Greg Todd [00:00:00]:
A prepared messenger is much more important than a prepared message. I don't script out any messages because I feel like if I script it out, I'm not allowing God to be able to talk to me and be able to talk to the people. I think for me, like, even at the event, right when I'm at the event, I want to be able to look in the audience. Doesn't matter if there's 50 people, 100 people, 200 people, it doesn't matter. I want to be able to look in the audience, and as I'm teaching, I want to be able to look at people, and I want to be able to talk to my people. So if I teaching on a concept and I see you, I want to be able to talk to you. Michaeline, this is what you need to do. Okay.
Greg Todd [00:00:43]:
If I see gwen, I want to be like gwen. This right here is what you need to do. If I see Mary, I want to be like Mary. This part right here, this is what I need you to do. Or, mary, remember when you did this? Or Michelin, remember when we used to do that? And the only way you can do that is if you are prepared in what you know, you want to convey to people. This is Secrets for success. Welcome to the Secrets for Success podcast. I'm your host, Greg Todd.
Greg Todd [00:01:19]:
Thank you, as always, for joining me today. I have another special guest. So this person used to be like my Instagram live buddy, okay. And she would hop on my Instagram lives in the morning. She's actually a client of mine in one of my programs, and I can't wait for you to learn from her, hear from her, and maybe she could teach you a thing or two. Michael Lee Kearney, welcome to the podcast.
Michaelene [00:01:40]:
Thank you so much. I'm so excited to have a conversation with you.
Greg Todd [00:01:45]:
Yes. And I love having the conversations with you as well. So why don't you tell the people a little bit about what you do, at least as a profession and all that good stuff. So go ahead.
Michaelene [00:01:55]:
Okay. I'm a pediatric occupational therapist, and I'm the founder of Children in Motion Therapy Services, which is a brick and mortar clinic where I work with children and their families who are experiencing challenges with sensory processing challenges. And I also own the teachers OT, which is an online format where I'm working with teachers and school systems on understanding classroom and the behavior and just how sensory processing impacts children's behavior, teachers learning, and how we can help support children so they can do their best learning.
Greg Todd [00:02:38]:
Okay. This means a lot to me personally because I have a child that struggles with this. And so I just. Before we even get on with the rest of the interview, I want to just say thank you for what you do, because as a parent, I didn't understand a lot of the things that is a struggle to my son. And so the work that you all do is amazing. So, first of all, just thank you for that. Okay? That's the first thing. So can you tell me how long you've been in OT and how long you've had a practice? Can we talk about, like, that transition from being an OT? And were you always impedes, and then what spurred you to go and have your own practice?
Michaelene [00:03:22]:
So I've been an OT since 1985, so that's 30 plus years.
Greg Todd [00:03:30]:
Wow. You are an Og. All right. Wow. Okay, awesome.
Michaelene [00:03:36]:
So I've been around. My first year out of school, I was working as the only OT in a residential facility for adults who had mental disabilities. And then I shifted into rehab, a hospital, inpatient rehab for a year. And then I went into pediatrics in the school system, which was really where I felt I was always going to end up anyway. But I wanted to make sure that I was getting, you know, all the OT skills I needed. So started in the school systems back in Chicago, moved to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1991, and again went into the school systems part time and then worked in an outpatient clinic part time.
Greg Todd [00:04:23]:
Wow.
Michaelene [00:04:25]:
And then I eventually opened up my own practice in 2001. I have three beautiful, beautiful human beings, three daughters, who, as we were starting our young family, I started having difficulty with one of them. I mean, my husband's a PE teacher. I'm a pediatric OT. We got this. We know what to do. And we were really struggling with our daughter. She was just having all kinds of difficulty, and I was like, all right, we got to figure this out.
Michaelene [00:04:57]:
So that's where, when I started learning about sensory processing and what that meant and what that looked like and why my daughter was having all these troubles, and then I started thinking, oh, well, I think some of the children that I work with might have sensory processing challenges. At that time. I was part time in the schools, and it was a pretty narrow role, and so there wasn't a lot of room for really investigating what was going on from a sensory processing standpoint. After many conversations with my husband, we decided that the best thing would be is for me to go out on my own, start my own practice so that I could really focus and really help these families. It made a big difference for my husband and I, understanding what sensory processing meant and looked like and why it was so difficult for my daughter. And once we started applying what I was learning, it really made a big difference. So I. I really wanted to help those families and those children with that.
Michaelene [00:06:03]:
So in 2001, we started the children in motion practice. I continued to work with parents and their children, and they started requesting or asking me, can you talk to my teacher? Can you come to school and work with my child? My child is having a hard time at school. So I started because I was in charge of my schedule and I was in charge of the role I was playing. I was able to be real flexible and meet the needs of the individual families. So I started going into schools and working with teachers, building relationships with administration, and really, I really enjoyed getting back into the schools. This time, I had a lot more control and had some just great teachers that I was working with who really taught me a lot along the way. The problem was, is that I only had so many hours and I could only see so many kids. I could only go to so many schools because that took time driving there, seeing the child, driving back.
Michaelene [00:07:09]:
And teachers aren't always accessible because they're busy teaching. So they were mostly available when I was in the clinic treating the kids, and when I was available, they were in the classrooms teaching. So over the years, I would create handouts and I would do in services and workshops for them. But again, I could only do so many of those, and I really felt like I have a problem. I only have so much time. So much.
Greg Todd [00:07:39]:
Yeah. Yeah, I hear that all the time. Yep. That's. That's. That's. I'm sure at some point I come into the picture.
Michaelene [00:07:50]:
Exactly. So one of my daughters works in the business. I have to say, the whole family is part of the business. One of my daughters works day to day in the business with me. I have another daughter who I affectionately refer to as my it department, and then my other daughter does it and does a lot of hr for me. And then my husband is my go to guy. He builds all my clinics and my ball pits and my climbing walls and my swinging structure. So it's a family affair.
Greg Todd [00:08:22]:
Yeah.
Michaelene [00:08:23]:
But my daughter, who works with me in the business, and I were sitting down, and she's really good at big picture. I've got my head down, treating the kids day to day stuff, and she's much better with the big picture, and she's like, all right, mama, we need some help. We need to find a coach. I don't know what else to do to help figure out the time, because really, the problem was time. Like, I only have so much time. It's just me. I can only make so much money. So that limits what I can do as far as hiring people in my mind, right? So I'm like, all right.
Michaelene [00:08:59]:
So I found a coach in the local area. It was right around Covid that just didn't work out. So I found Mister Greg on the Internet, and I kind of, like, stalked you, right. Checking that out. I did appreciate your humor. I had found, actually, several coaches online, and they were so business like and talking about scaling and this and that, and it just was not speaking to me at all. But then, you know, you show up and you're yelling at me and you.
Greg Todd [00:09:35]:
Got a sense of, I don't know. I don't know any other way to be. Yeah.
Michaelene [00:09:38]:
Like, okay, okay. He's a PT. He's got to understand the business. He's not a salesperson.
Greg Todd [00:09:43]:
Right?
Michaelene [00:09:44]:
So I start listening to you and following you and stalking you a little bit, and then, lo and behold, you had this five day challenge. And I said, okay, I'm going to do this. So I did the challenge and I'm like, I could see things. You know, you're very transparent. You're very upfront about who you are and what you do and how it all works. And I'm like, yeah, he's going to pitch me. Nope, I'm not going to do anything. I'm just going to keep.
Michaelene [00:10:07]:
You know, I can't afford him. I'm not gonna do anything. And then by the end of that, well, first of all, two days into the challenge, I'm signing up for the vip, which I didn't think I needed, but then I wanted. Yeah, and did your five day, and then you presented the 168 vehicle, and I'm like, man, that's. That's my ticket right there. That's gonna help me, you know, when sales terms scale up, that's gonna allow me to really be able to help more people, more teachers, more school systems. That's what I need to do. So then I hopped on the 168 train.
Greg Todd [00:10:44]:
Yeah, well, there's so many things to unpack here. So I think the first thing is this. I calculated the numbers. You've been a therapist for 39 years.
Michaelene [00:10:57]:
39. Really? I must have started when I was twelve.
Greg Todd [00:11:00]:
Yeah, no, apparently you did. So that's really cool. She became an OT at ten, which is really awesome. And. But 39 years. So I think there's the first thing I want to say to those of you listening is, it doesn't matter. You have to make a decision. And you make a decision at any point in your career, whether that is right out of school, whether that is before you even start ot school or PT school, or that's at year 39 or year 38 or year 48, you make a decision on what it is that you want to do, and what you realize are the issues that you're having within your career.
Greg Todd [00:11:46]:
So that's the first thing, okay? It's never too early, and it's never too late, okay? That's point number one that I want to just share with everybody. Point number two, Michaeline gets into the business aspect of this in 2001, okay? And she gets into the business aspect of it because of a problem that she was actually dealing with. And I say that to you all because a lot of the things that, like, when I look at the businesses that I have right now, and I look at, okay, I have a. I have a consulting business. I have a physical therapy business, okay, I got a software business, okay, I've got the virtual staffing agency business. And then I have these rentals. Now these Vacate, these. These rental, you know, companies, all right? I'm like, every single business I realize is exactly how Michaeline started her business.
Greg Todd [00:12:40]:
All the businesses that I have today are only a business because I actually had a problem in that area first. Are you guys hearing this? When you have a problem and you have a needle and you solve that problem, that is usually for those of you like, I'm trying to find my passion. I'm trying to find my thing. Listen, passion, this, your. Those things change over time, okay? But right now, if you're like, oh, my gosh, what could I do? It's a thing that you just solved a problem for yourself with. So if you look back at market's story of who she started helping people with in 2001, it's because she had that problem with her kid. She had a problem with her kid, and it's like, oh, my gosh, like her husband, she's trying to figure this out. They think they know enough because he's a PE teacher.
Greg Todd [00:13:25]:
She's a pediatric ot. Okay, okay, we can figure all this out. They couldn't figure it out, so they had to figure, okay, what do I need to do here or there? And then now they're able to create something from it. So that's the second thing. And then the third thing is this. Even if you figure out all this stuff, you still. If you do it in a traditional way, you're still gonna run out of time. You're going to run out of time.
Greg Todd [00:13:48]:
And so when you run out of time, you have to understand that the way that you're currently doing it, if you work harder, it still won't work. You have to change the way that you're doing it. So I just. I don't know. As I'm hearing this, I'm sure there are people right now. I'm going to ask you all, even though I can't see you as you listen to the podcast, raise your hand if Annie Potter Michaeline's story is your story. Okay. And I guarantee you there is a part of it that is.
Greg Todd [00:14:19]:
And so, okay, so now that leads you to me, and now you're in my world, and now we're doing all this stuff together. Okay, so can you talk about, like, the journey, the journey of trying to not trade time for money or the journey of, like, doing things different? And can we talk about the good, the bad, the ugly? Like, it's not easy to do. It's good. On the flip side, once everything is set up, but I don't know, just give the people some inspiration here.
Michaelene [00:14:51]:
Yeah. So I joined the 168 club, right? And I'm like, okay, I'm ahead of the game because you talk a lot about, you need to identify a problem. Do you have an audience? Can you fix the problem? I'm like, oh, I got it. I know exactly what the problem is. The teachers don't have access, or they don't have access to information. They don't have time, and they don't have a lot of resources. I can help them out. I can build a program, an online course for them to take.
Michaelene [00:15:26]:
I'll keep it quick. I won't make it too long and too lengthy. And give them some information. I'll give them examples so that they can kind of start picturing some of the kids in their classroom. I'll give them lots of tools, and it'll be good. So I'm feeling like I'm in a good shape with this 160. I'm gonna be able to pull this out quickly. But then there's so much that I didn't really think about, like, who knows me, right? I don't really have a presence on social media.
Michaelene [00:15:58]:
I'm too busy teaching, and I'm too busy treating the kids. And so, although I had the problem, there was a lot of work to be done as far as building a presence and figuring out all the technical stuff of social media and Facebook lives and Instagram. And where is my audience? They're younger than me, so they're not always on Facebook. They're mostly on Instagram. I think that as far as teachers go, do I target individual teachers? Do I target school systems? You know, those are all the questions, things I needed to think about. So I'm doing this, and I'm building this while I'm running my clinic. Like me, it's my daughter, and I. She's behind the scenes.
Michaelene [00:16:44]:
I'm the one in the front teaching all the kiddos, and I'm doing it. I don't have very much time. So time was the challenge for me. I had to just push through and just make time at night, make time on the weekends. I was able to get to a point to hire another therapist part time to help me. So that helped me a bit. But there's still a big learning curve, and I'm still working on that. I mean, I've got the program, and I decided, okay, I'm going to make this online program, and that's going to be good, and it can just sail on its own.
Michaelene [00:17:22]:
But what I've realized with beta testing it, talking to teachers, is that I need to add a community component to it, because, yes, I can share this information, but what happens all the time in person is I share information and I talk to the teachers, and I'm like, okay. And then they come back and they're like, well, wait a minute. What about this? Or what about that? So I realized I need to create a community so that we can talk through these things. And the information can be, you know, it can be. It can work for them. It can be available. They can see it. They can understand it.
Greg Todd [00:17:58]:
Right?
Michaelene [00:17:59]:
So what else do I need to tell you? So the good is, is that there's lots of possibilities that's out there. I mean, I know it's going to work. The dirty part of it, the tough part of it, is creating the time, creating the discipline to find the time and get it done.
Greg Todd [00:18:20]:
So, Michaelina, I got to tell you this. I'm currently doing a program right now, I'm talking a program that I'm teaching people on, and it's the first time that I've actually done it like this. I'm taking the info business. I'm taking group memberships. I'm taking multiple different business models, and I'm starting over from scratch. And I can tell you, I feel you. I resonate with you because I'm starting all my businesses from scratch. Like, I'm, you know, just got to figure out the audience, got to figure out this, got to figure out that got to figure out this.
Greg Todd [00:18:58]:
And showing people, like, like, this is the process of how this is done. And, you know, everybody thinks that way. I shouldn't say everybody, but most people think that, like, okay, once I hit the ground running, like, it's just going to be smooth sailing. But it's a process to not only understand, like, how many years did it take you to really understand your audience? And that part you probably knew going into the program. Okay, that's great. That's wonderful. But that's not the only component, you guys. It's now getting people to be able to trust you, getting people to look at you as a go to, it's one thing for people to see you as a go to offline, you know, at the school or at the clinic.
Greg Todd [00:19:43]:
It's another thing for that to translate to you being a go to online. Right. For you being able to be that for people. And all that takes time. Where are my people? Where do they communicate? Where do they converse? How do I talk to them? What do I say? Right? And all those things. It's a process. I mean, I've been. I'm just thinking about it.
Greg Todd [00:20:05]:
I've been doing. I've been doing consulting since 2009. That's when I started consulting. So I'm 15 years now into being a consultant. I've been doing it online since 2016, and I'm still finding out more and more things because guess what? My audience is changing. Like, you're never going to know your audience. Totally. I mean, you've been working with sensory processing since 2001, right? Well, were you dealing with the iPad in 2001?
Michaelene [00:20:33]:
No.
Greg Todd [00:20:33]:
No. Were you dealing with the iPhone in 2001? No. Were you dealing with, you know, all these different tv stations or Netflix constantly? That's overstimulating our kids. No. Were you dealing with TikTok back then? No. So it's like, our audience changes, and I want everybody to understand that the needs of your audience, even though it might be the primary problems, are the same, the different secondary factors change. And so it's a constant. It's a constant journey with that, you know, and it never ends.
Greg Todd [00:21:08]:
So. So I applaud you for. For sharing that. Sharing the good of it all, the awesome opportunities, the bad of it. Oh, my goodness. Even though I know the problems, these people don't know me yet. Like, they don't know me online yet. I don't even know where they're at, you know, for certain.
Greg Todd [00:21:26]:
Right. And then the dirty part is like, geez, there's, like, a lot of components to this it's not. Yes, it's awesome on the other end, and it's so cool that you can have the amount of impact that it would take you a month. You can do it in an hour. You can make the same amount of money that you made. I literally just had somebody on the podcast, and, you know, this person, you know, Jamie in platinum. And Jamie was just talking about her first ever job she had as a therapist. She had a day where she saw 60 patients in a day, 60 patients in a day.
Greg Todd [00:22:05]:
And so I broke it down for her. She said that she averaged 35 patients a day for a year. That's what she averaged every day for a year. And so I said, jamie, you made about $10 a patient. And now she's doing these new offers that she's doing through the program, and she has clients that are paying her five to $9,000 a client. And so that's a process, you guys, to get to there. And the cool thing about the things that we teach is there's massive upside, and the downside is not that much.
Michaelene [00:22:39]:
It's.
Greg Todd [00:22:39]:
There's still a downside, but it's not that much. But to build that takes time. And there's good, there's bad, and there's the dirty part of it. And so, thank you, Michaeline, for sharing that. Okay, so, before you leave, if there's any tips or any suggestions you'd give to someone that has been in their profession for more than 20 years, and they're like, you know what? I know I need a change. I know I'm tired. I know I'm exhausted. I know I can help more people, but I feel like it's too late for me.
Greg Todd [00:23:12]:
What would you tell them?
Michaelene [00:23:14]:
Yeah. I would say, no, it's not. You know, I have my husband, and I have people around us who are always saying who are retiring. Our friends are retiring. And they're like, when are you guys retiring? And we're like, we're not. We have projects. We have things to do. We're not done.
Michaelene [00:23:31]:
And so I don't think it's too late. And I grew up. I mean, I started my career without the Internet, without cell phones. And so I've been around for a while. But you're just never too old to learn. I mean, the things I've learned this past year with you, Greg, in the platinum program, are just crazy. I mean, the concepts I know, scaling up and all this stuff about Instagram and how to edit a short reel and a story and all this, you can learn it and you need to. You have to keep evolving, and you need to unwrap your preconceived ideas of what.
Michaelene [00:24:14]:
What it is your job is or the way you present things. And you just have to constantly. Which you can, which you should. We need to. You just need to constantly be learning and evolving and finding new and different ways to do what you know and to use the knowledge you have to help people out.
Greg Todd [00:24:34]:
Well, I'll tell you right now, you are an inspiration. You. I love the fact that you don't settle. You know, I've always said this. Well, actually, I haven't always said this. I've said this since 2020, but it looks like you figured this out a long time ago. In 2020. I actually, when everything got shut down, it was the first time that I met with my financial advisors.
Greg Todd [00:25:02]:
I mean, I've had them, but I've never, like, sat down and really talked about my future. And they're like, you could retire. And I was like, wow, okay. And I always thought retirement was the end goal until I actually took a break. And the break wasn't bad, but the idea of retirement just absolutely makes me nauseous. I realized after having that time off, I felt the least alive. I felt the least inspired. And I realized that, like, I just want to grow and I want to evolve and I want to help people, and I want to live a good life, too, and have fun.
Greg Todd [00:25:41]:
But I actually find helping people fun. I just want to do it in a way that I want to do it, and I want to live my life by design. And life by design, to me, involves helping people. And so I'm inspired by you. I really am. I'm inspired by you continuing to push and grow and say, hey, listen, I can learn anything, and that's what you do. So anyways, why don't you tell the people where they can find you online, since you are online now, right? Yes.
Michaelene [00:26:09]:
So you can find me online. Let's see. I have to. I should be prepared for this. Hold on. Okay. So I'm at theteachersot.com, and there we have all kinds of resources for teachers, plenty of free stuff. And then we also have the online course.
Michaelene [00:26:29]:
And then there's childreninmotion.com, which is where my brick and mortar is. We have an Instagram account, which is children in motion. We have Facebook account, which is moving for success. So we're there. Come find us.
Greg Todd [00:26:47]:
Awesome. Awesome. Well, I'm proud of you. I'm proud of all the growth, and I'm proud of what is to come. So, Michaeline, thank you for being on a podcast.
Michaelene [00:26:55]:
Thank you, Greg.
Greg Todd [00:26:58]:
Cut. Great job. Fantastic. There you go. Now you just got it. You just got to get on all other podcasts.
Michaelene [00:27:07]:
I know. That's really, you know, that's what. That's what I need to do, is I need to put myself out there like this. I mean, I was. This was reckless.
Greg Todd [00:27:17]:
Yeah.
Michaelene [00:27:19]:
I don't have a script. I haven't thought.
Greg Todd [00:27:21]:
You don't need. You don't need us. You don't need a script. That's the thing, you guys. It's also just. It's like, you don't need that. You just need to. You just.
Greg Todd [00:27:30]:
What's helpful is just having a bit of a framework, right? And, like, I know what my framework is. Like, okay, this is what I do. This is how I help people. But I don't have anything that's a script. And don't you appreciate that? Right? Like, do you want to see me scripted?
Michaelene [00:27:50]:
No, I don't. And that's the appeal. You know, you're casual, you're approachable, and your sense of humor. Those are all the things that really grabbed me when I found you online.
Greg Todd [00:28:00]:
You know what I want you to think about? Write this down.
Michaelene [00:28:03]:
Okay.
Greg Todd [00:28:04]:
Okay. A prepared messenger is much more important than a prepared message. Okay. A prepared messenger is much more important than a prepared message. I don't script out any messages because I feel like if I script it out, I'm not allowing God to be able to talk to me and be able to talk to the people. I think for me, like, even at the event, right when I'm at the event, I want to be able to look in the audience. Doesn't matter if there's 50 people, 100 people, 200 people, it doesn't matter. I want to be able to look in the audience, and as I'm teaching, I want to be able to look at people, and I want to be able to talk to my people.
Greg Todd [00:28:52]:
So if I teaching on a concept and I see you, I want to be able to talk to you. Michaeline, this is what you need to do. Okay. If I see gwen, I want to be like gwen. This right here is what you need to do. If I see Mary, I want to be like Mary. This part right here, this is what I need you to do. Or, Mary, you remember when you did this? Or Michaeline, remember when we used to do that? And.
Greg Todd [00:29:14]:
And the only way you can do that is if you are prepared in what you know, you want to convey to people. But it doesn't have to be scripted. So a prepared messenger is much more important than a prepared message.
Michaelene [00:29:28]:
Got it?
Greg Todd [00:29:29]:
Okay. And you have prepared yourself. You have prepared yourself through your years of doing this like nobody. You didn't need any. You didn't need to write down your story. All I said is, tell me your story, homegirl. And you just say, well, I started in 1985. I did this.
Greg Todd [00:29:47]:
I did this. I worked at this hospital, that hospital, that hospital, that hospital. Then one of my kids was acting up. I know what the hell to do. And this is like, you know your story. Nobody knows your story better than you. So you don't need anything to get you ready for any of this. You're so good at what you do already got it? Okay.
Greg Todd [00:30:07]:
Yes.
Michaelene [00:30:08]:
Got it.
Greg Todd [00:30:08]:
There you go. There you go. I.
