Guy F. Riekeman, D.C., has been called, "the voice of those who demand excellence and the inspiration for those who dare to dream possibilities."

As president of Quest Seminars and an internationally known speaker, he has devoted substantial time and energy to the chiropractic community. "My goal is to help all chiropractors rediscover their potential and passion," he explained, "to the extent that they may live their lives fully and well."

He is already well on his way to realizing that goal: His insights, philosophy and dynamic style have been the catalyst for change to 1,200 current, successful Quest participants and over 20,000 chiropractors, their staff and lay people.

After graduating Palmer College in 1972, Riekeman found himself in a position of professional and personal stagnation despite a highly successful, wellness-based practice.

He had become a caricature of the typical chiropractor, relentlessly seeking out new patients and educating them, eager to reach even more people with his philosophy. In short, he was running in place.

As he looks back on it now, he says he realized he could have an even stronger impact in chiropractic by accepting an appointment as vice president and dean of philosophy at a chiropractic college. In addition to adjusting a hundred patients each day, he could teach hundreds of students each day.

At the same time, Riekeman embarked on a joint venture with Dr. Joseph Flesia and co-founded Renaissance International in 1977. This company combined both doctors extensive knowledge of the Vertebral Subluxation Complex with Riekeman's production and film interests.

To Riekeman, chiropractic, "represents a blending of science and practical living and stands at the forefront of society and recognition that health comes from within and that nature needs no help, just no interference." This explosive team went on to produce award-winning, educational material and provide state of the art scientific information and studies that support the validity and necessity of long-term Chiropractic care.

Despite the renewed activity in his life at this time, he still sensed a lack of evolution. This is the essential component necessary to overcome burnout, undue pressure, and loss of focus and intent.

He explains, "There are only a few peak experiences in life; dramatic moments that are the pivotal centers of change, that transform how we view the world...how we live." Concurrently, Riekeman was teaching five hours a day, maintaining his practice, and conducting 100 seminars around the world each year.

The only thing he didn't fit into his hectic schedule was play. Soon, suffering exhaustion and burnout, he withdrew to a beach in Southern California.

During this period of self-imposed seclusion, Riekeman reached some important conclusions. He recognized that chiropractors who are successful in their professional and personal lives (as well as those who are struggling) do not need sympathy or snippets of hollow encouragement to get them through the day.

What they really need is to replace the routine management rituals with an environment charged with possibility, change and effectiveness.

Riekeman was determined to design a radically contemporary source of solutions and information for chiropractors, so they no longer had to rely on antiquated and insufficient methods. He wanted to breathe life and respectability into chiropractic with something that had never been explored in such detail before. The result was a program combining philosophy, science, personal growth, purpose, patient education, staff training, and realistic financial policies, in conjunction with professionally-created, multi-faceted products.

Renewed once more, Riekeman left his beach retreat and pursued a film degree at the University of California in Los Angeles. Here, he created the tools he would later use to write and produce thirteen commercials, public service announcements, a series of "Great Moments in Chiropractic" history for national media use, a chiropractic cartoon for children with music by Lionel Richie, a video for prospective patients, a new patient education program which won the Screen Actors Guild Silver Screen award, and three videos for patient education which include: The National Health Forum, Report of Findings, and Progressive Exam Report.

These videos won an award for computer animation and all these visual materials give any office the professional edge of the future -- which is where Chiropractic deserves to be placed.

Larry Markson of Markson Management commented, "If chiropractic could only be presented on national television one time, Dr. Riekeman would be the person I would most want to represent us."

Riekeman knew that action without purpose was meaningless if it did not produce a change in a particular belief system. This paradigm shift is the essential force behind developing character, excellence and success. It also requires redefining previously held beliefs and in some cases, giving them up.

It was his belief that the world is waiting to be awakened from the state of "frenzied ineffectiveness" and begin the revitalization process and the 'phasing out' of any mediocrity in life and practice. If something is holding you back, no matter how minimal it may seem, it is not worth possessing because you simply cannot move forward, Riekeman often states.

So many variables control our lives, he noticed -- things which are not worthy of that power. He wanted to create a program which enables chiropractors to disentangle themselves from anything that does not contribute to forward-moving or thinking in their focus, intent and procedure. This includes financial policies as well.

Greg Stanley of Whitehall Management, with whom Riekeman and Quest doctors work closely added, "I believe there is no short cut or quick fix for the problems facing Chiropractors in the '90s. Riekeman's program effectively addresses the real issues while avoiding the gimmick oriented approaches that were rampant during the '80s. The feedback that we at Whitehall are getting is that the Workshop really makes a difference. I highly recommend this program to the D.C. serious about personal and practice transformation."

To spread this invaluable message, Riekeman enlisted the aid of celebrities such as Peter Graves, Jayne Kennedy, Lorne Greene, Dick Cavett, Mary Crosby, geneticist Dr. R. Pero, Dr. C. Suh, Dr. Russell Erhart and others to promote all aspects of Dr. Riekeman's philosophy through film and speaking engagements.

Barbara De Angelis, Ph.D., best selling author and national television personality stated, "As someone who inspires and motivates others for a living, I treasure those individuals who can do the same for me. Guy Riekeman is one of those treasures. He is a remarkable teacher and trainer who has had a powerful impact on my life. Guy combines his profound intelligence with an unmatched degree of personal integrity and the result is that anyone who spends time with him will experience significant breakthroughs, both personally and professionally."

Riekeman himself has inspired, awed and motivated as many as 8,000 people in a single setting. In his seminars, he sets the stage to create new, dedicated patients and to prepare current patients for a lifetime of care.

Of supreme importance, he teaches, is proper patient education, which can transform chiropractors, their staff and their patients, and produce a potent source of job, staff and patient retention.

A good patient education program can enhance the patient's chiropractic experience because it emphasizes the need for reconstructive and wellness-based care. This, in turn, helps the chiropractor by retaining ideal patients and shifting a practice that constantly scrambles for patients to one that is referral-based with high retention.

With this concept in mind, Dr. Riekeman created Quest and in so doing, "created a passionate way of being powerful in the world through vision, commitment and integrity, Quest's statement of purpose.

Riekeman adopted the basic philosophy of Quest from Walt Disney and Walt's management through values which promote effective leadership over typically conventional managers.

Dr. Jeffrey D. James of Los Angeles attests, "I have just spent some time reflecting on my first year with Quest. During these 12 months, I've opened my dream office and hired my ideal staff. I've nailed down procedure after procedure where there were none and increased my PVA to over 75. It hasn't all been easy, but I've had more breakthroughs in the last year and found a new level of commitment to my life and my dreams. I can't wait to see what the future holds."

Chiropractors in the program no longer had to compromise their values and effectiveness in this uncertain world to get those few extra patients who never come back anyway.

Chiropractic goes beyond eradicating lower back pain, Riekeman says, to establishing a new way of viewing health and wellness care. "Chiropractic would have never been created within the medical system because medicine's outside-in philosophy of treating disease precluded an idea as simple as health comes from within and the realization that health is not gained by eliminating disease but rather re-discovered by correcting interference to the individual's expression."

Because of preconceived notions, those in the profession have had to take the overwhelming and sometimes confusing responsibility of changing this belief system. To conquer this short-term health attitude, Riekeman came up with a design and plan to make this 'crusade' manageable and profitable.

The Quest Workshops were designed in 1990 to deliver everything a chiropractor would need to thrive, including a personal, thorough consultation with Riekeman himself, that immediately clears up the areas of focus, intent and procedure.

These six, two-day sessions concentrate on turning one's practice around and are modeled after Riekeman's philosophy and style. During these seminars, chiropractors explore proven, effective techniques that absolutely contribute to the growth and excitement within a practice.

Dr. Richard Barwell states, "After 29 years of successful practice, I found a way to put fun back into my office. Every time we attend Quest with the entire staff we come home on fire, especially my partners, who, like myself, double their practices after each seminar. Even now, we are celebrating our first 100 new patient month!"

Riekeman has encouraged, counseled and lead thousands of others to this kind of personal and practice success as they learn to balance financial needs with quality of life and recapture passion through integrity.

The Quest seminars also help doctors prepare an economic game plan by addressing crucial issues such as the changing health care model, insurance and fee systems with sound and effective financial guidance; establish control and direction in their practice with the foundational tools to organize, manage, prioritize and plan; release their staff's potential for excellence through leadership that strengthens the abilities of others to be mutually responsible for results; and lead the way to the rational choice in health care with a successful vision of chiropractic for the '90s.

Riekeman is so adamant about preparing chiropractors for the future that he has conducted 20 world tours, as well as established a Quest branch in Australia. He fervently proclaims, "the most prosperous times in chiropractic are just around the corner, but it will look different than the insurance trough of the '70s and '80s. Quality of practice and purpose will be equally as important as quantity."

Riekeman also offers an alternative to those who have completed the Workshops seminars in his exclusive Quest 'graduate' 20/20 program that focuses 75% on personal growth and 25% on practice growth. These members have access to highly acclaimed speakers, including Greg Stanley; Annette Long, Ph.D.; Dr. Fred Barge; Glenda Weise; Dr. Mark Victor Hanson; Dr. Charles Lantz; Annette Goodheart, Ph.D.; Stanford biologist Dr. Bruce Lipton, and many others.

In addition, the 20/20 Club offers a powerful, staff-inclusive, "Personal Integrity Course" which concludes with a team-building exercise on the Ropes Course. The real lesson they learn from Riekeman's is that adventure is a serious pursuit and life is not a spectator sport.

Riekeman invites all chiropractors, chiropractic assistants and all their patients to the grand Quest Spring Conventions on the East and West Coasts. These exceptional three days will provide the expertise of speakers such as Dr. Riekeman, Dr. Reggie Gold, Dr. Joe Flesia, Dr. Weldon Muncy, Annette Goodheart, Dr. Dan Murphy, Dr. Pat Gentempo, Dr. Ron Oberstein and more.

The Ropes Course is available to participants to help build a committed team, as well as the special "patient evening" that produces the most animated crowd of chiropractic enthusiasts anywhere to be found during this extraordinary weekend.

Riekeman has set his sites on the future, too, as the Media Chair and a $50,000 Platinum Crown Club Sponsor for the 1995 Chiropractic Centennial Foundation and Celebrations in Washington, D.C. and Davenport, Iowa. The Centennial Foundation is preparing for the celebrations through education programs which include lectures, seminars, and workshops. The Foundation, with Riekeman, is planning to produce a consumer education campaign, a Rose Bowl float, and a docudrama for national television.