Speaker 1: 0:31

Hi, I'm Glenn Ashcraft with Game Day Men's Health. We're a men's health clinic in Reston Virginia and we appreciate the opportunity to come on your podcast.

Speaker 3: 0:41

Absolutely. I'm Tara Ashcraft, and thank you for having us here today.

Speaker 2: 0:46

Yes, talk to me a little bit about your business and the type of services that you're providing for your clients.

Speaker 1: 0:51

Well, it's sort of a niche market. It's men's health, and for most situations, women's health takes a center stage In the health and wellness market, probably 75% of all of the health and wellness is done by women.

Speaker 1: 1:11

The health and wellness is done by women, and so the men's health is, like I said, it's kind of a niche. It's a smaller market, but it's an important market. If you think in terms of kind of how guys are, we're dudes, you know, and we're raised by dads who were raised by grandpas. And if you think about your dad and your grandpa, it's dad. When's the last time you've been to the doctor? Grandpa's like I don't need that, you know, yes, and so that's basically why it's such a needed market because men tend to neglect themselves.

Speaker 1: 1:45

And what we're here to do is to try to bring that health and wellness space to these guys.

Speaker 2: 1:51

Absolutely. Did you want to add to?

Speaker 3: 1:52

that it's very important that men get the care that they need Because, like Glenn was saying, women it's so common for them, but men it isn't, and so it's just a great opportunity to have this clinic and opportunity to be able to help them in their wellness journey and give them a better quality of life.

Speaker 2: 2:13

Absolutely. And now I'd like to touch on some of those, I guess, services or needs that people are coming to you for specifically, obviously men, testosterone health, erectile dysfunction, weight loss, vitamin injections. Talk to me a little bit about these things and what are some troubles that men are coming to you guys for?

Speaker 1: 2:30

Right, right, yeah, we call it our core four. So, as you pointed out. So TRT therapy, testosterone, erectile dysfunction, weight loss, peptides, vitamins. We do see that there is a want, not necessarily a need, but there's a want for some Botox. So we throw in Botox in there pretty soon.

Speaker 1: 2:51

Wow, I'm surprised there are men that want Botox. But the interesting thing is about our clinic. The reason why it is solely focused on men this niche market that I mentioned is because of some of these issues that men are having. So if you're dealing with some sort of testosterone deficiency, which is very common in men, especially after the age of 35. After the age of 35, your testosterone really starts to fall off a cliff and most men, if you ask them like what's your TRT numbers, what's your testosterone numbers, they're like what numbers?

Speaker 2: 3:28

What is that?

Speaker 1: 3:28

Yeah, what numbers are you talking about? And so you can come in and get a complimentary test and we can show you what your numbers are in the clinic, on the spot. And that's so important because a lot of men are suffering from symptoms. So it isn't necessarily just about your numbers, it's also about your symptoms, testosterone deficiency include. You know, if you're a guy that's, say, 40 or 50 years old and you start going um, um, um, what's that guy's name again, what's that guy's name again? You sort of have that brain fog. You're not sharp, you're not crisp. And in today's world, especially in the areas that we live in here in Northern Virginia, we have a lot of very progressive men. We've got highly technical jobs. We're in a very technical area, right, whether it be our data centers or our cybersecurity. These men are on the cutting edge of technology. So their minds need to be sharp and clear and as they get older, testosterone deficiency causes them to be a little bit more of a brain fog situation.

Speaker 1: 4:34

Also lack of energy. You just want to sit on the couch. Maybe you have an opportunity to go play some golf, maybe you want to go play some pickleball, but you're kind of like you're lethargic and you just I'll just hang out on the couch today. When you get testosterone your testosterone replacement therapy meaning we're replacing the testosterone that you're deficient with it is like a you're like a new guy. You start firing on all cylinders. You're thinking you're fired up. What can I do? What can I do? You have the energy. I want to go do this, I want to go do that. Which sort of leads into TRT. I would never say that it is a weight loss drug when we have the weight loss drugs in the other category.

Speaker 1: 5:16

But what it does is it makes you more active. So a lot of times, as men are less active, they start to put on a few unwanted pounds.

Speaker 1: 5:28

So when they become more active it's sort of a natural progression that they start getting leaner in their physique and so, and then obviously there's the things that, because our clinic does deal with sexual health, trt plays a very critical role in a man's libido. So, not to make too much fun of it, but if you can think back, whenever a guy is 15 years old, 18 years old, is 15 years old, 18 years old, right, very active libido, okay. And as we get older we get focused on our jobs, focused on providing for the family, focused on all these things, and as our TRT starts to drop, at the same time, well, your libido drops. And it's sort of interesting. I tell a lot of my you know patients that come in just ing jest I say look, usually one of the first phone calls we get after you get on TRT therapy is your wife telling us what did you do? So, yeah, so obviously it has a big impact on your libido as well.

Speaker 3: 6:29

So that's.

Speaker 1: 6:30

TRT therapy. It's very important. I consider it a foundation. It's what makes us a man. It's a foundational thing. It's just like the floor we're sitting on right now. It is the basis for who we are as men and it's so important to have those numbers, or our testosterone, at the right levels that it's supposed to be at.

Speaker 1: 6:51

Now ironically, I'm not suffering from any delusions that we're the only place that you can get TRT therapy, but I would argue that we are one of the best places to get it. The reason being is because, you know, some guys can get it from the local gym, where they shouldn't be getting it from. But here's the interesting thing about it what we do at our clinic is we manage their care. We're going to be managing them one step along the way. So we have nurse practitioners, our medical assistants, and one of the interesting things about TRT therapy is there are some side effects, but these side effects are manageable.

Speaker 1: 7:31

So one of the side effects is your hemoglobin levels. Your blood starts to get thick. So if you are taking testosterone therapy or taking testosterone without managing your blood hemoglobin levels, your blood will start to get thicker over time. That's not instantaneous, but it's sort of a gradual thickness. Well, here's the interesting thing about thick blood when you have thicker blood, you actually become more lethargic. That goes totally against what you're trying to do with your therapy, because your therapy you're going to gain energy, right? Well, if you're gaining this energy but then your blood is getting thicker, it's just counteracting what you're trying to do. So that's why you want us to help you manage it.

Speaker 1: 8:15

We're going to do continuous blood testing. We're going to know where you are at all times. We're going to manage you well. So that's basically, in a nutshell, the TRT. It's life-changing. It's life-changing because it's foundational and most men's foundations are a little shaky, so we're trying to shore up that foundation changes men's lives. Now, unfortunately, there is a thing called erectile dysfunction. Erectile dysfunction, you know, it's just one of those unfortunate things that happen in life. And what we aim to do. The reason why we have our clinic, the way our clinic is, is it is a safe space for men.

Speaker 1: 8:58

We will never have women in our clinic. It is a men's only clinic and the reason why we won't have women in our clinic is because, basically, I don't want a man coming in where he is suffering from something like that and he could be in a situation where you know that's, internally and emotionally, he's not in the best place and I want him to feel like he's in a place of solitude.

Speaker 1: 9:19

He's in a place where men can come and get taken care of, and so we have treatments for that. I obviously the first thing I do is recommend, you know, having their TRT tested because, like I said, it has a direct impact on libido. Yeah, so they could have erectile dysfunction as related to just being low testosterone. So we check that first, because it's foundational, as I said, but then, if you know, if our nurse practitioners and our doctor deem that TRT therapy isn't quite enough for them, we do have some wonderful procedures that have highly effective In our patients. We've seen highly, highly effective results Men that suffered from erectile dysfunction only to within 6, 8, maybe 12 weeks, because we do weekly treatments.

Speaker 1: 10:13

They are literally 90% back where they were.

Speaker 3: 10:16

Yeah, it's wonderful, it's wonderful.

Speaker 1: 10:18

And so they walk in the clinic, maybe with their head hanging low. After eight weeks of treatment, they're walking out of the clinic with their head high.

Speaker 3: 10:27

Yeah, and that's the best feeling to see that Wonderful.

Speaker 2: 10:30

Yes.

Speaker 3: 10:30

To see patients come in. You know they're got some issues there that they're dealing with. It's really affected them emotionally and mentally not only physically, and then to be able to give them those treatments and then to watch them walk out just just happier. Their confidence is greater. So that that is just it's. You know, it's priceless.

Speaker 1: 10:52

Yeah, and I can remember our first uh, cause you know, our clinic is new, we opened in August and our first uh it's, it's, the procedure is called Gaines wave, uh, and so our first Gaines wave patient. I mean, obviously HIPAA can't tell you everything, but I can tell you this much Um, when I was sitting down with him he confided in me and now he was with our nurse practitioner alone and they, you know, they she diagnosed and he worked with her. But then it comes down to the financial aspect of it. This is cash paid medicine. So there obviously was a a cost element to him and he was a little concerned about the cost.

Speaker 1: 11:32

And I remember I walked in, they asked me to come in. He was, he was okay with it. So I came in and sat down with him and I said look, I said what I want most of all is for you to be treated and for you to be and I said this fixed for the lack of a better term. I care more about you getting treatment and getting well than I do about the money. And he said why is that? I said because I know that if we can treat you and we can do good by you, that is going to pay dividends later on.

Speaker 2: 12:06

Yes, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 12:07

And so what we did was we made sure that he was taken care of. It was a highly discounted rate to where he can get the treatment he needed, and just a wonderful experience. He's basically a lifelong friend at this point oh, yes, yeah. And because it worked.

Speaker 2: 12:24

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 12:24

You know, that's the beauty of it, is that it worked. Then obviously we have moving on. We have part of the core for the weight loss. You know the standard weight loss drugs you know the semaglutide, the terzepatide.

Speaker 2: 12:37

GLPs, yeah, yeah the.

Speaker 1: 12:38

GLPs, so our nurse practitioners can prescribe that to anyone. And then when you move on to the peptides now, the peptides is kind of an interesting concept. Yeah, yeah, it's an interesting thing because I am no peptide guru. I don't profess to be a peptide guru. There are peptide gurus, there are podcasts out there with these peptide gurus and any of these listeners can go tune into any of those guys.

Speaker 1: 13:09

We have a catalog of peptides, usually what we see in our clinic. We have a few peptides that are kind of the hot peptide today. You know, a Cermorellin is one of them, and what I do is I have this big catalog with all these peptides in it and many times what men do is they learn about these peptides on their own from these podcasts and they're thinking, okay, I want this specific peptide because it does a specific thing. Yeah, okay, and now where can I find it? We have them all and you can find them with us and you're more than welcome to come. Now the one. The funny thing about the peptides is because they're kind of a, we call them experimental. They're continuously developing more every day.

Speaker 1: 14:01

So it's almost like uh, every day you wake up there's a new peptide that someone can get involved yeah.

Speaker 1: 14:06

Yeah, I think it has something to do with amino acids in our body, uh, and they're sort of a derivative of those amino acids, but, um, but anyway, uh, what I often tell my, uh, our guys, our members, is, you know, because they're sort of how they're going to self-educate themselves and they're going to sort of learn about this, and obviously, our nurse practitioners, they have a certain amount of knowledge on these, enough to where it's, you know, safe, right, we're going to maintain your safety, but in terms of all the nuances. I'll give you an example One day I was interested in one of these peptides that we had, and so I got one of those papers, like the papers that the doctors write, A prescription.

Speaker 1: 14:54

No, no, they're like a white paper. They're like 100 pages where these medical guys write the journals. Yeah, no, they're like a white paper. They're like a hundred pages where these medical guys write journals.

Speaker 2: 15:00

Yeah, journal, yeah, medical journal. Yeah, there we go.

Speaker 1: 15:03

So so I read this medical journal and I'm probably 50 pages into it and the whole thing has got words that long, right and um. So the interesting thing is is that, like I said, men will self-educate when it comes to these peptides and I just tell them look, here's my commitment to you. We're going to sell you a pharmaceutical grade from our pharmacy grade peptide and I guarantee I'm going to beat the price of anybody around.

Speaker 1: 15:28

Okay, big words there, I guarantee it, and so that's the peptides, and obviously we have vitamin therapy. So many of our guys come in and you know, there are these places that you've probably heard of them where they have IV therapy.

Speaker 2: 15:43

You can get on an IV bag.

Speaker 1: 15:45

We don't provide IV therapy at our clinic. But you know, there's an argument to be made for just taking a good old B12 shot. Yeah, and so we obviously sell the B12s to the guys and that's kind of our clinic in a nutshell, it's kind of a man cave when you come in. It's sort of all sports related.

Speaker 2: 16:05

Just what they like. Yeah, you know.

Speaker 1: 16:07

I threw a personal touch in there and we have a coffee bar that would rival.

Speaker 2: 16:12

Starbucks.

Speaker 1: 16:13

Yeah, starbucks, it really would Okay. Yeah, it's pretty close, so yeah anyway.

Speaker 3: 16:18

Yeah, they're really comfortable. The men that come in, they they come, you know, comment consistently on just how relaxing it is, how it is like a, you know, a man cave feel they got sports. They can get their coffee, their sports drink or water, and so they can just relax.

Speaker 2: 16:35

One-stop shop.

Speaker 3: 16:37

Yeah, exactly, one-stop shop. And so either, that's what we want to make. It we want to make to where the men are comfortable coming in and they can enjoy the experience. It's not just your typical medical office, you know, that's maybe just got that sterile, you know, kind of feel, but they're able to come in and relax and takes courage for them to come in anyway just to walk through the door Because, like Glenn was saying, it's easier for women, I think, to go and talk to doctors and go and address our health issues. I think we do that a lot easier than men and, you know, especially with issues like ED or just you know, there's symptoms of feeling down and not having a quality of life, for them just to even walk through the door is amazing.

Speaker 3: 17:19

Yes, we want to make sure that we give them the best care, best experience possible and I feel definitely at game day. We definitely do that.

Speaker 1: 17:28

That is awesome, and I can tell you a little bit about myself personally. Yes, please, so a lot of men.

Speaker 3: 17:36

I guess there's three categories of men.

Speaker 1: 17:41

There's one guy you ask him they're on TRT right now. Have you ever heard of TRT? Yeah, I'm on it. The other category is maybe no. What are you talking about? What is this TRT? And I guess the third category is I've been on it and I'm looking to get back on it, kind of thing. So you know, when I, when I was first introduced to it and I would say it was 2017 or 18, basically my closest friend told me hey, man, you got to check this out. And I was what are you talking about Testosterone? And he was like yeah, man, yeah, check it out.

Speaker 2: 18:16

Oh man, I already have that.

Speaker 1: 18:17

Exactly yeah. So what, you're thinking? You already have it. And so I said where do I go? He said man, just go get your numbers checked. So here's what I did.

Speaker 1: 18:27

First thing I did was it was really a convoluted experience that we have with Game Day Menself have eliminated All right. The first thing I did was I went to my primary care physician. I went to her she's wonderful, we love her to death and I said hey, uh, my brother was telling me I need to get my numbers checked. And she. Her first question was I mean, why do you have any problems? And I said well, no, he just, he just told me to do it. She said uh, okay, uh, go down and you know, give your blood. It was just in the same clinic, just down the hall. So I gave the blood. She says I'll call you and tell you the results. Okay, great, so I leave. She calls me back the next day. And this is her response You're normal. And I went I'm normal, cool. She says yeah, I'm like, great.

Speaker 1: 19:14

So I called my bro up and I said hey, man, she. She said I'm normal, I'm a normal man, but what is your numbers? Yeah, and I said I don't know what you're talking about. She just told me I was normal. And so he said man, they're supposed to give you like a number, like your number. Your testosterone level is this. And I was like, but she didn't do that, man, I said, all right. So at that point I went to, I made a appointment with an endocrinologist. This is the hormone, wow. So I go to the endocrinologist and he checks and he says well, this is your number. And I think at the time I was around 250 or 300. And he said the good news is is you're normal? Uh, the bad news is is you're really at the low end of the scale.

Speaker 2: 20:06

So there's that disparity right there I'm at the bottom of the scale.

Speaker 1: 20:09

And he said so, insurance is not going to cover that, you know. Uh, so what do you want to do? And I said what can I do? He says, well, you know, I can, you know I can, I can do this, you know, with its cash pay because insurance doesn't cover it. So I just kind of you know hem and haw about it and I left.

Speaker 1: 20:31

So my bro asked me what's your deal? I said, well, I'm this, you know. And he said this. He said OK, he says man, he's overcomplicating it. He said go down to one of these clinics like our clinic. And so I went to a clinic just like our clinic. I walked in the front door Now, this is back in Texas, because we used to live in Texas. Um, walked in the front door. They tested me just like we do. They tested my blood on the spot, had my numbers on the spot, nurse practitioner met with me 30 minutes later. I'm on TRT therapy that fast. So I went, took me three visits primary care physician, endocrinologist and finally at a clinic like our clinic. Just to full circle, come around to what we provide day one, you can just come right in.

Speaker 2: 21:15

That is wild. See, this is why you need this space for men, because maybe some, maybe somebody's listening right now and they're like wait, what numbers, what? Ok, I'm going to go, it is so common.

Speaker 3: 21:26

We hear that all the time, you know, from from men that have come in and they've gone, just like Glenn. They've gone to multiple physicians and they're just not getting the help that they need, and time, so much time, goes by to where they're having all of these symptoms and they're not feeling well. And so you know they come into our clinic and, just like Glenn said, within 45 minutes you of course have a relaxing time in our in the, in the waiting area with your drink you can then use, get your blood tested. You're then able to see our nurse practitioner go over your results, share what you desire for what you're looking for. She works with you and then you can be on testosterone and get your first injection the same day, and then you're walking out and you're already on your way to having a better quality of life.

Speaker 2: 22:14

That is awesome.

Speaker 1: 22:15

And we throw in a complimentary B12 shot.

Speaker 2: 22:18

Look at that and a t-shirt. Oh my, anything else the hot maybe? No, I'm just kidding. That's awesome, yeah, so it's really nice.

Speaker 3: 22:26

We really want to build that relationship with our patients and we understand their time is, you know, it's precious Right, and so we want to be efficient as possible, get the best care as possible, but also, um, uh, yeah, just be able to be there for them whenever they.

Speaker 1: 22:46

They need to to come in. Yeah, and Tara mentioned patient, because that's sort of the most common way of looking at somebody, but actually the way we refer to them as members, that's true. I didn't say bros, yeah Well, yeah well, yeah, we're bros. Well, that is one of the things that's kind of my lead role, I think, at the clinic is every guy that comes in. I come in and sit down in the waiting room with them and just basically shoot the bull, because, you know, being comfortable understanding that we're a family-owned business and we, you know, really just care about the guys more than you know the almighty dollar. It's a business, so we need to make money or we'll no longer be a business, but at the end of the day, we really care about it's fun, it's fun to see men be taken care of, so that's what we're doing.

Speaker 2: 23:33

It's awesome. Now talk to me about your team. Is it just you two? You've got your nurses.

Speaker 1: 23:38

Talk to me about your team. Is it just you two? You've got your nurses. Talk to me about that? Yeah, so we have our medical director is Dr Zanbrachy and he is a surgeon in Fairfax. And then we have two nurse practitioners Kayla Bridgewater she started our clinic up with us, started our clinic up with us. She's a nurse practitioner. And then we have Jennifer Schmidt yeah, sorry, jennifer, when you see this, jennifer Schmidt is our newest nurse practitioner. And then we obviously have a medical assistant, jenny Pierce, and that's our whole team at this point.

Speaker 2: 24:18

I love it.

Speaker 1: 24:19

Now we will be opening up additional clinics. Um Alexander will be popping up, probably in July, August and, uh, we'll be also opening another clinic in Sterling. Wow so obviously the clinic we have open now is in Reston. Uh, it's near Reston town centers, on the other side of the toll road.

Speaker 2: 24:40

Okay, that is awesome, you've got some big plans coming.

Speaker 1: 24:44

We do yeah, yeah, we may move to Bethesda sometime in early 26, but yeah.

Speaker 2: 24:51

That is awesome. It's great to hear that this demographic of men is looking and wanting these services and there's been a gap that you guys have filled, it sounds like, because, just like you said, women have so many spaces. Men don't have that space to just feel like, okay, I don't have to worry about this, or them hearing this problem that I have and them thinking this about me. It's like the bro's got you here.

Speaker 1: 25:16

Right thinking this about me, it's like the bros got you here, right and the interesting thing about our, our nurse practitioners is. You know, they've been to these, uh, what do we call the hormone health Institute? And uh, they, they've got years of experience in working with men, this specific thing, testosterone therapy and so you know there's multiple ways to get testosterone. In a way, when I say get it it, I mean like sort of the administration method. So the most common method is by taking an injection, so usually it's a once a week injection.

Speaker 2: 25:50

It's the most common way of administering it.

Speaker 1: 25:54

I would say the second most common way is pellets. I particularly do the pellet therapy. I'm sorry, the second most common way is pellets. I particularly do the pellet therapy.

Speaker 2: 26:00

I'm sorry. What is pellet therapy?

Speaker 1: 26:02

Well, pellets is basically. It looks like a grain of rice.

Speaker 2: 26:05

Okay.

Speaker 1: 26:06

And depending on your prescription, women also do pellet therapy. But the difference is men may take for example, I take 11 pellets, so they take like 11 grains of rice and they insert them. So basically they just insert them subcontinuously, usually kind of on your hip, and you're good for three to four months. Okay, so instead of taking a weekly shot for your testosterone, you can have your pellets inserted and you're good for three to four months. That's a pretty convenient method. For example, a fellow just yesterday came to the clinic.

Speaker 1: 26:45

He is a government contractor and he gets deployed quite frequently and he told us his biggest concern was was he didn't want to try to take, you know, syringes across you know overseas. Right. And so the idea was he said what options do you have? And obviously, uh, jennifer, uh, just said, look, then you're the best candidate for the pellets. And so, uh, he'll take the pellets and he'll be good for three or four months. That's awesome.

Speaker 1: 27:13

There is a a sort of the newest thing out is there is an oral like a pill form that you can take for testosterone, but it isn't mainstream yet just because you have to take the pills twice a day, every day, and it's a little simpler either to get pellets or take a once a week shot.

Speaker 2: 27:33

Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1: 27:34

It'd be like taking a Flintstone vitamin twice a day.

Speaker 2: 27:36

Yeah, oh man, as a kid I think those were my favorite, but now, looking back, they taste terrible. I think people can easily forget.

Speaker 3: 27:42

you know you can get off schedule with that, so the pellets are fantastic because you know men who travel like. You know what I'm saying. Deployed, they travel for work. Often they're busy and you don't have to think about the once a week injection, and so it works well for many men. Yeah Right.

Speaker 2: 28:06

And then, what have you found to be some challenges starting up your business? Like anything that you've learned that you want to share with other entrepreneurs, anything that you've learned about yourselves, maybe?

Speaker 1: 28:12

I think the most challenging thing for me is unrelated to the health care aspect. It's really marketing. Yeah, one reason why we were interested in doing your podcast is because this is an opportunity to get out there.

Speaker 2: 28:28

You've come to the right place, right.

Speaker 1: 28:30

And so, at the end of the day, you can have the greatest thing. Maybe you found the largest greatest thing you know, maybe the large, maybe you found the largest diamond that's ever been found in the world, but yet you don't know. It's in a drawer somewhere.

Speaker 2: 28:44

Nobody knows.

Speaker 1: 28:45

Nobody knows. They don't know about it.

Speaker 1: 28:47

So I think the most difficult thing and I am not naturally a salesman, I am more or less just a. I'm just a, you know, just a good old boy that likes to talk, I guess. But I'm not really a salesman, so I'm not real pitchy in it. I basically present the data, this is what we have, this is what we want to do to help you, and so we're not pushy.

Speaker 1: 29:12

But marketing, I think, is the most difficult aspect of it. It's sort of getting the word out there and, as I mentioned, those three guys the ones that's already on it, ones that are thinking about getting on it, and then you got those folks that have no idea what it is. So when you're marketing to somebody that really has no idea what it is, you know where's your credibility right? And what we find is is that, just like I was introduced to TRT therapy, I was introduced by my bro, and so the best method of spreading the word for this is guys basically telling their bros hey, man, this is what I'm doing, and in the absence of that, it's hard to achieve that credibility. To where they're going. A person's going to go from zero to I know nothing about TRT, to yes, I'm going to let you stick something in my arm.

Speaker 2: 30:00

Yes.

Speaker 1: 30:02

So that's a difficult challenge, but it's a worthy challenge Because every man, every single man, suffers from some degree from TRT deficiency, because every man is going to drop. Now it's the degree that their testosterone drops. We had a fellow come in. It was probably after the third or fourth week we opened. I told the guy he was about 70, I think, and his testosterone was off the charts.

Speaker 2: 30:40

Through the roof. Yes, what's the secret You're about to tell us?

Speaker 1: 30:45

I think it's just that generation, so I didn't say this earlier, but if you've made it this far to know what that range is about, 18 year old kid, his testosterone levels are running around eight to 900. Okay, and as I mentioned earlier, when I had my testosterone tested in 2017 or 18, I was like 300. Okay so you can see the difference. A difference.

Speaker 2: 31:10

Yeah, a 40 year old man is 300.

Speaker 1: 31:10

An 18 year old kid is eight or 300. Okay, so you can see the difference. The difference yeah, a 40-year-old man is 300. An 18-year-old kid is 800 or 900.

Speaker 2: 31:15

Yeah, Right.

Speaker 1: 31:15

So that's sort of put that in your mind as the relationship. This old fella come in and he's 70 and he was pushing 650.

Speaker 2: 31:25

And.

Speaker 1: 31:25

I literally told him. I said oh my gosh, you're an inspiration to all men. I said I wish I had some sort of medal to give you.

Speaker 2: 31:33

Put him on the wall, this guy.

Speaker 1: 31:36

Yeah, that's right, he's amazing.

Speaker 2: 31:39

Was he thrilled? Did he know that?

Speaker 1: 31:40

Well, we asked him why he came in. Was he experiencing symptoms? Because what our nurse practitioners do they're savvy, they're smart they're not only going to just look at you for your numbers. In other words, they don't just go this is your numbers. They also want to know what your symptoms are, because symptoms are every bit as important as the numbers. And so a person may tell you well, I'm feeling depressed or I'm feeling down, I'm feeling fatigued.

Speaker 1: 32:11

Yeah, my motivation is low Um and those are every, and a person could still maybe have a 450 testosterone level, but they're. They're telling you these symptoms and you're going okay. Well, we're looking at the symptoms and basically this fella was. He said I really don't have the symptoms. Um, he said I just heard about you guys and I wanted to come in.

Speaker 2: 32:33

No problem, just looking at what's out here.

Speaker 1: 32:36

Well, the interesting thing was he said he didn't have any problems at home. That's what he said.

Speaker 2: 32:40

I don't got no problems at home. I'm good. I just want to see what's the fuss about over here. Sure enough, 650s is testosterone. That's incredible. Thank you for sharing that. It's so interesting.

Speaker 1: 32:50

So that generation now we have, he's not the only we've had a few older guys come in but our sort of targeted demographic is 30 to 65. When you're in that 30 to 65 range, that's when you start looking at your testosterone level.

Speaker 2: 33:06

Is there any like, I guess, sometimes, people who are younger and their testosterone levels are low, even though they should be on that range? Would you be able to see, I guess, clients like that? Oh yeah.

Speaker 1: 33:17

Well, you know, we typically we sort of know that guys below 30 are probably in good shape. Okay, it's sort of it's almost a futile exercise to have them come in because their testosterone levels are going to be. You know, when I say normal, they're going to be on that high range of normal, they're going to be closer to that 800 and that 300. Gotcha. So you know, I don't want to try to ever tell somebody not to come. Yeah, that's not it. But when you're asking sort of the general expectations of a guy below 30, he's typically in good shape. Now he could have a medical problem to where you know, unfortunately we've had some guys come in with that have suffered from PTSD and that PTSD has sort of resulted in some ED type issues, even as a young man, 25, 26. So you know, we would never dissuade somebody from from coming in to try to get some some help. But just in general terms, a guy below the age of 30, he's.

Speaker 2: 34:26

He's doing pretty good. That's good to know. Awesome Thank you, and is there anything that I have not touched on that perhaps you guys want to share with the listeners, whether it's? I know you talked about your location. It can be in regards to yourselves, something personal, like maybe, hobbies that you like to do outside of work, or just anything about your industry. You have the floor for that.

Speaker 1: 34:42

You want to go Tara.

Speaker 3: 34:43

You go ahead.

Speaker 1: 34:46

Well, a little about myself. I am kind of thinking of myself as a serial entrepreneur. I graduated as an engineer in 2000. I worked at a pharmaceutical company for eight years and then after that I sort of started kind of taking a different path and at some point I ended up owning a trucking company. And at some point I ended up owning a trucking company. Okay, yeah, and so through COVID there were some businesses that went down during COVID and some businesses that thrived. My particular case was my business did well and so what I was able to do was grow that business, extreme growth.

Speaker 1: 35:26

In that COVID time we doubled our business in about a two-year time frame. And then afterwards I said let's sell this thing. So we sold it. And then I sort of was wondering what I was going to do with the rest of my life. When game day was presented and I said you know what Testosterone has been so wonderful for me? Like I said, it's life-changing, it's foundational, but yet it's life-changing. I said you's life changing, it's foundational, but yet it's life changing. I said you know I'm going to do this. So that's what we did. We sort of jumped on it and ran with it.

Speaker 2: 35:57

It's awesome.

Speaker 1: 35:58

Northern Virginia is such a wonderful place. One of the interesting facts about Northern Virginia is and I look over the whole map, the whole United States it is one of the most health conscious areas in the nation. That's one of the reasons why we're so excited to be here in Northern Virginia, because they're very health focused and, if nothing more, a lot of folks just walk. You know you have the W&OD trail going through here. And a lot of people. Just they're just active, active lifestyle.

Speaker 3: 36:33

We were shocked about that when we moved here from Texas, Because just having everyone so active and walking around it was just, it was very encouraging. Yeah, it was awesome to see. We knew we were in a great area with health conscious people.

Speaker 1: 36:50

So when you have a population that's health conscious, it helps with sort of the awareness aspect of it. So you know. So yeah, marketing may be, you know, sort of my Achilles heel, but at least you're marketing to people that are focused on health. Yes, you know, when they, when they hear you know you're a health and wellness clinic devoted to men, you know it's not just deaf on their ears, it tweaks them to some degree just because the general public here is very health conscious.

Speaker 2: 37:17

Yeah, for sure, awesome.

Speaker 3: 37:21

And prior to moving here. So I was. I'm in health care, I am a registered sonographer, so I performed ultrasounds.

Speaker 2: 37:31

Nice.

Speaker 3: 37:31

So that was a great career and so I have a heart for helping other people and so, coming here and being in course, he has experience with being on testosterone and how it has greatly impacted his life and made him feel so much better and have a great quality of life. He's able to share that with men, which is very important, so much better and have a great quality of life. He's able to share that with men, which is very important.

Speaker 3: 37:54

I love that too, because I get to be part of that also. You know our members come in and be able to get on testosterone and feel better, and so that's been a rewarding experience for me as being in health care and now being in a new state, being in Virginia. Like you said, it's more health conscious, it's beautiful, and we're just excited to be here and to be able to share this with everybody.

Speaker 1: 38:15

That is awesome, yeah, and Tara's so personable. She's the face you see when you walk in the door and I'm glad the front, okay, girl. And you know she's so personable.

Speaker 2: 38:24

And I enjoy it.

Speaker 1: 38:25

Yeah, and the guys sort of man. They connect with her really easily. Sometimes you know when a new patient comes in prospective member. I guess she's talking to them and I'll come from my office to go introduce myself.

Speaker 2: 38:45

And you know, shoot the bull a little bit and a lot of times it's hard to get them from talking to her Like all right, it's time, come on from talking to her like all right, it's time, come on, tara, I need them she really relates well with them, and they relate well with her and and many of them, uh, just whether it be after their treatment, or or, or, so yeah, they like to talk with Tara yeah, and I've answered some phone calls too.

Speaker 3: 39:05

so, you know, and when they do arrive I'm able just to kind of visit and, and you know, trying to make them feel comfortable, and so I think that's really, really important. But I enjoy it. I enjoy getting to know people and talking to them one-on-one, like that.

Speaker 1: 39:19

A little about our nurse practitioners or kind of the way it's set up. You go to your primary care physician. You might get five minutes in his office. Anytime you go to your primary care, you're in there and it's like they are hurting you in and out. They might have 20 patients per hour. Well, and not at our clinic, um, because these part of it is sexual wellness or sexual health, but part of it is, um, you know, just men's health and and, like I said, it's it's sometimes we're not very talkative about these issues.

Speaker 1: 39:55

We literally devote 30 minutes to 45 minutes to each one of these guys, that is wonderful they can sit down in a real comfortable office and sort of just you know, sometimes you know I'll joke with them and it's like you guys are in there baring your soul. She's like a counselor. You know what I mean. You guys are in there bearing your soul. She's like a counselor, you know what I mean, like you're literally in there. It's like a counseling session. But that's what men need.

Speaker 1: 40:16

Men need to be able to. We're analytical and we want to process this. So what is this thing Right? And, and and our nurse practitioners, whether it be Kayla or Jennifer, are really fantastic at just listening to them and then presenting their blood results or blood test results. But, then also sort of painting, a treatment, you know sort of a treatment process for them to get them on their best game.

Speaker 3: 40:46

Yeah, and they feel heard when they come in and then they, then they get the treatment that they need and they feel hope going out.

Speaker 2: 40:52

Right.

Speaker 3: 40:53

So that's, right.

Speaker 2: 40:55

Good, that's awesome. I'm so excited and happy for what you guys have to offer for these men. Maybe somebody is listening again and they're just like, oh, I have been putting off going to the doctor for so long because I don't think they're going to get what I say, or I'm embarrassed or I don't know. Do they know what I'm talking about? And you guys know everything that's going on with men and that is what they want. They want someone who is going to listen, not judge them, and that they can have a comfortable space to be in. And I just really appreciate you guys making time to be here and sharing this and telling me about the services that you guys provide, and it's incredible.

Speaker 1: 41:28

Yeah, thank you so much.

Speaker 2: 41:29

Absolutely yeah, anytime.