A chiropractor I've never met posted on Facebook this week: she's done. Not looking for how to fall back in love with the profession — just how to leave it. Over two hundred comments later, it was clear she isn't alone. This episode is about what that post cracked open in me, and what I believe we actually have to do if we want our profession to stop losing good people to burnout.

What you'll hear in this episode:

• Why a viral "leaving chiropractic" post told me more about our profession's missing vision than about one person's burnout
• The story behind my own license renewal battle, and the blunt advice from a colleague that's stuck with me since: "If you don't like it, join the board"
• What my chiropractic college's "global paradigm shift" mission taught me about the gap between the vision a profession preaches and the reality it practices
• A model from organizational change theory for how two opposing sides of a profession actually merge into something new
• Why acknowledging the current reality, without shame or spin, is the first real step toward change
• The limiting belief I'm actively dismantling in my own practice this week, and what it means to stop being the product

Connect / Resources: [email protected] SUMMARY

[00:45] The Post That Started This Episode

I read an anonymous "leaving chiropractic" post that drew over 200 comments — and most of them weren't advice. They were other practitioners quietly admitting they're barely surviving too. That's the moment this episode became necessary.

[03:21] What This PhD I'm Working On Is Actually For

I connect my organizational development research directly to our profession's crisis, and name the real problem underneath the burnout: we don't have a shared vision for where we're going.

[05:36] The License Board and the Reprimand That Stuck

A frustrating renewal battle with my state board leads to a comment from a colleague who'd served on the board herself — one that reframed how I think about complaining versus stepping in.

[08:27] Funnel Cakes and the Global Paradigm Shift

I tell the story of my chiropractic college's lofty mission colliding with vending machines and deep-fried candy bars on campus, and what that taught me about the cost of preaching a vision you're not living.

[13:13] Two Things We're Missing: A Vision and the Courage to Face Our Current Reality

I introduce a dialectical model of organizational change, where opposing sides eventually merge into something new, and name why our profession keeps avoiding the mirror instead.

[17:28] Leading Yourself First

I share the limiting belief I'm actively working through this week — "I have to show up to make money" — and what it's looked like to stop being the product in my own business.

[21:09] What Comes Next

I close with an invitation: acknowledge current reality without shame, take radical responsibility instead of blame, and I preview the action research I'm planning as part of my dissertation.