Back and Even Better to Become a Mr. Universe Champion

Dr. Rita Roy: Hi, everyone. My name is Dr. Rita Roy, CEO at the National Spine Health Foundation, and I’m your host for the Get Back to It podcast, where we tell real stories of healing and recovery. What does it mean to get back to it? It means overcoming injury through treatments that work in order to return to the people and activities you love, whatever that looks like for you.

It means getting back to your life. We’re here to share the success stories of those who did just that. And some of these stories, you’re not going to believe. At the Get Back To It podcast, our goal is to tell stories of spinal champions who’ve been able to achieve a better quality of life through spinal health care.

In today’s episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Scott Smith. Scott was an avid athlete in his younger years, including being a collegiate football player. At age 17, he began to experience back pain and ultimately felt paralysis. Beginning in college, he began a long journey of overcoming chronic pain and immobility with several stops and starts along the way to ultimately becoming a champion bodybuilder.

Scott’s story is an inspiring message about perseverance through one’s healing journey. Now that you know what to expect, let’s get back to it and dive right into Scott’s story. Scott’s discovery of his back problems came as a complete surprise to him. school, including competing in bodybuilding, and headed off to college on a full scholarship to play football.

Scott Smith: I had just enrolled in college as a freshman at the University of Maryland, College Park. I had so many exciting things going on for me, being a freshman in college and being on full scholarship for football. One random morning during my first year of college, I woke up and my legs wouldn’t work. I couldn’t get out of bed, and I just couldn’t move my legs at all.

I couldn’t even walk to the bathroom. There was no pain, I just had zero functionality and strength in my limbs. I later found out this was because of severe nerve impingement and neuropathy. My sciatic nerve was inflamed to the point where it left numbness all the way to my toes, and I just lost all sense of feeling.

Dr. Rita Roy: Scott knew something was very wrong, and he went to see a doctor. The first doctors initially told him it was back spasms and that it wouldn’t be getting any worse. The treatment plan was ice, electric stem, and ultrasound. He would then transition to heat and light stretching and exercises. When this didn’t do the trick, Scott ultimately ended up having his discectomy on his L4, L5 discs, and that was in the year 2000.

After undergoing rehab and recovery, He overcame that trauma and returned to his sport. After

Scott Smith: Everything seemed to be going fine, but two years later, I had to have my second spinal surgery on my L5 and S1 discs, which consisted of another discectomy and laminectomy. Even after two similar surgeries at two levels in my spine, I was still able to recuperate and recover and become a collegiate all star in my sport.

Um, I graduated from college and obtained an agent for the NFL. Everything was good. Um, I had recovered from the difficulties of my first surgery and I built myself up my senior year. Um, but some days I would feel tired and after a long week of practice I decided to get some extra stretching in. And that’s what led me to having my second surgery.

The strength coach that was stretching me didn’t listen to me and when I tried to advocate for myself and let them know that That I didn’t stretch like most people and my flexibility wasn’t like most. She overstretched me past my limitations using ropes, standing on me in positions that weren’t equipped for my body to hold.

Directly after that stretching session, I was out for the rest of my senior season and I had my second back surgery immediately. I came back three months later and was still able to play in our bowl game against West Virginia and still was invited to play in an all star game in Las Vegas and played.

Dr. Rita Roy: graduation, Scott was searching for a career path, and he found that the experiencing of managing his spine conditions and rehabilitation would turn into a career.

Scott Smith: Once I graduated from the University of Maryland in 2003, my journey with pain and rehabilitation led me to start my own personal health and wellness company in Washington, D. C. After starting multiple community based health and wellness initiatives and programs in the DMV, I was able to open my first physical location called Euphoria Healing and Wellness in Capitol Hill.

Dr. Rita Roy: This seemed like a perfect, happy ending for Scott. But as we all know, overcoming spinal issues is not always an easy fight. Scott soon found that his journey to spinal health was about to get more complicated.

Scott Smith: I finally had what I thought was my dream business and professional life. For Then, nearly 10 years later, unexpectedly in 2022, I had to have emergency spinal reconstruction surgery and a spinal fusion at two levels to address instability in my spine which was causing me disability in my daily living.

Dr. Rita Roy: Once again, Scott found himself challenged by having to leave his fitness career to take the time to heal and recover from what was the largest surgical intervention he had had to face so far in his life. He persevered to learn how to overcome the disability and disruption to his life.

Scott Smith: I was left immobile and in desperation for care and relief.

Dr. Rita Roy: At this point, Scott became inactive and unable to work out or do daily activities for the better part of eight to 10 years. Finally, after medications were not helpful and all of his doctors dismissed him and said they could not provide care any longer, Scott simply had to advocate for himself.

Scott Smith: I started healing through fitness and natural modalities and became pain free in early I decided to chase my lifelong dream of bodybuilding again, the moment my pain started to dissipate. I was a teenage bodybuilding champion at the age of 15, and I always dreamed of getting back to that lifestyle, even on days where it seemed to be a fading memory.

After three months of training, I recently competed in the WPF Bodybuilding Championships in Philadelphia, PA, in October, 2024, and came in first place, in two different categories, the men’s physique and first place in men’s bodybuilding over the age of 40. This automatically qualified me to represent the USA at the world bodybuilding championships in Belgium in November 2024.

I later found out this was the Mr. Universe competition, one of the most prestigious bodybuilding competitions in all the world.

And I came in fourth place overall.

Dr. Rita Roy: Scott, wow, what a story. I really just can’t even believe as I’m sitting here and, and looking at you and seeing this happy, vibrant, handsome young man, what you’ve been through in your life on your spine health journey. And I’m so delighted that you are sharing this journey with us. You know, it seemed like you had conquered your problems back 20, 25 years ago, had your dream business, um, had your professional life going, and then you had this major setback that seemed to come out of nowhere 20 years later.

Can you tell us what that was like?

Scott Smith: Sure, um, you know, I was doing fine, everything seemed great, and then all of a sudden, you know, I would generally have back pain. You know, it would feel like my back would go out at any moment from something as simple as sneezing or, you know, turning the wrong way. You know, I would be out for a few days.

So I was in the, uh, I was seeing a chiropractor and the chiropractor suggested that I go and get an MRI just because, you know, the chiropractic techniques were only taking me so far. We were doing traction, we were doing a lot of mobilization and just wasn’t getting any relief. So I ended up getting a MRI into both of our, you know, surprise, the MRI read like a horror report.

It said that I had zero. Disc, uh, absorption at two different levels, you know, less than 25 percent and that I was, uh, in danger of having permanent paralysis if I had any slip and falls or were in any car accidents hit from behind. So it was really, really serious to get, you know, corrective surgery immediately.

Dr. Rita Roy: And so those areas that had caused you problems in your collegiate football career, the discs at L4, L5 and L5 S1, which by the way, are the most common areas, um, for problems in that lower back that supports your whole body. Whereas was it those areas that, um, needed to be fused that you found?

Scott Smith: It was, it was the areas that I had, discectomies on earlier in life Unfortunately, you know, at the time, the best answer for the bulging disc and the discectomies were take out 50 percent of the disc. With my degeneration and my, you know, rapid degeneration at my early age, the 50 percent ended up degenerating to 20 percent in a matter of years and left me with no functionality, no mobility, just no base at all in my lower spine, my lower lumbar.

Dr. Rita Roy: Wow, that’s incredible. Did they tell you that when they were doing the discectomy that you might have to have another surgery?

Scott Smith: At the time they had said that, they didn’t tell me that, they didn’t say anything about the degeneration. They did say that a lot of times, you know, a level higher or lower could be affected just because of, you know, weight distribution and just overuse. So they said generally maybe 10 years, 15 years after having a procedure you might have to have another one.

Dr. Rita Roy: Wow. It just seems like a lot of time went by and you were doing great and then all of a sudden creeped up on you. Did it feel sudden?

Scott Smith: Did, I have, it runs in my family so it’s hereditary. Um, I have a brother and I have a sister and we all had the same three surgeries. We all had to have the same fusion surgeries. We all had the degeneration in the same areas. Uh, my brother was an athlete. He’s one year older than me. He had the same thing and his story was very similar.

Uh, my sister’s two years older and same thing. She had a fusion. She was not an athlete but, It’s just something that, you know, we all had to kind of face as a family. So we were going to it together, kind of learning together.

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. That’s so interesting, the genetic component of how our bodies wear down over time, um, whether sooner or later or that what’s genetically programmed in the bones and soft tissue. That’s just such a fascinating fact about your family and your story, Scott. That’s, that’s interesting. you know, I think about the advocacy that you had to do going all the way back to your freshman year of college when you were saying something’s really wrong and the trainers and, and therapists on the team were like, Oh, this’ll be fine.

You’ve just got a little flare up. We’ll get you back on the field. Um, how, how did that feel and how did you learn to advocate for yourself?

Scott Smith: It was really, really tough. Um, at first, you know, being a freshman, extremely, um, especially being in college as a freshman at 17, having to advocate for yourself, you know, you have the coaches, you have the doctors, the people that you think have your best interest at heart and they’re pushing you just to get back on the field.

But internally you feel like something’s really, really wrong. So it was hard to, you know, have to advocate on the level of trying to tell the doctors something’s wrong when they didn’t believe you. You know, they think just because you look fine, you are fine. Uh, the coaches, like I said, their main thing is, you know, they need you back on the field.

They want you to play, you know, we have a game to go and I would tell them, you know, there is no game for me. You know, I could barely walk or, you know, my legs didn’t work this morning. So I’m not thinking about the game. I’m thinking about how am I going to get through the day. 

Dr. Rita Roy: that’s so hard at such a young age to having to say that and you, you question yourself, right?

Scott Smith: Absolutely. And then a lot of doctors, you know, get offended when you question their, you know, uh, treatment plans and you say, you know, I don’t agree. I think something’s wrong. You know, you’re, you’re looked at as being kind of a person of conflict. If you question, you know, the treatment plan of the doctor, especially when you’re young.

Dr. Rita Roy: Did you have anyone else in your camp? Did you have anybody, you know, could you turn to your family or trusted friends that you could talk to about this? Did you feel like you had a support system as you were learning to advocate for yourself? Yeah.

Scott Smith: Unfortunately, it was very isolating. Um, I found that to be, you know, a, a really a, a start to isolation. You know, you learn that it’s a real solo track because a lot of people can’t understand your pain. You know, like I said, they look at you and you look fine. You look the epitome of health. You know, you looked fine even the day before.

You’re practicing and you look great, but the next day you can’t move. And it’s hard for them to understand what that looks like. You know, they can’t sympathize with that, so. It really becomes, like I said, a very solo track. My family was all based back in Philadelphia, so. Me being in, you know, Maryland, the D.

1. area. It was, I was by myself, you know, my brother was at Pittsburgh, uh, going through the same thing by himself. Uh, you know, we were very much just through the phone passing information about what’s going on with us, you know, collectively.

Dr. Rita Roy: Wow. That’s, that’s incredible. So in that journey, you’re, not able to use your body. You’re not, you’re obviously, it’s not in your head. You’re not making it up. You’re not trying to avoid play. Clearly you were a very valued member of the team. They want you on the field. did you find that you had good access to physical therapy and to doctors?

Did you, did you feel like you were able to access good care?

Scott Smith: I feel like ultimately I did, uh, like I said in the beginning, when they couldn’t understand the problem, you know, they would treat it with ice and ultrasound and electric stim. Um, and, you know, that stuff just isn’t going to help when you have a degenerative, you know, spine issue that’s, you know, getting worse and worse, uh, you know, by the month.

So I think ultimately, you know, being in the program did lead me to be able to seek out some of the best doctors in the area and some of the best hospital and hospital centers in the area. Uh, my first surgeon who did my first back surgery was a world renowned neurologist. who operated on the Redskins for many years.

Um, his son ended up doing my third surgery, and like I said, they’re some of the best, uh, neurologists and spine specialists in, you know, all the world.

Dr. Rita Roy: So you felt like you were in good hands when you got to the spine doctor

Scott Smith: Definitely.

Dr. Rita Roy: and did you feel that they understood what you were saying? Maybe more so than, um, the, The team trainers understood.

Scott Smith: Absolutely, because I think, you know, they were able to understand the severity of the Bulging of the disc and how the vertebrae and the nerves were being impacted and understanding how, you know, just there was, you know, no shot, no pill, no stretch that was going to help correct what was going on. So it was comforting, at least to understand and be, you know, kind of verified, um, in, in that thinking that we have a real treatment plan that can provide, you know, results.

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. It’s amazing when it’s a structural problem that really only surgery is going to fix that actually getting the surgery is the right solution and gets you back out there. Um, the question is, which is the right surgery, right? And it sounds like you went down that path to figure out as a young person that the discectomy was going to get you back.

And after that first surgery, it sounds like you were able to get right back to play pretty soon after. What was that timing like? What was the, rehab timeframe? Like, did you have to take part of the season off or, um, a year off? Or what, what was that picture like?

Scott Smith: So interesting, uh, after my first surgery, I believe I took off maybe about three months and I was able to rehab myself back in and start lifting weights again regularly. it was the end of the season when I decided to have my first surgery, so I was able to take the off season and still come back the next year normal. And then after the second surgery that was in November, excuse me, that was in September of my senior year I was able to rehab myself back in about two and a half to three months and still play in our bowl game that Senior year and then play an all star game in Las Vegas

So all in all said about three months recovery both times

Dr. Rita Roy: And you know, I think part of why you were able to recover so quickly like that is that you were in such great shape. going into it.

Scott Smith: Absolutely. There’s no doubt about it. I say, even now, my bodybuilding, um, base that I did at, you know, 13, 14, 15. That really set the tone for all of my athletic, you know, background. My health and wellness background was all based in that. Everything that I did when I was that young.

Dr. Rita Roy: Yeah. And it’s important to learn proper technique, right? At, at a young age. So, you know, as young boys are developing and their bodies are changing and their bodies are growing and they’re, you know, those are the ages where young boys want to start lifting weights and, and, um, building themselves out.

And that’s very normal and natural and learning proper weightlifting technique is so important. I’m sure you experienced that and tell me, do you Deal with that now as a professional, as you’re training teens and youth.

Scott Smith: Absolutely. Uh, as you said, it’s the number one thing, um, in terms of development. You know, you should never get injured. Working out or doing fitness related, you know, activities. You know, stretching, the components of stretching and proper form are, you know, number one always. So, um, in our practice, when we’re doing our training, like I said, that’s a staple of our, uh, just philosophies.

You know, the proper movement, the stretching. range of motion, you know, being aware. So, yeah, I think, you know, incorporating that as a baseline for training and for just education is key.

Dr. Rita Roy: Education is key. That’s so true. That’s what we’re all about here is educating, right? Um, Scott, I’m so amazed about that part of your story. You know, you’re a collegiate football player. You’ve got back problem. You get it surgically fixed. You get back out on the field. You’re back in the game. You’re obviously a star player, all star player and a championship player.

And You know, you get this taken care of and you move into this amazing dream career for yourself. And now these years go by and suddenly that back pain comes back and You know what that is. And, um, what was it like when you had that third surgery, which was a two level fusion? What was that, uh, recovery period like?

Tell us what you expected going into it and then what it turned out to be.

Scott Smith: Absolutely. It was I would say it was really exasperating. You know, it took the kind of wind out of my sails. You know, I’m thinking everything is good. It’s been about 10 years pain free, mostly being able to manage pain. You know, I started my own business. So I’m kind of, you know, in charge of a staff of people, you know, I’m there’s a lot going on in life.

So to find out that all of a sudden, oh, you know, I’m reminded of this old, familiar, you know. Dragon that was on my back that I just can’t seem to ever get off. And now this time, it’s even bigger than any other time. So it was really demoralizing, you know. It really took me a while to understand, you know, here we go again and back to the isolation.

It’s just me again. You know, I have to handle this all on my own, even though I’m married and I have a whole family. You know, it felt very much familiar in the same ways of back in college. So that was tough to deal with. And once again, you know, having all these things and now understanding that, you know, I’m back to a place where I can’t do, you know, I feel fragile.

Um, at any given moment, you know, I could, I can be on the floor or be out. You know, it was tough to have to deal with mentally, uh, to get through.

Dr. Rita Roy: You know, Scott, you talk about those feelings of isolation, desperation, exasperation. and the loneliness that people feel when they’re confronted with a spine condition like this, that’s just debilitating. And that’s one of the things that we try to do here with this podcast, with our Spinal Champion community, is to let people know that they’re not alone.

And these conditions, um, affect a lot of people and there are lots of ways to manage their, the conditions, their treatment options, and they’re usually different for each person depending on their circumstances. Um, so I’m just so. grateful that you’re sharing your vulnerability and this part of your story that’s so hard to convey.

You know, and as I look at you today, you’ve just come back from the mystery universe, uh, competition where, by the way, you placed fourth overall. And I see a perfect picture of health and wellness and fitness. And it’s so hard to look at you now and realize that very difficult journey that was lonely, that was depressing, that you had to face and get through.

So thank you for sharing that with us. Um, you know, as, as you had that surgery, what was the recovery like after the two level fusion?

Scott Smith: It was one of the hardest procedures ever that I’ve experienced. So the two level surgery was great. The fusion surgery was amazing. Um, I healed from that great. The very first day I was walking, I was walking around the hospital. Um, I got out of the hospital, I came home, and same thing, I was walking on the laps around my block.

You know, the doctor had to kind of question me, like, are you walking too much? So I felt great. But then something weird happened, um, I started developing these pelvic issues, you know, I would pull my groin is how I would start, and my hips would be out of alignment, and I’d go to physical therapy for the back, and that would be my number one argument is, you know, my back feels fine with the healing, but all of a sudden my hips don’t feel right, and that ended up turning into a severe, uh, nerve, uh, dysfunction in the pelvic floor, You know, we spent about two years really getting to the bottom of that because it took away all of my, um, spinal stability, you know, all of my pelvic floor strength.

Um, like I said, it was harder than any of the spine issues that I had, um, you know, encountered and come to find out they’re very closely linked. You know, anytime you do anything to the spine, the pelvic is. Pelvis is, you know, the base of the spine so it’s very closely linked and I had never, you know, experienced anything dealing with pelvic floor.

That’s not my specialty. That’s very specific. And trying to find care in that department was also challenging because a lot of pelvic floor specialists don’t see men.

So it was extremely challenging trying to figure that part of the puzzle out. But once I finally did and was able to build up, you know, the strength and build up those muscles.

That’s when I truly began to recover. But it took about a full two years of trying to unlock and seeing numerous doctors and once again go through the, you know, back and forth of, you know, we can’t help you, there’s nothing we can do, this is all in your mind, your back should be feeling fine. I went to my actual spine surgeon and he told me, you know, he has no idea why I don’t feel any better.

And that, you know, the pelvic floor has nothing to do with the spine. And I’m like, what? You’re, you’re the world renowned surgeon. How could you tell me that you don’t know?

Dr. Rita Roy: Oh my goodness. Well, so Scott you found healing through exercise. And you know, it’s a cliche that exercise is medicine and that if you find the right exercise to treat your body, You really can heal yourself barring a structural problem that needs surgery.

Right? So it must’ve been so challenging for you knowing that you’ve had to have surgical correction to fix things. Now you’ve got a problem. The surgeons are saying there’s nothing surgically that we can fix and you turn to something that you know well. which is exercise.

Scott Smith: Absolutely. Um, like I said, after they threw every shot at me and they threw every pill at me and had me taking a cocktail of so many different medications that it was making me ill physically.

I, you know, I just turned to exactly what you said, what I know, you know, this is what I do every day. I help other people.

All throughout this time, I’m helping people, you know, through my work, through the massage therapy and through the fitness and exercise. So I just really put that on me and said, you know, I’m not gonna worry about the pain. I’m not gonna worry about the discomfort. If I’m gonna hurt, I’m gonna hurt from my own doing and I’m gonna hurt from the exercise.

And it actually was one of the best things, you know, each time that I forced myself to move, even when I didn’t want to, I would feel better the next day. And when I couldn’t get up and when I, you know, would fall on my face, just continuing to, you know, do over and over again, and not give up is what led me to be able to exercise again and get in the gym again and be able to train and dream of doing a fitness competition and all these things.

Dr. Rita Roy: just amazing.

Scott Smith: Yeah, this time last year I couldn’t even walk. I was in that much pain, uh, and discomfort that I would even go to stretch and I would fall on my face and have to lay in the bed all day. So it was very, very desperate even a year ago.

Dr. Rita Roy: Oh my goodness. And so finding the right exercises is what alleviated the pain and unlocked your body’s ability to just move forward.

Scott Smith: Absolutely. I had to, it was a combination because, because before I could exercise, I had to get all of the muscles to just relax and do nothing. So that’s where the massage therapy came in. That’s where the stretching came in. That’s where the, you know, deep somatic work on the stomach and abdomen came in.

It’s just, you know, a combination of not giving up the, you know, um, Doing all the different things. Um, that’s what really led to the recovery. You know, it wasn’t one thing, it was a multitude of doctors and things and just committing and saying this is the most important thing in my life.

You know, I don’t care about work, I don’t care about business. I have to feel good health wise because if I keep struggling and not putting my focus on this, I’ll never get better.

So I started going to doctors throughout the week, every week, you know. If it was twice a day, if it was, you know, three or four doctors in a week or specialists or modalities or acupuncture or whatever I could fit in, I would continue to do it week after week just in the name of, you know, I’m going to fight for my health because this is what I want.

You know, I want to. feel better. I don’t want to feel desperate. I don’t want to feel weak. I don’t want to feel fragile anymore. You know, so just really fighting for what I’ve always done, you know, fighting for care.

Dr. Rita Roy: Scott, that’s just incredible. I, I think you’re lucky to be in a place where you could do that. Um, cause that can be an expensive journey. Not only because of the cost of having to pay for a lot of that care, but also because you have to leave your job, to do that.

Scott Smith: It’s, uh, it, trust me, it was a sacrifice many levels, especially financially, you know, having to sometimes, like I said, close my business to be able to go and drive an hour away to go see a doctor or a physical therapist, just in the name of, you know, It might help, but very necessary because, you know, I couldn’t, I was beginning to wonder how I could live with this pain day in and day out and this frustration day in and day out.

It was that desperate, you know,

Dr. Rita Roy: Scott, were you taking pain medications for this? Were the doctors giving you a lot of pain medicine?

Scott Smith: I’ve always believed in not taking meds. So even when it got at its worst, um, after the surgery with the pelvic floor pain, you know, they had made specialty pills for me and it just wasn’t working. They made me ill. So. Yeah. I’ve never been one to really take the medication only because it doesn’t work.

It’s not effective for me. You know, I don’t know if at a certain point these issues just became so severe that the medicine just stopped working and penetrating, but, um, yeah, none of the muscle relaxers, the nerve agents, anything, um, none of them ever have worked for me or provided any type of relief.

Dr. Rita Roy: Well, it’s, it’s, It’s really good that you didn’t, uh, get addicted to any of those because a lot of times people will begin to take those kinds of pain medications. They don’t really help with the pain, but they can cause an addiction and now you’ve got another problem. So that’s a really, really good thing that you didn’t have to deal with, with that, uh, you know, secondary problem that can often happen for people in your situation and not, not because of their fault at all, uh, but because of a.

sometimes a healthcare system that doesn’t educate patients and doesn’t give people the knowledge to know how to manage or how to find a new kind of care for them. And, um, you know, you were just so brave and so determined and you persevered to take care of yourself. And that is just the Sort of the moral of the story here is don’t give up on yourself.

Uh, that’s, that’s just absolutely amazing. Um, Scott, if you could look back to your, you know, 17 year old freshman self, what would you tell that young man?

Scott Smith: I would tell my younger self that this is not your fault, and this is not something that you did to yourself or that you can avoid. You know, I’d also tell myself just to be mindful of wanting to give up, and to, you know, not, not give in to the urge, even on the days where it hurts, even on the days where you, you know, your body’s telling you it can’t move, it doesn’t want to move, you know.

Still have the positivity and tell yourself that, you know, there’s better days on the horizon and don’t let that darkness let you think that there’s no better solution within reach. I think most importantly like I said I tell myself just never give up and keep seeking out treatment options, even if they’re holistic or non traditional

Dr. Rita Roy: That’s amazing, Scott. I’m just so grateful for this time. I’m so grateful that you found us to be able to share your story, to share with others how important. a wellness and fitness program can be to your ongoing health, to a recovery situation, and to just living your best life overall. So you’ve committed yourself to that now.

Um, you’re seeing those amazing results with the bodybuilding competition. Congratulations. Um, I’m excited to share your story in these Amazing pictures. Um, you know, whatever you’ll let us share with your, uh, winning in the Mr. Universe competition. just absolutely amazing and grateful to you. Um, and I, I know that people listening to this story are going to find hope.

That they too can overcome, uh, a challenge. You know, a hundred million people suffer with a neck or back condition every year, and it’s not their fault. Um, and we’re here to give knowledge, education, inspiration, and hope from people like you, Scott. So thank you. Thank you so much. Are there any closing thoughts, um, that you want to share with our listeners?

Scott Smith: I just want to say thank you so much just for having me on. It’s been a pleasure being able to have this platform to be able to share my story. You know, it’s, it’s super inspiring to me just to be able to get up and think of, like I said, a year ago, I was, you know, completely down. I thought that working out was a far gone conclusion.

You know, I hadn’t lifted weights and. I think eight to 10 years it had been before I was able to actually work out and be in the gym and lift weights. So I was beginning to think that running and working out and all these things just weren’t for me anymore. And they were, you know, a far gone conclusion never will, never will happen.

So being able to, like I said, just not give up and persevere even after eight to 10 years and say, you know, I want this for myself, you know, I, this is my old life, this is who I am. That’s who I want to be. I don’t want to, you know, be this person who uses, uh, you know, sugar and eats things out of comfort just to get by in the name of trying to feel good when at the root of it, you know, feeling good is the end result and there’s a better way, you know, so really just never giving up on that.

And, um, yeah, like I said, I wrote it all the way to Belgium and I’m committed already to next year going back to Belgium and being a champion and winning, so. Yeah, please look out for me and my companies, I have, uh, Euphoria. And where can we find you? Yes, we’re based in Capitol Hill, we’re Euphoria Healing. Yeah, we’re Euphoria Healing and Wellness, we’re, like I said, massage therapy, fitness, uh, stretching, spiritual health and energy work, we do meditation. So we do a number of, uh, healing modalities here in Washington, D. C.

Dr. Rita Roy: That’s amazing, Scott. And, you know, coming from someone who’s lived that, um, and you pour that into your business to help others. Bravo.

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