FEATURE LEADERSHIP LIVING THE LIFESTYLE Practicing what he preaches: Our Q+A with Dr. Gilles LaMarche, Vice President of Professional Relations at Life University L BY JANNEN BELBECK iving the chiropractic life-style is imperative to Gilles LaMarche – after, all chiro-practic saved his life. Dr. LaMarche has spo-ken internationally for over 30 years, and serves as the Vice President of Professional Relations at Life University, where he organizes his fair share of seminars and events. Canadian Chiropractor caught up with Dr. LaMarche to get the latest on what attendees can expect at this year’s Life Vision Canada event, plus some insight into his chiropractic secrets for success. CC: You’ve had quite a long chiropractic career – where did it all start for you? Dr. Lamarche: I went to my first chiropractor at the age of 12, after hurting my back from a chair being pulled out from underneath me in school. I went the “traditional” route, but there was no progress and six months later, I was in so much pain I could barely walk. A family friend rec-ommended chiropractic. What really impressed me with the doctor is that, even though I was there with my mom, he directed the consul-tation to me. After the exam and X-rays, he talked about this word I had never heard before: subluxation. The doctor not only described my recent subluxation, which was probably causing the pain in my back, but also mentioned other subluxations in my upper spine and my neck. He asked my mother if I had ever fallen or hit my head when I was younger and that’s when my mother started to cry and said: “He didn’t fall, he was a forceps delivery baby.” He related what he had found on the autonomic nervous system chart and gave his suggested care. He told me not only will chiropractic solve the issues in my back, but it should also solve all the other issues I had as a child. I was never a “sick child,” but I always had issues of constipation, indigestion, etcetera. I remember being sceptical, since I had been to tons of doctors and they never said anything was wrong with me. Within a few short weeks of chiropractic treatment I was completely well. My back pain was gone and my body phys-iologically started to function better. I said to him: “When I grow up I’m going to be like you.” After attending CMCC and having a great interning experience, I moved back north to Hearst, Ontario to open my first practice in 1979. I always wanted to serve in an underserviced community for at least two years, but I ended up staying for five. That practice was one of Canada’s largest chiropractic clinics during its time. In 1984 I sold the practice and moved home to Timmins. I opened LaMarche Family Chiropractic in Oc-tober of 1984, and by Christmas time the practice was thriving. Dr. Gilles LaMarche (pictured) committed to handing out 5,000 business cards his first year of practice. JANNEN BELBECK is the editor of Canadian Chiropractor magazine. You can email her at jbelbeck@ annexbusinessmedia.com www.canadianchiropractor.ca CC: Building a successful clinic is no easy task. How important is community out-reach when building a practice? Dr. LaMarche: People don’t just show up just because you have a sign. I committed to handing out 5,000 business cards my first year of practice – and I did. Think about it: that’s only 100 a week, 14 a day. Shake hands, meet people and be nice. The initial people came to me because they thought I was just a genuine, nice per-son – or I got referrals. I found a niche market when I was October 2018 Canadian Chiropractor 15
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