Greg Todd [00:00:00]:
Rich people are rich in mindset before they become rich in money and the mindset that every single one. And so you can have a rich mindset before you become rich. And you actually need to have a rich mindset before you become rich. And so if you're poor, you could change your mindset today and it will change your life. And so Karen wasn't making a lot of bank in 2019, but she decided to change her mindset and say, hey, you know what? I'm going to have the mindset of a rich person. And the mindset of a rich person is rich people buy time. They don't buy stuff. That's what they do.
Greg Todd [00:00:43]:
This is Secrets for success. Welcome to the Secrets for Success podcast. I'm your host, Greg Todd. Thank you as always for joining me today. I have an extremely, extremely special guest. This person has been such a huge, has played such a huge role in the evolution of smart success. PT moving to smart success for healthcare. I met this person in 2019.
Greg Todd [00:01:15]:
I believe this is in 2019. I met this person and it has been an amazing, amazing, amazing journey. It's been, has grown into an amazing friendship. It went from mentorship to a friendship to even partnerships. Maybe that's what we'll call today's episode. I don't know what we're going to call it. But anyways, I would like to welcome Cara Welkey to the podcast. This is your first time on seekers for success.
Kara Welke [00:01:37]:
Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. Very excited to be here and so appreciative for having met you back in 2019. And holy cow, I can't believe that it's already 2024.
Greg Todd [00:01:50]:
Wow.
Kara Welke [00:01:50]:
Where has time gone?
Greg Todd [00:01:52]:
Yeah, really, really. So why don't you tell the people a little bit about what you do, who you are, and let's talk about that first encounter. Okay. So go ahead.
Kara Welke [00:02:01]:
Perfect. So hello, everyone. My name is Kara Welke. I'm an occupational therapist. I've been an occupational therapist since 2000 and worked in about every setting you can imagine. Once I had kids, I decided to really kind of try to be more of a stay at home mom and work on the side. And when I first did that, I tried the stay at home mom route altogether, but decided that's just not me. I really like to get out and do things.
Kara Welke [00:02:32]:
And so I ended up working just a few days a week, and then I was able to be at home with my kids the other days. And on top of that, they got to get out and meet people, meet friends and grow and so forth. So I worked in all different settings. And in 2012, I actually switched from working three days a week to teaching. I taught in an OTA program, and I go back to. I mean, I always felt I provided good quality therapy, but it wasn't until I went back to teaching that I feel like I really dived more into what we're really supposed to do as occupational therapist and really got back to our roots as an OT. And throughout that journey, I started to see through my students that a lot of places out there, the therapists were kind of stuck in ruts doing kind of the same thing every day. Students would come back and they're like, they're not doing anything you're teaching us to do.
Kara Welke [00:03:38]:
They're doing, like, the Ube or exercise or not really occupation based therapy. And I ended up going back to get my doctorate, and I did a program in a facility to really bring occupation based therapy back to practice. And at that time, I also saw the need that I really need to start my business, but I didn't know how to do it, where to even go, and it was just kind of a scary time. So I knew I wanted to start a business, didn't know how to do it. So I ended up doing a capstone project, creating this program. And the program went over well, and the facility wanted to keep it, but there was really no one there to run it. And I happened to meet someone that was going to start a home health part a company, and they needed a therapist to provide therapy for them. And I was like, oh, I've been always dreaming about doing outpatient in the home under med B, and this would be a great partnership.
Kara Welke [00:04:44]:
And I actually, you know, tried to get them to do that outpatient part B program because I didn't know enough then and that I could work for them and I could do home health under part a with them and also do this outpatient part b. And he was like, no, you need to start your own business, and you can do the part b side of things and run that side of things, and then you can contract with us. I was like, okay. I mean, that makes sense. And so I just dove in, and I had no idea what I was doing and made lots of costly mistakes throughout the process. Tried to find help, but really couldn't find much out there. Reached out to AOta. They didn't really have much at that time either.
Kara Welke [00:05:30]:
And this was in July of 2018.
Greg Todd [00:05:34]:
Okay.
Kara Welke [00:05:35]:
And so then fast forward. Struggle bus. Struggle bus. Struggle bus. Um, come, like, believe it was, like, April of 2019, maybe March April 2019. I attended the AOTA conference in New Orleans, and when I was there, one of my friends, Brian Batt, shout out to him. He went to school with me. He sent me the link to your guys's to smart SSS healthcare.
Kara Welke [00:06:08]:
Well, smarts says PT at that time conference in Clearwater. And I was reading through it, I'm like, oh, this looks like it's pretty good. He's like, I think you should go to that. That would help you with your business. Well, I'm like, well, it's four pt. I don't know if it would really relate. So then I reached out to you and some other people who were attending. I'm pretty sure David was one that responded to me.
Kara Welke [00:06:35]:
And literally, in that short of time when I was at that conference, I'm like, okay, I'm going. So I took my entire family to Florida because we're like, well, we'll use it as a vacation and attend that conference. And that's kind of when everything started. I met Greg, and I know I was like, this crazy person, like, we need to do this for Ot, and we don't have anything like this for Ot and da da da da da and so forth. And it was at that conference that I started our Facebook group, next level occupational therapy, based off of being there at the conference and just got super excited. And then that's when I learned, I mean, you know how clueless I was, Greg, with, like, the online world of business and, and so forth. And that's when I learned also that there's so much more. I mean, yes, I needed to work on my business and home therapy solutions, and I needed help for that, but I also was like, oh, I could start another business where we're helping therapists do what I'm doing.
Kara Welke [00:07:44]:
So that all sparked at that conference back in 2019. And then I joined Greg's mastermind program. And through that program, I started different programs. We started our therapy business builder program, like that fall to help other therapists start and build their business. And, yeah, I mean, it's just been going ever since then, constantly reviewing, improving, listening to feedback, improving. And I think it was that because I was still working while trying to run two businesses. And I believe it was that kind of December or whatever where you kind of helped me. I mean, I resigned from teaching.
Kara Welke [00:08:37]:
I believe it was like in that December of 2019 when I was finally done with teaching and resigned and left that. And then I went full in with my home therapy solutions business and next level. Okay, so, yeah, I always say Greg was the one who really got that fire starting and that conference and Greg and his coaching and so forth. And then I've just kind of gone from there.
Greg Todd [00:09:04]:
Okay. There are so many things that I remember. I'm gonna give you my perspective of all that, or at least, you know, what? What I felt happened during all of that time. So I remember meeting you at this conference, first time I've ever met you, and you basically said this to me, I'll never forget. You're like, we need this for Ot's. I'm like, yes, sure. And, you know, guys, there's so many times where I hear people on social media saying, we need this for this people or things like, we need change or, we need this, or we need that. Okay? And that's wonderful.
Greg Todd [00:09:49]:
But here's what made Kara welke different than the majority of other people. She was like, we need this for Ot, is what she said. And then she said, I'm gonna start one of those Facebook group things. And then I think it was like an hour or so later, you did it. I don't think, guys, I don't think she knew what the heck she was doing. I did not do a Facebook group. How to start a Facebook group talk. But she was just like, I'm going to figure this out.
Greg Todd [00:10:17]:
What she knew is that there was a problem, okay? The problem was that occupational therapists didn't have the community that I had created. In smart success for pts, Cara Welkey saw an opportunity, but instead of just saying, I see the opportunity, she actually pounced on it and said, I'm going to do something about it right now while I have the momentum, while I have the energy. And that's what she did and was at that event. She created a group called Next Level Ot. And Kara, from that group, do you realize the impact that has been made?
Kara Welke [00:11:05]:
Yeah, it's amazing. I mean, thousands therapists have either gone on to start their own business, or maybe they are using their degree in a different way for a different position that they like, or they've been involved in continuing education or live events. I mean, I usually get messages weekly, maybe sometimes even daily, from therapy professionals, you know, that not even just in our program, but that are just in the group that have been inspired in some way to go to the next level, do something different for them. And that's the big thing, is we need to think above and beyond traditional healthcare. And it's crazy how many people think that all we can do with our degrees is traditional healthcare, but there's so many more opportunities out there that can open up your lives to not just a better work setting or work life, but also help you in your own family life so you can do more and impact not only your life, but your kids and, you know, family and so forth. Now, I will say that it can also create more stress, like, say, for my husband, especially with me running two businesses. And sometimes things get a little crazy. So it's not always glorious, but, you know, we were able to take the kids, and, you know, my children are not really kids anymore.
Kara Welke [00:12:40]:
They're young adults, like 21 and 21, 20 and almost 18. But we were able to go to Alaska and get a motorhome and go wherever we want. You know, we're able to do things together. I don't. My biggest reason for starting a business in the first place, because I hated working weekends, I hated working holidays. I did not want to ever miss one of my kids events. And even though I just worked three days a week and then when I taught, I mean, we work school hours, but I still felt it was key that I always was working because I wanted to stay up to date with everything. So that meant I was on a weekend rotation and things like that, and I would have, like, my son's basketball tournament.
Kara Welke [00:13:24]:
I didn't want to miss it. So, again, one of the key things for me has always been that I have that flexibility to always be there for my children's events. I mean, I'll even. I mean, in it, like this summer, William, my youngest, he had a baseball tournament in South Dakota. And I have a lot of stuff going on, working both businesses, trying to get ready to go on vacation. And I was gonna skip it. And my family was talking about this recently, and I had nightmares about missing his event and about him being little again. I mean, I got up that morning and I went and I could.
Kara Welke [00:14:06]:
And that's the greatest thing about this flexibility. So hopefully, people continue to be inspired and see that we don't have to be stuck in a traditional job, working Monday through Friday, eight to five or seven to three, and working rotating weekends, that there's other things we can do and have that flexibility to be there for our family, friends when we need or want to be.
Greg Todd [00:14:31]:
Oh, gosh, there are so many, so many gold nuggets, no pun intended, because I'm about to talk about the path to gold challenge that we're going to do. But there's so many amazing things that you just said there, and I want to break down a lot of it. But before I do that, I actually want to honor you. I've known you now for five years, and there are events that I've had that, and many of them you've been a part of, but there are some that you haven't come to. And I got to tell you something. There's something that I really, really admire about you, and that is, Kara has just made it a priority that she's not going to miss these, what she deems as very important moments of her kids. Kara, she'll do whatever for anything else, but for her kids, she's not missing it. There are events.
Greg Todd [00:15:30]:
I remember there was one event that I had for smart success, healthcare. And I wanted Kara to speak so badly at this event, and she wanted to come this event so bad, but her son's tournament was around it, and she's like, can't go. And so I'm so inspired by you in your commitment to doing whatever you feel is a true priority for you. No matter what. No matter what opportunity is there, no matter. You do it. And I think that is what has really allowed you to look outside the box. It's because these things actually mean something to you.
Greg Todd [00:16:12]:
And you're like, I hate. Like, sometimes we have to do things, not because we love it, but because we hate the way that we are doing things. And I think for you, you genuinely hated working the weekends, like, having those, you know, weekend shit. And you genuinely hated probably working on the holidays because you were kind of low person on a totem pole, right? If you're not the main person or whatnot there, that's what happens when you're part time. And. And I just really admire you for doing that and sticking to your guns with it, even though it might have affected me, because I really wanted you to speak at my event. Okay. But I really, really just wanted to tell you that.
Greg Todd [00:16:51]:
That I really admire that from afar. So. So I need to say that to you. I've never said that to you, so thank you. There's a few things that I think are really important. So I'm doing a challenge September 30 to October 4, and I'm going to have you as one of the guests of the challenge, and that is the path to gold challenge. And I'm really fascinated with alchemy and being an alchemist, and so I don't know if, you know, like an alchemist. I read the book, bye, Paulo Coelho, and it was so cool because an alchemist is someone that takes scraps or crappy metal and turns it into gold.
Greg Todd [00:17:34]:
And, Kara, I look at you and I look at your journey, and what you have done is you've taken what other people have said is scraps, and you've turned it into gold. Okay. And you've done this in a few different ways. I mean, number one is your home health based business. You were struggling with it for quite a while, from 2018 when you started it, to 2019. And then what you were able to do is you were able to perform alchemy. You started to learn, wait a minute. There's certain things I'm doing wrong here.
Greg Todd [00:18:09]:
And now. That business is doing extremely well. It's doing so well that you have your kids working in that business. Right. Okay. But, yeah. So why don't you talk about that? And can you talk about how you were able to turn that business that was struggling into doing well and where that business was then versus where it is now and some of the benefits of getting it to where it is now?
Kara Welke [00:18:36]:
Yeah. So, before I met Greg and attended that conference, I was one of those people. People that was very frugal. You know, I mean, like, I'm a person that goes to Las Vegas and refuses to spend money on a slot machine. Like, one year I went there, and I spent $9. Another time, I spent zero. Same thing for my business. Like, remember when we talk about, like, those frequel people way back at one of your events? I'm going to just try to research everything I can off a social media group and so forth to try to build my business.
Kara Welke [00:19:14]:
And I didn't realize it at the time, but a lot of that information out there is inaccurate, and it led me down the wrong path. And it wasn't until I realized the benefit of investing in myself and investing in coaching that that really pays off in so many ways. So think about this person that refuses to spend money on things. And I went to this conference, and I signed up in for, like, a $30,000 mastermind program, and I made darn sure that I was gonna get all of that money back and more so by investing in myself at that time. I mean, I made it all back and more easily. But the other thing is, is I also learned that I need to do that for all of my businesses in order to really grow.
Greg Todd [00:20:15]:
Yeah.
Kara Welke [00:20:17]:
And I still didn't probably embrace that enough, especially. And I was trying to do way too many things. I mean, running a home therapy solutions business and then starting up next level, I mean, it got pretty crazy, and then I would get ideas for something else. So I really learned the importance of kind of niching down but I also learned the importance of hiring the right people for the right positions and to delegate. And, like, when I look at my home therapy solutions business, it wasn't until, you know, I brought on a therapy manager, I brought on more full time therapy employees that our business really, like, doubled in size and doubled in income and just really took off. Because before I knew the power of investing and I was trying to do it all myself, and you couldn't, and you just can't grow with that. So by hiring the right people and delegating and making those decisions, that if somebody, someone. I had another coach once tell me that if someone can do it as least as 80% as good as you, you need to delegate that.
Greg Todd [00:21:36]:
Yeah.
Kara Welke [00:21:37]:
And I took that to heart and I hired, brought on the right people, and then the business just skyrocketed from there. This past March, brought on a business business manager who, again, has just been game changing for our business. So really doing all of that, that's my son. If you didn't hear in the background, coming home for lunch, really made a huge difference with the business. And that's how it really, really grew on the home therapy solutions side, because I just kind of went along trying to do it all myself. And you can't do it.
Greg Todd [00:22:19]:
Yeah, it's so true. And by the way, I think for those of you out there that are listening, that are the cheapo people or the free people, where you want to get everything for free, and then you make that big jump into investing in something, whether that is investing into staff, investing in yourself to learn a new set of skills. I actually think for those of you that fall into that category, which is Cara and also was myself as well, I actually think you all are the ones that make the biggest jump because you're like, I'm going to make sure that this investment works out and it works well. So there is, in every investment, there is work to be had in order for the investment to pay off. Right. Like, before we started on camera and went live, I actually told, you know, Kara, she was like, so how's your place at Blue Ridge doing? I was like, it's doing great now. You know, we've had it for nearly 20 months, and in the last four weeks, we've had more rentals book than we had in the first 19 months. Right.
Greg Todd [00:23:29]:
And so it's. It's work. It's not just giving this builder $640,000 or $30,000 to go ahead and go build me this awesome cabin in Blue Ridge, you know, Georgia like, there's work to be done in order to make that. That asset, you know? You know, pay off. And so now it's paying off like crazy. It's like we're booked all the time. I can barely use my own place, you know, so. Which is awesome.
Greg Todd [00:23:55]:
And that's. That's how it works, you guys. You know, rich people are rich in mindset before they come rich in money and the mindset that every single one. And so you can have a rich mindset before you become rich, and you actually need to have a rich mindset before you become rich. And so if you're poor, you could change your mindset today, and it will change your life. And so Kara wasn't making a lot of bank in 2019, but she decided to change her mindset and say, hey, you know what? I'm gonna have the mindset of a rich person. And the mindset of a rich person is rich people buy time. They don't buy stuff.
Greg Todd [00:24:36]:
That's what they do. So whether that is. Okay, I'm going to hire a therapist. What are you doing? You're buying your time back. Okay. I'm going to hire a business manager. What are you doing? You're buying your time back. Okay.
Greg Todd [00:24:46]:
I'm going to hire some guidance and direction of people that have been in business longer than me. So what are you doing? You're attempting to buy your time back. And if you guys can understand that once you start playing the time game, that's when you have the highest probability of winning. That's what's going to change your life. You've got to play the time game, okay? Whereas what poor people do, and by the way, if you're rich and you take on a poor person's mindset, you will be poor again. Poor people buy distractions. They buy this. You see this thing? They buy this.
Greg Todd [00:25:20]:
They buy this phone. They don't use the phone to do podcasts. They use the phone to see what's going on with Trump and what's going on with Biden and what's going on with Harris, and they use it to argue with people, and they use it to watch cat videos, with cats flying around chandeliers, and they use it to distract themselves. And so when you focus on distraction instead of focusing on being intentional, well, you're in trouble. Even if you do have money, if you do that long enough, you're not going to have money anymore. And if you don't have money, if you do what I said before, you actually say, you know, I'm going to start to invest in getting to places faster. That's when your life changes. So everybody, your life can change.
Greg Todd [00:26:01]:
And Kara's life changed just by coming to event. It wasn't me. It was a decision she made to stop being so cheap and to stop trying to do everything herself. And so it's not like there's like, it's like, oh, my gosh, this is perfect. No, there's still work to be done. But she was doing the work anyway, so it was getting you nowhere. So she was doing the work anyways. Well, now you're doing the work and now you change your mindset and it changed your life.
Greg Todd [00:26:27]:
So with that said, now you've got business manager. Don't you have two of your kids that are working in that business as well?
Kara Welke [00:26:33]:
Yeah. So actually all three. All three are on payroll. So with our home therapy solutions business, my two daughters have worked for me for many years, and they do tasks such as personal caregiving. You know, one of my daughters is the one that does all the cleaning at our clinic. They also, we deliver portable connect devices to people prior to surgeries. They do that. And my son is starting to do that now, too.
Kara Welke [00:27:10]:
And it's just, I was telling Greg before we went on that it's a, it's a game changer. I mean, because I can pay my children better than they're going to get paid elsewhere, and they have the flexibility to work around their schedule. So my oldest daughter, Jada, is in occupational therapy school. She's getting her doctorate here at Und. Jasmine's in nursing. So they have super busy schedules with school and they're devoted to that. And I. And we want them to still work.
Kara Welke [00:27:43]:
But some traditional jobs, you know, like waiting tables, working at a store, whatever, you know, they're stuck working certain days a week and weekends and so forth. And I already told you guys that family time is extremely important to us. So it follows them that I don't want them working a weekend when we're going to be going on vacation for them to miss it. So by them working for me, they're able to make money, make money for our business and pay for their college through the process. So it's worked out really well.
Greg Todd [00:28:20]:
You guys, business is hard, but the amount of perks and advantages that a business can give you, that a regular job can't give you, is, is just absolutely amazing. And to me, having a business to where you can have your kids still learn the value of a dollar, they can help you with growing the business. You're able to allow them to have the flexibility in the same way that you were looking for flexibility when you started your business, that them, as employees can have that flexibility. To me, that's what it's all about. And I just. That's what, guys, business is tough, yes. But also not having the flexibility to not have your Thanksgiving off or not having off Christmas or not having off the holidays or not having off your weekends, that's really tough, too. And so I just think that's phenomenal.
Greg Todd [00:29:23]:
And I just love to hear the kind of the change and the evolution that you've gone through with this. Now, there's something else I want to ask you, because you have another business, and I want to talk about that. And I think that that business, I don't know the numbers, but I know from an impact standpoint, I would say that next level Ot has had probably ten times more impact because of you being able to reach so many ot's that have gone on to do so many amazing things. I think it's been amazing what you've done. And so what I would like to talk about is, to everyone that's listening right now, is the difference between a level one opportunity versus a level ten opportunity. Have you ever heard this before, Kara?
Kara Welke [00:30:11]:
Not quite sure.
Greg Todd [00:30:12]:
Okay, so let's talk about this, right, because one of the things that I'm going to be teaching people on the first day of the challenge is a difference between what I think the majority of people in healthcare are doing right now, which is a level one opportunity, versus what you're doing with, like, next level ot, which is, I believe it's a level ten opportunity. Okay? So, everybody, I'm gonna explain it if you're, look, join a challenge and don't be a cheapo and pay the $5 to get on a challenge. Okay? And I will go to this in detail, but I'm gonna. For those of you that are the free polls, you'll never buy anything. I'll kind of explain it to you now. All right. A level one opportunity is an opportunity to where no matter how hard you work, it's going to have very, very low impact. I want to give you guys an example of myself.
Greg Todd [00:31:02]:
I'm going to give you guys an example of Karowelke. Okay? We both graduated in 2000, correct? You graduated in 2000. I came out of school and I probably had a skill set of maybe a level one to two. I was a new grad, right. And I was working in a level one opportunity. A level one opportunity is where I go to work, I go to a clinic, I treat a patient. I treat a patient. I give that person value.
Greg Todd [00:31:25]:
I make impact on this one individual. So that could be Mister Smith, that could be misses Taylor, that could be whoever is in front of me. It's a level one opportunity. Now, here's what happened. Soon as I got out of school, I went to my first continuing education course. And then I went to my next one. And then I went to my next one. And then went to the next, and the next and the next and next.
Greg Todd [00:31:50]:
And after 18 months, I had 180 continuing education units. That's how much I did. I basically did like a continuing education course two to three weekends every single month. Okay? That's what I did. So I ended up moving from a skill set of a level one skillset. I probably moved to like a level four, and I probably did in about twelve to 18 months. But I was still in the level one opportunity. I was still only helping.
Greg Todd [00:32:18]:
Mister Smith misses Taylor, Mister Jones. That's it. I was in a level one opportunity. Okay. All right. So now let's talk about today. Today I'm at a level ten opportunity, right? I meet one person. One person is Kara Wilke.
Greg Todd [00:32:35]:
I meet her at an event, okay? She looks at what I'm doing at my event. She's like, oh, my gosh, we should do this for Ot's one person. She goes and she takes the level ten opportunity that I'm in in an event. She goes and says, I'm gonna go create my own level ten. She has no clue. It's a level ten opportunity. Okay? But she goes, okay, I'm gonna go and teach other occupational therapists how to do business. So she doesn't have a high level of skill doing this, but she has a lower level skill doing it.
Greg Todd [00:33:08]:
But she's in a very, very, very high level opportunity. So if she can improve her skillset in a level ten opportunity means that I'm now teaching a therapist how to go and create more impact. Her impact becomes exponential. So much more than she could do with her home therapy solutions. So much more that I can do with renewal, rehab. Even though I have multiple clinics, it's because I can reach people all over. I have people in Australia, I got people in India, I got people in Guatemala. I got people in Brazil.
Greg Todd [00:33:42]:
Right? Because it's a level ten opportunity. Does that make sense?
Kara Welke [00:33:47]:
Yep.
Greg Todd [00:33:48]:
So, guys, you got to ask yourself this. In order for you to create gold out of your crap, really, what you got to do is you got to move from a level one to a level ten. You don't got to become any smarter. You just got to say, hey, how can I take what it is that I'm doing now and have the ability to take the same amount of time but help so much more people? So let's talk about next level ot. Now, you've had that since 2019 when you got started. How many people has that group helped to actually spawn off and start businesses?
Kara Welke [00:34:27]:
So I'm gonna tell you a little bit about this. So we started that Facebook group at your event, and then I started your mastermind program. And in August of that year, I formally created a business with next level OT. And I remember you telling me, because I was trying to decide what I really wanted to do in between May well as the end of May. So June, July, and August. Like, I just serve. I mean, you always talk about serving. I mean, I just listened.
Kara Welke [00:35:00]:
I met with people. We had. We had group discussions with people that were interested in going and just listened. You know, I didn't create anything right away. I just. We had meetings. We had, you know, Zoom calls. We got them phone calls, and just listen, listen, listen to what people wanted.
Kara Welke [00:35:21]:
And initially, I started, like, this next level visionary group, and it was kind of a monthly group membership type program and so forth. But then came, like, in October, and then the following January, a lot of changes with PDPM, PDGM, and so forth and therapists losing their jobs. And I was like, I reached out to you. I talked to Steve, who's the CEO of hello note. I'm like, we need to do something to help these people learn that they don't need to work for traditional healthcare. They can start and build their business like we do. And I remember you saying to me, build a product or a course or whatever you want to do that you wish you would have had when you started your business. And so that's when we started the therapy business builder program.
Kara Welke [00:36:21]:
It was 100% and still is what I wish I would have had when I was starting my business, because it would have saved me thousands of dollars, but it also would have saved me thousands of hours of my own time and minimize stress and everything else that goes into it. And when I started the therapy business builder program, you also got to realize that I was still at a fairly young level of home therapy solution. So over the course of the last five years, our therapy business builder program has dramatically changed. And we really are always trying to constantly improve it. Listen to our therapist's needs. And as my business grows, I also see what needs to happen. And how things need to change. So it's continually growing over the past, you know, several years into what it is today.
Kara Welke [00:37:22]:
And I look at the therapist, and I'm sure you see this, too, in your programs that you have. I mean, we have therapists that come in and think, like, the program's going to kind of just do the magical work for you. What? Which it's not, but the therapists that come in that truly are investing in themselves and their business. I mean, I get to the point where I'm almost jealous because I'm like, man, at the stage you're at now, I was a train wreck.
Greg Todd [00:37:55]:
Yeah.
Kara Welke [00:37:56]:
And you're setting this foundation, and I know where I'm at right now, and our business is doing very well. I'm like, you should be doing flipping amazing by the time you get there because you have the right foundation and you're not making all of the mistakes that the majority of people relying on their phones, scrolling social media instead of investing are making. So, yeah, I mean, it all started from do what you wish you would have had, and it still goes back to that now. I mean, issues that we come up to now as a big business, I mean, I'm currently looking at do I want to purchase a building? Do I want to continue to rent and so forth. Like, I'm going through all of this, that then I pass down to the people in our program so we can help them avoid any mistakes and kind of sail through it easier. Sometimes I almost think it's a detriment. And you can tell me your opinion because sometimes they don't know how good they have it when they start in our program from the scratch versus lately, we're having a lot of therapists come to us after they've had a business up for 12345 years and they're a disaster. And then they come to us and we're helping them undisastrize it.
Kara Welke [00:39:16]:
And so they really see the benefit, right? Because they're like, oh, my gosh, why didn't I do this sooner? I like a person I was meeting with two days ago, like, they'd had a business for a long time, but they weren't making anything in it, which, it's crazy. I mean, why are you doing all this to not make anything? And we looked at their quarters, their revenue from the last, you know, the first quarter, second quarter, third quarter. And I mean, it's, since starting our program, they've doubled it and are then doubling it again and so forth. I almost love it more when other people's businesses excel than I even get excited for our business excelling, because it's so fun seeing these therapists being successful and then enjoying their life. One more example, one therapist in our program, I've been working on her for so long to get a virtual assistant. First learned about virtual assistants from Greg Todd. No idea what a virtual assistant was, but. And she wrote everything in her notebook, you know, so again, another system I learned from you is a CRM, like with go high level, and we use that for our business.
Kara Welke [00:40:31]:
And on Labor Day, she sent me a message that I put away my book today. Everything is now automated. And a couple days later, we were on a meeting, and she said, you know, my mom told me that I don't look stressed anymore like I used to, and I can. I went away for three days, because, again, she saw she is investing in herself and her business. She now has a virtual admin, and she's using the CRM, and she's just growing. And nothing makes me more happy than that. And seeing, like, our therapist grow and bloom and blossom with their businesses, you know, answer to your question.
Greg Todd [00:41:15]:
No, I'm trying to decide what is a direction I want to take with it with regards to the two different types of people that you're talking about. So I think what you're seeing is you're seeing the group that you're saying that, hey, they started a business. They've been doing it for whatever, a couple months, maybe a couple years, struggling like crazy. And then they're like, okay, help. Like, I need help. I can't do this anymore. I think what you're getting from those people is an appreciation. Right? They appreciate like, they've been in it.
Greg Todd [00:41:55]:
They've tried it. They know the pain that is associated with doing it in the way that they're doing it. And so there's a level of gratitude and appreciation that they have for you saying, hey, look, follow the path that I've kind of made with this, okay? What you're doing right now is on a pathway to where you're currently at, but you're never going to leave there. So what you're getting from those people is an appreciation. And so they, because they appreciate what it is that you're doing for them, they're applying what it is that you're telling them to do. There's a lot of good to that, okay. There are other people. And so.
Greg Todd [00:42:35]:
But there's also some bad to it as well, okay. And that when people have been doing it a certain way, there is comfort in continuing to stay with the habits that you have. Right? I mean, like. Like, people that. And I'm not here crushing y'all that smoke, but I mean, I think, you know, like, smoking is probably not the best thing for you, right? But it's a habit. So it's like, bring it out to bring it out to cigarettes. I mean, it's a habit. It's not good, but it's hard to break a habit.
Greg Todd [00:43:05]:
Like, I get it. I'm not a smoker, but I get it. I get habits are hard to break. And so I say that because then you got the younger people or the people that haven't started a business yet, they might not appreciate it as much, but they don't have the bad habits yet. So it's.
Kara Welke [00:43:26]:
Yeah, yeah.
Greg Todd [00:43:27]:
So. So it's kind of a tricky thing. You know, it's like I. What? What I. As being an OG in this space. I have worked with both. I feel like the. When I started in 2016 with SSP T to even, like 20, 1920, the majority of my clients were fairly young.
Greg Todd [00:43:48]:
Okay. It's a fairly young crowd. I've noticed that my client base has actually gotten much older. Okay. So there's a lot more gratitude. But for the young people that have been able to withstand it, they have a lot more gratitude for what Uncle G was giving them back then after they've kind of gotten now their face punched and bashed in the wall a couple times in business. So, you know, it's tricky. I mean, either way, it's two groups.
Greg Todd [00:44:17]:
And I think what we're seeing, Kara, and I think what you're seeing and I'm seeing in my business is that there are people. Now you're probably getting an older client base of therapists that are like, oh, my gosh, I've been doing this for 25 years. I've been, you know, I've been doing it this way, and it's not going to get me to where I want to get to. And now there's massive urgency because they've probably got ten years left before they want to start to scale back. And now they realize, I got to build a business and I don't have time to waste. Remember what I said at the beginning of the podcast, okay? The rich mindset buys time. And so they're like, listen, I'm not going to argue with you. Tell me what to do.
Greg Todd [00:45:01]:
And I got to do it because it's very urgent right now. I think that's what you're seeing.
Kara Welke [00:45:08]:
Yeah, no, 100%.
Greg Todd [00:45:09]:
Yeah. Yeah. Well, this has been fantastic, you guys. I hope you've taken away a lot from this podcast, the fact that, yes, I'm not trying to say that it's easy to have two businesses, obviously here. You know what? Here, wait. Before we finish, why don't we talk about some of the sucky things? Let's talk about some of the sucky things that goes into having two businesses. Sometimes not being able to shut it off, maybe sometimes businesses go up. One's doing great, one's tanking, one's doing this here.
Greg Todd [00:45:48]:
Go ahead. Let's keep it real with the people.
Kara Welke [00:45:50]:
So, I mean, I'll first say that I would have gotten a lot farther, faster if I would have focused on my one business and got it up and going and delegated and got it moving where I wanted it to be before focusing on my next business. And I think it also depends on your level of your business. Okay. Like, I'm talking to full fledged businesses here versus like a little side business, right. That, that's different. So niching down and getting something good first before you try to do all these other things I feel is important because when I was starting these two businesses at the same time and I didn't delegate, I didn't invest as much as I should have, you know, that I was doing so much by myself. And yes, I had the time flexibility, which extremely important to me, but it's still a lot of time and effort to do it, you know? So now that I have them staffed and I have people working for me, because people always ask, and I know they ask you too, like, how do you do it all? I don't do it all.
Greg Todd [00:47:10]:
I don't. Yeah.
Kara Welke [00:47:11]:
You know, I have, I pay people in both programs, you know, to help with the coaching, to help with running it, you, you know, to help with everything. So if something happened to me, they could keep on going. So, but then something happens, you know, like, say with our healthcare business, you know, and the cyber attack that helped with March, or it happened in March, I had to step back in and help figure out what we were going to do to overcome that, you know? So even though I'm running at a CEO level and I have other people running the day to day stuff, there's still times you have to step into it. So I just think with two businesses, you know, you think about how much stress one business can, can bring, especially in the healthcare world, whether it's, you know, something with billing or it's something with staffing or it's new regulations that are taking place, you know, there's, there's always something that goes into it, and then you multiply it and add another business. And Greg, like with our therapy business builder program, just the whole concept of the freeple people that we talked about earlier, a lot of people, when they're first starting out, don't see the value of investing in the program. So it does take education and training in that to get people to understand the value of our program. So it's not like it doesn't take work to get out there and do what we need to do to help show people what we're doing, to really help them get there to where they need to be.
Greg Todd [00:48:50]:
So, yeah, makes a huge businesses just.
Kara Welke [00:48:55]:
Keeping up with everything. And once they get to the level where we're at, it just brings in a whole nother component with making sure you have the right financial management team, you know, and to make sure you're ahead doing what you should with money and planning for the future, you know, you're looking at bigger level things, purchasing buildings, adding on more staff, not adding on more staff. Do you add on more programs? Do you not add on more programs? There's just always something that's coming up with it.
Greg Todd [00:49:23]:
It never ends. And that's the reason. Yeah, and I think that's the, that's probably one of the big reasons why you can continue to help people. Even for those of you that feel like I'm not qualified, let me tell you something. If you follow Kara Welkey's path and that, hey, you know what? I am further along than a lot of, a lot of people would love to be where I'm at right now. And even in 2019, that was the case, whereas a lot of people don't have any clue or any concept of what it is that they need to do. And over time, as you continue to build and you're building your building and you're growing, you're going to continue to be able to help those people grow, grow, grow. And some people might surpass you, but many will continue to come on the gravy train with you.
Greg Todd [00:50:12]:
And so, anyways, you've done that. And I'm just very impressed with everything that you've been able to pull off. And I think, more importantly, is that you've done all this. I'm not saying it's been easy, but you've done all this honoring your values, of being there for your kids. And, yeah, that's really admirable. So, anyways, with that said, we're going to be having you on as a guest in the pat to gold challenge. I'm not sure which day I'm going to have you come on. But you guys, you're going to want to learn from Kara and want to learn from all the other guests that are going to be a part of the challenge as well.
Greg Todd [00:50:48]:
It's going to be awesome. It'll be September 30 to October 4 will be $5 for you to learn from me and all of my guest speakers for five days. And I would highly advise you to upgrade to vip because that's where a lot of the magic's gonna happen as well. But it's gonna be an awesome challenge and you guys gonna love it. So, Kara, why don't you tell the people where they can find you.
Kara Welke [00:51:11]:
Yes. So you can go to www.nextlevelot.com and I will put a plug out there that, yes, it is next level occupational therapy. But over the course of the last five years, we probably have helped just as many physical therapists, PTA's, OTAs as well, start their own business. I see a lot of OTAs and PTA's where they don't think they can start a business in like healthcare, like my mobile outpatients and we've helped several of them start a business. So we do help all professionals start a business. So if you want to go to our website, www.nextlevelot.com, you can email me caraextlevelot.com. we also are just launching a new home and community therapist network and directory. We didn't even talk about this, but one of my most precious passions is really helping older adults live in their home environment, travel, enjoy life, continue to be active.
Kara Welke [00:52:24]:
And I really feel that as therapy professionals, we are the key people to be doing this. And a lot of other healthcare professionals don't necessarily understand that. And if we're not doing it, other people that aren't even educated are doing it. So we have lots of information on that as well. But my goal is to help inspire. Even if you're not part of our program, just join our Facebook group, our next level occupational therapy Facebook group, and hopefully you'll get inspired on something you can do to reach the next level in your career. Whether that's starting a business, doing more education, or maybe doing a new hobby or volunteering to help inspire you do other things.
Greg Todd [00:53:06]:
Can't believe this started in 2019 and what it's turned into.
Kara Welke [00:53:10]:
So it's crazy.
Greg Todd [00:53:11]:
Yeah. Well, I'm proud of you and just, it's been really awesome to watch this journey so let's continue to do it. Let's continue to do it.
Kara Welke [00:53:21]:
Thank you very much. And it's all because I invested and I got rid of my free fall mindset and invested back in 2019. That's the only reason I am where I am now is that initial investment and then continuing to learn the importance of investing in myself, in my businesses, so that I could have the time to do what I want with my family, but also help my businesses grow.
Greg Todd [00:53:49]:
You know what? I'm going to just leave you all with this. The bible talks about redeeming your time. And the word redeem means to buy back. And I really do believe that it's in everyone's best interest to buy back the rest of your time so that you can enjoy the rest of your life. And also to understand this, you need to buy back your time because the days will be hard, okay? The days will be hard. It's a harder world that we live in compared to when I was growing up. It's harder for not just us, it's harder for our kids. They're going to have a much harder go at it than we are.
Greg Todd [00:54:36]:
And, Kara, you're living the redeemed life because you are buying back your time. Whether it's through you building a business, whether it's you investing in your business, whether it's you investing in your children, having your children work with you to build this asset that you all have, which is a business, which is then allowing you to have other things that you're building as well. And you're doing the right thing. I just want to tell you that, okay, you're doing the right thing because life is only going to get harder. I kid you not. When I was at Blue Ridge last week, I was at a place and they're doing self checkout and they're asking for tips for self checkout. I'm like, I'm doing. Do I get the tip? Wait, how the hell you guys, this wasn't the case 1015 years ago, okay? It's getting harder.
Greg Todd [00:55:24]:
And if you're not setting it up, if you're just setting up just to get by, you're actually leaving a negative legacy for your family. It's like you're not setting them up. I'm not saying that I'm going to set up my kids for them not to work, but I want to set it up for them to have a head start, even though I didn't have a head start, okay? Why? Because it's freaking harder. Okay? It's harder for for them than it was for me, and it's going to be harder for their children than it was for them. So what? The things we're just talking about on this podcast, I think are so powerful for you all to really learn the process of redeeming back your time. Okay. I could go on and on. I thank you all for listening.
Greg Todd [00:56:06]:
This was a fantastic episode. Tara, thank you for being on. We appreciate you.
Kara Welke [00:56:10]:
Thank you. I appreciate you.
Greg Todd [00:56:13]:
Awesome.
Kara Welke [00:56:13]:
That was easy.
Greg Todd [00:56:16]:
I.
