The Charleston Marketing Podcast
What If Hope Was A Healthcare Strategy w/ David Thedinga and Friends
How are we doing? Who do you want to learn from next? Text us with notes and ideas. A 50% premium increase isn’t a budgeting problem, it’s a signal that the current healthcare model is straining under chronic disease, burnout, and symptom-first care. We sit down with David Thedinga, founder of Tikva Health, plus clinician partners Kristen Cunningham, NP, and Dr. Patrick Lovegrove, to talk about what happens when you treat root causes and make that approach accessible through employer-sponsored benefits. We get personal fast: David shares how an ER scare that turned out to be a panic attack exposed the limits of “here are two meds” solutions, and why functional medicine felt like a different path entirely. Kristen breaks down the gut-skin connection behind teen and adult acne, why common conventional approaches can mask deeper issues, and how teaching young patients to rebalance hormones, improve digestion, and reduce toxins can pay off for decades. Dr. Lovegrove explains functional medicine through the lens of function and cellular energy, including mitochondria, inflammation, and why so many chronic conditions connect back to gut integrity and unseen triggers. We also zoom out to Charleston and South Carolina, where naturopathy isn’t licensed, and talk about how that shapes access, education, and adoption. Then we connect the dots for business leaders: self-insured health plans, the 50-employee threshold, cost containment, productivity, and why bringing upstream care into the workplace can help employees feel better while bending the cost curve. If you’re an employer, marketer, HR leader, or just someone trying to understand your own health story, hit play, share it with a friend, and subscribe and leave a review so more people can find it. What would change in your life if your benefits supported root-cause care? The Harbor House Party Vol. II brings together conversation, connection, and live music for one unforgettable night in Charleston - all while raising funds to support the Harbor Entrepreneur Center. On September 23, guests can choose how they experience the night, from an intimate VIP gathering at Share House to the roundtable and live music at Music Farm featuring the Futurebirds. HarborEC.org Join Camp Happy Days on Saturday, September 19th for Happy Steps, a 5K run/walk on Sullivan's Island in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month . The race starts and finishes at The Island Club , where we invite you to stick around for the afterparty featuring food, drinks, raffles, auction items, music, and race awards — all benefiting Camp Happy Days and the children and families we serve. https://www.camphappydays.org/happysteps How can Charleston businesses get noticed, found and chosen? The Charleston Marketing Podcast, brought to you by Charleston AMA and recorded at Charleston Media Solutions, answers the marketing and media questions local business owners are asking. We explore media buying, advertising budgets, radio, digital marketing, storytelling and the customer journey, with practical strategies for growing your business in today’s attention economy. CharlestonMediaSolutions.com Support the show Title Sponsor: Charleston American Marketing Association Presenting Sponsor: Charleston Media Solutions Annual Sponsor: SCRA; South Carolina Research Authority Quarterly Sponsor: King and Columbus CAMACast Cohosts: Stephanie Barrow , Mike Compton , Rachel Backal, Tom Keppeler , Amanda Bunting Comen , Silicon Harbor Hot Take Host: Stanfield Gray , https://digsouth.com Produced and edited: RMBO Advertising Photographer | Co-host: Kelli Morse Score by: The Strawberry Entrée ; Jerry Feels Good, CURRYSAUCE, DBLCRWN, DJ DollaMenu Studio Engineer: Brian Cleary and Mathew Chase YouTube...
