June 12, 2024 • 59 mins
Nicole Webb is our very own local genius, and is our go-to when talking about home business success, what it can be and become.
Nicole is not only an incredible skilled myotherapist but has also created a business plan and model that we can all relate to and learn from.
Nicole is incredibly giving in this chat as we celebrate the milestones of Greensborough remedial massage and Myotherapy as she expands her team and her business foot print.
Please welcome to The Buzz, Nicole Webb.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Nicole Webb is our very own local genius and is
an absolute go to when talking about home business success
and what it can be and become.
Nicole is not only an incredibly skilled myo therapist, but
has also created a business plan and model that we
(00:22):
can all relate to and learn from. Nicole is incredibly
giving in this chat as we celebrate the milestones of
Greensboro remedial massage and myotherapy as she expands her team
and her business footprint. Please welcome to the buzz Nicole Webb.
I'm excited to share her business journey as our local
(00:45):
business feature this season. Welcome to the Buzz Mccole Webb
from Greensboro. Remedial massage and my therapy.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Thank you for having me, Karen. Thank
Speaker 1 (00:55):
you. You are so welcome. Look, I wanna go back
to the beginning of finishing up in high school. What
career options are you considering?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Oh, back then, I I had to scour through with
my career advisor.
The closest thing to come to was working with Children. Um,
And then when I got into Melbourne uni, I decided
I needed to take a year. That deferral year.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
OK, so you got into uni, um, studying to teach kids.
Is that right? OK,
Speaker 2 (01:25):
early childhood, early childhood. Yeah. Um but then I wanted
that year off, but I got really fiddly I I
is that Is that the right word? I. I felt
like I really needed to start studying something. I think
we got into the fourth month of the 12 months
deferral and I felt like I had to get going
on studying something. Yeah, I just couldn't not.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
That's not often a response, is it?
In their space, most people are just like right. I'm
doing the 12 months and off they go. But no,
you were getting a bit itchy feet, really wanting to
get back into study. Yeah,
Speaker 2 (02:00):
absolutely. I knew it was to Su. It was I.
I wanted to help people by that stage. I knew II.
I thereabouts knew what I wanted to do, but not quite.
And the person I was working with, she suggested Why
don't you go and learn Reiki
and I decided, Ok, well, that that's a good starting point.
So and did she
Speaker 1 (02:21):
suggest Reiki? Because, like so when you say you she
knew what you wanted to go into. So were you
still thinking about childhood and education at this point. Or
had you discussed something else with her that she, you know,
had this insight to Reiki?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Well, I actually stopped the conversation entirely about childhood, early
childhood stuff, and so I kind of knew it wasn't.
It was sort of a conversation that I was guided
towards with my career advisor because we had to choose something.
So that deferral year was really quite insightful that it
didn't even
(02:55):
cross my mind to to think. Well, when am I
going to pick that up again? So, um, the person
I the boss of, uh, the the job that I
was in at the time It was a beautiful little
cafe inside country road, Uh, clothing store at Doncaster. Um,
she could see that I was quite spiritual. And she
(03:15):
could see the, um that we both had very high intuitions,
and I'm not sure what made her suggest Reiki, But
as soon as she said it, I just knew that
I needed to go do it. Instant
Speaker 1 (03:31):
recognition? Yeah. This is where I need to go. So
then what happened?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Well, then that really opened up, uh, a world for
me in terms of the hands on component and without
knowing it at the time, I think it really paved
a bit of a foundation to my next, uh, step.
I really wanted to continue that learning and wanted to, um,
hone in on the natural health. And at the time
(03:56):
I decided, Well, maybe I can be a naturopath.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
OK, Nice. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
So, um,
I checked into it. There was no hecs fees at
the time at all. You, you you needed to pay
for it as you go. And back then, of 2324
years ago, it was $27,000 and it was Oh, my God,
that's a lot of money. And these days, it's like, Oh,
it's probably double. It's a cheap cost.
(04:23):
So I decided, Well, I really want to study something.
So what can I do in the meantime, natural health
realm in the natural health realm. So it made sense
for me to, um at the time I went Well,
maybe I'll do massage because the price point was much
lower than than naturopathy.
(04:43):
Um, and I took a chance and decided that that's
the course I'll do. And I had never had a
massage before in my life and never had given a
massage before in my life until I started that course
and
I fell in love completely. Um, yeah, it was amazing.
(05:04):
And I think doing the reiki first was a really, um,
was pivotal for me because I could really tell if
someone had done their reiki after I had learnt reiki.
I everyone who had treatment from me or massages from me,
could They just said, there's something else here that's going on.
They really felt,
(05:25):
um, that layout. Absolutely. So that really gave me that
boost of confidence in that respect. Um, and it was
a great, uh, career pathway to to choose at the
time just to really integrate to in all the different
other little mini jobs I had going on. So having
(05:47):
a
home clinic, always on the side, um, and filling in
where I had some time and space to see clients
for treatment.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
So then you. So after your course, you went straight
into working for yourself. Like you didn't really go and
work for another practitioner anywhere. No,
Speaker 2 (06:05):
straight away,
Speaker 1 (06:06):
straight away. And why was that?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
I think particularly I. I grew up with my parents
just really gunning the entrepreneurial thing, and I think it
was just It was second nature there was. I didn't
even have a second thought about it. It was just
a BN cool. Let's get it, Let's get going. Put
(06:29):
the sign
up in my brother's cafe that I was working in
at the time in my sea. And I think I
was charging like, $35 for a massage. Um, just to
get going got some great clients and just and we
it was always a, um, career pathway. That was a
side on to what I was doing. Um, and that's
(06:52):
where I learned very after a little while
that you know, II. I had this concept that when
I get busy, I'll drop off all my other work
when that happens, and I will do, um, less of
the other work. But I learned, um, very, you know,
not quickly after several years in that I needed to
(07:14):
actually drop off the other work to allow my business
to grow into that side. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
And I think that's often the mistake that you know
or not the mistake because at the at the beginning
of going into our own business. It's like, um,
you know, you're a little bit scared. So you're, like,
hanging on to that income and going well, I know
this is a sure thing. I know this is a
sure thing. This is good. This is good. And then you're, like,
sort of 1 ft into the business. But yeah, you
can never really grow that business or attract, you know,
(07:40):
attract the growth, attract the clientele. When you are distracted,
you never
really gonna give it the attention It deserves to
Speaker 2 (07:48):
grow. Yeah, And I think, really, that's been like the
at each pivotal point in my career. That's been like
the baseline is, you know, it's a build it, and
they will come give it the space, and it will build.
Has been, um, what? I've seen over, you know, several, um,
benchmarks over my career as well. You're so right.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
And that's really hard, though, to also balance when, um,
you know, you're quite dependent on the income from those other,
you know, from those other jobs. So, you know, what
would your advice be
to someone who's in that in that position, um, to
sort of give them that heave ho to move into
putting both feet into their business.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah. Look, I think you know, if I could have
done my time again, I would probably have gone and worked,
Um, for another clinic to really build my skill set
up to build my stamina up as well, to get quite, um,
clear if if is this what I want to do, Um,
and and at the same time, building the clinic up
(08:54):
your own clinics
face up as well. Um, and it's more about that
mentoring finding someone that can really mentor you through that
space in professional sense in that work dynamic of it,
if you're a health practitioner to, um to continue to grow,
there's still so much, um
at, uh, growth points for students who come out from
(09:18):
learning their course. They've got so much to still integrate.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Absolutely. Because you've got the theory. But then there's, you know,
the practical hands on side of it isn't there? Yeah. Yeah,
that's really great advice. So if you're, you know, looking
to start your own business and you've come out of training,
you know? Absolutely. Don't give up on that and certainly
have that, you know, idea there, ready to go. But
spending some time in a clinic is just gonna help
(09:43):
you P
off your your skills and expertise, right?
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
So in those early days, you know, having a business
and massage probably wasn't a widely thought off thing either, right?
Because massage and my therapy and all that those kind
of practises were quite in what they were in the infancy.
Even though they're obviously, you know, traditionally been around for
a really long time. Actually, making a, you know, full
(10:09):
blown business out of it was quite different 20 years
ago than it is is
Speaker 2 (10:13):
now. Yeah, Absolutely. Absolutely. And it's, um, really looking into
the concept that a a lot of, um, people can
have as massage being a luxury as opposed to a
maintenance or something as part of their their self care
that becomes nonnegotiable for them. So, um, you know, there's
still plenty of people out there that I know that
(10:34):
my brother is one of them is, you know, have
a really sore back and get them to go to
a clinic down the road. He lives in another state
so he can't come and see
me. Um, so saying, go and see this. This clinic,
they've got a great reputation on INSTAGRAM. I follow them.
I think they'll be a really good fit for you.
They're just down the road, Um, and then realising that
it's actually breaking through that, um, belief that well, it
(10:57):
massages a luxury I. I can't justify spending that kind
of money on myself where you have, um, AAA plethora
of people that really take that as their maintenance. Um,
and it becomes this self care
non negotiable, um, thing that they they utilise that really
(11:18):
complements their well being.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Absolutely.
OK, so you're you're back. You're in your business. You're
building it. Um, so at what point do you, um,
put both feet into the business? What point do you
give away those other you know, jobs and you focus
solely on your
Speaker 2 (11:35):
business. Well, interestingly enough, that was when my daughter, who's
15 when she was a baby, I decided it was
time to go, um, head in, all in
into my business. Um, but it was almost a similar
kind of thing to where I had motherhood. motherhood was
the thing that replaced the second job. So it was
(11:55):
still a case of podding along and having the myotherapy
and massage business fill in the other. Um uh, spaces
in my week where I was quite busy with motherhood
and bringing up two young kids.
So to answer that question wholeheartedly, I would have to
say it was about 5.5 years ago where I had
(12:17):
the space that was absolutely perfect for a multi room clinic.
And I knew that if I wanted to make this
truly successful, then I needed to, um,
to to go completely, all in. So my husband and
I came up with a business plan, um, working towards
being able to hire other practitioners or take on at
(12:40):
the time subcontractors. Um and we came up with a
model where we called it, build it up and pass
it on.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
OK, ok, so
then yeah, and I and I think that's, you know,
very common for a lot of women. Um, who are
mothers or and And men are, um, are primary caregivers
of their, you know, Children. Over that time, the Children
do kind of take priority. I know that happened with
myself as well. And it wasn't, you know, until you know,
my boys were much older that I could say right
(13:09):
now both feed into my business and really, Let's go.
So I think that's actually quite a common a common theme.
Um, And when you were, uh, operating, you know, as
a as a mom and a and a business owner,
you were, um, operating out of your home. Still. So,
home based business? Yep. Yep, yep. But not the premise
(13:30):
that you're in at the moment.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
No. No, actually, it was next door to where we
Speaker 1 (13:34):
are. OK, OK, because it's quite a wonderful, wonderful story
which I wanna get to. I wanna get to that.
Um So
in the early days of being in the industry, what
surprised you the most?
Were you were you lo loving it or were you
thinking Oh, God. What have I done here?
Speaker 2 (13:53):
No. What surprised me the most was just how, um, much.
I was absolutely me doing it.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
The flow?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah, I found my alignment. I. I almost had to
pinch myself several times to say Is this is this?
Have I really found
I love to do, like, straight away. Hm hm. In fact,
I think I kept saying to myself, This is an,
in the meantime career for probably about 67 years after I.
(14:24):
I actually started because I always thought I'd do naturopathy
or verbal medicine or something a little bit more substantial,
so to speak. Um, and I just had to
just turn around and say, Who are you kidding? This
is what you
Speaker 1 (14:40):
were doing. Were you thinking that Because that was the
expectation to do something serious, Like was massage, you know,
potentially not perceived as being a a serious business option.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Well, yes, I, I think so. I remember having a
conversation with my dad and he said, You know, you've
got to think realistically about this. Can you earn a
good income? And I think
I turned his, um, opinion around when I gave him
the breakdown. If, like, if you, uh if you bring
in a certain amount of clients a day and they're
all paying X amount and then we started to realise
(15:12):
you can actually generate a good income
Speaker 1 (15:15):
viable business model. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2 (15:17):
yeah. So I guess you're right. It was just that
it needed. Like, this concept of something a little bit
more serious, some sort of, you know, the word natural medicine,
medicine in it,
Um, and IIIII I really attached myself to. Well, when
I can afford that, I will go on to doing that.
But my my I found my fire with with with, um,
(15:41):
and my zone. My In fact, if I wasn't feeling 100%
a bit of anxiety or even a slight headache with
a client and a client would come. I would just
feel so much better after I'd seen that client. So
it was almost as much for me as it was
for
Speaker 1 (15:58):
me. Yes. Oh, God. That's when you know you're in
the right zone, right? Yeah. So good. So what did
success look like for you? Like how? What were your
measures of success in those early days of business?
Speaker 2 (16:11):
That's a really good question. Um,
I was always aiming to get to a certain number
of clients, and I remember, um, it it was a
struggle to get to those numbers.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Why do you think it was a struggle?
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Um, I didn't have the marketing set up properly. back then, Um,
and I wasn't utilising what I could have utilised back then. Um, so,
yeah, there was a a little bit of of that,
you know, trying to put my now self into my
past self. I could definitely see that there was a
(16:46):
bit of that. So II I kind of always felt
like it was a little bit out of my reach
getting to those particular numbers. But again, at that time,
I had the other jobs that I was doing. So
it
Speaker 1 (16:58):
was just It wasn't your 100% focus.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
No,
no, exactly. So, um, it it again, that pivotal point
when I realised, even though it was a it was
jumping from one kind of thing into a similar kind
of thing, but a different basket with the motherhood, from
a job to a to motherhood. But that feeling when
I realised No, I'm all in into my business. That
(17:20):
was a great feeling to go. OK, I'm I'm doing this.
And I think that was, uh, that the energy of
that really assisted me to look into the other parts
of the marketing that I was missing. Getting the Google
listing right was crucial because, um
uh, one thing about my my my clinic is that
it's in a in my home, in a residential zone.
(17:42):
We don't get the foot traffic, but we get google traffic. Um,
and that's been built up over over 1520 years.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
And what made you what made you know that that
was your missing part? Like, was it like a a mentor?
Was it something you'd read? Like what? Brought your awareness
to
uncover what those missing components were?
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Yeah. Good question. I It was definitely conversations I was
having with people I was studying with at the time.
Um and, you know, even I, I think, for I
didn't really set up my website properly until, uh, I
think about 12 years ago. Um and that was through
someone that I was studying with Her
(18:25):
boyfriend at the time was a web builder. So we
built something up, and, um, we we started that way.
So that was where that that point I started realising, OK,
these are all the missing links I need to start
working on.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
So I think a really good takeaway from that is
absolutely talking about your business with others isn't it in
the same, you know, industry. So just, you know, putting
it out there and and talking to people around,
You know what you're experiencing and and being open to
hearing what they have to say.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And, um, you know, and I love
being able to pass this knowledge on to up and
coming practitioners who are building their own businesses to the
first thing. I'll say, Get your Google listing happening. Get
that happening. Ask everyone to do reviews. Get that nice
and strong. That's, um, it definitely
when you're very close to it. You can't see those things.
(19:17):
So having those conversations is important?
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Absolutely, Absolutely. And and in a home based business is
quite a unique model in itself. So, you know, you've
talked about Google Google, my business. What are another couple
of tips you would have for someone starting up their
own home based business? I
Speaker 2 (19:34):
definitely would, um, think about a a
type of social media platform to get going on something
that you're comfortable with, Um, as opposed to, you know,
if you can get comfortable with the most popular, that's great. Um, but,
you know, for me it was Instagram. So I was
really nervous getting that started. I knew that I was
(19:54):
following Nikki from Sinch. So I thought, Oh, OK, she's great.
I'm gonna be modelling
Speaker 1 (19:59):
as a as an instagram mentor. 100%.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Yeah, Absolutely. I still didn't know how to do it.
So one of my clients, um, uh, offered a few
coaching sessions just to go through. Definitely. What? What works?
What doesn't work? And I just I just went all
in and had some really awkward videos that I did that.
Like we have a good chuckle.
Yeah. Yeah, And then just get, um it's just you
(20:25):
get more and more confident and then just be willing
to keep laughing at yourself and with something, It's a
little bit a little bit funny or a bit off
or yeah, whatever works
Speaker 1 (20:34):
with your personality.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yes, that's
Speaker 1 (20:36):
right. Yeah, absolutely. OK, so we've said Google business listing.
We've said, get familiar with a you know, a social
media platform that, you know, you feel you you can
get to get to love. What's the third thing from
a home based business perspective that you would recommend for
start up
Speaker 2 (20:52):
getting keeping your website strong is, you know, so that
it it it ties into the Google.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
And what does a website, a strong website look like
in your, you know, in your area, your area of expertise,
Speaker 2 (21:06):
regular regular content being added. So that that blog page,
the regular articles being added, um, with the SEO. Is
getting that consistently strong so that, um, it it's it
you're adding value for for clients as well. Um, it
definitely
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Yeah. Nice. So
I experienced your home clinic for the first time yesterday,
just yesterday, and it's a home business like no other. Now,
the history of the home itself is really impressive. The
story being the Department of Defence, of which the barracks
are nearby. Back in the seventies, um, their go to
(21:48):
GP had this, you know, purpose built, you know, home
clinic set up downstairs. So
quite a nugget of gold there. Um, how did you
find out about the home?
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Well, we, um, at the time were living next door, and, um, we,
uh there were, uh there was a beautiful family living
in the home, and the husband worked for the barracks. Um,
and the the wife was just so generous, so open
and loved having neighbours over. And she started running Christmas parties.
(22:21):
Um, and so she would invite the the neighbours in
the street for a Christmas party. The upstairs is has a,
um uh, a large rumpus room that used to be
a dance studio upstairs. So she would deck out the
whole of the the rumpus room with long tables, and
we'd go and have a mingle. And when my husband
and I walked into that house for the first time,
(22:43):
we eyed off that the front room, which was the
S, um, the doctor's clinic.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Did you know at that time that that's what it
Speaker 2 (22:50):
was? No, no. We saw the setup and went, This
is amazing. This would be an amazing clinic set up.
So I think we hadn't even gotten to the upstairs
when we turned to each other and said, If this
house becomes available, we need to buy it. Yeah, right. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, that, uh,
we planted the seed of manifestation that sort of
(23:11):
many, many years ago and just loved the whole house upstairs.
We were just, um, amazed by the space. And, um
but yeah, particularly that the way the whole front of
the house was leant itself towards a clinic set up
just so seamlessly. Um, and then we had the opportunity
(23:31):
in 2015 to buy the house. And we did. We
did it privately through,
um through, uh, the the same owners.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Perfect. Cut out those real estate fees. Yes.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
They were happy to not have to do anything
Speaker 1 (23:44):
to the house they were and not have to do any,
you know, um, cleanups or marketing, or like, it's kind
of the dream. Really? Right. The neighbour wants to buy
your house.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Yeah, it was
Speaker 1 (23:56):
great. So for the listener, who'd been maybe working through
moving your practise from one location to another, What would
be some
the top tips that make that transition nice and smooth?
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Well, I think what you would definitely need to do
is do all that paperwork and that, um, all that
paperwork ahead of time. So you know how what what
we often did. Um, especially in that really, really, uh,
intense time of moving. Um, is that we created a
A to do list a continual, um, to do list.
(24:27):
And we just kept looking at it
every 2 to 3 days. And mind you, at the
time we were, we were also moving out of our home,
getting it ready for rental and moving it in. I
know this is not the same as another business owner moving, um,
but having the list of of of the different things
that at the checkpoints to do so letting advising clients
(24:48):
of the moving date, you may need to shut up
shop for, um three or or so days, maybe less,
depending on,
um, just so that you can get the equipment moved over. Um,
if your health, uh, the one of the things that
was really helpful is I've got my electric table. So
I just set up a portable table in the the
(25:10):
new space just to get going on seeing clients straight away.
And then
you know that you've got that one day to move
that those those large, um, large bits and pieces to
get them across as well. So get that to do
list happening and start working towards towards that. This provided
(25:31):
numbers to get sorted as well, so that can be
registered well and truly in advance. Those sorts of things
are important, Um,
and even getting the high caps machine installed before you
move in to have it really quite seamless for for
for clients,
Speaker 1 (25:46):
great advice. I like to talk very openly here at
the buzz about the behind the scenes of running a
business because I think often we only see the highlights
on the socials, which can leave people often feeling like,
you know, what have I missed? What haven't I done?
How come I'm not getting those results or feeling
that way? So I'd love to explore some of that
with you. You know, every business owner, let alone a
(26:07):
mom in business, needs some kind of support network, whether
it's professional or personal, who is in your support team
and how do they support you? Oh,
Speaker 2 (26:16):
OK, well, I've definitely I've got a great partner that
is really quite grounded with his approach towards business almost
too grounded where I want to fly, he's a rock
to help me, to
say a note. We need to, um, think about XY
and Z. Does he
Speaker 1 (26:32):
work off like does he work for someone else? Or
is he also running his own business? He
Speaker 2 (26:38):
works for someone else. Um, and definitely he's, um he
he he likes to have all the i's dotted and
the TS crossed. So it's been quite grounding to have
that kind of support in terms of the stuff that
you don't necessarily want to hear if you're a person,
that
this wants to get going on things. Oh, my
Speaker 1 (26:57):
God. I hear you.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Yeah. Yes. So that's been really, really handy. Um, I also, um,
have an old, uh, have several old colleagues and friends
that we call upon quite regularly just to we We've
made that commitment to each other just to call it
how it is. Um, so that's been really handy of
the in the same profession as well is extremely helpful.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
So when you say call as to kind of say, Look,
I'm really struggling here, you know, can you help me
out as a step into the business or just with advice,
Or how do you call on them?
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Well, mainly with advice to say, you know, and they
say it, how it is so not not telling you
exactly what you want to hear,
um, to saying, You know, I think I think we
need to look at it from this angle. And and, um,
we actually do that for each other as well. So
it's really quite grounding, or we just need to bounce
some ideas off just to get that sense of validation
(27:52):
or No, I think I'm in my head about that.
That can be dropped.
Um, you know, uh, just works hopping things like that.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
And how did you find that? Um, group, if you like.
Was it like, from study, or was it from you know, um, like,
local networking events, Like, how did you come across that group?
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Well, um, several different, um, ways, actually,
because the profession itself, particularly my therapy is is that
the community is is quite small, even though it's growing substantially. Um,
so I I we not so much networking things, it's
(28:32):
more connections through clients that can help connect up to people. Um, together.
So that was one and another one it would be through. Yes,
I did. Uh,
uh, meet people through study, so that was really, um,
quite helpful. So being able to just keep in connection
(28:52):
with them regularly, which was a good idea. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (28:55):
absolutely.
Now, I also know there are some challenges you've had
in your life with your, you know, hearing. Can you
share a little bit about that?
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Well, yeah. Um well, my my hearing is, uh Well,
my hearing loss is is my my normal. So I, um,
I was born with,
uh, a hearing loss. Um, but at the time, my
parents were told by specialists that it was due to
ear infections. So, um, I had loads of ear infections
(29:28):
as a kid, and it did permanently, um, decrease my
hearing at the time, But until they did a reconstruction
of my eardrum, that's when they saw that it was
something I was born with with nerve deafness. So
it's been, um, quite a journey with my son also
is deaf as well. And when I grew up, they
(29:51):
really focused on, um uh, the oral of of listening
and speaking. So, in other words, um, sign language was
a no no. In my time, Um, and so speech
therapy was was really promoted, and I it would be
week in week out. We do speech therapy, and, um
(30:13):
um with my son, he's 11. It was really promoted
as to you. could choose if you want to be, um,
more sign based, more oral based or bilingual. Um, we
chose to go bilingual, and so that was be That's
been quite quite amazing, too, as well. I guess my
(30:34):
challenge in what I in my life with what I've
got is I grew up
with no deaf community. So I grew up in a
world of hearing, um, with hearing people around me, And
at the time that worked, I didn't actually want to
be around deaf kids when I was a kid. Um,
(30:55):
and you know it it now that I see, um,
and I've started to immerse myself into the deaf community. Now,
only recently in the last couple of months because of
my son. Um, the deaf community, Um uh, experience the
community
community experience in that has been quite amazing. So that's
(31:16):
been quite, um, eye opening.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
So I guess what has that experience taught you?
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Well, it actually the experience of, um not feeling like
I was like everyone else was, actually, it went into,
um I think that was a pathway to my career choice, too.
In terms of I just felt like I, um was different. Sure,
it was the deafness.
But II, I genuinely felt different to people. I felt
(31:45):
like I had other things to offer people
Speaker 1 (31:47):
really special and unique gift. And what age did you
think that
Speaker 2 (31:52):
very early. Very early. IIII, I think, you know, four
or five. I kind of I. I just always felt
like I was it it, you know, whether it would
be that I was into crystals and my friends weren't.
But I think that flavour of of my the difference physically,
um, whether I knew it or not really assisted more my, um,
(32:15):
attention in different places at the time. And, um I mean,
there's one experience that I do remember, and my friends
all talk about it to this day that they all
know all your other senses are heightened that we were
walking along, um, in high school, in a line, um,
parallel line, you know, as girls do. So it was
four of us all talking. I was off to the side,
(32:37):
not into the conversation, because I just wasn't hearing them properly.
But I was just part of the group, and I
looked up into the sky, and I saw a bird
flying over and I. I saw it starting to poo.
And I saw the poo, and I knew that it
was going to land on us. So I put my
hands out and stopped my friends. I said, stop! And
the poo landed literally a foot in front of us.
(33:00):
And all the girls were just amazed that I saw that.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Yeah. Incredible. Yes.
Heightened senses. The
Speaker 2 (33:08):
heightened senses. Yeah. So, you know, you're focusing on what
you what? You're feeling what you're seeing. Um, and you
know that, uh, the the the hearing aspect being down.
And it's, um it it it's a almost a gift
in some 100%
Speaker 1 (33:26):
100% it is. And how do you think that has
shaped who you are today?
Speaker 2 (33:30):
I think, um, you know,
I'm not really sure it's a really deep question because
it's it's definitely helped me to be more curious. As
an adult, as a deaf person, you assume you hear
things a certain way.
(33:50):
So, um you know, uh, you jump to the conclusion.
That's what a person has said. Um, but now, as um,
I'm in my forties, I and as late to the party.
Maybe not quite that late to the party, but to
be quite curious to go Hang on. This is Is
that what what they said? So getting curious about not
(34:11):
just that it has that sprinkling of that kind of
flavour throughout all the other things that I might think Well,
would this work in my life would if I was
to apply this
in treatment, for example, what would that look like? Um,
if I did this for my business, what would this
be like? Um, let's see if we can add it
in a way where we can, um, you know, get
(34:33):
curious if if it's going to work or not. So
I guess in some ways it's I've had that openness
and I and it also shaped me to If I
want to do something, I'm going to do it. I'm
going to make it work. Yeah, yeah, And I'm I'm
gonna I'm in in any way that I can make
it work. I'll do it.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Yeah, I love that. So real curiosity. It's like, out
of the box and nothing's gonna stop. You love it.
Do you have a business coach or mentor?
Speaker 2 (35:02):
I don't um and I've always I've I've I have, um,
colleagues that I will call upon but of recent times, I'm, um,
drawing myself to different business groups to get a more,
uh um, a mentoring as a bit of a side note, um,
(35:22):
kind of for me to, uh, uh, take on one
person as a mentor has,
and I might, And I need to get curious about this.
Why do I think this way? Um, limiting. Because it's
one person's view, um, and processes. So I haven't quite
found that person. Then I go, Oh, I want I
want all of your juiciness and yummi in terms of
(35:46):
integrating into my business. I think that would definitely work.
Um, but recently I have joined a couple of different groups,
and I feel like, um, they collectively are part of
my mentoring experience. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
So what's something, um, that you can share with the
listener is that, you know, would think you think would
be of great value for a home based, you know,
business to share from, you know, a recent gathering or event?
Um, from one of those groups.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Oh, definitely. Um, being willing to to try different groups
to see what might actually be your jam to, you know,
connect with other women who are in the same boat.
Most of them are running a business from home, and
often it's a It's an online, um uh, digit
platform thing, not more. But the the the common denominator
(36:39):
is that they're they're flying things solo. So and knowing
that you're not alone and you can talk to and
workshop and bounce ideas off particularly, um, women who are
going who who are mothers as well to sort of
have that idea that,
you know, there are different ways of doing things. Definitely. Um,
and being really, really, um, curious again, um, about, uh,
(37:02):
looking into a group that you probably wouldn't have thought
wouldn't have ever imagined yourself particularly in and being, um,
open to going Well, if what What if that particular
group could work for me? Um, so I always keep
an eye out on different events that are being run
by
Speaker 1 (37:20):
councils.
So how do you hook into those groups? So council
Speaker 2 (37:26):
and stuff. Yeah, Yeah. Um, I I have actually recently joined,
um uh, a B and group for for, um, connecting
in with other business owners. And it, uh, it sort
of hones in my my recent little, uh, mantra that
I've I've come up with with in the last four
(37:48):
or five years. It's
is to cover all platforms of marketing. And, um, that
one really hones in on the word of mouth type.
Um style. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, um, you know, I'm
all about getting your blog post done, your instagram nice
and strong. But this style of, um, networking is all
about word of mouth. So that's really, really cool. And
(38:10):
in a sense, that kind of model
I feel is going to be a good, uh, business mentor, um,
type thing for me in terms of what I'm what
I can learn.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
Yeah, I think BNI works incredibly well for service based
businesses like yours. I think it's a really great model,
and it really yeah, gets you in in the zone of, um,
that offline marketing. So I think more often than not,
we can get caught behind a computer and then the
online space.
Um, so I think it's really important to complement any
(38:41):
marketing strategy to have, like, a quite a good, strong
offline presence as well.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
Yeah, yeah. And that that particularly what I'm looking forward
to with that particular model is the value that it's
going to add to my business. When I'm talking to
clients that
that you're there, they're coming from my therapy and wellness.
But often, if not often, um, sometimes clients like to
(39:06):
talk all the way through their session. So you get
to know, can't
Speaker 1 (39:10):
imagine how
way too relaxing to be talking. However,
Speaker 2 (39:15):
however, some people like to feel the space and they
they they, um, will talk about what's going on. So
the value of me saying Well, actually, I think I
might know someone that can really help you here is
I'm really actually really quite excited by that concept because
it's just adding that, um, another layer of
Speaker 1 (39:33):
service to your business.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
Oh, absolutely. Yeah. It's the community that we look after.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
Yeah, for sure.
So, you know, another form of marketing is collaboration, and
and I'm keen to talk to you about about that.
I know you were working quite closely with a dear
a mutual friend of ours, Nikki Ellis, from synch, and
at one stage, some of your clinic hours were based
out of cinch. Why did you decide to give that
a try? Well, I
Speaker 2 (39:58):
had I The concept of having, um, multiple locations was
is really still something that I eventually want to achieve.
Um, And it it's actually been a great, um, business, uh,
experience of mine, actually to, you know, some, uh, successes. Some, uh,
what might not look like successes from is that sense
(40:21):
of learning about where you are in business has been
quite quite powerful. I wanted to give that a go because, um,
the being being able to look after the community in
a wider sense
and, um, being able to because some people are very
local based, even though we the clinics themselves were 10
(40:41):
minutes apart from each other. Some some are very local.
They
Speaker 1 (40:45):
want they're not just willing to They're not willing to
make that kind of travel commitment. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:51):
Yeah. And, um, and so, to to to reach them
as well as well as the community in in the
studio as well with Nick's clients as well.
Um, it was an opportunity. That was something that I
know and and learned that, uh, we didn't have the um,
(41:12):
capacity to cover the the two clinics. At the time,
there wasn't we didn't have enough people at the time,
so it was one of those, um,
business opportunities that you take. Yeah, and then learn that
It it's like, Oh, OK, we we took it on
a bit too prematurely. Um, so I it it turned
(41:35):
my attention, um, wholeheartedly into the home based business that
we do have that has two rooms running out of it. Um,
and also, sometimes that business strategy of looking at the numbers, too,
is something
that I can very much not do. Um, and so
that can it can come back and bite you in
(41:56):
the bottom when you realise. Oh, hang on, I. I
now have learned that. Yeah. So
Speaker 1 (42:03):
great learning experience. So for any listeners looking at entering,
you know, a collaboration arrangement, you know, or adding another
location to their service area. What advice would you
Speaker 2 (42:13):
share? I would definitely look at to see if you
have the hours and the capability to be able to service, um,
and really doing the numbers business wise to see if
you're if you can get some sort of trajectory going
so that you can track to see if you are
(42:34):
on track as well. Um, at the time I had
a concept, um, of thinking, Well, I just want to
give this a go and see how it goes. Um,
my husband that I told you
about that like the I dotted crunch the number cruncher.
He was actually in the background constantly saying, It's not it. It's,
um you don't have enough people he knew from the
(42:55):
get go what it looked like. Um, so I would
definitely look at to to to If if you are
a multi practitioner clinic to see if you can service that, um,
figures
Speaker 1 (43:09):
really? Well, do
Speaker 2 (43:10):
your figures really well. And if you can,
Speaker 1 (43:13):
yes.
Often as a home business, it's tricky to grow because
there are restraints such as space, and it can be
a bit awkward with a growing team using your personal space.
But obviously, as we spoke about earlier, your space is
purpose built for this. Um, so quite a, you know,
quite an advantage on your behalf. But what have been
(43:34):
some of the other challenges in growing your home based business?
Speaker 2 (43:38):
Um, some of the challenges have been, uh, where a
client may not be able to find a location. So we've,
you know, um, despite having signs up, and they're being
quite clear when you do come. So they might be
a little bit,
um uh, confused as to where on the street that
(44:00):
you are considering it's not a shop front itself. Um,
some other challenges might have be the noise factor from
from the family home itself. So for many years, I
was in the clinic, Um, and my husband would be
looking after the kids in the house until I started
becoming a multi practitioner clinic and
(44:23):
being the person that was also helping to look after
the family while the clinic was running. I didn't realise
the effort that it took my husband to actually keep
the family quiet. So there's often a lot of, um,
we just need to be quiet. The clinic's running or,
you know, things like that. Family dynamic, Um, in terms
of letting people know if you can you come through,
(44:44):
come through the side gate, not through the or come
through the clinic. But just be quiet as you come
through into the house. those
sorts of things. A lot of clinics can be set
up separately from the House itself, which can be great. However,
they might be at the back of the property, so
it's then separating. Um, if someone's walking down the side
of the house to go into the back just to
(45:06):
if they've got kids, if there's toys and bits and
pieces all over, um, the backyard just depends on how
much Um uh, a practitioner or or the the business
owner is is willing to show
of of their personal space. Um, and that's why this
setup it was just so good when we found
Speaker 1 (45:25):
it. Yeah. Yeah. So I guess, you know, without that,
you know, ideal purpose built set up. The advice would be,
you know, communication, obviously, with your clients and and being
really clear about exactly where you are positioned in the
street and, you know, to overcome that first challenge, and then,
you know, the second challenge around family. How do you
(45:45):
you know, how do you work through that?
Speaker 2 (45:48):
Yeah, And just, um, you know it. When I first
started looking for a property for a home clinic, it
was every property we looked to that. We potentially, um,
hoping to buy or just, you know, we were inspecting
to buy, Um it was about seeing Would this work
for a clinic? So it was often a master bedroom
(46:08):
at the front with an ensuite. Um, that at least
got us going in terms of OK, at least with
With that, I can work from home.
Um And then, you know, in hindsight, we We could
have also looked at spaces where you can deck out
the garage and take the garage door out, pop a
proper sliding door in a door in and get the
(46:29):
shopfront look happening. It was something that I would if
I was to go back to
looking for my first home. It W wouldn't have been
just the master bedroom setup. Then could we take that
part of the house out or the part of the
garage out and turn it into into that kind of space? Um,
but you know it. It's, um it also takes a
(46:52):
type of, uh, of of practitioner that wants to work
from home as well. There's there's many people that like
to keep that very, very separate. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (47:00):
absolutely. Absolutely.
Look, we spoke yesterday, and, um uh, tonight's dinner, which, unfortunately,
I can't make is, um, a a celebration of your
growth and a pretty significant milestone. Can you share that
with us?
Speaker 2 (47:17):
Yeah. Yeah, Well, um, we have a a team of
about of there's, um I have to think about this. Um,
there's four of us. Um well, technically five. Because the
fifth one is a locum practitioner that steps in and
helps us out from time to time.
Um, but four main practitioners, Um, including myself. So the
(47:38):
three others have been subcontractors. And in recent times, um,
about a week and a half, two weeks ago, we have, um,
assigned them all on as employees.
Speaker 1 (47:50):
Congratulations. Thank you. Congratulations. You know, for the listener who
has their eye on this kind of achievement as a
home based business, what would your top top tips be?
Speaker 2 (48:01):
I'll definitely look to get, um, going on finding a HR.
Company that works for you. That you, um you're going
to need their support for getting the the contracts together
and all the policies and procedures together and the paperwork together.
That was definitely
Speaker 1 (48:22):
outsource. That HR component to make sure you're ticking all
the boxes.
Speaker 2 (48:26):
Absolutely, Absolutely. There's a lot to wrap your head around
in doing that. I've reached out to, um the people
I know who have done this, um, and had conversations
with them as well. There's a a leading, um myotherapy
in our profession, and she is now the CEO of myotherapy.
(48:47):
Australia reached out to her
and we had a great chat and she was very,
very supportive. Um, and it was really validating because a
lot of clinics, um, it's just she was saying a
lot of clinics haven't yet gone over to this style
of this this model. So it's, um, to help become
a
a leader in that to be able to say it
(49:08):
is doable because of the concept of, um, subcontracting. It's
definitely a conversation that's been around for a long time.
As in what? What style of contracting subcontracting that you're
you're doing and
and making sure you're doing everything correctly as well. Um, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (49:29):
And I know you've been working with your team for
some time time now, And also, um, you know, you've
said in the past when you were employing people you
wanted clones of you. Right? But what you've actually enjoyed
is the exact
So can you tell me what has contributed to the
success of of your of your business in not going
(49:49):
with that clones of
Speaker 2 (49:51):
me? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Well, um, so initially right when
I was trying to grow my business in terms of
becoming multi practitioner,
I had that concept that I wanted little I wanted
me to be. I want the same style of treatment
to be extended out if I couldn't be able to
deliver them. And then serendipity, um, did its thing. And
(50:13):
I got a phone call from Jane, um, Jane Birmingham,
and she was moving from interstate looking for a clinic
to join in, um, 2 to 3 months or two
months at the time when she moved to Melbourne.
Um, and I learned that she's got a very, very,
very unique style of treatment and actually so unique that
(50:35):
no one else does it. She's coined this particular style
called my my facial body shift. Um, and I still
had the concept that I wanted mini clones and I said, OK, well,
if we join, I'll get you to do some cupping,
We'll I'll teach you. We'll do some training,
but, um, you you you've got to, you know, be
able to apply this to do what I do. Um,
(50:56):
and what I found was she just could not do
what she did really? Well, by applying what I do,
um and so we, we we we we we scrapped it.
We had to scrap it straight away. The whole cloning
concept of doing the similar kind of treatment
and when she was able to step into who she
really is, which she was always doing to do that
(51:19):
here at my clinic, um, we were able to see
some amazing results with clients. Um, so what that really
fed into is how complementary our styles were. So it became, uh,
just went from it just became a, um,
a beautiful model within the clinic that we could at
(51:41):
least know that if we weren't getting anywhere with a
particular client or we could feel like they just needed
something else that we couldn't offer,
that we could refer to each other in house. Um,
but we always refer out out of, uh into with
other allied health if needed, as Well, Osteo's Cros physios. Um,
(52:02):
of course. But if we could do it in house,
we would, especially if they really respond to the style
of treatment.
Speaker 1 (52:09):
Keep them around.
Speaker 2 (52:10):
Yeah. Yeah.
So it's been wonderful to be able to have that
on offer for our community that they can have versatile
options with our practitioners as well as we talk to
each other. We're always, um, chatting about different styles of
or what we think a client might need. And then, um,
then we that surrender you the other practitioner,
(52:33):
you know, does their magic and, um, quite an
Speaker 1 (52:36):
internal relief, too. Really? Because then you're like, it's not
all on me. I don't have to lead this, you know, like,
there's so many other just as talented in different ways.
You know, within this team that, um it's not just
all on me
Speaker 2 (52:53):
anymore. No, that's right. That's right. Yes,
Speaker 1 (52:57):
Nicole, what would you say is your biggest challenge in
business right now,
Speaker 2 (53:02):
my biggest challenge is to
be the, um, the the person that's working on the business.
I My my biggest challenge. Yes, Um, finding that one.
We do. We do. I am. You know, um you know,
you don't want to help people. And I've got my, my, my,
(53:25):
uh, numbers that I like to do in clinics. So
I've I've set a very, um, small number that I
can see at least treat every day, but 2 to
3 clients a day that gets booked out really, really quickly.
So of course you fit the fourth one in. You
fit the fifth one in, and then all of a sudden,
I've got no time to work on the business and
do the side the things that need to be done.
(53:47):
So that's
a constant for me. And, uh, check in for me
to go, OK? All right. Um, no, I I've I've
to say no. I can't see you this week, but
we do have availability with our other practitioners, or my
next available is in 2 to 3 weeks. And that's
really hard to say to clients, too, when you know
(54:08):
they need treatment now, so that is very challenging.
But
Speaker 1 (54:12):
how are you managing it? Like just putting your boundaries
in place and trying to stick firm?
Speaker 2 (54:17):
Yes. So that, um that periodically I need to I
do build upon that periodically Um, and it's a constant
check in to keep doing that. Because when I let
go of that, that's where II I might look in
my diary and see the next 23 weeks.
They're pretty full. And, um so that's where I need to.
(54:39):
It's a constant thing of going of, of redefining that word. Um, and, uh,
the the N word. Um, and it's not quite an
N word, particularly when there's a team so reminding myself
that
Speaker 1 (54:52):
big advantage. What do you value most about your business
journey so far,
Speaker 2 (54:57):
my business journey, how
I've been able to manifest where I wanted to be,
where I envisaged myself, uh, three years ago. I feel
I'm there now, Um, and what I've learned along the
way to do that and the the the business decisions
that weren't so great. Um, what I've had to learn
(55:18):
from that as well as being really quite powerful. Um,
what I value the biggest.
And then it's also about the work culture as well
what type of place I want to create for my
people when they're working there. So that culture is really,
really important. Them feeling like they are.
(55:39):
They essentially are coming into a second home of theirs
to to to treat, to be able to be the
practitioners that they are becoming, that they are, um, thriving in,
um and so they can feel like they are coming
to a great place to work. That's a really good, um,
great feeling to be able to offer that
Speaker 1 (56:01):
so good. What are some of the personality traits you
have that you think have been integral to your success?
Speaker 2 (56:09):
Being willing to try anything? Really? Um, and having a
crack at it, um, when to see if it will work,
see if it won't work. Um, I, uh I'm always
looking at different ways to do things, even though I
might have nailed, for example, at my therapy session.
(56:31):
It there's there's never an end point. So my business personality, uh, trait,
I would say is just, you know, trying new things,
being willing, being curious. Will this work Will that work? What?
What will happen if I do this? What will happen
if I do that? Um, and you know, always seeing
that there's different different processes, different techniques, different, um, ways of,
(56:55):
of doing. And And I'm 23 years in. But I'm
learning from
from practitioners who are six months in and being willing,
What are they? What have they got to teach me?
Not just me teaching them.
Speaker 1 (57:07):
Yeah, absolutely. So for the listener, who is in their
own practise and perhaps struggling a bit with motivation, What
pearls of wisdom would you share?
Speaker 2 (57:17):
That's a good question.
I would
reach out to other
other professions of the same in the same industry. So
if you're, um, a my therapist, reach out to a
my therapist that you admire and reach out and ask,
Would you would you be willing to have a catch up? Um,
(57:38):
and if they're in the same town, actually plan for
a catch up so that you can actually see that
you're not alone. It it can be quite isolating to
do the home business. Um, And if you are a
solo practitioner, it can,
um, be uh, uh, limiting in what you You You can, um, learn.
(58:01):
So go out and get several treatments from different people
as well. It's a great way to to see what works. What, what,
what doesn't work as well. And if you could see
that they're doing a particular type of business model that
you would love to do one day. Have a chat
with them about it. There's always, um,
(58:21):
there's different ways of being able to achieve where you
want to go as well.
Speaker 1 (58:27):
Love it. Thank you so much. Nicole. This is, um
thank you so much for your your time today. I
appreciate the passion and the commitment you have for your practise,
your team and your industry. Um, and what you do within,
I think we've got some, you know, really wonderful practical
tips for business owners operating and growing their practise from
(58:49):
their home.
An abundance of gold in this episode. Thank you for
your kindness and your generosity. Nicole, I appreciate you joining
me here today.
Speaker 2 (58:59):
Thank you. Thank you for having me, Karen. It's been
a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (59:06):
If you're looking for some free resources to start creating
a buzz with your digital marketing, then go to bees
Knees marketing.com dot a U backslash free. That's bees. Knees
marketing.com dot a U backslash free. Follow the prompts and
take advantage of our free resource library and get your
business buzzing
Nicole Webb is our very own local genius and is
an absolute go to when talking about home business success
and what it can be and become.
Nicole is not only an incredibly skilled myo therapist, but
has also created a business plan and model that we
(00:22):
can all relate to and learn from. Nicole is incredibly
giving in this chat as we celebrate the milestones of
Greensboro remedial massage and myotherapy as she expands her team
and her business footprint. Please welcome to the buzz Nicole Webb.
I'm excited to share her business journey as our local
(00:45):
business feature this season. Welcome to the Buzz Mccole Webb
from Greensboro. Remedial massage and my therapy.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Thank you for having me, Karen. Thank
Speaker 1 (00:55):
you. You are so welcome. Look, I wanna go back
to the beginning of finishing up in high school. What
career options are you considering?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Oh, back then, I I had to scour through with
my career advisor.
The closest thing to come to was working with Children. Um,
And then when I got into Melbourne uni, I decided
I needed to take a year. That deferral year.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
OK, so you got into uni, um, studying to teach kids.
Is that right? OK,
Speaker 2 (01:25):
early childhood, early childhood. Yeah. Um but then I wanted
that year off, but I got really fiddly I I
is that Is that the right word? I. I felt
like I really needed to start studying something. I think
we got into the fourth month of the 12 months
deferral and I felt like I had to get going
on studying something. Yeah, I just couldn't not.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
That's not often a response, is it?
In their space, most people are just like right. I'm
doing the 12 months and off they go. But no,
you were getting a bit itchy feet, really wanting to
get back into study. Yeah,
Speaker 2 (02:00):
absolutely. I knew it was to Su. It was I.
I wanted to help people by that stage. I knew II.
I thereabouts knew what I wanted to do, but not quite.
And the person I was working with, she suggested Why
don't you go and learn Reiki
and I decided, Ok, well, that that's a good starting point.
So and did she
Speaker 1 (02:21):
suggest Reiki? Because, like so when you say you she
knew what you wanted to go into. So were you
still thinking about childhood and education at this point. Or
had you discussed something else with her that she, you know,
had this insight to Reiki?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Well, I actually stopped the conversation entirely about childhood, early
childhood stuff, and so I kind of knew it wasn't.
It was sort of a conversation that I was guided
towards with my career advisor because we had to choose something.
So that deferral year was really quite insightful that it
didn't even
(02:55):
cross my mind to to think. Well, when am I
going to pick that up again? So, um, the person
I the boss of, uh, the the job that I
was in at the time It was a beautiful little
cafe inside country road, Uh, clothing store at Doncaster. Um,
she could see that I was quite spiritual. And she
(03:15):
could see the, um that we both had very high intuitions,
and I'm not sure what made her suggest Reiki, But
as soon as she said it, I just knew that
I needed to go do it. Instant
Speaker 1 (03:31):
recognition? Yeah. This is where I need to go. So
then what happened?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Well, then that really opened up, uh, a world for
me in terms of the hands on component and without
knowing it at the time, I think it really paved
a bit of a foundation to my next, uh, step.
I really wanted to continue that learning and wanted to, um,
hone in on the natural health. And at the time
(03:56):
I decided, Well, maybe I can be a naturopath.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
OK, Nice. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
So, um,
I checked into it. There was no hecs fees at
the time at all. You, you you needed to pay
for it as you go. And back then, of 2324
years ago, it was $27,000 and it was Oh, my God,
that's a lot of money. And these days, it's like, Oh,
it's probably double. It's a cheap cost.
(04:23):
So I decided, Well, I really want to study something.
So what can I do in the meantime, natural health
realm in the natural health realm. So it made sense
for me to, um at the time I went Well,
maybe I'll do massage because the price point was much
lower than than naturopathy.
(04:43):
Um, and I took a chance and decided that that's
the course I'll do. And I had never had a
massage before in my life and never had given a
massage before in my life until I started that course
and
I fell in love completely. Um, yeah, it was amazing.
(05:04):
And I think doing the reiki first was a really, um,
was pivotal for me because I could really tell if
someone had done their reiki after I had learnt reiki.
I everyone who had treatment from me or massages from me,
could They just said, there's something else here that's going on.
They really felt,
(05:25):
um, that layout. Absolutely. So that really gave me that
boost of confidence in that respect. Um, and it was
a great, uh, career pathway to to choose at the
time just to really integrate to in all the different
other little mini jobs I had going on. So having
(05:47):
a
home clinic, always on the side, um, and filling in
where I had some time and space to see clients
for treatment.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
So then you. So after your course, you went straight
into working for yourself. Like you didn't really go and
work for another practitioner anywhere. No,
Speaker 2 (06:05):
straight away,
Speaker 1 (06:06):
straight away. And why was that?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
I think particularly I. I grew up with my parents
just really gunning the entrepreneurial thing, and I think it
was just It was second nature there was. I didn't
even have a second thought about it. It was just
a BN cool. Let's get it, Let's get going. Put
(06:29):
the sign
up in my brother's cafe that I was working in
at the time in my sea. And I think I
was charging like, $35 for a massage. Um, just to
get going got some great clients and just and we
it was always a, um, career pathway. That was a
side on to what I was doing. Um, and that's
(06:52):
where I learned very after a little while
that you know, II. I had this concept that when
I get busy, I'll drop off all my other work
when that happens, and I will do, um, less of
the other work. But I learned, um, very, you know,
not quickly after several years in that I needed to
(07:14):
actually drop off the other work to allow my business
to grow into that side. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
And I think that's often the mistake that you know
or not the mistake because at the at the beginning
of going into our own business. It's like, um,
you know, you're a little bit scared. So you're, like,
hanging on to that income and going well, I know
this is a sure thing. I know this is a
sure thing. This is good. This is good. And then you're, like,
sort of 1 ft into the business. But yeah, you
can never really grow that business or attract, you know,
(07:40):
attract the growth, attract the clientele. When you are distracted,
you never
really gonna give it the attention It deserves to
Speaker 2 (07:48):
grow. Yeah, And I think, really, that's been like the
at each pivotal point in my career. That's been like
the baseline is, you know, it's a build it, and
they will come give it the space, and it will build.
Has been, um, what? I've seen over, you know, several, um,
benchmarks over my career as well. You're so right.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
And that's really hard, though, to also balance when, um,
you know, you're quite dependent on the income from those other,
you know, from those other jobs. So, you know, what
would your advice be
to someone who's in that in that position, um, to
sort of give them that heave ho to move into
putting both feet into their business.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah. Look, I think you know, if I could have
done my time again, I would probably have gone and worked,
Um, for another clinic to really build my skill set
up to build my stamina up as well, to get quite, um,
clear if if is this what I want to do, Um,
and and at the same time, building the clinic up
(08:54):
your own clinics
face up as well. Um, and it's more about that
mentoring finding someone that can really mentor you through that
space in professional sense in that work dynamic of it,
if you're a health practitioner to, um to continue to grow,
there's still so much, um
at, uh, growth points for students who come out from
(09:18):
learning their course. They've got so much to still integrate.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Absolutely. Because you've got the theory. But then there's, you know,
the practical hands on side of it isn't there? Yeah. Yeah,
that's really great advice. So if you're, you know, looking
to start your own business and you've come out of training,
you know? Absolutely. Don't give up on that and certainly
have that, you know, idea there, ready to go. But
spending some time in a clinic is just gonna help
(09:43):
you P
off your your skills and expertise, right?
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
So in those early days, you know, having a business
and massage probably wasn't a widely thought off thing either, right?
Because massage and my therapy and all that those kind
of practises were quite in what they were in the infancy.
Even though they're obviously, you know, traditionally been around for
a really long time. Actually, making a, you know, full
(10:09):
blown business out of it was quite different 20 years
ago than it is is
Speaker 2 (10:13):
now. Yeah, Absolutely. Absolutely. And it's, um, really looking into
the concept that a a lot of, um, people can
have as massage being a luxury as opposed to a
maintenance or something as part of their their self care
that becomes nonnegotiable for them. So, um, you know, there's
still plenty of people out there that I know that
(10:34):
my brother is one of them is, you know, have
a really sore back and get them to go to
a clinic down the road. He lives in another state
so he can't come and see
me. Um, so saying, go and see this. This clinic,
they've got a great reputation on INSTAGRAM. I follow them.
I think they'll be a really good fit for you.
They're just down the road, Um, and then realising that
it's actually breaking through that, um, belief that well, it
(10:57):
massages a luxury I. I can't justify spending that kind
of money on myself where you have, um, AAA plethora
of people that really take that as their maintenance. Um,
and it becomes this self care
non negotiable, um, thing that they they utilise that really
(11:18):
complements their well being.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Absolutely.
OK, so you're you're back. You're in your business. You're
building it. Um, so at what point do you, um,
put both feet into the business? What point do you
give away those other you know, jobs and you focus
solely on your
Speaker 2 (11:35):
business. Well, interestingly enough, that was when my daughter, who's
15 when she was a baby, I decided it was
time to go, um, head in, all in
into my business. Um, but it was almost a similar
kind of thing to where I had motherhood. motherhood was
the thing that replaced the second job. So it was
(11:55):
still a case of podding along and having the myotherapy
and massage business fill in the other. Um uh, spaces
in my week where I was quite busy with motherhood
and bringing up two young kids.
So to answer that question wholeheartedly, I would have to
say it was about 5.5 years ago where I had
(12:17):
the space that was absolutely perfect for a multi room clinic.
And I knew that if I wanted to make this
truly successful, then I needed to, um,
to to go completely, all in. So my husband and
I came up with a business plan, um, working towards
being able to hire other practitioners or take on at
(12:40):
the time subcontractors. Um and we came up with a
model where we called it, build it up and pass
it on.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
OK, ok, so
then yeah, and I and I think that's, you know,
very common for a lot of women. Um, who are
mothers or and And men are, um, are primary caregivers
of their, you know, Children. Over that time, the Children
do kind of take priority. I know that happened with
myself as well. And it wasn't, you know, until you know,
my boys were much older that I could say right
(13:09):
now both feed into my business and really, Let's go.
So I think that's actually quite a common a common theme.
Um, And when you were, uh, operating, you know, as
a as a mom and a and a business owner,
you were, um, operating out of your home. Still. So,
home based business? Yep. Yep, yep. But not the premise
(13:30):
that you're in at the moment.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
No. No, actually, it was next door to where we
Speaker 1 (13:34):
are. OK, OK, because it's quite a wonderful, wonderful story
which I wanna get to. I wanna get to that.
Um So
in the early days of being in the industry, what
surprised you the most?
Were you were you lo loving it or were you
thinking Oh, God. What have I done here?
Speaker 2 (13:53):
No. What surprised me the most was just how, um, much.
I was absolutely me doing it.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
The flow?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah, I found my alignment. I. I almost had to
pinch myself several times to say Is this is this?
Have I really found
I love to do, like, straight away. Hm hm. In fact,
I think I kept saying to myself, This is an,
in the meantime career for probably about 67 years after I.
(14:24):
I actually started because I always thought I'd do naturopathy
or verbal medicine or something a little bit more substantial,
so to speak. Um, and I just had to
just turn around and say, Who are you kidding? This
is what you
Speaker 1 (14:40):
were doing. Were you thinking that Because that was the
expectation to do something serious, Like was massage, you know,
potentially not perceived as being a a serious business option.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Well, yes, I, I think so. I remember having a
conversation with my dad and he said, You know, you've
got to think realistically about this. Can you earn a
good income? And I think
I turned his, um, opinion around when I gave him
the breakdown. If, like, if you, uh if you bring
in a certain amount of clients a day and they're
all paying X amount and then we started to realise
(15:12):
you can actually generate a good income
Speaker 1 (15:15):
viable business model. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2 (15:17):
yeah. So I guess you're right. It was just that
it needed. Like, this concept of something a little bit
more serious, some sort of, you know, the word natural medicine,
medicine in it,
Um, and IIIII I really attached myself to. Well, when
I can afford that, I will go on to doing that.
But my my I found my fire with with with, um,
(15:41):
and my zone. My In fact, if I wasn't feeling 100%
a bit of anxiety or even a slight headache with
a client and a client would come. I would just
feel so much better after I'd seen that client. So
it was almost as much for me as it was
for
Speaker 1 (15:58):
me. Yes. Oh, God. That's when you know you're in
the right zone, right? Yeah. So good. So what did
success look like for you? Like how? What were your
measures of success in those early days of business?
Speaker 2 (16:11):
That's a really good question. Um,
I was always aiming to get to a certain number
of clients, and I remember, um, it it was a
struggle to get to those numbers.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Why do you think it was a struggle?
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Um, I didn't have the marketing set up properly. back then, Um,
and I wasn't utilising what I could have utilised back then. Um, so,
yeah, there was a a little bit of of that,
you know, trying to put my now self into my
past self. I could definitely see that there was a
(16:46):
bit of that. So II I kind of always felt
like it was a little bit out of my reach
getting to those particular numbers. But again, at that time,
I had the other jobs that I was doing. So
it
Speaker 1 (16:58):
was just It wasn't your 100% focus.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
No,
no, exactly. So, um, it it again, that pivotal point
when I realised, even though it was a it was
jumping from one kind of thing into a similar kind
of thing, but a different basket with the motherhood, from
a job to a to motherhood. But that feeling when
I realised No, I'm all in into my business. That
(17:20):
was a great feeling to go. OK, I'm I'm doing this.
And I think that was, uh, that the energy of
that really assisted me to look into the other parts
of the marketing that I was missing. Getting the Google
listing right was crucial because, um
uh, one thing about my my my clinic is that
it's in a in my home, in a residential zone.
(17:42):
We don't get the foot traffic, but we get google traffic. Um,
and that's been built up over over 1520 years.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
And what made you what made you know that that
was your missing part? Like, was it like a a mentor?
Was it something you'd read? Like what? Brought your awareness
to
uncover what those missing components were?
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Yeah. Good question. I It was definitely conversations I was
having with people I was studying with at the time.
Um and, you know, even I, I think, for I
didn't really set up my website properly until, uh, I
think about 12 years ago. Um and that was through
someone that I was studying with Her
(18:25):
boyfriend at the time was a web builder. So we
built something up, and, um, we we started that way.
So that was where that that point I started realising, OK,
these are all the missing links I need to start
working on.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
So I think a really good takeaway from that is
absolutely talking about your business with others isn't it in
the same, you know, industry. So just, you know, putting
it out there and and talking to people around,
You know what you're experiencing and and being open to
hearing what they have to say.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And, um, you know, and I love
being able to pass this knowledge on to up and
coming practitioners who are building their own businesses to the
first thing. I'll say, Get your Google listing happening. Get
that happening. Ask everyone to do reviews. Get that nice
and strong. That's, um, it definitely
when you're very close to it. You can't see those things.
(19:17):
So having those conversations is important?
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Absolutely, Absolutely. And and in a home based business is
quite a unique model in itself. So, you know, you've
talked about Google Google, my business. What are another couple
of tips you would have for someone starting up their
own home based business? I
Speaker 2 (19:34):
definitely would, um, think about a a
type of social media platform to get going on something
that you're comfortable with, Um, as opposed to, you know,
if you can get comfortable with the most popular, that's great. Um, but,
you know, for me it was Instagram. So I was
really nervous getting that started. I knew that I was
(19:54):
following Nikki from Sinch. So I thought, Oh, OK, she's great.
I'm gonna be modelling
Speaker 1 (19:59):
as a as an instagram mentor. 100%.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Yeah, Absolutely. I still didn't know how to do it.
So one of my clients, um, uh, offered a few
coaching sessions just to go through. Definitely. What? What works?
What doesn't work? And I just I just went all
in and had some really awkward videos that I did that.
Like we have a good chuckle.
Yeah. Yeah, And then just get, um it's just you
(20:25):
get more and more confident and then just be willing
to keep laughing at yourself and with something, It's a
little bit a little bit funny or a bit off
or yeah, whatever works
Speaker 1 (20:34):
with your personality.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yes, that's
Speaker 1 (20:36):
right. Yeah, absolutely. OK, so we've said Google business listing.
We've said, get familiar with a you know, a social
media platform that, you know, you feel you you can
get to get to love. What's the third thing from
a home based business perspective that you would recommend for
start up
Speaker 2 (20:52):
getting keeping your website strong is, you know, so that
it it it ties into the Google.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
And what does a website, a strong website look like
in your, you know, in your area, your area of expertise,
Speaker 2 (21:06):
regular regular content being added. So that that blog page,
the regular articles being added, um, with the SEO. Is
getting that consistently strong so that, um, it it's it
you're adding value for for clients as well. Um, it
definitely
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Yeah. Nice. So
I experienced your home clinic for the first time yesterday,
just yesterday, and it's a home business like no other. Now,
the history of the home itself is really impressive. The
story being the Department of Defence, of which the barracks
are nearby. Back in the seventies, um, their go to
(21:48):
GP had this, you know, purpose built, you know, home
clinic set up downstairs. So
quite a nugget of gold there. Um, how did you
find out about the home?
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Well, we, um, at the time were living next door, and, um, we,
uh there were, uh there was a beautiful family living
in the home, and the husband worked for the barracks. Um,
and the the wife was just so generous, so open
and loved having neighbours over. And she started running Christmas parties.
(22:21):
Um, and so she would invite the the neighbours in
the street for a Christmas party. The upstairs is has a,
um uh, a large rumpus room that used to be
a dance studio upstairs. So she would deck out the
whole of the the rumpus room with long tables, and
we'd go and have a mingle. And when my husband
and I walked into that house for the first time,
(22:43):
we eyed off that the front room, which was the
S, um, the doctor's clinic.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Did you know at that time that that's what it
Speaker 2 (22:50):
was? No, no. We saw the setup and went, This
is amazing. This would be an amazing clinic set up.
So I think we hadn't even gotten to the upstairs
when we turned to each other and said, If this
house becomes available, we need to buy it. Yeah, right. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, that, uh,
we planted the seed of manifestation that sort of
(23:11):
many, many years ago and just loved the whole house upstairs.
We were just, um, amazed by the space. And, um
but yeah, particularly that the way the whole front of
the house was leant itself towards a clinic set up
just so seamlessly. Um, and then we had the opportunity
(23:31):
in 2015 to buy the house. And we did. We
did it privately through,
um through, uh, the the same owners.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Perfect. Cut out those real estate fees. Yes.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
They were happy to not have to do anything
Speaker 1 (23:44):
to the house they were and not have to do any,
you know, um, cleanups or marketing, or like, it's kind
of the dream. Really? Right. The neighbour wants to buy
your house.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Yeah, it was
Speaker 1 (23:56):
great. So for the listener, who'd been maybe working through
moving your practise from one location to another, What would
be some
the top tips that make that transition nice and smooth?
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Well, I think what you would definitely need to do
is do all that paperwork and that, um, all that
paperwork ahead of time. So you know how what what
we often did. Um, especially in that really, really, uh,
intense time of moving. Um, is that we created a
A to do list a continual, um, to do list.
(24:27):
And we just kept looking at it
every 2 to 3 days. And mind you, at the
time we were, we were also moving out of our home,
getting it ready for rental and moving it in. I
know this is not the same as another business owner moving, um,
but having the list of of of the different things
that at the checkpoints to do so letting advising clients
(24:48):
of the moving date, you may need to shut up
shop for, um three or or so days, maybe less,
depending on,
um, just so that you can get the equipment moved over. Um,
if your health, uh, the one of the things that
was really helpful is I've got my electric table. So
I just set up a portable table in the the
(25:10):
new space just to get going on seeing clients straight away.
And then
you know that you've got that one day to move
that those those large, um, large bits and pieces to
get them across as well. So get that to do
list happening and start working towards towards that. This provided
(25:31):
numbers to get sorted as well, so that can be
registered well and truly in advance. Those sorts of things
are important, Um,
and even getting the high caps machine installed before you
move in to have it really quite seamless for for
for clients,
Speaker 1 (25:46):
great advice. I like to talk very openly here at
the buzz about the behind the scenes of running a
business because I think often we only see the highlights
on the socials, which can leave people often feeling like,
you know, what have I missed? What haven't I done?
How come I'm not getting those results or feeling
that way? So I'd love to explore some of that
with you. You know, every business owner, let alone a
(26:07):
mom in business, needs some kind of support network, whether
it's professional or personal, who is in your support team
and how do they support you? Oh,
Speaker 2 (26:16):
OK, well, I've definitely I've got a great partner that
is really quite grounded with his approach towards business almost
too grounded where I want to fly, he's a rock
to help me, to
say a note. We need to, um, think about XY
and Z. Does he
Speaker 1 (26:32):
work off like does he work for someone else? Or
is he also running his own business? He
Speaker 2 (26:38):
works for someone else. Um, and definitely he's, um he
he he likes to have all the i's dotted and
the TS crossed. So it's been quite grounding to have
that kind of support in terms of the stuff that
you don't necessarily want to hear if you're a person,
that
this wants to get going on things. Oh, my
Speaker 1 (26:57):
God. I hear you.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Yeah. Yes. So that's been really, really handy. Um, I also, um,
have an old, uh, have several old colleagues and friends
that we call upon quite regularly just to we We've
made that commitment to each other just to call it
how it is. Um, so that's been really handy of
the in the same profession as well is extremely helpful.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
So when you say call as to kind of say, Look,
I'm really struggling here, you know, can you help me
out as a step into the business or just with advice,
Or how do you call on them?
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Well, mainly with advice to say, you know, and they
say it, how it is so not not telling you
exactly what you want to hear,
um, to saying, You know, I think I think we
need to look at it from this angle. And and, um,
we actually do that for each other as well. So
it's really quite grounding, or we just need to bounce
some ideas off just to get that sense of validation
(27:52):
or No, I think I'm in my head about that.
That can be dropped.
Um, you know, uh, just works hopping things like that.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
And how did you find that? Um, group, if you like.
Was it like, from study, or was it from you know, um, like,
local networking events, Like, how did you come across that group?
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Well, um, several different, um, ways, actually,
because the profession itself, particularly my therapy is is that
the community is is quite small, even though it's growing substantially. Um,
so I I we not so much networking things, it's
(28:32):
more connections through clients that can help connect up to people. Um, together.
So that was one and another one it would be through. Yes,
I did. Uh,
uh, meet people through study, so that was really, um,
quite helpful. So being able to just keep in connection
(28:52):
with them regularly, which was a good idea. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (28:55):
absolutely.
Now, I also know there are some challenges you've had
in your life with your, you know, hearing. Can you
share a little bit about that?
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Well, yeah. Um well, my my hearing is, uh Well,
my hearing loss is is my my normal. So I, um,
I was born with,
uh, a hearing loss. Um, but at the time, my
parents were told by specialists that it was due to
ear infections. So, um, I had loads of ear infections
(29:28):
as a kid, and it did permanently, um, decrease my
hearing at the time, But until they did a reconstruction
of my eardrum, that's when they saw that it was
something I was born with with nerve deafness. So
it's been, um, quite a journey with my son also
is deaf as well. And when I grew up, they
(29:51):
really focused on, um uh, the oral of of listening
and speaking. So, in other words, um, sign language was
a no no. In my time, Um, and so speech
therapy was was really promoted, and I it would be
week in week out. We do speech therapy, and, um
(30:13):
um with my son, he's 11. It was really promoted
as to you. could choose if you want to be, um,
more sign based, more oral based or bilingual. Um, we
chose to go bilingual, and so that was be That's
been quite quite amazing, too, as well. I guess my
(30:34):
challenge in what I in my life with what I've
got is I grew up
with no deaf community. So I grew up in a
world of hearing, um, with hearing people around me, And
at the time that worked, I didn't actually want to
be around deaf kids when I was a kid. Um,
(30:55):
and you know it it now that I see, um,
and I've started to immerse myself into the deaf community. Now,
only recently in the last couple of months because of
my son. Um, the deaf community, Um uh, experience the
community
community experience in that has been quite amazing. So that's
(31:16):
been quite, um, eye opening.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
So I guess what has that experience taught you?
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Well, it actually the experience of, um not feeling like
I was like everyone else was, actually, it went into,
um I think that was a pathway to my career choice, too.
In terms of I just felt like I, um was different. Sure,
it was the deafness.
But II, I genuinely felt different to people. I felt
(31:45):
like I had other things to offer people
Speaker 1 (31:47):
really special and unique gift. And what age did you
think that
Speaker 2 (31:52):
very early. Very early. IIII, I think, you know, four
or five. I kind of I. I just always felt
like I was it it, you know, whether it would
be that I was into crystals and my friends weren't.
But I think that flavour of of my the difference physically,
um, whether I knew it or not really assisted more my, um,
(32:15):
attention in different places at the time. And, um I mean,
there's one experience that I do remember, and my friends
all talk about it to this day that they all
know all your other senses are heightened that we were
walking along, um, in high school, in a line, um,
parallel line, you know, as girls do. So it was
four of us all talking. I was off to the side,
(32:37):
not into the conversation, because I just wasn't hearing them properly.
But I was just part of the group, and I
looked up into the sky, and I saw a bird
flying over and I. I saw it starting to poo.
And I saw the poo, and I knew that it
was going to land on us. So I put my
hands out and stopped my friends. I said, stop! And
the poo landed literally a foot in front of us.
(33:00):
And all the girls were just amazed that I saw that.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Yeah. Incredible. Yes.
Heightened senses. The
Speaker 2 (33:08):
heightened senses. Yeah. So, you know, you're focusing on what
you what? You're feeling what you're seeing. Um, and you
know that, uh, the the the hearing aspect being down.
And it's, um it it it's a almost a gift
in some 100%
Speaker 1 (33:26):
100% it is. And how do you think that has
shaped who you are today?
Speaker 2 (33:30):
I think, um, you know,
I'm not really sure it's a really deep question because
it's it's definitely helped me to be more curious. As
an adult, as a deaf person, you assume you hear
things a certain way.
(33:50):
So, um you know, uh, you jump to the conclusion.
That's what a person has said. Um, but now, as um,
I'm in my forties, I and as late to the party.
Maybe not quite that late to the party, but to
be quite curious to go Hang on. This is Is
that what what they said? So getting curious about not
(34:11):
just that it has that sprinkling of that kind of
flavour throughout all the other things that I might think Well,
would this work in my life would if I was
to apply this
in treatment, for example, what would that look like? Um,
if I did this for my business, what would this
be like? Um, let's see if we can add it
in a way where we can, um, you know, get
(34:33):
curious if if it's going to work or not. So
I guess in some ways it's I've had that openness
and I and it also shaped me to If I
want to do something, I'm going to do it. I'm
going to make it work. Yeah, yeah, And I'm I'm
gonna I'm in in any way that I can make
it work. I'll do it.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Yeah, I love that. So real curiosity. It's like, out
of the box and nothing's gonna stop. You love it.
Do you have a business coach or mentor?
Speaker 2 (35:02):
I don't um and I've always I've I've I have, um,
colleagues that I will call upon but of recent times, I'm, um,
drawing myself to different business groups to get a more,
uh um, a mentoring as a bit of a side note, um,
(35:22):
kind of for me to, uh, uh, take on one
person as a mentor has,
and I might, And I need to get curious about this.
Why do I think this way? Um, limiting. Because it's
one person's view, um, and processes. So I haven't quite
found that person. Then I go, Oh, I want I
want all of your juiciness and yummi in terms of
(35:46):
integrating into my business. I think that would definitely work.
Um, but recently I have joined a couple of different groups,
and I feel like, um, they collectively are part of
my mentoring experience. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
So what's something, um, that you can share with the
listener is that, you know, would think you think would
be of great value for a home based, you know,
business to share from, you know, a recent gathering or event?
Um, from one of those groups.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Oh, definitely. Um, being willing to to try different groups
to see what might actually be your jam to, you know,
connect with other women who are in the same boat.
Most of them are running a business from home, and
often it's a It's an online, um uh, digit
platform thing, not more. But the the the common denominator
(36:39):
is that they're they're flying things solo. So and knowing
that you're not alone and you can talk to and
workshop and bounce ideas off particularly, um, women who are
going who who are mothers as well to sort of
have that idea that,
you know, there are different ways of doing things. Definitely. Um,
and being really, really, um, curious again, um, about, uh,
(37:02):
looking into a group that you probably wouldn't have thought
wouldn't have ever imagined yourself particularly in and being, um,
open to going Well, if what What if that particular
group could work for me? Um, so I always keep
an eye out on different events that are being run
by
Speaker 1 (37:20):
councils.
So how do you hook into those groups? So council
Speaker 2 (37:26):
and stuff. Yeah, Yeah. Um, I I have actually recently joined,
um uh, a B and group for for, um, connecting
in with other business owners. And it, uh, it sort
of hones in my my recent little, uh, mantra that
I've I've come up with with in the last four
(37:48):
or five years. It's
is to cover all platforms of marketing. And, um, that
one really hones in on the word of mouth type.
Um style. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, um, you know, I'm
all about getting your blog post done, your instagram nice
and strong. But this style of, um, networking is all
about word of mouth. So that's really, really cool. And
(38:10):
in a sense, that kind of model
I feel is going to be a good, uh, business mentor, um,
type thing for me in terms of what I'm what
I can learn.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
Yeah, I think BNI works incredibly well for service based
businesses like yours. I think it's a really great model,
and it really yeah, gets you in in the zone of, um,
that offline marketing. So I think more often than not,
we can get caught behind a computer and then the
online space.
Um, so I think it's really important to complement any
(38:41):
marketing strategy to have, like, a quite a good, strong
offline presence as well.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
Yeah, yeah. And that that particularly what I'm looking forward
to with that particular model is the value that it's
going to add to my business. When I'm talking to
clients that
that you're there, they're coming from my therapy and wellness.
But often, if not often, um, sometimes clients like to
(39:06):
talk all the way through their session. So you get
to know, can't
Speaker 1 (39:10):
imagine how
way too relaxing to be talking. However,
Speaker 2 (39:15):
however, some people like to feel the space and they
they they, um, will talk about what's going on. So
the value of me saying Well, actually, I think I
might know someone that can really help you here is
I'm really actually really quite excited by that concept because
it's just adding that, um, another layer of
Speaker 1 (39:33):
service to your business.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
Oh, absolutely. Yeah. It's the community that we look after.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
Yeah, for sure.
So, you know, another form of marketing is collaboration, and
and I'm keen to talk to you about about that.
I know you were working quite closely with a dear
a mutual friend of ours, Nikki Ellis, from synch, and
at one stage, some of your clinic hours were based
out of cinch. Why did you decide to give that
a try? Well, I
Speaker 2 (39:58):
had I The concept of having, um, multiple locations was
is really still something that I eventually want to achieve.
Um, And it it's actually been a great, um, business, uh,
experience of mine, actually to, you know, some, uh, successes. Some, uh,
what might not look like successes from is that sense
(40:21):
of learning about where you are in business has been
quite quite powerful. I wanted to give that a go because, um,
the being being able to look after the community in
a wider sense
and, um, being able to because some people are very
local based, even though we the clinics themselves were 10
(40:41):
minutes apart from each other. Some some are very local.
They
Speaker 1 (40:45):
want they're not just willing to They're not willing to
make that kind of travel commitment. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:51):
Yeah. And, um, and so, to to to reach them
as well as well as the community in in the
studio as well with Nick's clients as well.
Um, it was an opportunity. That was something that I
know and and learned that, uh, we didn't have the um,
(41:12):
capacity to cover the the two clinics. At the time,
there wasn't we didn't have enough people at the time,
so it was one of those, um,
business opportunities that you take. Yeah, and then learn that
It it's like, Oh, OK, we we took it on
a bit too prematurely. Um, so I it it turned
(41:35):
my attention, um, wholeheartedly into the home based business that
we do have that has two rooms running out of it. Um,
and also, sometimes that business strategy of looking at the numbers, too,
is something
that I can very much not do. Um, and so
that can it can come back and bite you in
(41:56):
the bottom when you realise. Oh, hang on, I. I
now have learned that. Yeah. So
Speaker 1 (42:03):
great learning experience. So for any listeners looking at entering,
you know, a collaboration arrangement, you know, or adding another
location to their service area. What advice would you
Speaker 2 (42:13):
share? I would definitely look at to see if you
have the hours and the capability to be able to service, um,
and really doing the numbers business wise to see if
you're if you can get some sort of trajectory going
so that you can track to see if you are
(42:34):
on track as well. Um, at the time I had
a concept, um, of thinking, Well, I just want to
give this a go and see how it goes. Um,
my husband that I told you
about that like the I dotted crunch the number cruncher.
He was actually in the background constantly saying, It's not it. It's,
um you don't have enough people he knew from the
(42:55):
get go what it looked like. Um, so I would
definitely look at to to to If if you are
a multi practitioner clinic to see if you can service that, um,
figures
Speaker 1 (43:09):
really? Well, do
Speaker 2 (43:10):
your figures really well. And if you can,
Speaker 1 (43:13):
yes.
Often as a home business, it's tricky to grow because
there are restraints such as space, and it can be
a bit awkward with a growing team using your personal space.
But obviously, as we spoke about earlier, your space is
purpose built for this. Um, so quite a, you know,
quite an advantage on your behalf. But what have been
(43:34):
some of the other challenges in growing your home based business?
Speaker 2 (43:38):
Um, some of the challenges have been, uh, where a
client may not be able to find a location. So we've,
you know, um, despite having signs up, and they're being
quite clear when you do come. So they might be
a little bit,
um uh, confused as to where on the street that
(44:00):
you are considering it's not a shop front itself. Um,
some other challenges might have be the noise factor from
from the family home itself. So for many years, I
was in the clinic, Um, and my husband would be
looking after the kids in the house until I started
becoming a multi practitioner clinic and
(44:23):
being the person that was also helping to look after
the family while the clinic was running. I didn't realise
the effort that it took my husband to actually keep
the family quiet. So there's often a lot of, um,
we just need to be quiet. The clinic's running or,
you know, things like that. Family dynamic, Um, in terms
of letting people know if you can you come through,
(44:44):
come through the side gate, not through the or come
through the clinic. But just be quiet as you come
through into the house. those
sorts of things. A lot of clinics can be set
up separately from the House itself, which can be great. However,
they might be at the back of the property, so
it's then separating. Um, if someone's walking down the side
of the house to go into the back just to
(45:06):
if they've got kids, if there's toys and bits and
pieces all over, um, the backyard just depends on how
much Um uh, a practitioner or or the the business
owner is is willing to show
of of their personal space. Um, and that's why this
setup it was just so good when we found
Speaker 1 (45:25):
it. Yeah. Yeah. So I guess, you know, without that,
you know, ideal purpose built set up. The advice would be,
you know, communication, obviously, with your clients and and being
really clear about exactly where you are positioned in the
street and, you know, to overcome that first challenge, and then,
you know, the second challenge around family. How do you
(45:45):
you know, how do you work through that?
Speaker 2 (45:48):
Yeah, And just, um, you know it. When I first
started looking for a property for a home clinic, it
was every property we looked to that. We potentially, um,
hoping to buy or just, you know, we were inspecting
to buy, Um it was about seeing Would this work
for a clinic? So it was often a master bedroom
(46:08):
at the front with an ensuite. Um, that at least
got us going in terms of OK, at least with
With that, I can work from home.
Um And then, you know, in hindsight, we We could
have also looked at spaces where you can deck out
the garage and take the garage door out, pop a
proper sliding door in a door in and get the
(46:29):
shopfront look happening. It was something that I would if
I was to go back to
looking for my first home. It W wouldn't have been
just the master bedroom setup. Then could we take that
part of the house out or the part of the
garage out and turn it into into that kind of space? Um,
but you know it. It's, um it also takes a
(46:52):
type of, uh, of of practitioner that wants to work
from home as well. There's there's many people that like
to keep that very, very separate. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (47:00):
absolutely. Absolutely.
Look, we spoke yesterday, and, um uh, tonight's dinner, which, unfortunately,
I can't make is, um, a a celebration of your
growth and a pretty significant milestone. Can you share that
with us?
Speaker 2 (47:17):
Yeah. Yeah, Well, um, we have a a team of
about of there's, um I have to think about this. Um,
there's four of us. Um well, technically five. Because the
fifth one is a locum practitioner that steps in and
helps us out from time to time.
Um, but four main practitioners, Um, including myself. So the
(47:38):
three others have been subcontractors. And in recent times, um,
about a week and a half, two weeks ago, we have, um,
assigned them all on as employees.
Speaker 1 (47:50):
Congratulations. Thank you. Congratulations. You know, for the listener who
has their eye on this kind of achievement as a
home based business, what would your top top tips be?
Speaker 2 (48:01):
I'll definitely look to get, um, going on finding a HR.
Company that works for you. That you, um you're going
to need their support for getting the the contracts together
and all the policies and procedures together and the paperwork together.
That was definitely
Speaker 1 (48:22):
outsource. That HR component to make sure you're ticking all
the boxes.
Speaker 2 (48:26):
Absolutely, Absolutely. There's a lot to wrap your head around
in doing that. I've reached out to, um the people
I know who have done this, um, and had conversations
with them as well. There's a a leading, um myotherapy
in our profession, and she is now the CEO of myotherapy.
(48:47):
Australia reached out to her
and we had a great chat and she was very,
very supportive. Um, and it was really validating because a
lot of clinics, um, it's just she was saying a
lot of clinics haven't yet gone over to this style
of this this model. So it's, um, to help become
a
a leader in that to be able to say it
(49:08):
is doable because of the concept of, um, subcontracting. It's
definitely a conversation that's been around for a long time.
As in what? What style of contracting subcontracting that you're
you're doing and
and making sure you're doing everything correctly as well. Um, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (49:29):
And I know you've been working with your team for
some time time now, And also, um, you know, you've
said in the past when you were employing people you
wanted clones of you. Right? But what you've actually enjoyed
is the exact
So can you tell me what has contributed to the
success of of your of your business in not going
(49:49):
with that clones of
Speaker 2 (49:51):
me? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Well, um, so initially right when
I was trying to grow my business in terms of
becoming multi practitioner,
I had that concept that I wanted little I wanted
me to be. I want the same style of treatment
to be extended out if I couldn't be able to
deliver them. And then serendipity, um, did its thing. And
(50:13):
I got a phone call from Jane, um, Jane Birmingham,
and she was moving from interstate looking for a clinic
to join in, um, 2 to 3 months or two
months at the time when she moved to Melbourne.
Um, and I learned that she's got a very, very,
very unique style of treatment and actually so unique that
(50:35):
no one else does it. She's coined this particular style
called my my facial body shift. Um, and I still
had the concept that I wanted mini clones and I said, OK, well,
if we join, I'll get you to do some cupping,
We'll I'll teach you. We'll do some training,
but, um, you you you've got to, you know, be
able to apply this to do what I do. Um,
(50:56):
and what I found was she just could not do
what she did really? Well, by applying what I do,
um and so we, we we we we we scrapped it.
We had to scrap it straight away. The whole cloning
concept of doing the similar kind of treatment
and when she was able to step into who she
really is, which she was always doing to do that
(51:19):
here at my clinic, um, we were able to see
some amazing results with clients. Um, so what that really
fed into is how complementary our styles were. So it became, uh,
just went from it just became a, um,
a beautiful model within the clinic that we could at
(51:41):
least know that if we weren't getting anywhere with a
particular client or we could feel like they just needed
something else that we couldn't offer,
that we could refer to each other in house. Um,
but we always refer out out of, uh into with
other allied health if needed, as Well, Osteo's Cros physios. Um,
(52:02):
of course. But if we could do it in house,
we would, especially if they really respond to the style
of treatment.
Speaker 1 (52:09):
Keep them around.
Speaker 2 (52:10):
Yeah. Yeah.
So it's been wonderful to be able to have that
on offer for our community that they can have versatile
options with our practitioners as well as we talk to
each other. We're always, um, chatting about different styles of
or what we think a client might need. And then, um,
then we that surrender you the other practitioner,
(52:33):
you know, does their magic and, um, quite an
Speaker 1 (52:36):
internal relief, too. Really? Because then you're like, it's not
all on me. I don't have to lead this, you know, like,
there's so many other just as talented in different ways.
You know, within this team that, um it's not just
all on me
Speaker 2 (52:53):
anymore. No, that's right. That's right. Yes,
Speaker 1 (52:57):
Nicole, what would you say is your biggest challenge in
business right now,
Speaker 2 (53:02):
my biggest challenge is to
be the, um, the the person that's working on the business.
I My my biggest challenge. Yes, Um, finding that one.
We do. We do. I am. You know, um you know,
you don't want to help people. And I've got my, my, my,
(53:25):
uh, numbers that I like to do in clinics. So
I've I've set a very, um, small number that I
can see at least treat every day, but 2 to
3 clients a day that gets booked out really, really quickly.
So of course you fit the fourth one in. You
fit the fifth one in, and then all of a sudden,
I've got no time to work on the business and
do the side the things that need to be done.
(53:47):
So that's
a constant for me. And, uh, check in for me
to go, OK? All right. Um, no, I I've I've
to say no. I can't see you this week, but
we do have availability with our other practitioners, or my
next available is in 2 to 3 weeks. And that's
really hard to say to clients, too, when you know
(54:08):
they need treatment now, so that is very challenging.
But
Speaker 1 (54:12):
how are you managing it? Like just putting your boundaries
in place and trying to stick firm?
Speaker 2 (54:17):
Yes. So that, um that periodically I need to I
do build upon that periodically Um, and it's a constant
check in to keep doing that. Because when I let
go of that, that's where II I might look in
my diary and see the next 23 weeks.
They're pretty full. And, um so that's where I need to.
(54:39):
It's a constant thing of going of, of redefining that word. Um, and, uh,
the the N word. Um, and it's not quite an
N word, particularly when there's a team so reminding myself
that
Speaker 1 (54:52):
big advantage. What do you value most about your business
journey so far,
Speaker 2 (54:57):
my business journey, how
I've been able to manifest where I wanted to be,
where I envisaged myself, uh, three years ago. I feel
I'm there now, Um, and what I've learned along the
way to do that and the the the business decisions
that weren't so great. Um, what I've had to learn
(55:18):
from that as well as being really quite powerful. Um,
what I value the biggest.
And then it's also about the work culture as well
what type of place I want to create for my
people when they're working there. So that culture is really,
really important. Them feeling like they are.
(55:39):
They essentially are coming into a second home of theirs
to to to treat, to be able to be the
practitioners that they are becoming, that they are, um, thriving in,
um and so they can feel like they are coming
to a great place to work. That's a really good, um,
great feeling to be able to offer that
Speaker 1 (56:01):
so good. What are some of the personality traits you
have that you think have been integral to your success?
Speaker 2 (56:09):
Being willing to try anything? Really? Um, and having a
crack at it, um, when to see if it will work,
see if it won't work. Um, I, uh I'm always
looking at different ways to do things, even though I
might have nailed, for example, at my therapy session.
(56:31):
It there's there's never an end point. So my business personality, uh, trait,
I would say is just, you know, trying new things,
being willing, being curious. Will this work Will that work? What?
What will happen if I do this? What will happen
if I do that? Um, and you know, always seeing
that there's different different processes, different techniques, different, um, ways of,
(56:55):
of doing. And And I'm 23 years in. But I'm
learning from
from practitioners who are six months in and being willing,
What are they? What have they got to teach me?
Not just me teaching them.
Speaker 1 (57:07):
Yeah, absolutely. So for the listener, who is in their
own practise and perhaps struggling a bit with motivation, What
pearls of wisdom would you share?
Speaker 2 (57:17):
That's a good question.
I would
reach out to other
other professions of the same in the same industry. So
if you're, um, a my therapist, reach out to a
my therapist that you admire and reach out and ask,
Would you would you be willing to have a catch up? Um,
(57:38):
and if they're in the same town, actually plan for
a catch up so that you can actually see that
you're not alone. It it can be quite isolating to
do the home business. Um, And if you are a
solo practitioner, it can,
um, be uh, uh, limiting in what you You You can, um, learn.
(58:01):
So go out and get several treatments from different people
as well. It's a great way to to see what works. What, what,
what doesn't work as well. And if you could see
that they're doing a particular type of business model that
you would love to do one day. Have a chat
with them about it. There's always, um,
(58:21):
there's different ways of being able to achieve where you
want to go as well.
Speaker 1 (58:27):
Love it. Thank you so much. Nicole. This is, um
thank you so much for your your time today. I
appreciate the passion and the commitment you have for your practise,
your team and your industry. Um, and what you do within,
I think we've got some, you know, really wonderful practical
tips for business owners operating and growing their practise from
(58:49):
their home.
An abundance of gold in this episode. Thank you for
your kindness and your generosity. Nicole, I appreciate you joining
me here today.
Speaker 2 (58:59):
Thank you. Thank you for having me, Karen. It's been
a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (59:06):
If you're looking for some free resources to start creating
a buzz with your digital marketing, then go to bees
Knees marketing.com dot a U backslash free. That's bees. Knees
marketing.com dot a U backslash free. Follow the prompts and
take advantage of our free resource library and get your
business buzzing
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