Exploring Life & Business with Dr. Emily Brown of Bear River Chiropractic

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Emily Brown. 

Hi Dr. Brown, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Bear River Chiropractic started in January of 2017. Dr. Emily had a dream of serving people in the community through chiropractic care. Dr. Emily grew up suffering from debilitating migraine headaches. She had always known she wanted to help people but was not familiar with alternative forms of medicine until she was in undergraduate school. Dr. Emily was in the process of applying to medical schools and her migraines were at their worst. A friend mentioned she should attend a chiropractic appointment with her and so Emily joined. When she saw that the chiropractor, Dr. Lee, was able to help her friend using only his hands she was intrigued! She asked if she could shadow him and every day after classes she would walk to his office and spend the afternoons observing him in the clinic. She was able to see him help people of all ages with a variety of conditions. She started seeing Dr. Lee and her migraines got so much better! She felt that there was a strong pull from God guiding her to head down this new path, so she applied to Palmer College of Chiropractic and the rest is history! Finally, her dream of serving families and hearing the laughter and joy of kids in the office became a reality. Dr. Ricci joined the team in 2019 and the two have been a dynamic duo ever since! 

Dr. Ricci grew up in Cheboygan, Michigan, and was very active in sports, including volleyball, softball, basketball, and hockey. She started going to the chiropractor at the age of 13 for sports. She always enjoyed being very active and liked that fact that chiropractic was a very active job that involved helping people. Dr. Ricci really enjoyed school and wanted to challenge herself academically. She attended Palmer College of Chiropractic and spent some time in the sports rehab clinic learning different rehab modalities. She moved back to Michigan after graduating and found Dr. Emily’s office and began working for her. It’s been three years now and the office is a dream come true for Dr. Ricci! Dr. Emily has been an amazing mentor and teacher for Dr. Ricci and has really helped her make the transition from school to clinical life. 

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?
The road has definitely been a rocky, windy, hilly one. I think anything that is worthwhile takes a bit of struggle along the way. One of the biggest struggles was moving out to Iowa and going to chiropractic school. School is very intense and requires a lot of dedication. Leaving behind family to go spend 3.25 years in a strange city and spending so much time in cadaver lab was very tough. Also, starting the business was challenging but exciting. My younger brother had left his job to help me get the business up and running and in the early days we would sit here and wait for the phone to ring. We had a lot of fun but when the phone would finally ring, we would look at each other like who is going to answer that?! Now the phone rings a lot and the days are a lot busier and it’s challenging in a different way. Working with people, you kind of take them on as family. When they are going through something or struggling, we feel that and mourn with them, but on the other end of things we also get to celebrate their joys! It’s a beautiful balance 🙂 – Dr. Emily 

One of the biggest challenges for me with chiropractic was performance anxiety. I always excelled in school and was confident in that aspect of my life. That part of becoming a chiropractor was very smooth. However, it was different for me to have to perform in front of my peers and learn such a difficult skill. It really humbled me and taught me to take my ego out of it, and learn to believe in myself It was also very hard to move to Iowa and take such a big chance on myself to achieve this dream. – Dr. Ricci 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Bear River Chiropractic strives to be an advocate for your family. We work hard to care for your family and understand your busy family schedules! We feel that the earlier we can start chiropractic care in a person’s life (even before conception) the better life that individual will have. Our passion is families and we want our office to feel like a home for you too! We are open to constructive feedback and helpful suggestions on how we can better serve you. We are happy to serve you and we are glad you are here! 

Dr. Emily has her pediatric certification through the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association. Dr. Ricci loves working with athletes and did a clinical rehab rotation in school. 

I think our attention to detail and patient care sets us apart. When you become a client at Bear River Chiropractic, you become part of our family. We really care for our clients and their families. We strive to make sure that each family is functioning at their best! I am most proud of how people feel when they come into our office. It is not uncommon to see kids come in and kick off their shoes and run and jump on the treatment tables. They feel comfortable in our space and treat it like a second home, and that is the goal we had in mind when creating our space. We do our best to help you or get you in the right hands of someone who can help you. We will walk the walk of your health journey with you and will partner with you to help you be the best version of yourself you can be! – Dr. Emily 

“I think what we get complimented the most on from patients who have seen other chiropractors is our patient care. We spend 10-15 minutes with our patients rather than just 5 minutes. We also do a lot of extra muscle work outside of our adjusting, which patients seem to also really appreciate. We also adjust extremities like ankles, wrists, shoulders, and knees. Overall, we really enjoy getting to know our patients and their families. We strive to have a personal touch to our care and to our office as a whole. I think that is what I am most proud of, because at the end of the day, doctors are caretakers. ” – Dr. Ricci. 

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My favorite childhood memory is the feeling of walking out onto the soccer field (usually after eating a German pot roast that my Oma had made and brought to the game). I love the smell of the fresh-cut grass and the soft breeze in the air. I love the anxious feeling of the opposing team arriving and getting ready for the game. I loved putting on my cleats and shin guards feeling like I was putting on my armor, and I loved the feeling of running up and down the field and competing. And finally, I liked shaking hands with opposing team at the end of the game and commending them on a good battle, win or lose, it was like a mutual respect of skill and competition – Dr. Emily 

My favorite childhood memory is probably Track and Field Day at school. I always loved to play sports and I’m a very competitive person. I went to an amazing little private school called Bishop Baraga Catholic School. I had a really small class and lots of friends. My teachers were amazing and I just have really fond memories of that school as a whole. – Dr. Ricci 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bearriver-chiropractic.com
• Instagram: bearriverchiropractic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PetoskeyFamilyChiropractor

Image Credits
Alex Meyers