Making it: Reign

By Phil Cobb | July 14, 2022 |

SKYE POURNAZARI/THE FORUM
Michael Gard, owner of Reign Physical Therapy, graduated from the University of Missouri – Columbia with a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. Shown with his degree in the waiting room is his license to practice as a physical therapist from the state of Missouri, a drawing he created after waking from a dream, the final logo for his business and the first dollar he made with his business.

MARYVILLE, Mo. — Fulfilling one of his lifelong dreams, a local physical therapist opened the doors last week to his new business: Reign Physical Therapy.

With help from family, friends and his faith, physical therapist Michael Gard is ready to help community members with physical ailments to repair injuries, reduce pain, improve range of motion and/or increase ability for the activities of daily living.

Gard, a devout Christian, told The Forum that he woke from a dream one night and drew the beginnings of a crown logo for his new business and the word “Reign,” which can be found in Exodus 15:18 “The Lord shall reign forever and ever.”

“I wrote that down and the next day it still sounded good, so (he and his wife Jamie) kind of pursued that,” he said.

Gard, who graduated in 2013 from the University of Missouri – Columbia with a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree, is licensed as a physical therapist in the state of Missouri. He was heavily involved in Mizzou athletics during his time in Columbia. While in graduate school he spent 10 weeks doing his clinical with the Kansas City Royals during Spring Training in Surprise, Arizona.

When offered an opportunity to work in Maryville he jumped at the chance to come home and serve his community.

Prior to opening Reign he worked for nearly 10 years at the hospital in Maryville. While there he met and helped an enormous number of patients, many of which reached out to him as he began his journey to Reign.

“The support I’ve received has been really incredible, humbling really,” Gard said. “We are family owned. There’s only one of us. We’re not part of a corporate chain. … This is our dream. It’s just us. It’s been a lot, but we’re very excited about it.”

Renovation revelations

Gard has worked diligently and at great length to renovate the former MFA building north of town so his clients are comfortable while working to better their physical lives.

The building has gone through several tenants, but this is the first complete renovation and shift in orientation the office has seen in several years.

Patients now enter from the south side of the building instead of the east side. He also explained that the new layout will help with patient flow, providing a designated area for waiting patients and intake, a private examination room, as well as a brand new restroom available for waiting patients or those training.

With the majority of the office left wide open for workout exercises, the clinic feels quite spacious. Gard said for patients looking to exercise, he wanted to make sure there is plenty of room, especially for those using the Keiser Functional Trainer.

Bolted to the floor, the exercise machine uses a pneumatic pressure system to provide resistance, which Gard says helps provide a “very smooth” motion for users. It also doesn’t take up a lot of floor space, like an entire system of weights might. It also helps to measure a person’s power, which helps to track their progress. Currently the workout area has several machines, a few free weights and various straps used in numerous therapies.

Similar to a ballet barre, Gard’s clinic also features a wall-mounted stationary bar positioned so that a patient can view themselves in the mirror to replicate posture-related actions.

Gard said sometimes it takes a patient actually seeing themselves to recognize how their posture could be different.

The mirrors themselves, marred in several places by adhesive, offer a humble story that further supports Gard’s endeavor.

“Mirrors are very expensive,” he said. “… We had to be kind of resourceful in setting up our clinic.”

Avidly searching Facebook Marketplace for items the new business might need Gard ran across a post for used large mirrors. A church in St. Joseph had bought mirrors from a gym that had closed. A new pastor was offering the mirrors for free because the church he was starting no longer needed them.

“I searched through probably 50 mirrors to find the ones that had the least amount of marks,” he said. “… The timing was really perfect. They were close and they were cheap.”

Gard said during the sale process he and the pastor began to talk about the large endeavors they were each undertaking, a church in St. Joseph and a clinic in Maryville, and in that moment he felt a bit of relief and joy recognizing it as a sort of proof he was doing the right thing.

“It’s happened several times,” he said. “It sounds strange, but almost like a divine (kismet). … What are the chances of me needing mirrors like this and him needing them gone? … It seems like it has happened over and over again in this process; kind of like we’re going in the right direction. We should do this.”

Gard said with a mortgage and three children under 6, he wasn’t always sure it was the right move for his family. With a steady, dependable job, it wasn’t always obvious he and Jamie were making the right decision.

“But I have this itch in my head of like if I don’t try this, I’ll always wonder what could have been,” he said. “It’s something that’s been on my mind a long time. I always wanted to have my own space … a place where people can come, not just for if they’re injured, but kind of a community. People can come in and visit with one another while doing their physical therapy.”

Gard said that in his college years, when searching for a place to observe it was difficult in northwest Missouri. Since opening he’s already had several students reach out to him seeking just that, a place to job shadow of sorts.

“That’s been really neat,” he said noting it as a mark in the “Pro” column for opening his own business.

His first patient was from his high school in Stanberry and he believes that continued to prove that he and his family have made the right decision to open the clinic.

“All these things kind of pointing (out to us) that we made the right decision,” he said, noting that all the support they’ve received online and in person has really helped to propel them during the renovation and eventual opening. “That’s what the (mirror) spots are. The spots, since they’ve kind of given a story, it’s one of those things like, ‘It’s not perfect, but it works perfect’ kind of things.”

Gard said he and his wife talked about it a lot and felt like they were really being pointed in the right direction.

“We prayed a lot about it,” he said. “We talked a lot about it. As we kind of decided to take this on, things just (kept) kind of lining up.”

The leg press machine also has a story of its own. Searching eBay for this exact machine, Gard said he hadn’t had much luck. Then one day this very machine popped up on the site and just so happened to be in southern Missouri. The owners, a retired couple, offered to bring it up for even less money than they originally asked.

“There have been things along the way … little things along the way that kind of showed us that we made the right decision,” he said. “Probably the most important is the support of everyone around us.”

Community

Gard and his wife Jamie opened Reign on July 5 and three days later had already begun seeing several patients.

Community is extremely important to Gard and his family. He has taken to social media to provide brief snippets of physical health information for anyone who may be suffering from certain ailments. But he not only provides education, he also showcases other family-owned local businesses.

“I wanted to promote other family-owned local businesses,” he said. “… That was always kind of an aspiration of mine, not only to do physical therapy for our neighbors, but also kind of offer a place where maybe other therapists can work, or offer a place where we promote other local businesses. I think that’s something that makes this area special, how supportive everyone is of one another, kind of the village feel of northwest Missouri and southwest Iowa.”

Coupling his educational videos with local businesses, Gard holds gift card drawings with the names of anyone who follows the Reign page and shares his videos.

Even his own logo and many items in his office are the work of members of the northwest Missouri community.

From a dream sketch, Gard took to the internet to work with designers to create his business logo. After several steps this logo was selected in a landslide vote between two finalist designs by family and friends.

Gard said the opening of his business has been a work of the northwest Missouri community. He worked with Maryville High School graduate and design entrepreneur Skylar Bundridge to create the Reign logo stickers that can be seen throughout the office.

A woman from King City created the large metal-crafted logo centrally located in the waiting room and the jerseys featured throughout the office are from athletes he has worked with throughout his career here in Maryville, throughout Missouri and beyond.

How to find Reign

Gard said anyone can do their rehabilitation at Reign, as long as they have a referral from a doctor or chiropractor.

Whether a patient has an injury, has had surgery or a long-term or short-term physical difficulty like Parkinson’s or vertigo, any patient with a doctor’s order for physical therapy can see Gard at Reign for their therapy.

He said area doctors have been quite supportive of his clinic and once people realize they can select where they receive their therapy he hopes they’ll choose Reign.

“This is something that we’ve always wanted to do,” Gard said. “We’re both from here and I think … that this could be a really valuable asset to the community and all the local small towns that they have a place they know they can go and feel comfortable and get excellent care and be one of the family. That’s kind of our main goal.”

For more information, call Reign, located at 24007 Business Highway 71, at 660-224-0107, visit them online at reignphysicaltherapy.com or find them on social media.

SKYE POURNAZARI/THE FORUM
A Keiser Functional Trainer machine is bolted to the floor of the workout room at Reign Physical Therapy. Owner Michael Gard said it was the single most important machine for his therapy business. While still dreaming of his business, he was certain it would be necessary. The facility offers other equipment for different exercises, whether for athletic training or people working with physical disabilities or diseases.

SKYE POURNAZARI/THE FORUM
The Reign Physical Therapy workout room is purposefully left open to allow people more opportunity for a full range of motions required during therapy. Owner Michael Gard said as need arises, more equipment will find its way into the space.

SKYE POURNAZARI/THE FORUM
Michael Gard, owner of Reign Physical Therapy, explains some of how a leg press works in his office. The bands help provide elastic resistance at different levels without requiring heavy weights be lifted into place.

SKYE POURNAZARI/THE FORUM
Reign Physical Therapy is located at 24007 Business Highway 71, just north of Maryville.

SKYE POURNAZARI/THE FORUM
Jamie and Michael Gard are shown recently in the waiting room of Reign Physical Therapy. The family-owned business opened July 5 and began seeing patients. Reign is open to anyone with a referral from a doctor.

SKYE POURNAZARI/THE FORUM
While Reign Physical Therapy owner Michael Gard helps athletes with injuries or physical issues, it is not the only service he provides. Featured prominently on his walks are a number of sports jerseys and each one has a story. Gard said whether the jersey was a student at Northwest Missouri State University or the Kansas City Royals, each represents an athlete he helped through a physical problem.

SKYE POURNAZARI/THE FORUM
Reign Physical Therapy owner Michael Gard places a “leaf” on a clean piece of equipment in his workout area last week at his family-owned business. Gard said his entire family has played different roles in creating the business. From his wife, Jamie, helping during construction and taking off work to help during the first week of business, to his daughter who drew that “leaf” that the business will use to designate a clean piece of equipment, the entire family has been involved.

SKYE POURNAZARI/THE FORUM
A private exam room features a one-way window and offers a place for initial exams away from anyone working out in the main workout room. Owner Michael Gard said it will likely only be used for very first exams, but available at any time should someone want to talk or be seen privately.