Greg [00:00:00]:
He always, he told me from then, he's like, you always have to seize the opportunity. And that's what he always said as an entrepreneur, because. And he's always, he's always been a hustler. But I realized that that's what makes entrepreneurs entrepreneurs and other people not entrepreneurs, is that we're opportunists. This is Secrets for success.
Greg [00:00:28]:
Cool.
Greg [00:00:28]:
Welcome to the Secrets for Success podcast. I'm your host, Greg Tod. Today I have one of my ogs, is what I call her. She's one of my original members of Smart Success Healthcare, our platinum program, Jenny Resmondo. Thank you so much for being a part of this podcast.
Jenny [00:00:48]:
Thank you, Craig, for having me. I'm glad to be.
Greg [00:00:50]:
Yes. Yes. All right, so Jenny has a couple things going on. She is the founder of South Alabama physiotherapy, and she also helps a unique group of people that are weird, and they're kind of like me fishing people as well. So anyways, let's get into all of that, but first, why don't we talk about how long you've been a physical therapist and when you actually started in business and what made you start in business.
Jenny [00:01:22]:
Okay, so I've been a physical therapist for 23 years, graduated in 2000, I think the same year you did.
Greg [00:01:30]:
Yeah.
Jenny [00:01:31]:
Right. I don't remember what the other question was.
Greg [00:01:35]:
So you have been a therapist for 22 years. So how long have you been in business? How long did it take you before?
Jenny [00:01:41]:
That was the question. So I have been in business for myself since late 2018 as a little side hustle. So that took me, I guess, 18 years to go into business for myself after I finished physical therapy school.
Greg [00:01:58]:
What made you decide that it was time for you to go into business for yourself? Something happened. Tell me what it is.
Jenny [00:02:03]:
Something happened at that time, I was in the middle of a fellowship program for orthopedic manual physical therapists, and I saw all these other people in this group that were either opening their own business or starting their business and talking about not working for other therapists and making their own decisions. And I thought to myself, at that time, I got to have that, but I didn't know if it was going to work yet at that time.
Greg [00:02:31]:
Okay, so you decided.
Greg [00:02:34]:
All right.
Greg [00:02:34]:
You heard it first, by the way. I talk about this awareness, interest, consideration, intent, evaluation, and then buying it. And so I think of you. You've been a therapist since 2000, and you worked for other people up until 2018. And your first thing that you had to have is awareness that it was even possible for you to do something outside of working for somebody else.
Greg [00:03:08]:
Right.
Greg [00:03:08]:
And you found that out, ironically, through a fellowship, and then there had to be some interest. Like, when they're talking about it, it's like, oh, that could be interesting.
Greg [00:03:19]:
All right.
Greg [00:03:20]:
And then after that, it's like, all right, I'm going to consider doing this.
Jenny [00:03:24]:
Right.
Greg [00:03:25]:
Okay. Was there something in particular that happened? I don't know, a circumstance, a situation at your workplace that made you say, all right, now is the time. Now is the time to go out on my own? Or were you just like, let me just see what happens if I do this.
Jenny [00:03:43]:
To begin with, it was, let me see what happens. Because when you're in a fellowship program, the cost is really high, and I was trying to figure out a way to be able to write that off on my taxes. The easiest way to write that off on my taxes was to open up a business.
Greg [00:03:59]:
Got you.
Jenny [00:03:59]:
So it made sense to me, oh, well, I need to open a business so I could write this off and deduct the cost of the fellowship. And in that whole process, that seed had been planted. As I was working and learning all these new fun skills through the fellowship program, I started getting tired of having them tell me what I could and couldn't do at the place I worked.
Greg [00:04:22]:
Clinical freedom.
Jenny [00:04:24]:
Clinical freedom.
Greg [00:04:24]:
So can I tell you something? For me, when I made that, like, I had to have awareness first, awareness that I could even go and open up my own thing, and I got that awareness, honestly, when I was in PT school, so I knew that it was possible. I just never thought that I could do it as early as I did. But then I had to go from awareness to interest, and my interest happened very similar to you. I was going to CEU programs, I was doing my manual therapy certification. You were doing your fellowship. And I realized that a lot of the things that I wanted to do or the things that I was learning, I wasn't able to do in a clinic anyways because I had a manager or a boss telling me, oh, that's not reimbursable through insurance, or you can't do this, or you can't do that. So it's kind of interesting that it's a lot of the same things. I think most people out there, maybe people don't care as much about financial freedom or time freedom, but I think, like, 99% of therapists really do care about getting clinical freedom, being able to treat people the way that they want to treat.
Greg [00:05:28]:
Would you agree? I would agree, yeah.
Jenny [00:05:31]:
Clinical freedom is so important.
Greg [00:05:33]:
So important.
Greg [00:05:34]:
Yeah.
Greg [00:05:35]:
A lot of places don't get it. It's just not set up for you to be able to get it because they want you to do things their way.
Jenny [00:05:43]:
Exactly.
Greg [00:05:43]:
Yeah.
Greg [00:05:45]:
So you start to dabble in 2018, and now you're kind of doing your thing on the side. Today, you have a much bigger set up. You have a brick and mortar practice, and you're not even solo anymore. You have a few people working with you, and so kind of bring us on that journey. What's happened from 2018 to present?
Jenny [00:06:10]:
So, in 2018, I was working my new job or my new business as a side gig. I was working full time and then seeing clients on the weekends or after I got off work, decided that, okay, this is kind of fun. I think I could actually do this as a real business, like a legit business. Let's see what I could make happen. And in 2020 or at the end of 2019, I turned in my notice at my full time job to go full in on my business.
Greg [00:06:41]:
Right.
Jenny [00:06:42]:
It was mobile physical therapy. I was just traveling to patients houses. That wasn't really enough. I wanted more. I didn't know what that more was going to be. But eventually, an opportunity came up for me to occupy the space that I'm currently in. And it's a beautiful building. It's a historic building in a small town not far from where I live.
Jenny [00:07:07]:
That is the next up and coming neighborhood. And so I took that opportunity, right? I took the opportunity to rent that building.
Greg [00:07:16]:
Have you ever thought of yourself, like, have you always thought of yourself as an entrepreneur?
Jenny [00:07:23]:
No, I would always say I'm an opportunist.
Greg [00:07:27]:
Okay.
Greg [00:07:28]:
That's where I was going with this.
Jenny [00:07:30]:
I've always been an opportunist.
Greg [00:07:32]:
There's this opportunity, and that's what entrepreneurs do, right? Is we see the opportunity, and we're opportunists. And I never really considered myself, like, I'm this natural born entrepreneur, but I realized that I've always been an opportunist. I see something. I'm like, man, there's something here. There's really something here. So my older brother. Wait, have you ever met him? Have you ever met Mark?
Jenny [00:08:03]:
Yes.
Greg [00:08:04]:
Okay, so, mark, back when he was in 8th grade, I was in 6th grade, and there was, like, a candy fundraiser at our school. You weren't allowed to sell candy at school unless you were doing it through the fundraiser.
Jenny [00:08:21]:
Okay.
Greg [00:08:22]:
So my brother saw this opportunity to sell candy, and he says, we can have our own fundraiser, right? We're not doing it for the baseball team. We're doing it for us. The Todd family.
Jenny [00:08:37]:
Exactly.
Greg [00:08:37]:
So he's like, at least it's legal during this time. So, anyways, he told me from then, he's like, you always have to seize the opportunity. And that's what he always said as an entrepreneur, and he's always been a hustler. But I realized that that's what makes entrepreneurs entrepreneurs and other people not entrepreneurs, is that we're opportunists. And that's what you are.
Jenny [00:09:00]:
I'm an opportunist.
Greg [00:09:01]:
Yeah.
Greg [00:09:02]:
That's awesome. That's awesome. Okay, so now you have this beautiful building, and you've been able to now grow your clinic, and now you do things beyond just physical therapy. What are some of the other services that you're doing there, and how did those opportunities abound?
Jenny [00:09:24]:
So, once I actually had a physical space, my whole purpose for developing the business in Loxley is to have a place where people could come in for healing, to be in a wellness environment, and to just feel like they're at peace whenever they walk in the door. And part of that was to develop my own peace and healing. So I have a lot of anxiety that I've dealt with, and a lot of my patients have that, too. Part of the thing that I wanted to add was massage, and I wanted to add yoga and other wellness services, and I have been able to make that happen at that location.
Greg [00:10:05]:
Right.
Jenny [00:10:05]:
And everybody that walks in, they feel that sense of peace and healing. I've just created that environment, and it was something that I felt was truly important. It was important for you, it was important for me.
Greg [00:10:21]:
And then you realize that there's a lot of other people that are feeling this as well for themselves.
Greg [00:10:25]:
Right.
Jenny [00:10:26]:
So my vision that I wanted it to be that when you. As soon as you walked into the door, the weight, the burden was lifted off of you.
Greg [00:10:33]:
Right.
Jenny [00:10:34]:
And I've heard that.
Greg [00:10:35]:
Right.
Greg [00:10:35]:
Well, okay. There's a lot of people that have this objection with starting a practice in a rural area, and you did that. And so this podcast is called the Secrets for success. Can you give me some success tips that you've been able to do to allow you to actually have a practice that's functioning in an area that doesn't have, like, 500,000 people? Wait, what's the population of your town?
Jenny [00:11:10]:
I think you've asked me that before, and I'm terrible. I should have looked it up. We just moved from a town to a city, okay? So whatever that number is, lord have mercy.
Greg [00:11:20]:
All right. I already know it's probably like 19 people up in this joint.
Jenny [00:11:24]:
Come on now. It's a city.
Greg [00:11:25]:
Okay.
Jenny [00:11:26]:
I have no idea. That is terrible. I do not know. I know the town that I live in has 3800 people in it. Okay, but that's a town.
Greg [00:11:36]:
That's a town. But now you're in a big city.
Jenny [00:11:39]:
Now I'm in a big city of Locksley. It's so much fun to say that.
Greg [00:11:43]:
Oh, wow.
Greg [00:11:43]:
Okay.
Greg [00:11:44]:
All right. City girl.
Greg [00:11:45]:
Okay.
Greg [00:11:46]:
All right. So it's not a ton of people. I guess that's the whole deal. But you've been able to make it work. And what are some things that you feel has been able to make it work?
Jenny [00:12:01]:
I think me being an open and honest person, talking to the people that I encounter every day, I'm another person just like them, right? And I talk to them as if I am their best friend, as if I'm their neighbor. I treat them the exact same way.
Greg [00:12:22]:
Back in the day, my business partner, through renewal, rehab, and I were talking, and he's had not his brother or his parents, but he had other family members, cousins that have been physicians for many years. I'm talking like 50, 60 years that their line of people have been physicians. And they said one of the biggest things is that the healthcare model for physicians went from the doctor that everyone knew that was like their best friend, to now working for these small practices, to now the big conglomerations. And then he says, now it's like this bell is like, coming down now, and we're going back to that. So it's quite interesting because that seems like what you have done as well. It's like you're this personable individual. I'm like a friend of your family. I'll take care of you.
Greg [00:13:24]:
If you're struggling with this, I've got you covered. If you aren't struggling with what I can help you with, I'll find someone that will get you covered. And I think that when you do things like that, and then over time, people start to trust you and you can start to add additional services. You don't really need a lot of people. You don't need to have towns of 500,000 to have a nice little thing that's working for you and working well for you. I think that's what you've been able to do. Would you agree?
Jenny [00:13:57]:
100%?
Greg [00:13:58]:
Yeah, it's pretty amazing. All right, now, let's not talk about all the good. Let's talk about some struggles, too. Has it been a perfectly upward trajectory since you started this whole thing?
Jenny [00:14:11]:
Absolutely no.
Greg [00:14:12]:
Okay.
Greg [00:14:16]:
Let'S make these next few minutes to keep it real section. This is the keep it real section of the secrets for success podcast. So let's keep it real. Give me some tough things that have happened. A lot of people don't want to talk about this stuff. They just want to talk about all the great things. And then when they decide to start a practice and something bad happens, they're like, something's wrong with them. But no bad stuff happens in everybody's practice.
Greg [00:14:41]:
Just most people don't want to talk about it, but I want to talk about it. So tell me some stuff.
Jenny [00:14:46]:
Sure. Recently there's been a couple of different bad things that have happened that have hit back to back to back. And it seems like that's how life is. It throws multiple things at one time. The first chain recently is the person who I was renting the building from came to me before our lease was up and said that he is getting ready to sell the building. So I either had to make him an offer or hope that whoever he sold it to would let me stay there.
Greg [00:15:19]:
Right.
Jenny [00:15:20]:
So I had to make a decision within 24, 48 hours. What am I going to do?
Greg [00:15:27]:
And you saw an opportunity.
Jenny [00:15:28]:
I saw an opportunity.
Greg [00:15:30]:
And what did you do?
Jenny [00:15:32]:
I bought the building.
Greg [00:15:32]:
Bought the building.
Jenny [00:15:35]:
And the time that I bought it, interest rates are astronomical. Our housing market, as well as commercial real estate market is out of the. It's crazy right now. It was not the time. It was not my time to buy, but it was an opportunity. That's what I did. I had to jump on it.
Greg [00:15:55]:
Right?
Greg [00:15:56]:
Yeah, I think here, we'll stay on that for a second.
Jenny [00:16:00]:
Sure.
Greg [00:16:01]:
We were at dinner last night, and I was telling a lot of my clients that were at dinner that in every business that you have, you really need to set the business up to sell. Right. And it's not saying you're going to sell your business, because when people used to tell me that 1015 years ago, I'm like, why would you say that? You must be all about the money. Why would you even think about selling your business? But what I've come to realize is that the goal of business is to serve people and serve people and solve their problems. And you want to be able to do that extremely well, and you want to be able to do that understanding that the only way that you're going to be able to grow is if the business is profitable. And the only way you'd be able to sell it is if the business is profitable. And so my whole mindset has shifted on that over the last, like, eight to ten years. And one of the things when it comes to selling is that there is intangible property and there's tangible property.
Greg [00:17:13]:
My biggest mistake that I've made with my clinics that I had was that of the three clinics, I own, none of the buildings. And so I remember when you messaged me, you're like, greg, what should I do? And I'm like, well, you can do whatever you want to do, but I can just tell you, as your mentor, I can tell you mistakes I've made. And last year, I had the building that I was paying, like, $5,500 a month to every single month for 15 years.
Greg [00:17:48]:
Right?
Greg [00:17:48]:
15 years. Yeah, 15 years. They let us know that you have to move out of the building three weeks, and we had nowhere to go. And I realized that, man, if you add $5,500 a month for 15 years and never been late with a payment, I paid these people over, like, $1.2 million over that time, and I had nothing to show for it. And so that was the advice that I gave you. And so you just made your business much more valuable by doing that. Look, interest rates go up, they go down. You can refinance it later on.
Greg [00:18:29]:
That's no big deal. So, anyways, good move for you. All right, how about one other obstacle that you have had to overcome as you've been going through your practice journey?
Jenny [00:18:42]:
So hiring employees for longevity has been recently in my mind, because I had somebody, whenever I first opened my physical practice that came in, who was a yoga student in our studio that's upstairs, and she said, I need some extra money. I got to find a job. And I was like, well, great. I need some extra help. Can you work for me? I was like, this is another opportunity. She retired nurse. I knew she knew the medical language, so I hired her within a month ago, not even a month ago, I get a phone call after, well, it was during yoga class, but I didn't answer it because I was teaching it. I checked the voicemail, and a neighbor who was a patient of mine that lived across the street from my employee had called and said that she had just gotten life flighted out due to a massive stroke.
Greg [00:19:38]:
Wow.
Jenny [00:19:38]:
So trying to find the person that's going to help you work your situation and help you make all the connections in your business work well was the one struggle. And then once you start finally getting a little bit of a stride, then having that person traumatically pulled out of your employment two days later, they end up pulling her off a life support because it was a hemorrhagic stroke, and so there was no recovery from it.
Greg [00:20:08]:
Right.
Jenny [00:20:09]:
So not only have I had to figure out how to hire somebody, now I've got to figure out how to replace somebody that just left completely unexpectedly. You're not really expecting something like that to ever happen. When you hire somebody, you don't expect somebody to die on you.
Greg [00:20:29]:
Right?
Greg [00:20:30]:
You just don't.
Jenny [00:20:31]:
That's not in the game plan. That's not in the game plan.
Greg [00:20:34]:
Game plan.
Jenny [00:20:37]:
That's a real thing. I now know it happens, and it's just crazy.
Greg [00:20:45]:
I mean, there are so many things that you had to deal with. This just happened recently. And not only are you scrambling with your clinic, but then you also have other staff, and this is someone that you know and you love.
Jenny [00:20:58]:
Right.
Greg [00:20:58]:
And you're not only grieving for yourself, but also your team. It's like everybody's in shell shock, right? And then you're having to run and operate your business still, and you almost can't even grieve.
Jenny [00:21:11]:
Yes. And the week before, I hired another person who was going to help in the front office. So in the midst of all that trying to train a new person, a new employee.
Greg [00:21:23]:
Right. Crazy.
Jenny [00:21:24]:
And then having somebody to pass away on you.
Greg [00:21:28]:
Right.
Greg [00:21:29]:
You guys all on that? I think. Here's the thing. I will say. I will say that. And I actually did a podcast with my wife recently, and she's not the big entrepreneur, right. But she says, I just want more of my husband. I want more of him here. And this is what I have to remind her of.
Greg [00:21:54]:
I have to remind her that if I was a total jerk and I had not grown by becoming more patient, more kind, a better communicator, all the reasons why she happens to like me, which I don't understand why she likes me, but she does. She says she does, and she said she wants to spend more time with me. All of those things I can say, jenny, has happened because of entrepreneurship, because of all the trials, the struggles, and the things that I never dealt with. Kind of like what you're dealing with right now, that only because of entrepreneurship, it made me have to confront these things and deal with these things, and in turn, it made me become a different person. And so, anyways, I thank you for sharing that. Thank you for being honest. And I'm just really proud of you. So, any parting thoughts? We've got people that are listening to this, and I would say this.
Greg [00:22:56]:
I would say what you have done really well, is you have continued to move forward, even though there have been obstacles, and you've continued not only to move forward, but you've grown. I mean, I've just watched you now for the last three years, you've been in my world. For someone that just feels stuck, what would you tell them right now?
Jenny [00:23:21]:
Somebody that is just feeling stuck, they.
Greg [00:23:23]:
Feel stuck in their career. They feel like it's too late for them to get started with going after, basically go after clinical freedom or to go after opening up a practice. What would you tell them or what would you have wanted told to yourself in 2018 when you started?
Jenny [00:23:44]:
Keep making moves forward, even when you feel stuck? Make a move. It doesn't matter if it's the right move. It is a move, and it's making you come to some form of action, even if it's not the direction you want to go in. You've made some kind of growth, and you've learned from a mistake that you've made so that you could pivot in a different direction. But either way, you still move forward.
Greg [00:24:07]:
Right?
Greg [00:24:08]:
Make a move.
Jenny [00:24:09]:
Make a move.
Greg [00:24:10]:
It does not have to be the right move.
Jenny [00:24:12]:
No.
Greg [00:24:13]:
Okay.
Greg [00:24:13]:
I love it. All right, so I need to say this. I want to honor you, and I want to tell you this. If there's any student that is the reason for the astronomical ascension of smart success healthcare, it's you. It is you.
Jenny [00:24:36]:
Wow.
Greg [00:24:38]:
I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why. Yeah. No, it's definitely you. It's definitely you. So, in 2021, I had to do the live event. But when I signed up to do that live event, it was because of the contract that I had with that hotel that I made in 2019. I did not know that everything was going to happen with COVID And during that time of COVID there were other things that were going on in my life that made me almost quit the smart success healthcare mission.
Greg [00:25:17]:
And so I got to be honest with you. I wish I would tell you guys. Oh, I just felt so passionate. Honestly, I came back because I had to fulfill the obligation I had to the hotel, or I was on a hook for nearly $200,000. So I came back and I said, I'm going to do an event. And as I was now prepping to do the event, even though I really didn't feel that excitement to do it, as I'm doing it, I started getting excited again. Oh, my gosh. This is going to be fun.
Greg [00:25:44]:
But I put out an offering, and you were one of the 20 people to join it. But this is where things change. I thank you for that. That's great. But where things changed was we decided to have a continued education weekend. And you and one other person came, Heidi. And it was the first time besides the event. And really, it'd been really two years since I had been around people.
Greg [00:26:15]:
And I realized the power of being with people. And you have no problem being outspoken. You said, we need to do this more. And I was like, yeah, we actually really do. We talked about it at Tijuana Flats right next to my clinic. I don't know if you remember this, but I remember. And I left there. I left that event, which was two people and the instructor, Santi.
Greg [00:26:38]:
Right.
Greg [00:26:39]:
And that Monday, I started looking for a place. By that next Friday, the following Friday, we found this place, and it was really because of you. And so today we have now 25 employees in this place. We just finished an amazing immersion event, part one of 20 of you. And then now tomorrow, even more people are flying in and coming. And I just want you to know that I'm so thankful and grateful that you kind of just were there. God planted you in my life for a season to tell me one thing that I needed to do. And that one thing has sprouted into all of this.
Jenny [00:27:25]:
Isn't that amazing?
Greg [00:27:26]:
It's so amazing. So we're going to maybe create a shrine of you or something like that.
Jenny [00:27:33]:
A shrine of Jenny?
Greg [00:27:34]:
Yeah, that would be great.
Jenny [00:27:36]:
Totally have to do that now.
Greg [00:27:38]:
Anyways, I'm proud of you. I don't know if you noticed, you're on the wall now as part of our six figure club. You're two years in a row, which is so awesome. So you're on the wall. And I just want to thank you so much for everything you've done for us, and I appreciate you.
Jenny [00:27:52]:
Well, thank you, Craig.
Greg [00:27:53]:
And thank you for being on a podcast.
Jenny [00:27:55]:
I appreciate you. Thanks for having me.
