How Dr. Natalie Tilton Built a Physical Therapy Empire with Game-Changing Virtual Assistants

Hey rockstars. What do you get when you cross a Division 1 athlete, a mother of two, a multi business owner with a heart the size of New Hampshire, you get Dr. Natalie Tilton. In this episode, Natalie shares how grit, gum and game changing virtual assistants helped her scale to four physical therapy clinics while launching wellness events honoring 30 year legacies and raising two toddlers with her entrepreneurial husband. But what really sets Natalie apart is her soul deep mission to never let anyone in her world feel stuck or unseen. From a life changing moment with her father in law to a Forrest Gump inspiring calling, Natalie is proof that the personal pain can fuel a professional purpose. So we're going to unpack how she stays sane when she breaks down and how she creates joy for her team, her patients, patience in herself. So if you're a private practice owner who wants to create more time and meaning in your life, this one's for you. Enjoy the show.

All right, Natalie, I am so excited for the world to get to know you. Let's get you. Let's get it all started. Set the table for the audience. Tell us about your private practice, your organization, organization and why you do what you do.

Absolutely. And thank you so much, Will, for having me. I really appreciate it. I loved meeting you at the P3PT conference and we just hit off that vibe. And I'm really appreciative to come onto your podcast, first of all. So thank you. Yeah. So I am Dr. Natalie Tilton. I own Ability Allies Physical Therapy. We are a private practice on the seacoast of New Hampshire and we now have four, four locations, which is a recent growth that just happened. I have been a physical therapist for a bit of over 18 years. I graduated from Northeastern University in Boston and I really had always had an entrepreneurial bug in me. And five years ago I said, you know what, this is it. I want to help people. I want to grow a practice and really establish something that I can help a lot of people out there. And I'm really happy to say that it's growing and it's going very well.

Yeah, it's amazing and it's so fun because you're one of those entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs. For this season, AI versus va. I was very specific on looking for some people who just had lots of irons and lots of fires. So briefly, tell the audience all the businesses that you and your spouse run. Not, let's not go into detail, just like count them out.

Four.

So there's four companies.

Yeah. It could be five. Yeah. He could be hiding one. Like knowing Him. Yeah.

So you have this multi location business. He has three, your husband has three and you. And then you have two. Two little boys, correct?

Yes. Yeah. And then properties too. Like properties. Properties to manage whole like brick and mortar businesses. He has three, I have one. And then we have a property that we work together. And then yeah, two little. Two little boys.

Yeah.

Ages again, two and four.

So I wanted the ages because when you hear two, I know there's audience members who are like groaning like, oh, that's so much. And my question, because obviously that's why I want you on the show. You couldn't be where you are if you weren't a master of creating space and freedom. And as a addicted entrepreneur like me, you are then filling it with new things. And that's why that resume of busyness starts to look insane. But it's really about how you've created freedom, which we're going to get into in a little bit. Remember, freedom isn't just possible, it's kind of the point. If this episode helped you laugh, learn, or at least cancel one meeting, go ahead and hit subscribe, share it with your overworked friend and leave a review. I read every, every single one, usually while avoiding emails. Want more behind the scenes stuff? Then hit us up on the socials. Now go delegate something and take a nap. You've earned it. But the thing I want the audience to know right now, Natalie, is why not, not why all the busyness, like what drives you deep down, like what is it that's that put you in a position where you care as much as you do about your business and businesses to push all this forward?

Yeah, I mean that's an excellent question and it really comes into a sense of even. Honestly, Will, when I was younger every, you know, the little participation awards or the, you know, track awards or field hockey awards, it would always be like Natalie's tenacious. That is the word.

Tenacious.

Tenacious. And so it's about being a go getter. It's about seeing a problem or. And finding a solution to it. And, and I think that that is really wholeheartedly in the root of my soul is to be able to help people and be able to problem solve in tasks and challenges. I love health and medicine and I'm a really big nerd at heart as well. So when it comes to science, health and medicine and athleticism for that matter as well, keeping all of those qualities combined and having that tenacious nature of this is a challenge. I am going to go after this and if I'M having problems, I'm going to resolve it in either a different way, a different tactic, looking at it, a different approach. But at the end of the day, my goal is to solve it or to make it better. I think when it comes towards people, I'm very social. I'm a very social butterfly, unlike my husband. But, you know, when it comes to people, that just really generates towards my soul that people sometimes need a hero in their life. They need someone to help empathize with them, listen to their needs and be able to help them. This is the best way that I can help people is helping making practices that in a root care, in a root cause of their. The quality of care and the personalization that they can get at ability allies. I'm all for it. Like, how can we do this and how can we make this better?

It's very powerful. I heard you say in a summary that you're passionate about people and overcoming problems by being a hero for them, at least for. Until they can become their own. And I love that it's such a cool way of defining what's driving you to do what you do. Because I don't think it's about achievement. I don't. I think if it was achievement and money, there'd be no way, Natalie, that you would be able to have the motivation to continue to create the spaces that you do in your world to keep creating new businesses. So it's really, really cool for me to see what drives you as someone who's hyper entrepreneurial, because you're also very happy. I know you have your moments, but, you know, and we'll get into that. But ultimately, you know, you have done a lot. You obviously were a collegiate athlete. You talked about athleticism.

Talk about this. One of the things that you're doing that's really powerful right now is that you host wellness events and you see this as like a way to communicate and connect with the community and engage with them. So it transforms private practice. How do you see that coming together?

Yeah. So I believe as I've evolved my practice and what really hits home for me, and you had phrased it really before, the sense of humanity. You know, my sense of humanity. When you ask about like wellness events and workshops and this and that, I say that they are necessity in. In a person's practice. It really is how you can get out there and think about the model of your approach is that, you know, when in any healthcare setting can you actually go and see the person that you're working with before you're working with them, right? You're able to meet them, converse with them, vibe with them and any of that. So even just being able to get out there and work with your people in your community.

Is really helpful for prospective patients to learn about you. But in reality, what had essentially sparked.

My community type of events that I do.

Is my father in law. So he, his name is Bob and we call it, we actually call our community balance programs, the Bob Program for build on better Balance. And it started off four years ago where my poor father in law has a progressive neurological disease. And it's not als, but it is a form of ALS that prospectively his nerves have degenerative myelination of their nerves there. And ultimately we knew that he wouldn't be able to walk any longer. So at this point four years ago, he was using a Rollator in his home and really having a lot of difficulty with his balance overall. So we hadn't heard from him in four days. And it's always like, gets me. So we hadn't heard from him in four days. And.

I, I called him and I'm like, Bob, like, what are you doing? How are you? Like, how are you doing? And he's like, I'm stuck. I can't, I can't get up from the Rollator. So he hadn't gotten up from the Rollator in four days. He'd been on the floor, he was on, he was in sitting in his Rollator. He had, he was in front of his desk and he had stacked up some pillows and so that he can rest like just in a forward, like seated stance. And he said that he was so incredibly fearful of falling and fearful that he would lose his balance and obviously get really injured that he just wasn't able to call anybody or connect with anybody. And I said to myself, there is no way that I will let this happen to anybody in my world ever again. I don't. This should never happen to a single human being. And so thus we've developed the Bob program, which initially had started as a completely free program to the community in New Hampshire, where we go in and we will do training sessions with a group of people. Mostly most of them are the geriatric age, but we essentially do a community wellness type of program. And ultimately it has now grown into five different towns that we now will work with the rec program in doing these sort of balance, balance and wellness so that people can have a better sense of, you know, learning about their balance, working on their balance skills and really getting them more fulfilling life because some of these people are really fearful of going out in the community, you know, on uneven ground, or in Bob's case, even in his own home. So when you talk about, you know, your business and you know, what, what you can achieve and what you can do, this is like such a humanitarian and fulfilling achievement for me in what I can do for my community and what I can do for my father in law and to honor him as well. But their community events are a necessity in anybody's practice.

Thank you for sharing that. I think what that story did was help us understand what drives you better. It's like that love and that, that passion that you feel to be somebody else's hero. It's like, well, I want to use different language because I don't want that to come across like, yeah, I want to be someone's hero. But. Yeah, but like in my PT practice, our purpose was to be the light in the hope of life in the lives of others. We in the healthcare field, we have an opportunity to represent hope and be heroes and teach them to be heroes, because there are heroes. Right. And so that was really cool for me to hear that driving force, but it also was a reflection of what you're able to do when you have profitability and you have freedom to be able to focus on problems like that. So it drives you to create the freedom, but it also is the why behind it in the sense that, like, yeah, I'm doing this so that no one in my world ever has to be stuck in a, in a position for four days. That broke my heart to hear that he was in that position and just suffered through it and embarrassed and didn't want to fall. So, yeah, I think so. Now that we have an idea, Natalie, of what drives you and the wonderful heart that you have, let's get in to like the transformation of your life. Like when you started all this, obviously you weren't the leader you are today. So let's talk about a time where you had a breaking moment. Have you ever had a breaking moment that made you realize that you had to free up more time in your business?

Yeah, I'm like, this morning, like this morning I had it right.

It's not like one and done. It's a, it's a process.

It's a process. Yeah. And I think that it's like, it's phases. It's phases in your life, it's phases in your business. Because when I started my practice, my oldest son was 4 years old and a lot of, I think people, especially women out there will say, you know, oh, I can't start a business because I want to start a family, or I can't do this because of any sort of, like, personal reasons or whatnot. But I started ability allies when I was. When my son, my first son was four. And then we were opening up our second clinic when I was pregnant with my son second. So when you talk about freedom and whatnot, I think one of the biggest, pivotal moments I can think of in my phase, one of my journey, my best hire, I can tell you right now, was a personal assistant. Interesting. And I. And you know, back, quote, unquote, back then, I honestly wasn't familiar with VAs, but in any sense, like, you're getting an assistant to really help you.

And so in that phase, I had basically reached out to our local university. They had like a Facebook page for mostly like, babysitters or dog walkers, you know, or anything like that. And I just put the post out there. I said, hey, I'm a single physical therapist. I would like someone to help schedule patients or do the faxes or walk my dog or babysit or pick up my children. And so I hired my first assistant. Her name was Jill. I still absolutely love her. And we still text with each other, but she also was a marketing major.

Oh, my God.

So she kind of helped me with literally everything. And she jokes around too. She will still, still say, now, Natalie, like, that was my favorite job. Like, because I could walk chumlee or I could fax a fax, fax a note from a patient, you know, or this or that. But, you know, in terms of when you get to, you know, higher level status when it comes to, like, more businesses, more responsibility, you need to delegate. You need to delegate your tasks and you need to find a trustworthy source to help you with that. You might take a little time to think, you know, that through, but in all, end of the, you know, end of it, you need to make sure you're delegating and that those are the breakthroughs that you will find, you know, to free you up in the future.

Yeah, Rockstars, I want you to really pay close attention to what Natalie said regarding her assistant. And she still says it's her favorite job. Jill, it was because she walked the dog. The reason I highlight that Rockstars is because one of our barriers that we put in our heads around delegation is that we feel like we don't want to give other people our crap. Like, the stuff that we feel is, like, demeaning or we hate doing. We There is always someone on this planet who would love to do the things we don't want to do, no matter how. How small, big, frustrating those things are. So, Natalie, that was a huge breakthrough because you learned the power of delegation, the power of buying back your time by investing in someone. And here's my favorite part. Jill loved it. She got to develop her skills. She got a personal connection to the leader you are. She was able to feel like she was making a difference. And I think that's what we forget, is that when we hold on to these things as leaders, we are damning our progression like a dam in a river, because we are holding the pressure in it. It just keeps building. But there are people who want to flow on that river. Man, it's like. It's so exciting when realizing, wow, we're blessing them by having those things handed over to them. So I have another question. In your case, you were a collegiate athlete. That mental strength that you developed, how. It was cool for me to hear that you have multiple breaking moments, because that's me, too. When you go through that, how has that mental training in that physical world in college prepared you for owning a business? This is.

Yeah, yeah. So, you know, being involved in, like, Division 1 collegiate athletics, the New England field hockey team, the US National Field Hockey Team, those are those. You don't come by without working really, really hard. And it's not a sense of normalcy, of working hard. It is that you are pushed to the maximum that you feel like you could potentially be pushed to. And so I have this. I have this phrase called. You call this a storm? And it's from Forrest Gump. And I laugh because Forrest Gump was actually my inspiration to become a physical therapist. Like, I knew. I really. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, like, I. I knew I wanted to be a doctor or a nurse or something in health care, but I didn't really, like. Like, blood or guts or, like, things like that. And that scene in Forrest Gump, when he's got the leg braces and he's starting to run and the leg braces fall off, and I literally said, that is what I want to do. If somebody can't walk, I want to help them walk. Like, what? We had to look that up. My parents and I had to look that up. What is that? Career? And that was the start of my. Like, this is my journey. I'm meant to do this. And so, again, from Forrest Gump and Lieutenant Dan. They're on the shrimp boat. They're up, and they're. They're you know, there's lightning going on, there's a massive torrential downpour, and Lieutenant Dan is yelling up at the. At the sky. You call this a storm. And so it's kind of funny every time, like, maybe some bigger challenges might come up. Is that phrase, like, you call this. You call this a storm? I can work through this. I can get through this. And, you know, it comes with also grit that is like a huge proponent of. You know, grit in my definition, is not necessarily about just, like, working hard and, like, grunging your way through it. It means that you have worked really hard, and if you still are not getting where you need to go in your journey, whether that's a success model, but whether that's financially, whether that's a structural component, is that you are trying again and again and again finding those alternative methods of positivity of success.

And I think coming from said exposure to those hardships and those difficult times.

Of the collegiate error and the national team error and whatnot, it was. You had to go through a lot of grit in order to, you know, find. Find that sort of success. But like I said, changing it and. And finding those, like, solutions and whatnot are. Are exactly what is needed. And that, to me, is like winning in my book.

That's amazing. Rockstars. Two things she said. I've got to really pump the gas on a little bit here. The first was this thing about. About you called it a storm. There is a mindset to be free, and it's not a matter. I think we perceive, Natalie, that people who are doing what you're doing or, like, super successful have just so much freedom, and they've just figured it out. It's not that they. They go through storms just like everybody else, but there's a. There's a mindset that we could get into multiple layers. But the one that I want to hit upon is this. You call this a storm? Rockstars, as you're looking at your day, as you're trying to cram all the things in that you're cramming in, let's remember to show that grit. You call this a storm because you're stronger than that. You're stronger than anything you're going through. It's okay that it's hard. It's supposed to be hard. You had a breaking moment this morning, Natalie. I had one last week. I feel like I'm on the verge of another one, if I'm being honest. But it's one of those where it's like, bring it On, Right. The other thing is this concept of freedom. Isn't it powerful that what got you into this profession, healthcare, private practice, ownership, is this idea of seeing Forrest Gump break through and create movement and freedom.

Yes.

And like that power of breaking the bands of resistance. And what's holding us back is what inspired you, inspired me, inspired most people in our audience to get into this profession. And so I think when we start putting on those shows, leg braces, the metaphorical leg braces of our businesses, we understand that they're there to support us and cause us to get stronger so that we can break free. And so this is a powerful piece of, of how you've been able to illustrate your journey. And thank you for sharing that mental piece of it because I think that is such a big part of this journey is that mental game that we go through.

Yeah, thank you. And I, you know, I talked about the, the time before, like phase one. Right. So phase one, my breakthrough was hiring that college student essentially to do that. My breakthrough now, now having four businesses and whatnot, was actually, and this is of course a pitch to you, but my, my breakthrough now was hiring my rock star. And I can tell you that right now that just having somebody help you with all of the day to day tasks, helping you with the, like you were saying, the tasks that you might not have time to do or might not have the mental capacity to do. So helping with marketing, helping with scheduling, helping with faxing and all of this and that.

My va, her name is Abby and I literally cannot speak highly enough about her. And in fact, you don't know this yet, but I wanted to tell you for so long that when you were at the P3PT conference and you started your lecture, you're part of the seminar, I said to myself, how fun would this be to do a little kind of test, a little challenge? So I messaged Abby as you started your talk and I said, this is a fresh, brand new project. I said, I've got a new idea. I want to do a golf event at this place in Portsmouth and we're going to have a golf pro there and we're going to have a club fitter there and this and that. I want you to make an Instagram reel, a post and an email that can go out to all of the sources and we're going to launch, launch this event. It was completed before you ended your talk.

You have got to be kidding me.

So I'm sitting at your conference, literally, Abby's doing everything I needed to do. So then Literally the next day, I'm sending Mike the email saying, send that out to your email blast. I'm texting Scott saying, yep, this is the. He's the. He's our golf pro that we work with. Yep, Scott, this is a go. We're going to do this on June 26th.

So, yeah, obviously, I'm honored by that because that's my passion. My passion, as you know, is to free you up. That's the podcast. That's all the things we do at Virtual Rockstar. But what's cool about. I just want to throw it back to you, though, Natalie, is the idea that, again, going back to that mindset of freedom is that you're at an event in Orlando and you are kind of like the athlete again, testing your limits. Oh, I wonder what I can test the limits of my team. In this case, a virtual assistant, and you're pushing this idea out and it's like, causing momentum. So that I think there is a really big call for us to remember. The mindset of being free begins with understanding that we're worth it. Number two, that other people were blessing people when we do it. And then number three is that we are constantly thinking, what can I give to somebody else? Like, what? In your case, what can I challenge them to do?

Yeah.

And, man, that is so cool. I'd love to see that social post at some point, by the way.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's all right. On my Instagram right now.

Okay, cool. We'll link. Hey, we'll link your Instagram into the show notes so you guys can see that post as well.

Rockstar.

So I appreciate that piece of it. So let's get into. Since you already are obviously a huge proponent of virtual assistants, and the show is really in the seasons about kind of all the things that set people free, let me ask you a few questions here that are a little bit more just freedom based in general. So first of all, what's the best business purchase under $100 that has saved you hours?

Ooh. Huh. That's a great question. And I feel this is, like, really, really silly. But, like, my gum.

That's not silly. Talk to me about it, though. Why? Gum?

Yeah, no, this is my gum right here. But it's like, like my super go to. It's like my, like, thinking, you know, my thinking mechanism. So people. Yeah, gum and snacks. Honestly, like, the gum is for me. I like. I like the gum. It just is something I'm, like, chewing all day long. I feel like it just kind of gets my thoughts going and gets my mental, my mental process going. Also peppermint and spearmint kind of like calm the mind. So sometimes if I can get a little flighty, this feels. Helps me kind of simmer down a little bit. But then also it's so funny how I love, like, when my staff find something that they really enjoy, like snacks, you know, I'm all for it, you know, so if it makes them happy to have a protein, a specific protein bar in the clinic because they, they enjoy that, perfect. If they love dark chocolate. So, you know, we're going to have some extra special dark chocolates. But honestly, I think that some of your best purchases is really for the conglomerate of the group. You know, not necessarily to help a patient, but if looking at a bigger picture, are these little things able to make. Make our team more cohesive and happy?

Yeah. You know, you're the second one of my guests on this season who, like Lance Gross talked about it was a 30 gift card to Sonic for drinks. He says that by far, it's given me so much freedom because I'm investing my people. I also love the spearmint gum thing. It's a small investment that produces an experience of calm and thinking, which is where you create space. That was such a cool take on that. I actually never do this, but I'm going to share one that I recently discovered with the audience and with you. That has been a game changer for me. I'm also very, like, driven and motivated to, like, achieve. And so I downloaded an app. I've always been tracking, like, habits that I'm trying to build. And it's very time consuming and very annoying. I had a long conversation with ChatGPT in a walk and chat GPT is like, you just need an app, man. This app that you need is called Streak. And I was like, no way. I kid you not. I'm such a nerd. I had spreadsheets, like tracking these things and streaks. I'm going to show it to the camera. It has, it has these just you put in whatever your habits are that you want to form, and it gamifies it. And it's so simple. It attaches to my health app on my iPhone so, like, you can see how many steps I've already had today. And my goal is 8,000. It tells you how far I slept last night and goals of seven and a half hours of sleep and I didn't make it. I'm tracking my food, like exercise or like, like it really just gamifies it. And then they have A kid version where my kids can like brush their teeth, make their bed and you see how you. It's just, it's this really cool feedback mechanism that takes no time. So a couple of tidbits for you rock stars to free you up. Streaks the app spearmint gum, chewing and giving yourself time to think and then rewarding your team with protein bars. That was a great answer. What are tools and tech that have been game changers for you to reclaim your freedom? Like what, what other like tools or tech have you used or do you use? Kind of like that app that I just showed that has helped you.

Yeah, absolutely. So in all honesty, I mean, when we come down to physical therapy, I am really a stickler when it comes to like, efficiencies and obviously every practice might operate different. And in our practice, we kind of needed.

One shop stop kind of or one stop shop kind of thing. So I like when it comes to like an EMR and whatnot. I was such a psycho when it came to interviewing like EMRs. And I almost felt bad. Like it was like a date where I was like, I'm sorry, it's me, not you. You know, and so the EMR that we. The EMR that we use, but it is you.

Hey, it's me, not you. But really it's you because you're messing up my RCM or whatever.

Yeah, but, but when you think about it, the uniqueness of our practice is that we've got multiple locations, we've multiple providers, we have a VA that needs to come in, we have a massage therapist that rents a space, we have events that we do, we have clinics that we do. So I needed. And then of course, with the smoothness of like note taking and this and that. And to your point about freedom, I needed that one stop shop. And I'm such a, like with the tenacity and this and that and achieving. I need something to achieve something for me, which is having this freedom of. I need all of these things. How do we make that possible? So honestly, like, I, I cannot say enough about our emr. I don't even have an affiliate with them. I just love them so much.

But our other. Yeah, it's Jane.

Jane, okay. I've actually never heard of Jane. And I've worked myself in, in that physical therapy space. I've worked in easily over 12 EMRs, either as a PT practice owner or as a medical billing company owner.

Yep, yep, yep. No, they are wonderful. And not for nothing, but even I'm also like, you know, with the Multiple facets of all of it. On top of all of that, it's pretty. Like, it's.

Oh, no way to look at.

It's not like one of those, like Meditech looking type of things. It's legit, really pretty to look at. I just find it wonderful and I hope they give me a discount for this pitch.

Yeah, Jane, reach out to me. We got to get some affiliates with all this business I'm going to send you, but that's a really good tip. Tidbit. Okay, so another question. What is something you do in your spare time that's only for you? I've never asked this question before and I like it because I want to start normalizing in our industry because, you know, healer mindsets is a real thing and it's, it's like defined by people who absolutely give to the point where they get victimized. Like they're, they're victims in their own world. Like, I don't. I never have time to work out. So when there's time for you and it's. So it's not. It could be a guilty pleasure. But what's something you do just for you? Natalie?

I. I will have moments of stillness where I just need to almost like escape. Like, escape. Get out of my. Get out of my tizzy, get out of my whirlwind, even when it comes to my own, like, headspace. So. And I mean stillness of the mind. And I am you. If you told me to run three marathons or meditate for half an hour, like really meditate, I would choose the marathon. I can't. It's really difficult for me to find mental stillness. And so my own thing that I do is honestly kind of finding time times where I could be just alone, like alone with my thoughts, settle myself down. That might be going for a walk in the woods, you know, that might be just kind of like floating in water, like in stillness. But I just kind of make sure I don't have my phone with me. I don't have anybody that is, you know, conversing. It's just these moments of like, okay, let's, let's settle. Let's settle down a little bit. You know, even dry, like I'm a big motor. People don't really know this. I'm a big motor enthusiast.

No, I didn't know that.

Even, just like going fast, like, even if you're like on a jet ski or a four wheeler or car and you're like have getting your zoomies out, but still it's just me and the wind coming at my face. Where again, you're just kind of like, trying to. Trying to settle. Settle your. Your mind.

Yeah, I love that. Rock stars. Get your zoomies out. Get your zoomies out. That's so funny. I. You know, it's funny. I think for a lot of people there might be some connection and enjoyment and speed. I've never, I've never paired meditation, which is something I'm big on with, like, the meditative experience of going fast. So for. But I do. I have that with snowboarding. Like, for me, I think that's. That's something that, like, when you're in that space and there's a little bit of risk involved, but it's mostly kind of a serene thing. It's amazing how our minds will start to disconnect from, like, the busyness of it. Right?

Yes. Yes.

Okay. Very cool. So this has been phenomenal. We. We. So this is AI versus VAs. You've talked a lot about freedom. You actually did a lot of, like, v. The VA side of things. Let's get into more of the artificial intelligence. Are you experimenting with any AI tools like chat box scheduling assistance, note summarizers? Like, what have you. What AI have you been working with at this point, if any?

Yeah, yeah, I've been working with chat, GPT, and to be honest with you, the more, like, when I reflect on it, I use it more in the creative space, and I use. My VA assists me in using her AI tools to then do the analytical. The logistics and this and that. So, for example, we might use Monday.com to schedule out.

When we're going to promote a particular event. You know, it might happen a month ahead of time. We might do another, like a Facebook campaign two weeks ahead of time for signups. Or, like, you know, there's kind of a structure in place where AI has assisted us in saying, we say, okay, we're going to do this event. When should we start promoting it in terms of the tendencies and whatnot. And they. And it might say back, oh, two months in advance. Another time it might say one month in advance. It might be when in seasonally you're hosting that event.

You know, for example, you might say, like, oh, I want to do like, a snowboarding, you know, event. Like, obviously you're not going to do that in July in New Hampshire. You know, so you can essentially schedule out an entire year's worth of calendared and scheduled events for a perspective of, like, what does your year look like moving forward? Which is super helpful for me. And my practice, because we not only do events, we do workshops, we do seminars, I do public speaking events in different places. And then we also are fitting in our community support in that. So it's like, how does that all fit in? Now, me personally, I will use ChatGPT more in the creative space because I'll have these ideas, but then I'm not, I want something more or maybe it just doesn't feel instinctively complete yet. So ChatGPT will help me get into that sort of headspace and get different ideas in that creatively.

Very cool. You're leveraging both of these fastest growing trends in healthcare, the VA and the AI together. Are there any other AI tools that you use or is that majority of what you're currently working with?

That's the majority of what we're currently working with. We are looking into.

Jane is starting to get an AI feature involved with it. And so that is another component that we are looking into getting into our practice is what exactly does that look like in terms of physical therapy and integrating AI into that? How is that going to free up your time? Which of course a PT's free time is spent taking notes, right. Doing channeling and all of that. And so if AI can assist us and our clinicians in that process where maybe it's recording our session or our verbiage within the clinical visit, then it's putting all of that information into a note and you're just simply reviewing and signing, changing what's appropriate and whatnot.

That is so cool, man. So it's really fun to see how you're integrating that element into your Jane and Jane again, reach out, let's talk. But yeah, I love that. How do you.

Some owners worry that the AI component is going to remove the human touch of our businesses.

How do you view that?

I think it's impossible to do that. You can, because at the end of the day you're you, you know, and you're taking responsibility for what content you're putting out there or what, you know, verbiage you're putting out there. And I think when you understand the importance of that humanity and the human connection, the AI can just, you be utilized as a tool, but not as, not as the, the leader that has enforced like what exactly you're doing at the end of the day. You're, you're carrying the task out, you know, and in our field in health and wellness, you're always having that interpersonal connection, you know, and if that's what's important to you in your, in Your business and your practice, you're going to make sure that you have those facets in place, you know, and there are other, you know, I just think about the PT world, how it's evolving, and people will say, like the kiosk, right? Like you come in, a patient's getting checked in by a kiosk, and not like a face to face, you know, And I think that that's totally up to you in the circumstance of your business.

Me, I love the face to face. I want that face to face. It's always going to be really important to me in my practice because our two pillars of our services are literally personalization and high quality care. So, you know, at the end of the day, you want to meet a face and, and you want to build your brand in the way that you see fit. And I think AI can help a little bit with that. But I think the human touch is really superior when it comes to the humanitarian aspect of your care.

Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so since we've covered the AI side of things and you are a master delegator, which is something that I want to write a book on, and we're going to take a note on that, actually, I'm going to write a book on that. How to delegate. Because delegation is such a mindset thing we talked about already, but you as a master delegator, creating the space, filling it with more purpose, hopefully some walks and floating and meditation. How do you, how do you delegate to your va? Can you walk the audience through your process of, like, what is, how is that process of you going? You illustrated one earlier, but can you just kind of step that out just a very minutes and like, hey, this is when I'm going to talk to my VA and have them do something. How do you give it to them and follow up, know it's completed all those things.

It is like, so easy, Will. Like, so easy. I. So I can be a little bit of a squirrel, a little bit of idea here, idea there and whatnot. And. Yeah, and oftentimes my delegations come at a, at a point of necessity. So, like when I'm also like a super multitasker. So oftentimes when I find myself on like the fourth task that I'm kind of working on, and I say to myself, oh, this is a great idea. Like, I don't want to, I don't want to lose the idea. Just like you writing down your book right now, you know, it's like, you don't want to lose the idea, but it literally can be completely Random where you might be going about your day. You have an idea, and that idea could very well involve your VA if that's obviously what their role and what their role is with your company.

But most of the time I will just literally I communicate with RVA through WhatsApp. So it's an immediate message or text to her that I say, I could easily just say, hey, I have an idea.

Like, start. Can you start making this? And that might be a poster. You know, I might say, you know what? I'm looking around the clinic and I kind of want. I want like a spine silhouette and I want flowers to be decorated on it to make it look pretty. Like not just like medical, but have some sort of art to it. And I will literally just text that to my va. She'll go on Canva. She has logins to all of our business structures, whatnot. But she'll go on and she'll start designing a silhouette of a spine through her AI.

Associates or whatnot. And then I'll piece my ideas more and more into it. And then ultimately she just comes back, back with a foot, with a graphic, and I'll do my little tweaks and then we might go back and forth and whatnot. So.

Ultimately, after usually like one or two passes, it's done. I think the longest project that we ever worked on was. So the practice that we merged with, that I Bought is a 30 year established private practice. And I really wanted to do something really important to, number one, launch. Launch this information to the public. But number two, really honor them in the way that they deserve.

Wow. So you're not just buying them, you're like totally acknowledging the 30 year legacy. You're continuing it. You're handling grabbing the baton from them. Them.

Yes, exactly. Exactly. And so I literally said to Abby, I want to do something special like that. And can we create a video or a reel for that matter, can we create a video doing this? Here are my ideas. And I threw out the. A couple of ideas. And again, yeah, we did use AI together in working on this, but we literally came up with kind of a little script, if you will, or.

Basically how the video will flow. And we look at the previous owner. He's saying, it's been 30 years, it's time to hand it over. He hands a chart over. You see a hand come in.

No way.

The chart and it pans away.

Is this a video you've actually filmed?

It's on my Instagram.

Send me the links to both of the VA creations. I'll Put them in the notes. You guys go check out the show notes.

Yeah. So. And it's like, we literally. And we're not. We're not like media production people here. It's just her and I splashing ideas together. But in the end, what came out, the project that came out was so beautiful and so heartfelt and such an honor to the owners and such a great reference of, hey, here's some really big news. Seacoast New Hampshire. You know, this is like, really cool and whatnot, but Abby and I worked on that project for maybe, I'm gonna say, like a day or so.

Come on.

And that's just us talking back and forth. That's not. If I were to probably put it in the amount of hours or I think that if you clocked every second that I had to chat with her about this, it probably. Probably was like, maybe 48 minutes of my time. Of my time. And then she's working on it all in the background, creating this, like, masterpiece that we've. That we've shared now.

So. Yeah. And think about that four to eight minutes, and the result is it. It does so many things in my mind. I saw them at once. I'm trying to slow down. It's honor that man's legacy. How that video made him feel is huge. It's almost like this, like, certificate, literally, of watching that video, of he's not just handing it for the video, but he's also like, oh, I'm done. He feels honored. You get to put yourself in a position where you're building on his legacy because you love and support him and you're all about breaking through the braces of the Forrest Gumps world. In his case, it was breaking through his. To his retirement, his last stage. You're also in a place where you're pring the crap out of it. So you have all this great positive reflection. So any relationship he held. I was thinking about it when you said it. If I was a patient of his company and I saw that video, he's happily handing it over. My emotional handoff is there, which helps you grow your business. And then you have this, like, creative, like, element that goes through your social media that just promotes your business, your purpose, your vision, all in four to eight minutes.

Yes. Yeah.

Okay, well, huge. One last VA question, and then we're going to start wrapping things up. Audience. I always like to tell people when we're getting close to the end, so here's the. Anyway, so let's get into it. What is one of your tasks? That your VA does regularly. That makes a huge difference in your week.

She. She always.

Will greet you in like such a positive way.

Wow.

I know that probably wasn't like your. Your like.

Yeah.

With a question, but that asks that.

Your VA does regularly. That makes a huge difference in your week.

She. She always.

Will greet you in like such a positive way.

Wow.

I know that probably wasn't like your. Your like.

Yeah.

With the question. But that was what. What came to my head was she literally opens up with, hi Natalie, how are you doing? Good morning. I really hope that your day is anything. I hope that your day is going spectacular. How can I help you? And I'm just like.

And then we ended on the same time on the same aspect. Today was such a great day. We got a lot done. I've emailed you the end of day report. I really hope that you have a way wonderful rest of your night.

Yeah, Natalie. So the number one feedback I get from clients isn't the fact that they get freed up. It's what you just said. It's this really thing. It still surprises me a little bit, but I kind of get it. Obviously I have a team, my own overseas, but it's this idea of like why. Let me ask you that question. Why was that the first thing that came to mind?

I think just because it up. It uplifts you, you, Your mindset, your. Your emotional well being. When anybody is in a good state, you can work to your highest efficiencies. You know, if you're gloomy or you know, negative or anything, it's. It's really hard to find that great idea when you are just not in that space. So like just. And not only that, but the, the power of positivity in sending that to other people. When I get those messages, it makes me. Then in my next email to whoever, it'd be like, I really hope that you're having a good day right now. I really hope that you're enjoying the sunshine and just like snowball that positivity, snowball that happiness. Because at the end of the day it's like the pursuit of your happiness is like, is yours and yours alone. So when you're looking into these adventures that you're creating in your life or in your business, people are always like, how do you do it, Natalie? It's like pursue it.

Yeah.

Find your grit, find your power. And in those aspects, if you can have people on your team that are like minded like you and that can have those moments of that incredible sense of like joy in Your or even just a joyous moment in your life can be like transformative.

It's so powerful. And I think that there's a lot we could say about like hiring someone overseas with life changing money versus an entitled American. I don't want to go down that route. I think what the difference is that business owners, a lot of times we hire people and they have their own domain. Like it does overlap with ours, but like we're trying to like spin plates. And so you're having leaders, great leaders we hire here in the states are doing that. There's something about hiring someone who's helping just me. Like they have other things maybe, but there's elements of overlap. But that sweet loving concern, my Kim, who's probably listening every time it's the highest, like, hi, Will. Sometimes you call me Willy Will. Which we're at that level. Willy Will. I'm like, what's up, Kim? And just like immediately there's a breakthrough. So I appreciate you sharing that. That was a better answer to the question that I was asking. So. All right, let's get right down to our rapid fire end. Natalie, are you ready to walk and load on this?

Sure.

Okay. Top book that's blown your mind.

Oh, gosh.

So funny. The phrase is grit right now. So my aunt, my aunt is also an entrepreneur and business owner. She owns a dog biscuit bakery down in Massachusetts. And she goes to all these business conventions. And this isn't even like a published book.

She hands me a book and it's literally called Grit. And it was from FedEx. FedEx, the corporation. It was a gift that they gave their clients. I'm sorry, It's a gift that they gave their employees. Um, every, every employee got this as a gift. And they interviewed all of the top women executives of FedEx. And they had their backstory and this and that. And it all had to do with grit and how somebody, you know, they had people that had come originally from India overseas, and they never thought they could ever get a promotion, but you know, they got a promotion and now they're like the VP of like international sales. Sales at FedEx. So that honestly has been a life, a life changing book. And I'm sorry that like the public can't get it.

But here's a great book and you can't have it.

It's in my desk. It's on my desk. I'll show it to you. But one of my favorite quotes from that book that I still use with every interview today is people will ask, like, how, how how can. Do you have any advancement in your company? Or what is. What is the process of leadership or managerial. Real promotions and whatnot? And I will literally say the moment that you step into that clinic is when you are starting your interview for management, for leadership, for director, any of that, the second you step in, whether you are a cleaner, whether you are a admin, whether you're a pt. But that's like one of my favorite quotes from that. From that book.

Love that book. And you can't have it, guys. Number two, what's your top time saver hack? What's your top time saver hack?

Abby.

Abby. Three, what's one thing you wish you'd stop doing way sooner in your business?

Like, giving in?

What do you mean?

I mean, like.

If. If there are.

Things that can go astray from your. Like, I want to say. I don't say policies. I don't really like that word. But you know, the kind of like, excuses of like, pressure. That pressure. Trying to, like, accommodate people. You know, like an example. Right. Like, so a patient in earlier on. Now I am, I think I literally just had my youngest son. He might have been six weeks old, I want to say. And I had a patient really.

Wanting specific appointments. And I apologized, I said, I can't. Like, at first I was giving in. I would have said, oh, let me sacrifice, like everything I have to accommodate the shift of this and that. Um, and is it a reasonable shift? Yeah, you can do that. But when you realize, like, too much is too much and you're still giving in, that's what leads you to, like, those times where you're going to have a lot of challenges moving forward. So finding that healthy balance. And like, when you. When you learn not to give in to kind of maybe it may be essentially setting a little bit of boundaries, you know, and that might be with yourself too.

Yeah, boundaries are where it's at. This is another. I didn't ask you these boundary questions because they were actually in my list, but boundaries is another mindset. Powerful leaders who have lots of freedom, set very firm boundaries and don't give in. Love that answer. What's the most time consuming task that you secretly enjoy?

Sleep.

Okay, I'm with you on that one. What's the latest thing you've delegated?

With the company merger, we are transitioning all of our patients from our old EMR to our new emr. So just an hour or so ago, just delegated three different admins with three different tasks. One of them is looking at the schedule, transferring the Patients. The second one is looking and tagging everybody's insurance and looking up billing and eligibility to all of those patients. The third person is looking up all the patients and then connecting with their referral sources. Because now that we're changing EMRs, we have to reconnect with the referral sources to reattain the referral with the new. Under the new business entity.

Nice. Okay, here's the last question. And this is the question of the season. Natalie, which is it? AI or Vas?

Oh, Vas.

Okay. All right, Seth, our amazing leader of leaders, our creative specialist, who's also editing this podcast. Let's show it on the screen. Since these episodes aren't necessarily being filmed in order, I don't even know where the tally is, but put it on the screen right now for me. Seth, VA versus AI. Where are we at for the season? So, Natalie, so, so amazing to be with you. What final thoughts do you have?

I honestly, I think that Universe and Fate have wonderful connections that are gifted to us in our life, and I am so thankful to be connected to you, Will. Honestly, like your story, your journey, and when we connected at the conference, you could just feel the energy and, like, wow. Like, this is another person who really enjoys making the world a better place and helping people and having that sense of enthusiasm. And like you said, I love that phrase of spreading light and love. And I think that, like, you know, that's. That's wonderful, and I'm just really appreciative to have met you, Natalie.

Thank you for those kind words. You know, they say your network is your net worth, and you are one of the most valuable pieces of that network for me. So thank you so much for being on the show. You were. That was phenomenal.

Thank you so much, Will. Thank you.

Thanks for tuning in to the Willpower podcast, as always. This is Will Humphreys reminding you to lead with love, live on purpose, and never give up your freedom. Until next time.

Sam.