Dr. Stacie Barber, founder of The Physio Fix, discusses her innovative, movement-based entrepreneurial journey. With over 20 years in strength and conditioning, Stacie shares insights on injury recovery, online PT, and building a massive social media following—all while balancing family life and a thriving clinical practice. 

Website: https://thephysiofix.com 
Instagram: @thephysiofix 
TikTok: @ThePhysioFix
YouTube: @ThePhysioFix

Transcript

Voiceover: So you're a PT or PTA grad who's feeling the spark of something more. Maybe you dream of building your own business, one that's constructed around your vision, one that empowers you to make a real difference on your terms. This feeling, it's the entrepreneurial itch. And you're not alone. Countless PTs and PTAs are taking the leap to entrepreneurship, crafting careers that are as unique as they are. 

Welcome to the Innovate and Rehabilitate the Entrepreneurial PT podcast. In each episode, we'll dive deep into the world of PT-preneurship with Inspiring physical therapists and physical therapist assistants just like you, who are crushing it on their terms. We'll uncover their secrets, their struggles, and the incredible impact they're making. From building your PT boss dreams to navigating the business side of things, will equip you with the knowledge and inspiration to turn your vision into reality.

So, whether you're just curious about starting your own business, or you're already out there making your dreams a reality, this podcast is for you. Get ready to unleash your inner entrepreneur. Let's do this!

Scott Giles (SG): Hello and welcome! I'm Scott Giles, founder of Scorebuilders, and I'll be your host for this podcast. Today's guest, Dr. Stacie Barber, is a true powerhouse in the world of rehab and athletic performance. As the founder and owner of The Physio Fix, Stacie is revolutionizing rehab with a movement focused, one on one approach that seamlessly blends physical therapy, strength training, and mobility work. With more than twenty years of experience in the strength and conditioning world, Stacie brings unmatched insight into both injury recovery and performance optimization. In addition to running a thriving brick and mortar PT practice, Stacie was a trailblazer in adopting online physical therapy services, making her expertise accessible to athletes and fitness enthusiasts around the world. She's also a social media heavyweight with nearly a million followers on Instagram, where she shares her knowledge and engages with a growing community of devoted fans.

When she's not changing lives in the clinic, Stacie enjoys spending time with her husband Logan, their daughter Oakley, and their five dogs. Stacie - Thanks for your willingness to join us today.

Stacie Barber (SB): Yeah. Thanks, Scott. That was quite the introduction.

SG: Well, you've done a lot in a relatively short amount of time, so it's very impressive. Myself, I get stressed out about just the five dog piece. But, you know, you've got much bigger things going on than that. But that's fantastic. So, Stacie, let's jump in, because there are a lot of different pursuits that you have and the different things that combine to make The Physio Fix. I'd like to touch on as many of them as possible today. Because I think you are the definition of a serial entrepreneur and that's great. But how did this begin? I know you had some background in sports performance or fitness training prior to going to physical therapy school, but what sparked that, first of all, and then what made you want to take that additional step in order to go to PT school? 

SB: Yeah. So I grew up being a gymnast, a very competitive gymnast. Um, grew up in several different states, and we kind of bounced around to pursue my gymnastics career, actually. And so I ended up getting a full college scholarship to Illinois State University. And during my, like, college career, I sustained so many injuries. I already knew that I wanted to be a physical therapist because my best friend growing up, her mom was a physical therapist, and I just thought it was like the coolest thing to be able to change lives like that. 

And then as soon as I started kind of undergoing my own recovery and my injuries, I realized there was such a disconnect between, like, the people that could get me back to my goals and to get me better than ever. It was just kind of, even my athletic trainers at that point, they didn't quite know what to do with me. You know, it's like, okay, here's this banded exercise. And then, uh, yeah, you're good to do bars again. And I'm like, I retore my shoulder again. You know, as soon as I started doing release moves and I was very frustrated. So, I knew I wanted to go to PT school, but I wanted to do a gap year and kind of develop more of that strength and conditioning baseline knowledge, because I knew that that's really like where I love to, to be in that that realm of conditioning and programming. And I love exercise prescription. And I wanted to delve deeper into that. And I did that with like an internship or an externship, I guess it was called through my undergraduate studies. And then I just continued to work with a bunch of professional athletes before I decided to apply to PT school, and so I applied to PT school as soon as that year was over and I knew, I knew that's what I wanted to do anyway. So I wanted to kind of marry those two passions of mine. The strength and conditioning world and the physical therapy world.

SG: Makes complete sense. And I think as a high level gymnast like that, there's no doubt you're going to see your fair amount of time in rehab. And I know your injury list, a number of orthopedic surgeries that I saw somewhere, is off the chart. So you can certainly empathize with your patients and certainly have firsthand experience from that. So, um, anyways, that's yeah, it's a crazy sport. Absolutely crazy sport, but wonderful. Um, so okay, so you go to Duke, fantastic PT program. So on top of that you're super smart. Um, which is, which is wonderful. But then you get out. So tell us about the early years of clinical practice, because if I'm correct, there aren't there's not too many years, I think two until, um, until you pursue something entrepreneurial. So take us through those first couple of years. 

SB: Yeah. So I get a job after school, and I thought it was exactly what I wanted to be and what I wanted to do. And it was it was cool, but it was like so high paced. It was like one of those churn and burn PT mills. You know, I started working with like, people one on one for an hour in this outpatient sports setting, and it ended up turning into, you know, two patients an hour, three patients an hour, four patients an hour. It's pretty much as soon as I could tolerate more that I was getting, like, overloaded with, like, patients and I would take my documentation home. I decided that, like, I never wanted to be a clinician that put documentation before my patients. I wanted to give my all to my patients. So then I was spending hours upon hours, pretty much like my whole weekend, doing notes to try to make sure that I was like, keeping up with everything. And it was just I was so frustrated. I was so burnt out, so frustrated, even after, you know, just a year. And I was like, you know, things are going to get better. You know, I'm going to get the hang of things because maybe it's just like this learning curve and things did not get better. They actually ended up getting worse because, you know, started being even overloaded more and now taking on like, um, being a clinician, a clinical instructor. And so just getting more things added to my plate.

SG: Was this all in the same clinic, Stacie?

SB: Yeah, all in the same clinic. And about two years in, I just decided enough was enough. I was tired of, like, going home every day and, like, you know, complaining to my husband and him being like, what are you going to do about it? And I was like, you know, I don't know what I'm going to do about it, but I think that I just have to quit and figure it out. And so I didn't have a side hustle. I know a lot of people nowadays they kind of like start kind of something on the side and then like slowly phase out of clinical life. I'm more of a, I'm an all or nothing person. So I was like, I'm not doing this anymore. I'm out. And now I'm going to take a little bit of time and I'm going to build a business that I truly want to work in and I think people will truly appreciate.

SG: So that's pretty bold. I mean, you know, look, I've talked to a number of people and kind of part of their entrepreneurial drive was, I think, really focused or amplified based on the fact that they were doing something they did not like. Um, but to then decide, you know, because, let's be honest, your financial position, I'm guessing, unless you're independently wealthy, was probably not great. Um, you just went to a very expensive school, pursued a physical therapy degree, and just knew you were unhappy. Um, and, I mean, credit to you for, you know, I guess taking the risk because obviously it's worked out. But what gave you confidence that, I mean, it sounded like at that point in time you're like, I'm going to develop something. It wasn't like, I'm looking for another clinic. I'm going to this other job. It's like I'm going to develop something. But how did you have that kind of confidence at that age, or even the bankroll or any part of a bankroll, to know that you would be able to, to get going on something?

SB: Yeah. I think that I had um, just I, I guess I just was crazy, to be honest. Like, I didn't really have, like, a lot of, like, confidence that it was going to work out. But I also knew that if I work hard at something, that it's going to work out. So I think, growing up, my mom is an entrepreneur. She has her own business my grandma, my grandpa, my dad, my sister. Every single person in my family is an entrepreneur. And so I saw what they did and how they were able to, like, kind of make things come to life. And I was like, I want to do that. And I kind of just knew that being a personal trainer in the past, like I was charging X amount of dollars per one on one personal training sessions, like, now I have a doctorate degree, and now I feel comfortable charging this because now I have, you know, doctorate and personal training experience. And so people are willing to pay this for personal training, like why would they not be willing to pay this for a doctorate level degree? And with like these, like super specific skill set that can help them get better and live their life to the fullest, you know? 

So I just kind of like thought about like, I want to go. I really used the personal training model to develop my whole practice. I was like, I want to I really was kind of thinking about going back to a career shift. And then instead of doing the full shift, I was like, let me just merge the two. Like, we'll just do a one on one model of physical therapy. And so I think it was just, you know, maybe I was naive at that time too, but sometimes that's what it takes, you know, that like naive energy. And nowadays, I probably would think a little bit more about it because I have a family and like other things at play too. Back then I was like, you know, like I can always get another job, but like, now is the time to go all in on what I want my life to look like. And I just made it happen. 

SG: Yeah. That's great. I mean, I love the fact that you used your previous experience. You know, why not merge the models? Like you said, I love the fact that you had role models who were entrepreneurs throughout. And you also, you kind of did have the reserve parachute, knowing that at any time you could go back into the clinic and as a physical therapist, you know, it would, you know, you could get a job very, very quickly, um, or even a part time job or something, just if needed.

But I like the fact you gave it your full attention. You had the confidence. And look, there's never a perfect time to jump into a business or become an entrepreneur. Um, and everyone who, you know, becomes that kind of looks back and was like, well, I don't really know what I was doing, but, um, so, yeah. So it's I think it's refreshing for people to hear that because many times I think people, you know, assume successful people are much more put together. And it was much more planned and it was a long term career plan. And the other thing I like is that as a competitive gymnast, which you're a very high level competitive gymnast, um, you weren't afraid to compete. You weren't afraid to put yourself out there. You've experienced failure and you experienced, you know, wins.
So all right, so what did you settle on and what did what did that look like in the early years in terms of the business?

SB: Yeah. So I actually at first I decided, this is even sounds crazier. I decided I wanted to do online physical therapy. Okay. Like so I set my online physical therapy model up first. So I figured out how to like do like pre-made programs to sell custom programming, stuff like that. And so I set all those systems in place first because I was like, this is where I want to work. I want to have more flexibility in my life and stuff like that. And then I realized, well, you like, people aren't just going to come…like you have to like, you know, get the word out that you're doing these things. So I was like, okay, well, I guess I need to do a in-person person practice too.

So I kind of started out of a CrossFit gym. I just was able to use a room that they had and set up my table and like, you know, I didn't have any patients because I didn't bring any patients from my former practice. I had a non-compete and, you know, all that in place. So I was like, I don't even want to mess with that. But I have this CrossFit community that now I'm like, working within. And it just took time to kind of develop those relationships and get the ball rolling.

And then meanwhile, I was also putting out content. I would send my mom videos. She was like, I have neck pain. I was like, do this exercise. She's like, why don't you post that so people can see it? And I was like, great idea, mom, let's post it. So yeah, I was like, I'll just post all the things that I'm doing. And I just started literally like every single day putting out content. So I was like simultaneously building my online presence as I was just trying to, like, build my in-person local community presence as well.

SG: And people have to remember this was 2017. So this is eight years ago. You know, not everyone was trying to have a social media presence. I mean, social media was, I mean, to some extent kind of in its infancy. Um, and certainly in physical therapy and, you know, so I think it was pretty avant garde at the time in order to do that, but also to, you know, your initial thought was, I want to do online. I wanted to do online offerings. 
How did you I mean, your mom said, yeah, hey, let's put this online. But what kind of traction did you gain when you started? Because, again, not a lot of people, I think, were doing that at this time. So talk about your I mean, look over a million followers on Instagram at this point in time. And obviously it's been a fair amount of time, but that is a lot of followers. So talk us through some of the early social media pieces. 

SB: Yeah. So I was just like pumping out just random pieces of content. There was no like rhyme or reason to what I was sharing. It was just more like, hey, my mom has this going on, let me share some videos. Um, my patient has this going on. Let me share some videos. Tons of education though behind it because I always have taken time because I was also had this imposter syndrome like I was only two years out and I'm putting out, like, content, like I'm a professional and I'm an expert, you know, and all these different things. So I wanted to make sure that I was putting out the most evidence based content, too. So I would spend countless hours researching and making sure that, like, what I was showing the world was, in fact, the latest evidence, you know, and like, so no one could refute what I was, was demonstrating.

So I was just sharing what I was doing. And then like, I was furthering my education in the same time because I was researching constantly and taking continuing education courses. So I was bettering myself as a clinician at the same time. I was like sharing things with, um, the social media world. But at first it literally was just my friends and my family supporting me. It was just like, you know, like just a bunch of people liking you. And it wasn't until I think I hit like ten thousand followers. I think I was like six months of posting every single day that I finally hit ten thousand followers. And at that point, that's when people started to come out from all different walks of life. And, you know, the keyboard warriors were like, you know, oh my gosh. Like that's when you started to get a little bit of like, just push back, you know, like some people were trying to, like, argue with you or like say that you don't know what you're doing or just trolls being trolls. And but it wasn't at first. You know, it's like people are so supportive at first and then it's once you get a little bit of a little bit of more like highlight in the world. I just feel like that's when people come to get you.

But I was ready because at that point I'd been consistently pumping out content and I was furthering my education. So I felt sound and everything that I was, you know, showing the world. And, you know, I was able to kind of like put them in their place and be like, no, this is what the evidence says. And just like, show, um, just what I was doing with my patients.

SG: How do you deal with that now? I mean, are there some interactions that are upsetting to you? Do you actually, you know, have you kind of thrown up the white flag to some extent and be like, look, I'm not going to get into it with this person because, you know, escalating with some people, it's just exactly what they want to do. Like, how have you found that? That could be mentally challenging, I think, for many people.

SB: Yeah, it depends on my mood. You know, if I'm in like a headspace that I'm not able, like, I'm just too busy to like, take it on. I just will like, let it go. But sometimes, like, if I'm feeling a little feisty, which, you know, sometimes happens, I'll be like, okay, like I'm ready to engage with somebody and I'm ready to like, tell them like kind of what's the truth? And like, shed some light on because people you need to educate people that's like, that's really what my entire platform is about. It's like educating and helping people learn how to be like self-advocates for themselves and their healthcare.

And so sometimes I'll just go ahead and, uh, you know, keep responding to them or like, sometimes I'll just like screenshot it because my community, they are so knowledgeable about so many different things because they're like, they're consuming this information all the time and they're so smart, too. And there's so many clinicians that follow me and so many like, you know, medical professionals. So I'll just post it on my story, like what this person's comment is, and then other people from my community will be the ones to go fight that battle for me that day. So it's kind of funny. I'll just send out. Yeah, I'll just send out the army and like, you know, we know what's real and what's not real, and that's why I said like, so sometimes it's my battle to fight, but sometimes, like, someone else can fight the same battle for me and we're all sharing the same information.

SG: It's also validating, too, when I find when you find your peers being like, oh, Stacey, you're completely correct about this. Here's the evidence, here's this. And yeah, absolutely. I love that. Um, so okay, so, so at that time then you was just probably just private pay, cash pay at that time in terms of what you were doing. 

SB: So when I opened my own practice, I was kind of brainwashed, for lack of better word, to believe that you had to do an insurance model, you know. I was like, I was going to do one on one physical therapy. Everyone's like, you're crazy. That's never going to work. I'm going to do online physical therapy, that's never going to take off. And I'm like, okay, so I'm already having so many people saying that like, none of these things are going to work. Uh, at least I'm going to accept insurance so I can, like, bring in more people. I work with a lot of kids at first, and so I wanted to be able to be accessible to families. If they've already met their deductible, then they could come in and work with me. So I took UnitedHealthCare, I took Aetna, I took Blue Cross Blue Shield, and I took Cigna. So four insurances at the beginning got everything.

SG: Stacie how do you even know how to set that up? How did you even know how to make that happen? Or what companies to work out deals with or what was involved in making a deal? I don't know those things myself. I'm curious.

SB: I literally had to to Google each individual company, and then I would go to their website, and then I would try to get somebody on the phone and just ask the right questions. You know, it's all about what you ask and to get the right information. And so I'd get some really nice lady on the phone and be like, hey, can you just like, walk me through how to do this? And she was like, okay, this is what you need to do. You need to get, you know, make sure you have your tax ID number and make sure you set up your bank account first and foremost. And then you need to get a CAQH for your business. You need to get your type two NPI number. You need to get everything set up there. And she would just be like, here's your checklist. And I was like writing things down like so fast, trying to like make sure I didn't skip any steps. And then she was like, once you get all that established, then you come back and then you fill out all this paperwork to get credentialed with us as a business. So credentialing is different than contracted. And so I had to get everything credentialed first and then, okay, once you pass, um, credentialing, then now they know that you're a business that can that does these services, and now you have to get contracted with them.

And that's when you go through the okay, this is what we're going to pay you for your services. And you have to, you know, agree to these terms. So I just had, you know, lots of people trying to like guide me. I would call so many different people. But I also was like led down lots of wrong directions too, you know. I actually tried to get contracted with, um, Medicare and Medicaid at first too, because being a former, um, like I used to take Medicare and Medicaid when I worked for somebody else. So I already had my individual numbers. So I was like, well, let me just get a business stuff. But those are like one hundred different pages of things that you have to fill out. And I filled it out incorrectly and I submitted it and it got sent back and they were like, you have to do it again. And so I did it again. They sent it. And then they said, you did it wrong. And they sent it back. And I was like, this is a sign. Like, I'm not going to do this.

SG: So it's not like you submitted on Tuesday and it comes back on Wednesday, right when you start to like add this turnaround time of government efficiency. It's a problem.

SB: Yeah. So it was like crazy. And I was like, you know what? That's not my demographic. Anyways. If I'm thinking about the ideal demographic that I want to work with, it's not going to be someone that is in the Medicare age population. You know, it's going to be somebody that's more of like the active adult or like the kid that's trying to excel at their sport. So, you know, I was like, well, there's no need for me to take this or take this extra time. Um, so I took all those insurances for the first probably two years, and then I chopped away at UnitedHealthCare and Cigna because they're trash for reimbursement for physical therapy. And so yeah, I cut those off and I went out of network for Aetna. So I was only taking Blue Cross Blue Shield until this last year. And now um we don't take any more insurances. We're all self-pay. But I did take insurances for eight years. 

SG: Impressive that you're able to, you know, navigate that. But again you're the type of person it seems that you're very willing to ask questions. You're willing to put in the effort, you're willing to put in the work. So with much of this stuff, it's not rocket science, but it does take someone very detail oriented, very persistent, uh, in terms of getting the answers that they need. Because obviously without that, like you experience with Medicare, um, you know, it's obviously hugely problematic.

So then so you got going thing you're getting some traction, you're getting some following now on social media. When did The Physio fix- I love the name by the way - when did The Physio Fix kind of come about and take us through to the point where you're at? I know you have a brick and mortar building now. I know you've got a bunch of therapists, so kind of walk us through the progression. 

SB: Yeah, well, The Physio Fix was my business name all along. Um, I kind of thought of this because I wanted to be like, the online stuff is what I really wanted to like. I wanted to help more people. I knew that I've been I have a traveler, so I like to travel. I've been to so many different countries and they don't have access to good healthcare. So I was like, I can make more of a global difference if I just have set myself in a place to be able to do that. And so physio is the term that they use internationally. And so, you know, physical therapy is here. And so I was like, well, if I want to reach more people internationally, I should call myself something that's more universally received. And so that's when I named myself The Physio Fix from the very, very beginning. So that was already in place. And then over time. So I was in the first CrossFit gym, and then I decided to open up a second location because now my non-compete period was over, I could go back into that side of town. And so I had two different locations, which was kind of a nightmare to go back and forth, because I just had one table, you know, one set of equipment. I didn't have two of everything because, you know, I was already, you know, trying to like, just make ends meet at this point just to, like, help people. And so I did probably that for like six months. And then I just chose one location. So then I chose like an independent private gym in Scottsdale, Arizona.

And so I was there for about two years, um, before the pandemic hit. And so once the pandemic hit, I was kind of at this, this fork in a road. It was more like all the gyms had to close down. I don't know how it was where you are, but all the gyms around here needed to close down and look like they were closed, at least from the outside. Sounds so, so sketchy. But, um, it was all about the perception because people were being hit with fines and everything while I was working out of a personal training gym so everyone else couldn't work, but I could still work. And so it was like all the lights were turned off all the time. But my office light would be on, so I had to, like, treat everybody from my office. I could no longer use their gym. It was such a such a weird time. And so I was like, I don't know how long this is going to be going on, but I can no longer stay in this place. So I have to be able to like, get my own practice. So I started looking for places in this area and I found, um, where we are right now, and it was just like a shell of a warehouse. And so in September 2020, I opened doors here. And so it's been about five years. And then, um, earlier this year in January, I decided to expand. And so I have expanded. So now I'm six thousand square feet. I have four offices. We have a very, very large gym area. We have like a like brand new turf. We got like our logo embedded, we got all new Kaiser equipment. We just got to boost treadmill that was delivered on Friday, which is like an anti-gravity treadmill. We have all state of the art equipment, but I've just been slowly like reinvesting back into the company over time, saving up money. And this is it for a while, though. This is it for the expansion stuff. Because this was a huge undertaking.

SG: See, I'll tell you how that goes, because whenever I say that to my wife, I'm like, I just have to get through this one more thing and then I promise you, like, there's no more this or that. And she's just like, yeah, okay. 

SB: My husband says the same thing.

SG: So I'm, I'm questioning that. But yeah. Anyways, I appreciate the sentiment right now. Yeah. Exactly. Um, now were you able to, because I mean initially obviously early online was kind of where you were thinking, were you able to kind of capitalize on the online piece or really grow that element or refine your approach during Covid? 

SB: Yeah, and I think I grew like two hundred and fifty thousand followers during that time too. So like online. So since I was already heavy in the online space, I got there at the right time and I was just pumping out content. I also would go live on Instagram, um, like twice a week and do free mobility sessions. People are like locked up at home. I was like, how can I help you guys? Let's move together. So I would just sometimes be in my office, sometimes be like at home, sometimes like upstairs with the dogs all around me. But like, it just like brought like a special, just special time in people's lives because people would be like, okay, let's tune in with Stacey every Sunday at like eleven am sort of thing. 

And then I started like to offer online programs or like custom coaching through mobility. So it just like one thing just turned into like other things off of that one thing that I was doing. Um, but custom programming, oh my God, skyrocketed. I would every single day have like twelve online appointments back to back to back. I was crushing it with the online stuff because I already had all that stuff set up, um, just in the right place at the right time. 

SG: Hey. Well, that's a lot of what it's about. You got to capitalize on that. And you clearly did so today. I mean, obviously, you know, thank goodness COVID's over. And people are, you know, back to, I guess, semi-normal. Um, what percentage of your patient visits now are online versus in person?

SB: Yeah, for me personally, I still do about 25% online. I would say like as like a company, we're probably like 10%  online, which is still pretty substantial. So like, you know, we do like thirty six hour work weeks here, not forty. So thirty six hour work weeks probably like at least for online patients at least it just depends on the provider and their availability. Obviously, like local is where our heart is first and foremost because we want to impact our community locally. And then like we open up any remaining openings to global community. So we always, you know, kind of reserve our time slots for local first. But as we keep growing, we're going to be able to offer more and more. Um, I would say, I was looking at my numbers the other day. So in the last two years I've had 730 online appointments. Me, myself. Yeah.

SG: That's, uh. Yeah, that's a lot. 

SB: Yes. Yeah. It's insane. The amount of, like, online appointments that I've had, but I have, like a whole day devoted to online patients. And like last week I wrote ten online programs. So, um, it was like half of my schedule last week was online.

SG: But I guess it's nice now because, I mean, to some extent, you have this whole cadre of online programs where you can, you know, you've built so much. And not to suggest that it's cookie cutter. Everyone, I'm sure, is completely unique to the patient. But at the same time, you're dealing from a position of strength by having done what you've done and had the number of patients and diagnoses, etc., which has to be hugely beneficial.
How much do you feel your social media presence has driven your business growth?

SB: Oh, I didn't know how much it drove my business growth until recently. So last year we decided for the first time ever, like people talk about Instagram ads and Facebook ads. Let's see kind of what that's about. So we try to like turn those on and like throw some, you know, marketing money into that and just want to tell you, I have not spent a dollar on marketing at all. You know, at until last year. And so I tried it because there's just more clinicians in the office, more schedules to fill. I was like, let's just see what we can do. Because I also was like fresh with a newborn. And I wasn't as, um, as active on social media at that point. So I wanted to see if there's different avenues I could take that was less of my time. Um, so it didn't work out very well. I realized that like that, those did not take off, and I thought that they would. It just was crazy. And then this year, um, we started doing some Google ads, and I realized that my social media alone, like I would say, 90% of all of our new evals come from Instagram, maybe sometimes not directly, but indirectly because people use it as a portfolio. So it's like, okay, they get referred to The Physio Fix. Oh they see the they look up The Physio Fix. They look at our Instagram page. They're following us for a period of time. Oh my shoulder starts bothering me. Then I book an appointment. So it's like it's getting to them like one way or another. But it's all still coming from social media. So when I like put up on a story that I have an opening, it's usually filled within like an hour, you know, because like, it just it's such like, it's so crazy because people are like, viewing the stories at all different hours of the day in all different parts of the world. So you could go to sleep and wake up and you have ten more appointments on your schedule from people in different countries because they're awake during that time.

SG: Thus the growth. Right. I mean, that's incredible. And I didn't realize this until I was looking at your website a couple days ago. And I did notice that you actually have a, I think you call it the Instagram fix, where you actually have put together a program to help people build their Instagram presence. I mean, that's and that's why I say you're a serial entrepreneur. You know, you've got a lot of things going on in different areas. How did how did that come to mind and what has been the reaction to that?

SB: I actually made that during the pandemic, and I've edited it since and like, you know, modified it. But I made it during the pandemic because I was growing at such a fast rate. Everyone was like, what are you doing? And I was like, well, I'll show you what I'm doing. And then, like, I kind of broke down literally. Like everything I do, every app that I use, you know, like. And then I didn't even realize I actually have a director of online operations now. And so I'm telling her, like how I do things and she's helping me out and she's like, I didn't even realize that you do this, like with a purpose behind it because it just comes so natural. And I think that's part of it, too. It's just like it needs to come off as it's like natural, not very forceful for people. And then that's how it's more well received to.

SG:  Does filming and doing the things that you need to produce content? Because just just to go back one second, I think, um, what we found even with Colibri, the group that owns our company is that. Yeah, the SEO is not what it used to be. You know what I mean? Paid ads are not what they used to be. And what we've had much better success with. And I think what the industry has had much better success with is organic material, like legitimate educational material that you produce. So it's really funny when you said that because it's that's exact. And look, there's a cost either way. Right. There's a cost of purchasing ads, you know, having keywords whatever. But there's also a cost of producing content, etc. But somehow I feel like the level of control when you're producing organic material, you get to, you get to send the exact message that you want. You get to reach who you want. You know what works. You can track things yourself without having to look at high level Google Analytics and make determinations. So I think it's very, very interesting that that that you've evolved into that.

What kind of help have you had along the way, Stacie, in terms of I know you have other health care providers, obviously, at all the clinics, but I mean, have you had a have you had a business coach? Do you have a, you know, someone who helps you with, you know, the finances, like what kind of team even in the early stages. And how has that changed as you've become a much bigger entity?

SB: Yeah. So I've always had like at least one admin on my team that kind of helps out, you know, here and there like, you know, answer phones, schedule patients, collect appointment payments and all that stuff. But I also recently, um, got an so I have a brand new office manager. So I used to have my admin and then the admin was like still doing her admin task as we're bringing on front office staff. And so then there was just like this admin turned into wearing all the hats that I didn't wear anymore. So then she was wearing way too many hats. Right? And as we're growing, it's like she's doing way too much. So then it's like slowly over time, we're just adding in more people. But they need to fully understand the vision, the mission, like our values. And, um, then slowly like offloading me and my admin.

And so now we have I think there's eleven of us, so we have four physical therapists, and then the rest is like kind of office staff or like behind the scenes staff. So we have like the director of online operations, I have a brand manager, um, slash copywriter. And then I have someone that does, like all the office managerial stuff. So like, you know, all the day to day, like scheduling all the, the clinician schedules, time off, stuff like that. She also helps do like some of the accounting stuff now too. So, you know, she's helping put things into QuickBooks and to make sure that, you know, all that stuff is, at the tax time is always like the most dreaded time for me. And as it is for so many people. But like now that I've finally gotten all the people in the right seats, it's just going to make everything so much better now, come like next year this time around, right? It's just going to be so, so good. But, um, it wasn't until this year that I. Finally. You have to, like, invest in your people before. Like, they will start making money for you. Because even though we have, I call it, we have revenue generating clinicians and then we have non-revenue generating staff. And so it's always scary to to hire someone else that's non-revenue generating. But if you teach them to do something that is revenue generating that or that's going to be offloading something else. And it's been like it's kind of a mind shift switch for me, because now it's like my admin, she can actually sell online programs and that's revenue generating. 

SG: Sure. 

SB: You know, so I've taught her how to do some of these things to or to like be able to offset some of our expenses. And that alone is really helpful. 

SG: But over time a great way to enrich their roles as well. Right. I mean, they're developing skills that they may not have previously had, but, you know, as you found with the appropriate training and the appropriate individuals, these people can be highly effective and allow you to do things that are, you know, much more critical for, you know, for the business, such as strategic, you know, strategic thinking, strategic planning, etc.. But it sounds like I mean, I know you said you had a brand manager, but for the most part, it sounds like I mean, you're the one. You're pushing the buttons, you're developing the strategy. You're determining growth. You're determining I mean, is that accurate?

SB: Yeah. Oh yeah. I'm very much a type A person. So I want to have the control or at least the knowledge of like what's going on from like a high level overview. And then you know, the brand manager, what she does more so is she like, works closely with all the brands that I affiliate with to make sure that I'm, you know, being paid for all the stuff that I need to be paid for, um, that we're like, we're invoicing them appropriately. We're also upholding our contracts because each of these brands, they offer something very specific. And you have to make sure that you're, you know, doing what you need to be doing in order to get your, um, your monetary income from that. So she just is like coordinating with that. I hate emailing people. So she loves emailing people, and she'll just email people for me.

SG:How much has that…and I'm certainly not asking anything financially. But you know, when you get to a point where you're close to a million followers on Instagram, I mean, what is it like? I mean, are literally offers just coming to you with people who want to partner? Is part of your admin’s time, like soliciting brands that you'd like to affiliate with? Like how does that work? 

SB: So I don't ever have anyone else solicit. If I want to work with a brand, I will personally reach out to them and I usually will have used them for a while. Everything that happens organically is like the best scenario anyways for this because it doesn't feel forced, right? So it's like if I use this RP diet app for like two years before I reached out to them and I was like, hey, like, are you guys looking for ambassadors? And they're like, hey, yeah, we are. And I was like, hey, I already use your product. And they're like, cool, you want to get paid? And I was like, yes, like, this is just great, right? I already use it. It's a dream, right? And so I do the same thing. I'll find something that I really like. And I'm like, I really like this, you know? And so I'm like, I'm going to reach out to them and just kind of see what they think. And so I will do all that stuff because people don't know, like what I personally use it for, or like how I've been using it or just like the ins and outs of like what I want to do with this brand or this company. And so I do that stuff.

But like from we get, I would say probably ten offers every single day from an affiliate standpoint, um, companies coming, some of them are BS though. Like they're like, there's this mattress company that sent me something the other day. They're like, hey, you want you want my mattress? And I was like, what? Where am I going to put this mattress in my office? Like, sometimes I want to take naps and maybe. But, you know, like, it doesn't really fit my brand. So a lot of it is just like, kind of weeding out. And so I'll send that to my director of online operations. I'll send her all the emails that come in and she filters them like this is delete, delete, delete. Not even worth our time. And then, hey, maybe this is something that we actually would benefit from some product that we would actually use. Look at this. You know. So then she'll send it back to me. So there's some that are coming from like those sources, but the rest of them are me reaching out into the community.

SG: It's great to see the progression because I mean, again, it's, you know, obviously you're fortunate to have this come to you, but at the same time, not really, because, I mean, this was a friends and family initiative, you know, and then you built your presence. You put up content every day, and now you've turned into this behemoth who has people knocking on your door, and you're being selective. I mean, you're protecting your brand as well, but I'm sure the income that's derived from that is, you know, directly as well as the indirect, um, you know, in terms of referrals to your clinics when you post new things. I mean, it all feeds into each other, and it seems like the machine is running on high at this point. With all that you've got going on. Do you have time to? Are you still producing regular, at least weekly content or.

SB: Yeah, I have so much saved in archives, you know, of different things that even stuff that I've never actually, like, put online. A lot of the stuff that I like produce like from like carousel like standpoint on like social media is more like stuff from my patients. So as I get new patients in the clinic, you know, something that I haven't treated in a while. Okay, cool. Let me make a post on it. It's this stuff just keeps flowing because I'm still a treating clinician. It's like I haven't lost that touch, you know. And so I think that's what helps really bring in more patients. People think that the reels are what does it, no. People are just like the reels are to like get them into your wheelhouse to see like who I am and to try to get them to follow you. But it's the carousels that connect with people, and that's what sells, and that's what gets people to book appointments. And so those are the things that like, I'm just using my patients or using my own experiences to like, make. And then I'll do some trendy things on reels like. But yeah, my, my online operator, she's the one that's like sending me all the trends. She's like, hey, this is a trend. Let's do it. And I'm like, okay, so I am still producing like trendy content. Yeah. Content. Yeah.

SG: Can you I was talking to someone, uh, another, uh, influencer the other day, actually, Dr. Dan and I actually asked him and I said, hey, uh, are you to the point now where you can tell you can really tell when you do something that's like, oh, this is going to be big, you know, and his are, you know, he's well, you have some of these too. Uh, but I mean, all your stuff's engaging, but sometimes it's very playful, very funny, sometimes even dancey, you know, all that kind of stuff. But are you at the point where once you produce something, you're kind of like, ah. Or you're like, oh, baby, this is fantastic.

SB: Yeah, I know if it's going to be a home run and if it's not a home run the first time I post it, sometimes I'll repost it again later down the road because it could have just been like the time or something like that. Because I know it's a good post. I know it's engaging. I know like the copy is like what it needs to be, but it just sometimes it comes down to timing or whatever. There could be a glitch on Instagram that day and you're like, this was the best piece of content.

SG: But yeah, I need I need to validate that this will work. Yeah, no, but it's great. I mean, it's like an expert clinician, right? You know, you can see three or four things that just make you like bing, whereas someone else who doesn't have that knowledge, they're going to go through the whole eval, they're going to miss X, Y and Z. You know, the PT diagnosis is probably, you know, going to be missing because they didn't pick up on these things. But you can just go right to, you know, right to the critical area.
Stacey, what advice do you have to someone who's, you know, just trying to get going? I mean, whether it's to develop a social media presence or someone who just wants to be an entrepreneur but has really no sense at this moment of what to do, or if they really have the requisite skills to pull this off. What kind of inspirational words do you have?

SB: I would just say, just keep going. Like if you believe in yourself then and that you're willing to put in the time and the effort and sacrifice upfront, it's going to work out whether it's today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, ten years down the road. If you believe that hard in something and your ideas, you just got to keep going after it because, you know, people tried to persuade me that my ideas were not going to be coming. You know, nothing fruitful was going to come from them. But I knew that I was like, I just feel like this is the direction that everything needs to be going. The one on one physical therapy, the online physical therapy. And if I had listened to them, then I would have never been able to be one of the trailblazers in this field. And so I just say like, you know, there's going to be more things that come about. So if you are one of those innovators, you have those ideas like, not everyone needs to understand your idea. Just got to keep going for it.

SG: I love it. And, you know, and I mean, if you look at all the different things you've done, I even saw you have a Physio Fix app which actually has very good ratings on the App Store. Um, I mean, again, you didn't go out and say, oh, I'm going to build an app, I'm going to do this, I'm going to, I'm going to partner with brands, I'm going to be an influencer. But you put yourself into the arena and when you put yourself into the arena, you know, things happen. The opportunity knocked, you know, and you were willing to open that door and go forward without having all the answers. And of course, you still don't have all the answers, but it sounds like you have a lot of them. Which is a credit to you.

So, Stacie, thanks so much for joining us today. You really built an empire here. And it doesn't show any signs of slowing down. And you've earned it all. You deserve it. And you know, continued success. I'll be looking forward to seeing what's next. And I'll remember back to this conversation when you told me you were going to kind of settle down a little bit, uh, not buying it, Stacie. Not for a minute, but I love that. I love that I'd be disappointed if there's not something really, you know, unique and imaginative in the next three years. Now, your husband, your family, they may not share that enthusiasm when you drop that one, but, uh, but anyways, uh, continued success. And thank you very much for joining us. 

SB: Thank you. Scott, this was a really fun talk. 

SG: You're welcome. Thanks to all those folks out there who are listening. We'll be back next month with another amazing entrepreneurial discussion. Thank you.

Voiceover: And there you have it. Another dose of PT-prenurial inspiration to fuel your journey. Check out more inspiring stories from PTs and PTAs out there making waves by listening and subscribing to our podcasts on your favorite streaming platforms. And don't forget to rate and review this podcast. Thanks for listening.