Meet Harrison Irons, MD | Board Certified Anesthesiology and Pain Management Physician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Harrison Irons, MD and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Harrison, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
To be completely honest I was terrified by the idea of starting my own business. I had no formal education in business, no prior experience, nothing. I just knew that I had to do the hard work to help people in my community who were running out of hope. I put all my faith into the fact that if my sole mission was to help people then I would be successful no matter the financial out come. I looked at starting a business as a challenge and a learning experience. When I was growing up I had seen my father get laid off from his job during an economic downturn and he was was forced to start his own business, even though it was something he had always wanted to do. After push came to shove he ended up being more successful and happier than he had ever been when he was an employee for someone else.

What should our readers know about your business?
Southern Ketamine and Wellness is a ketamine infusion clinic. We offer hope to people who have been diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, and PTSD. We also utilize ketamine to treat people who suffer from certain chronic pain conditions as well. Our customers are those who are tired of not finding relief with the traditional approach of allopathic medicine.

My biggest accomplishment as a business owner is very simple: we have had the opportunity and privilege to drastically improve people’s lives, reclaim who they are, and live a life that they deserve and is worth living. Was getting here easy? Absolutely not. There is no instruction manual that comes with opening up a business.

One of the hardest things I have learned about being a business owner is taking emotion out of the equation. I’ve spent my entire career empathizing with patients and treating them to the best of my abilities without judging them based on their income or insurance coverage. At Southern Ketamine and Wellness, insurance will not cover our services, so people have to pay out of pocket for it. I really wish this wasn’t the case. I would absolutely love to be able to offer ketamine to every appropriate patient suffering from treatment-resistant depression, but that just isn’t reality. I would soon go out of business and lose my ability to care for the community. Unfortunately, I now have to consider business expenses and how to make a business not fail, which are things I haven’t had to do in the past.

We are on the cusp of a very exciting time in the field of mental health. There is a lot of buzz around reexamining substances for their potential medicinal benefits that used to be considered taboo. Even though our country is growing and thriving, we have never seen higher rates of mental illness. The traditional approach to mental health is obviously not working for everyone. With the reintroduction of psychedelics and their novel way of treating mental health and healing the brain, I think we are about to see America become a lot happier again.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Birmingham has seen a lot of growth and development lately, which has been great for the city! There are always new bars and restaurants opening up downtown. If I had a weekend in Birmingham I would visit one of the many great breweries, they all have a variety of delicious beers with different atmospheres. Catching a baseball game at the Birmingham Barons stadium, one of the USFL Football Games or seeing the SPHL Birmingham Bulls hockey team play is always fun. We have several James Beard award winning restaurants that are a must. If you are looking to get outdoors then taking a hike in the woods of Red Mountain, Ruffner Mountain, or Oak Mountain is always relaxing. If you feel like getting some culture then look at going to the Birmingham Museum of Art, The Civil Rights Museum or the McWane Science Center.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to give a shoutout to John Runyans, CRNA, my business partner and co-founder of Southern Ketamine and Wellness. I am certain that I could not have started this business without his support and advice throughout the way. I am very lucky that I work so well together with my first business partner.

Website: www.southernketamine.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/southern_ketamine/?hl=en

Facebook: facebook.com/ketamineinfusion/