Why 2025 Is The Year To Leave Your Job And Become An Entrepreneur!

Welcome to Pelly biz podcast. I'm Dr. Kelly Alkui. I have grown and established brick and mortar practice in Northern Virginia called Ortho Pelvic Physical Therapy and also founded Pelvibiz, which is an online business consulting company that helps health care providers make more money and be healthy while doing it, especially in the pelvic health realm. Today I want to talk to you guys about why 2025 is the year that if you have a feeling that you want to leave your job or you've been thinking about it or you want to do something different, this is the year and this is your sign because you're listening to this podcast. So I've been talking to a lot of you recently, and I hear the same thing over and over and over again. And it had me thinking about where was I at when I was in those similar shoes and what was my thought process like when I was in those shoes? And so when I was potentially thinking about leaving my job, there was a couple things that occurred. Number one, the first thing was, remember it was Christmas time. My dad just got diagnosed with metastatic cancer. And I remember I was new to the company because I just came from California to Virginia. And they were like, well, I remember asking, hey, can I have off for Christmas time? And they were like, no, because you were the newest person on the block. Now, mind you, there's new grads there and whatever else. But because I was a new person to the company, they were like, no, you need to stay and work during Christmas. And I was just like, this is crazy. I don't know if my dad is going to make it two weeks, six months, a year, three years. I didn't know at that time. And I was like, okay, that's kind of strike number one. And then as I started to work for the company more and more, I realized that notes were more important than the patient. They kept getting on to me about making a progress note, doing my notes and finishing them, checking the box on this thing. I mean, it was so annoying. I just couldn't take it. And for those that know me, I'm not like the check the box kind of person. I'm a very creative thinker, outside the box thinker. I thrive when I can just, like, do things differently. If you put me in a box, I don't do well. That's what they were trying to do. And I realized, oh, my God, I cannot treat the patients how I want to because I have to check all these boxes and they want me to focus on the freaking notes. But mind you, I have two patients an hour and the patient's sitting there in the chair looking at me like, are you coming? And I'm like, hold on, I gotta check these boxes so that you can keep coming here. Oh wait, I gotta do this progress note so that visits don't stop and we lose progress. Oh, wait, by the way, you're five minutes late or ten minutes late. Okay, come on, quickly pull your pants down. Let's do an internal exam. Okay, now, bye. Go see my aide. Like, what? Like, and then my aide that has no even experience in exercise is like walking you through the hep, which was like killing my patients. How is this right? Like, it's not right. And I was just like, I did not go to school for this amount of time to treat the patients this way. And it really, really bothered me. I just knew I could do better. And I'm one of those people that if I can do better than what I used to do, or if I have tools and to do things better and I can't use them, then it really bothers me. And it kept getting to me. And then finally, March 2020 hit. And literally like a day before COVID came, I quit my job. Day before COVID And here are the things that were kind of going through my head before I quit. It probably took me about two months to decide, maybe even one and a half that I was going to do it. Besides those two strikes, the notes. And then they wouldn't let me off for Christmas for my father being sick. Number one, I was the only pelvic floor therapist out of 100 orthopedic therapists in this company. This company is a physician owned company and we had tons of therapists, tons of locations. And I was the only pelvic floor therapist in the company. And so I thought, well, if I'm not here, who's going to see these patients? I know some of you guys think that. And the reality is you can see them telehealth. If they need you, you can train someone else. But the reality is it's not your problem. So don't let that hold you back. Most of you guys are going to be like, well, you're going to try to justify in your head, because I did the same thing. Like, I'm the only pelvic floor therapist or I've really developed a connection with these people. I don't want to leave them hanging because we're helpers, we want to help. I'm a big helper. But those patients aren't going to come take care of you when you're sick in your bed because you can't move because you're so sick about the situation that you. That now you're put in, they're not going to take care of you. So why are you, you know, killing yourself for the patients? Like, that's the question you really have to ask yourself. And I'm kind of talking to my past self here, really, and sometimes even current self. But, yeah, like, why? Why are you going to do that? Because we're helpers, probably. That's what you're going to say. But you have to realize that they're actually kind of cock blocking you from building an amazing life. And then your brain's kind of saying, okay, I guess I'll just go with it. Like, don't do that. Don't do it. The other belief I had was like, well, all these other therapists, Because I probably worked about another 15 therapists. They were all orthopedic. And I'm like, these therapists can do it. They can keep up with their notes. They can keep up with a progress note. They can check all the boxes. Why can't I? I was the only one really struggling, like, for real. The boss would always come and yell at me because I couldn't keep up with my notes. And I'm just like, I can't do this. Like, I don't know. My brain doesn't check the boxes. Like, I need to focus on the patients. I can't focus on patients and check these boxes does not work. So that was really, really frustrating. But then I was like, okay, am I just an idiot? Let me keep trying. Because I like, I don't like things that I can't do. So I'm like, okay, I'll just keep trying to prove to them that I can do this. But the reality was my mind and my body were like, get out of here. This model does not work for you. And it didn't. Just like school. School did not work for me the way it is done. And I probably should have realized that way back when, because they put you in a box and they only say, you can think this way, you can do it this way, and that's it. But when you unleash me from the box, there's a lot more that can happen. And the same thing with you guys. Second, your brain is able to just do it the way that you believe is right. You're unstoppable. You're really unstoppable. So, I mean, let me See what else? I think the other thing was, I think, like, okay, I moved five different states. I moved five times in nine years to five different states. And I'm just like, okay, this is the way it is, Kelly. You have to accept that this is the situation that you signed up for for grad school, after grad school. Like, this is what the profession is, and you just need to, like, comply with the profession. And it really kind of, you know, I sat with that, and I was like, okay, do I just do the system? And I did it for eight years. I did the system for eight years. I moved to five different states thinking, it's got to be different. It wasn't. It was not. It was the exact same. In every single state that I lived in, in every single setting that I was in, it was the same exact thing, some worse than others. Skilled nursing. Oh, my gosh. Get those minutes. So. And someone would, like, be dying, and they'd be like, did you get your minutes? Oh, wait, he's dead. I come back and he's dead. I'm like, yeah, I know. We could have not said there. And exercise for an hour. Like, come on. So that was frustrating. And that felt like, not right either. In my gut, you know, we all know everyone's experienced this if you've even worked in these fields. So what else? I realized this as well, that I want to move up to clinical director. But then I realized being a clinical director didn't get me that much more, and it actually gave me more of a headache. So maybe I would stay at my job because I'm gonna get promoted. Well, do I really want to be promoted? I don't know. It's a question for you to ask yourself. What does that truly give you? Different title, but does it truly change your life? Probably not. And the last thing I had was like, oh, well, I'm getting a 401k from this office. Oh, they're paying for my health insurance. I know health insurance is so complicated, so I don't want to. I don't want to go out on my own because then I'm going to have to try to find my health insurance through Marketplace. And that just sounds so complicated, and I just can't do it. It's too overwhelming. I'm not going to leave. I need to stay here because maybe you are having a baby or maybe you're having medical issues or whatever else. And I was having medical issues, by the way. Oh, And I have PTO. I have 15 days PTO. Oh, my gosh. They're giving me 15 days paid time off. I must stay because if I go out on my own, I'm not going to have any of that. Now, you want to know the reality? When you work for yourself, you should be putting $20,000 into a 401 PTO. Well, guess what? When you work for yourself, you can have unlimited pto. Okay, Health insurance. Guess what? Probably not going to use it when you work for yourself. And you're probably not going to use it when you're employed with someone else. And if you do use it, great. But guess what? There's another system. It's called cash. And I know most of us are like, oh, my God, we don't have cash. But okay, but if you go and ask for the cash rate in any service that you need, it will be cheaper than going through your insurance, just FYI. So I tell people, save. If you have medical issues, save 20 to 30% and put it into a separate fund for the times that you need to pay cash for a treatment. And if you do happen to use insurance, then, you know, maybe you're having a baby or maybe, you know, you have a serious medical issue, like, hopefully not, but like cancer or something like that, then you can use the insurance. But other than that, if you pay cash for things, a lot of times it's actually cheaper, guys, it's cheaper. It's just the story that we've been told that you must have all these things and it's going to get you somewhere, and that's just not the case. So I think, you know, as I'm a pt, for those that don't know I'm a pt, I think, you know, we were kind of fed this lie of this is what we should be doing, and it's just not true. And, oh, by the way, you'll come out of school and you'll be a doctor and you're gonna make all this money. Not true. Not true. I worked for. I worked for eight years. Eight or nine years, the highest I ever made was $85,000 after eight or nine years, the highest I ever made. And that was working my tail off sometimes when I started my career, because I didn't know better, I was seeing 18 patients a day. 18 patients a day. I thought, this is just normal. Doing three hours of notes at night because I could not touch my notes whatsoever during that period. I remember I was behind like a curtain doing internal exams, screaming at two or three of my clients outside the curtain, like, do your exercises, do this, do this. Like, I'm not kidding. That's how I started out, behind a curtain because we didn't even have a door doing pelvic floor. So, you know, when I look back at it all and I think, wow, and I get on the phone calls with you guys, it's just so enlightening to me that we all have the same. We all have the same beliefs. The beliefs that don't allow us to move past them to have a better life. And so you got to keep. You got to stop telling yourself that these beliefs are true, and you got to say, you know what? It isn't. And then I say, go find someone myself, someone else, whoever that has done the thing, Someone that maybe you admire, someone that maybe you're like, hey, I want that. Like, whatever that is, go find that person and say, how did you get here? That person, I guarantee you, has been through a lot, has a lot of experience so that they can get you from here to here faster. And that's what you want. You want the least amount of pain with the quickest result possible and the easiest pathway to get there, because you can do it on your own. You can. I 100% believe that anyone that's listening to this podcast right now, you can do it by yourself. But if you don't have someone guiding you, it's a hell of a lot harder. It really is. And so, ultimately, what drove me personally to leave the business was I invested in a coach. I invested in multiple coaches, and they started showing me that I could do things differently, that it's okay to be. To feel that I'm overwhelmed. It's okay to feel that I'm leaving these patients behind. It's okay to feel that I want to take time off when I want to take time off. Like, they started showing me this, and I was like, what? Like, this wasn't even something we talked about. And because of that, it opened my eyes to new possibilities. So if you're really contemplating leaving your job right now, like, please talk to me, because I've been there. I felt it. I've been through it, you know, and to, like, my husband. My husband was, like, not on board at all. Like, he literally almost left me because he was like, you're spending money on coaching, and I'm about to murder you because we don't have any money. And he almost did. And I was like, no, I believe. I just believe that this. That these coaches can help me and move me. And I was right. And it's all about belief in yourself. Can you do it? And if you don't have that belief, then you have to lean on someone else to give you that belief. And that's why I wanted to talk about this today, because I think it's so important. Normally I give lots of tactile on my podcast, but I think the next couple podcasts I really want to do of things that are holding us back that really we have to let go of. And these beliefs for many of you guys is truly what's keeping you stuck. So if you're ready to make a change, please reach out to me. I'd be happy to help. Ask me questions elvybiz on Instagram, like be happy to help you guys. But we gotta get over these beliefs. And I believe that anyone and everyone that's listening to this can do it because otherwise you would not spend your time listening. So thanks guys, have a great day. Thank you guys so much for listening to the podcast. This podcast is sponsored by Jane. They are the people that are going to have enough amazing scheduling system for your patients. They're going to provide you with a super bill, they're going to make templates for you. They're going to provide you with the best customer service. And because of that, they allowed us to have a code for one free month. For those that are wanting to try Jane for their scheduling, checking out super bills, telehealth, all the different options. That code is healthy. Biz1mo will put in the show notes, but H Biz1mo that is the code for Jane. And thank you so much Jane for sponsoring this podcast. If you guys want more information and want to learn how that you can keep bettering yourselves, go ahead, click the link down below and make sure that you book a call. And we love to provide any clarity questions on any follow ups. Bye guys.