We recently connected with Jessie Klein PT, DPT and have shared our conversation below.
Jessie, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
As a pelvic floor physical therapist, it’s essential to stay connected to my purpose which has evolved over time. Before PT school, I had never heard of pelvic floor therapy. As a 3rd year student I learned about it in the clinical context and I was fascinated by everything I learned and the physical therapist’s role in aiding those with bowel, bladder and sexual dysfunction as well as throughout the prenatal and postpartum periods. Additionally, I become acutely aware of gender disparities, even in medicine which is meant to be a safe space for everyone. I established my initial purpose then to be a champion and advocate for women and women’s health issues. This continues to be my purpose and in addition advocating for all people who experience pelvic floor dysfunction, a topic that is often difficult to discuss and address. I make it a point to continuously connect with and reassess my purpose including when I started my own practice. In my own practice, it is my mission to provide a restorative environment to encourage and empower my clients to connect with and heal their bodies.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
My name is Jessie and I am a pelvic floor physical therapist. Pelvic floor physical therapy is a specialization of physical therapy that assists patients who have bowel, bladder or sexual dysfunction as well as during the prenatal and/or postpartum period. I absolutely love teaching people about pelvic floor therapy because they often know little to nothing about it. Some conditions I treat are constipation, incontinence, urinary/urgency, and painful sex. I am also very passionate about caring for pregnant patients preparing for labor and delivery as well as rehabilitation postpartum.
I recently started my own practice where my mission is to provide a safe space for everyone to heal. I have offices in the Flatiron neighborhood in NYC and Hoboken, NJ and am currently accepting new patients!
In addition to treating patients, I’m also passionate about educating our future physical therapists and have TA’d several continuing education courses through Herman & Wallace Pelvic Institute and have lectured at NYU and Columbia University.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I worked for many years at a large practice working on my clinical skills, patient care and was able to be in a leadership position which afforded me the ability to network with other professionals, manage other pelvic floor therapists and grow personally and professionally. I believe these steps were necessary and incredibly impactful for me to gain the experience and confidence to go out on my own. I learned what I wanted to implement in my own business as well as what I wanted to do differently.
I’m not much of a risk taker and decided that I wanted to take a slow approach to opening my own business. I had to remind myself that businesses constantly evolve and I didn’t need to wait until everything was perfect and could build slowly. Over time I was able to make necessary changes to commit full-time to my business. I believe this approach was beneficial to getting me to just start rather than being afraid to make the move.
Another fact that comforted me was that everyone goes through phases of impostor syndrome, especially when starting your own business. I learned to be confident in what I offered my clients and the community and accepting that feeling impostor syndrome was part of the experience – it’s ok!
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
Working with clients and making an impact on their lives has been the most rewarding part of my career. Objectively, the right client for me is someone who has pelvic floor dysfunction and is looking to address these issues conservatively. Although some people believe physical therapists “fix” their problems, I see our work as more of a collaboration where we are aligned on your goals and how to get there. My approach includes equal accountability, progression through the plan of care and ultimately a patient who feels empowered and independent once they achieve their goals!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jessiekleinpelvichealth.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessieleigh_dpt/?hl=en
