tice for 26 years. When they offered to make him an associate, he weighed the pros and cons of accepting a position so close to his hometown of Akron. “At first I was reluctant because their office was only 40 minutes from my hometown,” Day says, realizing that he would have to sign a non-compete clause and wanting to be sure that he was making the right decision.
At Goble Heal Chiropractic, Day (right), practices along with his mentors, Cherie Goble and Mark Heal.
D.C. After getting under regular chiropractic care, Day found he no longer needed his inhaler to get him through competitions. That’s when he told Goble and Heal that he was interested in learning more about chiropractic, a decision that eventually determined his career path. “They took me to my first Gonstead Seminar during my junior year in high school, and I was hooked,” Day says of the strong relationship he forged with both his chiropractors and the profession. “I knew after attending the seminar that chiropractic was what I was going to do for the rest of my life.” He later attended Manchester College, where he played one year of baseball before realizing that “it was either baseball or pass your classes.” He chose academics. After graduating in 2007, he once again sought the advice of Goble and Heal, who had continued to be his mentors. Even after Day moved to South Carolina to attend Sherman, his mentors back home continued to be available to him, answering questions and giving encouragement, and Day’s early interest in Gonstead grew. He attended seminars and served as president of the Gonstead Club for two years. After graduation, Day made a decision to move back to Indiana to do his Practice Management Observational Elective with Goble and Heal, who have been in prac-
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“The pre-existing relationship made it easier for me to join as an associate. I already knew how the office flowed, and I knew they wanted me to go in the Gonstead direction.” He realized that working with doctors who had so much experience and with whom he had so much history, would help him reach his personal goal of having his own successful practice. “I saw that having an amazing front desk staff that handles the business side of the practice — dealing with insurance, Medicare numbers — was important enough to offset the fact that I would be retaining only a portion of the money I brought in,” Day says of the benefits that he could reap from working as an associate. “I turn the key, walk in, adjust. They take care of the rest.” His familiarity with the practice made it much easier for him to tie his immediate future to the success of the working relationship. But Day cautions those considering becoming an associate: “Make sure you know enough about the practice you will be joining to be sure that your philosophies are compatible. If you don’t know the doctor you’re joining well enough, you might not mesh.” He believes that the right relationship can help bridge the gap between the classroom and the realities of a practice. Just a few months into his associate’s contract, Day knows that he has time to plan for his future, to decide what’s best for him. “Most of all, I look forward to growing with them [Goble and Heal], taking the experience they provide and branching out on my own,” Day says. “They would be happy for me whichever path I choose, because they want what is best for me.”
STRAIGHT FROM SHERMAN
Joining the family business Some professional relationships are forged at an even earlier age than was Day’s with Goble and Heal. Gabriel O’Sullivan, D.C., grew up with chiropractic. His stepfather, David Ivey, D.C., a 1976 graduate of Sherman, has been in practice in Upstate South Carolina for more than 30 years and was a technique instructor during the early days at Sherman. The father and son now work together in Spartanburg, SC, along with Kenneth Cothran, D.C., who graduated in the same Sherman class with Ivey and has worked with him in an associate role for 25 years. Their office in Spartanburg, as well as another in Simpsonville, SC, is very much a family affair. O’Sullivan’s mother, Shyrl, works in both offices, and his wife, Ryanne, is a CPA who also works in the office. O’Sullivan, who graduated from Sherman when he was only 23, feels that he has “grown up” in his father’s style of practice and enjoys the family atmosphere. “My mom married Dr. Ivey when I was a year and a half old. He raised me, and I grew up around chiropractic my entire life. I fell in love with it,” O’Sullivan says of a childhood that included hanging around Sherman’s technique room, playing on adjusting tables and getting adjusted “all the time.” He says that from an early age, he saw how much his father helped people and how much time he was able to spend with his family on weekends and taking family trips. O’Sullivan and his two brothers relished the family time that their father’s work schedule afforded them all. It’s not that as a young boy he didn’t have the normal dreams that all children have — being a fireman, a professional athlete — but he knew those weren’t his career path. “I knew what I wanted to do. Chiropractic has always been my calling.” O’Sullivan spent two years at Clemson University, a school he had always dreamed of attending, before enrolling