Meet Marlin Meldonian | Chiropractor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marlin Meldonian and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marlin, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Throughout my life I have had many jobs and positions. Regardless of where I was I was always working for someone else’s success while getting very small pieces of the profits being pulled it. Although I understand there are overhead costs and responsibilities for running a business, I always felt that I personally was worth more than any hourly wage or salary offered to me. Those numbers represented a limit to my potential. No matter how many hours I worked or how many patients I treated, the number each week would not change. I felt that these intangible numbers were putting a label on my self-worth, which I personally feel have a farther reaching psychological effect than when first perceived. Overall I was tired of have external limits being imposed upon me that I did not create myself. I would rather be the creator of my own trials, tribulations and successes than have another entity be attached to those experiences. Life is about the journey, not the destination. My throughout process was that I should be the creator of this journey instead of riding he same rollercoaster over and over. Therefore when reaching my most recent plateau within my previous job I decided that I had enough conviction, education, and value within myself to start my own business. I knew that there would be plenty more challenges that would come along the way, however all of those challenges would be for myself. Each successful endeavor would be another brick laid into my foundation of a self-sufficient future. The thought process behind starting my own business is I wanted to feel more sustenance to the choices I make each day and with each patient I treat.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I feel that my journey started when going to chiropractic offices with my mother. I would always sit under and giggle at the different faces and sounds she’d make when getting treatment. The doctor visits were calm and fun. So when at home would help her and play doctor by giving shoulder massages and what not when she was feeling aches and pains. Over the years I actually got pretty good at it and noticed how much massage calmed her down and made her feel better. When in high school and college I was a server in restaurants and people would ask me for a quick like 1 or 2 minute shoulder massage when they were stressed out and I recognized that in that handful of seconds their tight muscles would melt away, they would smile, be happy and grateful . Eventually one coworker was like “Holy $#!t, you’re really good! Are you like a professional? Can I like hire you for an full hour?” At the time I just laughed it off but that comment had farther reaching waves than I first acknowledged.

I went to the University of Florida initially for pre-med, but the deeper I got into the allopathic studies, I realized I did not resonate with their approach to healing. I served in a restaurant that had a private room where pharmaceutical representative would come in and advertise all sorts of different medications to doctors, but the representatives were business majors not doctors themselves. There was a huge disconnect that I observed and it put quite a sour taste in my perspective of allopathic medicine. So I switched my major into just biology and specialized in vertebrate studies. It was in those classes I realized that the human body was so unique compared to the rest of the animal kingdom and it all revolved around the central nervous system, the spine, and musculoskeletal system. When I graduated I had no idea what I wanted to do. I already walked away from being a surgeon or MD. One evening a friend asked “well what’s your plan now?” I had no idea. He said, “dude your really good at massage and already know so much about how the body works, you should go check out the massage school down the street.

So I went to Florida School of Massage in Gainesville, Florida on a tour and I instantly fell in love with the place. I felt like this was where I was meant to be. The school was every day 8am-4pm, hands on practice every day. We explored not only anatomy and physiology, but they gave sufficient weight to spirituality, psychology and at art of being present with another human. School was fun, creative and open for expression of yourself. You weren’t stuck to a desk all day. Every person had a lesson to teach and a perspective to give. I was how I felt all schools should be like. There was love, emotions, tears, laughing, and most of all I felt a sense of belonging.

After graduating I explored being a massage therapist at several chiropractic offices, but again I fell into he situation of not being paid enough or patients stating they wanted to see me for treatment than the doctor sometimes. So I took a step back, looked at what the chiropractors were doing and I thought…I can do that easily.

So before you know it I went to Chiropractic college and obtained my chiropractic license. Chiropractic college was quite a difficult endeavor mentally but luckily my background in massage therapy made understanding the techniques and how to be hands-on more readily. I feel as if my mind’s eye has a built in MRI scan and I can see with my hands. The skill of being present with a patient gave me freedom to explore the art of the chiropractic adjustment instead of being overwhelmed with the academics.

In massage school I learned how to treat the soft-tissue (software) and in chiropractic school I learned to how to adjust the joints (the hardware). I feel that what makes me stand out is that my treatments combine both perspectives into one and give my patient a wholesome, individualized experience. I want my patients to feel like they have been heard and that I am present with them every step of their health and wellness. Sure, I treat from a holistic point of view, but I feel that’s exactly what the world needs right now. There’s a time and place for both holistic and allopathic medicine. For me, I feel that for day-to-day aches and pains, non-life threatening car accidents, or just being overwhelmed with stress in life that holistic treatment are gentle and inexpensive. In emergencies and high volatile situations, allopathic medicine does a great job. There’s a perfect balance. Its not that one is better than the other, it just certain situations in life require one path versus another. So that what I do, help people find balance to achieve their goals.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Papichulos, Guanabanas, The Jupiter Inlet, Riverbend park

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to place my shoutout to all of my friends, my mother, and my girlfriend for supporting me through school and being open to letting my practice the art of chiropractic and massage therapy on them. Without their trust and feedback, I would not have had the confidence and knowledge that I have today. Every minute with my close circle support hold more value that any object in the world to me. They are my sustenance to my journey.

Website: marlinchiropractic.com

Instagram: marlinchiropractic

Image Credits
Calvin Youttiham