What I Learned After Taking One Month Off

Welcome to pelvis podcast. I'm Dr. Kelly Alhui. I've grown my pelvic health practice, orthopelic physical therapy, and now I'm helping pelvic health professionals do the same. Each week I give you the knowledge you need to grow your practice. Let's get into today's episode.

This is Hannah, content producer for the Pelviz Podcast. As we get started with another episode of the Pelviz podcast, I like to take a moment to highlight our sponsor, Jane. Jane is a complete practice management software that makes it easy to book, chart, bill and get paid online. The team at Jane knows that getting paid is one of, if not the most important parts of running your practice. With that in mind, they created a fully integrated PCI compliant payment solution called Jane Payments that makes for a convenient online payment experience for you and your patients. With Jan Payments, you can collect credit card info through your online booking or intake forms, send one click payment request emails or SMS for outstanding balances and you'll never need to leave Jane to reconcile payments. Curious to learn more? Head to Jane App Payments. You can also use the Codebiz Onemo at the time of sign up for a one month grace period on your new Jane account. A small gift from Jane to you. Now let's get started with today's episode.

Today we're going to talk about me taking a month off and why you should take a month off and the benefits to it. So let's just get right into it. So before I left to take a month off, I honestly was nervous about how it would go. I knew I could trust my team 100%. But for me it was more about could I trust my own boundaries that I set for myself to stay away, which means not attending the meetings that we have, just not answering any problems. That was something that I didn't know if I could do because I love solving problems and I love being the visionary and helping orthopelvic get to the next level. And I just didn't know for a month if I could step away from that because I haven't. And until that moment, you know, just thinking about Orthopelvic every single day for the last three to four years, I just been thinking about it. So for me this was a major, major step to not be on my voxer and not be at the meetings to know what's going on and just say, you know what, throwing my hands in the air, we're hoping for the best and staying away. And I was able, I have to say I was able to do it. I was able to, you know, stay away. And that was something that was a big, big, big feat. For those of you that may be the Type A, that may be like, I have to have control. This is something that would be like the top of the mountain for you. It's something that is truly very hard to achieve. I don't know. I don't know if I know any other therapists that have stepped away like this and done this, because it is a massive feat. So many things have to be in place and to do that and it can happen. You just got to have the right systems. But there's a lot of stuff that has to be in order before you step back. So that was pretty cool. So the first two weeks came. My husband came out with me, my dog came out with me, and it was just. It was amazing. We went to explore different places, look around different areas, all the way from Huntington Beach, Irvine, Orange county, all the way down to, like, San Clemente and then down to San Diego. So we were just exploring, seeing it was just amazing, Just living it up. I also did a lot of yoga. I found this yoga studio in San Diego called. I think it's called Trilogy or Trilogy. No, Trilogy. I always want to call it Trilogy, but Trilogy. And if you guys are in San Diego, check them out. They have like a dome on the roof. They do aerial silks for those that don't know. When I was in grad school, I took four years plus, even after grad school of Ariel silks. And I used to drop 30ft from ceilings and just hopefully that ribbon would catch me. So I was really into it. And then the studio had it. So it brought back all the fun memories of just being, you know, silly again and just doing, you know, flipping upside down and just letting go and hope the silk catches you. So that was pretty cool. And to see and do also just yoga on the beach, it's just been a dream of mine. It's been on my vision board for a long time. And that's just something that I've really. It brings me so much peace to do that. So I really utilize that opportunity to get involved in the community and connect with people. And I have to say, everyone in San Diego, they're such friendly people. They say hi to you. Compared to here in Northern Virginia. No offense, but that's just what they are. They're just. They take time. Everyone's off by like 3:00' clock so they can watch the sunset and go to dinner. It's Just a different atmosphere than it is where I currently live. And I absolutely love the vibe of it, for sure. Let me go back to the first week when I was in California. There was an opportunity that was presented to me to go to Vegas during that time period and meet with eight figure company owners that just were killing it in the game. And it was going to be a breakfast with these people. And to me, this was my shot to get in these big rooms, to have these connections. And I talked to my husband, I talked to my coach and I just said, hey, should I do this? And both of them were like, Kelly, you just did a lot to put everything in place for take time for yourself. But my mentality was still, how can I keep progressing in my time off? Right? My mentality was still kind of in go mode. But I took their advice and I listened and I was like, okay, no, I'm just going to let this opportunity go by, which normally is very hard for me. I take the opportunity, I take my shot when it comes. And I felt like that was my shot, but I let it go and I just kept focusing on myself, Kept focusing on myself. That was the goal of this trip. And so I stayed focused. So that was another win that I was super proud of that I didn't put business stuff before my own self. And that's massive. And that that may be some of you listening to this and that may be some of you not listening to this. You may be like, kelly, look, I take care of myself. I'm good. For me, it's more about boundaries. And I'll do anything for anyone pretty much especially if I see that there's going to be progress that's going to be made on the other side of whatever that may be then I love to help people out. So I tend to do that. And then taking care of myself, which is something I continue to work on and continue to put boundaries in place for. So those are just like really big, big wins, I feel like. And then, you know, the other thing is during this first two weeks, I just truly felt like myself again. For those people that don't know, I moved to Northern Virginia because my husband's dad is sick. And we've been here helping him out and taking care of him. And it's just always been a place. And we came from California, so we came from Irvine, California to here. And it's just always been this place that I've always felt like I haven't belonged here. And the fact that I don't know it's Just the people, the environment. It's very work heavy. People here work till 9 o' clock at night. Many people just don't have the time to hang out or be friendly. I don't know. For me, I love to hang out with people. I love to talk with people. I love to be with people. And that's more my vibe that I'm finding in California where people actually want to, you know, do stuff. And I felt like when I was back in California that, you know, I was able to do my yoga that I like and, you know, go shopping and talk with people and just wear bright colors, which may sound so stupid, but when you wear bright colors, you're happier. It's sunnier, right? Like, that's. To me, it was a sign of, like, wow. Like, this is truly, truly my place. Getting out and just going for a walk because it's sunny and not snowing or not freezing cold. It was still cold, still had my winter jacket on there. But I was able to tolerate it without your body just tensing up and all your muscles, like, gripping around your spine. So it was just truly amazing. And it made me be way more present. Way, way, way more present. Like, I was just smelling the air, the fishy air that the sea lions brought, I was smelling because in La Jolla, that's where all the sea lions are. You know, I was able to just take in the mountain views and just hear the ocean and just simple stuff. I just was so much more grateful for being able to just walk outside or go out on a walk to an organic food place. Like, I just was so thankful for that. And I truly felt like it was. It was a month to have my body heal, which I've had this chronic face infection for over a year now of staff. And I truly felt that it was my time and my place to just heal my body. And I definitely believe, you know, it's not gone, but I definitely believe it's something that was super, super helpful and beneficial. So that's, you know, that's another big win. So those are the first two weeks. Then my husband flew back because he ran out of pto, so he had to go back with Lulu. Then the third week, I put on a event for csm. So CSM was in town, it was in San Diego, and I put on a big event for all pelvic health therapists that were practice owners and that were also students. So the deal was I connected with Amanda Olson, that's in charge of intimate rose, that found an intimate rose hooked on with her, she was giving a talk and she's like, kelly, can you help me out of the booth? And I'm like, hey, no problem. And so I was at her booth for probably like four hours, three to four hours, helping her partner, Aaron, you know, promote Intimate Rose. I love the product. We've used the product in clinic for years and years. So I said, why not? I'll help you out. So, guys, number one, this is a massive point about collaboration. Help other people out, Help other people promote their businesses. I was happy to help Intimate Rose promote their business because I believe in the company. And, you know, you can't be fake about it. You have to believe in the product or the company or whatever else. But I was happy to stand in that booth. I love talking to people, so I got to talk to people about the products that I love and why it's helpful and why they should use the products. And it really opened their eyes. And the expressions that I got to see on their faces, I was like, guys, we got to record these expressions. And you guys got to put this on your Instagram because these are freaking epic expressions when people are like rectal dilators. Ha ha ha. Or, you know, vaginal weights. What? Like, just the faces were hilarious. So next year I may even just go if Amanda would have me stand there and just film people's faces, because it was. It was funny. It was really funny. But it was amazing to help them out. And so then we threw a party that night for Pelpe Biz and Intimate Rose. We tag teamed the party at a place called Puestos downtown. So we rented out pretty much the whole restaurant and I had a private dinner for Mastermind ahead of time from 7 to 8. So those people, my mastermind, we just got to connect and live it up, which we love to do. And then after that, the party was from 8 to 9:30. We had over 100 people attend on the party there. We had food, drinks, all the things. People got to connect with each other. They got to learn about other people, they got to learn what they were doing. They got to exchange phone numbers and just build the freaking community on what they do, what this other person does, and then how they can collaborate. It was a prime example of what Amanda and I did previously that day with her booth and how we could help each other. And the more that we can all come together, this is the Pelvibiz movement for real. The more that we can all come together and be able to collaborate and help each other out and not get jealous and not get envious, not think that there are competitors. That is not the case. When we can come together and build each other up and promote each other, your company will grow, the other person's company will grow. This is so hard for healthcare professionals to think this way, but the reality is the more that we keep collaborating, the more we're all going to rise together. That's just it. So I'm hoping by spreading this movement about Pelviz and us pelvic health therapists like we are, we are a tight knit group. Why don't we show the world, why don't we show the healthcare community that together we can rise together and be able to uplift each other and support each other, like that's what we should do. Because we have such a deeper connection, I believe. And most of us are women, not all of us, but most of us in this community are women. And I feel like as women uplifting each other is so, so powerful. It's so, so meaningful. So that's something, you know, I think is a big, big deal. And that's what I'm going to continue to push forward for the next 20 something years with this mission of Pelvibiz to really, truly help so many pelvic floor therapists be able to make more money, be able to be healthy while doing it and connect with a community that's unlike anything else. So that leads me into mastermind. After that event, then I immediately had mastermind. So for those who don't know, Pelvis has a Mastermind. It's over 20, 20 practice owners and there are all women. So we come together every other Tuesday and basically we talk about our problems that we have. And it's not just business, it's not just life, it's not just relationships, it's all of it. So how can we make having kids if you do have kids, if you don't have kids, that's fine too. Having a marriage, how do you make that work if you don't have marriage? How to handle a boyfriend, Also how to handle business stuff. Whether or not it's just you or the solo provider or whether or not you have a team, how to manage the team. These are all things that we go over in Pelvibiz and together it's truly amazing to see all of us come together and be like, how are we going to support each other through these hard times and be able to uplift so that everything grows. The best thing about it is we all get it. We all are on the same Level. No matter if someone has like, you know, a six figure practice plus or if, no matter if someone's just starting out. We have the wide variety of range in Mastermind. We have people that are just starting out and they have no patience. And we have people that have, you know, many people on staff, six or seven people on staff. It's a wide variety. But the same problems that you have when you're just starting out, you still have when you're, when you have a team, they just maybe look a little bit differently or may have to tweak it a little bit differently. Still same problems. You still need more patience. You still need how to know how to market and sell it. They're the same problems. Okay, but it may just be a small tweak. So anyways, we all come together and support each other like no one's business. The best feeling, I can say one of the. One of the best. I shouldn't say the best, but the one of the best feelings that I felt on this trip was being with my Mastermind people. My mastermind people are my freaking people. They get it. They get what it's like to be an entrepreneur. They get what it's like to go through all the heartache. But why? Because the moments that are good, like this trip for a month, are so good that you would never go back to the state for working for someone else. You just won't. And for those of you that like, really don't know what it's like to do something epic, go do something epic for one hour if that's all you can afford. Go do something epic for one day if that's all you can afford. Literally before this trip, number one, seven years ago, my husband and I decided to go to San Diego because every year we're going to take one trip because that's what we all we could afford. We went to San Diego for three days, we absolutely loved it. And then two years ago, we went back for one week and I didn't pay for it. My business mentor paid for it because I still wasn't able unsure if I could pay for that yet. Okay. It was a gifted to me. After that one week, I was able to see the vision that, you know what, why can't I do this for a month? If I did this for a week, why can't I do this for a month? And that vision is what kept pushing me to drive, to keep doing more and keep growing and work on my weaknesses so that my weaknesses then become my strengths and go through all the pain that it takes to, you know, get there. And I'm not talking about the hustle phase, guys. I've done that. The hustle phase is surpassed. That was, you know, a couple years ago. I'm talking about just the mental toughness that it takes to sustain running a business about problems that you have to solve. That's what I'm talking about here. The mental toughness when there's those hard days that you're like, is this worth it? Is this truly worth it? Yes, it's freaking worth it. I can tell you this after a month, after being here for a month, it's so worth it. So the next. So this past year, that's when I was like, hey, I'm doing it for a month here, here I go and I'm going to do it. And I did it. I literally did it. And now my brain's going, okay, why can't I do this for a year? That's the next step. Why can't I do this for a year? And that's going to happen too. Because there's the vision. I put the vision in place and I said it out loud. I really said that. Big vision out loud. And you can do that. This is what I also want to drive home. The point to as well is guys, you can have a practice for those people that want time, freedom and be able to travel anywhere. You can have a practice in one state, you can move across the country and live in another state and still have that practice run. It's doable. You can go anywhere you want in the, in the frickin US or world and still have that practice run. You just have to have the systems in place. So for those people are like, oh, I want to go online. Everyone now wants to go online. Online, online, online. Great. You can do that. It's harder to get started online, I'm just telling you right now. But it's doable. Yes. But with that being said, I think so many people want to go online because I truly believe that's the only way to have flexibility. But I'm here to tell you that's not the case. That is not the case. And I am not anyone special. I'm not Kelly Alhuey that just gets what she wants. Like that's not it. I've heard this from people. That's not the case. I don't get what I want. What happens is I dream about it, I think about it, I come up with an action plan, I take action on the plan and then I just do the thing, I just do it. No matter how uncomfortable it is, no matter how painful it is, I just do the thing. And every single day, I just take one small step forward to just do the thing. That's it. And that overall gets you the result. But most of us are focused on 20 other different things. Doing this, this, and this. Taking every con Ed course possible that's actually distracting you from what you should be doing, because it's easier for you to do that. I'm just telling the truth. It's easier for you to do that. Instead. Put that one hard thing or that one big goal on your phone every single day. Look at it every single day. I have. I literally have California on my phone every single day. I look at that thing probably 56 times a day. And when it gets hard, I look back at that phone and go, this is why I'm doing it. This is why. So for those that, like, don't have the vision, you've got to have the vision first. And the pain's got to be deep enough, and the why's got to be big enough so that it drives you to keep going. If you don't know that on those hard days, you're going to be like, I don't think this is worth it. I'm going to give up. Don't do it. Don't do it. And then lastly, I want to talk about, you know, my friends coming in town, my best friends from college coming in town. I haven't seen them in forever. They both have kids and, you know, we haven't connected in a while because just life happens. I've been busy with, you know, building businesses, and they've been busy with kids, and it's just so interesting to re. Hang out with them again. It brings back all the. The silliness and the joy and the no responsibilities that we used to have back in the day when we were in college that all we talked about is we just wanted to look cute and wear something cute out on our night out. You know, like, that was the goal. So it brings back that playfulness and just joy, which is. Which was so fun. And it also made me realize this. You know, we can be in two different points of our life. They're focused on their kids. That's all that they are, you know, wanting to talk about, which I get. Their kids are everything. I get that. And for me, you know, I'm. I was just listening to really what they had to say about, you know, their struggles that they're facing and the different things of like taking the kids here, there, everywhere. But then like, if someone gets sick, they have to. It's stressful for them because I got to figure out what parent has time off. And I was just, you know, really processing this. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to come across like I knew everything because I don't at all. But, you know, it just made me think of like, I just wanted to help them and be able to say, you know what, There's a solution to this. And I think both of them think, well, I really love this thing. I don't want to give it up for my, you know, and then have to be home with my kids or whatever else. But the reality is they could still do the thing but not have to be stressed about taking time off when the kids get sick for work. Again, I didn't go into it with them, but if they were their own boss or even if they weren't their own boss and learned how to actually use their time wiser and even if they just work part time and rest about taking time off when the kids get sick for work again, I didn't go into it with them. But if they were their own boss or even if they weren't their own boss and learned how to actually use their time wiser and even if they just work part time and there was ways that they could make other things work, that they could have that reality with their kids and not be stressed about that time taken off. And it was just, it was a realization that to me, it showed me a growth moment. I do not have kids, but it showed me personally a growth moment of. I'm just so thankful that I've been able to figure out this game of life somewhat right? I don't have all the answers that I've been able to learn how to get my time back and be able to use it in the most efficient way possible without the fear of not doing something that I love and also thinking that I need to sacrifice many different things to do the thing that I love. That's not the case. Yes, there are some sacrifices, but I don't have to sacrifice, you know, if I had kids, but my kids for my job or vice versa type thing. So I just think it's really interesting and I was just really grateful. I was really grateful to listen to them and hear them and understand where they're coming from and understand that that is the traditional way. They're both in the healthcare field, so I get them and that's the traditional way that we're just taught in school that do this thing, and this is what life's going to be like for you. And it just doesn't have to work that way anymore. There's so many other tips, tricks, and everything that we have that it just doesn't have to be that way. That was also a learning lesson of, like, how much growth in general. I've been able to see the world in a little bit different light to, I think, work at it more efficiently and do things a little bit differently. That's given me a little bit different results. And it was just fascinating to have that aha moment. Another aha moment that I had was when my husband was out and he was like, wow, this is really what retirement looks like. And if people that don't know, my husband is very quiet, he doesn't say much. And when my husband says something, it is a moment. Normally when he says things because he doesn't say much. So it was a moment for both of us. I think it was a moment for him realizing that he always sees all the hard work behind the scenes, all the stuff that it takes to do what we do, and he never really gets to see the benefit. He doesn't understand why I do this. You know, if it was him, he would just give up and be like, why would you have to put up with people, you know, saying these certain things or doing these certain things? Like, that just doesn't seem right. But what he experienced the two weeks he was there, he was like, I get it. I get the deeper why now. You know, he truly experienced why it was all worth it. And him not being an entrepreneur and him seeing why it's all worth was definitely a moment of thankfulness, gratitude, just. It was a big aha moment for both of us to realize, this is exactly why I do what I do. Number one, I love it. And number two, using the business. I think it's very important. This is a very important lesson. Using the business to get to the goal that you want, rather than the business dragging you and the business controlling your life. The first one or two years at Orthopelvic, the business has controlled my life completely. I'm just being. This is a very real, honest podcast, guys. So it has run me. The Orthopelvic is doing this. I feel this because Orthopelvic is doing bad, or I feel this because Orthopelvic is doing good. So when Orthopelvic is doing good, I'm real happy. When Orthopelvic's doing bad, I'm not happy. Or if something goes wrong with an employee or something, whatever, right? But I've realized through therapy that I have to disassociate my business. And Kelly Alhui, Orthopelvic is a business. Kelly Alhui is a whole separate entity. Kelly Alhui is not happy based on how orthopelvic is doing. Kelly Alhui has to be independent of orthopelvic because if orthopelvic goes down the drain, that is not based on who Kelly Alhui is. And if you're always associating yourself with you being the business and the business running you and the outcomes of the business start to go bad, your confidence will go down, your self esteem will go down, your mindset will go down. Oh, I can't do it. You're going to go in scarcity mindset and you will pull back and your business will then continue to go down. Instead, you have to look at yourself independently and say, no, I'm this person. I believe in myself. I believe that I can do this. I believe that orthopelvic can do this. In some cases, you just have to take the leap of faith and believe that you can do something. You gotta believe in yourself and how you believe in yourself is doing small things every single day to prove to yourself, have evidence that you can actually do the thing. So every single day, I do small wins and I prove to myself, can I go to bed on time? Promise myself that, can I go to bed on time? Can I take this medicine that I have to take every single day on time, like, that's small proof. When I do it, I'm like, yay, I. I won today. I took my medicine. That is a small win. That may not be a big win to you, but that's a big win for me. And the fact that I said I'm going to do something and I did it. And every single day I tell myself I'm going to do things and I freaking do it. I told myself, today I'm going to make this podcast today. What am I doing making this podcast today? I literally just got off a long flight back here. And, you know, that's why my voice made me a little bit different today. But I'm a little tired. But the reason why I promised myself I was going to do this. So guess what? I'm proving myself. I can do it. So every single day, what are you going to do? Prove to yourself that you can do things, but also not get lost, that you are your business and not be on those high highs when your business is, like, on top of the mountain. And not be on those lows. Lows on the business. You're just like, no one's calling me. No one's, you know, coming in. Like, you know all the things, right? So what are we going to do? Like, how are you going to keep proving to yourself that you can make everything work the way that you want it and dream so big? Like, this whole month off was a year ago. I literally planned this. And I said, actually, probably over a year ago, I said, I'm going to take a month off in my favorite place. And the reason why it happened is not by any chance. Not by, like, oh, well, maybe. No. Every single thing that I did this past year aligned with taking a month off, getting massive systems in place, getting staff to be on board, getting, like, everything in order to make things happen. And literally the week before I left, guys, I had a biopsy on my face that potentially we thought was either lupus or cancer and which could have sabotaged me okay to not go. But I said, I don't care if I freaking have cancer. I am going to California and I'll find a doctor there that will treat me there, okay? And then on top of that, we had shit leaking from our ceiling, from the colonoscopy place above us, literally four days before I left. Oh. And then on top of that, my credit card for the business got hacked and had fraudulent charges, so I had no credit card for the business within two days. I had to get back. I had to get them to emergency ship it here so we can at least have a credit card on file so that the business could run and we can order things. I mean, literally, I was like, am I gonna go? No, I'm going. Am I gonna go? Am I gonna go? Like, it was. It was like, down to the wire of, is this going to happen? And I didn't believe it until I was on the plane, literally, in California when I landed, saying, holy shit, I'm here. Like, literally. So I need you guys to dream big. And if you can't dream that. That big, then you have to go experience something so that you can dream that big. So again, for me, because I couldn't take a month off a couple years ago, what could I do instead? Could I just go sit by a beach and pretend that I live there for a day, for a minute? Yes, I could. I could afford to do that. Could I take three days and go on a vacation there? Yes, I could afford to do that couldn't take longer than that, but I could afford it. Did I own the house that I was sitting outside of? No, but I could afford to sit outside the house and say, I'm going to have this house one day. I'm going to live here one day. I could do that. So these are things that you can do. And then, look, if you can't even travel, go buy a local house around you. Go to an area that has an expensive shopping mall. Go somewhere that you want to be like those people. If you want to be like a hiker, go to Colorado and hang out with the hikers. I don't know. Go do something that is like what you want to be and what you want to live because that will give you the motivation to just go do the thing. I just think it was just such an amazing trip and I really want every single person to be able to take time for themselves to do this because there's just so many big lessons that have been pulled out of this triple that I'll continue to talk about. But these are the main ones that I feel like stood out. And hopefully you guys got a little bit of encouragement to do the thing and just go for it because it was an epic feat. I highly recommend doing it. I'm 100% going to do it again. And there will be more California coming. That's what I can say about that. There will be more California coming. So can't wait till next time. Bye, guys. I consider myself a business and life coach. Are you ready to live the life of your dreams as an entrepreneur? If so, let's chat. See the episode notes below and go ahead and book a call. See you all next week.