From Investment Banking to Pediatric Impact: Scaling Culture with Adnan Bhanpuri

This is the Willpower Podcast live at the Growth Code Conference. No scripts, no fluff, just real conversations with rehab owners in the room sharing what's working right now. Today I'm joined by Adnan Banpuri, the co-owner of Treehouse Pediatric Therapy, diving into building a pediatric therapy practice that follows the pain points of families and how non-clinical leadership, growth mindset, and service expansion can transform both culture and patient experiences. Okay. So, um, tell me about your practice and where you are and all the things.

Yeah. Uh, Treehouse Pediatric Therapy located in the, uh, western suburbs of, uh, Chicago, about 40 miles, 40 minutes west of Chicago.

Nice.

Um, found an area around Naperville. So we have two clinics, uh, Woodridge, Illinois, started in 2012 there. My wife, who's kind of the face of the clinic, she's the head clinician.

Sure.

I'm in the background, the non-clinical guy, all the negotiating insurance contracts.

Yes.

Making sure the clinics are working.

The heavy stuff.

The EMR, the billing, all that fun stuff.

Yeah.

Behind the scenes is me. My wife is in front of the scenes, in front of our family.

So nice.

Yeah, we have 2 clinics. 2012 is when we opened. Actually, here in 2 weeks we're about to have our 14-year anniversary here in 2026.

Oh yeah. How many kids you got?

Uh, we have two, and which has been an amazing, interesting experience as of late because, uh, we just became empty nesters.

They're both in college. Dude, what's up?

It is.

That's so cool.

Uh, I hope my kids don't listen to this ever, but it's been amazing without them in the house. Oh yeah, total freedom in the house. Totally, totally. But, uh, and I say that in a good way. I do miss them, but It's nice not to have kids in the house.

Yeah, I think there's something really rewarding about how, like, they are— when they're, when they're successful, like, meaning that it's not that they don't have problems, but like, you're not worried about like anything outside the normal stuff because you're still going to worry, but like, they're doing— they're progressing, they're progressing, and like, then you're alone and it's like, we get to be together and we're younger for the time being, and then, you know, that kind of thing.

Yeah, we're learning how to be a couple, talk to each other, and The last 21 years were dominated by being a parent, and now we're learning to be just husband and wife only.

That's so cool.

It's a cool journey.

What is, um, what's something that you're passionate about within the, the job that you do, the industry you're in? Like, what's something that really lights you up and gets you excited?

I think so. The, uh, owning Treehouse over the last 14 years is kind of like a phase 2, a part 2 of my life, of corporate life. Work life. I was for 15 years in the corporate world, in the investment banking world.

Interesting.

And I traveled. I've lived in London, New York, Charlotte, Chicago, always for large banks like Morgan Stanley or Bank of America. And it was so corporate. And no matter how well you did, there was always 200,000 people in the company. I felt like I was never making a real dent on how the company did. I was just one of So I think to answer your question is in a smaller company where we are, you know, 35, 40 people, I can see the results every day. I can see the tangible results. And, you know, having been in that lending world for a long time, it fell apart in 2008, 2009, something small like the global recession.

Yeah.

Instead of hurting the economy and people, we're helping people. So I think that's what I'm passionate about is Seeing the tangible results, seeing— and I don't help kids directly, but seeing the clinicians, how they help people and help families. And because we all need a little help, let's be honest, everyone needs a little something. But I can see our therapists really making a difference in people's lives.

I know what the show is about. Can we talk, if you're open to it, would you be willing to have a discussion about, Adnan, how non-clinical roles change the lives of our patients and their families.

Yeah, behind the scenes.

Yeah, because I think there's a lot of people who don't see that as clearly as you do. I think a lot of people, front desk individuals, administrative personnel, even owners may not appreciate the people who are behind the scenes. So even if the people feel it, if their owner doesn't see it— and most of my audience is leaders or owners of practices with, with that type of situation— I think you bring a really cool perspective of like, yeah, I've been in companies where they don't have that kind of connection, and now I do, and I can see it, even if it's not direct. And it is, I mean, it is kind of— I mean, it is direct, but like, we're Like, it's not the clinical directness.

I'll equate it to like Broadway or something where you see the actors and actresses right up front on the, on the stage, but there's a whole bunch of stuff going on in the background to make sure they're successful. The lighting, the, the sets and all that. And that's us, the non-clinical people who deal with insurance contracts and deal with facilities and training and, and directly to make sure how we're going to impact these kids' lives. We got to equip our therapists. With the best equipment they have, give them the best resources, give them the best spaces, right? Train them up where we can, give them scripts where needed because they're gonna make, they're the direct link to our families, but we're the indirect link trying to give the best EMR service, the best benefits, compensation, all that stuff is happening in the background and we're behind the scenes You know, human resources, all the stuff that goes behind the scenes that our families don't see. We're there to make sure our therapists can deliver the best client experience.

Yeah, it's cool because what you're talking, Adnan, is this idea that you are indirect to the patients and their families that you're treating, but there you see it as a direct impact on the team itself.

Yes.

And so I think that's what's unique is that a lot of times when people are in a back office, front office situation at a company, administratively they, they may not feel appreciated, seen, um, and so they don't really feel that that's the group that they're serving. If anything, they might be the barrier of helping them feel like they're connected. But truly, you see the, the other employees, the providers, as the people you're directly impacting, and then you see the patients and their families as, as indirect ripples of that effect.

Yeah, the patient experience is so much— it is definitely first and foremost the therapeutic experience the child gets. Are we, are we improving that child's life? Are we ensuring overcoming whatever deficit they came in for? But at the same time, that, that client experience and parent experience has to be amazing through the insurance. Did we check their benefits? Did we check all this stuff that people take for granted?

Yes.

Which is not easy. Did we get the faxes out in time? The insurance card back? Did we get, I don't even know. Uh, did we bill insurance correctly? Cause there's Byzantine number of rules on how to bill insurance, and do we get the spaces paid for in a timely manner, or the resources they need to do everything. It's, it's pretty amazing to see how much the non-clinical side— not just me, but our billers and our front desk people. And our front desk people are amazingly important because that's the first face a parent sees when they walk into the clinic, and you got to make sure that You know, when that parent walks in, they've had a busy day. Make sure that you treat them like—

like they're special.

They're very special. Yeah. So they're going to come in sometimes with a bad day and you just got to help them through it.

I can only imagine, like, at a pediatric practice, how the parents must be feeling, managing their own lives, worried about their kids' health. Maybe some of them are still like emotionally coping with the fact that some of their kids aren't neurotypical or never, or maybe never will be, or they're not sure if they will be, and they're coming here as like a way of finding and developing that hope. How do you— let's get some specifics as an expert. How do you work with your front— what are the front desk things that you teach so that they impact the family in that loving, positive way?

Yeah, as a parent myself, as I mentioned before, I raised 2 kids with my wife. It's hard to raise 2 kids. Neurotypical or not.

It's hard.

It's hard. I mean, you got to deal with the stresses of a partner, a spouse, a marriage, financial stuff. All these things come with raising a family. Now you add in something that maybe a child has a speech deficit or a sensory deficit or a gross motor deficit. Now they got to come into our place and that's just one more thing that is part of their busy schedule, right? And we want to make it as easy for them. Just like in our therapists will meet the child and parent where they are, we also got to meet the parent and where they are in terms of scheduling. Maybe it's budgeting, maybe it's when they can come in, when they can't. We got to make sure that they're feeling comfortable with where we are.

So you guys work on creating comfort? Yes. For those parents, that's a way to alleviating that pressure and tension that they come with is by just making the experience as customizable as possible without sacrificing certain elements, I'm sure. Yeah, but that's, that's great that you work with your teams. Yeah.

And a real example, you asked for an example, like just now, I think we're at the beginning of the year. This is January when a lot of people change their insurance.

Yes.

There was a family who changed their insurance from into the new year here in 2026. We were out of network. But that family was used to coming to us. So what did we do? We applied to be in-network with that new insurance carrier so we could continue seeing that child. So wasn't something we were planning on doing, and it's a lot of how our business has evolved over time. It's what, what it's been led by, what were the family's needs. And in this case, they had a new insurance, they wanted to stay with us, so let's go apply to a new, uh, be, get a new insurance payer in this situation with Cigna. So let's go apply to Cigna and never been in their network, but if it's good for the family and they want to stay with us, they want continuity of care, their, their child knows our therapist, their parents know our schedulers and how we do work. So, and if we didn't do that, then they would have had to basically start all over with another clinic, the whole experience. And it takes time for a family to get comfortable with their child's therapy providers. The last thing you want to do is after they're making progress they're in with you, they've bought all in, that they got to go change providers because their insurance changed. So that's an example of where we're going to meet the family. I mean, another example is we started out as a PTOT speech clinic for the first 8 years. Well, then we noticed our families were getting also ABA at another clinic. ABA therapy, which is applied behavior analysis. Usually, most likely, all the time need diagnosis of autism to get ABA therapy. So we were having children who had that diagnosis going to an ABA clinic during the day and then coming to us for PT/OT speech in the afternoon.

How exhausting as a parent to have to go to all of these different clinics to get all the care that they need.

It's overwhelming. It's overwhelming, right? It's two more, two separate clinics, two separate bills, two separate schedulers, two separate everything, two separate locations. Right, so let's put it, let's meet the family again where they are. Let's add in ABA services if this is what families need and it's benefiting the children. So in 2020, after 8 years of doing just PTOT speech, we added ABA services in. So families found they just go to one place, they get all their services under one roof, their child gets to meet one, instead of being shuttled around between places, to get to go to one place.

Absolutely.

Yeah. So that's a lot of what we've done. And we also added social work last year. We're noticing some of our parents and families needed someone to talk to, like counseling. Yeah. Let's go add some social work. I think it's, as we were talking about earlier, it's, it's hard raising kids and being in a marriage. You have the regular frictions, finances and dealing with kids.

And you guys work together.

I mean, it's so—

that's a totally different episode that we could dive into and we should.

Yes.

But adding on what I love about what you guys did, and this is a great rock stars, I want you to pay close attention to this because what Adenon and his wife did is that they, they didn't do what most entrepreneurs do who have a really good idea one day and it's like a squirrel that we start chasing down the road. You followed the supply chain of what your clients needed and wanted. What is it that they need and want? So when we talk about as like developing our companies at Rockstars, the place to start is understanding who our customer is and diving into their fears and their pains. Because if we know what those are, then we're in a position to where when we think about expansion, what we're thinking about is it leaving pain. So think of— let's not think about expansion as like just getting bigger, but going deeper into those ideal clients' worlds and relieving their pain more and more. And that's— I've noticed companies that are super wealthy and very successful like you guys are doing is— are just— they're focused on that element. And then you direct your team like you were saying in that vein of how to do it.

Yes.

You know, and that's, that's where it's driven by. And they can't deny that.

No. And if you're not delivering a great client experience and you're not meeting their needs as an entrepreneur, you're not doing your job. You've got to figure out what are their pain points, what are— what in this case of when we added in new services, they were going to multiple places. Well, let's, let's reduce that friction for them. Let's reduce those challenges and let's make life easier for them because let's, let's be honest, at the end of the day, if you're a parent, coming to a pediatric therapy is not what you want to do. You want your kid playing baseball, softball, be in the fine arts, playing music or something, dancing or something, one of those extracurricular activities. So if you're coming to us, we're— it's not something that's like very exciting to do, right? But it's, it's a must to do. You're doing it for your child. So let's make that experience great for you. Let's try to encourage attendance as much as we can so we can also meet those goals faster so you can go back and do all those things, like be it soccer, football, all the fun things that a youth activity, all the fun youth activities that you want to do as a parent and as a child.

Yeah.

So be it whatever it is, dancing, ballet, singing, orchestras. I have no idea.

It's fun to see you light up, Adnan, because, you know, it's— we were talking before we hit record on this idea that you came from investment banking.

Yes.

Where you didn't feel connected to what you did. And it's interesting because as a provider myself, I can see where a lot of times in my company in the past, my admin team didn't feel connected to the care. So why were you able to see it? Like, because, you know, maybe I'm sure it had something to do with the investment banking world, but like, what was it about your ability that you could understand that, well, I'm really making a difference here?

Yeah. I, after 15 years of being on a trading floor in investment banking and, you know, being what's called structured credit products, don't ever get into it. It essentially led to the recession. I'm almost afraid to say 2009, 2010, 2011.

You were involved.

I was very involved. Watch the Steve Carell movie on that.

Oh, The Big Short.

The Big Short. That's, that's what I did. So not a— I'm not proud of it, but it was definitely not But you're realizing you were just making as many profits as you could for the bank, for the various banks that I worked with, which I'm not going to go name, but it was at the expense of other people's pain. It was at the expense of not just pain, lives were destroyed, careers were destroyed. I mean, it's, you know, and you did it for the profit motive. There was no other motive.

There was no better greater good.

There was no greater good.

So, okay, so you come from that world, so maybe that helps you understand and see the good that you did. How long did it take you to see that in the, in this pediatric therapy world?

So, you know, I was kind of forced to make a choice. My particular— once that recession happened, the banks, what I particularly did, that, that type of work went away. So instead of staying in finance, it gave me— it was a blessing in disguise where I got to say, hey, what do I want to do? And I saw what my wife did. She's been a pediatric physical therapist for since 1998. So, you know, as I got to see her work, her world was about helping people. It was very meaningful. Um, and you know, the inspiration from her helping people, and then could we also make a sustainable lifestyle change for both of us? We had young kids at home at the time. Could we work together, um, build a business that's truly based on helping other people, but that also had, as, as Brandon here always says, it gives you fuel for the tank financially, gives you some fuel for the tank in terms of what I want to do in terms of freedom. I got to raise my kids the way I wanted to. I wasn't traveling on airplanes and living in hotels the way I used to work in the corporate world. Our clinics were down the street. As an owner, while we did put in 70, 80 hours a week, we could also take some time off and watch our kids. And, you know, on a whole separate note, you got to see, you know, I got to probably coached 12 to 13 of my kids' teams for basketball, for robotics, for soccer, whatever it was. I was there and present. That was important. So I think things just work out in a funny way. Yeah. You know, there's no, there's no script to life as much as we think there is when we're 22, 23 and we get that first job and we think this is going to be our career path. You pivot, you pivot multiple times.

And there's advantages. I think a lot of times as human beings, we think, you know, I came from this environment, so it doesn't— it's not congruent with this other environment. It's the difference in background.

Yes.

That has— that gives you and others so much more perspective, meaning, and like ability to help things go right. In my world, when I was looking for help desperately as a PT practice owner, I couldn't find any networks that were healthcare related, and I'm so glad I didn't. I ended up joining something called Entrepreneurs Organization that was like just a hodgepodge of any businesses.

Oh, EO. Yes. Yeah. You know, yeah, I've definitely heard of them and read about them. Yes.

Yeah. So like in my network, I'm still in it. It's been almost 20 years in my group, this monthly meeting of masterminds. I've got someone who owns a marketing company who's in a band that was on Jimmy Kimmel last week. Like I have another guy who owns a digital marketing agency. I have a guy that owns a a consult, a crypto consulting company. Like, so all these elements you would think have nothing to do with physical therapy, occupational therapy, or speech therapy. But what they did for me was perspectives, because they all give you different insights. I've learned that leadership in business is like water. It fills every vessel.

Yes.

So as we learn the language in one vessel, it translates to the other and has a unique flavor. And I love how you brought that, like, investment banker perspective. And I'm sure there's— and I do want to ask you in a second, like, what elements do you think that background served you in specifically from running a business? Because I'm sure that was helpful. But one thing that's interesting is the thing that wasn't congruent— you guys weren't really serving a greater good— was very useful because you had an appreciation for it when you came over.

Yes.

So as an investment banker, how did that serve you in this leadership administrative role?

Well, I did learn, I would say, from my previous work that I was, you know, hard work. You had to put in the hours. Nothing easy was going to come. I would say that was one thing that was translatable from my previous experience. Like, nothing good was going to happen by just showing up 35, 40 hours a week. It's, yeah, you had to put in the 70, 75, 80 to make a difference, to truly make a difference. Um, it wasn't going to be a job. So I think Resilience. You know, when you come from that corporate world of where you're working day, night, 7 days a week, you get a good work ethic where you're just— you're always on. I'm sure a lot of work-life balance people are not going to like what I'm saying, but that's just it. That's what it takes, you know.

And I'm sure you got to grind, you know.

Nothing comes that easy.

It—

you got to work for it. If life came easy, everyone would be successful and rich and stuff like that.

My mom said that last night on a call. She just She's East Texas and she almost talks in like quotable phrases like Dr. Phil. And she's like, you know, I don't think anything in life that's worth having comes easy. And I was like, yeah, that's a, that's a great mom. That's a great line, mom. And it's what you're saying. It's, it's like there's, it's all hard. So we can pick the hard, like we've talked about, by the way, I think I need to throw it out there that we're talking live at Growth Code Conference. I've been doing so many interviews here that the audience probably is already assuming that, but, um, that's where I got to meet you a year ago. And it's such a blessing to have this network. What has Growth Code meant to you as you've been coming?

You know, it is an incredible network organization. I think the mindset, the mastermind Brandon, as we would call him, a genius. Yeah, he's a genius. But, you know, he didn't do this for himself. He didn't do this for his business. He didn't do— he did it because he knew there were other people out there that— and it's not just the healthcare providers, it could Virtual Rockstar and the different types of organizations are here, that he knew how to create or curate an ecosystem, an ecosystem that works, an ecosystem from whatever lawyers to accountants to practice owners to virtual assistants company. I mean, EMR companies, whatever he knew, but he knew the right companies to bring together to curate because you're gonna curate something you can't, you You gotta know them, you gotta meet them, you gotta vet them, you gotta know, are they the real deal or are they fly-by-night people?

He does not— I was telling another vendor here because I'm a sponsor, as you know, and it's funny because I told the other sponsor, I've never been in a position where I'm giving someone money to sponsor and I feel like I'm winning a lottery because he is so particular in who he brings in. There's a lot of— he's told me this— there are companies that have sponsored in the past that he thinks are absolutely amazing. Amazing.

Yeah.

But because of his criteria, which is so specific— like, if he ever not invites me to come back, I wouldn't be offended because it's not personal, and it's a matter of, like, my company's criteria may not be as pertinent as someone else's because he doesn't want 30 vendors. He wants a handful so that people on both sides can win. Yeah. And I do think that's reflective of the event as a whole in terms of the people that come, because the people who come, like you, at Enon, are very committed, very passionate, And you get this mix of like, there's a woman today I talked to that had over 300 employees, and then you have a number of other people who have less than 10. Yeah. And you just go, wow, to think that we're all in this space learning and growing together.

Yeah.

Is, is magical. I don't think that's— it's happened anywhere else.

Yeah. It's— and it's— everyone's here, um, egos left at the door, back at home, whatever. We're here to learn from each other. It's about relationships and it's about And trust, developing some trust so that we can each pick up the phone and— because we're all going to be in that situation, be it in your EO organization or through the Growth Code. Can you pick up that phone and call someone and say, I got this going on, do you— have you been through this? Do you know someone who can help? And if I came here and I couldn't pick up the phone and call a bunch of people, then it's a waste. But here I get all those connections, relationships from people, so it's amazing.

That's amazing, Adnan. Well, I can't thank you enough for being on the show today. I'd like to wrap things up with a rapid-fire question if you're up to it.

Absolutely. Let's shoot away.

Okay. What is your company the most passionate about?

Each unique kid comes in with— and they come in with their own unique set of family challenges and, you know, challenges that we're going to create a unique— I don't know the word— bespoke, unique plan for that unique child.

Customizable.

Customizable.

Very specific to each individual.

We're not a factory.

Yeah, each—

we treat each family, and it really is— it's not just the child that comes in, it's a family. They have that child as a mom and a dad or a grandparent. We're helping that family just achieve their best result, their best potential, as in a quick as possible manner. So like I said before, we don't want you to get out there, go play Little League, go play softball, go do whatever it is, but let us take care of whatever deficit that's impeding your life right now. Yeah, and let us know about it. Tell us about it and we'll help you with that so then you can go and do the fun stuff.

And that's such a reflection of the amazing team that you've built, that culture of people who would take a non-lethal bullet at least for each other. What a special thing you have there. Okay, what is a book, movie, TV show that you've seen recently that you're a big fan of? Doesn't matter if it's, you know, work-related, like, is there any— it can be like it's a business book, but like anything that you've read, seen, a movie that you're into, music, anything.

Yes. I've been— it's, it's, um, mindset. I think it's called Growth Mindset. I can't remember.

It's a, it's a, it's called the Arbinger Institute.

Yes.

Uh, it's an outward mindset. Is that the book? No, it's called it different.

I think it's called Growth Mindset. Yes. Um, but, uh, it's just about how to overcome all the challenges, and we're all going to. And you, if you expect— it's like there's fixed mindset and growth mindset.

Love it.

And just loving how— and then preaching that, talking to everyone in my company about Growth Mindset. Growth Mindset. They probably want to punch me every day because I say it so many times, but it's, it's just, it's just resiliency. It's, it's not folding when the, when the tough times come. How do you overcome? You don't just quit when the first thing that comes your way because you're going to have a lot of bad things come your way. How do you overcome them? Wow, that's a great book.

Thank you for the recommendation.

Carol Dwecker, I think.

Okay, and I'll put the link in the notes. Okay, that's like a hint to my team who's editing this to put the link in the notes. Okay, So next thing, where is somewhere you've been in the world or somewhere you're excited to go in the world?

Hmm, that's a great question. My wife loves traveling. Does she? Oh, she's the traveler. Yes. We are, I would say the greatest, the kind of coolest place, Costa Rica.

Costa Rica.

That's my go-to. I've been there a number of times with family and friends and it's just so natural there. Saying they're called pura vida, just pure, pura vida, pura vida. Yeah.

Is it, you know, I've never— I've been to Hawaii a ton. Is, is it similar? I've never been to Costa Rica. Is it similar to Hawaii? Like, how is— how does that fit into that whole world?

Um, it is very similar in terms— but it has, um, a huge diversity of species of birds and natural outdoor, uh, um, birds and snakes and all sorts of cool things, monkeys and sloths. And, um, it's a very slow pace of a good place of life.

Kind of a great way to unplug and just detox and all that kind of stuff.

Oh, yeah. It's, um, I'm a little old, but I'm also starting to take surfing lessons there.

I am too.

Once a year. Yeah.

I'm taking surfing lessons right now.

Okay.

Let's go.

Yes. Uh, I gotta work on, uh, some things, but the, my instructor there is amazing. So. Okay. Um, that's what I'm passionate. I would love to live in Costa Rica.

What's your instructor's name?

Oh my God.

Uh, sorry to put you on the spot there. I just like, I have this vision of like, you know, You know, Ricardo, Ricardo, the surfing instructor. God, I forgot.

I got to remember the name.

No worries. We're looking at it later. Last question. You know, it's not lost on me that this is going to be out there in the ether for a long time, that your descendants are going to watch this. What would you want your kids to know about your passion for what you do now? And maybe their kids, like, what would you— what message would you leave them?

Yeah, I got two kids. I got to start talking to them about that stuff. It's what are you passionate about? What do you enjoy doing? Doing? What do you enjoy doing? Or avoid taking on a job or a role or a company that just doesn't fulfill you. If you're not into it, life's too short. Find something that you enjoy. You don't have to be super passionate about it, but are you enjoying it? And are you doing the work you want to do? Are you affecting the things that you want to affect? Because life is short and the money will come. Do what you want to do, be the best at it, and The money will follow.

I love that. What's that thing that you say all the time that your team's going to make fun of you for saying?

Oh, earlier?

Yeah.

Oh, my growth mindset.

Growth mindset.

Yes. They're— they probably think I say it way too much. It's like a religion for me.

I was told by a great coach that our teams— until our teams are irritated or making fun of us for things that we're saying, we're not saying it enough. Yeah. So clearly you are saying growth mindset.

I am consistent on that.

Awesome. Adnan, it's been such a pleasure to be with you. Thank you so much for being on the show. Thank you.