NFL Cheerleader turned EMPA | Award-winning Health Leader | Functional Medicine Advocate | International Speaker | Media Contributor | Podcaster Extraordinaire 😉

Summer 2021. I was practicing medicine in the ER drowning in lockdowns, mandates, and the special kind of despair that comes from watching a system you believed in eat itself alive.

I'd spent years in the trenches — running CDC's National Diabetes Prevention Program across four states, overseeing clinical research with Hopkins, working on the very drug trials that were shaping policy in real-time, and then treating patients in hallways who were bearing the brunt of a completely failed 'public health response' I'd always believed would save us. 

I felt powerless to fix what was broken.

So I did what any rational person would do. I started posting on LinkedIn after 14 hour night shifts with zero followers, zero strategy, and a whole lot of opinions about everything that was wrong with American healthcare.

(Spoiler: it was a lot.)

What happened next still doesn't make sense to me.

Platform reach of 300K+ weekly. A healthcare communications firm Sims Tillirson & I built from nothing. Press access covering FDA and HHS — which, for a policy nerd who geeks out over price transparency and regulatory reform, is basically the Super Bowl.

I'm not a marketing genius. I didn't have a plan. I just showed up, told the truth in plain English, and refused to shut up about fixing healthcare.

Turns out that's the job.

Translating complex policy into stories real people understand. Building coalitions of credible voices. Setting narratives instead of just responding to them.

Your clinical expertise is the competitive advantage. The system just never told you that.

Nobody is coming to save American healthcare except us. 

LFG.

Tiffany Ryder

My kiddo spent 5 minutes fixing her opponent’s headgear, then got pinned in under 60 seconds.

She didn’t find the situation as endearing as I did. 

But that’s ok. I know what I saw. 😇

Not long ago, I’d have been on shift in the ER, missing this. 

I didn’t leave clinical medicine to work less- I left to own my time.

Yesterday this is what that choice looked like. 🥰

NFL Cheerleader to ER. Independent Media giving DC health policy a voice (and a personality). The government is not my doctor.

No alternative text description for this image

A year ago I asked for help learning how to pray.  

Having been brought back to God unexpectedly after years away, I felt lost. 

I’d sit there in silence, not knowing what to say or how to say it.

11 months later (shortly before Christmas) this book showed up in my mailbox with a note that said:

“Sending you love and encouragement”

With a personal note & some suggestions on how I might go about incorporating it into my routine.

Turns out it makes me feel incredibly loved and encouraged every single day. 

People say social media is a game. Superficial. Total time suck. Fake. 

That’s true- sometimes. 

But other times, it’s where you find connections that God and your soul need you to find.

And it’s life changing 💕

My teenager started a group chat with her sister called "Mom's Food Pyramid Fan Club."

It's been less than a week since I watched nutrition policy finally change at HHS, and my kids have already had enough.

"We freaking GET IT. The food pyramid is upside down now."

They're calling me a nerd. Rolling their eyes when I start talking about it. Texting each other jokes about becoming vegans out of spite. 

But I can't shut-up.

10 years as a professional dancer. Another 10 in medicine. 

I've seen plenty of health policy changes but this one hits a little differently. 

Maybe because I grew up on free lunch - rectangular pizza + chocolate skim milk. 

Maybe because I've been the overweight, prediabetic patient following guidelines that made me sicker. 

Maybe because I'm a mom & I know now 30 million kids will eat better because of this.

I have a draft article ready to publish. But every time I open it, I get too emotional. Ridiculous, right?

But when the government finally admits it was wrong for 40 years and the Secretary of HHS says "Eat Real Food" to a standing ovation?

I guess, I get to be weird about it.

My kiddos can deal.

My 2026 resolution is now... 

- more line dancing 
- more time with friends 
- more songs that talk about purple people eaters.  

Let's Gooooo!

My only question for Secretary Kennedy at tomorrow’s press conference: 

Who made this video and are they accepting new projects? 

🥓🥗🍳🥑

Big Food's new lobbying group is "Americans for Ingredient Transparency" Their mission? Fighting transparency laws - obviously.

Clever. 

But industry's got a BIG problem. The Americans they assume are too dumb or divided to notice - aren't.

Left/right, blue/red... parents are done with chemical garbage in their kids' food.

- West Virginia banned synthetic dyes.
- California banned ultraprocessed foods in schools.
- Texas requires labels on ingredients banned in other countries.

AFITs leader (catchy acronym) is Julie Gunlock. 

She yells 'ALARMIST' when moms ask about chemicals in mac & cheese.

She also works for an org that's partnered with Monsanto & takes money from Big Tobacco.

Hmmm.
Same playbook. Different poison.

Parents. Politicians. Truth.  All aligned.
It's only a matter of time, Julie. The kids are going to win.

Regenexx for Business

Regenexx helps employers save on their orthopedic spending and helps patients avoid elective orthopedic surgery. I help Benefits Consultants and Employers expand the continuum of MSK care, and add Regenexx to the Self Funded Health Plan.

Executive Vice President

Member of a direct-to-consumer healthcare marketing team.

Director of Marketing

Testa Consulting Group

Support a spectrum of traditional and holistic healthcare providers to assist with business development, marketing, and strategic relationship development.

Principal

Regenerative Sciences LLC

Physician network development and business expansion.

Director of Business Development

Colorado Pain and Rehabilitation

Chiropractic, acupuncture, dry needling, meditation and nutrition for musculoskeletal pain.
Lectures to medical groups, insurance payors, nurse case managers and governmental agencies on the benefits of integrative care.

Chiropractor

Advanced Medical Specialists / Concentra Medical Centers

Responsible for treating a broad array of delayed recovery musculoskeletal injuries within the largest occupational medicine system in the US. Treatment plans included acupuncture and nutrition for pain.

Acupuncturist

Mark Testa, DC, PC / Boulder Holistic Health Center

Responsible for developing, directing and running the Physical Medicine department within the area's largest holistic primary care medical clinic. Treatment plans included chiropractic, acupuncture, nutrition, meditation for pain and functional medicine.

Lectured to the community and medical providers on the benefits of holistic care. Developed and taught the Anatomy of Health series.

Medical Director, Owner

Southwest Acupuncture College and Ruesto College of Acupuncture

Human Anatomy and Physiology
Responsible for educating students on Human Anatomy and Physiology, Western Diagnosis and Medical Ethics. Presented curriculum and engaged students by employing multiple techniques and tools, including lecturing with models, movies, slides, PowerPoint and cadaver dissection.

Associate Professor

I'm experienced in integrative musculoskeletal care and healthcare benefits. My career has been about expanding the continuum of MSK care through collaboration with medical professionals. 

I've practiced in primary care, pain management, and occupational med, and was the first chiropractor on the medical staff of a large hospital in Denver.

I've gone where few chiropractors go.

I've seen the benefits of integrative care with patients, doctors, and payors.

Now, I bring that "do no harm" mentality to the employee benefits space, with a broker's license. 

About healthcare benefits...

I came into it kicking and screaming but now that I'm here I love it and am committed to making an impact on spending, quality, and personal health. 

I've seen firsthand the harms of status-quo healthcare, and misaligned incentives, and watched the patients take the brunt of it. 

Being a healthcare geek isn't easy. I've been called a quack numerous times.  I hardly feel that now and it's never stopped me. 

There are innovative ways to make this whole thing better. We can't be afraid of change or we'll keep getting what we have.

I'm for value, transparency, aligned incentives, direct contracting, removing the middle man, employers getting their power back, and employees being healthy without going bankrupt. 

We ultimately serve the patient; your mom, sister, brother, child. We can do better for them. They are counting on us. 

Who's with me?

taplio

The Battle

Tiffany Ryder

Mark A. Testa, DC, MHA

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreTiffany Ryder's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Tiffany Ryder

Mark A. Testa, DC, MHA

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Tiffany Ryder's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreTiffany Ryder's LinkedIn Performance