Today we’d like to introduce you to William Hewitt.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am originally from Savannah, Georgia, born & raised. I was a bartender for 15 years after getting sober at 27 while I went back to college to work towards becoming a doctor. I hoped to focus on neurosurgery and neurology as I wanted to help people in pain and desperate for help so focused my undergrad major on neurobiology.
Towards the end of my undergrad journey, I became concerned with the pharmaceutical aspect of medicine, and the prolific issue of addiction to opioids in this country. With my personal history, I wanted to help people find the source of their problem versus potentially creating a new one in which they are dependent upon a highly addictive substance. While I have tremendous respect for traditional medicine and the doctors that practice it, I started to doubt whether it was the right path for me.
At this point, I needed to start to decide if I was going to take the MCATs or go in another direction but a career that was research-based didn’t really appeal to me and while I was aware of adjutant therapy, I didn’t know much about it. Then I injured my back lifting some heavy objects while bartending. A bar patron was a chiropractor and convinced me to come to see him. To my surprise, I felt better after the first visit. By no means was it a miracle cure but the improvement was enough to have me intrigued about the world of chiropractic.
Thanks to my background in biology (especially within anatomy and neuroscience), I understood the premise and science of why it worked when done correctly and was very curious to see exactly how effective the treatment would be once my care was completed. At the end of my treatment schedule, I was surprised and relieved to find that I felt as good as new, if not better than I had before and had taken no medication to get to that point. My back injury ended up pointing me in the right direction for my education and future career.
I ended up attending Sherman College of Chiropractic here in the Upstate of SC. While I didn’t agree with every perspective, it helped me to craft the kind of doctor I did want to be and the manner in which I wanted to practice. With additional courses I took outside of Sherman, I was able to enhance my education in the anatomy and spinal biodynamics. I’ve been able to train and take pointers from premier chiropractors that also base their practices on proven science and know I have found my calling.
While in school, I met my now wife. She was born & raised in Greenville and had a large and very close family that lives in the area. As we knew we wanted to create and raise a family, there really was no better option than Greenville for us. I graduated and passed the boards in late 2019 as we welcomed our oldest daughter. We were working towards renovations to our office space as the pandemic kicked in and opened in November 2020. While it was stressful, the slower initial pace allowed me to focus on the patients which have ultimately made me a better clinician.
As we’re working towards becoming an established practice, I’m now looking to where I can give back to the community. My wife’s first husband passed away from colon cancer at the age of 32, she’s been very involved with the cancer community both during his treatment and even more so after his death. She’s very passionate about how much of a burden cancer patients & their caregivers face both physically and financially which has rubbed off on me. We’re currently working on ways we can help relieve some of those stressors for that community and potentially help with some of the side effects they experience due to treatment such as neuropathy, without being yet another bill they have to figure out how to pay for.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Working on office renovations and opening a business during the height of COVID with a new baby was just the beginning of the challenges we’ve faced. We then decided to add to our family and had another little girl in August of 2021, giving us 2 girls and a new business under the age of 2.
Trying to navigate the political landscape of COVID and respect the beliefs of all while also protecting some of the more vulnerable patients of our practice has been challenging at times but we’re very lucky to have a wonderful patient population that has made it easier than we initially thought it might be.
Learning how to run a business is a challenge in & of itself. I’m lucky that my father-in-law has been an entrepreneur and my wife actually has a dual degree in entrepreneurial management and marketing but even some of their conversations would leave me scratching my head. My wife also has a full-time job that keeps her busy so I knew I couldn’t rely solely on her input and would need to learn it myself. Getting the hand of how to build a patient list, market to people effectively, the ins & outs of the day-to-day business needs and so on has been a challenge but I’m learning every day.
The biggest hurdle we’re still facing, and that I expect to be facing for some time to come, is the perception that others have about what chiropractors are. There are a handful of chiropractors who have not made a great name for the industry, from those who make dangerous adjustments to those who make claims that can’t be proven or substantiated creates a wall we’re working to climb over for those within the traditional medical community as well as those who could be potential patients.
Ultimately, we’re still learning, still making mistakes every day but we try to take ownership for those mistakes and learn from them so we don’t make them again and hoping that in doing so we’re able to gain and keep the trust of our community.
We’ve been impressed with Vert Chiropractic, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Vert Chiropractic is modern chiropractic for everyone. By modern, we mean that we aren’t a “rack ’em & crack ’em” type of clinic. We take the time to speak with each of our patients, and understand what their main problem is and parts of their lifestyle that could be contributing to that issue.
We want patients to feel comfortable and welcomed as they walk into our office and we strive to treat everyone like family so they know they can trust their health with us. We take our time to get to know each patient, their preferences and who they are as a person. As we set a treatment plan into place, we take into account all of the signs and symptoms they face, and factors of their lifestyle that could be contributing to their specific issue and create a customized plan to deliver the most effective treatment possible.
We use a gentle hands-on adjusting technique, digital x-ray as needed, an FDA-approved state-of-the-art cold laser and other techniques such as massage, trigger point therapy and others to help patients heal faster and for the initial relief to last longer. In using a combination technique of a traditional adjustment combined with soft tissue manipulation and range of motion therapy, we’re able to expand upon what the patient’s body can do on its own.
Our goal is to be known as a place you can go to no matter your status, income level or physical fitness level, we want to make chiropractic affordable and convenient for everyone. We’re confident enough in our skillset and knowledgebase that we know where our limits are and if we can’t get a patient better, we will refer them out to the right provider that can be it an orthopedist, physical therapist or their primary care provider.
Any big plans?
Our plans for the future include growing the business and helping as many people within the Upstate find relief without medication. There are a number of really talented chiropractors in the Upstate and we know patients have those options available to them and we’re honored to be able to play in this sandbox. Ultimately, if a patient is happy with us they will want to tell everyone they know and that is the ultimate honor for us. We want to be known as a place that is welcoming to everyone for affordable premier chiropractic care in the Upstate.
Pricing:
- $45 per treatment (includes adjustment & appropriate therapies)
- $45 for cold laser therapy treatment session
- Packages & Monthly Passes are available
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.vertchiro.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vertchiro/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VertChiroGVL
Image Credits
Jeremy Fleming
