May 23, 2024 • 36 mins
#055 In a world where the traditional healthcare system often prioritizes efficiency over patient care, there emerges a narrative that challenges the status quo and shines a light on the potential of healthcare entrepreneurship. This is precisely what Susie Gronski, a urological physical therapist and sex counselor, brings to the table in this episode. She, driven by her mother's brave battle with disability and a desire for a healthcare system that prioritizes the patient, recounts her journey from the confines of standard practice to the freedom of her own business.
Our discussion dives into the nitty-gritty of starting a private practice, from the sacrifices made to the marketing strategies that defy convention. Susie explains how she leveraged community education over traditional physician referrals and fostered an abundance mindset that has been crucial to her success. For those of you dreaming of autonomy in your practice, Susie's insights offer a blueprint for building a business that reflects your values and passion for patient care.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Intro (00:01):
Welcome to the Rehab Rebels podcast.
Are you a rehab professionalready to transition to an
alternative career?
Hear inspiring stories fromothers just like you and learn
the best ways to bridge yourcareer gap.
This podcast has you covered.
Now here's your host, doctor ofphysical therapy and podcaster,
tanner Welsh.
Tanner Welsch (00:21):
Welcome back to another episode of Rehab Rebels.
Today I have Suzy Gronski.
She is a urological PT and sexcounselor.
Today we're going to talk abouther journey and a little bit of
what it's like behind thescenes with opening up a
practice, pt practice related toyour urological and sexual
counselor background.
(00:42):
So welcome to the show, suzy.
Susie Gronski (00:45):
Thank you so much for having me, Tanner.
Tanner Welsch (00:47):
For sure.
Let's just go ahead and dive into some of the questions here,
gradually getting to where youare today.
What made you decide to pursuea rehab profession in the first
place?
Susie Gronski (01:00):
So my mom was born with spina bifida, she also
has a below the knee amputationand prosthetic, and it was in
high school when we had a careershow in town.
I'm not sure if they do thosethese days anymore, but we had
the allied health profession,ots and PT's present, and it was
(01:21):
there where I just felt thepassion to empower through
intimate relationships, but alsoto help people get back to
doing the things that they findmost meaningful in life.
And so my mom was my originalinspiration and her modeling of
perseverance and resilience witha disability that encouraged me
(01:43):
to step into the allied healthprofession as a physical
therapist.
That's where my passion firststarted.
Tanner Welsch (01:50):
I love that very legitimate background story.
Yeah, what is the story behind?
Maybe the first sense ofawareness that things weren't
quite right in the traditionalrehab after school setting.
Susie Gronski (02:03):
It wasn't too far after I went into corporate
roles, I would say I started myhigh practice in the acute care
setting and then the inpatientrehab setting as a physical
therapist and in those settings,although very rewarding to work
with individuals of allbackgrounds, bodies, conditions,
(02:25):
issues and functionalities theinstitutionalized framework and
the structure in which I had tooperate under was just not
sustainable, not just for me asa professional but heads with my
values, values of partnershipand collaboration with the
patient.
There were examples where techsand higher ups in the
(02:49):
institution were forcing usreally to see patients even
though they were perhaps, maybenot appropriate for intensive
rehab first, and then who denied, just really didn't want to
participate in therapy.
At that time there was noautonomy for people.
They didn't have a choice, theyjust had to do what they were
(03:11):
told.
So it was very structured tofocus on productivity.
I would say Productivity numbersmaking money, and I get it from
a business perspective thatthose are important pieces for
sustainability.
And also I think there's abetter way to do that while
still respecting the autonomy ofindividuals and their
(03:33):
preferences and alsoappropriateness for a level of
therapy that's very intensivefor what they're in for.
So I started to really pick upon the fact that there was a
huge hierarchical model herethat was really emphasizing a
for-profit mentality, and that'sreally not what I went to
school for, that's not where mypassions were and it really
(03:55):
struck a chord with my values.
Tanner Welsch (03:59):
I love the word choices there that you use to
just explain it beautifully.
It really sounds like youcouldn't be the clinician that
you wanted to be, or you thoughtyou were going to be able to be
.
Susie Gronski (04:08):
Right, absolutely .
Tanner Welsch (04:10):
But what was the specific moment you realized
this really wasn't thistraditional path and this model
that you're working in reallywasn't for you?
Was there a defining momentthat you were yet the straw that
broke the camel's back and youknew that you were leaving after
that?
Susie Gronski (04:24):
Yeah, I bounce around a lot.
That's where it led to meopening up my own practice and
going into urological care.
But backtrack, I had to reallyquote kiss a lot of frogs and I
did.
I did.
I was in inpatient rehab forabout a year, did some PR and
work there.
Then I went into geriatric care, vestibular care for private
(04:49):
practice.
That wasn't really working forme.
So then I went on toorthopedics for a very short
amount of time Because the modelof care again, it was all about
seeing more people, lessengagement, an astronomical
amount of paperwork andresponsibility.
But it was really like a milltype setting and I hate to use
(05:11):
that, but it is really what itfelt like, like a conveyor belt.
Just see, these people havethree people on your schedule
and I said I can't do that.
How can I build intimaterelationships, establish a
therapeutic container to reallybuild trust with this person, to
help with their recovery, tobuild resilience, coping skills,
et cetera?
I can't be the clinician that Iwant to be and I wouldn't want
(05:33):
to be treated like that.
As well as as a patient, Idon't see that as patient
centered care, patient firstcare.
So I quickly again going fromniche practice to niche practice
, trying to search for what itwas that was really at my heart,
and ultimately I came to theconfusion after doing just PRN
(05:53):
work, after I tried the fulltime nine to five gig and all
that, and it just wasn't workingfor me.
And I also like flexibility inmy life.
I really value being able totake breaks when I need to
control my schedule a little bitmore so that I can be the best
clinician for people and show upin the way that I want to show
up, with capacity in my tank,with some work, yeah.
(06:16):
So in order for me to do that,I then stepped to the PRN rule
and worked for a day rehabfacility, and at that point I
was already dabbling in pelvictherapy.
So then I went on toestablishing a program as a PRN
therapist, because they didn'thave that in this outpatient
facility, which was a hospitalinstitution that had an offsite
(06:39):
clinic in another location, butit was there that I started the
pelvic health program and thenbranched off.
While I was doing that can Ieven say that I was working on
my business on the side.
But you know, I mean that'sreality.
You still have to make money,you still have to pay the bills
and, as a new work grad at thetime, I mean student loans are
(06:59):
real and they are a limitingfactor for a lot of things and,
I think, really inhibit peoplefrom pursuing their dreams
because they feel really stuckin a particular model and so
forth.
So I was blessed and I had theprivilege to do the PRN work,
pay my bills and pursue anindependent practice, and that's
what I did.
Tanner Welsch (07:19):
Perfect Preach.
Everything that you're sayingis I hear it over and over again
, with people that have laughedor wanting to leave.
It's just the same.
It's like a broken record.
So what would you say was atstake if you didn't make this
transition?
Susie Gronski (07:34):
That's a really good question.
What would be at stake?
I honestly believe it is myinternal set of values of
treating people with respect,compassion, fostering healthy
notions around buildingresilience, not feeling that I
have to be under pressure ortreat an individual like a
diagnosis or a number.
It just wasn't in me.
(07:55):
I really wanted to have thefreedom to be able to offer care
that I wanted to receive.
That's the thing I want toreceive that.
And I have been a patient intraditional medical models in
physical therapy.
I've been a physical therapypatient before.
I've been a neurologicalpatient before.
(08:15):
I've been a urologicalgynecological patient before and
really it is not feeling I'mtreated just like another number
or someone's bank account andwhile I do respect that and I
know that's part of establishinga business and model of care
but there are ways to treat anindividual with compassion, with
(08:40):
respect, giving them time,listening and genuinely being
part of that therapeuticcontainer and caring.
I mean, essentially you reallywant to feel cared for.
I just could not in thosetraditional models with
restrictions and limitations andproductivity requirements.
I could not thrive as a humanbeing, let alone a professional
(09:03):
who wanted to touch people'sminds and hearts.
Tanner Welsch (09:06):
Yeah, your values and your autonomy was being
compromised completely.
What made you decide to go yourown practice route,
specifically in this pelvicfloor urological PT sex
counselor decision.
Susie Gronski (09:20):
I was really inspired to just drop it all.
Really, my husband inspired me,because it was he came up with
this true story.
We just bought a house.
It was maybe six months wherewe had this new house, obviously
more bills.
He was working he's a BMW buff,car guy mechanic.
He was working as a serviceadvisor for Audi at the time.
(09:41):
He just quit.
Yeah, I can't do it.
They were also under scrutinyof surveys and selling and all
that.
And he comes home one night andhe's I quit, I'm just not doing
it anymore.
And started to work on carsfrom our garage.
I was so inspired I said well,if you could do it, I could do
it.
And I kid you not, it was aweek later.
Well, yeah, I'm going to startmy own practice too.
So here we are with the newmortgage diving into our own
(10:06):
businesses at the same time, andwe did it.
I mean we really did it.
And it's not we had a ton savedor that we had, you know, a ton
of help from our family members.
It's just we really were reallyfiscally conscious of if we're
going to do this, we have toreally cut out a lot of other
things and work hard at makingthis happen and it did evolve.
So I have to give credit to myhusband who inspired me to take
(10:28):
the leap, to jump and to say, ifnot now, when right?
So I found a practice.
I found a space close by to myhome and in the beginning I had
to take a little a smallbusiness loan really to renovate
the space because you wanted itto be a certain way, especially
for urological pelvic care.
Those are very personal andsensitive topics, so you want to
(10:50):
make sure the environment iswelcoming and embracing and all
that.
So that's how it started andwhat I was really ultimately
inspired to finally take theleap.
Tanner Welsch (11:00):
For sure, I love that team where your partner and
companion you guys went throughsomething together.
That sounds really awesome.
Susie Gronski (11:08):
Yeah, thank you.
Tanner Welsch (11:09):
You mentioned that you guys had to cut out a
lot of other things.
Could you elaborate a littlebit about that and what you mean
?
Susie Gronski (11:17):
So cooking at home more than eating out, not
having cable TV, cutting outanywhere.
We can trim the fat, so tospeak.
Putting vacations on whole,just things like that where a
lot of money can go reallyeasily, or cutting back on
arbitrary spending that reallywasn't necessary and that really
(11:38):
helped quite a bit.
But also, you know, what Ithink is really important is the
mindset.
It's not a scarcity mindset,but more of this planting the
seed and being persistent andconsistent and having faith that
it's all going to work out theway it should.
And that's not to say that thatdoesn't come with its own
challenges or tears ordiscouragement, because that
(11:59):
does show up even now, but it'sthat sticking with it and
knowing that it's a snowballeffect.
So in the beginning it's reallyhard and I think it's getting
your head, your mindset and yourattitude around being a
business entrepreneur.
It's a completely differentmindset and I think that was the
key there too.
(12:19):
And having support.
So if you don't have a partneror a spouse or any communities
of support, right, mentoringbusiness masterminds, mentorship
groups that's very important.
That's something I wish I didhave when I was starting my
business is having a business,mentoring, which I didn't.
So a lot of the trial and errorand fumbling through was just
(12:40):
taking the risk to see how itpans out and then making
adjustments as you go along.
Nothing is permanent.
Just try, just try, because youhave no idea where that might
lead and what otheropportunities might present
themselves to you.
Tanner Welsch (12:52):
For sure.
Yeah, I completely agree.
We actually had an episode onepisode 21 where we talk about
scarcity mindset and abundantmindset, and this is something
you have to adopt if you'regoing to be a business owner or
entrepreneur, and it's abouthaving the autonomy over your
life and your schedule andcreating this lifestyle of
freedom, or lifestyle by design,if you will.
So for sure.
(13:13):
What would you say were thefirst signs of traction with
this private practice that youwere building?
Susie Gronski (13:20):
Honestly, I think it was not too far off after I
built it.
They will come, so to speak,once you planted the seed and
you've mentioned it in theuniverse.
It really did.
It was just people found you.
However they found you, theydid I used throughout my
evolution of my practice.
I've tried all sorts of thingsfor marketing and I can't
(13:42):
remember what the reason was inthe beginning.
But as a physical therapist Irefused to do the traditional
physician marketing.
In the beginning of my practiceI said I'm not going to be that
person that's going to doin-service and beg medical
doctors to give me referrals.
I'm not doing that.
What I'm doing is I'm going toreach out to the community.
I'm going to reach out andeducate the community and stand
(14:06):
out as a primary care provider.
I am a neurological physicaltherapist.
We are all about healthpromotion, education, function
pooping, peeing insects or vitalphysiological functions of
everyone's life, and so I usethat to say I'm going to
establish a presence within thecommunity and empower
(14:26):
individuals to get care fortheir pelvic and sexual health
needs.
So that's where I took adifferent framework, where I
grew up around.
You have to market to doctors.
You market to doctors.
That's where your referrals are.
That's what was being plantedeven in PT school.
No, I decided, I said I'm notdoing that.
I said that doesn't work, I'mnot here to prove myself to
(14:48):
anyone.
And as the profession itselfwas changing to be more direct
access, I really rode that waveto establish a presence and a
voice and advocate really forpeople, because I do feel that
the best health is when you knowyour own body, when you know
where to get help, ask for help,how to ask for help, and that
(15:10):
you have options.
Tanner Welsch (15:11):
For sure.
I hear that over and over againtoo.
For individuals that open uptheir own practice, the best
referral model that they haveand continue to have is from
previous or current clients,because the quality of work that
you do will show itself andwe'll end up prevailing
throughout the community andword of mouth goes around and,
yeah, what would you say are thepractical, maybe non-obvious,
(15:34):
skills that make you a great fitfor your work now.
Susie Gronski (15:39):
Practical skills, communication skills around
difficult conversations.
In my practice as aneurological physical therapist,
we talk about pooping, peeingand sex.
Those are things that are notcomfortable for anyone to talk
about.
It's taboo, it's stigmatized,and as a physical therapist we
(16:02):
didn't have that training of howdo you do sexual health intake,
how do you ask questions aroundsex or bladder or bowel
function that pertains tosomeone's activities of daily
living, function and meaning,right.
So one of those might bemasturbation.
I should know just saying theword masturbation, or erection
or ejaculation or orgasm.
That doesn't just roll off thetongue so easily.
(16:25):
So it's those skills ofcommunication, being able to
offer a comprehensive medicaland sexual health intake and
with that comes listening,active listening skills, being
in tune, genuine receptive in asession, and how to regulate
(16:46):
your own feelings that come upwithin the therapeutic session.
That's, we don't talk aboutfeelings.
I think that's what's thebiggest skill that I have
cultivated and acquired for myyears of being in the field is
how do you navigate your owndifficult feelings and emotions
in a therapeutic space.
How do you navigate when yourpatient has feelings of anger or
(17:08):
shame or grief and loss?
Those are skills that are nottaught within the curriculum, at
least when I went to school,they weren't.
They might be different now,but those are the skills that I
think are really imperative andcrucial if we want to be working
with people.
Tanner Welsch (17:24):
For sure.
Also add that the traditionalmodel really does not allow time
for that processing any of thator extra time to get through
some of those feelings and stuff.
I definitely see what you mean.
Susie Gronski (17:37):
Yeah, which is another perk of being in private
practice, I can have two hoursfor my initial evaluation.
Tanner Welsch (17:43):
Yeah, what would you say is obvious to you now
that maybe you struggled to seein the moment from when you were
in the traditional roles as aphysical therapist?
Susie Gronski (17:54):
The younger PT, the younger me PT thought that I
was not good enough as aclinician from the perspective
of I need to take direction fromsomeone else, whether that's
physician telling me on theirscript.
Pte, valentry, here's what youdo for it.
You have to stay it.
You have to stay with thescript.
Just do what everyone else does.
(18:16):
Don't question, don't thinkabout it Even from the
perspective of critical thinking, of questioning what we're
being taught, from assessment totreatment, because in school I
mean certain you're getting afoundational framework, but
questioning the framework.
Is this always true?
Is this really sounded inscience?
Is this biologically sensible?
(18:39):
When I'm doing an assessment orI'm doing treatment, am I just
doing it because someone showedit to me and this is what I
learned?
But not questioning Do we haveto do it this way?
Can we steer away from that?
Who's to say that?
I think is the biggest thingthat I struggled with, because I
didn't know any other way untilI started to really branch out
(18:59):
into my own practice and startedto evolve my own model of care
that then evolved into this.
I can actually be supercreative in my sessions.
I can add music.
I can use all sensoryexperiences, from lighting to
heated tables, to sense, to justhaving play-doh and arts and
(19:21):
crafts with my patients so thatwe can actually make sense and
storyboard if they're in pain.
Let's make sense of yourexperience.
How do you express yourself?
Let's do that together.
Let's sit on the floor.
Those are the things that Ithink.
When I was a younger PT, I stuckto a script.
I stuck to this is what I wastold, and you can't do anything.
(19:41):
You've got to do the wholerange of motion strength in this
order Check this, check that.
And it's really not like thatin real life.
It's really not like that.
And the more confidence that Igained in myself as a person and
gained confidence in my skilland my ability to be more
humanistic with people and allowfor trial and error and to just
(20:05):
allow for that creative processand exploration to occur,
that's when my practice evolvedto so many opportunities to help
people.
It wasn't just one way or onemanual therapy, move, you know
still or exercise that helpsthem.
I really, truly believe it'sthe relationship that you
establish with your patient thatmakes the difference, that
(20:27):
helps them with the recovery.
We're not here to fix people.
We're not, I'm not the fixer.
And that's what PT's.
We fix, we mobilize, but alltheir stuff is what really
matters, or at least is going toenhance and support and help
that person thrive, to empowerthem to not need you anymore.
Tanner Welsch (20:47):
For sure, that was perfect.
What do you love most aboutyour new reality?
Susie Gronski (20:52):
I can be my own boss.
I can be my own boss.
I know that everyone says that,but I can take time off when I
need to.
And this isn't, you know, beingyour own boss isn't all that
glamorous, let me just tell youthat.
So if everyone out there,whoever's, thinking about it, oh
yeah, it's gonna be so easy no,it's not.
You're essentially working allthe time because you're the
admin person, at least for me.
For the longest time I was doingeverything.
(21:14):
I was the biller, I was the oneinvoicing, I was the one
marketing, I was the one beingthe clinician.
I mean, you did everything.
And the best advice I can givefolks is, right away from the
beginning, support yourself withancillary staff.
Have someone to communicatewith patients, have a patient
coordinator, a clientcoordinator.
That just freed up so much moreof my time.
(21:37):
Do the things that you don'twanna be doing or that you're
spending most time doing, andhand that over delegate,
delegate as much as possible.
And the other thing that I loveabout being, you know, my own
boss is that I essentially couldcultivate an interdisciplinary,
multi-disciplinary practicemodel as a physical therapist.
You know, one would think, oh,if I'm a physical therapist and
(21:59):
I'm in private practice.
I just have to do physicaltherapy Well from one point of
view, yes, you know, stay withinthe purview of your scope of
practice and your training, andyou don't have to be everything
for everyone.
And if you're looking tosupport your patients
holistically, comprehensively,why not bring out people who do
it better than you?
Nutrition therapy, mentalhealth therapy, occupational
(22:21):
therapy, sex counseling you knowall those providers, you know
those practitioners, a diverseteam to support your patient in
a model of care.
Why not?
Why can't physical therapistsdo that?
Tanner Welsch (22:34):
For sure.
Yeah, now, I completely agree.
It's once you get outside ofthis framework of the
traditional model and theeconomy and the jobs that are
set out there for us totraditionally do, the creative
aspect of what we want to do andwhere we want to go is pretty
much sky's the limit.
I love it.
I think I really wish it wasmore mainstream, or even Todd
and schools, and this is a realavenue that we can do, because
(22:57):
it's pretty clear thetraditional avenue is just
broken and they just care aboutthe bottom line.
I mean, it's so common thatthat's why the majority of
people are leaving.
So what is something that comesto mind that was a real pain
point, a real challenge, a realstruggle from you know when you
started this solo venture towhere you are now and how did
(23:19):
you overcome it.
What comes to mind?
What do you feel like sharing?
Susie Gronski (23:24):
That's a big question.
I have two things that come tomind.
First, we'll start with thegrowth.
There are growing pains whenyou're trying to expand your
practice as a solopreneur, whichis how I started.
It was just me.
Things were okay and sustainablefor some time, but then there
came a tipping point of I can'tdo this alone, and that was a
struggle of how do I make thiswork?
(23:45):
How do I work on my businessversus in my business?
Because those are two differentthings.
If my passion is to connectwith people, educate people,
partner with people, collaborate, help them with their pelvic
and sexual wellness, I can't doit all and I'm not gonna be here
forever.
How do I continue this at asustainable level?
(24:06):
And so that's where I startedto really brainstorm.
I gotta get help, I have tohire on another therapist, I can
be a mentor, and so I foundmyself being in the mentoring
space quite a bit.
From that, that, thatbrainstorming, the opportunity,
from that challenge andopportunity arose the
opportunity to create a course Inow teach a course called
(24:27):
sexual pain navigating care forcisgendered men.
That allows me to multiply, tohelp other people do the work.
I don't just have to be theperson and feel I have to be the
only expert in this field.
Actually, I can help others dothe same.
And it was so much morerewarding rather than so focused
inward.
(24:47):
I gotta do it.
It's me all, this pressure onmy shoulders.
No, expand, grow your wings,have other people feel inspired,
because you're modelingsomething.
You're modeling what it's liketo be a female-identified
practitioner working withpelvises who have penises, and
that is something unheard of.
What a wonderful exemplar to befor others and to help others
(25:12):
also do the same with confidence.
So, from a challenge, groupopportunities.
So that's one, I think, painpoint that I'll say is that the
growing pains of when you startto feel the rumble inside that's
trying to make a shift and tosay how can I make this bigger,
bigger than me.
And the second one is verypersonal.
I will share it.
I think it's worth sharing.
(25:32):
It's very personal from theperspective of boundaries.
This is boundary workBoundaries as a female provider
working in a predominantly malespace, and boundaries are really
important to cultivate.
What is the engagement of thistherapeutic process?
What or how do you want people,how do you want to work with
people and how do you want themto work with you?
(25:53):
Back and clarity around yourboundaries are very important.
So I had to do a lot of my ownwork around what are my
boundaries within this work andin this field and I don't mean
to say as a female provider andmale patients, because this is
with any gender and any providerreally, but generally in a
female-centric, gyno-centricprofession that pelvic health
(26:15):
therapy is.
It really did stem from women'shealth and women's therapy and
it wasn't until, and it's stilllagging behind, a significant
care gap for men for pelvic andsexual healthcare, especially in
pelvic health spaces.
So when I stepped into thatspace, there certainly are
social-cultural challenges,right, that one has to
(26:39):
acknowledge but also not beafraid of.
And I think that's where Ifound my really grew my voice
and felt empowered to work withboundaries.
You know, as a female person,here are my boundaries.
This is how I work.
Let's be clear, not beingafraid, circling back to
difficult conversations, to havedifficult conversations, to
(27:01):
name whatever needs to be named.
Move forward, work through thatwith or without your patient
Again, not to be afraid of that.
So I think boundary work andclarity around how you want to
engage in your practice as aprofessional, but also as a
business owner, is reallyimportant to get clarity around,
and that just comes withpractice and that just comes
from doing the work and itevolves over time, always, we're
(27:23):
always changing.
Tanner Welsch (27:25):
I love that and I think, especially in your
setting, that's super vital.
Just address right at thebeginning, because what you're
working with and talking aboutis very sensitive and just very
taboo and I never thought aboutthat, but it totally makes sense
what you're talking about.
A couple of things I wanted tofollow back up on was about your
pain points with, you know,starting your own business, your
own practice.
One of the things that youpointed out was really, if
(27:47):
you're gonna grow something,eventually you're gonna have to
figure out a scale it and Ithink there comes a point with
every entrepreneur or businessowner that's growing is this
urge and this feeling of holdingon very tightly to what it is
you're creating and not wantingto let go of some of it and
delegate to other people becauseof how much you really care and
(28:09):
how much you really value whatyou're doing.
And it's just this little babythat you're growing and it's
hard to let somebody else carefor that.
And it's a struggle.
Finding the right people towork with.
It's definitely a challenge,but that is a struggle too that
I have gone through with rehabrebels, you know, finding the
right podcast manager that fits.
(28:29):
I mean, I'm on my fourth oneand she is awesome.
So, yeah for sure, completelyrelate to that, and I really
liked your realization thatyou're not gonna be around
forever.
We're not gonna be here forever, and it's what are we building?
What are we creating?
What are we leaving behind?
How are we making a positiveimpact?
And immediately I thought alsoabout generational wealth,
(28:50):
something to pass on down to ourkids.
And, funny enough, I'm actuallygonna update the website to
where the blog tab.
I'm gonna move some financial,personal finance things over to
the website where you can justclick the blog and read some
articles I have, and one of themis about generational wealth
and that's, I think, a perkabout creating something that's
(29:10):
a business that you can passdown or sell or whatever you
wanna do, but it's somethingthat you can offer and leave
your children or family.
That is outside of thetraditional model of the 401k,
and I think it's empowering, Ithink it's super cool.
Susie Gronski (29:25):
It totally is great, and I unfortunately can't
speak to the children part, butI don't have any children.
However, I have a globalcommunity, so I think maybe I
can extend that to everyone inthe community and all the people
who are getting into thisprofession to feel inspired.
To feel inspired to do thiswork and maybe find other
(29:47):
opportunities and creativitywithin that space.
So I totally hear you, and whoknows, my nephew and niece might
watch, you know, watch some ofthis and are being you inspired
and that's cool too, right?
So, yeah, you should never know.
Yeah, thinking bigger, and it'sokay to think bigger really,
because all things start in themind, right?
(30:07):
Even a building, the idea hasto come from an architect's mind
and an idea and thinking aboutit before it goes on paper and
then before it actually getsbuilt.
Right, it all starts with theidea and I think if we just just
name it and throw it out inthere in the universe, you'd be
surprised how it just naturallywill end up being your reality
one day.
It's quite powerful.
Tanner Welsch (30:29):
I love that a little bit of the woo-woo,
totally love talking about thisstuff because it goes back to at
least the bare minimum of amindset Basically what you
believe in your mind and whatyou're telling yourself is the
reality that you live in, andthat can be a positive thing or
that can be a negative thing,and I think it's really
empowering.
Affirmations, mindset,mindfulness, acceptance,
(30:52):
appreciation, love.
There's just a bunch of thingsthat unfortunately are not
included in any streamlinededucation system and pretty much
we're just out here living outlife, fumbling around, trying to
figure it all out, and theseare some big concepts that have
really helped me and, I feel, alot of other people, to create
(31:13):
these lifestyles that are justvery empowering, very autonomous
and very freeing.
What would you share withothers who maybe have an itch,
or they think they want to starta practice, or they're at that
edge.
They know that the traditionalmodel is not working and maybe
they're bouncing between do Icreate my own practice using the
(31:34):
license and the skill sets thatI have, or should I do
something different?
What would you advise them orwhat advice would you have for
them?
Susie Gronski (31:41):
The first thing that comes to my mind is just
try, just try.
It doesn't have to be complex.
If you're starting your ownpractice, you can rent a space
from a sub lease in an officeperhaps I am or from a partner
in a space that might have areferral source.
(32:02):
So like a gym.
I know what local therapists intown who collaborated with a
strength and conditioning gymhere in town and now she has her
own business, her own practice,and she's the main PT and she's
got a referral source rightthere.
Right there, be creative andreally just try.
You won't lose anything otherthan maybe time and maybe some
(32:25):
financial stake as well.
But keep it simple.
That's what I tell people.
I would say just keep it reallysimple and just try, just try.
You don't know what it would beor where it could go if you
don't even try.
At some point you do have tojump.
There's an exercise inacceptance, commitment therapy
world where you tell people tookay, let's just find a chair
(32:46):
and let's stand on the chair.
I have them stand up on a chairand I say, okay, I want you to
plan to jump, just plan to jump.
They look at me like how do Iplan to jump.
I mean, you either jump or youdon't.
That's the answer that you get.
That's the whole point.
You got to jump At some point,you just got to do it.
You can't overthink it.
I get it, certainly have anoutline and have some structure.
(33:09):
But there comes a point whereyou do have to jump and there's
just no more planning, thatplanning, that incessant
planning and need to haveeverything perfect and
everything in the row, et cetera.
That's the limitation that weset for ourselves, that's the
barrier, that's theinflexibility around the
experience that you're about toembark on.
It's an experience.
Think of it as fun, think aboutside hobby, do something PRN,
(33:32):
if you need the income.
There's so many ways about itand I think, instead of getting
discouraged and withdrawal andhanging it up, I would say use
the adversity and transform it.
Transform adversity into yourvision.
Tanner Welsch (33:50):
For sure.
Some bullet points here.
For sure.
Analysis Don't let analysis beparalysis for you.
Love the start, basic andsimple.
I would frame it in the mindsetof a couple things here.
Do you want to be laying onyour deathbed thinking back?
What if Another thing is?
What you're really doing isinvesting in yourself and in
your future in a non-traditionalway.
(34:12):
Even if it doesn't work out,you have the mindset and you
actually give into this and dothis.
I'm going to say 99% odds areyou're going to get something
out of it that's going to likelyget you to where you really
want to go anyway.
It's just this huge scaryjumping and it's I love the
(34:33):
chair model.
I never heard of that, but Ilove the chair model.
Susie Gronski (34:36):
The great exercise or go skydiving.
If you're in the front andyou've got your skydiving
partner strapped you in the back, there's no backing out.
Whether you want it or not,you're going to go.
That was my experience.
No, not ready, I'm not doingthis.
Nope, we're jumping.
I'm just going to be messy.
My saliva was all over this poorguy's face.
I tried to catch my breathbecause it was awful he was.
(34:59):
I really did have a lot of yourspit on my face Once it was
over and you actually reallycatch your breath.
It was awesome because thenyou're like I can actually just
float here and glide.
I did it.
I wouldn't be able to have thisexperience if I didn't have the
one previously.
So it's pretty awesome and Ithink if we really do what you
need to do to support yourselfthroughout that process, you
(35:21):
don't have to do it alone.
But maybe sometimes we do needto have our skydiving partner
strapped to us and say you'regoing to do it whether you like
it or not.
And I think that was circlingback to my husband.
He was my skydiving partner.
He said I'm doing this, I'mjumping.
Tanner Welsch (35:35):
The closest thing that I've been able to relate
it to is this clearly applies toa lot of things.
We've already talked about thechair.
We've talked about skydiving,but it's driving a car.
Everybody has to learn how, andyou can only read the book so
much and you can only get so farbefore you actually have to
start doing it.
And, as we all know, when youactually start doing it, that's
when you really learn what it'slike.
(35:56):
I could completely relate tothat statement.
When it's being in physicaltherapy school and learning
versus okay, you're no longer inphysical therapy school and
you're a physical therapist nowHuge, huge difference and it's
okay, I'm actually getting theexperience that I need to
actually learn how to do this,and there's no other
substitution for experience, forsure.
Susie Gronski (36:16):
No, no, the training wheels go off and now
you can do all sorts of BMXtricks.
Tanner Welsch (36:22):
Well, Susie, it's really been a pleasure having
you on the show.
Thank you so much for takingtime and sharing your journey
and your story with us.
Susie Gronski (36:29):
Thank you so much for having me.
Tanner Welsch (36:31):
Anytime.
Welcome to the Rehab Rebels podcast.
Are you a rehab professionalready to transition to an
alternative career?
Hear inspiring stories fromothers just like you and learn
the best ways to bridge yourcareer gap.
This podcast has you covered.
Now here's your host, doctor ofphysical therapy and podcaster,
tanner Welsh.
Tanner Welsch (00:21):
Welcome back to another episode of Rehab Rebels.
Today I have Suzy Gronski.
She is a urological PT and sexcounselor.
Today we're going to talk abouther journey and a little bit of
what it's like behind thescenes with opening up a
practice, pt practice related toyour urological and sexual
counselor background.
(00:42):
So welcome to the show, suzy.
Susie Gronski (00:45):
Thank you so much for having me, Tanner.
Tanner Welsch (00:47):
For sure.
Let's just go ahead and dive into some of the questions here,
gradually getting to where youare today.
What made you decide to pursuea rehab profession in the first
place?
Susie Gronski (01:00):
So my mom was born with spina bifida, she also
has a below the knee amputationand prosthetic, and it was in
high school when we had a careershow in town.
I'm not sure if they do thosethese days anymore, but we had
the allied health profession,ots and PT's present, and it was
(01:21):
there where I just felt thepassion to empower through
intimate relationships, but alsoto help people get back to
doing the things that they findmost meaningful in life.
And so my mom was my originalinspiration and her modeling of
perseverance and resilience witha disability that encouraged me
(01:43):
to step into the allied healthprofession as a physical
therapist.
That's where my passion firststarted.
Tanner Welsch (01:50):
I love that very legitimate background story.
Yeah, what is the story behind?
Maybe the first sense ofawareness that things weren't
quite right in the traditionalrehab after school setting.
Susie Gronski (02:03):
It wasn't too far after I went into corporate
roles, I would say I started myhigh practice in the acute care
setting and then the inpatientrehab setting as a physical
therapist and in those settings,although very rewarding to work
with individuals of allbackgrounds, bodies, conditions,
(02:25):
issues and functionalities theinstitutionalized framework and
the structure in which I had tooperate under was just not
sustainable, not just for me asa professional but heads with my
values, values of partnershipand collaboration with the
patient.
There were examples where techsand higher ups in the
(02:49):
institution were forcing usreally to see patients even
though they were perhaps, maybenot appropriate for intensive
rehab first, and then who denied, just really didn't want to
participate in therapy.
At that time there was noautonomy for people.
They didn't have a choice, theyjust had to do what they were
(03:11):
told.
So it was very structured tofocus on productivity.
I would say Productivity numbersmaking money, and I get it from
a business perspective thatthose are important pieces for
sustainability.
And also I think there's abetter way to do that while
still respecting the autonomy ofindividuals and their
(03:33):
preferences and alsoappropriateness for a level of
therapy that's very intensivefor what they're in for.
So I started to really pick upon the fact that there was a
huge hierarchical model herethat was really emphasizing a
for-profit mentality, and that'sreally not what I went to
school for, that's not where mypassions were and it really
(03:55):
struck a chord with my values.
Tanner Welsch (03:59):
I love the word choices there that you use to
just explain it beautifully.
It really sounds like youcouldn't be the clinician that
you wanted to be, or you thoughtyou were going to be able to be
.
Susie Gronski (04:08):
Right, absolutely .
Tanner Welsch (04:10):
But what was the specific moment you realized
this really wasn't thistraditional path and this model
that you're working in reallywasn't for you?
Was there a defining momentthat you were yet the straw that
broke the camel's back and youknew that you were leaving after
that?
Susie Gronski (04:24):
Yeah, I bounce around a lot.
That's where it led to meopening up my own practice and
going into urological care.
But backtrack, I had to reallyquote kiss a lot of frogs and I
did.
I did.
I was in inpatient rehab forabout a year, did some PR and
work there.
Then I went into geriatric care, vestibular care for private
(04:49):
practice.
That wasn't really working forme.
So then I went on toorthopedics for a very short
amount of time Because the modelof care again, it was all about
seeing more people, lessengagement, an astronomical
amount of paperwork andresponsibility.
But it was really like a milltype setting and I hate to use
(05:11):
that, but it is really what itfelt like, like a conveyor belt.
Just see, these people havethree people on your schedule
and I said I can't do that.
How can I build intimaterelationships, establish a
therapeutic container to reallybuild trust with this person, to
help with their recovery, tobuild resilience, coping skills,
et cetera?
I can't be the clinician that Iwant to be and I wouldn't want
(05:33):
to be treated like that.
As well as as a patient, Idon't see that as patient
centered care, patient firstcare.
So I quickly again going fromniche practice to niche practice
, trying to search for what itwas that was really at my heart,
and ultimately I came to theconfusion after doing just PRN
(05:53):
work, after I tried the fulltime nine to five gig and all
that, and it just wasn't workingfor me.
And I also like flexibility inmy life.
I really value being able totake breaks when I need to
control my schedule a little bitmore so that I can be the best
clinician for people and show upin the way that I want to show
up, with capacity in my tank,with some work, yeah.
(06:16):
So in order for me to do that,I then stepped to the PRN rule
and worked for a day rehabfacility, and at that point I
was already dabbling in pelvictherapy.
So then I went on toestablishing a program as a PRN
therapist, because they didn'thave that in this outpatient
facility, which was a hospitalinstitution that had an offsite
(06:39):
clinic in another location, butit was there that I started the
pelvic health program and thenbranched off.
While I was doing that can Ieven say that I was working on
my business on the side.
But you know, I mean that'sreality.
You still have to make money,you still have to pay the bills
and, as a new work grad at thetime, I mean student loans are
(06:59):
real and they are a limitingfactor for a lot of things and,
I think, really inhibit peoplefrom pursuing their dreams
because they feel really stuckin a particular model and so
forth.
So I was blessed and I had theprivilege to do the PRN work,
pay my bills and pursue anindependent practice, and that's
what I did.
Tanner Welsch (07:19):
Perfect Preach.
Everything that you're sayingis I hear it over and over again
, with people that have laughedor wanting to leave.
It's just the same.
It's like a broken record.
So what would you say was atstake if you didn't make this
transition?
Susie Gronski (07:34):
That's a really good question.
What would be at stake?
I honestly believe it is myinternal set of values of
treating people with respect,compassion, fostering healthy
notions around buildingresilience, not feeling that I
have to be under pressure ortreat an individual like a
diagnosis or a number.
It just wasn't in me.
(07:55):
I really wanted to have thefreedom to be able to offer care
that I wanted to receive.
That's the thing I want toreceive that.
And I have been a patient intraditional medical models in
physical therapy.
I've been a physical therapypatient before.
I've been a neurologicalpatient before.
(08:15):
I've been a urologicalgynecological patient before and
really it is not feeling I'mtreated just like another number
or someone's bank account andwhile I do respect that and I
know that's part of establishinga business and model of care
but there are ways to treat anindividual with compassion, with
(08:40):
respect, giving them time,listening and genuinely being
part of that therapeuticcontainer and caring.
I mean, essentially you reallywant to feel cared for.
I just could not in thosetraditional models with
restrictions and limitations andproductivity requirements.
I could not thrive as a humanbeing, let alone a professional
(09:03):
who wanted to touch people'sminds and hearts.
Tanner Welsch (09:06):
Yeah, your values and your autonomy was being
compromised completely.
What made you decide to go yourown practice route,
specifically in this pelvicfloor urological PT sex
counselor decision.
Susie Gronski (09:20):
I was really inspired to just drop it all.
Really, my husband inspired me,because it was he came up with
this true story.
We just bought a house.
It was maybe six months wherewe had this new house, obviously
more bills.
He was working he's a BMW buff,car guy mechanic.
He was working as a serviceadvisor for Audi at the time.
(09:41):
He just quit.
Yeah, I can't do it.
They were also under scrutinyof surveys and selling and all
that.
And he comes home one night andhe's I quit, I'm just not doing
it anymore.
And started to work on carsfrom our garage.
I was so inspired I said well,if you could do it, I could do
it.
And I kid you not, it was aweek later.
Well, yeah, I'm going to startmy own practice too.
So here we are with the newmortgage diving into our own
(10:06):
businesses at the same time, andwe did it.
I mean we really did it.
And it's not we had a ton savedor that we had, you know, a ton
of help from our family members.
It's just we really were reallyfiscally conscious of if we're
going to do this, we have toreally cut out a lot of other
things and work hard at makingthis happen and it did evolve.
So I have to give credit to myhusband who inspired me to take
(10:28):
the leap, to jump and to say, ifnot now, when right?
So I found a practice.
I found a space close by to myhome and in the beginning I had
to take a little a smallbusiness loan really to renovate
the space because you wanted itto be a certain way, especially
for urological pelvic care.
Those are very personal andsensitive topics, so you want to
(10:50):
make sure the environment iswelcoming and embracing and all
that.
So that's how it started andwhat I was really ultimately
inspired to finally take theleap.
Tanner Welsch (11:00):
For sure, I love that team where your partner and
companion you guys went throughsomething together.
That sounds really awesome.
Susie Gronski (11:08):
Yeah, thank you.
Tanner Welsch (11:09):
You mentioned that you guys had to cut out a
lot of other things.
Could you elaborate a littlebit about that and what you mean
?
Susie Gronski (11:17):
So cooking at home more than eating out, not
having cable TV, cutting outanywhere.
We can trim the fat, so tospeak.
Putting vacations on whole,just things like that where a
lot of money can go reallyeasily, or cutting back on
arbitrary spending that reallywasn't necessary and that really
(11:38):
helped quite a bit.
But also, you know, what Ithink is really important is the
mindset.
It's not a scarcity mindset,but more of this planting the
seed and being persistent andconsistent and having faith that
it's all going to work out theway it should.
And that's not to say that thatdoesn't come with its own
challenges or tears ordiscouragement, because that
(11:59):
does show up even now, but it'sthat sticking with it and
knowing that it's a snowballeffect.
So in the beginning it's reallyhard and I think it's getting
your head, your mindset and yourattitude around being a
business entrepreneur.
It's a completely differentmindset and I think that was the
key there too.
(12:19):
And having support.
So if you don't have a partneror a spouse or any communities
of support, right, mentoringbusiness masterminds, mentorship
groups that's very important.
That's something I wish I didhave when I was starting my
business is having a business,mentoring, which I didn't.
So a lot of the trial and errorand fumbling through was just
(12:40):
taking the risk to see how itpans out and then making
adjustments as you go along.
Nothing is permanent.
Just try, just try, because youhave no idea where that might
lead and what otheropportunities might present
themselves to you.
Tanner Welsch (12:52):
For sure.
Yeah, I completely agree.
We actually had an episode onepisode 21 where we talk about
scarcity mindset and abundantmindset, and this is something
you have to adopt if you'regoing to be a business owner or
entrepreneur, and it's abouthaving the autonomy over your
life and your schedule andcreating this lifestyle of
freedom, or lifestyle by design,if you will.
So for sure.
(13:13):
What would you say were thefirst signs of traction with
this private practice that youwere building?
Susie Gronski (13:20):
Honestly, I think it was not too far off after I
built it.
They will come, so to speak,once you planted the seed and
you've mentioned it in theuniverse.
It really did.
It was just people found you.
However they found you, theydid I used throughout my
evolution of my practice.
I've tried all sorts of thingsfor marketing and I can't
(13:42):
remember what the reason was inthe beginning.
But as a physical therapist Irefused to do the traditional
physician marketing.
In the beginning of my practiceI said I'm not going to be that
person that's going to doin-service and beg medical
doctors to give me referrals.
I'm not doing that.
What I'm doing is I'm going toreach out to the community.
I'm going to reach out andeducate the community and stand
(14:06):
out as a primary care provider.
I am a neurological physicaltherapist.
We are all about healthpromotion, education, function
pooping, peeing insects or vitalphysiological functions of
everyone's life, and so I usethat to say I'm going to
establish a presence within thecommunity and empower
(14:26):
individuals to get care fortheir pelvic and sexual health
needs.
So that's where I took adifferent framework, where I
grew up around.
You have to market to doctors.
You market to doctors.
That's where your referrals are.
That's what was being plantedeven in PT school.
No, I decided, I said I'm notdoing that.
I said that doesn't work, I'mnot here to prove myself to
(14:48):
anyone.
And as the profession itselfwas changing to be more direct
access, I really rode that waveto establish a presence and a
voice and advocate really forpeople, because I do feel that
the best health is when you knowyour own body, when you know
where to get help, ask for help,how to ask for help, and that
(15:10):
you have options.
Tanner Welsch (15:11):
For sure.
I hear that over and over againtoo.
For individuals that open uptheir own practice, the best
referral model that they haveand continue to have is from
previous or current clients,because the quality of work that
you do will show itself andwe'll end up prevailing
throughout the community andword of mouth goes around and,
yeah, what would you say are thepractical, maybe non-obvious,
(15:34):
skills that make you a great fitfor your work now.
Susie Gronski (15:39):
Practical skills, communication skills around
difficult conversations.
In my practice as aneurological physical therapist,
we talk about pooping, peeingand sex.
Those are things that are notcomfortable for anyone to talk
about.
It's taboo, it's stigmatized,and as a physical therapist we
(16:02):
didn't have that training of howdo you do sexual health intake,
how do you ask questions aroundsex or bladder or bowel
function that pertains tosomeone's activities of daily
living, function and meaning,right.
So one of those might bemasturbation.
I should know just saying theword masturbation, or erection
or ejaculation or orgasm.
That doesn't just roll off thetongue so easily.
(16:25):
So it's those skills ofcommunication, being able to
offer a comprehensive medicaland sexual health intake and
with that comes listening,active listening skills, being
in tune, genuine receptive in asession, and how to regulate
(16:46):
your own feelings that come upwithin the therapeutic session.
That's, we don't talk aboutfeelings.
I think that's what's thebiggest skill that I have
cultivated and acquired for myyears of being in the field is
how do you navigate your owndifficult feelings and emotions
in a therapeutic space.
How do you navigate when yourpatient has feelings of anger or
(17:08):
shame or grief and loss?
Those are skills that are nottaught within the curriculum, at
least when I went to school,they weren't.
They might be different now,but those are the skills that I
think are really imperative andcrucial if we want to be working
with people.
Tanner Welsch (17:24):
For sure.
Also add that the traditionalmodel really does not allow time
for that processing any of thator extra time to get through
some of those feelings and stuff.
I definitely see what you mean.
Susie Gronski (17:37):
Yeah, which is another perk of being in private
practice, I can have two hoursfor my initial evaluation.
Tanner Welsch (17:43):
Yeah, what would you say is obvious to you now
that maybe you struggled to seein the moment from when you were
in the traditional roles as aphysical therapist?
Susie Gronski (17:54):
The younger PT, the younger me PT thought that I
was not good enough as aclinician from the perspective
of I need to take direction fromsomeone else, whether that's
physician telling me on theirscript.
Pte, valentry, here's what youdo for it.
You have to stay it.
You have to stay with thescript.
Just do what everyone else does.
(18:16):
Don't question, don't thinkabout it Even from the
perspective of critical thinking, of questioning what we're
being taught, from assessment totreatment, because in school I
mean certain you're getting afoundational framework, but
questioning the framework.
Is this always true?
Is this really sounded inscience?
Is this biologically sensible?
(18:39):
When I'm doing an assessment orI'm doing treatment, am I just
doing it because someone showedit to me and this is what I
learned?
But not questioning Do we haveto do it this way?
Can we steer away from that?
Who's to say that?
I think is the biggest thingthat I struggled with, because I
didn't know any other way untilI started to really branch out
(18:59):
into my own practice and startedto evolve my own model of care
that then evolved into this.
I can actually be supercreative in my sessions.
I can add music.
I can use all sensoryexperiences, from lighting to
heated tables, to sense, to justhaving play-doh and arts and
(19:21):
crafts with my patients so thatwe can actually make sense and
storyboard if they're in pain.
Let's make sense of yourexperience.
How do you express yourself?
Let's do that together.
Let's sit on the floor.
Those are the things that Ithink.
When I was a younger PT, I stuckto a script.
I stuck to this is what I wastold, and you can't do anything.
(19:41):
You've got to do the wholerange of motion strength in this
order Check this, check that.
And it's really not like thatin real life.
It's really not like that.
And the more confidence that Igained in myself as a person and
gained confidence in my skilland my ability to be more
humanistic with people and allowfor trial and error and to just
(20:05):
allow for that creative processand exploration to occur,
that's when my practice evolvedto so many opportunities to help
people.
It wasn't just one way or onemanual therapy, move, you know
still or exercise that helpsthem.
I really, truly believe it'sthe relationship that you
establish with your patient thatmakes the difference, that
(20:27):
helps them with the recovery.
We're not here to fix people.
We're not, I'm not the fixer.
And that's what PT's.
We fix, we mobilize, but alltheir stuff is what really
matters, or at least is going toenhance and support and help
that person thrive, to empowerthem to not need you anymore.
Tanner Welsch (20:47):
For sure, that was perfect.
What do you love most aboutyour new reality?
Susie Gronski (20:52):
I can be my own boss.
I can be my own boss.
I know that everyone says that,but I can take time off when I
need to.
And this isn't, you know, beingyour own boss isn't all that
glamorous, let me just tell youthat.
So if everyone out there,whoever's, thinking about it, oh
yeah, it's gonna be so easy no,it's not.
You're essentially working allthe time because you're the
admin person, at least for me.
For the longest time I was doingeverything.
(21:14):
I was the biller, I was the oneinvoicing, I was the one
marketing, I was the one beingthe clinician.
I mean, you did everything.
And the best advice I can givefolks is, right away from the
beginning, support yourself withancillary staff.
Have someone to communicatewith patients, have a patient
coordinator, a clientcoordinator.
That just freed up so much moreof my time.
(21:37):
Do the things that you don'twanna be doing or that you're
spending most time doing, andhand that over delegate,
delegate as much as possible.
And the other thing that I loveabout being, you know, my own
boss is that I essentially couldcultivate an interdisciplinary,
multi-disciplinary practicemodel as a physical therapist.
You know, one would think, oh,if I'm a physical therapist and
(21:59):
I'm in private practice.
I just have to do physicaltherapy Well from one point of
view, yes, you know, stay withinthe purview of your scope of
practice and your training, andyou don't have to be everything
for everyone.
And if you're looking tosupport your patients
holistically, comprehensively,why not bring out people who do
it better than you?
Nutrition therapy, mentalhealth therapy, occupational
(22:21):
therapy, sex counseling you knowall those providers, you know
those practitioners, a diverseteam to support your patient in
a model of care.
Why not?
Why can't physical therapistsdo that?
Tanner Welsch (22:34):
For sure.
Yeah, now, I completely agree.
It's once you get outside ofthis framework of the
traditional model and theeconomy and the jobs that are
set out there for us totraditionally do, the creative
aspect of what we want to do andwhere we want to go is pretty
much sky's the limit.
I love it.
I think I really wish it wasmore mainstream, or even Todd
and schools, and this is a realavenue that we can do, because
(22:57):
it's pretty clear thetraditional avenue is just
broken and they just care aboutthe bottom line.
I mean, it's so common thatthat's why the majority of
people are leaving.
So what is something that comesto mind that was a real pain
point, a real challenge, a realstruggle from you know when you
started this solo venture towhere you are now and how did
(23:19):
you overcome it.
What comes to mind?
What do you feel like sharing?
Susie Gronski (23:24):
That's a big question.
I have two things that come tomind.
First, we'll start with thegrowth.
There are growing pains whenyou're trying to expand your
practice as a solopreneur, whichis how I started.
It was just me.
Things were okay and sustainablefor some time, but then there
came a tipping point of I can'tdo this alone, and that was a
struggle of how do I make thiswork?
(23:45):
How do I work on my businessversus in my business?
Because those are two differentthings.
If my passion is to connectwith people, educate people,
partner with people, collaborate, help them with their pelvic
and sexual wellness, I can't doit all and I'm not gonna be here
forever.
How do I continue this at asustainable level?
(24:06):
And so that's where I startedto really brainstorm.
I gotta get help, I have tohire on another therapist, I can
be a mentor, and so I foundmyself being in the mentoring
space quite a bit.
From that, that, thatbrainstorming, the opportunity,
from that challenge andopportunity arose the
opportunity to create a course Inow teach a course called
(24:27):
sexual pain navigating care forcisgendered men.
That allows me to multiply, tohelp other people do the work.
I don't just have to be theperson and feel I have to be the
only expert in this field.
Actually, I can help others dothe same.
And it was so much morerewarding rather than so focused
inward.
(24:47):
I gotta do it.
It's me all, this pressure onmy shoulders.
No, expand, grow your wings,have other people feel inspired,
because you're modelingsomething.
You're modeling what it's liketo be a female-identified
practitioner working withpelvises who have penises, and
that is something unheard of.
What a wonderful exemplar to befor others and to help others
(25:12):
also do the same with confidence.
So, from a challenge, groupopportunities.
So that's one, I think, painpoint that I'll say is that the
growing pains of when you startto feel the rumble inside that's
trying to make a shift and tosay how can I make this bigger,
bigger than me.
And the second one is verypersonal.
I will share it.
I think it's worth sharing.
(25:32):
It's very personal from theperspective of boundaries.
This is boundary workBoundaries as a female provider
working in a predominantly malespace, and boundaries are really
important to cultivate.
What is the engagement of thistherapeutic process?
What or how do you want people,how do you want to work with
people and how do you want themto work with you?
(25:53):
Back and clarity around yourboundaries are very important.
So I had to do a lot of my ownwork around what are my
boundaries within this work andin this field and I don't mean
to say as a female provider andmale patients, because this is
with any gender and any providerreally, but generally in a
female-centric, gyno-centricprofession that pelvic health
(26:15):
therapy is.
It really did stem from women'shealth and women's therapy and
it wasn't until, and it's stilllagging behind, a significant
care gap for men for pelvic andsexual healthcare, especially in
pelvic health spaces.
So when I stepped into thatspace, there certainly are
social-cultural challenges,right, that one has to
(26:39):
acknowledge but also not beafraid of.
And I think that's where Ifound my really grew my voice
and felt empowered to work withboundaries.
You know, as a female person,here are my boundaries.
This is how I work.
Let's be clear, not beingafraid, circling back to
difficult conversations, to havedifficult conversations, to
(27:01):
name whatever needs to be named.
Move forward, work through thatwith or without your patient
Again, not to be afraid of that.
So I think boundary work andclarity around how you want to
engage in your practice as aprofessional, but also as a
business owner, is reallyimportant to get clarity around,
and that just comes withpractice and that just comes
from doing the work and itevolves over time, always, we're
(27:23):
always changing.
Tanner Welsch (27:25):
I love that and I think, especially in your
setting, that's super vital.
Just address right at thebeginning, because what you're
working with and talking aboutis very sensitive and just very
taboo and I never thought aboutthat, but it totally makes sense
what you're talking about.
A couple of things I wanted tofollow back up on was about your
pain points with, you know,starting your own business, your
own practice.
One of the things that youpointed out was really, if
(27:47):
you're gonna grow something,eventually you're gonna have to
figure out a scale it and Ithink there comes a point with
every entrepreneur or businessowner that's growing is this
urge and this feeling of holdingon very tightly to what it is
you're creating and not wantingto let go of some of it and
delegate to other people becauseof how much you really care and
(28:09):
how much you really value whatyou're doing.
And it's just this little babythat you're growing and it's
hard to let somebody else carefor that.
And it's a struggle.
Finding the right people towork with.
It's definitely a challenge,but that is a struggle too that
I have gone through with rehabrebels, you know, finding the
right podcast manager that fits.
(28:29):
I mean, I'm on my fourth oneand she is awesome.
So, yeah for sure, completelyrelate to that, and I really
liked your realization thatyou're not gonna be around
forever.
We're not gonna be here forever, and it's what are we building?
What are we creating?
What are we leaving behind?
How are we making a positiveimpact?
And immediately I thought alsoabout generational wealth,
(28:50):
something to pass on down to ourkids.
And, funny enough, I'm actuallygonna update the website to
where the blog tab.
I'm gonna move some financial,personal finance things over to
the website where you can justclick the blog and read some
articles I have, and one of themis about generational wealth
and that's, I think, a perkabout creating something that's
(29:10):
a business that you can passdown or sell or whatever you
wanna do, but it's somethingthat you can offer and leave
your children or family.
That is outside of thetraditional model of the 401k,
and I think it's empowering, Ithink it's super cool.
Susie Gronski (29:25):
It totally is great, and I unfortunately can't
speak to the children part, butI don't have any children.
However, I have a globalcommunity, so I think maybe I
can extend that to everyone inthe community and all the people
who are getting into thisprofession to feel inspired.
To feel inspired to do thiswork and maybe find other
(29:47):
opportunities and creativitywithin that space.
So I totally hear you, and whoknows, my nephew and niece might
watch, you know, watch some ofthis and are being you inspired
and that's cool too, right?
So, yeah, you should never know.
Yeah, thinking bigger, and it'sokay to think bigger really,
because all things start in themind, right?
(30:07):
Even a building, the idea hasto come from an architect's mind
and an idea and thinking aboutit before it goes on paper and
then before it actually getsbuilt.
Right, it all starts with theidea and I think if we just just
name it and throw it out inthere in the universe, you'd be
surprised how it just naturallywill end up being your reality
one day.
It's quite powerful.
Tanner Welsch (30:29):
I love that a little bit of the woo-woo,
totally love talking about thisstuff because it goes back to at
least the bare minimum of amindset Basically what you
believe in your mind and whatyou're telling yourself is the
reality that you live in, andthat can be a positive thing or
that can be a negative thing,and I think it's really
empowering.
Affirmations, mindset,mindfulness, acceptance,
(30:52):
appreciation, love.
There's just a bunch of thingsthat unfortunately are not
included in any streamlinededucation system and pretty much
we're just out here living outlife, fumbling around, trying to
figure it all out, and theseare some big concepts that have
really helped me and, I feel, alot of other people, to create
(31:13):
these lifestyles that are justvery empowering, very autonomous
and very freeing.
What would you share withothers who maybe have an itch,
or they think they want to starta practice, or they're at that
edge.
They know that the traditionalmodel is not working and maybe
they're bouncing between do Icreate my own practice using the
(31:34):
license and the skill sets thatI have, or should I do
something different?
What would you advise them orwhat advice would you have for
them?
Susie Gronski (31:41):
The first thing that comes to my mind is just
try, just try.
It doesn't have to be complex.
If you're starting your ownpractice, you can rent a space
from a sub lease in an officeperhaps I am or from a partner
in a space that might have areferral source.
(32:02):
So like a gym.
I know what local therapists intown who collaborated with a
strength and conditioning gymhere in town and now she has her
own business, her own practice,and she's the main PT and she's
got a referral source rightthere.
Right there, be creative andreally just try.
You won't lose anything otherthan maybe time and maybe some
(32:25):
financial stake as well.
But keep it simple.
That's what I tell people.
I would say just keep it reallysimple and just try, just try.
You don't know what it would beor where it could go if you
don't even try.
At some point you do have tojump.
There's an exercise inacceptance, commitment therapy
world where you tell people tookay, let's just find a chair
(32:46):
and let's stand on the chair.
I have them stand up on a chairand I say, okay, I want you to
plan to jump, just plan to jump.
They look at me like how do Iplan to jump.
I mean, you either jump or youdon't.
That's the answer that you get.
That's the whole point.
You got to jump At some point,you just got to do it.
You can't overthink it.
I get it, certainly have anoutline and have some structure.
(33:09):
But there comes a point whereyou do have to jump and there's
just no more planning, thatplanning, that incessant
planning and need to haveeverything perfect and
everything in the row, et cetera.
That's the limitation that weset for ourselves, that's the
barrier, that's theinflexibility around the
experience that you're about toembark on.
It's an experience.
Think of it as fun, think aboutside hobby, do something PRN,
(33:32):
if you need the income.
There's so many ways about itand I think, instead of getting
discouraged and withdrawal andhanging it up, I would say use
the adversity and transform it.
Transform adversity into yourvision.
Tanner Welsch (33:50):
For sure.
Some bullet points here.
For sure.
Analysis Don't let analysis beparalysis for you.
Love the start, basic andsimple.
I would frame it in the mindsetof a couple things here.
Do you want to be laying onyour deathbed thinking back?
What if Another thing is?
What you're really doing isinvesting in yourself and in
your future in a non-traditionalway.
(34:12):
Even if it doesn't work out,you have the mindset and you
actually give into this and dothis.
I'm going to say 99% odds areyou're going to get something
out of it that's going to likelyget you to where you really
want to go anyway.
It's just this huge scaryjumping and it's I love the
(34:33):
chair model.
I never heard of that, but Ilove the chair model.
Susie Gronski (34:36):
The great exercise or go skydiving.
If you're in the front andyou've got your skydiving
partner strapped you in the back, there's no backing out.
Whether you want it or not,you're going to go.
That was my experience.
No, not ready, I'm not doingthis.
Nope, we're jumping.
I'm just going to be messy.
My saliva was all over this poorguy's face.
I tried to catch my breathbecause it was awful he was.
(34:59):
I really did have a lot of yourspit on my face Once it was
over and you actually reallycatch your breath.
It was awesome because thenyou're like I can actually just
float here and glide.
I did it.
I wouldn't be able to have thisexperience if I didn't have the
one previously.
So it's pretty awesome and Ithink if we really do what you
need to do to support yourselfthroughout that process, you
(35:21):
don't have to do it alone.
But maybe sometimes we do needto have our skydiving partner
strapped to us and say you'regoing to do it whether you like
it or not.
And I think that was circlingback to my husband.
He was my skydiving partner.
He said I'm doing this, I'mjumping.
Tanner Welsch (35:35):
The closest thing that I've been able to relate
it to is this clearly applies toa lot of things.
We've already talked about thechair.
We've talked about skydiving,but it's driving a car.
Everybody has to learn how, andyou can only read the book so
much and you can only get so farbefore you actually have to
start doing it.
And, as we all know, when youactually start doing it, that's
when you really learn what it'slike.
(35:56):
I could completely relate tothat statement.
When it's being in physicaltherapy school and learning
versus okay, you're no longer inphysical therapy school and
you're a physical therapist nowHuge, huge difference and it's
okay, I'm actually getting theexperience that I need to
actually learn how to do this,and there's no other
substitution for experience, forsure.
Susie Gronski (36:16):
No, no, the training wheels go off and now
you can do all sorts of BMXtricks.
Tanner Welsch (36:22):
Well, Susie, it's really been a pleasure having
you on the show.
Thank you so much for takingtime and sharing your journey
and your story with us.
Susie Gronski (36:29):
Thank you so much for having me.
Tanner Welsch (36:31):
Anytime.
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