In this episode of the Grow Your Practice Podcast, host Chad Madden sits down with physical therapist and Lake Washington PT founder Ben Wobker to talk about one of the hottest issues in private practice: hiring.
Ben reveals his data-backed approach to attracting, hiring, and retaining top DPT grads—even during a nationwide staffing shortage. Learn how he uses a “draft board” system to nurture warm leads, mentors PT students years before they graduate, and leverages technology like AI scribes to create a clinic culture that wins the talent war.
Whether you’re struggling to recruit your next hire or looking to strengthen retention, this is a must-listen conversation with practical strategies you can implement today.
If you’re ready to simplify your hiring, boost staff retention, and grow your practice—schedule a free demo of Breakthrough today at https://getbreakthrough.com/demo
⏱️ Episode Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro: Wakeboarding and wake-surfing with Ben
01:10 – The PT shortage: Why hiring is harder than ever
02:00 – How Ben recruits from his own aide pipeline
03:45 – Building a “draft board” for DPT students
06:30 – Tracking warm leads with a simple Google Sheet
07:30 – The warm funnel that led to 14 new PT hires
09:15 – The structured (yet casual) interview process
10:45 – Building trust with personal emails and CEU invites
13:30 – Centralizing hiring to reduce internal competition
16:00 – Adapting to Gen Z’s definition of work-life balance
20:30 – Leveraging AI scribes to reduce documentation burnout
24:00 – Using ChatGPT, Gemini & AI agents in operations
32:00 – Creating scroll-stopping social videos with Opus Clip
36:45 – How to increase staff retention with autonomy, mastery, and purpose
40:00 – Mentorship as a competitive advantage
42:00 – Top podcast recommendations outside PT
45:00 – Ben’s favorite book: Bo Knows Bo
46:30 – Wrap-up and closing thoughts
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