Taylor Chiropractic Puts Fresh Faces Forward
Twins Craig and Cliff Taylor have done almost everything together all their lives, so naturally while they were playing lacrosse together and rooming together at Indiana University, they suffered back injuries together.
Their shared pain set them on the path to opening a business together, Taylor Chiropractic (www.thetaylordocs.com) in Buckhead.
Growing up in a Jewish household in the Atlanta area as the children of a doctor, they knew early on that they planned to go into medicine. After suffering a couple of herniated discs, Craig gained a greater appreciation for chiropractic medicine and sought a career in that field.
“I did the standard stuff,” he said. “I went to the medical doctors, to the physical therapist, and I never went to a chiropractor. As a last resort, I finally went to a chiropractor, and I haven’t had pain since. That was an ongoing thing for close to four years.”
Cliff, however, initially stuck to his plan to go into dentistry. “I was fully committed to going to dental school. I applied, took the DAT,” he said. “I got into one school, but after shadowing a couple dentists — maybe it was just the dentists that I shadowed — it wasn’t for me.”
After their college injuries, the twins transferred to the University of Georgia, where they studied biology. They then received their chiropractic degrees from Life University.
The two of them had a plan, although, looking back, they’re not clear whether there was even a conversation. It was just understood that the two would work together.
“There’s something to be said for doing it with your brother,” Craig said.
That’s not to say that working with family is free of challenges. Cliff made it clear that sometimes arguments end up between two brothers rather than between two business partners.
“We treat each other like family, but it’s easier to yell at each other because we’re not random business partners,” he said. “We always know the other will get over it, but I think it’s definitely easier to get frustrated with one another because we’re family.”
Since their business opened in September, the brothers Taylor have had a clear plan to create a new environment for chiropractic care.
Many offices, the brothers said, are focused on getting patients in and out as quickly as possible, usually spending less than 15 minutes with each person. The Taylors, however, are focused on providing a friendly face with the care they give.
The brothers said chiropractic has gained a false reputation for being curative rather than preventive. “The nervous system controls the entire body,” Cliff said. “We’d love to get all of our patients on maintenance-type care. There’s a misconception that if you’re not in pain, you don’t have to see a chiropractor; 80 percent of nerve interference causes no pain.”
Part of their mission as owners of a new practice is to demonstrate that there is more to medicine than prescriptions and surgeries.
“Thank G-d for medications and surgeries, but we know sometimes there are better ways to do things than popping pills every day. I know plenty of people my age and younger who are taking Advil every single day,” Cliff said.
“There’s alternatives to taking pills and getting shots,” Craig said.
Craig and Cliff are no strangers to the Atlanta Jewish community. As children, they spent a lot of time at the Marcus Jewish Community Center, and they were members of AEPi at the University of Georgia. They support the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces and insist that they want to be more active in the community, but they have limited time with their new business.
The biggest goal for the twins as their practice expands is education. They said patients often walk out of a chiropractor’s office feeling better but unsure of what was done or how to prevent similar issues. The Taylors want to ensure that when their patients leave, they understand how they were treated and why.
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