The Millennials: Keeping a community fit.

Sara, Tommy and Jacob.

Editor’s Note: Sustaining a community and keeping it vibrant requires diversity on many levels, especially among age groups. An unintended movement the last few years has been the increased number of millennials who have taken a role in community and business leadership in Mason County. A millennial, also known as Generation Y, is defined as a person who was born in the early ‘80s and sooner. This generation grew up in the digital age and often offers a unique and fresh perspective to leadership.

This is the fifth  story in our weekly series on the area’s millennials who are making an impact in our community. In honor of Valentine’s Day, we offer a story on a husband and wife team. 

Sponsored by All Access Care of Ludington. Located at 329 N. Jebavy Dr. in Ludington; 231-425-4544; www.all-access-care.com.

By Kate Krieger. Senior Correspondent.

LUDINGTON – Gambling on a dream, Ludington chiropractor, Jacob Seng, 32, and his wife, Sara, 31, paid off their student loans and moved to Ludington, buying a home and setting their sites on their goal, opening a family practice centered around personal health and wellness.

“I love this area,” Jacob says. “We bought a house before even opening the practice. It was pretty scary.”

Jacob, a native of Manistee and Sara, a native of Port Salinac, met while they both lived in Lansing. Jacob graduated from Michigan State University in 2006 with a degree in kinesiology and then attended chiropractic school at Life University in Atlanta, Georgia, graduating in 2009. Sara graduated from Central Michigan University with a degree in broadcasting.

Opening NorthStar Chiropractic in February of 2010, Jacob and Sara set out to help the community understand that chiropractic care is more than just adjusting an out of aligned back.

“When I was at Life, I worked with special needs kids and a few of them had autism,” Jacob says. “I saw their symptoms change after seeing a chiropractor and thought there is something more to this. My mom died of cancer and I knew there was something bigger contributing to people’s health. I said to myself, ‘I’m going to do this,’ so I went for it.”

With a love for the profession and a drive to help people in need of a change in their own personal health, Jacob and Sara built up an office to do just that, Jacob working hands-on and Sara providing the business side of things.

“What we represent as far as chiropractic care is a whole person approach to wellness,” Jacob says. “The care is so accessible. We want to help people to learn how to maintain their health.”

NorthStar really gives people a chance to be in charge of their own health, Jacob says adding when someone comes in to see him, he might not just be checking out the client’s back, but maybe giving them wellness or health advice to assist them in creating or maintaining a better lifestyle.

“We hold workshops in the office,” he says. “When we start caring for someone, we really need to get them feeling good and then we go from there. They might need a tune-up and then they might not, but we still can give them advice on how to feel better.”

Jacob and Sara say the overall acceptance of their practice was wonderful and the community has been so great to them in their five years of business so far.

“We really had a warm welcome,” Jacob says. “Good chiropractic names like Lew Squires (Squires Family Chiropractic of Scottville) made it easy for us because he has done so many great things for the profession. It made it easy to start up here and acceptance was never an issue.”

One thing Jacob and Sara want people to understand about chiropractic care is that really only around 10 percent of the overall population is under the care of a chiropractor and they feel that many people haven’t truly been educated on how the back controls so much of the other parts of the body. Having a healthy lifestyle only just helps in feeling better everyday.

“We want to turn more people on to chiropractic care,” Jacob says. “We really want them to shift their thinking from adjustments to overall wellness. We serve people from the heart and we are trying to do the right thing at the right time for people.”

Sara adds that, “People don’t have to receive care here, just do it somewhere and stick with it. We really try to give the best experience possible.”

After working in the field for a while and doing different things to maintain better health, Jacob became certified as a Crossfit trainer in 2011 and the couple decided to open a gym in correlation with their practice. They started the gym in the back of the Bookmark in Ludington and then relocated to the old Flipstar gym on Dowland Street. With growing numbers in attendees, the couple sought out possible new locations for the gym and the booming chiropractic office.

“We were walking back to the office one day after lunch,” Sara says. “We were like, ‘hey, there’s an open corner. Let’s put both of the businesses there.’”

That open corner is located at 311 S. Rath Avenue. The current location opened in 2011 and the businesses have been growing rapidly.

“The Crossfit really just started as friends working out together,” Sara says. “Then those friends started bringing friends and we just decided to do it.”

The gym has become a very popular workout location in Ludington and the couple has opened a second gym in Manistee. They offer different programs including a kids program and a gold club for members 65 and older.

“The first month, the client works one on one with a trainer and we call it our on ramp program,” Sara says. “It gets them conditioned and they learn the different techniques, so they don’t have injuries.”

Jacob and Sara both say that Crossfit can be tailored to anyone’s workout ability and even though many people who attend Crossfit may be in great physical health, that isn’t the norm.

“Most of the clientele aren’t intense and everyone starts at a different place,” Sara says. “It can be a disservice for Crossfit over all to just see the more intense people. Mainly it is people looking to regain health. There’s an average to it all and that can push you. The community of people who are there really keep you coming back. It’s great comradery.”

Whether looking for a new start to overall better health or to maintain it, NorthStar Chiropractic and Ludington Crossfit can offer people the possible change or maintenance they need.

“It’s a big commitment,” Jacob says. “We want you to know what you’re getting into. We sit down with clients and they are either in this to make a change or you’re going to continue what you’ve been doing. It’s been incredible so far. Nothing but a great experience with the office and the gym.”