Dr. Cleo Amelia AP, CFMP: Don't Gatekeep the Medicine

Dr. Cleo Amelia AP, CFMP: Don't Gatekeep the Medicine

Dr. Cleo Amelia came up through chronic illness — Lyme disease, autoimmune struggles, the long road that eventually led her to a doctorate in acupuncture and Chinese medicine. She opened a clinic, added functional medicine, built something real. Then she found the online space and everything changed. In two and a half years she closed her in-person practice, built a functional medicine coaching company with eight practitioners under her, launched a second business coaching health and wellness practitioners, and hasn't looked back. What she'll tell you is that none of it happened in spite of the medicine. It happened because of it. This conversation goes deep on why TCM practitioners are the most resistant group to go online — and why that resistance might be the thing that kills the profession. Cleo talks about ideal client messaging, the difference between selling sessions and selling transformation, the mindset work that almost nobody wants to do but everybody needs, and why if you have a gift and you're not putting it out there, she finds that selfish. She also gets candid about her own anxiety at the peak of her success — and the hypnotherapy that helped her understand where it was coming from.

Dr. Jordan Barber, DAOM: Stop Translating the Medicine Into a Language That Can't Hold It

Dr. Jordan Barber is a Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, bestselling author, pelvic floor specialist, and owner of multiple practices in New York. He took his most recent cash-based practice from zero to full and high six figures in eight months. But none of that is why this conversation matters. What matters is that Jordan is one of the rare practitioners who has actually metabolized the medicine — not as a clinical system to deploy, but as a path of cultivation that informs everything from how he needles to how he builds a business to how he moves through the world. What we cover: Why the retreat from energetic language isn't a sign of clinical maturity — it's a profession-wide crisis of confidence dressed up as pragmatism. What the Nei Jing actually says about the arrival of qi and why that should be the organizing principle of every treatment, regardless of technique. The three tiers of practitioner described in the classics and the 13th century commentary that noted most practitioners believe themselves to be at the top when they are decidedly not. Why graduating as a generalist is a positioning problem before it is ever a marketing problem, and how finding your specific clinical obsession changes everything downstream. The zheng principle — uprightness — as both a clinical and entrepreneurial foundation, and why moving from a position of power is the only sustainable path in either domain. Why scattering qi into borrowed modalities and weekend certifications is the same root pattern presenting in your treatment room every day. And the only two diagnostic questions that matter when building a practice from the ground up. This is the conversation the profession needs to be having with itself.

Dr. Rosanna de la Cruz, DACM, L.Ac.: The Perimenopause Symptoms Nobody Warned You About

Dr. Rosanna de la Cruz is a Chinese medicine doctor, functional medicine practitioner, and owner of three women's health clinics in the New York area. She specializes in reproductive health and has spent her career helping women reclaim vitality, energy, and joy — particularly through perimenopause and beyond. She is also living proof that the second spring is real. In this conversation, David and Rosanna go deep on what women are being told is normal — and what isn't. What we cover: * Why most doctors refuse to test hormones during perimenopause and what that's actually costing women. * The symptoms nobody talks about — vagus nerve dysregulation that mimics fainting, and nighttime heart palpitations that look like anxiety but are driven entirely by cortisol. * Why a ferritin level of 5 gets sent home with a clean bill of health — and what it's actually doing to your hair, energy, and quality of life. * The troubling history of gynecology and how unconscious bias still shapes the care women of color receive today, from dismissed pain to disproportionate hysterectomy rates. * Why the combination of acupuncture, herbal medicine, functional medicine, and lifestyle change is not optional — it's the whole point. * And what it actually means to determine your own normal and refuse to settle for anything less. This episode is for practitioners who want a sharper clinical lens on women's health, and for any woman who has ever sat in a doctor's office and been told to just deal with it.

Dr. Jeff Rippey, LAc: Western Medicine Erased Homeopathy. Acupuncture Could Be Next.

Dr. Jeff Rippey has been a martial artist, anthropologist, and is an acupuncturist with over 40 years in the arts, time studying in China, and a rural Missouri practice running 115–120 treatments a week on under $5,000 a month in overhead. He reached out after watching a previous Dragon Fireside episode — and he had some things to say. In this conversation, David and Jeff pull no punches on the real state of the acupuncture profession. What we cover: * Why the push toward insurance billing is a losing battle — and why the profession should stop fighting it. * The geographic concentration problem: 44% of US acupuncturists practice in just three states, and what that means for any national advocacy effort. * The homeopathy warning — a detailed historical parallel for what happens when alternative medicine gets absorbed into the mainstream medical system without protection. * Why the apprenticeship model and rural relocation may be the most underutilized tools in the profession. * What it actually looks like to build a thriving cash practice in a town of 70,000 people with a two-week waitlist. And why the last two weeks of every month are pure profit. This is one of the most strategically honest conversations to appear on Dragon Fire.Side. If you're in practice, considering school, or trying to figure out a path that actually works — this episode is required listening.

Dr. Lisa Pool, LAc: The Debt Crisis Destroying the Acupuncture Profession

---------------------------------------- Podcast Description: Dr. Lisa Poole is an 18-year licensed acupuncturist, single parent, MBA graduate, and one of the most honest voices in the profession. After nearly two decades in practice, she's transitioning out of full-time clinical work — not because she wanted to, but because the financial reality of this profession simply doesn't add up for most practitioners. In this episode, David and Lisa have the conversation the acupuncture profession keeps avoiding. What we cover: The 2005–2006 removal of bankruptcy protections for student loans — and how it caused tuitions to immediately double and triple across the country. Why student loan attorneys consistently identify naturopaths and acupuncturists as the hardest-hit professions in the United States. What borrower's defense is and why Lisa believes every acupuncturist with federal student loans has a legitimate case. The debt-to-income data showing most acupuncture schools are charging 400–700% of what the career can actually support. Why schools bear direct responsibility for never building career pathways into hospitals and medical clinics. What real advocacy looks like — from getting acupuncture added as an essential benefit in Oregon to nearly two decades of federal student loan reform work. And where the real hope lives — because patient demand has never been higher, and the medicine isn't going anywhere. This one is honest, grounded, and worth your time whether you're in practice, considering school, or just trying to understand why such a powerful medicine is struggling to survive. ---------------------------------------- Chapters * 00:00 The Journey to Acupuncture * 15:00 Challenges in the Acupuncture Profession * 23:11 Advocacy and Legislative Efforts * 30:53 Community Engagement and Advocacy * 40:36 Hope and Resilience