For most of his career, Tim Bales knew what he was building.
After 37 years in commercial real estate, he had developed a successful business and a reputation for advocating for property owners and helping them reduce costs. But as he entered the second half of his life, Bales began thinking about what he wanted to build next.
He wanted his work to have a different kind of impact.
That search eventually led him to founding Nerve Renewal, a network of Oklahoma clinics focused on helping people manage nerve pain and neuropathy through noninvasive neuromodulation treatments.
“I thought it was really helping people,” Bales said. “I thought it was something that needed to be pushed out to the masses.”
For Marilyn Olson, executive director of Villages OKC, Bales’ decision to start an entirely new business later in life says something important about finding purpose.
“Tim was a successful businessman who was searching for purpose, not just success,” Olson said. “He wanted to help people, and he found a way to use the skills he had developed in business to do that.”
A New Chapter
The first Nerve Renewal clinic opened in Oklahoma City in 2022. As the business grew, Bales saw how nerve pain could interfere with everyday life.
People living with neuropathy may experience pain, tingling, burning and numbness in their hands and feet. Nerve Renewal treats several forms of neuropathy, including peripheral, diabetic and chemotherapy-induced neuropathy.
For Bales, the most rewarding part has been hearing from patients who are able to return to activities they once thought they had lost.
“It’s been incredible,” Bales said. “When I get into the clinics and talk to people, I hear stories about people regaining their ability to walk or to walk without a mobility aid. We had a guy who regained the ability to hike with his grandkids.”
As demand grew, so did the need for convenient locations.
Nerve Renewal has since expanded across Oklahoma, with clinics in communities including Oklahoma City, Edmond, Norman, Midwest City, Yukon, Shawnee, Stillwater, Enid, Ardmore,
Broken Arrow, Bartlesville and the Tulsa area.
Taking Care of People
Starting Nerve Renewal also brought Bales into a new kind of business environment.
After years of working largely on his own in commercial real estate, he was now building a team of medical professionals and administrative staff.
Bales said his own experiences shaped the kind of workplace he wanted to create.
“I went to SNU, and to get through college I had to work as a janitor at night,” he said. “When I started this, I wanted there to be a positive attitude where everyone felt like they were helping people. What they do matters.”
That philosophy extends to the way Bales treats his employees.
Olson recalled a particularly demanding week when staff members were serving patients despite a shortened holiday schedule and staffing challenges. Bales came to the clinic, gathered the team and thanked them for their work. He then gave each employee $100.
“That story says so much about Tim,” Olson said. “He wanted his employees to know that he saw what they were doing and appreciated it. He understands that when you take care of your employees, they take care of the people you serve.”
A Partnership That Goes Way Back
The relationship between Bales and Olson began long before Nerve Renewal.
Olson was Bales’ seventh-grade English teacher at the old Bethany Middle School.
“I knew that Tim was a dynamo,” Olson said.
Years later, their paths crossed again when Bales had an office above Villages OKC’s first office. He asked Olson to review one of Nerve Renewal’s promotional brochures, and the relationship grew from there.
Today, the partnership is about more than financial support. It is also about education and shared perspective.
Bales said he did not initially have a strong understanding of what older adults wanted or needed. His relationship with Villages OKC helped change that.
“Villages OKC has a pulse on the older community,” Olson said. “Tim has learned a lot from us about what that population needs, likes and dislikes. It is a real relationship, and we share ideas with each other.”
For Olson, Bales’ story is ultimately about using experience in a new way.
“He took what he was good at and found a new way to use it,” Olson said. “He wanted to make a difference. That is the heart of what he is doing.”
For Villages OKC, the relationship with Nerve Renewal is another example of how a community partnership can grow from a simple connection into something more meaningful.
Sometimes, a new chapter means taking what you have learned and finding a new way to put it to work.
Learn more about Nerve Renewal: https://nerverenewalnow.com/