My name is Jerry Kennedy. I’m a Christian, a husband, a dad of 3, a former chiropractor, and the founder of Purpose Local.
When I was 24-years-old, I opened a chiropractic practice and began my journey of small-business ownership. Like most small-business owners, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. Running a small business was much harder than I thought it was going to be.
It’s a miracle that I didn’t have to close my practice in those first few years. I was a hot mess, but I was bound and determined to make it work. By the grace of God, and with a lot of trial and error, I started to make sense of my local business.
But unlike most chiropractors, it turns out that I liked being a business owner more than I liked being a chiropractor. So after 9 years in practice, I decided to close up shop. I very much appreciated my patients and the time I spent in practice, but I felt like life was taking me in a new direction.
Over the past few years, I have been working as a business consultant for chiropractors. My job has been to help new and struggling chiropractors better understand their business/marketing and get their practices on track. It’s a role that is near and dear to my heart because of my own struggles as a young chiropractor.
One of the things I have learned over the last several years is that most business struggles that chiropractors deal with are not unique to them. In general, small-business owners struggle to have the kind of impact in their community that they would like to have. It's incredibly frustrating.
When I decided to start Purpose Local, I had two things in mind. First, I wanted to help small-business owners grow their local business, as I have for so many chiropractors. Second, I wanted to create a place where Christian small-business owners could get encouraged in their faith.
As a Christian and a small business owner, I know that my faith is at the core of how I treat people and how I run my business. Ultimately, I can not fulfill my purpose as a small-business owner independent of my greater purpose, to glorify the Lord. The two go hand in hand.
Colossians 3 tells us that whatever we do, we should do it “as to the Lord and not to men.” Owning a small local business isn’t for everyone, but it is for some. My hope is that Purpose Local provides small-business owners with tips, services, and tools that help them walk more worthy of their calling.
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