Here is How I Know its not About The Money
===
[00:00:00] Hey there, it's Wong with hand therapy secrets. I help occupational therapists, uh, develop their careers and I help OTs and PTs study and become certified hand therapists if that's something that they're interested in. So today I wanna talk about, um, You know, the fact that a lot of people ask me about the price of my exam prep program and, um, there's essentially a certain amount of, uh, healthy questioning or what we call pushback about pricing.
[00:00:30] And it's because I am at a premium price compared to a lot of other cheaper options. Right. Um, without going into so much of the detail of like the price of the program and stuff like that, I'm here to actually talk about how. I know it's not about the money, right? So I wanna share that with you because I think a lot of people think about that when they're thinking about going to a class, joining an online program, um, even going to a [00:01:00] conference or anything like that, right?
[00:01:01] So I just came from, um, teaching a class myself, and I came from a conference as well. So I just wanna share some of my, um, Some of my observations that way. Hopefully if you're an occupational therapist or physical therapist, if you're an occupational therapists assistant or physical therapists assistant and you're just debating about what class to take, should I join a program?
[00:01:25] Should I go to a conference? Um, some share with you, some of my observations so that you can. Um, so that hopefully it can help you make a decision about what to do, right, about what class to take, or if you should or shouldn't go. I think that to a certain extent we have, um, the minimum requirements. So as a therapist to be licensed majority of the time in your state, um, you have to take so many CEUs, right?
[00:01:54] Uh, some states I'm actually teaching out in New Jersey, and some states don't require you to have, [00:02:00] um, to take any CEUs to practice in that state. But sometimes you might hold a specialty certification that requires you to, to have it, like for, I'll give you an example. For example, New Jersey doesn't require occupational therapists to get Cs, but if you have an R in your O T R.
[00:02:20] Um, slash L like RS registered and LS license. If you're registered through N B C O T, then N B C O T requires that you take CEUs. Um, right. So, um, here is, um, regardless of the. Regardless of the requirements, that's just the minimum requirements to play, right? That's the way I see it. You have to have a minimum requirement to come in and be a therapist.
[00:02:48] If you're an assistant, you have to have an associate's degree. If you're an ot, you have to have a minimum of a master's degree. Most people are going to get their doctorates, and if you're a pt, you have to have a minimum of the doctor to play. [00:03:00] So in the state then you have to do a required minimum just to play.
[00:03:05] And then everything else is really about, you know, how do you wanna develop your career, how do you wanna advance your career? And here's how I know that so much about sitting to become a certified hand therapist, especially is not about money. Um, taking classes a lot of times is just not about money, cuz you have the money.
[00:03:26] Like you do if you're a working therapist, you got money to spend, you know, five or $600 on a class is a fraction of a fraction or a fraction of your salary, right? Let's be honest, it's a fraction of a sal of, of your salary. Um, To consider taking a course, um, where it requires you to travel. Yes, you have to pay a little bit extra, but again, still a fraction of your salary to take one class a year.
[00:03:54] It's a fraction. People are doing the minimum amount and [00:04:00] wanna know why they don't have the skills. They're doing the minimum amount and wondering why. They don't love their profession. Let's just talk about that. We can talk about that too. Um, and feel free, I'm posting this, um, you know, on YouTube so that you can leave me comments, like, leave me comments, huh?
[00:04:19] Whether you agree or disagree. I would love to hear what your take on it is. But here's how I know it's not about money, cuz I just spoke to somebody who gets $5,000, all right? She gets $5,000. From her company, right from her company to take continuing continuing education courses, right? They want her to become a certified hand therapist.
[00:04:48] They are willing to invest into her, um, for her to become a certified hand therapist, right? You can come into the, [00:05:00] um, you can come into the exam prep program. Start studying with a group of people. Um, I don't know if it pays her books, but I, I guarantee you books is not an issue, right? It isn't about the money.
[00:05:16] It's about whether she believes that she can be successful on the other side of trying.
[00:05:26] If she tries, can she be successful? So part of it, I think I'm gonna make assumptions. I'm gonna go on a limb and make some assumptions here cuz I've seen it. I've spoken to enough therapists where I see that there's a lot of fear in failing. Right, but you won't ever know unless you give yourself a chance, unless you try.
[00:05:48] So part of it is I'm afraid that I won't do it right. So I'm afraid of failing. I'm afraid of that. I don't trust myself to [00:06:00] actually get it done. Right. So, um, you know, when you're doing things that are more challenging, right? That are, that require more active participation, think about you take a class, you do that shit online.
[00:06:15] Let's face it, there's a gazillion, cheapest thing where you could kind of half-ass your way. You sort of put it on, you sort of watching and you can spend $99 and you get an unlimited amount of CEUs, right? It is very passive. Majority of the time, you can sit there and you could watch it and you can do some other shit.
[00:06:36] Right? You're not learning. You're not actively learning, you're not actively applying. Um, so because you might have been doing that for a while, it's hard to conceptualize what is required to actually sit and be more active in your learning. So I know it's not about money because I know that people are afraid to fail.
[00:06:58] I know that [00:07:00] that fear holds people back from even trying. And what happens is, Months go by. Years go by. And when we're talking about post degree, you have to be, you watching this video, you have to be an active participant. You have to say, I value myself enough to try. I value my career enough to try. I value being a really great therapist to try like, because we all have the capacity to be better.
[00:07:36] I have been practicing for over 20 years in just about every single area. I've done the sniff, I've done the acute care. Uh, my only peds experience really is, uh, in the nicu. Did the NICU for several years. Um, and when I decided to, you know, when I got the opportunity for nicu, I said, let me look. For a course, a class that I can go to, and I took that class, [00:08:00] I flew somewhere, I took that class for two days, came back, said I have some more information, now I can apply it.
[00:08:05] Um, and then in pediatrics, I, I really just work with it from a orthopedic standpoint. When babies come to me with trigger finger or. Split needs kids and teenagers come with hand in arm injuries, you know, definitely know how to help them. Um, but I don't work in like, let's say sensory integration. I don't work with developmental delays, that kind of stuff.
[00:08:28] Um, very limited experience in that when I was doing developmental delays. Because of the nicu. Um, I had to study that a little because that wasn't in my wheelhouse. But since I don't do that, that's not necessarily in my wheelhouse. And so now I just know like, Hey, I know what I know and there's stuff I don't know.
[00:08:46] Let me refer you to someone who really does know that stuff and loves that stuff. You know, like I don't wanna sit there and, and learn it, you know, I'd rather sit there and learn more orthopedic stuff. Um, I sit there and I learn more about the spine issues. I've learned so [00:09:00] much about hip and knee issues cuz I keep running my knees.
[00:09:02] You know, like I know how to treat it because I, I've, you know, I've treated with myself and then I get to, you know, work on other people who have me for like my parents, my brothers, you know, my friends. My friends be hitting me up all the time, you know? So, you know, when it comes to becoming a certified hand therapist, or Yeah, especially, let's talk about becoming a certified hand therapist.
[00:09:27] People are like, oh, I don't know if I wanna spend the money. Well, so the, there's some, the cost of the exam, right? And then there's the cost of the books. And then there's a cost of, if you wanna do it completely on your own, you have to put into account the cost of the time that it's taken you to do it on your own.
[00:09:45] Put a cost to that because that is a cost. Time is money. What does it cost you to join a program like the exam prep program and, um, cut your time in half or actually reduce your overwhelm so you can, can, can finally [00:10:00] complete it. Because that's the thing. I have a lot of people who come to me and they say, I've been thinking about it.
[00:10:05] For years I've been watching you Huang, and now I'm going on four, four or five years, um, of, you know, putting out content on hand therapy secrets, um, talking about how I help OTs and PTs become certified hand therapists and. Talking about the program that I've created and cur curated the information, right?
[00:10:25] So I know you've been watching, I know you've been listening. And here's the challenge, cuz I know it's not about money. I know it's not about money because the proof is in the pudding When your, when your company is willing to pay, you have someone who's willing to pay and you're still not willing to step into your desire of becoming an expert.
[00:10:49] You see it coming down the line that other people are going to move above where you're at because they're gonna be willing to become a certified hand therapist. You know, you, [00:11:00] you see the desire that you have to kind of like level up your game and get the respect that you deserve because you know your shit, but yet you're not willing to prove that you know your shit.
[00:11:11] Right by becoming certified. Um, and I mean, like, listen, not everyone uh, values that, but I know that if you're coming and talking to me, I know if you're consuming the content here, I know that to a certain extent that that is in the back of your mind and that worries you and that you want it, right?
[00:11:27] Otherwise you would move along. Move right along. This video will not pertain to you, right? But somehow or another, you know that being seen as an expert in your, in your field is important. It is important. There's a lot of value in, in, uh, perception of what people see and think, right? And that the proof is there and then it makes it easier for them to come to you, and then you can prove that, yeah, I can fix your problem, I can get you moving, I [00:12:00] can prevent you from having another surgery.
[00:12:01] You know, I know what I'm talking about when, when I see X, y, and Z problem, right? We can talk about diagnosis for days, but here is if you cannot or do not believe in yourself. Then you won't take the necessary steps. I don't care if it costs $0, you won't do it because it's already free for you and you still won't take it, right?
[00:12:25] So to me, that tells me that you either one or too fearful of taking action, or two, don't believe in yourself, but you have the proof that you can do hard things. You have the proof. If you look back in your career, you have the proof. You've got into OT school. You got into PT school, you did the hard thing.
[00:12:50] If you look back, you had to study to pass your boards, and you did that. Right Now, if you [00:13:00] look back, it was terrifying to apply for her jobs. But you had a fire under your ass about doing it right, and each step of the way there has been a fire under your ass with doing it because if you didn't graduate, you would wasted a lot of money and then don't have a degree for it.
[00:13:19] You had to pass your boards. In order to even have the opportunity to make money. And so therefore there was a fire under your ass. You really had to apply for that job no matter how scary it was. Cause you either really needed the money, or two, you hated the current job you're in and you're like, cuz that's the fire under your ass.
[00:13:39] So now what is the fire under your ass right now to become a certified hand therapist? Now for some people, they don't love their setting. Their, their, their current job. So they're like, I need my CHT to be able to move into this type of setting that I wanna be in. Right? They might want to move from state to state and they want the [00:14:00] opportunity to have an easier time finding a job because there are certain areas, um, you know, especially California, a lot of my students, um, come to me from California and, um, You know, a lot of the companies out there are looking for someone who specialize and so they're willing to wait for that person who specialize.
[00:14:20] So, you know, they're like, Shannon, I wanna move, but I can't get that job. Right. Um, To, you know, to move from, from a different area because I don't, yeah. Have my chg. So that is a fire under your ass. For some people, just the respect alone, just garnering the respect alone is enough fire. They're like, I'm sick and tired of being overlooked.
[00:14:42] I'm sick and tired of, you know, getting passed by because someone else is a certified hand therapist and I'm not, but I know what I'm doing, so prove it. Right. I know what you're doing, I know you know what you're doing, but to become a certified hand therapist requires a lot more work. And the work [00:15:00] is just about, you know, putting the time in the study in.
[00:15:03] Right. So with this example, I've, I've seen people have the money available to them and they still won't take it. And I've also seen where people don't have the money and they've taken the opportunity. So that's also another reason why I know that shit ain't about money. It's not, I had a guy who literally, during Covid didn't have a job.
[00:15:26] He had been laid off, he wanted to move into hands, but was just having a hard time. So he had been just dabbling into hands and, uh, he came, spoke to me and I was like, listen, I think it's a great fit. You know, you have the experience. You, you're, you're doing all these other things, but the thing that you want, you're not doing.
[00:15:42] So it doesn't align. So let's do the thing that you say you want to do. He's taken the test before, like years ago and failed and then just like didn't take it again. I'm like, if you took it once, it means you wanted it, so let's try again. And so he came and he was like, I. You know, haggling and [00:16:00] saying like, well, what about a discount?
[00:16:01] Or what about this? Like, listen, mad respect for that I, to me, is I know all about haggling, right? I have mad respect for that. And I was like, kudos. Thank you so much. But this is my price. You know, this is my program. I see it as a fair thing. If I'm charging one person, one thing, I have to charge the other person.
[00:16:18] It's only fair. Right? So, I know it's not about money because it took him a hot minute, but he came into the program and he studied and he took the test and, um, you know, he eventually, he, he passed, right? He passed. So, um, but what that, what that action did for him, right, because he didn't pass the first time.
[00:16:45] What that action did for him was it actually got him a job. That action. Got him because he said in a way that he understood the concepts and then he knew what to do. So it [00:17:00] changed how he showed up to interviews. We also fixed his resume to make it, uh, more aligned with what he was looking for. So it gave him the opportunity.
[00:17:09] He got the job and started, you know, really just working in hands and, and, um, You know, then it came down to executing, right? So then he didn't pass, the first time he left the program, which is, you know, totally fine. He left the program. He's like, I'm good. I'm gonna try to do it on my own. And what happened was he kept failing by like just two, three points.
[00:17:31] And, um, you know, he tried to do it on his own and it wasn't, and, and it wasn't, um, he came back. And when he came back, you know, I did a score audit and I said, listen, and I, I had already done a score audit before, um, but I was like, listen, this is, this is where you need to execute. Like, this is where you need to execute.
[00:17:52] Because sometimes when you're, when you're missing out, um, if you're missing out on a certain experience, sometimes you [00:18:00] can't catch, um, you can't catch the, uh, you kind of missing out on this, like a little bit of this problem solving. So then it's hard for you to make the decisions that you need to make.
[00:18:11] Right. So anyway, we. We went through his score again and I'm like, listen, I'm finding the same problem. This is where I need you to focus. And he finally focused on where I was telling him to focus, and then he was able to execute. So it's in the execution. So he did pass, and when he did pass, he um, You know, he had already landed that job, but now, um, it really boosted his confidence to then go and market himself to the surrounding doctors cuz he lived in a really rural area.
[00:18:42] And so, um, You know, doctors only trust so many people in these, these rural areas. And so I was like, well, with this c h t, you now know you can go and you can market yourself in so many different ways. Um, and he was able to grow his hand therapy, um, position [00:19:00] and increase, you know, the type of patients that he wanted to be working with.
[00:19:05] Right. And that's also proof to me that it's not about the money. It really isn't about the money. It's your, essentially your belief in yourself. If, if you're, you have the capacity and capability to do it. And I can tell you right now that, um, and speaking and working with, you know, hundreds and thousands of therapists, That you have the capability and the capacity to do it.
[00:19:34] Now, when you're post-degree, nobody is going to make you do anything, y'all. This is called adulting, okay? This is called adulting. You have to adult. You have to adult and make decisions for yourself. And the decision is in, regardless of if I fail the exam, [00:20:00] do I believe that I'm worth, do you, do I believe that I'm worth it to at least try?
[00:20:10] For me, that's a yes all day, every day. I am worth it. I am worth the money. I am worth the time. I am worth the accolades. I am worth the respect. I am worth the opportunities. I am worth, the choices that I have in my career once I become a certified hand therapist. I say that from experience because, um, it was something that I wanted myself, I knew.
[00:20:38] At the beginning of my career that I wanted to become a certified hand therapist. And partly I didn't really know why, but that shit don't matter. I, I just wanted it cuz I saw other people had it, especially in the occupational therapy world. Um, it is one of the only. National [00:21:00] Board certifications, right?
[00:21:01] Certifications like real. It's a real certification. Not like you took a class and you got a certificate of completion, right? You got letters behind your name. People recognize those letters. People respect those letters. Um, and they respected more. To give you a chance, right? Being the CHT isn't only like, oh, you know everything.
[00:21:28] You don't know everything. You're not supposed to know everything. You don't become this guru just because you get the letters, but it gives you an opportunity to prove yourself even further to work in the way that you want. I always knew that at some point in my career I would own a business and it took me a while to, again, I was afraid of jumping out on my own.
[00:21:51] I was afraid of, um, of failing. I was afraid of not being enough. I was, um, [00:22:00] I was really comfortable and I think that's what it is. If you're fucking comfortable as hell. Then you're just, you don't want to do it cuz you're so damn comfortable. Right. So that's also how I know it is not about the money. So people coming in and comparing, oh, well I could take this class for 300 bucks, or I can spend over $2,000 you want.
[00:22:27] Apples and orange programs, right? Apples and oranges, right? They're do it by yourself. Majority of people who come into my program have tried doing that already, have taken other programs already. Majority of the people, I would say, um, 90% right now since 90% of people have done other programs. And still don't understand, still don't understand concepts because majority of programs are teaching how you memorize.
[00:22:56] They're also teaching from, you [00:23:00] know, reading from the book or, or reading from a PowerPoint. I don't teach that way and don't teach that way. If you wanna see how I teach, I have been putting plenty of videos out there. My style is, like, my style is unique. Um, I'm a lot more casual than most, right. I just, I'm, I.
[00:23:20] You know, I, I am who I am, and you either like me and you want to, you, you want to get my help, or you don't like me. You're like, oh, I don't, you know, I don't like the way you're too casual. Okay, then you don't like it, you don't like that? I throw a couple curse words in here every once in a while, all right?
[00:23:34] I'm not for you. You know, sometimes I, I make inappropriate jokes to help you. Remember I made one. I'm not gonna share this one. I did it in, um, In a manual therapy course I did. And I guarantee you 100%. 100%. None of them people are gonna forget. Dermatomes, not one person. That shit cracks me up. I love it.
[00:23:58] The whole class was, uh, [00:24:00] laughing and um, yeah, that shit like, you know, it makes me happy. Uh, it makes me happy to see other people happy. So that's my style, right? So when I tell you, I know it is not about the money. It is not about the money to take a class. It is not the money to fly somewhere. It is not about the money to become a certified hand therapist.
[00:24:25] At the end of the day, you have to believe, right? You have to believe in yourself. You have to believe that you're worth the spend, right? Whether it be time or money, you are worth the spend. Girl, please, boys. Come on. Um, And there is no dollar amount that you can put on the fact that you're happy in your career and you're happy in your life.
[00:24:50] No dollar amount. Um, and I, I value that, like I saw it early on probably for a different podcast and video, [00:25:00] but I saw early on how some people were unhappy in their career for decades. And I looked at that and I said, that shit would not be me. I made that determination and since then I have worked to ensure that that wasn't me.
[00:25:20] And now I work to see that that isn't you. You know, I'm getting chills. Oh my God. Stop it. Stop it already. Okay. Anyway, if you are curious about any of the programs that I put out, if you are curious about, um, You know where you're at to what you need. Please leave me a message. You know how to reach me. Uh, you can slide into my dms on Instagram or Facebook.
[00:25:52] You can send me an email, you're on my email list. Send me an email. Um, I spent the weekend at a O T A talking to people about their [00:26:00] careers and, and, um, sharing like based on where they're at and what they're telling me that they want. Um, and um, you know, just providing some direction around it, um, so that you're not so lost.
[00:26:12] Cuz I can tell you right now, What's a topic of this, of this video? I know it's not about money and, and for you, it's not about money either. So if you enjoyed this video, please, uh, or this podcast, wherever you're listening, wherever you're watching, please leave me a comment and, um, I would love to hear your perspective.
[00:26:32] You don't have to agree with me. Uh, you can disagree with me and I will still want to hear your comments. Uh, so leave it below and if you like more videos or more podcasts like this, then um, subscribe and follow and I'll see you next time.
