the normal pathway that naturally slows as we age. So by taking something like that, you're able to stimulate the hypothalamus to release growth hormone releasing hormones that the anterior pituitary goes for its normal pulsing of growth hormone while we sleep. You're just kind of restoring the way biology used to or should work, as opposed to just replacing the entire thing, which then gives you that negative feedback loop, it's just gonna downregulate everything. So you're gonna take this growth hormone or testosterone for the rest of your life, or you're gonna feel great for a time, you're gonna stop, and now because you're not producing any of your own anymore, now you're gonna deal with the effects of that. I think to some extent, not that HRT hasn't been around that long, but you're also missing out on those really like people that have been on it for 50 years haven't been around that long or being used at the prevalence that it's being used now. So you're missing some of that. What really happens as we approach the end of life when we've been taking these things for so long? My opinion at least, I don't think peptides is going to have that same downfall.

Myths About Hormones And Weight

Dr Andrew Greenland 18:29

Are there any particular misconceptions that people in the this particular demographic that you're seeing constantly that you're constantly having to reframe for them?

Dr Jeff Matz 18:38

I the thing I yes, you're trying to undo years of misconception or miss around a number of different things. HRT being one of them. Like some of these people have just been brainwashed that HRT is bad, it's only going to cause cancer, breast cancer specifically for females, given that that's a big group that I deal with. And there's more and more research that's coming out. I was reading an article last week about how depressed estrogen levels are linked directly to dementia. But the like the word is not out, if you will. It's getting better. Um, and not to say, I know, kind of backtracking from what I just previously said, like HRT has its place. If your estrogen is really, really low, taking some, well, maybe even just a little bit, probably going to give you a lot of benefit, um, if nothing else, from like a bone density standpoint, cognitive decline. So I think part of the educational piece that is needed for patients is kind of undoing some of those myths, as it would relate to something like hormones, or like the currently in the process of making a video talking about weight loss and weight gain and what really those underlying pieces are, like it's always been calories in versus calories out. Eat less or exercise more, and you'll lose weight. But there's a multitude of other underlying pieces that, when disrupted and not functioning properly, impact directly one's ability to gain or lose weight.

Dr Andrew Greenland 20:03

And thinking again about this demographic, what's the hardest behavior change for that demographic to stick to, in your opinion?

Dr Jeff Matz 20:11

Probably dietary recommendations, and maybe as bad as it may sound, alcohol uh intake through the course of the week, uh, at least here in the US with the with the folks that I see, like alcohol, even just a glass of wine with dinner every night. Like that's just a habit that people have become ingrained in. I think COVID did a lot of that, at least here in the US, with the lack of social aspect that we had. Um, that you're like you can have a glass of wine on a Saturday or a Sunday, but you don't need one or two every day of the week in just those empty calories. So I think that's part of it. Like I thought wine was good for me, and red wine is supposed to have a lot of phytonutrients and respheratrol and all this other stuff. So undoing some of that is probably the hardest lifestyle piece. Second to that would be exercise. Some people just absolutely hate exercise. And just saying go for a 15-minute walk is just maybe one step, no pun intended, too far. So um those would be the two biggest things that I find that I struggle with and trying to motivate and get people to buy in and buy in on and do.

What Makes The Business Work

Dr Andrew Greenland 21:17

Thank you. So you are running a business, and I'm just really curious to know what's working really well for you from a business per se perspective. What are you most proud of in what you do?

Dr Jeff Matz 21:28

Um, the thing that is running really well from a business perspective is the continual engagement that I'm getting from patients. One of the things that with the previous clinics that have been associated with that we struggled on was that kind of check in, follow up, like all of the like you're doing one thing and we know it's gonna take time. So we'll see you in a month, we'll see you in two months. People are very engaged and not. Wanting to wait. Like I know I have an appointment next week, but I really want to share with you all of these things that are going on, whether they be good or bad. Can we can we move it forward a week or move it forward a couple of days? Um, and that's something that's been very rewarding for me, is it kind of validation of what I'm doing? I must be doing something right if people want to talk to me, um, versus yeah, I don't want to have that conversation with you next week. Can we click that out another month? It's the inverse is happening. So that's probably the biggest thing that I've enjoyed is the engagement, interaction, the follow-through and follow-up that I'm having with people.

Standing Out In A Crowded Market

Dr Andrew Greenland 22:33

That's fantastic. And on the other side of the coin, what are the things that are more challenging or constraining in the work that you have to do at the moment?

Dr Jeff Matz 22:42

I think the thing that we have always struggled with, regardless of whatever practice I've been associated with, is kind of that lead generation new patient. Um there's so many people out there that, at least in this area, that call themselves functional medicine or integrative medicine. I would call it kind of functional integrative medicine light. Like they use the name because it's a buzzword, not because that's actually what they're doing. So you're trying to educate and get your name out there in such a way that people are able to differentiate. Yeah, this guy really knows what he's doing, and this is truly functional medicine versus this really flashy person that's over here making a lot of noise with a really pretty website that says functional integrative medicine, but not really doing that. So that's been the piece that we have always struggled with is educating and attracting those people that can recognize and differentiate these folks right here, really know what they're doing versus some of the other things that are out there.

Dinner Talks As Lead Generation

Dr Andrew Greenland 23:38

That's such a key point for all of us working in this space. I mean, do you have any tips or things that you specifically do to address this in your work?

Dr Jeff Matz 23:46

You know, the one thing that I do that was really popular for a time and I just don't see it anymore, especially now with um with uh the internet and again COVID kind of being the catalyst for all of this. When we first started this back in 2014-15, we would do in-person presentations. It was a dinner talk. We would invite a number of people, we would market for it to a local restaurant and do a presentation, we would feed them dinner, and we would just educate them on healthier lifestyle. We would have different topics on all different things, whether it be autoimmunity, whether it be diabetes, ADDHD, neuroendocrine um issues, leaky gut, gut problems, thyroid hormones, stress, and any number of health topics. At the end of the presentation, we would always offer consultation, but the the impetus in all of this was we were we want to get our name out, we want to get in front of a group, and we want to get in front of a group that is at least interested enough to come to a restaurant to listen to us talk. When COVID happened and everything shuts down, you couldn't do in-person talks anymore. Everything had to be web-based. So you move to a webinar. So now there are, I mean, anybody can go anywhere and find a webinar on anything at any moment during the day. I think that in-person interaction has been lost. And that's one of the things that I do, I try to do at least once a month, if not more often, is an in-person in a restaurant, actually getting in front of people, introducing myself, feed them dinner, educate them on a health topic, um, which I, at least in my area, no one is doing that anymore.

Dr Andrew Greenland 25:23

Fantastic. That's a great idea. I'm gonna steal that. I love it. Um, do you uh these presumably prospective patients or people that might become clients? I guess that's who you're looking for. How does it actually work? How do you find these people?

Dr Jeff Matz 25:36

It's all through um marketing. I've got a marketing agency that I use. I would love to tell you that I know the secret sauce. I don't, I know nothing when it comes to marketing. Uh, my my role in this is I send him an email. This is the location, this is the day, this is how many people I want to show up based upon the space that we have, and and he does the rest of it. Um, but it's all social media, Facebook, Instagram, that's where that lead generation comes from.

Dr Andrew Greenland 26:04

Brilliant. So tell us a bit more about your team and um scaling, because um, I know you've worked in a number of different spaces and you've worked with a lot of different teams. Um, I don't know whether you're thinking about growing and scaling, but tell us about your team and how that fits into it.

Dr Jeff Matz 26:19

Currently, my team consists of three people, um, myself included. So it's myself and two others. Um, I have somebody that helps on the nutrition lifestyle aspect of things. She has a master's in public health. Um, so she is kind of the lifestyle person that will uh help a lot with patients. I have another person that is uh assistant, more admin, scheduling payments, making sure that everybody is where they're supposed to be. And then from a practitioner standpoint, um, I am the only practitioner at this time. Um the the hope and goal would be from a scaling standpoint, it's always been a dream of mine to have multiple offices. Um, there are so many areas, especially like underserved populations. You go out into like rural South Carolina, which is not too far from me, or out into the the middle portion of the country. This there's just these people don't have anything, and they don't know you don't know what you don't know, and you don't know what you're missing if you don't have it. Just being able to, even if it's just a population of a thousand people, just being able to give them like here are simple things that you can do. It doesn't need to be anything elaborate, doesn't need to be anything special. Um, but I've always had I I don't feel that functional medicine needs to be like this top, this is this one percent sort of care model where everything is out of pocket and insurance doesn't cover, at least here in the US. So, like that right there, you've eliminated a group of people that you could help. And then testing isn't cheap, it's sometimes very expensive. So now you're dealing with an even smaller subset. I don't feel it should be that way. I feel like you should be able to get the care that you need if you want it. And a lot of these smaller population groups in and around the area, they're underserved and they don't they don't know where to go. So my goal would always be to branch out and help those folks in some capacity.

Marketing As The Biggest Time Drain

Dr Andrew Greenland 28:10

Love your mission. Um so I guess uh your team is small and you probably wear more than one hat with with such a small team. What's your biggest time drain now, right, right now, in terms of all the different things that you get involved with, other than necessarily treating patients?

Dr Jeff Matz 28:26

Anything in marketing, I guess. So a big blessing to be on this podcast. I've got videos on YouTube, I have a very small social media presence, um, but all that is driven by me. Um it's not my background at all. I would probably be lying to you if I told you that I enjoy it, but I recognize that it's something that needs to be done. Um, really enjoy more conversations like this where it's more interactive, as opposed to me just talking in front of a screen with some things that I'll edit in, different pictures and things like that. Um it's I understand, like I said, necessary. Philip probably has some greater purpose somewhere, um, but not something that I enjoy. And that is without a question the thing that drains the most time.

Dr Andrew Greenland 29:05

Got it. And if you're um, I know you wanted to scale eventually and to reach the um underserved communities, but if your patient volumes suddenly doubled in the next few months, what would happen? Would anything break? And hopefully not you.

Dr Jeff Matz 29:18

Nothing would break. Nope. I've got a lot of different people that I've worked with in the past that have shown interest in when you get to the point where you need more help, just let me know. I would be happy to join you. Um, whether that be health coaches, whether that be personal trainers or nutritionists, other functional medicine doctors. Um, I've been blessed that I have a lot of really good friends in this space. I've always made it a point not to burn bridges with anybody. Um, so I think because of that, there are a lot of people that have shown interest that when the time arises and I do need that additional help, that it's only a phone call away.

Dr Andrew Greenland 29:52

You talked about your um the dinner thing where you sort of do a talk for people at dinner. But have you ever explored um group programs for treating a number of patients with a particular condition or problem or challenge or memberships or digital education to extend beyond your sort of one-to-one reach?

Dr Jeff Matz 30:09

We tried that in the past, um with a previous clinic that we had where we would do group education. And merely my experience, and don't take this to mean that it's it's right or wrong, this is merely the experience that we had, is uh on paper it looked great. Getting somebody to show up was difficult. Where, all right, we're gonna have a class today, multiple classes through the course of the week, different times of day, so that it would fit into everybody's schedule, whether you've got small kids at home and you're a stay-at-home mom, or you're a professional and you work until five. Different options for people. And we would have classes on detox, we would have classes on nutrition, meal prep, exercise, uh, lifestyle, kind of changes around the house to make your living environment as clean as possible, like recognition of like that particular detergent that you're using, or the shampoo, or this household cleaner. It's got just a whole bunch of chemicals in it that are just disrupting your endocrine system or causing additional chemical stress. And the classes we put a lot of time into a lot of thoughts into the curriculum. You got a book and all this, it was great. Nobody came. Um, there'd be one or two people that would show up out of hundreds of different options of people that could have made it. We went to classes online, same thing. No one really was engaged, no one would show up. Um, or the people that did show up, it was always the same people. Um, for almost three years, I would do exercise classes two days a week, one Monday morning, two Thursday evening, and without fail, it was the same three people that I saw twice a week for three years. Every once in a while you get this not random person, but like, oh, we haven't seen you before. Welcome. Um, and then that was it. And it just got to the point, I'm like, I'm doing a personal uh personal exercise class for these folks, it just wasn't worth it.

Next Year Goals And A License Regret

Dr Andrew Greenland 32:05

So if you had a magic wand and you could fix one thing in the business tomorrow, what would that be?

Dr Jeff Matz 32:11

I think it would go back to that lead generation. Um, just that that is the biggest stress that has always followed me and maybe kind of self-fulfilling from that standpoint of it's there's so many people out there that need help. It's just getting them, attracting them, being able to show them that there is a different option, different solution, and that I would like to at least be on the be the one that can offer them that solution and that option. Um, if if somehow I could wave a magic wand and never have to worry about getting new patients again, that would be fantastic. Got it.

Dr Andrew Greenland 32:47

And thinking about the next sort of six to 12 months, where are you headed? What are you trying to build? Where would you like to be in a year's time?

Dr Jeff Matz 32:54

So next six months, I would ideally like to triple, if not quadruple, my current patient load. That would put me kind of to your what if I was to double or triple? Um, that would put me at like we need more help now. Um, so that would be my my kind of six to twelve month goal. Um that and then also if when I get to that point, that would also be the point where now we've got enough recurring or enough revenue coming in that we could justify or get an additional practitioner, that additional practitioner we're gonna put out here, or we're gonna have another satellite office somewhere else. So that that's the big goal. Um, hopefully within the next year we're able to accomplish it.

Dr Andrew Greenland 33:38

I wish you really well with that. And um, if you were starting again today, with everything that you know and all your experience and training and education, would you do anything differently?

Dr Jeff Matz 33:47

Oh, that's a really good question. Yes, I would. Um, I would not be a chiropractor. I would go and become a nurse practitioner. Um the the nurse practitioners that I've worked with have been absolutely fantastic. Um they're their passion that they have, the care for patients that they have. So I know like the kind of the noble purpose is there. Um, the one thing that I am severely limited in with my license is my scope of practice. Um, and just being able, it's just something simple of we're gonna stop taking levathyroxin and synthroid and we're gonna switch it to armor. I I don't I don't need to get into all of these uh extravagant drugs and all of these big procedures and all of this other stuff. Just something so simple has seen time and time again, has just made such a big difference for patients, and unfortunately, not something that I can do with my license. So that is, I would change nothing else. I wouldn't change where I am right now, I wouldn't change um any of the things that I've done in the past, but just that one, just two different letters at the end of my name would just make such a big difference for me and the patients that I serve.

Dr Andrew Greenland 35:00

Wow, that's such a profound point to end on. And with that, I'd like to thank you so much for joining us today. It's been a really insightful conversation. Thank you for sharing your journey, your work, your approach. It's been really fascinating, and I am sure that our listeners will find some value in your um ideas and your uh very wise comments. So thank you so much, Jeff. Really appreciate it.

Dr Jeff Matz 35:20

Thank you for having me.