Never Underestimate the Power of a Dream

Best Nutrition Store |  Best of Eastern Idaho

What is Idaho famous for? You got it … potatoes!

In my humble (but correct) opinion, McDonald’s has the best french fries on Earth.

Kristine Burgemeister happens to agree with me. Perhaps it’s because for years her husband has been raising the potatoes that McDonald’s uses for their fries. Or maybe it’s just that she has good taste.

Naturally, Kristine’s husband sometimes encourages her to eat those french fries. Ironically, though, Kristine is very health conscious and is the owner/operator of Country Health Clinic in Pocatello.

“Eating fast food everyday? No,” she says. “But can I have the best fries in the world once in a while? Yes.”

The trick is to find a balance between enjoying life and being healthy. According to Kristine, both are possible.

What’s Your Problem?

You know the drill. You have joint pain or some new issue has cropped up, say psoriasis or brittle fingernails. But rather than head straight to the doctor, you first investigate it yourself.

Online research gives you a list of minerals, supplements, vitamins, and drugs you can take to tackle the problem.

As you know from experience, self diagnosis and treatment is hit or miss. Often this leads to a waste of both time and money.

So, you give your primary-care physician a call. Although they’re well intentioned, you’ll likely end up with a prescription for a synthetic drug. As a result your symptoms may diminish, or disappear altogether, but the truth is, drugs just mask the problem.

Enter Country Health Clinic, a shining beacon of holistic and natural healing right here in Idaho. The folks there promote preventative health.

I’ll repeat that in case you’re just skimming. They promote preventative health.

“We want to train people to have a healthy lifestyle versus fast food America,” says Kristine. “Wouldn’t it be better to not have the problem at all in the first place?”

In The Beginning

When Dr. Harold Klassen began formulating his own vitamins and mineral blends back in Aberdeen, Idaho, forty years ago, he had no idea that his blends, and eventually the clinic, would become a destination for clients from around the world.

Dr. Klassen began with a goal to address common ailments with blends that a patient could take without a whole array of bottles in their cabinet.

Many of his blends addressed specific issues, while others were recommended for multiple ailments.

Of course, his clinic drew people from all over southeast Idaho. But four years ago, after his sudden passing, his daughter Kristine, who had worked at the clinic with him, moved the clinic to Pocatello.

This move meant that even more people could access the benefits offered by Country Health Clinic.

Truly Natural Health Care

Country Health Clinic is so much more than a place to obtain incredible and proprietary supplement blends. They have a full suite of holistic and natural healing options. As an integrative health clinic, most of their offerings are considered totally natural (as opposed to invasive treatments or medical interventions).

They offer hyperbaric oxygen chambers, IV therapy, massage, infrared sauna, a theta chamber, and a bio-cleanse detox spa, along with several other options for enhancing your immune system.

Word-of-mouth has spread globally, and now in addition to their local clientele, Country Health Clinic sees international visitors who come for a week of natural health care for a great price. The regular staff includes a nurse practitioner, a chiropractor, a naturopath, a massage therapist, and a physician’s assistant.

So, the next time you get a hankering for the salty goodness of McDonald’s fries, take a moment and remember Dr. Klassen. His proprietary blends (there are over a hundred of them that address everything from kidney issues to tinnitus) can help you strike a balance between healthy and happy. And thanks to Kristine at Country Health Clinic, you can still justify having a healthy dose of french fries once in a while.

Best Burgers |  Statewide Winner and Best of Treasure Valley

The Brown v. Board of Education decision came down. The Chevrolet Bel-Air was the best selling car. A loaf of bread cost about 17 cents. My Aunt Lorita was raising her young family. And the Big Bun Drive-In served up its first burger.

The year? 1954.

That was a different era, but over the last seven decades, one thing remains the same … Big Bun is still serving up delicious food.

Until she passed away last year, Aunt Lorita lived right around the corner from Big Bun. Our family visits often included a hamburger run, something that still brings a smile to our faces at the memory of it. Big Bun was mentioned half a dozen times during her funeral services by a variety of people, simply because she loved it so much.
Big Bun is almost as much of an institution in Boise as potatoes are in Idaho. The classic drive-in restaurant first opened in 1954 in the same location it’s always been, on the corner of Curtis and Overland.

It experienced a fire sometime around its 15th year. So, the gas station on the corner it shared a lot with was converted into the new restaurant. The gas pumps were removed to make way for a double-sided drive-thru. Fortuitously, the two lanes would be a godsend during COVID when drive-up service became our only way of dining out for a time.
Working in restaurants since she was 15, Joyce Kellogg was hired at Big Bun in 2010. A short year later, she recruited her husband, Tyler. Except for a three-year hiatus, the energetic couple has been serving up burgers together ever since.

In fact, they managed the restaurant for much of that time. Their goal was always to own a restaurant of their own, and running Big Bun was their hands-on education. They learned all they could — and 60-hour workweeks were not uncommon, a tall order when you’re also raising a couple of kids!

The Kelloggs’ hard work paid off when, after a five-year buyout plan, they purchased Big Bun in February.

The thing that impresses me most about the Kelloggs is their passion for the community. They love Boise and they love working with local residents. This was obvious to me as the Kelloggs conveyed their gratitude for their employees. (They currently have 38 of them, a large number that took me by surprise. But, most of them are part time.) They are the reason for Big Bun’s continued success, according to the owners. The restaurant is really busy and truly poised for expansion. I saw this with my own eyes on my last visit, as both drive-thrus were humming nonstop.

Then there’s the food. The Kelloggs have simplified the menu over the years, but you’ll still see quite a few “homemade” items including their finger steaks, cheese sticks, corn dogs, and fish and chips.

And you can’t forget about their famous hamburgers. Tyler’s favorite is the ever-popular Big Bun Classic Cheeseburger with grilled ham.

What about Joyce? “Every time I see someone cook up a pastrami burger, my mouth waters and I just want to eat one,” she says with a smile.

From experience, I know what she’s talking about. I’ve personally ordered that burger on one of our Big Bun runs with Aunt Lorita. It is indeed delicious, and it brings a smile to my face too!

Best Bike Shop |  Statewide Winner and Best of Treasure Valley

At the risk of dating myself, I remember watching reruns of the TV series The Odd Couple when I was younger. The show was about two divorced men who shared an apartment in New York City despite having opposite personalities. Eventually, one remarried his ex-wife and the two went their separate ways, but not without first giving us five seasons of conflict and comedy.

Although an odd couple of its own, Bikes & Beans is no laughing matter. It’s a real business that discovered a way to bring its customers happiness in a different way.
Andrew Little opened his doors in 2017. He had always worked in the bike industry in one way or another. At the same time, he appreciated good conversations over a great cup of coffee.

The idea was a coffee shop and bike shop in one where he could sell exceptional coffee and also service bicycles — a double fix of sorts.
It might seem an odd combination, but think of Italy. It’s the birthplace of espresso and is still famous for its coffee culture. It also happens to be home to the 7th highest bike population in the world.

Andrew was simply combining this not-so-odd couple of industries into a single shop called Bikes & Beans.

And wow, has it ever worked out!

Selling bikes wasn’t part of the original business model, though. If his customers had a bike to sell, he would offer them on consignment. It just so happened that he had a single bike to sell on day one. Business grew and customers demanded more, so today you’ll find new bikes alongside those consignments.

As an avid mountain biker myself, I was concerned that selling coffee would cause people to not take the bike shop seriously. After all, I learned that Andrew was “the man” when it came to bikes. He can repair just about anything, he can apply a wicked coat of custom paint, and he caters to high-end clients — you know, custom one-off stuff for professionals.
So, does the coffee shop devalue the bike shop, or vice versa?

“People often come in for the bike service, but they return for the coffee,” says Andrew. “And go to any coffee shop and you’ll see bikes out front.”

Andrew is right. And he seems to be right about combining bikes and coffee, since Bikes & Beans does both extremely well.

Winning Idaho’s Best is no small feat, especially in a competitive category like Bike Shop. Yet, Bikes & Beans has done just that. Perhaps the reason why is because they’re so involved with the community. Or maybe it’s because they sell bikes for everyday people while also doing custom work for the pro who wants what nobody else can have. Or it could be thanks to the exceptional coffee they craft one cup at a time.

Whatever it is, the odd couple that is Bikes & Beans is working.

Best Med Spa | Best Personal Care | Statewide Winner and Best of Central Idaho

When lightning strikes, it leaves a mark. Some would say it leaves a scar; others crave it and hope to see some part of their life made magic by the touch of a god.

The thing is, we’re all kind of looking for lightning to strike somewhere near us, turning our lives to gold in an instant without burning us to a crisp in the process.

We want it to hit in all the right ways: infusing our careers with promise, blessing our love lives, showering our futures with rainbows. But there’s just no way to predict it or control it. When it happens, like so many other things in nature, it just is.

Laura Matjasich is one of those people who has found a beautiful confluence of passion, career-training, and purpose that strongly resembles a lightning strike.

As a nurse practitioner, she began her career working in ICU medicine and family/internal medicine. Back then, if you’d asked her, she’d have probably told you that was her calling. And very likely it was, for that time in her life.

But a journey begins with a single step, as they say, and seeing where Laura is now, it’s clear that she was being prepared back then to land exactly where she is today.

Empowering Clients to Become Their Best Selves

For nine years, Laura worked in the stressful conditions as a front line, Code Blue Team nurse. It took a toll, and though she was helping people, she sought another way to do that.

Laura first discovered aesthetic medicine in 2011. Rather than the intensity of trauma and the battle between life and death, this field offered the chance to focus on the positive while also helping people.

Eventually, Laura fully embraced the chance to study and work in the field of medical aesthetics.

In this branch of medicine she found that she could offer people the self-image they’d lost to aging, addictions, or other trials along their life journeys. By returning to someone the self-image they’d lost, she also helped them recover their life.

It was as empowering for Laura as it was for her clients.

 

Find Your Truth, Discover Your Calling

What’s so great about Laura’s story is how in finding something that gave her meaning and used her training and skills, her business has taken off.

Anyone who has been called “an overnight success” knows how deceptive that kind of success is. Those words omit the blood, sweat, and tears. They gloss over the sleepless nights, the struggle over making decisions, the taxing trials of time and effort.

And yet … if you talk to Laura about her path, it’s very clear that her success picked up speed because she was following her passion. She’d found her truth, and she went with it.

For several years she was a one-woman show. She practiced her med spa out of a small room she rented from a chiropractor. Word-of-mouth traveled quickly, spreading until that small room wasn’t big enough to handle the client load.

In 2020, Laura realized she needed a bigger space. And while she was at it, maybe it was time to rebrand. That was when she adopted her company name Majestic Aesthetics and Wellness.

In 2021, she got so busy she had to hire employees to help out. And today, she has a full staff consisting of nine employees. Her reviews reflect just how much her clients love and appreciate her.

It really is about having a light touch and a certain sensitivity when delivering what her clients seek. That takes listening and a level of awareness not all med spas can offer.

“My goal isn’t to make [someone] look like a celebrity, but to help a person feel better about themselves. Everything I do is to help people’s self-confidence. It’s not about being vain or looking like a Kardashian.”
What Laura does is wellness work, rather than simply aesthetic work, and her values are very clear. In addition to how she helps clients on an individual, physical level, she’s also supporting the local community of Twin Falls through education and service. Where once she did global humanitarian work, she has since turned her sights to humanitarian service on a local level.

Laura strives to empower people to feel better about themselves, to take ownership of their sexual health, and to rediscover qualities about themselves that have been lost to time. The strongest evidence that what she’s doing is working is just how quickly Majestic Aesthetics and Wellness has grown.

Were you able to join us? Now that the pandemic shutdowns are behind us, we were fortunate enough to celebrate without masks and social distancing at our 2022 Idaho’s Best Business Awards Banquets.

In case you weren’t able to make it, check out our winners list.

Held in the banquets in downtown Boise at Jack’s Urban Meeting Place on the evenings of April 12 and 13, 2022. We took over the top floor and celebrated all who attended. Candidates and their family and employees flew and drove in from all over the state of Idaho.

Candidates were treated like the stars they are with a red carpet photo shoot and a lovely catered dinner from Thomas Cuisine. You should have seen the gowns and tuxedos as the guests were dressed in their best. Some even arrived in limousines!

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to change the entertainment at the very last minute. We held an open mic comedy session and more than a dozen brave souls entertained us with their favorite joke. The undisputed star of the show was 14 year old, Bryce Tyler, giving his debut comedic performance to crowds of over 350 people each evening. Bryce is the son of Idaho’s Best founder, Brodie Tyler.

Across both evenings the results of over 140 categories were announced. Regional and statewide winners were welcomed on stage and given a certificate of their award.

Special shoutout to our sponsors for making this year’s Idaho’s Best Business Awards even possible in the first place.

Thank you to Kim Starkey who photographed the banquets for us. The photos can be viewed and downloaded from her site here: https://gallery.kimstarkeyphotography.com/-idahosbestbanquet/gallery

Also, a BIG thank you goes out to Codi and Scott Galloway, Garen Tyler, Valiant Productions, the JUMP staff, and Thomas Cuisine, for all their wonderful help.

Are you a winner?

If so, don’t forget the deadline is April 29th to order your Personalized Engraved Plaques and Magazine Ad or Article. Click here to get your order in.

That’s a wrap!

Voting for our 2022 Idaho’s Best Business Awards is now closed, but we want to thank everyone who participated.

We saw a record turnout, and it wasn’t even close! In fact, we saw a 54% jump in votes over last year.

Way to go Idaho!

Special Thanks To…

Our weekly Hump Day Giveaway was also a hit. We saw a 47% increase in voters who were referred to Idaho’s Best by other voters.

The credit for this can also be shared by our wonderful Hump Day Giveaway sponsors and their generosity:

• Carstar in Hayden – $300 Shopping Spree to a Local Boutique
• Hybrid Health in Boise – 5-Pack of Massage Therapy Appointments, a $425 Value
• Saffron Indian Cuisine in Ketchum – $100 Gift Card to a Local Restaurant

What’s Next?

We have a lot of work ahead of us right now. This includes validating the voting results, identifying the top finalists, and checking to make sure they don’t have a negative BBB grade. (No grade is okay, but a bad one isn’t.)

We’ll be announcing the finalists soon on our website, social media, and through the mail. So, keep an eye out for another announcement coming your way.

Thanks again for all your support!

Hello Idaho! We’re back for another year of recognizing the best businesses and places in our wonderful state.

If you’re familiar with the Idaho’s Best awards, you may notice that we have improved things yet again. Last year we had nine groups of categories, and 189 in all. With the popularity of Idaho’s Best growing like never before, we expanded to 12 groups and 260 categories!

Here’s just a sampling of the new categories:

• American Restaurant
• Auto/Health/Life Insurance Agency
• Beer/Wine Selection
• CBD Store
• Cosmetic Dentist
• Domestic/Import New Car Dealer
• European Restaurant
• Graphic Design
• Live Music
• Nonprofit
• Roofing Company
• Tacos
• Wedding & Event Planner

Next Level Categories

We also eliminated direct voting on general categories such as Restaurant, Law Firm, Contractor, etc. We’ll still recognize the best of these categories, however, we’ll take the best of subcategory winners.

For instance, in recognizing the best Asian Restaurant, we’ll take the best performing winner from categories like Chinese Restaurant, Japanese Restaurant, Indian Restaurant, Thai Restaurant, etc.

Who Selected Our Nominees?

Ultimately our nominees were selected by Idaho residents. The determining factors were the nominations received in December and the candidates’ Google reviews throughout the previous year.

With the expansion of our categories this year, approximately an additional 1,000 nominees are able to participate in these Idaho’s Best Business Awards.

Now, Idaho residents can show their support again by voting for their favorite candidates online. Voting is open from February 7-24, 2022.

Hump Day Giveaway!

Back by popular demand is our Hump Day Giveaway where we hold a weekly voting contest and announce a new winner each Wednesday. For every new voter you refer after registering your own ballot, you’ll be entered into a weekly drawing for a nice prize. We’ll have new prize every week, and we’re getting started with a bang!

First up is a Free Shopping Spree sponsored by CARSTAR Hayden. Valued at $300.00, the winner will be able to spend it all at a local clothing boutique or franchise. Thank you CARSTAR Hayden! Find the details on our voting page.

And the Winner Is…

After voting closes on February 24th, we’ll announce the finalists as soon as we have confirmed the results and checked each candidates BBB grade. (No grade is okay, but a bad one is not!) But that’s not where it ends.

In addition to votes, the winner of each category is also determined by their Google reviews from the previous 12 months. Combining the vote total with the review score will give us our winners. We’ll first announce the winners at the Idaho’s Best Awards Banquet in Boise, currently scheduled for the evenings of April 12-13, 2022. Then, we’ll publish the results online and in our Idaho’s Best of 2022 Magazine.

For more details, the latest information can be found on our How It Works and FAQ pages.

Thanks for your support and participation!