June 20, 2024 • 29 mins
#057 Sometimes our chosen career path may not align with our true passion and values. In this case, Lauren discovered her love for art and creativity, which she initially overlooked due to societal expectations and other, family influences. Her leap not only reshaped her professional life but also brought an unexpected harmony to her family dynamics.
In this episode, Lauren shares her journey, highlighting the long hours and inadequate compensation in her physical therapy roles, as well as the inflexibility of work schedules after becoming a mother. She realized that outpatient ortho was not fulfilling her and started to search for something that would resonate more with her identity and values, leading her to take the plunge into dice making. The advent of COVID-19 served as a catalyst for Lauren, who, amid the uncertainties of the pandemic, found clarity in her desire to pursue dice making full-time.
The episode resonates with anyone feeling trapped in a career that doesn't align with their true self. Staying in a profession that doesn't align with one's true passion can hinder our personal growth and overall well-being. Lauren's story encourages us to follow our true calling by challenging the norms of traditional career paths.
For links and show notes, head to: https://rehabrebels.org/057
Start your Rehab Rebel Journey! Receive access to FREE monthly progress updates, interview schedule, and a BONUS Top 25 Alternative Careers List for Rehab Professionals when you Start your Rebel Career and be part of the Rehab Rebels Tribe!
Join us on Instagram and Facebook or your favorite social media @rehabrebels!
Subscribe through Apple Podcast or Spotify!
Mark as Played
Transcript
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.
For this particular episode,I'm going to introduce the
universals in the particular ofthis episode with Lauren.
Big takeaway the universal inher story is that sometimes our
chosen career path may not alignwith our true passion and
(00:42):
values.
In this case, lauren discoveredher love for art and creativity
, which she initially overlookeddue to societal expectations
and other family influences.
Her journey teaches us theimportance of recognizing our
authentic interests, even if itmeans stepping away from
traditional paths and findingfulfillment and unconventional
(01:04):
career choices that resonatewith our true selves.
So let's start diving a littlebit with the bio of Lauren and a
little background and thenwe'll invite her on the show.
Lauren's from St Louis,missouri.
She attended MGH, ihp in Bostonfor her DPT and she's currently
(01:25):
a handmade dice maker.
And a little brief work historyshe worked with preschoolers
with special needs.
Lauren, welcome to the show.
Lauren Schipper (01:36):
Awesome.
Yeah, hi, thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Tanner Welsch (01:38):
Yeah, I gotta ask what are those letters with the
school?
Lauren Schipper (01:42):
So it stands for MGH Institute of Health
Professions, and MGH beingMassGen Hospital.
Tanner Welsch (01:48):
Oh, wow.
Lauren Schipper (01:49):
So the hospital founded their own grad school
that just does PT OT speech.
I feel like they have amaster's in public health now
too.
But I think its official nameis just MGH Institute of Health
Professions.
Tanner Welsch (02:00):
Oh wow, dang, OK, yeah, that's quite a
prestigious place, very cool.
Lauren Schipper (02:05):
Yeah, we do anatomy at Harvard and stuff.
It was so much fun, I loved it.
Tanner Welsch (02:10):
Awesome, the brief work history with
preschoolers working withspecial needs.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat?
Was that shortly aftergraduating PT school or?
Lauren Schipper (02:21):
The fun thing is I thought about working with
kids when I was applying for PTschools and then I went to
school in Boston where there'ssix PT schools and not as many
people as you would think ingeneral.
So if you wanted to work withpeds, if you got an internship
in school, you could, and if youdidn't, you were never going to
work in peds.
So I graduated and went rightto outpatient ortho because you
know that's what you do and washappily working in outpatient
(02:42):
ortho.
And then we moved from Bostonto New York City, worked again
in outpatient ortho and was justat a soul crushing job.
Really didn't like it, didn'tlike my boss, didn't like my
hours.
And my sister-in-law was didn'tyou want to work with kids?
And I was like, oh, I did.
I did want to work with kids.
So I just applied to every jobthat I could in New York City
that was a PT job with kids.
(03:03):
And I found one that was at aschool that was specifically for
kids with special needs and mywonderful boss was I was like I
have no experience, I just havegeneral PT.
If you will accept our terriblepay, I will train you.
And I was like yes, 100% I will, and I was the last PT they
were able to hire because itpaid so bad.
So that's when I startedworking with kids and she
(03:25):
trained me and all the other.
There were two other PTs thereand everyone was super welcoming
and wonderful, as I was.
What are we doing?
It was an absolute joy anddelight.
I mean, when your day gets togo to the playground and teach
your kids how to climb on aclimbing gym and then blow
bubbles, those days were heaven.
And then, of course, you know,admin changes and everything
(03:47):
goes downhill.
Tanner Welsch (03:49):
We'll come back to that.
Ok, we'll come back to that.
Let's go back to what made youdecide to become a rehab
professional, a PT, in the firstplace.
Lauren Schipper (04:16):
Yeah, I come from a family of doctors.
Both my parents are physicians,my stepdad's a physician, my
stepmom is a med device rep.
So as far as I knew, that waseither doctor or nurse.
That's all I knew that existed.
And then I took a physiologyclass.
I went to Washington Universityin St Louis for undergrad.
I took a human physiology classand it was by a woman who was a
PT and had a PhD in physiologyand I was she's amazing.
(04:39):
I should do that, but I focusedon the PhD in physiology part.
I don't want to get my PhD.
What am I going to do with thisPhD?
I don't know.
And then I just sat like anidiot and walked like an idiot
because you know, I was incollege and my posture was
terrible and I was mentioning toher that I had a ton of back
(04:59):
pain and she just looked at meand she was we need to work on
your posture, you need to go tosee a PT.
And I was oh, that other thingthat you do in addition to being
the most amazing teacher atthis school.
And I walked in and the PT wasjust, she was so wonderful and
knowledgeable and she just tookher hands and just corrected me,
put me back up to where I wassupposed to be.
I had such terrible sway backand I had my shoulders down
(05:21):
because I had been pulling themdown.
Because I was so worried aboutlifting them up because I
studied and had so much tensionin my body, I was I surely
should pull these down more.
So I over pulled my shouldersdown and I was oh, I don't hurt
anymore.
This is amazing, this is magic.
80% of my pain was gone in thefirst day and I was I want to do
this, this is what I want to do.
At that point I was still I'mgoing to be a PT.
And then there was a monthwhere I was going to be a
(05:41):
zookeeper Just six months wheremy whole life trajectory was
just all over the place.
And then I did follow the PTthread and went in that
direction.
Tanner Welsch (05:51):
And what was the story behind the first sense of
awareness that things weren'tquite right?
Lauren Schipper (05:55):
as a physical therapist working as a physical
therapist, Well, first it waswhen I was working with adults
and I was.
This isn't quite filling me theway I want it to.
Tanner Welsch (06:04):
Tell us more about that.
Why isn't quite filling me theway I want it to?
Tell us more about that.
Why isn't it filling you up?
Why isn't it filling?
Lauren Schipper (06:07):
your cup up, I don't know.
And isn't that so scary afteryou've just spent so much money
to be like, oh no, maybe thisisn't what I'm supposed to do?
And I was working in outpatientand I had at least two, if not
three, patients at a time.
Sometimes I had four, which wasonly when someone we thought
was going to cancel actuallyshowed up.
But I was getting a littleoverworked and a little bored.
(06:28):
It's definitely also whenyou're brand new and you're like
, oh, I don't know what I'mdoing, I'm not good at this,
maybe I should just stop.
So I stuck with that companyuntil we moved.
And then I moved to a wholedifferent vibe With Boston.
I had been working in thebasement of a rec center.
Most of my patients were onMedicaid.
I actually really, reallyenjoyed working with that
population and really helpingout, because I know it's also
very hard for people who are onMedicaid to find good PT.
(06:50):
So it was really fulfillingthere.
And then I went to New YorkCity and worked in a you know
one hour one-on-one Pilatesbased outpatient where, like
most of my patients were stocktraders, stockbrokers.
There we go I've worked at theFed and stuff and I was like, oh
, there's some whiplash here,but my boss was terrible, so I
again felt entirely unfulfilled.
(07:12):
And that's when I was like, oh,I should work with kids, and
then that was so much fun untilit wasn't.
Tanner Welsch (07:20):
The place that you said that the boss was
terrible but you were workingwith, it seems like a decent
population of adults.
I think some of them were stocktraders and stuff.
What was it about thatenvironment that, I'm assuming
made you shift into going towork with Pete's?
Lauren Schipper (07:34):
It was mainly my boss and the hours were so
terrible because, you know NewYork, everyone works late.
My rush started at six, so I'dbe at work until eight, and then
I would have to write all mynotes At night.
My rush started at six, so I'dbe at work until eight and then.
I would have to write all mynotes At night.
Yeah, yeah, I would like notget home till nine sometimes I
mean, at this point, no kids.
Young in New York I was, oh,this works, but it didn't, and
(07:54):
then she wouldn't pay me.
She also made me 10.99 when Ishould have been a W-2.
And the kicker is that Iinterviewed with a PT and she
was great, and then she was ohwell, my other co-owner of these
two clinics is going to beworking with you there and I'm
like that's great.
She's going to be fine.
She was not.
She was an acupuncturist andshe kept telling me what to do
and being do you know how?
to read an MRI and then theyhired a chiro pushing me to make
(08:16):
all my patients go to him and Idid not like him and it was
just, I'm done, I'm not dealingwith you anymore.
I think it was there for sixmonths.
I was basically the head PT atthis clinic because there was no
other PTs there.
I was the first one.
I really loved being in chargeof everything.
If something breaks, I'm goingto go be the one to fix it.
Our windows didn't open, whichmakes sense in a New York high
(08:37):
rise, but also it was so hotwith the heat was on, so I
figured out how to disable thewindow locks so that we could
open them and not roast.
But she was just so mean anddisheartening that I was.
I don't need this.
I'm going to go chase childrenand get paid, so much less.
Tanner Welsch (08:54):
Okay, yes, and you love this environment and
everything, and you were talkingabout some administration
changes, and so tell us how?
How come it didn't work outlong term?
What's the story there?
Lauren Schipper (09:19):
at school because I left in 2020.
So I'm sorry if I'm not quiteusing the right term.
All of my children had IEPs.
That's just the blanket termthat I would use.
But when working with my kiddos, as I would call them, there
were a lot of behavioral issueswith some of the children, and
figuring out how to actuallywork with these kids took
training.
You couldn't walk in off thestreet and be like, oh, I'm just
going to babysit a kid, workingwith them in productive manners
in ways that weren't mean.
(09:40):
You had to be trained on, andwhen I started, we were.
We had amazing support.
We had a school psychologist.
We had a school ABA who used itin a very productive and loving
way, not the way that I know.
A lot of people really hate ABAfor just drilling things into
kids' heads.
We didn't use it like that.
We had really good support andwe felt what we said as
(10:02):
therapists mattered to the adminabout like, oh, you know, we
need more time for this.
You can't make us write eightprogress reports in one month
and just slowly we got boughtout by a new company and I
received one raise in the fiveyears that I worked there and it
was for $1 an hour and theywent from covering our insurance
to not covering our insuranceand taking away overtime.
(10:26):
When they ask us to write sixprogress reports for our kids
which also involves writing anew IEP for them in one month
while also doing all your otherrequirements and it just wore us
all down.
And then they took us to a newschool and increased our gym
space by literally 300%.
I did the math because I was somad and I was like no, no, I'm
not coming back here.
(10:46):
They gave us a space for thegym and a space for our offices
and we ended up separating outhalf of the office space so that
the OTs would actually have aplace to work with our kids,
because we didn't have any space.
And at that point I was verypregnant.
I think we moved when I wasfive or six months pregnant with
my daughter and I knew I wasnot coming back, so I just
decided to be a pain in the butt.
I had a staff meeting andthey're like you know, things
(11:07):
are going to get better.
And I was when?
How?
Because you're doing X, y, z,which everyone wanted to say,
but everyone's like okay, Idon't want to get fired and I'm
just so incredibly pregnant I'mlike they're not going to do
anything to me, so I'm going tosay what everyone here wants to
say.
Tanner Welsch (11:24):
No, I totally get it.
I had some similar experiencesin my first PT job where it was
just so many different thingswere just falling apart and it
was just nobody would listen.
Nothing was actually changing.
It was either they tell youwhat you think you want to hear,
just to keep you quiet, or it'sthis is what corporate says, we
(11:44):
can't do anything about it.
And it's no, this, I can't dothis anymore.
So I totally, totally relate.
This is the third time I thinkI've heard that where there's
been situations where you guyswere pregnant and, for whatever
reason, the situation eitherwasn't getting better or and or
got worse and you guys alreadymade the decision Nope, not
(12:07):
coming back to this after I givebirth and all that.
So there's, there's somethingabout that that is a pivotal
point for y'all.
Lauren Schipper (12:16):
Yeah, it's a very easy exit point, that's for
sure.
I had a whole other school thatI was planning on shifting to
that.
One of my friends, one of thePTs, actually had left and moved
to another school and she'slike yeah, no it's pretty good
Right after I have my kid I'mgonna take six months off.
I'm gonna go work at thatschool.
Gonna be great.
And then COVID hit in New YorkCity and everything pivoted.
Tanner Welsch (12:37):
For sure.
So what made you decide to godown this new career path of
creating dice professionally?
Lauren Schipper (12:46):
Yeah, so I had been making dice as a hobby
starting in 2019, april 2019.
And I had really liked it.
I found it fulfilling.
I had gained myself a littlefollowing on Instagram.
I was selling my dice on Etsyand already work in mid to late
2019.
I just when we saw the thingsweren't going great at work and
(13:06):
I remember sitting in my officeand being like, okay, how many
dice do I have to make per weekto be equivalent to what I make
at this job?
Okay, how long does it take meto make dice?
Could I do that?
And there was a part of me thatI could do that.
I think I can do that, but itwas still just a hobby.
And the funny thing is I wascharging like $40 a set for at
that point.
I charge much more now and Ilike how little Lauren was, I
(13:29):
could totally do this, charging30, 40 bucks a set, like no, you
really couldn't have, girl, butI like your gusto for thinking
that you work that quickly, yeah.
So I had already startedthinking about it and my husband
was being very supportive.
He was like you know, whateveryou think you want to do, I
believe in you to make it work.
So once everything shut down inNew York City and it became very
clear that the school that Iwanted to switch to working to
(13:52):
was all remote and I mean I'msure there are plenty of people
here that had to do PT overremote who are listening and
realize that that's not great.
Working with my kiddos overZoom in their homes also not
great.
Trying to get the parent tofacilitate.
So I had, I think, 20, 21 kidson my schedule and I emailed all
(14:14):
the parents.
You know here's what we'regoing to do.
It did take my school fourweeks to figure out how to do
online courses because they werejust so disorganized and I
think I saw four kids.
Half my parents were Spanishspeaking so we had to figure out
an interpreter so that none ofthem even reached back out.
One of my Spanish speakingparents did, which is great
because it was one of my kiddoswho really needed PT.
(14:35):
She was walking for the firsttime independently and it was so
exciting for all of us becauseshe was four and had been mainly
in walkers and wheelchairs andwe got her walking.
But I got one session with herbecause we had to have a sibling
translate.
It was not great.
So it became very clear thatthat was not a fulfilling way to
do PT either.
Once my daughter was born and Ifinished maternity leave, I was
(14:55):
I'm out, and we realized alsothat we didn't want to live in
New York City in an apartmentanymore with a baby.
So we moved to St Louis,missouri, which is where I'm
from, and they don't havepreschools that are just all for
kiddos with special needs.
That's one thing that reallymade that job so special is that
everyone was in one spot.
We had the OTs across the hall,we had the speech therapist
just down the hall, the speechtherapist just down the hall, we
(15:16):
had our school psychologist,everyone in house and we all
work together so well as a team,and that doesn't really happen
outside of New York.
So I realized I didn't want todrive from school to school
doing PT with kids in hallways.
I was like you know what?
Let's do, dice, let's followthis little dream, let's see if
it works.
And that was mid 2021.
And now here we are.
Tanner Welsch (15:37):
What were some of the first signs of traction,
and really the story andemotions behind it, with this
Dice making career journey?
Lauren Schipper (15:45):
I think my first one was when I had my
first viral tweet that got nineor 10,000 likes, which was huge
in the Dice community back then.
I know it was very exciting.
I was very newly pregnant withmy daughter and I got a ton of
orders and oh, people like this,people are willing to pay for
this.
Even though it was 60 bucks, Ithink, for that set, my poor
(16:08):
buyers had to wait 12 weeks, ifnot longer, for those dice and
everyone was super happy to justwait, as I was sorry I had to.
You know, I had to orderhandmade flowers from a woman
who lives in Ukraine and so thattook a while.
But yeah, everyone was supernice about waiting and excited
about the next thing that I wasgoing to make and my custom
commission slots were filling upand I was, oh, I think I can do
(16:29):
this, but I'm also, you know,working a full time job, so I
get home at 430 and then wouldimmediately start making dice
until 11 pm.
Tanner Welsch (16:39):
So were you working as a PT full time and
then doing this when you got?
Lauren Schipper (16:40):
home on the side thing, yeah, so I did that
up until my daughter was born.
Because resin fumes are reallytoxic, I made myself a little
casting tent out of a grow tentso I could vent the fumes
directly out of my apartment andstuff.
But you have to shower afterevery time you cast and babies
don't like to wait.
So there was no chance of megetting to do resin work because
(17:01):
if she woke up from a nap earlyand I was fully suited up and
had resin on my hand, thatwasn't gonna work.
So I took like a fifth I thinkit was a 15 month break from
making dice after my daughterwas born because they had to
move and get her into daycareand all that stuff.
Tanner Welsch (17:16):
Okay, yeah, that totally makes sense, for sure.
And then, after she was indaycare, is that when you
resumed back to the dice making?
Lauren Schipper (17:24):
Yep, pretty much.
She went into daycare and I gotinto full.
Let's get this going.
At first she was only therethree days a week and I was.
I don't have enough time tomake dice.
I need to get rid of full timeso I can really dive into this.
That was mid 2021.
And ever since then I've justbeen continuing to work to try
and make myself more efficientso I can just make as many dice
(17:46):
as possible.
Tanner Welsch (17:47):
Absolutely.
Yeah, you know you're like abusiness owner.
What would you say is astruggle, a big personal
struggle, that you went throughwith this transition from being
a PT leaving the field intogoing all in on your
professional dice making thatyou're willing to share, and how
did you overcome that challenge?
Lauren Schipper (18:04):
I think the biggest challenge for me was
definitely the side eye that Iwas getting from my family.
Yes, thank you for supportingme as I became a PT.
My parents are also physicians,so I definitely got it like, oh
, you're going into PT.
And then I was like, yes, andit's great and you will respect
me.
It was great when my dadfinally had to go to PT for
himself and he was like, oh, andI was like, yes, yes, you get
(18:26):
it now.
And then to leave that and belike I do art now.
Tanner Welsch (18:31):
I make dice for a living.
Yeah, I don't even do liketraditional fine art.
I'm not doing oil paintings inthe garden, I make dice.
I open with.
I'm Lauren, I make dice forgames like Dungeons and Dragons.
(18:51):
Respect for from your, yourcolleagues, from your family,
about your decision to actuallydo this full time,
professionally and create abusiness.
Where was that moment that theywere like, oh oh, oh, okay, I
see you now.
I respect you, I see whatyou're doing yeah.
Lauren Schipper (19:08):
So the fun thing is my colleagues will go
for it.
Knew it?
This is amazing.
I texted some of my PT friendsbecause I needed some particular
sprinkles that I couldn't buyin the Midwest.
I had to have them buy them forme in New York City and it was
my old boss.
She was like, so you're doingDice full time now?
And I was like, yeah, she'slike that's so great.
Tanner Welsch (19:26):
That's awesome.
That's awesome.
Lauren Schipper (19:27):
They were always so supportive because
doing cool, fun things and Ialso had my kids and needed a
more flexible schedule thanbeing an outpatient.
And when I had been anoutpatient you had to work until
7 pm some days and that wasperfectly fine when I had no
kids.
And now, oh, they're going tomake me work till 7?
My kids go down at 7.
And inpatient isn't for me.
(19:47):
All my friends who were momswere like, oh yeah, no.
And then, yeah, my family whowere you know, my parents and my
sisters who do not havechildren my one sister who is
now a resident in pediatricneurology, and my other sister
who is a missile defenseengineer.
Tanner Welsch (20:00):
Oh my gosh.
Lauren Schipper (20:08):
I know, and I was just a lowly PD, I'd be like
well, one of us went to Harvard, and it was at least me.
Tanner Welsch (20:09):
I at least have that going for me, there you go.
Lauren Schipper (20:11):
There was definitely a little bit of side
eye there, but I also just wasfeeling so happy and fulfilled
and just knew that this wasworking so well for my family
and for me.
That I mean also therapy foryears, Like I don't really care
what my dad thinks.
Tanner Welsch (20:26):
Yeah, absolutely.
Lauren Schipper (20:28):
Yeah, here's the thing he also has never
overtly said anything about.
Oh, I can't believe you've donethat, but you can just tell a
vibe sometime.
And it's so funny.
We were meeting new people inlike a big dinner setting a few
weeks ago and a guy that my dadhad been talking to before came
and like sat down with me and mysisters.
I'm like, oh, I want to hearabout everything that you do.
Your dad was telling me so muchabout you and I was like, wait
(20:49):
me first.
What did my dad actually say Ido?
And he goes I don't think heactually told me what you do and
I was like, aha.
Tanner Welsch (20:54):
Caught him.
Lauren Schipper (20:55):
I was like I'd make dice and he's like that's
so cool, tell me about thatthing.
Most people are like that's socool, tell me more about it.
And, honestly, if someonedoesn't, we're just not going to
be friends.
We were never meant to befriends.
You aren't started following myInstagram and seeing I'm
(21:18):
actually really good at this.
I make very cool things.
He was very impressed with theStar Wars set that I make, where
I have like there's a starrybackground and then seven
different Star Wars shipsfloating in some clear resin, so
when you roll it it looks likethe dice or the ships are around
in space.
And I also made a set of diceusing the sawdust from some
(21:39):
walnut that he had for like 25years, that we got milled a long
time ago, and he was using itto make a mantle and I was like,
oh, this sawdust looks cool.
And I filled a cup with it andI put it in dice and he was, oh
yeah, I do really cool work, dad.
It's been a lot of me justbeing very confident in myself
and realizing that this justbrings me so much joy that I
actually just don't care whatpretty much anyone thinks at
(22:02):
this point.
Tanner Welsch (22:02):
For sure.
What would you say you lovemost about your new reality as a
dice maker?
Lauren Schipper (22:08):
I definitely.
I love getting to create thingswith my hands.
I always thought that, you know, I was going to find the most
fulfillment with helping people.
I'm just helping my people in adifferent way now.
I'm helping them get the exactset of dice that they've always
wanted to find but couldn't find.
I love the creative aspect ofthey come to me with an idea and
then I turn it into a designand then I make it into dice and
(22:31):
then I send them the picturesor the video of it and they're
always it's amazing.
But yeah, it's just, I lovecreating things with my hands.
I love thinking up somethingand then seeing it come to
fruition and getting to do justdifferent things all the time.
Tanner Welsch (22:46):
What did you learn as a PT in the rehab
career that you apply to yournew career as a Dice Maker?
Lauren Schipper (22:53):
I've been thinking about this because
there's not a ton of overlapbetween the two.
There's a lot of asking peoplequestions to clarify exactly
what their pain.
Okay, is it like this?
Is it sharp?
Is it stabbing?
Is it here?
Is it when you do this?
Is it when you do that?
Does it get better when you dothis?
And for me there's a lot ofokay, what do you want?
Do you mean this?
Do you mean that?
When you say a color, do youwant it to look like this?
Do you want to look like that?
(23:13):
Do you want this?
It's a lot of putting thingstogether into a whole, but I
think most importantly is for meas a content creator, because I
mean, I am a dice maker but alot of what I do is content
creation.
I have to make videos thatpeople want to watch, to, then
want to buy my stuff, whichmeans that I have to do
voiceover all the time and Ihave to think of something to
(23:34):
say for two videos every day onTikTok Well, four days a week on
TikTok and then I use thosevideos for every day on
everything else.
And I think that PT thing thatyou get, where you just have to
learn how to talk to people, dosmall talk and sound cheery, no
matter what's going on.
That kind of element I think Iactually use a lot.
Tanner Welsch (23:54):
Yeah, those interpersonal skills for sure.
Yeah.
What would you say is obviousto you now that you struggled to
see in the moment?
They always say you knowhindsight's 20-20.
But what's obvious to you nowthat you struggle to see getting
to where you are when you areworking as a physical therapist?
Lauren Schipper (24:09):
That I'm just an art kid.
I think I've always been meantto do art when I was working
until 9 pm at night and Icouldn't even come home and like
cook, which I now realize islike creating something with my
hands and having like a tangibleproduct.
That's what put me down ofreally hating that job is I
couldn't create anything.
I had no time, and once I got adifferent job and I was able to
(24:30):
start cooking again, I was ableto start doing my hobbies again
, like crochet.
Downstairs I have three crochetprojects and a needlepoint
project going on right now.
I am always making somethingwith my hands and I think I
should have just admitted thatto myself a long time ago, my
senior year of high school, Icould have had more free periods
, but instead I took 10 periodsof art.
I took ceramics and black andwhite photography and my friends
(24:50):
were like you could come hangout with us.
I was like, no, no, I need togo throw some ceramics right now
.
This is what I want to be doing.
So, yeah, but I mean, when yougrow up in, it's not a high
pressure situation.
I did go to a private school forhigh school, so then, of course
, you go off to college and thenyou find your career, and then
you go to grad school for thatcareer, and then your parents
are doctors.
So you're supposed to besomething too.
It's just you follow the paththat seems like the right one,
(25:13):
because you don't become aprofessional artist.
That's not a thing.
Dice making is art.
I've come to realize, becausefor a while I was, oh no, I'm
just making dice, I'm making art.
They're just functional art andtiny resin art.
Tanner Welsch (25:24):
It seems like several people in your class at
least a handful of them aredoing these alternative things,
and he's one of them.
He's on episode 30.
Lauren Schipper (25:33):
Oh cool.
I don't know exactly what he'sdoing this day, so I'm gonna
have to go listen to thatbecause he's an MBA star.
Yeah, my husband was going toget got his MBA at the same time
that I was getting my PT degreeand just a few years after he
graduated he was Can I talk toChris about MBA stuff?
And in my head I was like Keith, we just spent all this money
on PT school.
What are you doing?
I get it now, keith.
Tanner Welsch (25:53):
Was Andrea in your class too.
Lauren Schipper (25:55):
Yeah, Andrea was one of my closest friends.
We hung out all the time.
Tanner Welsch (25:58):
Okay, and she's in episode 30.
So, yeah, I thought that waswow.
There's like a group of youguys that were just definitely
not going the traditional routeand doing your own thing, so I
thought that was pretty sweet.
Lauren Schipper (26:10):
Yeah, I love how Andrea came into it with
just realizing that she lovedknitting and then being like, oh
, I can do some ergonomics tips,and then just running with that
and I refer people, crafters toher stuff all the time because
they're like oh, my hands hurtwhen I'm crocheting or when I'm
sanding dice and I was like go,go, go, go, look at everything
she makes.
Tanner Welsch (26:29):
Right, I believe we're ready to close.
Do you have any bookrecommendations or advice for?
You know, those that are in therehab field but maybe want to
do something like what you did.
They want to start a hobby, orthey have a hobby and want to
take it full time.
What are some tips or adviceyou got for them?
Lauren Schipper (26:46):
Absolutely.
I have no book advice.
I have two small children, I donot have time to read.
But turning a hobby into yourprofession, I almost always say
don't do it, because it doessuck the fun out of it.
This is actually my third hobbythat I've turned into money and
it's the only one that isactually stuck.
I did crocheting and I had anEtsy shop, but as soon as people
(27:07):
started paying me for it, itsucked the fun right out of it.
And I did mini paintingpainting miniatures.
No one apparently wants toactually pay for that and let me
tell you I was really good atit but it's a fluke.
I think that I've been doingthis for so long and I haven't
had any burnout, except for whenI overtly push myself too hard
and work late into the night andstuff like that, and when I
(27:28):
respect myself as a person whois more than just my job.
This is just such a joyfulcareer.
So I think, knowing that youlike, love your hobby, maybe
stick your toes and get an Etsyshop.
Etsy's fees are ridiculous, butit is a great way to dip your
toes into.
Do I actually still enjoy thiswhen people pay me for it, and I
think that's the the biggestthing, because if you feel like,
oh, this isn't fun anymore,don't, don't do it.
(27:50):
Don't do it, because forcingyourself to craft which should
be done with love and joy,forcing yourself to craft which
should be done with love and joyis just so, so soul sucking.
I feel so incredibly lucky thatI am able to do this and I
still work in the eveningsometimes if I feel like I
haven't gotten enough done, butit doesn't feel soul sucking
anymore.
So I just happened to havefound the perfect combination of
me and this craft that justseems to work.
(28:13):
So, basically, don't force it.
Tanner Welsch (28:15):
Yeah, for sure.
I love how you tried and testedsome things out and just kept
going and didn't give up, forsure.
So little closing remarks here.
Staying in a profession thatdoesn't align with one's true
passion can hinder our personalgrowth and overall well-being,
and our call to action is, Iwould say, to reflect on our
current career satisfaction andflexibility.
(28:37):
Are we pursuing a path thataligns with our passions?
If not, it's time to explorealternative career options that
offer both fulfillment,flexibility, align with our
values.
The journey to a moresatisfying and flexible career
may require stepping out ofconventional paths, but the
rewards are well worth the leap.
Lauren, thank you so much forcoming on the show and sharing
(29:01):
your journey.
It's been a pleasure.
Lauren Schipper (29:03):
Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
Tanner Welsch (29:05):
Anytime.
Intro (29:06):
Thank you for listening to the Rehab Rebels podcast.
If this podcast was useful,make sure to hit that subscribe
button and leave a review.
For more information abouttransitioning to alternative
careers, head to rehabrebelsorgor follow us on Instagram at
rehabrebelspodcast.
We'll see you next time.
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.
For this particular episode,I'm going to introduce the
universals in the particular ofthis episode with Lauren.
Big takeaway the universal inher story is that sometimes our
chosen career path may not alignwith our true passion and
(00:42):
values.
In this case, lauren discoveredher love for art and creativity
, which she initially overlookeddue to societal expectations
and other family influences.
Her journey teaches us theimportance of recognizing our
authentic interests, even if itmeans stepping away from
traditional paths and findingfulfillment and unconventional
(01:04):
career choices that resonatewith our true selves.
So let's start diving a littlebit with the bio of Lauren and a
little background and thenwe'll invite her on the show.
Lauren's from St Louis,missouri.
She attended MGH, ihp in Bostonfor her DPT and she's currently
(01:25):
a handmade dice maker.
And a little brief work historyshe worked with preschoolers
with special needs.
Lauren, welcome to the show.
Lauren Schipper (01:36):
Awesome.
Yeah, hi, thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Tanner Welsch (01:38):
Yeah, I gotta ask what are those letters with the
school?
Lauren Schipper (01:42):
So it stands for MGH Institute of Health
Professions, and MGH beingMassGen Hospital.
Tanner Welsch (01:48):
Oh, wow.
Lauren Schipper (01:49):
So the hospital founded their own grad school
that just does PT OT speech.
I feel like they have amaster's in public health now
too.
But I think its official nameis just MGH Institute of Health
Professions.
Tanner Welsch (02:00):
Oh wow, dang, OK, yeah, that's quite a
prestigious place, very cool.
Lauren Schipper (02:05):
Yeah, we do anatomy at Harvard and stuff.
It was so much fun, I loved it.
Tanner Welsch (02:10):
Awesome, the brief work history with
preschoolers working withspecial needs.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat?
Was that shortly aftergraduating PT school or?
Lauren Schipper (02:21):
The fun thing is I thought about working with
kids when I was applying for PTschools and then I went to
school in Boston where there'ssix PT schools and not as many
people as you would think ingeneral.
So if you wanted to work withpeds, if you got an internship
in school, you could, and if youdidn't, you were never going to
work in peds.
So I graduated and went rightto outpatient ortho because you
know that's what you do and washappily working in outpatient
(02:42):
ortho.
And then we moved from Bostonto New York City, worked again
in outpatient ortho and was justat a soul crushing job.
Really didn't like it, didn'tlike my boss, didn't like my
hours.
And my sister-in-law was didn'tyou want to work with kids?
And I was like, oh, I did.
I did want to work with kids.
So I just applied to every jobthat I could in New York City
that was a PT job with kids.
(03:03):
And I found one that was at aschool that was specifically for
kids with special needs and mywonderful boss was I was like I
have no experience, I just havegeneral PT.
If you will accept our terriblepay, I will train you.
And I was like yes, 100% I will, and I was the last PT they
were able to hire because itpaid so bad.
So that's when I startedworking with kids and she
(03:25):
trained me and all the other.
There were two other PTs thereand everyone was super welcoming
and wonderful, as I was.
What are we doing?
It was an absolute joy anddelight.
I mean, when your day gets togo to the playground and teach
your kids how to climb on aclimbing gym and then blow
bubbles, those days were heaven.
And then, of course, you know,admin changes and everything
(03:47):
goes downhill.
Tanner Welsch (03:49):
We'll come back to that.
Ok, we'll come back to that.
Let's go back to what made youdecide to become a rehab
professional, a PT, in the firstplace.
Lauren Schipper (04:16):
Yeah, I come from a family of doctors.
Both my parents are physicians,my stepdad's a physician, my
stepmom is a med device rep.
So as far as I knew, that waseither doctor or nurse.
That's all I knew that existed.
And then I took a physiologyclass.
I went to Washington Universityin St Louis for undergrad.
I took a human physiology classand it was by a woman who was a
PT and had a PhD in physiologyand I was she's amazing.
(04:39):
I should do that, but I focusedon the PhD in physiology part.
I don't want to get my PhD.
What am I going to do with thisPhD?
I don't know.
And then I just sat like anidiot and walked like an idiot
because you know, I was incollege and my posture was
terrible and I was mentioning toher that I had a ton of back
(04:59):
pain and she just looked at meand she was we need to work on
your posture, you need to go tosee a PT.
And I was oh, that other thingthat you do in addition to being
the most amazing teacher atthis school.
And I walked in and the PT wasjust, she was so wonderful and
knowledgeable and she just tookher hands and just corrected me,
put me back up to where I wassupposed to be.
I had such terrible sway backand I had my shoulders down
(05:21):
because I had been pulling themdown.
Because I was so worried aboutlifting them up because I
studied and had so much tensionin my body, I was I surely
should pull these down more.
So I over pulled my shouldersdown and I was oh, I don't hurt
anymore.
This is amazing, this is magic.
80% of my pain was gone in thefirst day and I was I want to do
this, this is what I want to do.
At that point I was still I'mgoing to be a PT.
And then there was a monthwhere I was going to be a
(05:41):
zookeeper Just six months wheremy whole life trajectory was
just all over the place.
And then I did follow the PTthread and went in that
direction.
Tanner Welsch (05:51):
And what was the story behind the first sense of
awareness that things weren'tquite right?
Lauren Schipper (05:55):
as a physical therapist working as a physical
therapist, Well, first it waswhen I was working with adults
and I was.
This isn't quite filling me theway I want it to.
Tanner Welsch (06:04):
Tell us more about that.
Why isn't quite filling me theway I want it to?
Tell us more about that.
Why isn't it filling you up?
Why isn't it filling?
Lauren Schipper (06:07):
your cup up, I don't know.
And isn't that so scary afteryou've just spent so much money
to be like, oh no, maybe thisisn't what I'm supposed to do?
And I was working in outpatientand I had at least two, if not
three, patients at a time.
Sometimes I had four, which wasonly when someone we thought
was going to cancel actuallyshowed up.
But I was getting a littleoverworked and a little bored.
(06:28):
It's definitely also whenyou're brand new and you're like
, oh, I don't know what I'mdoing, I'm not good at this,
maybe I should just stop.
So I stuck with that companyuntil we moved.
And then I moved to a wholedifferent vibe With Boston.
I had been working in thebasement of a rec center.
Most of my patients were onMedicaid.
I actually really, reallyenjoyed working with that
population and really helpingout, because I know it's also
very hard for people who are onMedicaid to find good PT.
(06:50):
So it was really fulfillingthere.
And then I went to New YorkCity and worked in a you know
one hour one-on-one Pilatesbased outpatient where, like
most of my patients were stocktraders, stockbrokers.
There we go I've worked at theFed and stuff and I was like, oh
, there's some whiplash here,but my boss was terrible, so I
again felt entirely unfulfilled.
(07:12):
And that's when I was like, oh,I should work with kids, and
then that was so much fun untilit wasn't.
Tanner Welsch (07:20):
The place that you said that the boss was
terrible but you were workingwith, it seems like a decent
population of adults.
I think some of them were stocktraders and stuff.
What was it about thatenvironment that, I'm assuming
made you shift into going towork with Pete's?
Lauren Schipper (07:34):
It was mainly my boss and the hours were so
terrible because, you know NewYork, everyone works late.
My rush started at six, so I'dbe at work until eight, and then
I would have to write all mynotes At night.
My rush started at six, so I'dbe at work until eight and then.
I would have to write all mynotes At night.
Yeah, yeah, I would like notget home till nine sometimes I
mean, at this point, no kids.
Young in New York I was, oh,this works, but it didn't, and
(07:54):
then she wouldn't pay me.
She also made me 10.99 when Ishould have been a W-2.
And the kicker is that Iinterviewed with a PT and she
was great, and then she was ohwell, my other co-owner of these
two clinics is going to beworking with you there and I'm
like that's great.
She's going to be fine.
She was not.
She was an acupuncturist andshe kept telling me what to do
and being do you know how?
to read an MRI and then theyhired a chiro pushing me to make
(08:16):
all my patients go to him and Idid not like him and it was
just, I'm done, I'm not dealingwith you anymore.
I think it was there for sixmonths.
I was basically the head PT atthis clinic because there was no
other PTs there.
I was the first one.
I really loved being in chargeof everything.
If something breaks, I'm goingto go be the one to fix it.
Our windows didn't open, whichmakes sense in a New York high
(08:37):
rise, but also it was so hotwith the heat was on, so I
figured out how to disable thewindow locks so that we could
open them and not roast.
But she was just so mean anddisheartening that I was.
I don't need this.
I'm going to go chase childrenand get paid, so much less.
Tanner Welsch (08:54):
Okay, yes, and you love this environment and
everything, and you were talkingabout some administration
changes, and so tell us how?
How come it didn't work outlong term?
What's the story there?
Lauren Schipper (09:19):
at school because I left in 2020.
So I'm sorry if I'm not quiteusing the right term.
All of my children had IEPs.
That's just the blanket termthat I would use.
But when working with my kiddos, as I would call them, there
were a lot of behavioral issueswith some of the children, and
figuring out how to actuallywork with these kids took
training.
You couldn't walk in off thestreet and be like, oh, I'm just
going to babysit a kid, workingwith them in productive manners
in ways that weren't mean.
(09:40):
You had to be trained on, andwhen I started, we were.
We had amazing support.
We had a school psychologist.
We had a school ABA who used itin a very productive and loving
way, not the way that I know.
A lot of people really hate ABAfor just drilling things into
kids' heads.
We didn't use it like that.
We had really good support andwe felt what we said as
(10:02):
therapists mattered to the adminabout like, oh, you know, we
need more time for this.
You can't make us write eightprogress reports in one month
and just slowly we got boughtout by a new company and I
received one raise in the fiveyears that I worked there and it
was for $1 an hour and theywent from covering our insurance
to not covering our insuranceand taking away overtime.
(10:26):
When they ask us to write sixprogress reports for our kids
which also involves writing anew IEP for them in one month
while also doing all your otherrequirements and it just wore us
all down.
And then they took us to a newschool and increased our gym
space by literally 300%.
I did the math because I was somad and I was like no, no, I'm
not coming back here.
(10:46):
They gave us a space for thegym and a space for our offices
and we ended up separating outhalf of the office space so that
the OTs would actually have aplace to work with our kids,
because we didn't have any space.
And at that point I was verypregnant.
I think we moved when I wasfive or six months pregnant with
my daughter and I knew I wasnot coming back, so I just
decided to be a pain in the butt.
I had a staff meeting andthey're like you know, things
(11:07):
are going to get better.
And I was when?
How?
Because you're doing X, y, z,which everyone wanted to say,
but everyone's like okay, Idon't want to get fired and I'm
just so incredibly pregnant I'mlike they're not going to do
anything to me, so I'm going tosay what everyone here wants to
say.
Tanner Welsch (11:24):
No, I totally get it.
I had some similar experiencesin my first PT job where it was
just so many different thingswere just falling apart and it
was just nobody would listen.
Nothing was actually changing.
It was either they tell youwhat you think you want to hear,
just to keep you quiet, or it'sthis is what corporate says, we
(11:44):
can't do anything about it.
And it's no, this, I can't dothis anymore.
So I totally, totally relate.
This is the third time I thinkI've heard that where there's
been situations where you guyswere pregnant and, for whatever
reason, the situation eitherwasn't getting better or and or
got worse and you guys alreadymade the decision Nope, not
(12:07):
coming back to this after I givebirth and all that.
So there's, there's somethingabout that that is a pivotal
point for y'all.
Lauren Schipper (12:16):
Yeah, it's a very easy exit point, that's for
sure.
I had a whole other school thatI was planning on shifting to
that.
One of my friends, one of thePTs, actually had left and moved
to another school and she'slike yeah, no it's pretty good
Right after I have my kid I'mgonna take six months off.
I'm gonna go work at thatschool.
Gonna be great.
And then COVID hit in New YorkCity and everything pivoted.
Tanner Welsch (12:37):
For sure.
So what made you decide to godown this new career path of
creating dice professionally?
Lauren Schipper (12:46):
Yeah, so I had been making dice as a hobby
starting in 2019, april 2019.
And I had really liked it.
I found it fulfilling.
I had gained myself a littlefollowing on Instagram.
I was selling my dice on Etsyand already work in mid to late
2019.
I just when we saw the thingsweren't going great at work and
(13:06):
I remember sitting in my officeand being like, okay, how many
dice do I have to make per weekto be equivalent to what I make
at this job?
Okay, how long does it take meto make dice?
Could I do that?
And there was a part of me thatI could do that.
I think I can do that, but itwas still just a hobby.
And the funny thing is I wascharging like $40 a set for at
that point.
I charge much more now and Ilike how little Lauren was, I
(13:29):
could totally do this, charging30, 40 bucks a set, like no, you
really couldn't have, girl, butI like your gusto for thinking
that you work that quickly, yeah.
So I had already startedthinking about it and my husband
was being very supportive.
He was like you know, whateveryou think you want to do, I
believe in you to make it work.
So once everything shut down inNew York City and it became very
clear that the school that Iwanted to switch to working to
(13:52):
was all remote and I mean I'msure there are plenty of people
here that had to do PT overremote who are listening and
realize that that's not great.
Working with my kiddos overZoom in their homes also not
great.
Trying to get the parent tofacilitate.
So I had, I think, 20, 21 kidson my schedule and I emailed all
(14:14):
the parents.
You know here's what we'regoing to do.
It did take my school fourweeks to figure out how to do
online courses because they werejust so disorganized and I
think I saw four kids.
Half my parents were Spanishspeaking so we had to figure out
an interpreter so that none ofthem even reached back out.
One of my Spanish speakingparents did, which is great
because it was one of my kiddoswho really needed PT.
(14:35):
She was walking for the firsttime independently and it was so
exciting for all of us becauseshe was four and had been mainly
in walkers and wheelchairs andwe got her walking.
But I got one session with herbecause we had to have a sibling
translate.
It was not great.
So it became very clear thatthat was not a fulfilling way to
do PT either.
Once my daughter was born and Ifinished maternity leave, I was
(14:55):
I'm out, and we realized alsothat we didn't want to live in
New York City in an apartmentanymore with a baby.
So we moved to St Louis,missouri, which is where I'm
from, and they don't havepreschools that are just all for
kiddos with special needs.
That's one thing that reallymade that job so special is that
everyone was in one spot.
We had the OTs across the hall,we had the speech therapist
just down the hall, the speechtherapist just down the hall, we
(15:16):
had our school psychologist,everyone in house and we all
work together so well as a team,and that doesn't really happen
outside of New York.
So I realized I didn't want todrive from school to school
doing PT with kids in hallways.
I was like you know what?
Let's do, dice, let's followthis little dream, let's see if
it works.
And that was mid 2021.
And now here we are.
Tanner Welsch (15:37):
What were some of the first signs of traction,
and really the story andemotions behind it, with this
Dice making career journey?
Lauren Schipper (15:45):
I think my first one was when I had my
first viral tweet that got nineor 10,000 likes, which was huge
in the Dice community back then.
I know it was very exciting.
I was very newly pregnant withmy daughter and I got a ton of
orders and oh, people like this,people are willing to pay for
this.
Even though it was 60 bucks, Ithink, for that set, my poor
(16:08):
buyers had to wait 12 weeks, ifnot longer, for those dice and
everyone was super happy to justwait, as I was sorry I had to.
You know, I had to orderhandmade flowers from a woman
who lives in Ukraine and so thattook a while.
But yeah, everyone was supernice about waiting and excited
about the next thing that I wasgoing to make and my custom
commission slots were filling upand I was, oh, I think I can do
(16:29):
this, but I'm also, you know,working a full time job, so I
get home at 430 and then wouldimmediately start making dice
until 11 pm.
Tanner Welsch (16:39):
So were you working as a PT full time and
then doing this when you got?
Lauren Schipper (16:40):
home on the side thing, yeah, so I did that
up until my daughter was born.
Because resin fumes are reallytoxic, I made myself a little
casting tent out of a grow tentso I could vent the fumes
directly out of my apartment andstuff.
But you have to shower afterevery time you cast and babies
don't like to wait.
So there was no chance of megetting to do resin work because
(17:01):
if she woke up from a nap earlyand I was fully suited up and
had resin on my hand, thatwasn't gonna work.
So I took like a fifth I thinkit was a 15 month break from
making dice after my daughterwas born because they had to
move and get her into daycareand all that stuff.
Tanner Welsch (17:16):
Okay, yeah, that totally makes sense, for sure.
And then, after she was indaycare, is that when you
resumed back to the dice making?
Lauren Schipper (17:24):
Yep, pretty much.
She went into daycare and I gotinto full.
Let's get this going.
At first she was only therethree days a week and I was.
I don't have enough time tomake dice.
I need to get rid of full timeso I can really dive into this.
That was mid 2021.
And ever since then I've justbeen continuing to work to try
and make myself more efficientso I can just make as many dice
(17:46):
as possible.
Tanner Welsch (17:47):
Absolutely.
Yeah, you know you're like abusiness owner.
What would you say is astruggle, a big personal
struggle, that you went throughwith this transition from being
a PT leaving the field intogoing all in on your
professional dice making thatyou're willing to share, and how
did you overcome that challenge?
Lauren Schipper (18:04):
I think the biggest challenge for me was
definitely the side eye that Iwas getting from my family.
Yes, thank you for supportingme as I became a PT.
My parents are also physicians,so I definitely got it like, oh
, you're going into PT.
And then I was like, yes, andit's great and you will respect
me.
It was great when my dadfinally had to go to PT for
himself and he was like, oh, andI was like, yes, yes, you get
(18:26):
it now.
And then to leave that and belike I do art now.
Tanner Welsch (18:31):
I make dice for a living.
Yeah, I don't even do liketraditional fine art.
I'm not doing oil paintings inthe garden, I make dice.
I open with.
I'm Lauren, I make dice forgames like Dungeons and Dragons.
(18:51):
Respect for from your, yourcolleagues, from your family,
about your decision to actuallydo this full time,
professionally and create abusiness.
Where was that moment that theywere like, oh oh, oh, okay, I
see you now.
I respect you, I see whatyou're doing yeah.
Lauren Schipper (19:08):
So the fun thing is my colleagues will go
for it.
Knew it?
This is amazing.
I texted some of my PT friendsbecause I needed some particular
sprinkles that I couldn't buyin the Midwest.
I had to have them buy them forme in New York City and it was
my old boss.
She was like, so you're doingDice full time now?
And I was like, yeah, she'slike that's so great.
Tanner Welsch (19:26):
That's awesome.
That's awesome.
Lauren Schipper (19:27):
They were always so supportive because
doing cool, fun things and Ialso had my kids and needed a
more flexible schedule thanbeing an outpatient.
And when I had been anoutpatient you had to work until
7 pm some days and that wasperfectly fine when I had no
kids.
And now, oh, they're going tomake me work till 7?
My kids go down at 7.
And inpatient isn't for me.
(19:47):
All my friends who were momswere like, oh yeah, no.
And then, yeah, my family whowere you know, my parents and my
sisters who do not havechildren my one sister who is
now a resident in pediatricneurology, and my other sister
who is a missile defenseengineer.
Tanner Welsch (20:00):
Oh my gosh.
Lauren Schipper (20:08):
I know, and I was just a lowly PD, I'd be like
well, one of us went to Harvard, and it was at least me.
Tanner Welsch (20:09):
I at least have that going for me, there you go.
Lauren Schipper (20:11):
There was definitely a little bit of side
eye there, but I also just wasfeeling so happy and fulfilled
and just knew that this wasworking so well for my family
and for me.
That I mean also therapy foryears, Like I don't really care
what my dad thinks.
Tanner Welsch (20:26):
Yeah, absolutely.
Lauren Schipper (20:28):
Yeah, here's the thing he also has never
overtly said anything about.
Oh, I can't believe you've donethat, but you can just tell a
vibe sometime.
And it's so funny.
We were meeting new people inlike a big dinner setting a few
weeks ago and a guy that my dadhad been talking to before came
and like sat down with me and mysisters.
I'm like, oh, I want to hearabout everything that you do.
Your dad was telling me so muchabout you and I was like, wait
(20:49):
me first.
What did my dad actually say Ido?
And he goes I don't think heactually told me what you do and
I was like, aha.
Tanner Welsch (20:54):
Caught him.
Lauren Schipper (20:55):
I was like I'd make dice and he's like that's
so cool, tell me about thatthing.
Most people are like that's socool, tell me more about it.
And, honestly, if someonedoesn't, we're just not going to
be friends.
We were never meant to befriends.
You aren't started following myInstagram and seeing I'm
(21:18):
actually really good at this.
I make very cool things.
He was very impressed with theStar Wars set that I make, where
I have like there's a starrybackground and then seven
different Star Wars shipsfloating in some clear resin, so
when you roll it it looks likethe dice or the ships are around
in space.
And I also made a set of diceusing the sawdust from some
(21:39):
walnut that he had for like 25years, that we got milled a long
time ago, and he was using itto make a mantle and I was like,
oh, this sawdust looks cool.
And I filled a cup with it andI put it in dice and he was, oh
yeah, I do really cool work, dad.
It's been a lot of me justbeing very confident in myself
and realizing that this justbrings me so much joy that I
actually just don't care whatpretty much anyone thinks at
(22:02):
this point.
Tanner Welsch (22:02):
For sure.
What would you say you lovemost about your new reality as a
dice maker?
Lauren Schipper (22:08):
I definitely.
I love getting to create thingswith my hands.
I always thought that, you know, I was going to find the most
fulfillment with helping people.
I'm just helping my people in adifferent way now.
I'm helping them get the exactset of dice that they've always
wanted to find but couldn't find.
I love the creative aspect ofthey come to me with an idea and
then I turn it into a designand then I make it into dice and
(22:31):
then I send them the picturesor the video of it and they're
always it's amazing.
But yeah, it's just, I lovecreating things with my hands.
I love thinking up somethingand then seeing it come to
fruition and getting to do justdifferent things all the time.
Tanner Welsch (22:46):
What did you learn as a PT in the rehab
career that you apply to yournew career as a Dice Maker?
Lauren Schipper (22:53):
I've been thinking about this because
there's not a ton of overlapbetween the two.
There's a lot of asking peoplequestions to clarify exactly
what their pain.
Okay, is it like this?
Is it sharp?
Is it stabbing?
Is it here?
Is it when you do this?
Is it when you do that?
Does it get better when you dothis?
And for me there's a lot ofokay, what do you want?
Do you mean this?
Do you mean that?
When you say a color, do youwant it to look like this?
Do you want to look like that?
(23:13):
Do you want this?
It's a lot of putting thingstogether into a whole, but I
think most importantly is for meas a content creator, because I
mean, I am a dice maker but alot of what I do is content
creation.
I have to make videos thatpeople want to watch, to, then
want to buy my stuff, whichmeans that I have to do
voiceover all the time and Ihave to think of something to
(23:34):
say for two videos every day onTikTok Well, four days a week on
TikTok and then I use thosevideos for every day on
everything else.
And I think that PT thing thatyou get, where you just have to
learn how to talk to people, dosmall talk and sound cheery, no
matter what's going on.
That kind of element I think Iactually use a lot.
Tanner Welsch (23:54):
Yeah, those interpersonal skills for sure.
Yeah.
What would you say is obviousto you now that you struggled to
see in the moment?
They always say you knowhindsight's 20-20.
But what's obvious to you nowthat you struggle to see getting
to where you are when you areworking as a physical therapist?
Lauren Schipper (24:09):
That I'm just an art kid.
I think I've always been meantto do art when I was working
until 9 pm at night and Icouldn't even come home and like
cook, which I now realize islike creating something with my
hands and having like a tangibleproduct.
That's what put me down ofreally hating that job is I
couldn't create anything.
I had no time, and once I got adifferent job and I was able to
(24:30):
start cooking again, I was ableto start doing my hobbies again
, like crochet.
Downstairs I have three crochetprojects and a needlepoint
project going on right now.
I am always making somethingwith my hands and I think I
should have just admitted thatto myself a long time ago, my
senior year of high school, Icould have had more free periods
, but instead I took 10 periodsof art.
I took ceramics and black andwhite photography and my friends
(24:50):
were like you could come hangout with us.
I was like, no, no, I need togo throw some ceramics right now
.
This is what I want to be doing.
So, yeah, but I mean, when yougrow up in, it's not a high
pressure situation.
I did go to a private school forhigh school, so then, of course
, you go off to college and thenyou find your career, and then
you go to grad school for thatcareer, and then your parents
are doctors.
So you're supposed to besomething too.
It's just you follow the paththat seems like the right one,
(25:13):
because you don't become aprofessional artist.
That's not a thing.
Dice making is art.
I've come to realize, becausefor a while I was, oh no, I'm
just making dice, I'm making art.
They're just functional art andtiny resin art.
Tanner Welsch (25:24):
It seems like several people in your class at
least a handful of them aredoing these alternative things,
and he's one of them.
He's on episode 30.
Lauren Schipper (25:33):
Oh cool.
I don't know exactly what he'sdoing this day, so I'm gonna
have to go listen to thatbecause he's an MBA star.
Yeah, my husband was going toget got his MBA at the same time
that I was getting my PT degreeand just a few years after he
graduated he was Can I talk toChris about MBA stuff?
And in my head I was like Keith, we just spent all this money
on PT school.
What are you doing?
I get it now, keith.
Tanner Welsch (25:53):
Was Andrea in your class too.
Lauren Schipper (25:55):
Yeah, Andrea was one of my closest friends.
We hung out all the time.
Tanner Welsch (25:58):
Okay, and she's in episode 30.
So, yeah, I thought that waswow.
There's like a group of youguys that were just definitely
not going the traditional routeand doing your own thing, so I
thought that was pretty sweet.
Lauren Schipper (26:10):
Yeah, I love how Andrea came into it with
just realizing that she lovedknitting and then being like, oh
, I can do some ergonomics tips,and then just running with that
and I refer people, crafters toher stuff all the time because
they're like oh, my hands hurtwhen I'm crocheting or when I'm
sanding dice and I was like go,go, go, go, look at everything
she makes.
Tanner Welsch (26:29):
Right, I believe we're ready to close.
Do you have any bookrecommendations or advice for?
You know, those that are in therehab field but maybe want to
do something like what you did.
They want to start a hobby, orthey have a hobby and want to
take it full time.
What are some tips or adviceyou got for them?
Lauren Schipper (26:46):
Absolutely.
I have no book advice.
I have two small children, I donot have time to read.
But turning a hobby into yourprofession, I almost always say
don't do it, because it doessuck the fun out of it.
This is actually my third hobbythat I've turned into money and
it's the only one that isactually stuck.
I did crocheting and I had anEtsy shop, but as soon as people
(27:07):
started paying me for it, itsucked the fun right out of it.
And I did mini paintingpainting miniatures.
No one apparently wants toactually pay for that and let me
tell you I was really good atit but it's a fluke.
I think that I've been doingthis for so long and I haven't
had any burnout, except for whenI overtly push myself too hard
and work late into the night andstuff like that, and when I
(27:28):
respect myself as a person whois more than just my job.
This is just such a joyfulcareer.
So I think, knowing that youlike, love your hobby, maybe
stick your toes and get an Etsyshop.
Etsy's fees are ridiculous, butit is a great way to dip your
toes into.
Do I actually still enjoy thiswhen people pay me for it, and I
think that's the the biggestthing, because if you feel like,
oh, this isn't fun anymore,don't, don't do it.
(27:50):
Don't do it, because forcingyourself to craft which should
be done with love and joy,forcing yourself to craft which
should be done with love and joyis just so, so soul sucking.
I feel so incredibly lucky thatI am able to do this and I
still work in the eveningsometimes if I feel like I
haven't gotten enough done, butit doesn't feel soul sucking
anymore.
So I just happened to havefound the perfect combination of
me and this craft that justseems to work.
(28:13):
So, basically, don't force it.
Tanner Welsch (28:15):
Yeah, for sure.
I love how you tried and testedsome things out and just kept
going and didn't give up, forsure.
So little closing remarks here.
Staying in a profession thatdoesn't align with one's true
passion can hinder our personalgrowth and overall well-being,
and our call to action is, Iwould say, to reflect on our
current career satisfaction andflexibility.
(28:37):
Are we pursuing a path thataligns with our passions?
If not, it's time to explorealternative career options that
offer both fulfillment,flexibility, align with our
values.
The journey to a moresatisfying and flexible career
may require stepping out ofconventional paths, but the
rewards are well worth the leap.
Lauren, thank you so much forcoming on the show and sharing
(29:01):
your journey.
It's been a pleasure.
Lauren Schipper (29:03):
Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
Tanner Welsch (29:05):
Anytime.
Intro (29:06):
Thank you for listening to the Rehab Rebels podcast.
If this podcast was useful,make sure to hit that subscribe
button and leave a review.
For more information abouttransitioning to alternative
careers, head to rehabrebelsorgor follow us on Instagram at
rehabrebelspodcast.
We'll see you next time.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!