Journey to Integrity

The journey started when I was in Arizona in 2009.   I was attending a conference to be a Certified Sexual Addiction Therapist (no, I won’t be talking about sex…Yet) and as the presenter,  Dr. Patrick Carnes, was talking I asked him if he ever used inositol to help clients who are struggling with anxiety.   He said “no†and then later in the week I asked,  “do you ever use any kind of energy work like Reiki in your in-patient program to help with stress?†and he said “noâ€.  Now for those of you who do holistic methods…you know we have this sort of radar about who are “awake†and who are traditional in nature.  So I took the clue that this was not in the holistic arena and made a note to not mention it again.

He later approached me at lunchtime and said, “what are you doing? and where is your research? and you should get your PhD and speak at the next conference …you should be presenting what you’re doing!â€Â  At first I was taken aback and excited by what he was saying, but the gremlins in my head said… I’m a single provider in Flint Michigan, who is going to listen to me?   Besides that I don’t have time for research… I am doing everything myself, I don’t even have a secretary to do my billing or scheduling, and I never really thought of myself as a researcher.

Later that week at the end of the conference, he had us do a legacy chart and I included the idea of me doing research and how I would share it with a few other providers in the area. After the session was over,  I had planned to take a road trip to see an in-patient program in Arizona. It was on my way back driving through the beautiful mountains that I literally had an epiphany. Have you ever had an epiphany?   it’s like nothing I have ever experienced!  It’s like all of all of the thoughts I have ever had and everything I’ve ever experienced come together in an atom bomb kind of explosion in my head and then my thoughts started racing!  I imagine this is what it feels like to be manic. I stopped at a restaurant, the kind that have the paper tablecloth‘s and the waitress writes “my name is Susie and I’ll be your waitress†on.   At that point I cleared off the table and literally wrote my idea on it.  It stemmed from the legacy chart idea that Dr. Carnes started. I took that same format and flipped it macro.  My Optimist Prime voice said…Your right, one social worker in Flint may not be able to prove that holistic methods work, but if we build a holistic insurance company that could track the benefits, then we could make a difference.

The program was a holistic health care insurance plan one that would integrate providers, corporations, and consumers.  It would be a three tiered program to reduce healthcare costs. That night I couldn’t sleep… and I always sleep.   I thought of all the people that I needed to call and one of the first was my cousin,  Erica Peabody who is a Chiropractor, and just happen to be dating the President of Life University, Guy Riekeman. He was the biggest leader in the field that I had ever met and I thought he could help me.

My husband pick me up at the airport, thinking that I just got done with a certification and maybe… just maybe I was going to charge more for my therapy services, I tell him I’m going to start a Holistic Insurance Company. He said, “we don’t have millions of dollars to do that what are you talking about?â€.  And I said “I’m going to call my aunt Sue , she’s a consultant for business insurance and she’ll know what to doâ€.  “Don’t worry about the money, it will come.â€

I had a called my aunt Sue and she made arrangements for me to come see her the next day in Lansing. I explained to her my whole vision and showed her my tablecloth. She listened intently and didn’t laugh at me. She said, “I’m not laughing at you, the first thing you need to do is get a patent on this idea and don’t talk to anyone until you do.â€Â  I was a little surprised “you’re not laughing at me“, she said “I’m not laughing… this could work.â€Â  The following week I got into see a patent attorney who needed $2000 for me to apply for a process patent and the holistic insurance company journey begin.

The story I’m about ready to tell you in these blogs tells the journey of all the people that I’ve met since 2009 in order to bring Integrity to life.