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We were all told to stay apart.
But COVID-19 brought these two business partners together.
Here’s what happened. The rising pandemic in March 2020 had forced the temporary closure of massage therapist Danielle Ormsby’s popular O Light Body Bar in Ronkonkoma.
The doors were shuttered, yet this shrewd businesswoman from Sachem was hatching a plan.
While home, Ormsby learned that chiropractors were being deemed “essential workers” by the state. That meant chiropractors were still allowed to operate when people such as massage therapists, barbers and other service providers were not.
“I needed a chiropractor to keep our doors open, so I went out and found myself a nice, handsome one,” she said with a laugh.
Looks aside, Ormsby still had to vet this man. So, she sent some friends to try out the services of Dillon Kenul, who at the time was seeing clients in the office of his father, also a chiropractor, in the Bellport area.
The reports back were very positive.
Then, she tried him herself.
Keep in mind there was nothing really wrong with her at the time.
“But I had a life-changing experience,” she said. “He gave me one crack and I felt like my entire existence and my world changed. It was that intense. I had tears of joy. I went home, jumped up and down with my daughter. I was set free.”
That’s what Kenul, who goes by Dr. Dill, does for people. “I make people feel 10 years younger,” he says.
Now, the two are at it together as partners at the newly imagined O Light Body Bar.
About the place
This wellness center provides a range of massage and chiropractic services, as well as acupuncture provided by Frank Derasmo — all in a charming, cedar-clad Colonial home tucked in the woods off Portion Road.
“This is a quiet place that’s set back from the street,” Ormsby says. “So it’s very private. It’s a home, but actually an office space and when you walk in you feel like you came home. We take care of you like family here.”
For his part, Dr. Dill is accustomed to chiropractic medicine being practiced in the family, and credits the discipline for overcoming many a sports injury — mainly as a football player in high school and college.
Most of his patients are active, he explains, and it’s his job and life’s passion to keep them active.
It’s a part of their lives they need to maintain, he explains.
“My whole life was athletics; that’s how I expressed myself,” he says. “Getting injured is an athlete’s worst nightmare, so now I’m on a mission to help people figure out what’s going on in their bodies, and explain it to them in a way they can understand. This way they can be more in tune, in touch, and have control of their bodies.”
Ormsby’s daily goals in her own profession are the same as her business partner’s: helping people feel their best. That means attacking the root of problems without the constraints of big, corporate massage rules.
It’s “making people feel like a million bucks,” she says, “and when they get up, they walk away and smile.”
Together, along with their acupuncturist, the three are fully invested in a mixed modality approach to wellness and healing at O Light Body Bar, located at 55 Portion Road in Ronkonkoma.
“Mixed modality,” they write on the O Light Body Bar website, “is an eclectic mixture of techniques that are custom-tailored to meet your treatment goals. This is why at the O Light Body Bar, we have a comprehensive menu of treatment options to meet your individual needs.” (Treatment options are all listed on the site.)
Dr. Dill says he starts his sessions with a little bit of massage, but always suggests a full hour of professional massage beforehand, deep tissue if needed, or acupuncture to release necessary tension — before he gets to work.
“It’s something that you can’t rush,” he says. “And then I get more movement out of them when I have to do my thing. And when people leave here, they say ‘I haven’t been able to move like this since I can’t even remember.'”
Interested? Call O Light Body Bar at 631-615-5000 or fill out the form below.
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