I grew up in a Catholic family as the middle child of five children. My life as a kid was filled with nothing but wonderful memories. We were a middle-class family, but we wanted for nothing. My Dad worked two jobs, until he took a leap of faith and built his own business. My Mom was a stay-at-home Mom, but she worked some evenings as a waitress. My parents did whatever it took to provide for the family, including funding a Catholic education for 12 years for all five children! As a kid, competing in sports was my life. I loved playing football, basketball, and baseball, but basketball became my true love. Like most kids who are dreamers, I thought I was going to play in the NBA. I’m not sure there’s ever been a 5’8” white guy who ever made it to the NBA. My competitive spirit has served me well in so many ways. I believe it is still doing so as I continue this journey of helping others find massive success in their business and life. To this day I love to watch the last game of any sport, or the last hole of a golf tournament, to watch the championship team or individual celebrate. I often get teary-eyed watching their expressions, and when they hoist the championship trophy. There is just something about that moment that I feel in my core. I think it’s because I know what it took to reach the top of the mountain. I wasn’t much of a student until I decided to be. Deciding is such a powerful word to me. Any time I decide to do something, I do it. Becoming a champion in the classroom wasn’t important to me until college. That was when I realized that sports weren’t my ticket to making a living and I decided to focus on the books. I attended University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for my undergraduate education. Once I decided on the medical field, there was no looking back. Failure wasn’t an option. Eventually, I had to decide which medical field was the right fit for me. Something intrigued me about podiatry. I remembered going to see Dr. Joseph Fiorini, a podiatrist in my hometown, when I was in High School. He fixed me up and I was able to play basketball. I decided to pay him a visit when I was doing research for the next phase of my life. That visit sold me on becoming a Podiatrist. Looking back, the physical space he practiced in was quite appealing and the words he spoke resonated in my 21-year-old brain. He talked about “sports medicine,” “surgery,” “variety,” “lifestyle,” and “freedom.” He wasn’t imprisoned by a call schedule. He worked hard and enjoyed a very nice lifestyle. His work never got in the way of being able to watch his kids compete in sports. I knew I wanted to be the type of Dad that was always there for my kids. I also knew how important it was to have a career that allowed me the time to coach sports. After being accepted into podiatry school, I took a 15-month break before starting classes. During that time I had the opportunity to coach my own basketball team. That’s when I fell in love with coaching. I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy inspiring people. Although I enjoyed the camaraderie and winning, the impact I believe I had on those 12 players was the most rewarding. Coaching that basketball team was a great training ground for coaching the team in my office and the doctors and teams I work with today. The principles are identical and the personalities are quite similar. Whether it’s sports or business, you are all working together in pursuit of something. To be great you have to love your teammates and recognize each other’s role. Later, while in podiatry school, I played on the school’s basketball team. We traveled to San Francisco, Miami, and Des Moines, Iowa, for the National Podiatry Championships. We won the Championship all three years. I guess I can say I was part of three National Championship teams. I like the ring to that. I married my wife, Margaret, while I was still in school. Upon graduation we moved to Dallas where I completed my residency. My first position following my residency in Dallas was in Milwaukee with a podiatrist who had a contract with a large HMO entity. I had the good fortune of having a large patient base waiting for me. My schedule was busy from day one. Although there was a nice variety of patient pathologies, “routine foot care” comprised the largest percentage of patients. I quickly learned to see a large volume of patients and stay on time. I also learned to appreciate the honesty and integrity of the owner of the practice, Dr. Marc Lewis. My business skills were lacking, but I had a burning desire to be my own boss. Within a year I purchased a practice that became available in a desirable location in town. I decided the moment I inked the deal that I was going to create an extraordinary business. Knowing how to do that wasn’t as important as wanting to do it. The first couple of years the practice generated just enough income to pay the bills and cover our personal expenses. Because I knew that all champions have coaches, I hired my first business coach early in my career. It’s important to note that success didn’t come once I had the money to hire a coach; the mindset came first. I hired a coach and then realized tremendous growth and prosperity. I continued to coach youth basketball while I was being coached in my business. In fact, coaching has been my number one passion—besides my family—outside of my business. Coaching and my career have traveled parallel paths. I wouldn’t have had the incredible opportunity to have some impact on hundreds of young athletes if I had not created the practice that fit my lifestyle. Since early in my career I’ve been a student of success leaders. To this day I regularly listen to CDs of business and life Thought Leaders. The first CD that made an impression on me was titled “Success is a Choice,” by Rick Pitino. He became a championship basketball coach at Kentucky and Louisville. This CD was one of the first tools that helped develop my mindset during the lean years of private practice. Four years into private practice I joined forces with a former college and podiatry school classmate. We practiced together for eight years, and honesty and integrity prevailed throughout our relationship. We ended that partnership in order to pursue our individual goals and visions. Becoming “solo” again was my rocket-fuel for reaching the moon. After some trial and error, I assembled the perfect team and put systems and processes in place that turned my single-location practice into one of the largest in the country. Again, I realized I couldn’t do it without coaching. I probably spent $200,000 over time getting my practice to the point where it became a Lifestyle Practice. I was able to generate a significant income from one location. I worked four days a week, with no evening or weekend hours, and had time to travel and coach my boys in various sports. This business was a well-oiled machine, and the reason a local colleague asked me to partner with him to build an even bigger empire. Building an even larger team without ruining the Lifestyle Practice I had was challenging, but it happened over time. We have 20 employees and four locations and it operates efficiently. Our systems are intentional and orchestrated with each and every patient visit and day. I have spent an extraordinary amount of time learning the secrets to achieving a true Lifestyle Practice. Today, I love sharing those secrets and showing podiatrists how to build their own ultimate Lifestyle Practice. It’s about thriving as an independent practitioner in any healthcare environment, taking home a large sum of money, getting paid as the doctor and owner, working 4 days per week, having a highly engaged, self-managed team, and taking time off to enjoy your family and hobbies. You don’t have to spend years trying to build the practice of your dreams. Together we can leapfrog over the pitfalls that result from a trial-and-error approach, and develop a plan that will bring your Lifestyle Practice from vision to reality.
