Words by Anna Lee Vaughn | Images by Ryan McGill
Since Manasco Chiropractic Clinic opened its doors 26 years ago, the business has grown abundantly. Now, after years of promoting health and wellness in the Carbon Hill community and beyond, Dr. Brian and Renee Manasco are telling their story.
Renee is a native of Carbon Hill while Brian hails from Gadsden, Alabama. While attending Gadsden State Community College on a baseball scholarship, he experienced a life-changing event. As the story goes, one afternoon, while playing cards with his baseball buddies in the school cafeteria, Brian felt God begin to speak to him.
“I felt the Lord tell me it was time to give up baseball, and I heard the word ‘chiropractic,’” says Brian. “That’s what started my interest. Since then, I’ve always felt that I was supposed to be a chiropractor.”
Describing the experience as “going from jock to schoolboy,” Brian transferred to The University of Alabama, where he met Renee. The couple married in 1987 and moved to Marietta, Georgia, so Brian could attend chiropractic school at Life University.
After his graduation, Dr. Brian and Renee – along with their children, Kayla and Andrew – literally built the first Manasco Chiropractic Clinic, located on Front Street in Carbon Hill, from the ground up.
“We could have gone anywhere to start the clinic, but we would have lost the sense of community here,” says Renee. “Being able to raise our children in my hometown and provide for our family the past 26 years has been a blessing.”
Manasco Chiropractic has evolved into much more than chiropractic adjustments over the years.
Renee graduated from the Birmingham School of Massage and offered massage therapy for before retiring in 2018 due to an injury. The clinic has since become a sight for holistic healing and nutritional assessments, as well as grounds for a ministry. Both Brian, the former pastor at Elm Grove Church, and Renee attend The Storehouse Church in Jasper.
“This is not just a chiropractic clinic, it’s actually a ministry site,” says Dr. Brian. “Our patients are like family, and we pray and minister to them in any way that we can. That’s the most important thing to us.”
The couple shares a goal of spreading awareness for true health and wellness. While chiropractic adjustment addresses a specific issue, holistic healing addresses the entire body.
Through training from Standard Process, a natural supplement brand, Dr. Brian is certified to assess patients and recommend natural herbs and supplements. Renee is training through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) to become a certified health coach, which will allow her to guide patients to better nutritional habits.
The two are also working with their church to release a podcast about all things health and wellness.
The Manascos recently hired Carbon Hill local Tammy Mathews as a receptionist, which Renee describes as a ‘huge blessing.’
“The Lord has brought us a long way since we first opened,” says Renee. “And seeing the community support us over the years – well, we couldn’t ask for more.” WL
