From Scraping By With Multiple Jobs to Building Your Own Private Practice with Dr. Loren Carver

Hi, welcome to the Pelby Biz Podcast. Are you a pelvic health PT or ot struggling to start your own practice? This podcast helps pelvic health PTs and OTs get out of debt, gain the income they desire, be able to treat patients without insurance restraints, and learn how to create time freedom for yourself and your family. I'm your host, Dr. Kelly Alhui, founder of Ortho Pelvic Physical Therapy, Pelvic health business grower and Pelvi Biz. Over the last two years, I went from a solo entrepreneur to a seven person team in counting. I'm here to help provide a clear path to grow your pelvic health business as fast as possible so that you can gain the time freedom, decrease debt, increase income and live the life that you desire. Before we get started today, make sure you click the link in our bio to grab your ticket for pelvi Biz.

Now let's get into today's episode. Welcome guys to Pelle Biz Podcast. I'm your host, Kelly Alhui. Today I have a very special guest with me. She is in my mastermind. She's joined Pelvibiz as well. Welcome Lauren.

Thanks, Kelly. I appreciate you having me on.

Yeah, super excited. Can you go ahead and tell people who you are and where they can actually find your place?

So My name is Dr. Lauren Carver. I'm a pelvic floor specialist. I live in like north Atlanta, metro Atlanta. My practice is currently in Canton, Georgia. You can find me on Instagram. I'm Barbell Pelvic rehab and I'm Also my website, barbellpelvicrehab.com I treat in clinic and I also treat virtually.

Nice. Awesome. And guys, funny backstory. I'm just gonna give this how Lauren and I kind of knew of each other was her husband Jason. He used to do these mountain challenges in Kennesaw and I'm from Atlanta and I'm from that area and I used to actually join in on them when I was in town because I was traveling. I think back and forth, but it's such a small world. And then Lauren came into his world and I'm like, oh, he has a new friend. And then you guys got married. Yeah. And then. Yeah, it was just such a small world. And now she's a pelvic health therapist and. Yeah, and we just, you know, connected online and the rest history, right? Yeah, it's so cool.

I actually had no idea that we had any mutual friends because I had been following you on Instagram for a while and then one of my friends was like, oh yeah. So this girl that I went to school with before, she has this pelvic floor business and it's amazing. I'm like, I think I follow her. This is crazy. So very small world.

Yep, small world. And shows that we are all connected. So guys, I really wanted to bring Lauren on because she has such an inspiring story and we're going to get into it. So I want to start with Lauren. Lauren, you were working full time at a job, right. And she had multiple jobs. And my question was to Lauren is why did we have multiple jobs? Can you tell us how you handled a job plus these PRN positions? How did that work and why did you choose to do that?

Yeah, well, going into the field of physical therapy, you don't really realize what you're getting yourself into. Or at least I didn't as far as the amount of debt that I had and the income that I was making. And I had been kind of a full, just a full time PT with a private school student loan situation going on.

So. Me too.

I was, when I first started, I was like struggling just to pay rent and pay my bills and pay my loan payment and live by myself. And it just didn't seem like it was the expectation that I was, that I had for when I would graduate. So my husband and I got married a couple years into me being a PT and we decided that we wanted to hit our debt and kind of clear our debt, be totally debt free. And we knew that that was going to come with a big cost of making sure a time cost essentially. So trading our time for money. And we, amazing, we did it. It was a lot of work. I had multiple jobs, I had my full time job. I was working PRN at a hospital. So just having to really kind of spread yourself thin just to make it was really frustrating. And so I knew that there had to be a better way. But the transition of making it to the possible better way was scary. Very scary.

Yeah. And so what she's talking about, guys, is making that transition to leaving a job that she thought was actually giving her what she wanted to pay off her debt. But it was, but it was at the cost of time relationship because she, you know, it's hard to hang out with someone when you don't have any time and it's at the cost of her own health, like just in general because, you know, all those hours putting in. I can so relate to this because this is my story too, Lauren. I mean it's the same exact story trying to pay off that student loan debt. No one tells us that, oh, you're just going to make 62K. And, you know, I don't know how much coming out of school.

Yeah, 62.5.

Yeah. 62k with $200,000 student loan debt. How much did you have, Lauren?

It wasn't that much. It was under 100,000. But I also was very lucky. I did scholarship pageant. I did Miss America. So they helped pay for some. My father helped pay for some. So I was really just mostly graduates or doctor doctorate program loan. But still, it was a lot. And it was getting in the way of the future that I wanted.

Yeah, no, and it's. And it's so huge. So then, Lauren, okay, so you're working these multiple jobs. When did you start to be like, you know what? This is not the path for me, and there's gotta be a different way.

Honestly, probably two years into me being a physical therapist, I had told my husband, Jason, I'm like, listen, I want to run my own business. But I honestly wasn't sure I could actually do it. I didn't know if I had enough belief in myself. And then the other issue is that as a physical therapist, you're taught to be a. You're taught to work, you're taught to do one thing. And so I was scared that I wasn't going to be able to do all the other aspects. I didn't have the resources or the education to be able to kind of fulfill that.

Yeah. So fear was your biggest thing of, hey, I've never been taught this. No one showed me this, especially in school. You're right. They just teach us guys one thing of just treating patients. That's it.

Yeah.

And they don't teach us any other thing except for that. And that gets us nowhere. That just gets us on the rat race of just trying to pay our student loan debt or just trying to make income just to live another week. And that truly, especially in 2022, with all the rising costs, that is not going to get us anywhere. It's not. It's truly not so. Okay, Lauren, so now you're thinking, okay, I got to do something about this. And so when did you start your practice?

So I will tell you first that for about two years, I felt really stuck. I felt really stuck, like, personally, emotionally. And I felt like this can't be my life. I can't be this pt, working in this, this place or any just regular place forever. So it really came to a point where at the beginning of this Year, I decided to take the leap with your help because you had resources for me. You had ways that I could actually implement on it. And also going to Pellevis, I had also a community of people that were doing the same thing. So it really showed you what was. And before, I think I was just so scared. I was scared of leaving, like, a stable job for something else. You know, I was the. I was the one who had the health insurance for my husband and I. My husband and his brother, also entrepreneurs. And so I had that big weight of the health insurance. But at the. Yeah, let's see, it's been officially three months, I think, since I've been in business or taking patients.

Yeah, guys. And she's killing it. We'll get into that in a minute. Okay? But. Okay, so let's talk about that. How did you decide? Because health insurance is a big thing that stops people from actually starting their practice. So how did you decide to be like, okay, screw the health insurance, I'm just going to do this. Like, what conversation did you have to have, if any? Or did you just say, screw it? Like, I'm just going to go for it?

Yeah. So it kind of led up. I know some other people who have private health insurance, and then also other people who are on, like, Christian health ministries. Share. So I was like, okay, I have options. Like, I'm not completely stuck. And I had to have a conversation with my husband. I'm like, I just need your permission to do this. I'm like, I need you to say yes, and I just need to give me your permission. Because if you don't, this could just go on forever. So there are other options out there. And I realized that if I went out on my own and I just saw, you know, seven to eight patients a week, I could, you know, replace my salary. And then if you see one more patient a week or two more patients a month, like, okay, well, there's my health insurance. Like, I think that was a huge tripping point for me personally, because I felt like this weight of me being the one that held the health insurance, where realistically, like, if you do the math and you sit down and you think about it, it's really not that big of a barrier. Even though it seems scary and it seems like it is, it really isn'.

She just nailed it on the head. That's it. You just see one to two more patients a month. That's truly it. And you can replace your salary and some. And pay for your health insurance. I mean, that's it. Guys, don't make it complicated. Right. That's all you've got to do is just. Is just do that. So that's awesome, Lauren. So you got over that barrier. Okay. And then the other thing I'm hearing with Lauren's story is pain. Pain and the fact of she was stuck at this job or at these jobs. Okay, Jobs. Yeah. Multiple jobs. That just wasn't giving her what she wanted and she just needed some guidance. That was it. And pain for Lauren is the driving force. Whether or not she realizes or not it is the driving force of why she's doing what she's doing is because situations in the past have come up that she's like, look, this is not what I want for myself. And she's setting higher standards and saying, no, I'm not going to deal with this. And once she set that and the pain starts to come in and when the pain gets really bad, that's typically when action starts to happen.

Yeah. You kind of get to a point at a dead end where you feel like you can't keep going this direction. And if you keep going this direction, you feel like you're not going to make it. I have to pivot. I have to change. And I just think my happiness and my relationships and just my overall health depend on me making this change. So that's really when I decided to go for it.

Yeah. Okay, so let's go back. So now she's working this full time job. So then what was it like? Can you explain the day of your last day of work? Okay. Now, by the way, I told her like, Lauren, we should just quit all these jobs. She's like, no, no, no, Kelly, I got to keep at least one or two of these things. I'm like, okay, Lauren, but can you explain? Now she's not. She's completely out. But can you explain like that last day or even just having a conversation with your boss of like, hey, I'm leaving?

Yeah. I would have to say that I was just excited to have that conversation because I need. I really wanted to have it for so long.

Yeah.

But honestly, like, I held onto all my jobs for way too long. And I feel like that's a trend with everybody in our mastermind group is that we're like, we're like holding and gripping so hard onto something that is actually holding us back instead of just like releasing it and letting it go. So actually leaving there was surreal because for a long time I thought that I would never leave and I would just be stuck in this situation. So I was so happy. And honestly, just, like, also very scared, but also very happy. Like, I'm like, if I don't have to be here any longer and I have to be in the situation where I'm undervalued and I'm overworked, then this will be worth it. But I think it's that all the other jobs, trying to get rid of all the other jobs, also very scary, because, you know, you stop with one job and your husband's like, okay, like, we have got another one, right? Like, yeah, I'm gonna stop. Also work.

Right? And there goes your safety net. Pretty much, that's what you're thinking, correct.

But here's the thing, is that, you know, once you started start to see patients or you start to build your own business, you kind of realize, like, my time is worth more than, like, a day at this job. Like, you know, I'm like, I could literally see two patients and pretty much make what I was making that full day at the job, or I could be doing something to advance my practice, or I could be spending that time bettering myself, working out, spending time with my husband. So you just kind of realize that, like, your time is not worth that anymore. Like, you've given yourself a raise, and it's, like, no longer good enough.

I mean, amazing. Lauren. Yes. You're given all the jewels today. I love it. Yes. She's so right, guys. She's so right. There's so much more that you can do with your time, and your time becomes even more valuable. And what Lauren is learning and what she's talking about is that she has realized how to leverage her time. She's realized that the value in herself is a lot higher than a job can provide her, and that she's doing it on her own and that she can do whatever she truly dreams of, which is. Which is amazing. And so now Lauren. This brings up the point. So now Lauren's mobile. Okay? She's mobile. And, you know, she's looking for a place. We've been searching for a place for a very long time, and it's hard right now to get some real estate, just find a place to rent around her area. And so, you know, this has been kind of a barrier. You know, how we all have, like, that one thing that kind of just, like, holds us back. This is a little bit of that. Like, if I can't find my place, then it's going to hold me back. But the interesting thing is this. I don't know if she realizes this either, but the Interesting thing is we always thought if she didn't have a place that potentially this would hold her back. But in reality she's still pushing through and pushing through the belief that if I don't have an actual physical location that I am not worthy or I don't have a practice or I can't practice as much or whatever these thoughts are that most of you guys actually have. But she still has been able to push through. And you know, I'm just super proud of you, Lauren, for doing that because most people that are listening to this right now will actually believe that they have to have a physical location to have a practice.

Yeah, I mean the physical location will have a meeting with people tomorrow. So let's just pray that something goes through. But I have a couple of situations where I, I am mobile but I'm also renting rooms from other people on certain days or certain times. So I have, I have a situation that's working for me right now and I still have opportunity to grow but I'm looking forward to the chance to actually have my own space. I was worried that not having a space would make me feel not like legitimate or. So there's a lot of like self talk that went into that. So I totally agree with you there. But I'm at the point where I'm growing and I think I can handle, you know, an actual space and I'm excited to hopefully settle in soon.

She is. We're going to get after it. We're going to get it. It's good. So Lauren, ok, so you found me online, right? And then you joined Pelvibiz. What was your experience like at Pelvibiz? What did you get out of Pelvibiz?

So much so Kelly's really awesome, you guys, and she put on an amazing, amazing event that just really brought together people, essentially informed communities. So I think one of the amazing things is that you could see out of all the people there that everyone was in a little bit different of a place. And some, you know, some people are. There are people that you, you could relate with and then people that were one step above you, people were, that were two steps above you, three steps. And so you could see the actual process in which each stage looked like and you were able to talk to people who were at different stage than you are. And it just kind of gave you a vision of what was possible. And I think honestly that has been like the biggest pearl. Like, yes, the resources and everything. And you give us all the tools to be able to implement and grow our business. But honestly, the biggest shift for me was the mindset shift is like I didn't even realize that this was possible. And then you showed me that and so many other people in the community have showed me that. And so I'm so grateful. Pelvis is amazing. So make sure y' all come.

Yeah, you gotta come. But yeah, I mean, Lauren, you just. That's. That's perfect. Yeah, because it's the people. It's the people that come and it's really that in person experience. You're not going to get the same online, by the way. It's the in person networking when we can all come together and there's not events like this. And so having us all come together is just amazing. And you know, I was looking back at when we were talking And Lauren had five patients, guys, five patients right after pelvis, okay? She had five patients. Now she has around 13 patients a week. 50amonth. 50amonth. So right there, that is massive impact. What she, what she was making at her job, she just replaced it and some. Right. And so that just shows you that you know, whatever you dream of and we're only. This is only the beginning, right, Lauren? It's only the beginning.

Yes.

So we're just getting started here. But basically she. You can replace what you are making at your job and some and be able to live the life. And besides just replacing your income, there's way more to it. Like Lauren was saying is she gets her time back. She's not out there working these hours, that maybe she needed time off and she couldn't take time off. Or if she needs time off, she can take time off. If she needs to, you know, hang out with her husband, she can hang out with her husband. Like whatever Lauren needs, she makes that choice. If she doesn't want to work on Friday, she doesn't have to work want to work on Friday. So there's all these different things that she gets when it comes to her health. She gets to take care of herself now better. She gets to, like I said, get her time back. She gets to make the income that she wants. There's so many things that come from this. When you finally get out of your way and just start believing in yourself, in yourself. Right, Lauren? Yeah.

That's huge. And I feel like I have grown so much just even in these last like two and a half, three months, because I feel like I am. I feel like I'm finally doing something for myself and doing something. I have a very creative mind and so me treating patients for eight hours a day, plus talking for nine hours a day, like, that was very challenging for me. So I am now have, like, other outlets. I can be creative. I can kind of, you know, work my day. However, I know is going to benefit me, you know, and ultimately allow me to treat people better and have better outcomes with my patients. So.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's amazing.

Yeah. And you guys should really check out her Instagram. She does really well with her Instagram, Lauren. So for those people that are, you know, fearful of putting their face even just in the camera, what advice could you give to those people that are just struggling to pull out their phone or even make an Instagram or a TikTok, right. And what advice that you feel like has worked for you that you could give these people?

Well, I think we all have our own things. Like, I'm like, I'm totally cool with being online in person stuff. Like, you know, and some people are good at the opposite, but I think it's just like exposing yourself to it and then just, just keep exposing yourself to it. It's like any other fear situation you're worried about. You know, if you're worried about other people thinking things or commenting, like, there's a lot of fear associated with it. But you just have to start and just know that you're going to get better as time goes on, just like you get better with anything else. And it's okay to not be perfect and it's okay to be wrong. It's okay, like, you just got to start moving the needle forward, one foot in front of the other. That's all.

Yeah. No, and I think the perfect thing is like the number one thing I always tell people is just make your Instagram, make your TikTok. The first thing I want you to do is just say, hi, my name is this and this is my company, and this is what I do. Just saying that can be super, super intimidating for people, which I completely get. But just starting with a video of yourself, people can more than likely talk about themselves more than any other thing. So, you know, just starting with that and, you know, maybe you misspell things. I misspell things all the time. Or maybe, you know, you don't look so cute because you don't have your makeup on. Whatever, make it your own and your own personality will shine, you know, online. But I do think having Lauren does have this online component and she sees clients virtually as well. And I do think it is great to have an in person and virtual have both because that's when you kind of get the best of both worlds. So I do think keeping up with social media is actually very. Is good.

It's also brought a lot of clients and leads to me as well, especially in the surrounding area and virtual as well. So I think it's definitely worth it. The more information you get out there, the more people that see it, the more people that get help and then the more possible clients that you also get and you're able to help even more people. So.

Yeah. And Lauren, people I'm sure are probably going to ask, like, do you batch content? Do you do it every day? How much time do you spend on it? People want to know.

I was before I was kind of doing it just daily. I didn't necessarily have like a really good schedule. I do like batching content just from an energy standpoint. Like, I know I've done it. We're good. I just. The problem with batching content is you have to make sure you like, change your outfits or else you have like 10 posts in a row in the same outfit. So I think I prefer batching. Just like, you know, make sure you like, kind of like change things up a little bit so it doesn't look like you wear the same thing for 10 days.

I didn't think about that because I don't batch, but I didn't think about that. You're right. You're gonna have to go change and then like put on another shirt, do another hairdo, I guess. Yeah.

So that has its own challenges, but just consistency is the biggest thing. So when works for you, that's awesome.

So, Lauren, where do you see yourself going? I mean, give people the vision, your vision, so that they can dream as well. Like, so where do you see yourself going?

Oh, yeah. So I. I would love to have a clinic with maybe a couple of therapists, maybe two locations, and then have a strong online component with, you know, either either a membership site or something similar where I'm able to just help more people. So both that in person and the online aspect is what I see. But it's interesting because that keeps evolving. So I'm very curious how I will feel in a year. The more you achieve or the further you get along in your journey, you think about that. There's so much more possible than you ever dreamed of. And so that shifts as well. So I'm interested to listen to this in a year and see.

Yeah, and that's why I like to do it. Because even. Even just in six months, Lauren, looking back on this is going to be amazing to be like, wow, I was there and this is what I was doing. Because, guys, she's right. You have this path and you should stick to that path for sure. And then once you go along that path, there may be little things that are like, hey, actually, this is really catching my attention and I'm really having fun with this. And I always say, go with what you enjoy, like, for real, and then it may draw you down this path of, you know what I actually really do, like online, you know, or, hey, I actually really do, like half and half. This feels good to me, you know, or I like just teaching and educating, or I like putting on events or whatever it may be right, and it starts to evolve and then you're like, wow, did I when I first started that I ever dream of this? No. But I'm so happy I'm here, you know?

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah. And I want to talk about one more thing, Lauren, before I let you go. So I think time. Time is really important and I think for everyone. And I think the biggest, you know, one of the big takeaways here is that you've been able to make more money and less time and get your time back and build more the life style that you actually wanted to build. And I think you were able to do that because of two things. I think because of pain drove you, and I think you did know that there was something that was needed to be different, but you just didn't know how that had to be. And with guidance and having the right kind of coach, you just were like, you know what? Now I can do this. I got my tools and now I can go. And with the right mindset shift and being surrounded in a really good community that's doing the same kind of thing, I think that was, like the push that just drove everything forward.

Yeah, I would absolutely agree with that. And the biggest thing that I can tell is that I'm working hard. I'm doing a lot of different things. So before I was just treating mostly, and now I'm doing a little bit more admins on social media. So, like, I'm doing different tasks and I may be working, you know, could be working more hours, I don't even know. But I can tell you I'm a lot less stressed out. I'm a lot less burnt out. Like, I have the ability to control my schedule. So, you know, in the stage that I'm at where I don't have an admin, like, it's just me kind of running everything, I think it's still such a fresh air, and I think that's saying a lot.

Yeah. She's got her energy back instead of feeling like, oh, my God, if I go another day, I'm going to, you know, croak. Right? So that's amazing, Lauren. That's so amazing. We cannot wait. I cannot wait to listen to this, even just in six months to a year from now and look back and be like, wow, this is where we're at. So congrats to Lauren, because she's killing it, guys. She's really doing amazing, and I just hope she is an inspiration to all you guys that are thinking about, can I actually leave my job and make this work? And the answer is yes, and it will be better on the other side.

Yes. And I don't know if I would have believed that if somebody told me, but it is. It totally is. Absolutely.

Yeah. Lauren, thank you so much for coming on. And can you one more time drop where people can find you guys? You got to go follow her. So go ahead, drop it.

Yeah. So on Instagram, I'm Barbell B A R B E L L E, as in Bell Pelvic Rehab. And then my Facebook is Barbell Pelvic Rehab as well. I post a lot of my content on my actual private Instagram, which is Lauren Carver, and. Or, excuse me, my private Facebook, which is Lauren Carver. And then on my website, it's Barbell with an E. Pelvic Rehab. Calm.

Nice, guys. And I'll drop it in the show notes as well, so you guys can click those and follow her. So thank you again, Lauren.

Thanks, Kelly. Appreciate it.

If you are ready to change your life, click the link in the show notes to get your ticket to Pelby Biz.

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