Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Van Dusen.
Hi Christopher, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
While I was in High School, I either wanted to pursue being a doctor or an accountant. I decided to pursue being a doctor, but later changed tracks to become a pharmacist. I became a pharmacy technician while I was pursuing my prerequisites to get into pharmacy school and did well enough to get into Ferris State University the first year I applied. I graduated in 2008 and in 2009 became a pharmacy manager at the retail pharmacy location I was practicing at. Also in 2009, my wife (now ex-wife) gave birth to our first child, who was born with lesions in his brain and spine due to a parasite called Toxoplasmosis. This parasite is the reason why women aren’t supposed to clean cat litter during pregnancy, but she likely got it from gardening in a garden where feral cats “did their business”. My son was born with several lesions in his brain and spine, leading to him being born paraplegic and with vision issues, he also later dealt with seizures and respiratory issues and his respiratory issues ultimately led to him passing away in January of 2014. We had another son, born in 2011, and welcomed a 3&½ year old daughter (she doesn’t like the term adopted) into our family in 2017. I stepped back around that time back to a staff pharmacist so I could better focus on family. In late 2021, personal issues led me to stepping away from pharmacy and I decided to pursue being a small business bookkeeper. I got my first couple of clients in the fall of 2022 and haven’t looked back. I love helping my clients feel more confident in their numbers and helping them grow! Recently I have started work on focusing part of my business on specifically helping mental health counselors deal with insurance issues and helping them get paid for the work they have already done. With my 21 years of experience in the retail pharmacy world, I have dealt with tens of thousands of rejected claims and want to be a middle ground between counselors having to do it all by themselves and paying someone to handle all of their claims.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Some of the struggles that I have dealt with along the way are:
Changing from a relatively self-sustaining business as a salaried employee to a business owner who loves what they do, but has to work hard to get every single client.
The ebbs and flows of being a parent and dealing with personal life changes (divorce, single parenthood for a time, & building a new life with my new wife and her child)
Trying to find the best way to niche my business so I can be the most helpful to my clients.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I am a bookkeeping professional who focuses on helping small businesses owners feel confident in their finances. Recently, I am working on specializing in helping mental health counselors get paid on their rejected insurance claims. Unlike traditional medical billers who get paid a percentage of every claim they process regardless of how long it takes, I focus on letting you get paid 100% on the simple claims that don’t reject and use my 21 years of experience dealing with insurance companies to work on the more difficult ones, on your behalf. What makes me proud is that I am able to help small business owners, small counseling practices, and individual counselors focus on the reason that they got into their careers.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
My wife (just married 2 weeks ago) has helped support me and cheerlead me throughout the transition to small business owner.
Nathan Sitzema and Andy Miedema, the leaders of Grand Rapids Business Engagement, have helped mentor me and encouraged me.
My mom, and kids have been a great encouragement and kept me going.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.vandusenbookkeeping.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092443174724
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-vandusen/
