Kelly Alhooie (Ortho Pelvic) delivers a YouTube monologue that debunks common myths in pelvic health practice. Main claims: students can earn income via coaching before licensure (example: students making $4K while still in school); new graduates can start private practices without first working for others by hiring coaches/mentors; Herman & Wallace or WCS certifications are not strictly required to practice pelvic health; internal exams and hands-on contact are helpful but not mandatory (she reports treating over 1,000 people via teletherapy); and business growth often reduces founder workload once systems and hiring are in place. The video ends with a direct call-to-action (text 703-783-2388).
Chapters
We're going to talk about busting some myths in the pelvic health space that I believe even in school that people start believing, number one, I have to graduate and get my degree and pass my boards to be able to practice as a therapist. And I don't believe that that is true. I can tell you, because I have people in my program that are students that have not graduated yet and they are already making 4k off of clients that then they don't even have a license. And how we're doing it is through coaching. So I believe that when you're in PT school, OT school, chiropractic school, whatever school you're in, you can actually start making money right away so that you don't come out with massive student loan debt like I did and then say, crap, I have to limit my entire life, buying a house, starting a family, all the things because I am such a in a hole in such a debt. So I'd say that is myth number one is that you have to have a degree and or have to graduate and pass your boards. Start early, start as soon as possible. The second myth I would like to bust is, well, I can't start my practice right away when I graduate because I need to work for someone to gain experience. Now, there is something to be said about getting experience from a provider that has been in the field for a long time. I'm not going deny that because I do think that can be good. However, I don't think that's necessary. I do believe you can start a practice right out of school with the knowledge that you have and honestly be very successful. And people are like, well, I need mentorship or I need whatever. Great, then that's when you're going to hire a coach. But at least you're getting started early with building an asset rather than waiting to build an asset. And you hire a coach to then guide you along the path, along the way. You don't have to go work for someone to then get the knowledge to then, well, hopefully get the knowledge because maybe they're, maybe they practice and that's not the way you even practice. So it's just hopeful thinking rather than like actionable steps and actionable thinking. And so I'm of the kind that I like to invest heavily. I highly recommend you guys invest, invest. And I know when I invest, I get speed, I get results, I get a path quicker than people that don't invest. And that's why a lot of times I win. I don't win every time, but I Win a lot because I have coaches that coach me along the way. Every coach needs a coach. Always. I am always having coaches because that's what helps keep me motivated and accountable and all the things. Okay, so I think that's another myth that you can't just start a practice right out of school. I think that's false. Okay. Another myth is you must take all the Herman and Wallace classes or you must be the WCS certification to say that you are a pelvic floor therapist. And that's not correct. Okay. Even if you took Herman and Wallace Level 1, which is literally just showing you, like, what a vag is and, like, how to stick a finger in your vagina and like the parts of the clock, Very basic. You can become a pelvic floor therapist. And I say that because all of us have had orthopedic backgrounds. All pelvic floor therapy is. Is orthopedic and combining pelvic health. And it's actually not as complicated as most people think it is. And so you combined everything. And once you combined everything, it's like, wow. Like, it. It all goes together. This is why I named my company called Ortho Pelvic, because no one was combining it. Also, I made my logo a puzzle piece, because no one was putting the pieces of the puzzle together. So when we talk about pelvic health, you know, there's this debate between internal exams and not internal exams. I'm whatever is going to get the result. Okay. And here's the things that I see. Number one, ABs make a big difference, and I believe most therapists miss that, like pressure management and abs and how your abs are functioning. Number two, the load impact from your hip to your knee to your foot. I believe most therapists miss that. Also, I do believe the pelvic floor has an impact on how those muscles are firing. So I think the entire system, from your glottis to your diaphragm to your belly to your pelvic floor to your knee to your foot, it's a whole system, and you have to look at the whole thing. And I believe most therapists, whether or not you're an occupational therapist, whether or not you're a physical therapist, don't know how to combine all of it, because physical therapists have been taught that it has to. Probably the muscular skeletal. Occupational therapists have been taught, well, maybe it's functional or maybe it's psychological or maybe it's something they're doing their daily life. Right. I would say all of that is true. And so you have to combine it all. We don't ever talk about stress. Stress plays a big role in all this. We don't ever talk about nervous system. Nervous system plays a big role in all this. We don't talk about nutrition. Nutrition plays a big role in all this. We don't talk about, like their lifestyle and are they happy in the place that they're at. All that has massive impact. So when you think you have to have all these letters behind your name to truly practice as a provider, I would say that's 100% false. I don't believe that. I think you need a good mentor. Whether or not, you know, I personally would just hire someone. If you feel like a hire, not a Herman and Wallace because it's very basic. These Con Ed courses, just so you know, they're very basic because they have to be basic, because I have to follow like a regimen. You want to hire someone that's been in the field for years and years and years and seen like tens of thousands of clients, okay, that's the person I'm hiring because they've seen the real life stuff. It's not a Con Ed class that you're going to learn it from. What else? What else is another myth? Another myth is, well, I have to know marketing and sales to start my own business. No, you don't. Again, hire a coach. Hire a coach that will walk you through that. Specifically, especially in the pelvic world. If you're in the pelvic world, we're your people because we know how to talk the talk. Most people don't know how to talk that. And that's what we are out here communicating and getting out to the freaking world, is how to communicate effectively. Another myth in the pelvic health space, let me think, is that, oh, you must do internal exams. Another myth. I hear a lot. I would say for me personally, I think internal exams are part of it. I wouldn't say everyone had to have an internal exam, but I would say internal exams is part of it. That's at least how I like to do it. Maybe I'm old school because I am old. I mean, I've been in the field for a while, but I don't think it's a must, I don't think, because I do tons of teletherapy and I can tell you I don't do any internal exams on teletherapy, but I coach them on how to do internal exams. Right? So I think that is, or like another false belief or myth is I have to Use my hands to get this person better. Not true. I have treated over a thousand people through teletherapy. Never touch them, never even seen them in person. And we will get the same results, if not better, through teletherapy than I will in person. Isn't that crazy? And I, like, have stats on that. That's crazy. So, again, it's not our hands. It tells me it's not our hands, otherwise I wouldn't get the same results. So that's a myth that I would say is that you have to touch people. I don't believe you have to. I don't. I believe it's nice if you can, but I don't believe you have to touch people to get them the results that they're looking for. What's another myth that I could say for a pelvic floor therapist that they believe they. Another myth is that they think that if they hire, their life is going to be horrible and change drastically, like, in a bad way. I don't believe that's the case. I actually believe it's going to elevate. But you have to do it in a way that is systematized. You truly understand how to actually hire and go through that whole process. And we have all that system laid out very clear, step by step, so it's not overwhelming. And you can hire effectively and not have the therapist leave because you're disorganized. So I believe that's a myth. I also believe another myth is Kelly, I don't want to grow my business, because if I grow my business, the harder things become and the more time it's going to take. And that's actually false. The higher I have gotten both companies, the least amount of work I've had to do. The hardest part is the beginning. And in the middle, I would say, honestly, that is the hardest part. The hardest part is getting the business off the ground. And then the next hardest part is hiring. But once you get past the business off the ground and then the hiring stage, it's like freedom here above, where you get your time back. But people can't just get over that because it seems like such a mountain. But it doesn't mean the more your business grows that the harder it's going to be. It's actually opposite than that. And you'll hear a lot of, you know, bigger entrepreneurs, Honestly, they say what it took you to get to a million is just as hard as to get you to 10 million. They said that is the hardest part. And it just is like rinse and repeat of what you have to do to keep growing it. And so I think that's a big myth that people think, well, if I grow my business more than me, it's going to require more work for me. No, it's going to require different skills. It will require different skills. That's accurate, but it's not going to be more work on you. It's actually going to be less because you're going to have people that actually do their job that takes over your job of what you were doing, and it's actually less. I promise you it's less. Okay. I would say those are the main myths for pelvic floor therapists specifically, and even for other business owners, but that I hear a lot that I. I would like to, you know, debunk and, you know, say it's not true. So hopefully that helps. If you're thinking that, hopefully it helps reframe the brain of, like, oh, well, maybe I should think about this differently. All right, guys, if you need anything, text me, 703-783-2388. Text me, and I'll help you solve your problem. Bye, guys.
