May 19, 2025

Building 7 PT Clinics Before 40 with Justin Stiver

Building 7 PT Clinics Before 40 with Justin Stiver
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Former professional pitcher Justin Stiver shares his journey from the minor leagues to physical therapy entrepreneurship — scaling from 1 to 7 clinics, developing a mobile therapy team, and building a powerful real estate portfolio along the way.


In this episode, you'll hear:

  • How sports psychology shaped Justin’s leadership philosophy
  • What lessons from baseball helped him scale quickly
  • Why buying real estate can be a game-changer for practice owners
  • How to know when it's time to open a second (or third!) clinic
  • The biggest challenges — and biggest surprises — of leading a 50+ employee team


Guest Resources:


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Transcript
WEBVTT

00:00:00.049 --> 00:00:01.191
presentation if it does it

00:00:01.270 --> 00:00:03.734
means I'm doing it wrong um

00:00:03.774 --> 00:00:04.815
first thing I want to ask

00:00:05.035 --> 00:00:06.357
is you made the jump from

00:00:06.397 --> 00:00:07.458
college and professional

00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:10.163
baseball to healthcare is

00:00:10.182 --> 00:00:12.346
that right first of all yeah yeah

00:00:13.300 --> 00:00:13.861
Yeah.

00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:15.182
And honestly,

00:00:15.262 --> 00:00:17.945
I wish I had a story that

00:00:18.146 --> 00:00:19.426
said that I was I put all

00:00:19.466 --> 00:00:21.568
this thought into it and all that stuff.

00:00:21.629 --> 00:00:22.791
And I was but honestly,

00:00:22.850 --> 00:00:25.294
I was I studied business in

00:00:25.353 --> 00:00:27.056
college and I was

00:00:27.376 --> 00:00:29.919
definitely a baseball

00:00:29.939 --> 00:00:31.521
player before I was a student.

00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:33.203
So yeah.

00:00:34.170 --> 00:00:35.972
I found myself kind of all over the place,

00:00:36.012 --> 00:00:37.393
kind of taking the classes

00:00:37.414 --> 00:00:39.076
that my academic advisor

00:00:39.095 --> 00:00:40.137
told me were the easiest

00:00:40.777 --> 00:00:41.499
through undergrad.

00:00:42.759 --> 00:00:44.823
Yeah.

00:00:44.843 --> 00:00:45.603
So I ended up getting

00:00:45.643 --> 00:00:47.106
drafted in two thousand six

00:00:47.146 --> 00:00:48.167
by the Astros.

00:00:48.546 --> 00:00:49.048
I was about.

00:00:50.048 --> 00:00:51.289
two semesters away from

00:00:51.329 --> 00:00:52.969
graduating with a degree in

00:00:53.210 --> 00:00:54.710
interdisciplinary social

00:00:54.750 --> 00:00:56.691
studies uh which was

00:00:57.610 --> 00:00:59.371
definitely uh not on the

00:00:59.411 --> 00:01:01.091
track of going to physical

00:01:01.131 --> 00:01:04.451
therapy school so no fast

00:01:04.471 --> 00:01:05.653
forward a couple years I

00:01:05.673 --> 00:01:06.893
ended up getting hurt tore

00:01:06.912 --> 00:01:08.912
my bicep tendon lost my

00:01:08.953 --> 00:01:10.974
baseball career and

00:01:11.769 --> 00:01:12.891
kind of in that transitional

00:01:12.930 --> 00:01:14.031
period where I'm like oh

00:01:14.052 --> 00:01:15.072
like what do I do now with

00:01:15.111 --> 00:01:18.795
my my life I was in orlando

00:01:18.834 --> 00:01:20.915
doing at spring training

00:01:21.495 --> 00:01:23.938
kind of knowing that I

00:01:23.998 --> 00:01:25.838
probably wasn't gonna have

00:01:25.879 --> 00:01:27.000
a fruitful baseball career

00:01:27.019 --> 00:01:29.081
at this point um but I was

00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:34.644
doing all my rehab um and kind of just

00:01:35.784 --> 00:01:37.305
So they started having that conversation.

00:01:37.346 --> 00:01:38.507
Like, what do I do next?

00:01:38.566 --> 00:01:40.287
And then I was hanging out

00:01:40.308 --> 00:01:41.228
with the physical therapy

00:01:41.269 --> 00:01:43.230
team there with the Astros

00:01:43.290 --> 00:01:45.051
and they seemed like they

00:01:45.070 --> 00:01:46.691
were having fun and, you know,

00:01:46.852 --> 00:01:47.533
it was great.

00:01:48.212 --> 00:01:49.054
And I was like, man, this,

00:01:49.153 --> 00:01:50.093
this sounds pretty cool.

00:01:50.114 --> 00:01:51.055
You know,

00:01:51.075 --> 00:01:52.115
what the heck do I have to do to

00:01:52.236 --> 00:01:53.376
become a physical therapist?

00:01:53.456 --> 00:01:55.858
So, and also long-term,

00:01:55.938 --> 00:01:57.739
I really wanted to own my own practice,

00:01:58.200 --> 00:01:58.239
um,

00:01:59.677 --> 00:02:00.876
wanted to have my own business,

00:02:00.977 --> 00:02:01.597
I should say,

00:02:01.638 --> 00:02:02.397
whether or not it was a

00:02:02.418 --> 00:02:03.418
physical therapy practice

00:02:03.457 --> 00:02:04.457
or some other kind of business.

00:02:04.477 --> 00:02:06.259
So those two things aligned.

00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:06.858
I said, okay,

00:02:06.899 --> 00:02:08.038
so I can start my own

00:02:08.079 --> 00:02:09.259
practice in physical therapy.

00:02:09.319 --> 00:02:10.159
I can go to school.

00:02:10.199 --> 00:02:11.819
And so I ended up going back

00:02:11.900 --> 00:02:13.860
and I took all of my prereqs.

00:02:13.941 --> 00:02:17.401
I took all the sciences in one year.

00:02:17.741 --> 00:02:18.002
I took

00:02:18.991 --> 00:02:20.632
All my core sciences in the fall,

00:02:20.951 --> 00:02:22.453
the second one in the spring.

00:02:25.335 --> 00:02:25.634
Actually,

00:02:25.996 --> 00:02:27.997
I wasn't allowed to take them all

00:02:28.056 --> 00:02:29.437
at the same college because

00:02:29.457 --> 00:02:30.218
they told me that that

00:02:30.239 --> 00:02:31.840
would be a recipe for disaster.

00:02:32.340 --> 00:02:34.701
So I had to piece it together.

00:02:34.782 --> 00:02:37.603
I had to take online physics at like FIU.

00:02:37.723 --> 00:02:40.425
I had to do all kinds of shit to get done.

00:02:41.066 --> 00:02:42.145
And it's funny how at that

00:02:42.165 --> 00:02:43.387
point I spent the last like

00:02:43.447 --> 00:02:44.508
four or five years telling

00:02:44.548 --> 00:02:45.788
my parents how hard college

00:02:45.829 --> 00:02:48.510
was in order to get like C's and B's.

00:02:49.371 --> 00:02:50.953
And then, uh, when it comes,

00:02:50.992 --> 00:02:51.973
comes time to like where

00:02:51.995 --> 00:02:53.776
it's all on my own dime and I,

00:02:54.317 --> 00:02:55.498
and it's all on my own schedule.

00:02:55.538 --> 00:02:57.159
It's like, wow, I can get straight.

00:02:57.241 --> 00:02:58.842
I had to get straight A's by the way,

00:02:58.861 --> 00:02:59.843
and all those sciences in

00:02:59.883 --> 00:03:01.765
order to actually get my GPA up to,

00:03:02.225 --> 00:03:03.187
to get accepted into

00:03:03.206 --> 00:03:04.169
physical therapy schools.

00:03:04.209 --> 00:03:04.729
And I did it.

00:03:05.629 --> 00:03:06.091
And, uh,

00:03:07.497 --> 00:03:10.299
I will forever tell my kids

00:03:10.338 --> 00:03:11.259
they are full of shit if

00:03:11.300 --> 00:03:12.600
they tell me that they

00:03:12.640 --> 00:03:13.762
can't get good grades in

00:03:13.801 --> 00:03:15.742
college because it's not that hard.

00:03:15.782 --> 00:03:16.704
You just have to actually

00:03:16.723 --> 00:03:18.525
study and not go out every day.

00:03:19.325 --> 00:03:20.406
Good for you, man.

00:03:20.425 --> 00:03:21.787
That's not an easy hill to climb.

00:03:23.487 --> 00:03:24.628
Similar background where

00:03:24.949 --> 00:03:25.409
journalism and

00:03:25.430 --> 00:03:27.091
communications degree and

00:03:27.110 --> 00:03:28.551
then second career degree.

00:03:28.692 --> 00:03:30.674
decided to go into PT and they were like,

00:03:30.754 --> 00:03:31.975
okay, well you need nine prereqs.

00:03:32.015 --> 00:03:32.336
I'm like, well,

00:03:32.376 --> 00:03:33.217
how many out of those nine?

00:03:33.236 --> 00:03:33.877
And they're like, eight,

00:03:33.897 --> 00:03:34.579
you need to get eight.

00:03:34.618 --> 00:03:35.259
I'm like, great.

00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:35.479
Awesome.

00:03:35.500 --> 00:03:37.461
Like, let's do that.

00:03:38.280 --> 00:03:39.340
like let's figure that out

00:03:39.681 --> 00:03:40.640
and I was running a radio

00:03:40.681 --> 00:03:41.520
station at the exact same

00:03:41.561 --> 00:03:42.842
time like I was running two

00:03:42.861 --> 00:03:43.722
radio stations sorry

00:03:43.762 --> 00:03:45.323
technically so I was on the

00:03:45.402 --> 00:03:46.242
air with like a physics

00:03:46.263 --> 00:03:47.204
book like you like on the

00:03:47.223 --> 00:03:49.025
air with a physics book and

00:03:49.245 --> 00:03:50.745
interviewing like shinedown

00:03:50.764 --> 00:03:51.806
or something this is back

00:03:51.825 --> 00:03:52.786
in like the two thousands

00:03:52.806 --> 00:03:53.766
and they're like what's the

00:03:53.787 --> 00:03:54.546
deal with the physics book

00:03:54.567 --> 00:03:55.627
I'm like oh it's just

00:03:55.766 --> 00:03:56.907
really heavy it's doorstop

00:03:56.948 --> 00:03:57.807
don't worry about it but

00:03:57.867 --> 00:03:58.748
meanwhile you're being like

00:03:59.368 --> 00:03:59.829
Yeah,

00:03:59.848 --> 00:04:01.569
like I had like a C average or a C

00:04:01.590 --> 00:04:02.150
plus average.

00:04:02.189 --> 00:04:03.110
But when you want it and

00:04:03.129 --> 00:04:03.889
it's something you want,

00:04:04.349 --> 00:04:06.270
like baseball or PT,

00:04:07.350 --> 00:04:08.390
suddenly you clear out

00:04:08.491 --> 00:04:09.532
everything that is not

00:04:10.092 --> 00:04:11.171
helping you achieve that.

00:04:11.372 --> 00:04:13.013
And stuff doesn't get easier.

00:04:13.393 --> 00:04:14.413
I think it gets simpler.

00:04:14.573 --> 00:04:16.454
And those words are different to me.

00:04:16.533 --> 00:04:18.134
Simple, not easy, right?

00:04:18.574 --> 00:04:19.714
Just get A's in these classes.

00:04:19.735 --> 00:04:21.154
Well, that's simple to say.

00:04:21.435 --> 00:04:22.175
Not easy to do.

00:04:22.214 --> 00:04:23.035
But when you're like, okay, well,

00:04:23.055 --> 00:04:23.776
what do I need to remove

00:04:23.815 --> 00:04:24.675
out of my life to make sure

00:04:24.696 --> 00:04:26.336
that happens is not a skill

00:04:26.355 --> 00:04:27.177
everybody possesses.

00:04:27.497 --> 00:04:28.516
Not everybody possesses that.

00:04:29.778 --> 00:04:31.038
And it's really hard to do

00:04:31.119 --> 00:04:32.798
until you have to do it.

00:04:33.959 --> 00:04:36.081
It's almost like in my life,

00:04:36.180 --> 00:04:38.641
I've succeeded when I had

00:04:38.682 --> 00:04:40.502
to do something that I wanted to do,

00:04:40.562 --> 00:04:42.202
but this is the only path forward.

00:04:43.524 --> 00:04:45.985
It really is amazing how

00:04:46.004 --> 00:04:47.245
many excuses you can make

00:04:47.264 --> 00:04:49.005
for yourself and say like, wow,

00:04:49.706 --> 00:04:50.406
this is too hard.

00:04:50.526 --> 00:04:52.026
But it's just like when you

00:04:52.067 --> 00:04:53.146
focus yourself and you

00:04:53.187 --> 00:04:55.067
don't have all these outside distractions,

00:04:55.387 --> 00:04:56.449
it becomes very clear what

00:04:56.488 --> 00:04:57.329
you have to do and you kind

00:04:57.369 --> 00:04:58.309
of reverse engineer it.

00:04:58.329 --> 00:04:59.389
Like, what do I have to do to get an A?

00:04:59.990 --> 00:05:00.091
Well,

00:05:00.170 --> 00:05:02.512
I got to actually show up to every class,

00:05:02.552 --> 00:05:03.392
and I got to take notes,

00:05:03.413 --> 00:05:04.574
and I got to rewrite my notes,

00:05:04.613 --> 00:05:05.774
and I got to tape record

00:05:05.853 --> 00:05:06.894
the lectures and listen to

00:05:06.915 --> 00:05:08.315
them on my way home.

00:05:08.336 --> 00:05:10.257
And then all of a sudden,

00:05:10.297 --> 00:05:11.216
it becomes pretty easy.

00:05:11.958 --> 00:05:12.577
Yeah.

00:05:12.637 --> 00:05:13.999
Well, what lessons from sports?

00:05:14.019 --> 00:05:14.959
Because we skipped over the

00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:15.639
fact that you were like,

00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:16.761
what position were you, by the way?

00:05:17.401 --> 00:05:18.161
I was a pitcher.

00:05:18.461 --> 00:05:19.041
I was a pitcher.

00:05:19.641 --> 00:05:20.382
Good for you, man.

00:05:20.762 --> 00:05:23.483
So what lessons from sports still got you?

00:05:23.745 --> 00:05:24.105
Yeah.

00:05:24.997 --> 00:05:25.516
Honestly,

00:05:25.937 --> 00:05:27.997
the biggest takeaway I found from

00:05:28.077 --> 00:05:31.439
sports was that the team

00:05:31.559 --> 00:05:34.880
approach to things is super important.

00:05:34.920 --> 00:05:41.362
It sounds kind of cliche, but your team,

00:05:41.483 --> 00:05:42.863
I've been on teams that we

00:05:42.884 --> 00:05:44.024
had so much talent,

00:05:44.363 --> 00:05:45.725
but we weren't kind of

00:05:45.745 --> 00:05:47.204
firing together as a team.

00:05:47.264 --> 00:05:48.605
The coaching staff didn't really

00:05:49.211 --> 00:05:50.894
breed that culture of team

00:05:51.153 --> 00:05:53.235
mentality uh well and we

00:05:53.255 --> 00:05:54.396
were just we were good but

00:05:54.416 --> 00:05:55.458
we were mediocre and but

00:05:55.478 --> 00:05:56.439
then I was on teams where

00:05:56.459 --> 00:05:58.180
we were we were decent

00:05:58.220 --> 00:05:59.440
talent but we were an

00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:00.682
unbelievable team just

00:06:00.721 --> 00:06:02.504
because of that the work

00:06:02.524 --> 00:06:04.406
that we put into making

00:06:04.485 --> 00:06:07.327
sure that we all were

00:06:07.367 --> 00:06:08.608
fighting for the same goal

00:06:08.810 --> 00:06:10.730
you know and um and I kind

00:06:10.771 --> 00:06:13.553
of took that and I really

00:06:13.593 --> 00:06:14.754
wanted to replicate

00:06:15.574 --> 00:06:17.437
the team approach.

00:06:17.716 --> 00:06:17.877
One,

00:06:18.098 --> 00:06:19.358
I thought that it was the best way to

00:06:19.399 --> 00:06:21.480
do things in business and

00:06:21.521 --> 00:06:22.322
physical therapy.

00:06:22.382 --> 00:06:22.742
But two,

00:06:22.822 --> 00:06:23.963
I also thought it was a much more

00:06:24.024 --> 00:06:25.805
enjoyable culture to have.

00:06:26.005 --> 00:06:31.932
So I did my first or second

00:06:31.952 --> 00:06:33.173
clinical rotation in an

00:06:33.254 --> 00:06:34.095
outpatient setting.

00:06:34.495 --> 00:06:35.536
I forget which one it was,

00:06:35.596 --> 00:06:37.319
but it was one of those

00:06:38.747 --> 00:06:40.410
there was no team mentality there.

00:06:40.449 --> 00:06:43.314
There was your patient,

00:06:43.334 --> 00:06:44.797
whichever one you got lucky

00:06:44.838 --> 00:06:45.778
enough to treat on the

00:06:45.819 --> 00:06:46.860
first day was the one that

00:06:46.880 --> 00:06:48.023
stayed with you the whole time.

00:06:48.632 --> 00:06:49.312
You couldn't really

00:06:49.372 --> 00:06:50.932
collaborate with your peers

00:06:50.952 --> 00:06:52.093
the way you should be able to,

00:06:52.132 --> 00:06:53.293
because if anyone ever

00:06:54.033 --> 00:06:55.454
recommended something to

00:06:55.494 --> 00:06:56.514
you about your patient,

00:06:56.533 --> 00:06:57.574
then it was taken as an

00:06:58.894 --> 00:06:59.834
insult that you didn't know

00:06:59.855 --> 00:07:00.855
what you were doing and

00:07:00.894 --> 00:07:02.336
stay away from my patient.

00:07:02.375 --> 00:07:04.096
And without saying it,

00:07:04.375 --> 00:07:06.396
that's kind of the vibe I was getting.

00:07:06.456 --> 00:07:07.416
Everyone kind of went off

00:07:07.476 --> 00:07:08.557
into their separate corners

00:07:08.637 --> 00:07:10.098
of the treatment room and

00:07:10.117 --> 00:07:11.038
treated their patients.

00:07:11.798 --> 00:07:13.199
outside of earshot you know

00:07:13.939 --> 00:07:15.841
and it was just miserable

00:07:15.961 --> 00:07:17.182
and I thought you know what

00:07:17.223 --> 00:07:18.064
I want to open up my own

00:07:18.084 --> 00:07:18.944
practice I'm going to do

00:07:18.963 --> 00:07:19.964
this pretty quickly after

00:07:19.985 --> 00:07:22.247
graduation and I don't want

00:07:22.286 --> 00:07:24.528
this to be the case you

00:07:24.548 --> 00:07:27.891
know and I actually had a

00:07:28.012 --> 00:07:30.074
good comparison to what I

00:07:30.134 --> 00:07:32.156
wanted the clinic that I

00:07:32.216 --> 00:07:33.697
actually ended up buying

00:07:34.497 --> 00:07:35.559
was the one I was working

00:07:35.619 --> 00:07:39.021
at before all this as a tech so um

00:07:40.245 --> 00:07:41.805
And there was a team there

00:07:42.005 --> 00:07:43.125
with four or five people

00:07:43.165 --> 00:07:45.627
that worked together unbelievably.

00:07:46.266 --> 00:07:47.166
And we kind of shared

00:07:47.226 --> 00:07:48.687
patients and we talked and

00:07:48.708 --> 00:07:49.627
it was a mentorship

00:07:49.668 --> 00:07:52.488
mentality and it wasn't done by design,

00:07:52.548 --> 00:07:53.088
I don't think,

00:07:53.168 --> 00:07:54.689
but it just happened to be that way.

00:07:55.269 --> 00:07:59.190
So I remember taking that

00:07:59.290 --> 00:08:00.951
mentality that we had in the clinic

00:08:02.144 --> 00:08:02.865
and my job,

00:08:03.125 --> 00:08:04.725
and I kind of tried to reverse

00:08:04.786 --> 00:08:07.286
engineer that into an SOP

00:08:07.307 --> 00:08:08.266
that we could use for

00:08:08.307 --> 00:08:10.348
scalability in the business

00:08:10.367 --> 00:08:10.987
that I started.

00:08:11.028 --> 00:08:13.528
So you had an example of

00:08:13.569 --> 00:08:15.408
what you did want and what

00:08:15.428 --> 00:08:16.149
you didn't want.

00:08:16.829 --> 00:08:17.990
I don't think you need both,

00:08:18.529 --> 00:08:19.610
but I think you need one of them.

00:08:19.990 --> 00:08:20.790
Like, are you lucked out?

00:08:20.810 --> 00:08:22.190
You're like, okay, don't want that,

00:08:22.571 --> 00:08:24.291
do want this, great, got it.

00:08:25.052 --> 00:08:26.293
I think if someone's listening,

00:08:26.392 --> 00:08:28.894
I don't think you need both.

00:08:29.355 --> 00:08:30.596
It sure as hell helps, right?

00:08:30.877 --> 00:08:33.278
But I think you need one of them.

00:08:33.578 --> 00:08:34.440
It doesn't matter if it's

00:08:34.460 --> 00:08:35.380
the one I don't want.

00:08:35.681 --> 00:08:35.801
Well,

00:08:35.841 --> 00:08:37.261
I feel like you might need more than

00:08:37.442 --> 00:08:37.802
that.

00:08:37.863 --> 00:08:39.443
I had a couple of different

00:08:39.464 --> 00:08:40.245
clinical experiences.

00:08:40.264 --> 00:08:42.025
I was like, whatever that is,

00:08:42.527 --> 00:08:43.947
that ain't it.

00:08:44.288 --> 00:08:45.229
I think I needed more than that.

00:08:45.288 --> 00:08:46.350
All right, well, what do you want?

00:08:46.409 --> 00:08:47.850
Now you need to play the opposite game.

00:08:48.331 --> 00:08:49.873
Chip away everything you don't want.

00:08:50.452 --> 00:08:52.235
So that's pretty powerful.

00:08:52.315 --> 00:08:53.274
And you're able to do it

00:08:54.129 --> 00:08:54.389
Again,

00:08:54.409 --> 00:08:57.412
that's simple but not easy to create

00:08:57.451 --> 00:08:59.192
something that you're like, yeah,

00:08:59.231 --> 00:09:01.953
this smells and tastes and

00:09:02.073 --> 00:09:03.693
feels like I want it to.

00:09:03.754 --> 00:09:04.394
It's simple.

00:09:04.975 --> 00:09:05.855
And that's a different job

00:09:05.875 --> 00:09:06.655
than being a clinician.

00:09:06.716 --> 00:09:07.696
That's a totally different job.

00:09:07.716 --> 00:09:08.416
A business owner is a

00:09:08.475 --> 00:09:09.297
totally different job of

00:09:09.317 --> 00:09:10.977
being a clinician.

00:09:11.158 --> 00:09:12.638
So you're building – and you

00:09:12.658 --> 00:09:13.619
can give us the stats.

00:09:13.698 --> 00:09:15.220
You're helping grow a

00:09:15.259 --> 00:09:16.840
fast-moving network of

00:09:16.899 --> 00:09:18.520
clinics now in Florida, right?

00:09:19.126 --> 00:09:20.767
Give us the back of the baseball card.

00:09:21.667 --> 00:09:21.927
Stats.

00:09:22.048 --> 00:09:22.227
Yeah.

00:09:22.307 --> 00:09:24.827
So we started in twenty eighteen.

00:09:24.847 --> 00:09:26.327
I actually bought a practice.

00:09:26.648 --> 00:09:28.589
And, you know, Tony Meritado.

00:09:28.629 --> 00:09:29.769
I bought Tony's practice

00:09:29.908 --> 00:09:31.068
down here in Florida.

00:09:31.188 --> 00:09:31.428
So.

00:09:31.688 --> 00:09:31.928
Yep.

00:09:31.969 --> 00:09:33.450
So connecting those dots for

00:09:33.470 --> 00:09:34.169
you all together.

00:09:34.649 --> 00:09:36.389
He and by the way,

00:09:36.470 --> 00:09:37.971
I've only met Tony in

00:09:38.030 --> 00:09:39.311
person a couple of times

00:09:39.370 --> 00:09:40.850
because really by the time

00:09:40.951 --> 00:09:42.010
I started as a tech,

00:09:42.510 --> 00:09:43.731
he was already moved to

00:09:43.991 --> 00:09:45.432
Ohio and he is already retired.

00:09:45.851 --> 00:09:46.773
already opened up his other

00:09:46.812 --> 00:09:48.092
practices up there and this

00:09:48.133 --> 00:09:49.653
was his remaining practice

00:09:49.673 --> 00:09:53.176
down in florida um that so

00:09:53.395 --> 00:09:55.157
his team was kind of very

00:09:55.197 --> 00:09:57.798
self-sufficient and uh he

00:09:57.817 --> 00:09:59.158
was looking for a tech

00:09:59.198 --> 00:10:00.960
position and I I don't know

00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:01.940
if I reached out to him

00:10:01.980 --> 00:10:03.600
cold or he reached out to

00:10:03.660 --> 00:10:05.701
me I don't remember but uh

00:10:06.311 --> 00:10:08.491
but I got that job and then

00:10:09.251 --> 00:10:10.452
timing worked out to where

00:10:10.493 --> 00:10:12.192
the PT that was there was

00:10:12.673 --> 00:10:13.734
moving out of state about

00:10:13.774 --> 00:10:14.953
the time I was graduating.

00:10:15.033 --> 00:10:18.196
So I literally started on a

00:10:18.235 --> 00:10:19.875
temporary license in her

00:10:19.916 --> 00:10:21.677
like last month before she

00:10:21.736 --> 00:10:24.077
moved and then passed my boards.

00:10:25.038 --> 00:10:26.839
I was the only PT there from

00:10:27.058 --> 00:10:27.779
out of the gate.

00:10:29.100 --> 00:10:32.020
We had like a part-time PT too helping,

00:10:32.081 --> 00:10:32.240
but

00:10:34.317 --> 00:10:36.342
But it worked out great.

00:10:36.724 --> 00:10:39.409
Um, I did talk with Tony a lot, you know,

00:10:39.450 --> 00:10:39.811
Tony.

00:10:40.373 --> 00:10:41.474
Tony's a spreadsheet guy.

00:10:41.494 --> 00:10:43.936
He had a bunch of that kind of thing.

00:10:43.956 --> 00:10:45.596
So I met with him regularly

00:10:45.636 --> 00:10:47.557
about every quarter about

00:10:47.859 --> 00:10:49.120
what the business was doing.

00:10:50.200 --> 00:10:53.222
And so I kind of got my feet

00:10:53.263 --> 00:10:54.423
wet with that.

00:10:55.443 --> 00:10:56.485
And then I just started,

00:10:56.544 --> 00:10:57.806
it just opened up Pandora's

00:10:57.826 --> 00:10:59.586
box on me just

00:10:59.727 --> 00:11:01.528
self-educating as much as I

00:11:01.568 --> 00:11:03.870
possibly could, which was great.

00:11:03.990 --> 00:11:08.594
But what I did was about three months.

00:11:08.994 --> 00:11:09.115
So

00:11:10.445 --> 00:11:11.686
One key part of this story

00:11:11.745 --> 00:11:13.826
is I was going to take on

00:11:14.187 --> 00:11:15.768
the purchase of Tony's business.

00:11:15.827 --> 00:11:17.229
And that was a handshake him

00:11:17.269 --> 00:11:19.029
and I had when I when I started with him.

00:11:20.250 --> 00:11:20.890
I was like, look,

00:11:20.990 --> 00:11:22.052
I want to own my own practice.

00:11:22.091 --> 00:11:23.672
He said, perfect work for me.

00:11:23.832 --> 00:11:24.873
I'll sell you my practice

00:11:24.893 --> 00:11:25.352
when you're ready.

00:11:25.894 --> 00:11:26.573
I said, OK, great.

00:11:26.774 --> 00:11:28.475
So a couple of years into it,

00:11:29.535 --> 00:11:29.895
I called him.

00:11:29.936 --> 00:11:31.417
I was like, hey, I'm ready.

00:11:31.636 --> 00:11:32.336
And he's like, OK,

00:11:32.356 --> 00:11:33.437
let's start talking about it.

00:11:34.900 --> 00:11:36.403
Meanwhile, um,

00:11:37.124 --> 00:11:38.966
the biggest thing in my head was like,

00:11:39.586 --> 00:11:40.227
I want to have an

00:11:40.307 --> 00:11:44.472
orthopedic orthopedic focused, you know,

00:11:44.493 --> 00:11:46.534
an outpatient clinic that, um,

00:11:47.970 --> 00:11:49.630
and it's very it's very

00:11:49.671 --> 00:11:50.971
tough in our area I don't

00:11:50.991 --> 00:11:51.893
know if it's this this way

00:11:51.913 --> 00:11:52.913
all over but it's very

00:11:52.952 --> 00:11:53.754
tough to have a single

00:11:53.793 --> 00:11:55.254
location where you're

00:11:55.274 --> 00:11:56.196
trying to cater towards

00:11:56.255 --> 00:11:57.275
orthopedic surgeons that

00:11:57.316 --> 00:11:58.697
might have a radius of

00:11:58.756 --> 00:11:59.898
patients coming from maybe

00:11:59.918 --> 00:12:01.038
twenty or thirty miles away

00:12:01.619 --> 00:12:04.120
so why is that is the

00:12:04.160 --> 00:12:05.341
radius the issue or is it

00:12:05.402 --> 00:12:07.442
the size the issue is they

00:12:07.482 --> 00:12:09.004
don't they don't want to do

00:12:09.043 --> 00:12:11.265
the thinking of like okay I

00:12:11.326 --> 00:12:14.288
know justin down in osprey

00:12:14.327 --> 00:12:16.229
florida has a really good

00:12:16.269 --> 00:12:17.269
little micro clinic

00:12:17.950 --> 00:12:19.350
But I have patients coming

00:12:19.390 --> 00:12:20.751
from seven or eight

00:12:20.792 --> 00:12:22.192
different towns around them.

00:12:22.633 --> 00:12:24.094
So now I have to do the thinking.

00:12:24.394 --> 00:12:25.274
Do you live in Osprey?

00:12:25.294 --> 00:12:26.235
Because if you live in Osprey,

00:12:26.796 --> 00:12:27.677
what they're going to do is

00:12:28.197 --> 00:12:29.197
they're going to send to

00:12:29.217 --> 00:12:30.798
their best provider that

00:12:30.859 --> 00:12:34.061
has their zone covered.

00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:35.902
So they're sending to our

00:12:35.942 --> 00:12:36.701
competitors because they

00:12:36.741 --> 00:12:38.703
have eight or nine locations in the area.

00:12:39.124 --> 00:12:40.865
And it makes them not think.

00:12:40.945 --> 00:12:43.106
So you can pick off a couple

00:12:43.466 --> 00:12:44.768
of ones that really...

00:12:45.648 --> 00:12:47.349
it's most of the time, not the high volume,

00:12:47.529 --> 00:12:47.710
you know,

00:12:47.850 --> 00:12:49.571
ones is the ones that are more

00:12:49.630 --> 00:12:52.192
micro niche clinics or, you know,

00:12:52.232 --> 00:12:53.613
that really care about their patients.

00:12:53.673 --> 00:12:55.975
I should say that, you know,

00:12:56.075 --> 00:12:57.655
and maybe they'll send you on purpose,

00:12:57.676 --> 00:12:59.197
but if you really want to compete,

00:12:59.517 --> 00:13:00.937
then you need to have multiple clinics.

00:13:00.977 --> 00:13:03.299
So right away, I was like,

00:13:03.480 --> 00:13:05.100
how am I going to afford to

00:13:05.160 --> 00:13:07.822
fund multiple clinics right away?

00:13:08.923 --> 00:13:09.844
You know, self fund.

00:13:10.124 --> 00:13:13.005
So it kind of fell into my lap.

00:13:13.586 --> 00:13:15.187
but a patient of mine

00:13:16.268 --> 00:13:18.428
ex-business guy he shows up

00:13:18.448 --> 00:13:19.769
in the clinic pissed off at

00:13:19.789 --> 00:13:20.730
the guy down the street

00:13:20.769 --> 00:13:24.371
because uh he wasn't good

00:13:24.432 --> 00:13:25.413
at what he was doing and he

00:13:25.432 --> 00:13:26.572
said the wrong things and

00:13:27.033 --> 00:13:29.254
he comes into us um kind of

00:13:29.293 --> 00:13:30.294
all flared up and thinks

00:13:30.335 --> 00:13:31.975
physical therapy is a joke

00:13:32.615 --> 00:13:33.796
and starts telling me what

00:13:33.816 --> 00:13:34.557
to do and I kind of

00:13:34.596 --> 00:13:35.496
listened to him and I said

00:13:36.037 --> 00:13:36.878
all right brian well

00:13:37.518 --> 00:13:38.519
I appreciate your passion here,

00:13:38.538 --> 00:13:39.659
but here's what we're going to do.

00:13:39.740 --> 00:13:40.701
Here's, here's your,

00:13:40.740 --> 00:13:42.422
your path to get better.

00:13:43.101 --> 00:13:45.203
And you get you back on the golf course,

00:13:45.244 --> 00:13:46.044
get you back active.

00:13:46.985 --> 00:13:48.606
And he's like, holy shit, this is great.

00:13:48.687 --> 00:13:48.966
You know?

00:13:49.246 --> 00:13:52.028
So fast forward about twelve weeks,

00:13:52.188 --> 00:13:52.509
you know,

00:13:52.769 --> 00:13:54.730
he fell off his steps and broke

00:13:54.750 --> 00:13:58.594
his femur after having one

00:13:58.634 --> 00:13:59.674
too many drinks and trying

00:13:59.695 --> 00:14:01.356
to take a leak in the

00:14:01.376 --> 00:14:04.078
flower bed in the middle of night.

00:14:04.158 --> 00:14:04.318
But

00:14:06.943 --> 00:14:08.745
Speaking of that, cheers, by the way.

00:14:08.806 --> 00:14:09.567
I got my beer.

00:14:09.587 --> 00:14:11.629
Cheers, cheers, cheers.

00:14:11.750 --> 00:14:13.773
I got a minute left.

00:14:13.913 --> 00:14:15.916
And so he...

00:14:17.780 --> 00:14:19.442
He said, so, you know,

00:14:19.642 --> 00:14:20.543
this guy was a seasoned

00:14:20.582 --> 00:14:22.903
business professional, retired to KC Key,

00:14:22.943 --> 00:14:24.465
was very successful in his life.

00:14:24.504 --> 00:14:26.426
And I love picking the

00:14:26.446 --> 00:14:27.427
brains of my patients.

00:14:27.447 --> 00:14:28.668
So once I found out that he

00:14:28.687 --> 00:14:29.528
was this kind of guy,

00:14:29.607 --> 00:14:31.568
I was telling him what I was going to do.

00:14:31.649 --> 00:14:32.629
I was picking his brain

00:14:32.649 --> 00:14:34.571
about how he did his thing.

00:14:34.610 --> 00:14:38.013
And all of a sudden, on his last day,

00:14:38.052 --> 00:14:38.974
he was discharging.

00:14:39.014 --> 00:14:39.953
He says, Justin,

00:14:41.115 --> 00:14:42.816
will you come to my house

00:14:42.975 --> 00:14:43.956
after you get off work?

00:14:43.996 --> 00:14:45.177
I want to talk to you about something.

00:14:45.197 --> 00:14:45.697
I was like, okay.

00:14:46.572 --> 00:14:47.452
Go to his house.

00:14:48.433 --> 00:14:49.514
He says, look,

00:14:49.573 --> 00:14:50.674
I've been paying close

00:14:50.695 --> 00:14:51.716
attention for like the last

00:14:51.895 --> 00:14:53.375
eight weeks or so about

00:14:54.197 --> 00:14:55.317
your leadership style,

00:14:55.417 --> 00:14:56.518
your team you have there.

00:14:56.638 --> 00:14:57.597
I've been doing my research

00:14:57.658 --> 00:15:00.399
on the profession and I,

00:15:00.419 --> 00:15:01.639
I don't need to do this,

00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:04.402
but I would like to, if you would like to,

00:15:04.942 --> 00:15:05.822
I would like to back you

00:15:05.841 --> 00:15:07.182
financially and help you

00:15:07.222 --> 00:15:08.703
get to your goal to where

00:15:08.744 --> 00:15:09.524
you can really make an

00:15:09.624 --> 00:15:11.164
impact in the orthopedic community.

00:15:11.837 --> 00:15:13.058
and we can have a clear exit

00:15:13.099 --> 00:15:14.840
plan in five or six years

00:15:15.421 --> 00:15:17.201
to where you can buy me out

00:15:17.381 --> 00:15:19.263
and we can go on.

00:15:21.284 --> 00:15:25.868
So my wife and his wife and us had

00:15:27.755 --> 00:15:28.475
had a couple of dinners

00:15:28.535 --> 00:15:30.798
together talking about the deal,

00:15:30.837 --> 00:15:31.619
how this would work.

00:15:31.678 --> 00:15:33.620
And my wife came home and said,

00:15:33.700 --> 00:15:34.259
let's do it,

00:15:34.340 --> 00:15:36.261
because that was her biggest fear, too,

00:15:36.302 --> 00:15:37.442
was putting this thing

00:15:37.682 --> 00:15:39.384
financially up front when

00:15:39.443 --> 00:15:41.846
we're only thirty years old or whatever.

00:15:41.926 --> 00:15:45.908
So now you fast forward seven years.

00:15:48.029 --> 00:15:51.092
Open seven clinics in surrounding areas,

00:15:52.212 --> 00:15:55.255
also mobile therapy in all seven areas.

00:15:56.027 --> 00:15:57.749
We have about a ten-person

00:15:57.788 --> 00:16:00.890
mobile team doing home physical therapy.

00:16:02.893 --> 00:16:05.075
And we own all of our buildings.

00:16:05.254 --> 00:16:09.178
So we've built a tremendous business.

00:16:09.219 --> 00:16:12.422
We're averaging about one

00:16:12.461 --> 00:16:13.302
million dollars worth of

00:16:13.361 --> 00:16:14.423
revenue in every clinic.

00:16:16.325 --> 00:16:18.826
We're just kicking ass, man.

00:16:19.707 --> 00:16:20.067
Wow.

00:16:20.609 --> 00:16:21.570
So let me ask you a very

00:16:21.610 --> 00:16:22.770
Tony Meritato question.

00:16:23.863 --> 00:16:24.984
are you a real estate

00:16:25.024 --> 00:16:26.445
company that does physical

00:16:26.465 --> 00:16:28.447
therapy or are you a

00:16:28.486 --> 00:16:29.386
physical therapy company

00:16:29.407 --> 00:16:30.168
that does real estate?

00:16:30.248 --> 00:16:31.548
Cause it feels like the two

00:16:31.589 --> 00:16:32.889
are so closely tied,

00:16:32.929 --> 00:16:33.831
especially with your model.

00:16:34.851 --> 00:16:35.111
Yeah.

00:16:35.652 --> 00:16:37.413
I mean, I kind of both.

00:16:37.453 --> 00:16:37.614
I mean,

00:16:37.693 --> 00:16:39.294
I do think we have a very good

00:16:39.375 --> 00:16:41.035
successful actually

00:16:41.115 --> 00:16:42.697
physical therapy business here.

00:16:43.798 --> 00:16:44.058
You know,

00:16:44.139 --> 00:16:46.880
but one of the reasons why we

00:16:47.041 --> 00:16:47.981
purchased the,

00:16:48.282 --> 00:16:49.643
the real estate was because

00:16:49.682 --> 00:16:52.085
it just financially made better sense to

00:16:52.860 --> 00:16:55.981
um for us um then it was

00:16:56.022 --> 00:16:57.101
renting in our area I mean

00:16:57.143 --> 00:16:58.702
we were paying close to

00:16:58.783 --> 00:17:01.644
double what what we we

00:17:01.664 --> 00:17:03.426
could own the actual

00:17:03.466 --> 00:17:04.946
property for in osprey

00:17:04.987 --> 00:17:06.326
where we started we were

00:17:06.366 --> 00:17:07.347
paying ninety thousand

00:17:07.387 --> 00:17:08.528
dollars per year and you

00:17:08.648 --> 00:17:09.808
know rent and we we could

00:17:09.868 --> 00:17:11.230
own that property for half

00:17:11.269 --> 00:17:12.971
that you know so it's a

00:17:13.010 --> 00:17:14.932
weird weird thing but uh

00:17:15.071 --> 00:17:16.512
and with brian helping us

00:17:16.553 --> 00:17:17.614
and the bank banking

00:17:17.634 --> 00:17:18.933
relationships he you know

00:17:18.993 --> 00:17:19.755
actually brought to the

00:17:19.775 --> 00:17:21.875
table we could afford to get these loans

00:17:22.551 --> 00:17:23.951
And then I think we just

00:17:23.972 --> 00:17:25.813
kind of lucked out with a

00:17:25.913 --> 00:17:26.792
low interest rate

00:17:26.873 --> 00:17:28.173
environment as we purchased

00:17:28.233 --> 00:17:29.213
most of these properties.

00:17:31.755 --> 00:17:34.875
So we ended up, but also to your point,

00:17:34.996 --> 00:17:36.856
I look at it as if the

00:17:36.896 --> 00:17:38.037
business can pay off the

00:17:38.057 --> 00:17:39.178
real estate for you,

00:17:39.397 --> 00:17:43.439
then it's a good retirement.

00:17:43.499 --> 00:17:45.078
I think a lot of PT practice

00:17:45.138 --> 00:17:47.140
owners are stuck with like, okay,

00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:49.161
I ran this practice for twenty years.

00:17:50.101 --> 00:17:51.582
now I should be able to sell

00:17:51.701 --> 00:17:54.682
it and retire and then from

00:17:54.761 --> 00:17:56.042
my experience trying to buy

00:17:56.083 --> 00:17:57.563
these practice owners you

00:17:57.603 --> 00:17:58.723
know they think they have

00:17:59.304 --> 00:17:59.943
something that's more

00:17:59.963 --> 00:18:01.443
valuable than it is most of

00:18:01.483 --> 00:18:05.265
the time some and uh and if

00:18:06.066 --> 00:18:07.286
you didn't have that extra

00:18:07.306 --> 00:18:08.326
real estate over twenty

00:18:08.346 --> 00:18:10.527
years making money for you and also

00:18:11.146 --> 00:18:12.627
and appreciating in value

00:18:12.667 --> 00:18:13.788
and your company paying it

00:18:13.828 --> 00:18:14.609
off for you then all of a

00:18:14.630 --> 00:18:15.651
sudden now you have an

00:18:15.770 --> 00:18:16.912
asset that you know you can

00:18:16.971 --> 00:18:19.013
actually retire with so so

00:18:19.054 --> 00:18:20.394
that is my long-term goal

00:18:20.434 --> 00:18:23.438
too is to is is to to have

00:18:23.518 --> 00:18:24.439
an actual real estate

00:18:24.479 --> 00:18:26.941
portfolio that I can retire from also

00:18:28.028 --> 00:18:29.449
Yeah, it's the way to go.

00:18:29.548 --> 00:18:31.250
So I love asking these types of questions,

00:18:31.290 --> 00:18:33.251
which is biggest challenge,

00:18:33.752 --> 00:18:36.535
biggest surprise in doing this process,

00:18:36.795 --> 00:18:37.996
besides Brian falling off

00:18:39.076 --> 00:18:39.836
into his flower bed,

00:18:39.936 --> 00:18:43.640
which was a good serendipity, right?

00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:43.880
Yeah, yeah.

00:18:43.900 --> 00:18:45.040
And what's actually cool about that,

00:18:45.080 --> 00:18:46.663
to kind of wrap that side of the story up,

00:18:46.742 --> 00:18:49.805
is I'm actively buying him

00:18:49.904 --> 00:18:52.086
out as we talk right now.

00:18:52.126 --> 00:18:53.468
We're supposed to close next month,

00:18:53.548 --> 00:18:54.528
and I'm going to own, oh, wow.

00:18:55.390 --> 00:18:55.911
hundred percent of the

00:18:55.931 --> 00:18:58.676
company and our plan worked out well.

00:18:58.737 --> 00:18:59.839
So it's great.

00:18:59.900 --> 00:19:01.784
But as far as challenges go, I mean,

00:19:03.345 --> 00:19:04.365
I'm sure a lot of people

00:19:04.405 --> 00:19:05.446
have had these challenges.

00:19:05.507 --> 00:19:05.707
I mean,

00:19:06.126 --> 00:19:08.648
I'll talk for ten seconds about the

00:19:08.709 --> 00:19:10.309
reimbursement declines and

00:19:10.849 --> 00:19:13.571
the hiring struggles that everyone has.

00:19:14.212 --> 00:19:15.854
Those are kind of like the

00:19:15.894 --> 00:19:17.595
table fare of having a

00:19:17.615 --> 00:19:18.776
physical therapy practice

00:19:18.816 --> 00:19:19.537
everyone deals with.

00:19:19.576 --> 00:19:21.557
So those are real struggles

00:19:21.577 --> 00:19:22.719
that we've had to work through.

00:19:22.759 --> 00:19:28.462
But for me, the biggest challenges are

00:19:30.904 --> 00:19:32.385
building a team of over

00:19:32.425 --> 00:19:34.366
fifty employees at this

00:19:34.406 --> 00:19:39.810
point people because I care

00:19:39.871 --> 00:19:42.112
so much about everyone

00:19:42.152 --> 00:19:43.292
being happy and everyone

00:19:43.313 --> 00:19:44.232
wanting to work for this

00:19:44.272 --> 00:19:45.994
company and us being

00:19:46.055 --> 00:19:47.556
successful that you know

00:19:47.736 --> 00:19:49.517
it's a it's it's a very

00:19:51.758 --> 00:19:52.999
there's big swings in this

00:19:53.019 --> 00:19:54.160
business when it comes to

00:19:54.299 --> 00:19:56.000
to managing employees you

00:19:56.020 --> 00:19:57.382
know one day everything's

00:19:57.422 --> 00:19:58.501
going good the next day

00:19:59.750 --> 00:20:01.791
it's not and you you really

00:20:01.832 --> 00:20:02.792
wear it on your sleeve I

00:20:02.833 --> 00:20:04.374
mean my my beard had no

00:20:04.433 --> 00:20:06.056
gray in it um a few years

00:20:06.096 --> 00:20:08.117
ago you know so a lot of

00:20:08.137 --> 00:20:09.659
the stress that I I bring

00:20:09.699 --> 00:20:11.800
home is employee related

00:20:12.041 --> 00:20:12.862
and I don't want to say

00:20:12.882 --> 00:20:15.125
that employees are bad

00:20:15.224 --> 00:20:15.944
that's not what I'm trying

00:20:15.964 --> 00:20:17.046
to say here it's just that

00:20:17.507 --> 00:20:18.567
you end up you know

00:20:20.715 --> 00:20:21.996
With that many employees,

00:20:22.155 --> 00:20:23.017
everyone's dealing with

00:20:23.037 --> 00:20:23.957
their own personal stuff.

00:20:24.018 --> 00:20:24.738
Everyone's dealing with

00:20:24.877 --> 00:20:25.818
their own health issue,

00:20:25.838 --> 00:20:26.959
their own financial issue.

00:20:27.038 --> 00:20:28.400
And you kind of have to like

00:20:28.519 --> 00:20:29.480
wear that with them.

00:20:30.657 --> 00:20:33.180
If you care about your team.

00:20:33.201 --> 00:20:33.901
That's what we started this

00:20:33.921 --> 00:20:34.541
thing by saying,

00:20:34.862 --> 00:20:36.564
being a clinician and being an owner,

00:20:36.584 --> 00:20:37.384
a boss, a leader,

00:20:37.584 --> 00:20:38.505
they're two different jobs.

00:20:38.945 --> 00:20:40.807
Playing first base is

00:20:40.886 --> 00:20:42.709
different than catching, right?

00:20:42.769 --> 00:20:44.451
I played both positions and

00:20:44.490 --> 00:20:45.672
like catching was a super

00:20:46.031 --> 00:20:46.952
thinking position.

00:20:47.073 --> 00:20:47.814
I didn't think about that.

00:20:47.834 --> 00:20:48.394
I just thought it was the

00:20:48.413 --> 00:20:49.734
idiot with the shin guards on,

00:20:50.256 --> 00:20:51.557
but you have to sort of like, no,

00:20:51.636 --> 00:20:52.057
I can see,

00:20:52.298 --> 00:20:53.378
I'm seeing the field from

00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:54.098
behind the plate

00:20:54.159 --> 00:20:55.540
differently than the first baseman.

00:20:56.201 --> 00:20:57.102
I can see the infield.

00:20:57.182 --> 00:20:57.801
I can see the out.

00:20:58.142 --> 00:20:59.021
It was unique.

00:20:59.241 --> 00:21:00.903
You're the only player facing that way.

00:21:01.103 --> 00:21:01.983
You quite literally are the

00:21:02.003 --> 00:21:03.163
only player facing that way.

00:21:03.344 --> 00:21:04.464
Everybody's facing home plate.

00:21:04.484 --> 00:21:05.765
You're looking their way.

00:21:06.105 --> 00:21:07.826
So being a leader is quite different.

00:21:08.046 --> 00:21:08.906
When I was in college,

00:21:08.946 --> 00:21:10.386
my uncle owned bars in New York.

00:21:10.847 --> 00:21:11.708
And when I was in college,

00:21:12.528 --> 00:21:13.229
what are you going to do next?

00:21:13.249 --> 00:21:14.028
And what are you going to do

00:21:14.048 --> 00:21:14.528
when you grow up?

00:21:14.548 --> 00:21:14.788
I was like,

00:21:14.828 --> 00:21:16.289
I want to own a bar like Uncle Frank.

00:21:16.450 --> 00:21:17.330
And then I worked for my uncle.

00:21:17.371 --> 00:21:18.171
He was smart enough to be like,

00:21:18.230 --> 00:21:18.770
come work for me.

00:21:19.290 --> 00:21:20.491
And at the end of the summer, he was like,

00:21:20.511 --> 00:21:21.172
what do you want to do now?

00:21:21.251 --> 00:21:22.553
I'm like, I want to go to bars.

00:21:24.134 --> 00:21:25.013
Like I don't want to be in a bar.

00:21:25.375 --> 00:21:26.435
I saw it, but it was good.

00:21:26.516 --> 00:21:26.675
Right.

00:21:26.736 --> 00:21:28.257
Like go jump in different.

00:21:28.637 --> 00:21:31.420
Cause what I saw was, you know, cocktail,

00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:33.182
like let's hang out and it's party time.

00:21:33.261 --> 00:21:34.222
And there were some of that,

00:21:34.522 --> 00:21:35.864
but the actual business of

00:21:36.265 --> 00:21:37.445
a bar restaurant was like

00:21:37.465 --> 00:21:39.267
this other stuff that I was like, yeah,

00:21:39.528 --> 00:21:39.968
not for me.

00:21:40.188 --> 00:21:41.128
Like cool.

00:21:41.589 --> 00:21:42.549
Great for uncle Frank.

00:21:42.651 --> 00:21:43.991
And I think uncle Frank knew that,

00:21:44.372 --> 00:21:45.712
but if he tried to talk me out of it,

00:21:46.493 --> 00:21:47.454
I probably would have resisted.

00:21:48.276 --> 00:21:49.076
But Uncle Frank was like,

00:21:49.215 --> 00:21:49.896
step right this way.

00:21:50.017 --> 00:21:51.577
Now, being a bartender two,

00:21:51.597 --> 00:21:53.259
three nights a week, great job.

00:21:53.539 --> 00:21:55.682
But owning the bar, different job.

00:21:55.721 --> 00:21:58.144
Playing the role or playing the coach.

00:21:59.384 --> 00:22:00.566
And there's a real stress

00:22:00.625 --> 00:22:03.969
when you're dealing with –

00:22:01.747 --> 00:22:04.068
when you feel responsible

00:22:04.088 --> 00:22:05.289
for other people's livelihood,

00:22:05.329 --> 00:22:07.211
it adds a real layer of stress.

00:22:07.230 --> 00:22:07.672
Oh, I bet.

00:22:08.450 --> 00:22:09.611
I think a lot of people can

00:22:09.651 --> 00:22:10.290
understand that.

00:22:10.330 --> 00:22:11.972
And I'm not trying to say it as if like,

00:22:12.032 --> 00:22:12.833
oh, you know,

00:22:12.873 --> 00:22:13.814
you shouldn't start your own

00:22:13.854 --> 00:22:15.154
practice because I would do

00:22:15.194 --> 00:22:16.355
it a hundred times over again.

00:22:16.816 --> 00:22:19.057
But, you know,

00:22:19.178 --> 00:22:20.739
it's the kind of stress that

00:22:20.999 --> 00:22:22.759
wakes you up at like twelve

00:22:22.839 --> 00:22:24.221
thirty in the morning and

00:22:24.521 --> 00:22:25.923
doesn't let you go back to sleep,

00:22:25.982 --> 00:22:26.282
you know?

00:22:26.762 --> 00:22:28.124
So, yeah.

00:22:28.163 --> 00:22:28.924
Sure.

00:22:28.944 --> 00:22:29.164
All right.

00:22:29.184 --> 00:22:29.664
So let's talk about

00:22:29.704 --> 00:22:30.385
leadership since you

00:22:30.405 --> 00:22:31.567
brought it up a couple of different ways.

00:22:32.346 --> 00:22:33.708
and focusing on leadership

00:22:34.048 --> 00:22:36.509
and letting others shine I

00:22:36.549 --> 00:22:37.509
think some people think

00:22:37.589 --> 00:22:38.611
being a leader is being the

00:22:38.750 --> 00:22:39.892
one who shines right but

00:22:40.031 --> 00:22:41.032
ironically I think we both

00:22:41.093 --> 00:22:41.992
agree where it's more about

00:22:42.032 --> 00:22:42.913
making other people shine

00:22:42.933 --> 00:22:43.914
and listening to their

00:22:43.954 --> 00:22:45.194
problems how do you

00:22:45.255 --> 00:22:46.016
actually build leadership

00:22:46.036 --> 00:22:47.896
skills inside a clinic team

00:22:48.096 --> 00:22:49.218
not just for yourself but

00:22:49.337 --> 00:22:50.538
for others is there an

00:22:50.578 --> 00:22:51.980
approach you have you said

00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:53.480
brian was slowly watching

00:22:53.500 --> 00:22:55.061
your leadership style what

00:22:55.301 --> 00:22:56.542
when it what goes into that

00:22:57.796 --> 00:22:58.896
Well,

00:22:59.417 --> 00:23:01.539
I think you have to make a conscious

00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:03.922
effort not to, from the very beginning,

00:23:03.981 --> 00:23:06.085
not to build a brand around yourself.

00:23:07.185 --> 00:23:08.366
Some people have successful

00:23:08.406 --> 00:23:09.748
business models where they do that,

00:23:09.788 --> 00:23:10.328
where they build their

00:23:10.348 --> 00:23:11.150
brand around themselves,

00:23:11.210 --> 00:23:12.872
but they're probably hard

00:23:13.031 --> 00:23:14.153
pressed to find good

00:23:14.192 --> 00:23:15.473
leaders willing to step up

00:23:16.095 --> 00:23:18.738
and help grow their practice.

00:23:19.853 --> 00:23:21.493
so what you have to do is

00:23:21.574 --> 00:23:24.136
really focus on having a

00:23:24.217 --> 00:23:25.837
brand your business having

00:23:25.877 --> 00:23:27.058
its own brand and then

00:23:27.138 --> 00:23:28.460
building your leadership up

00:23:28.500 --> 00:23:30.781
to support that and and

00:23:30.821 --> 00:23:32.542
doing things instead of

00:23:32.563 --> 00:23:33.564
micromanaging people and

00:23:33.604 --> 00:23:34.625
saying like here's how I

00:23:34.644 --> 00:23:36.646
want you to do it you say

00:23:36.707 --> 00:23:38.347
hey I expect you to come on

00:23:38.367 --> 00:23:39.568
board and have better ideas

00:23:39.608 --> 00:23:41.089
than I have that's my

00:23:41.150 --> 00:23:44.292
expectations and I want to be the person

00:23:44.893 --> 00:23:46.535
that pushes all the hurdles

00:23:46.654 --> 00:23:47.875
out of your way for you so

00:23:47.895 --> 00:23:48.856
that you can just like

00:23:49.657 --> 00:23:51.298
sprint past me and get,

00:23:51.378 --> 00:23:52.840
and get first place, you know?

00:23:53.221 --> 00:23:55.202
So I feel like that is what

00:23:55.242 --> 00:23:58.526
I've gotten good at is when

00:23:58.566 --> 00:24:00.147
someone has a problem, I'm like, let me,

00:24:00.347 --> 00:24:01.648
let me take care of that for you.

00:24:02.108 --> 00:24:02.410
Okay.

00:24:02.450 --> 00:24:03.891
And then they're, they're,

00:24:05.172 --> 00:24:06.594
they're full throttle after that.

00:24:06.614 --> 00:24:06.874
They're not,

00:24:07.298 --> 00:24:08.519
and and they ended up

00:24:08.579 --> 00:24:09.901
becoming something becoming

00:24:09.921 --> 00:24:11.801
a therapist becoming a

00:24:11.922 --> 00:24:14.223
manager becoming you know

00:24:14.263 --> 00:24:15.765
better than than what I

00:24:15.805 --> 00:24:17.546
would have done if I if I

00:24:17.566 --> 00:24:18.666
was telling them what to do

00:24:18.707 --> 00:24:19.627
for for sure yeah

00:24:20.127 --> 00:24:21.929
understood uh justin you're

00:24:21.949 --> 00:24:22.849
right you're a baseball

00:24:22.869 --> 00:24:23.470
player you ready to play a

00:24:23.490 --> 00:24:24.250
game we're gonna play quick

00:24:24.270 --> 00:24:33.136
game okay let's do it all

00:24:33.156 --> 00:24:34.238
right we're gonna play play ball

00:24:35.289 --> 00:24:35.990
or walk away.

00:24:36.451 --> 00:24:37.071
Here's how it works.

00:24:37.811 --> 00:24:38.432
I'm going to throw some

00:24:38.472 --> 00:24:39.594
business moves at you.

00:24:39.794 --> 00:24:40.555
You tell me if you're

00:24:40.634 --> 00:24:43.096
swinging or if you're taking the pitch.

00:24:43.298 --> 00:24:44.419
Swinging means you agree with it.

00:24:44.439 --> 00:24:44.939
You take it.

00:24:45.359 --> 00:24:46.661
Walking away, let it pass.

00:24:46.820 --> 00:24:47.862
All right.

00:24:48.522 --> 00:24:49.864
Someone opening a second

00:24:49.903 --> 00:24:52.105
location before their first

00:24:52.205 --> 00:24:53.887
one feels perfect.

00:24:53.907 --> 00:24:54.748
I'm using that word in their

00:24:54.788 --> 00:24:55.990
quotes specifically.

00:24:56.170 --> 00:24:57.290
Opening a second location

00:24:57.631 --> 00:24:59.413
before your first one is perfect.

00:25:00.928 --> 00:25:01.688
Uh, I've,

00:25:02.067 --> 00:25:04.689
I swing on that one already a few times.

00:25:04.729 --> 00:25:05.970
So let's go ahead and swing

00:25:05.990 --> 00:25:06.809
on that one for sure.

00:25:06.829 --> 00:25:07.650
All right.

00:25:07.750 --> 00:25:09.270
And why is it the word perfect?

00:25:09.310 --> 00:25:10.490
Cause it, is it ever perfect?

00:25:10.550 --> 00:25:11.692
Is that why you're going to swing?

00:25:11.711 --> 00:25:13.051
That's one of my problems with it.

00:25:13.092 --> 00:25:15.113
It's never, it's never perfect, but also,

00:25:15.333 --> 00:25:16.952
um, it,

00:25:17.012 --> 00:25:19.294
if it's part of your strategic plan,

00:25:19.574 --> 00:25:20.914
which mine was, you know,

00:25:21.075 --> 00:25:22.295
I wanted to open up three

00:25:22.315 --> 00:25:24.115
locations within like the

00:25:24.155 --> 00:25:27.336
first eight months in order to better,

00:25:27.376 --> 00:25:27.416
um,

00:25:28.262 --> 00:25:30.023
And I even had a plan that

00:25:30.084 --> 00:25:31.484
included the names of

00:25:31.605 --> 00:25:32.605
orthopedic groups and

00:25:32.645 --> 00:25:34.106
physician groups in town

00:25:34.126 --> 00:25:35.488
that I wanted to be their

00:25:35.887 --> 00:25:36.909
go-to person for.

00:25:37.528 --> 00:25:39.210
And so I was actually

00:25:39.289 --> 00:25:40.431
reverse engineering that

00:25:40.490 --> 00:25:42.011
and opening up locations

00:25:42.051 --> 00:25:43.752
was one of the key components there.

00:25:43.813 --> 00:25:45.233
So I had to open them up.

00:25:46.795 --> 00:25:48.096
I had to put the cart before

00:25:48.135 --> 00:25:49.497
the horse in order to get

00:25:49.537 --> 00:25:50.617
that thing moving.

00:25:51.818 --> 00:25:53.579
Hiring someone for culture fit,

00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:55.780
even if they're slightly underqualified.

00:25:56.201 --> 00:25:57.422
You swinging away or are you

00:25:57.442 --> 00:25:58.042
taking that pitch?

00:25:59.463 --> 00:26:01.045
Yeah, definitely swinging away there.

00:26:01.185 --> 00:26:05.588
I mean, cultural fit or personality fit,

00:26:05.648 --> 00:26:06.190
you know, I mean,

00:26:06.750 --> 00:26:08.330
I think that's eighty

00:26:08.392 --> 00:26:10.353
percent of of the

00:26:10.373 --> 00:26:12.974
importance to to hiring somebody.

00:26:14.036 --> 00:26:16.097
Obviously, they have to check a few boxes,

00:26:16.317 --> 00:26:18.200
you know, like table stakes.

00:26:18.359 --> 00:26:20.481
But but for sure,

00:26:20.781 --> 00:26:21.782
I would definitely hire

00:26:21.823 --> 00:26:22.824
somebody even if they

00:26:22.844 --> 00:26:23.903
weren't experienced enough.

00:26:24.673 --> 00:26:25.032
Two more.

00:26:25.173 --> 00:26:26.474
Taking insurance contracts

00:26:26.575 --> 00:26:28.675
just to fill a schedule early on.

00:26:29.836 --> 00:26:31.898
Swing away or take that pitch?

00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:38.845
Starting up DeNovo, maybe.

00:26:40.226 --> 00:26:41.126
Maybe for like,

00:26:41.307 --> 00:26:42.827
but I would be ready and

00:26:42.867 --> 00:26:45.549
prepared to drop as soon as

00:26:45.650 --> 00:26:47.692
I went on any kind of a waiting list.

00:26:50.054 --> 00:26:50.894
The reasons why...

00:26:52.085 --> 00:26:53.625
which we have dropped a few

00:26:53.685 --> 00:26:55.105
of our bad contracts.

00:26:56.106 --> 00:26:56.987
We've dropped probably over

00:26:57.027 --> 00:26:59.709
fifty percent of them and

00:27:00.068 --> 00:27:02.329
are and we were very happy

00:27:02.349 --> 00:27:03.170
that we did that.

00:27:03.790 --> 00:27:06.271
But the only reasons why I

00:27:06.291 --> 00:27:07.531
would keep a contract in

00:27:07.551 --> 00:27:09.794
the beginning is for brand building,

00:27:11.934 --> 00:27:13.075
whether it's doing favors

00:27:13.095 --> 00:27:14.635
for a specific orthopedic group.

00:27:14.655 --> 00:27:15.836
And then once you get a

00:27:15.895 --> 00:27:16.856
relationship with that

00:27:16.896 --> 00:27:17.856
group or once you get a

00:27:17.876 --> 00:27:18.657
relationship with that

00:27:19.638 --> 00:27:21.140
that actual referral source, then you say,

00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:22.840
look, dude, we know each other.

00:27:23.040 --> 00:27:24.040
We're both business guys.

00:27:24.221 --> 00:27:24.902
I got to drop

00:27:25.842 --> 00:27:27.623
UnitedHealthcare because they

00:27:27.663 --> 00:27:29.104
pay us fifty dollars per visit.

00:27:29.243 --> 00:27:30.664
And at that point, you're like, oh, dude,

00:27:30.765 --> 00:27:31.526
I can't believe you were

00:27:31.586 --> 00:27:33.026
even taking them in the first place,

00:27:33.046 --> 00:27:33.346
you know,

00:27:34.047 --> 00:27:35.508
and that's an easy conversation to have.

00:27:35.587 --> 00:27:36.708
But if I would if I would

00:27:36.728 --> 00:27:37.608
have had that conversation

00:27:37.628 --> 00:27:39.450
from day one de novo before

00:27:39.470 --> 00:27:40.651
I even knew that provider,

00:27:41.411 --> 00:27:42.071
it might have been the

00:27:42.092 --> 00:27:42.932
difference between them

00:27:43.051 --> 00:27:44.173
using us in the first the

00:27:44.212 --> 00:27:45.534
first place so I'm not

00:27:45.594 --> 00:27:46.394
saying that you have to

00:27:46.434 --> 00:27:48.296
follow my path but as long

00:27:48.355 --> 00:27:49.676
as you think it through and

00:27:49.717 --> 00:27:51.657
have a strategic reason why

00:27:51.698 --> 00:27:52.699
you're doing something what

00:27:52.798 --> 00:27:54.901
I highly disagree with is

00:27:54.941 --> 00:27:56.061
people just saying I want

00:27:56.082 --> 00:27:57.162
to keep all my contracts

00:27:57.221 --> 00:27:59.564
because I feel like that's

00:27:59.604 --> 00:28:00.605
the right thing to do right

00:28:01.325 --> 00:28:01.786
Last one,

00:28:01.925 --> 00:28:03.366
offering cash-based services

00:28:03.487 --> 00:28:05.949
inside an insurance-based clinic.

00:28:06.648 --> 00:28:08.490
Swing away or take a pitch?

00:28:08.530 --> 00:28:10.071
Swing away.

00:28:10.132 --> 00:28:11.252
I guess I'm swinging on all

00:28:11.272 --> 00:28:12.733
these questions here.

00:28:12.753 --> 00:28:14.335
I like it.

00:28:15.836 --> 00:28:16.876
Last thing we do on the show, Justin,

00:28:16.896 --> 00:28:18.157
is what we call the parting shot.

00:28:19.199 --> 00:28:20.660
Last chance for a mic drop moment,

00:28:20.680 --> 00:28:21.520
soapbox statement.

00:28:21.961 --> 00:28:26.724
What's Justin leaving with us at the end?

00:28:27.325 --> 00:28:28.125
Let me think about this.

00:28:28.365 --> 00:28:29.846
What I would say is

00:28:31.576 --> 00:28:34.701
My number one thing that I

00:28:34.740 --> 00:28:35.741
think has led to our

00:28:35.781 --> 00:28:38.527
success is the ability to

00:28:38.747 --> 00:28:40.469
take anything that comes at

00:28:40.509 --> 00:28:43.113
you with an objective lens

00:28:43.713 --> 00:28:47.420
and never worry about what happened.

00:28:48.461 --> 00:28:50.343
I'll only worry about how

00:28:50.363 --> 00:28:51.663
you fix it and how to keep

00:28:51.703 --> 00:28:53.486
it from happening in the future.

00:28:54.185 --> 00:28:56.407
And that's every decision that we make.

00:28:56.488 --> 00:28:57.709
I don't dwell on things.

00:28:58.308 --> 00:28:59.450
I don't get stuck.

00:29:00.871 --> 00:29:02.972
And that includes hiring and

00:29:03.012 --> 00:29:03.813
firing people.

00:29:03.973 --> 00:29:05.494
I've hired people when we

00:29:05.515 --> 00:29:06.695
didn't have a space for them.

00:29:06.736 --> 00:29:08.017
And I fired people when I

00:29:09.451 --> 00:29:11.612
couldn't afford to because they were,

00:29:11.652 --> 00:29:12.172
because I didn't have,

00:29:12.211 --> 00:29:13.592
but you gotta think

00:29:13.692 --> 00:29:15.632
objectively and you gotta move on it.

00:29:16.272 --> 00:29:16.653
And like,

00:29:16.732 --> 00:29:18.373
you gotta be quick to make decisions,

00:29:18.393 --> 00:29:18.633
man.

00:29:18.853 --> 00:29:19.593
You gotta be quick.

00:29:20.473 --> 00:29:20.794
Love it.

00:29:20.933 --> 00:29:23.134
Justin, appreciate the time.

00:29:24.555 --> 00:29:25.315
I don't want this to be the

00:29:25.335 --> 00:29:26.095
last conversation.

00:29:26.154 --> 00:29:27.295
I feel like you've got a lot

00:29:27.355 --> 00:29:28.055
to teach people,

00:29:28.236 --> 00:29:28.796
but I don't want to give

00:29:28.816 --> 00:29:29.855
them all too much at once.

00:29:30.655 --> 00:29:31.435
If someone wanted to reach

00:29:31.536 --> 00:29:32.596
out and if someone wanted

00:29:32.616 --> 00:29:33.497
to reach out and get in touch,

00:29:33.517 --> 00:29:34.156
what's the best way?

00:29:35.261 --> 00:29:35.982
I'm on LinkedIn.

00:29:36.063 --> 00:29:38.365
I'd say that's the best way, you know, um,

00:29:38.526 --> 00:29:42.530
you look me up there if, but I'm, I'm not,

00:29:43.231 --> 00:29:45.134
I definitely don't hide all

00:29:45.173 --> 00:29:46.816
my contact info, you know,

00:29:46.855 --> 00:29:48.758
so you look me up.

00:29:48.818 --> 00:29:50.160
I'm not, I'm not hard to reach.

00:29:50.820 --> 00:29:51.382
Justin Siver.

00:29:51.402 --> 00:29:52.163
Appreciate the time, man.

00:29:52.202 --> 00:29:52.482
Thank you.

00:29:52.863 --> 00:29:53.364
All right, Jimmy.

00:29:53.384 --> 00:29:53.743
Thanks, man.

00:29:53.964 --> 00:29:54.806
Good, good talking.