Dr Ryan Shelton is a medical professional who believes in natural health. As the Medical Research Director for Zenith Labs, he creates a regimen of natural treatments backed by science. Dr Shelton has a private practice in Illinois, where he uses holistic and complementary medicine to help his patients achieve optimal health and wellness. He became interested in a medical career at a young age, and by the age of five, he was telling family members and friends that he wanted to be a doctor. He was inspired by the wish to heal the sick and create healthy lives for all of his patients.
After receiving degrees at University in biochemistry and philosophy, he realized the importance of holistic treatments and preventing chronic disease. He later attended medical school and received his Doctorate. Dr Ryan Shelton is passionate about helping people achieve their best health.
Dr Ryan Shelton’s support for wellness as healthcare rather than focusing on disease care has attracted many like-minded patients to his medical practice. Dr Shelton’s work with Zenith Labs complements his successful medical practice.
Let’s start by telling us about your business.
When I decided to become a doctor, I had one very clear goal, to help people in the best way possible for them. As I went through medical school, though, I became disillusioned with the way doctors traditionally practiced medicine. For me, there wasn’t enough emphasis on treating the whole patient. My practice is all about treating the whole person, and a philosophy that increasing total wellness is the start of improving any specific conditions a patient might be having. It’s about maintaining health rather than treating symptoms. My work with Zenith Labs is an extension of my own principles of practicing medicine: First Do No Harm, Following the Guidance of Nature, Identify and Treat the Causes, Doctor as Teacher, Treat the Whole Person, Prevention.
Please tell us how you make sure your customers will become raving fans of your company?
I focus on my patients as whole people, not just a set of symptoms on a chart. I care about how any health problems they’re having affect not only them but also the people they care about. If their personal life suffers because of an illness, they aren’t ready to heal. I treat the whole person, not just their illness. I’ve brought this philosophy into my business. I’m not just selling or throwing jargon at people; I show them a way to naturally improve their health in terms they can understand.
Please tell us the one thing that separates your business from the competition?
Naturopathic medicine is a science that not many understand, and that can lead to a type of stigma from more conventional medical practitioners. What sets my business apart from the others is that I have a wealth of experience and knowledge in natural healing and strive to bring that knowledge to every customer. Static ways of thinking tend to hinder innovation. As a people, we tend to do things because it’s the way they’ve always been done. I refuse to operate my business that way. I have a vision and philosophy, and I have to look at myself in the mirror every day. If I’m not giving my clients the kind of treatment I’d expect, how can I do that?
And to finish this section, please tell us what is the one major key to your company’s success?
I care. It sounds like a simple concept, but that’s really my secret sauce, so to speak. If you care about what you’re putting into the world, others can tell, and they feel more comfortable about what you’re bringing them. Empathy is contagious. If you show it to others, they’ll show it to you. We’ve all had conversations with people where we’re pretty sure that they’re just politely waiting for us to shut up so they can talk again. You can’t practice medicine that way, and unfortunately, that’s how some medical practitioners operate. They form a diagnosis before they even meet you and tune out anything that might negate that diagnosis. I believe that my patients know more about their own bodies than I do. I give knowledge and let my clients come to their own decisions.
For our readers just starting to build a company, what advice can you give entrepreneurs just starting out with a new venture?
Doubt is the death of innovation. When I started out, there were many times when I doubted whether my business would succeed. The company wasn’t getting as much attention as I thought it would, and I questioned whether or not the whole venture was worthwhile. In my case, word of mouth began to spread, and the company began to find a footing. Don’t let your doubt kill your dream.
For entrepreneurs seeking to build a business as successful as yours, what one big piece of advice can you give them when times get a little challenging?
Don’t compromise on your vision. You may not end up where you thought you would when all is said and done, but if you compromise on your overall vision and values, you’re more likely to simply give up. As long as you know that you’re working toward something that puts more good into the world, then no amount of setbacks can stop you.
In today’s fast-changing business environment, how do you stay abreast of things?
I try to be a sponge of legitimate information. I read books, web journals, scientific research databases, and customer emails. I pay very little attention to ‘trendy” topics, media outlets, or the social media posts of others. I try to absorb everything I can because in science because science is all about learning and exploring what’s possible. My ideas and the status quo are not the “end all be all,” and if you’re not able to admit that there might be a better way, then you stagnate.
What is your “Why”? In one sentence, why do you get up in the morning?
Personally, my wife and two sons. Professionally, I love getting to help people demystify medicine in a way that gives them the ability to increase their overall health on their own terms. So much knowledge has been kept behind the gates of those with authority. What drives me is breaking down those gates and making the average person on par with the authority as far as their knowledge base goes.
In one sentence, what is the most important thing one has to do to be a great leader?
Consistency and Integrity are inspirational. You have to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. If those who follow you see that you don’t practice what you preach, they won’t follow. My leadership philosophy has always been working twice as hard as whoever follows you. We’ve all had those leaders that expect the moon out of us while we see them simply reaping the rewards of our labors. I like to set my people up to reap the benefits of their own rewards and don’t find my sense of validation through those around me.
In one sentence, describe how important your customers are to your business?
My customers are everything to my business. It literally would not exist without them. Not just because they buy the products, but because there is no better sales tool than a satisfied customer. Word of mouth has built my business into what it is. Studies show that customers who have a good experience will tell two people about it, but customers who have a negative experience will tell up to ten people about it. Think about how you look at reviews on a business website. Do you look for positive reviews? Most likely, you look for the negatives because most of us seem to think that the negative is closer to the truth than the positive.
In one sentence, describe a positive way that technology can make the world a better place?
Knowledge is power. In the middle ages, those with knowledge were the ultimate authority on what was acceptable in society. They jealously guarded their knowledge and, in most cases, committed it to books because they were expensive and the average person was illiterate. The printing press changed all that. In our day, the internet is the new printing press. Technology makes knowledge easier to obtain for everyone, not just the privileged.
In one sentence, tell us how something positive to motivate our readers?
You are the arbiter of your own destiny. Nothing is set in stone, and you have the power to decide how your life will go. I’m not placing the entire responsibility for everything that has happened to people in their lives on them. We can’t control other people’s actions, but we can control how we react to them.
In one sentence, tell us how you start your day to get ready?
I start my day with a health regimen that I’ve been following for years. I take a few supplements daily to get myself ready to face the day. Then I take some time to simply mentally prepare myself to face whatever I have on my schedule. Preparation is the key to being able to deal with whatever life might throw my way.
In one sentence, describe how you handle rejection and setback?
I accept responsibility for those things in my control. It’s easy to blame external factors for your setbacks. This is reductive, though. If you don’t address any mental blocks or personal hang-ups that may have influenced your decision-making.
In one sentence, describe what your hiring philosophy is?
I engage team members who share my vision but aren’t robots who will parrot my beliefs. I need to be challenged because, without questions, nothing ever changes. Without people who question conventional wisdom, we wouldn’t have polio vaccines or antibiotics. Doctors would probably still be practicing bloodletting or putting leeches on people to remove the bad blood causing their illness.
In one sentence, describe how you keep your sanity in a competitive business environment?
Time management at work increases time availability for my personal satisfactions and blessings. I used to just let things happen as they would, and life ate me up. I learned to segregate my time between working on my business and working on me because if I’m not healthy, I can’t make my patients healthy. I like to travel, so I make a concerted effort to discover new places all the time, even if they’re in my own backyard.
