How starting a therapy clinic changed my life
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[00:00:00] Starting a therapy clinic has literally changed my life as an occupational therapist. And I think it can change yours as well. If business is something that you're interested in doing, whether it be, um, a therapy clinic, just starting a mobile business or doing something on the online space is definitely changed my life.
And I'm going to share a few things that it has changed because I want to just show you as an occupational therapist, it could change your life and could change how you work as well. Um, Having a small business, starting a small business is definitely not for everybody. It's a lot of work and a lot of dedication and it never gets easier because once you develop a skill you then want more and You kind of constantly developing your business skills.
And I think it's very similar to when you first start out as a therapist, you start out with [00:01:00] like hardly any skills. And then over a period of time, you dedicate yourself to growing your skills and growing your skills. And I think business is very much like that. Something gets a little bit easier and then you're like, Oh, but there's this other problem.
And, um, there's this other thing and I want to be able to do it. And then you go and you learn it and you learn it. Then you do it. But starting a business has definitely changed my life. And, and I want to encourage you if you're an occupational therapist and you're like, Oh gosh, could I do it? Um, yes you can.
And one of the first things you want to do is not ask yourself yes or no questions because it's so easy to say no or so easy to be doubtful. So when you catch yourself asking yes or no questions, Just try to change the question a little bit. That's one of the things that I've been doing. Um, and so, uh, that's one of the things that I'll share that has changed my life.
Ask different questions. Now, the fact that I even ask questions is a big deal. Cause I was as, as outgoing as I am. And as I [00:02:00] will talk to just about anybody in the streets, um, I. Always felt weird about asking questions, but I've definitely changed how that goes now But but if you've thought about like, oh man, there's another way of working It's possible that it was one of the one the first things that changed was I get to work how I want to work I came from a You know hospital setting where it was like OTS do this PT's do this and this and this You were stuck in this box and I didn't love it.
I got bored with it after a while. I moved into another clinic where I thought that doing more post surgical stuff, cause I ended up working for a hand surgeon and he did. One of the things I loved is he did everything like from the hand to the shoulder. Some hand surgeons only do hand and wrist. This hand surgeon did everything.
And I really loved working, um, where I got to see a lot of post surgicals. But the thing with a lot of [00:03:00] post surgicals is that you end up, it's a volume game and you end up seeing one to many. So I ended up going from a very low volume, but in a box to a very high volume in a box. Different box still was a box and I didn't want to be in a box And so I said there was there's got to be a better way of working and in my mind I thought of what it could possibly be and now I get to work and Believe it or not.
Once you get started things will change over a period of time. I started treating I don't treat as much anymore because of everything else that I'm trying to do to impact the world. So, um, number one is changed my life because I get to work in the way I want to work. Right. Number two is I get to create the type of therapy that I wanted for myself.
I, as a therapist needed therapy and I just, I felt like I just got [00:04:00] brushed off all the time. I got brushed off because people just assume. And work based only on insurance, because that's all they knew. But I wanted to get better because I just didn't want to be crippled. You know, I've, um, I've hurt my knees so many times.
I actually had knee surgery. Um, I'm a very loosey goosey person, so I always talk. When I teach, I always talk. There's, uh, loosey goosey people and there's stiff as a board people, and I'm a very loosey goosey people. person. And so I always, um, tended to have like aches and pains and I felt like there was a lot of therapists that would just dismiss me.
And I don't know if I was getting dismissed because I was a therapist or I was getting dismissed because they didn't know how to treat me specifically. And I just felt Yeah, just dismissed. And I didn't love that. I didn't like that. Um, and I found myself dismissive to patients and I didn't like that aspect either.
So [00:05:00] I wanted to create an environment or a way of doing therapy where patients You know, we were a lot more holistic, you know, there's this ideology when you are studying in school that you help people with their function and with their occupation as an occupational therapist. But in the real world, we're not really doing that as well.
I love the psychology aspects of occupational therapy, which is one of the main reasons that drove me into occupational therapy versus going into a clinical, uh, clinical psychologist. Uh, but then you, you get so stuck in treating in this box that you, you almost ignore that aspect. And so I got to create, when I created my therapy clinic, I got to create an environment and the type of therapy where, uh, We can be more holistic and we can think about the person more than just like one particular body part or one particular, um, one particular aspect of their injury.
Um, and then upon [00:06:00] The therapy clinic because the because of the therapy clinic, I was able to then create like hand therapy secrets, which is the program side, which allows me to create courses that I wanted myself. I wanted someone to teach me in a particular way that was a lot more inclusive and not so like Kind of like stuck in the mud, you know, like you, sometimes you go to these conferences and you, you go, like, you learn from the university and everyone is so fucking uppity.
Like, they have a stick up their ass, sorry, but a lot of people do. And it's like, I want to seem so important. And, um, I just didn't, I just didn't love that style. Um, I'm a lot more relaxed. I, I make fun of myself. I make jokes. I, you know, yeah, I just, You know, I think that I am more relaxed, maybe, uh, unless I get heated about a particular topic, but for the most part, I wanted to create programs that I would [00:07:00] enjoy.
And, uh, starting that clinic changed my life because, um, I wanted to teach. I just didn't know how. And when I went into the university system, I knew that that wasn't how I wanted to do it. And then when I looked around a different, um, different companies where therapists go to teach. It's the world has evolved and it's not the same anymore.
And so, uh, starting the therapy clinic allowed me to see that whatever I dreamt could change. And then my dream is even bigger than what I initially thought. And I'm sharing that with you because I hope that that resonates and And even though you're, you know, you might be struggling to start, you might be a year or two into it and feeling very discouraged.
That was me. That was me. I was very discouraged at around that one to two year mark because I was like, Oh my God, this is so hard. But [00:08:00] I promise if you keep working, and you decide to invest in yourself, and you decide to invest in like your business skills, you're going to do so so amazingly well, um, you'll be surprised yourself.
Um, anyway, uh, I, so those are the two things working how I want to work, creating the courses and the therapy I wanted for myself. And then two, I just, I have more time. The whole point of starting my therapy clinic was that I would have more time with my kids. And I did, I created where I have more time.
Now they don't want time. Because, but they want specific time, like no. So now, as I speak, I have two teenagers and what they needed for me when they were smaller is different than what they need for me now. So they don't need a ton of time for me, um, but what they need is quality time. And I've always been a quality time person, not a quantity time [00:09:00] person.
And so they, you know, definitely need more, uh, quality time. Even my daughter who likes quantity time, I can give her quality time. Um, and she's like, she feels it so like so much that it feels like quality quantity time for her. So I definitely have more time. I have more time for my family. I have more time for my friends.
I have more time for, um, not just my immediate family, but like other, other aspects of, you know, family life. Um, you know, when my husband went through medical crisis, I had more time when I've, um, when my brother's family's going through medical crisis, I had time to go now. Um, My in laws need help. I have time to go.
So, you know, time is such an important aspect and time is something that passes and we don't get that back. And starting that therapy clinic really has given me more [00:10:00] time. I know if you're listening to this at the beginning or like at any point, part of your journey, you might not feel like you have the time, but I promise you, if you run your business in a certain way, and I have so many more videos that have shared about how to improve your prices, how to, um, you know, use CRMs, like, um, you know, software that can help you save time.
Those are the things that built my business and have has given me more time. And it starts with those micro decisions, those small decisions that then become bigger decisions. Um, but those are the things that have given me more time in the last over 10 years. And I hope to continue to be in business for decades more.
Um, I sometimes often think I've run out of time, but I'm only 48 and I have decades more to live, you know, knock on wood and I have so much more time to create things. And [00:11:00] that's starting that, that first business has really helped so that I could do so much more. And, and, and I want to encourage that for you as well, because I know that there's.
Mom's out there. Dad's out there. Um, that, that think about creating the business so that they could, you know, have more time. And if you don't have any kids and you don't want any kids like kudos to you, man, dude, do it even bigger. Um, I'd started my therapy clinic because I also wanted more money and money is a huge aspect.
It is kind of what I measure, uh, success. Um, not because I need it actually. I'm pretty frugal and live on very little, but, um, I, I like, I like certain aspects of luxury in my life. I like the aspects of that. I don't have to worry. Money makes me feel safe. And, um, having money makes me feel [00:12:00] safe, but outside of having money, it makes me feel safe.
One of the things that I realized To me, one of the things I realized for me is money shows me progress. And so sometimes when you're working for someone else and you don't see that progress, it can get a little frustrating. Um, and so I have been able to see that progress over the last Over 10 years. I mean, not every year is like kudos, you know, tons of money and stuff like that.
There are some years where you're risking and you're spending more in order to make more. So those are the years of growth and things like that. But I think that it's about the possibility, not that it's every year it's going up, you know? We don't give ourselves as a business owner. You don't get raises every year.
You know, if you work for someone else, you're getting a 1 percent raises here and there. Um, but it never feels like merit, right? And, and you're not getting a raise because you've been doing it. Like there's no merit behind it. There's no [00:13:00] progress behind that. And I think that we as human beings like to see that we are.
improving somehow or another. And when you are in business, you, you can measure yourself against merit. Like how good am I, how well am I doing things? And so sometimes when you're doing things really well, you have more time, right? Because of the micro decisions, the macro decisions you've made. Now you've.
bought more time. The other thing that you can measure yourself against is the money, right? Like my, my company brought in X amount of revenue. We have X amount of profit. And every year or every so many years you see the progress of what you've done to either get more time or get more money. It's not always both.
But it's something and I think that like fundamentally as humans, we want to see progress and I do measure myself against those progresses. Um, [00:14:00] because it makes me want to keep achieving, you know, and that's another human aspect that we want to keep achieving. We want to keep seeing that we are doing more, doing better, making some kind of impact on the world.
Um, and so, yeah, yeah. definitely have made more money than I ever could have working for someone else. Um, I make more impact, you know, how many people have come to, to my clinic who have said, you know, you say, I've never experienced therapy the way I've experienced in your clinic. You've really changed my life.
You've helped restore my life. Like there's an inherent trust, even if they, don't say it, they come back. Uh, even if they say, you know, Oh, I've tried other things and nothing has worked, but your services, like, man, that's the impact because I always say when you help one person see that therapy [00:15:00] helps, then those, that one person can share with their other friends that therapy actually helps.
Right. Um, I have been able to make an impact on my parents lives and my in laws, you know, my own kids need therapy. My husband needs therapy, like, do my friends. Um, and they all have to go through the clinic. Right. I mean, I make everyone pay except for except for my husband and my parents and now my in laws.
I don't charge them. I should charge my kids. They're so sometimes it's like pulling teeth to get your family members to do the therapy, but I'm like to, you know, but um, people have to go through what they have to go through. Right. Um, I've made an impact on, in the, in the program side, creating programs that, you know, have helped people.
other therapists become certified hand therapists. Um, and then they can also see and, and, and envision, like, maybe I can open a therapy clinic. If Huang, [00:16:00] if Huang can open a therapy clinic, I can open a therapy clinic. Shit, you should, right? Um, think even bigger than you would allow yourself to because I Didn't I didn't really allow myself to think big at the very beginning.
I thought big but I did small things I don't know if that makes sense. I dreamt like oh my god I can make big impact but then I mean then I would do little things that didn't make sense, right? So you're kind of like not aligned It requires making a lot of mistakes But, uh, you definitely could have more impact.
And, um, I really enjoy that. I think that that motivates me to do even more to create more content, to reach more therapists from around the world to, you know, some of the. The videos that I create here are reaching patients, like people with hand injuries. And they're like, you know, they can take my videos and they can go and ask their therapist, like, Hey, [00:17:00] what about this?
What about that? Like how many patients are already doing that to me? They're going to do that to you. And, but now you can create your own. you know, you can make an impact with your own therapy clinic. So, or your own OT business, whatever you choose that to be. But impact was really huge. And I think the last thing is I've just learned a lot about myself.
I've learned about what, um, Like who I, more, more or less who I am, how I am and, um, how resilient I am. And, uh, when people see me and they're like, how, you know, how are you so confident or whatever, um, my confidence can really sometimes be so scary to people because I'm, I'm so strong about it. Um, but I think my strength only came from the fact that I did all the things that I say, um, like that I want to do.
And when you do the things [00:18:00] that you say you want to do, your action is what gives you confidence. And I think that that's why, uh, when people are like, oh, how are you so confident? It's because I've done the things that I say I want to do. I said I wanted to. you know, become a certified hand therapist. And so I took the steps required no matter how uncomfortable it was to become a certified hand therapist.
After I became a certified hand therapist, as I want to sit on and, and create my own business and, um, And then I created an online program and some people, you know, we'll tell you that, you know, you can't do two things at one time cause you can't do them well. And maybe not, maybe I'm not doing it as well as I could if I like shut down my clinic and only focus on hand therapy secrets.
Um, but I think there's a lot of value in in what I provide and how I provide it. Um, in terms of my therapy clinic, I've been able to create jobs. [00:19:00] I have been able to hire a therapist, which was always the goal. And I think the vision or the mission of my clinic was to be able to hire therapists and be able to give them opportunities to work in this type of environment that I've created to study, to become a certified hand therapist.
And I have created that. Like me, Huang, little me created that. And every person who has come through my clinic, uh, who has worked for me, has done something more, better, bigger, and moved on to doing, you know, what they want to do. And so. Um, they themselves have built in their confidence. And so, um, I am really proud of that.
So if you're thinking of starting a therapy clinic, use my examples of, you know, what is it that you want and continue to work towards [00:20:00] it. Starting this therapy clinic has really changed my life. And I fully believe that if you dedicate yourself to developing your business skills, you can change your life and work in the way you want to work.
Now there's downsides to this. Don't be thinking, this is all frigging rainbows and shit. There is definitely a downside to it. There's an upside and there's a downside to everything. And you just have to decide, can you live with it? So the downside is I spend a lot of time worrying. Right. I try not to actually, um, because you can't control other people and other things.
Like you can't control the environment and stuff like that, but you can control what you do. So I do worry a lot, even though I try not to, I have a lot more responsibility. Like, you know, I'm responsible for people's livelihoods now. Um, Responsible for paying the bills. I'm responsible for my my own livelihood.
So there's [00:21:00] definitely a lot of responsibilities. Um, there's risk and things like that. But I'm willing to live with that because the all the upsides, the time, the money, the how I want to work, how I want to spend my time, the impact, like all of that is so worth it. Um, The other downside is the uncertainty because sometimes you have to spend the money and do all the work on the upfront and you're not sure on the money on the back end.
But if you do the work that's required, the money will follow, the time will follow, the impact will follow. Um, and so you're, it's uncertain, but if you commit to the process and you commit to the work, then you'll have everything on the back end. on the back end. You just have to continue to work. And I'm, I became more and more comfortable with the uncertainty of business life.
And I'm willing, I'm willing to, I'm willing to do it. I'm willing to take very calculated risk. [00:22:00] And this is isn't for everybody. But if it's for you, I'm Um, if it keeps coming back and it keeps coming back into your brain as something you want, then, um, I dare you, I dare you to take the steps necessary to change your life.
I've included a lot of videos, um, this channel on my podcast and my YouTube channel so that you can get started into growing your business as an occupational therapist. And there's a link below if you want to get on my email list and get even more detailed tips about what I'm doing and what you could be doing as well.
Change your life. It's totally worth it. Nothing could be better. than all the ups and downs of business, but I'd rather be doing this than, um, being miserable in a job. So that's what I have to say. Thanks for listening. And until next time, I'll talk to you soon.
