Meet Jessica Reale

We recently connected with Jessica Reale and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jessica , so great to have you on the platform. There’s so much we want to ask you, but let’s start with the topic of self-care. Do you do anything for self-care and if so, do you think it’s had a meaningful impact on your effectiveness?
Developing self-care habits has been quite the journey for me. Prior to having children, I felt like I had developed pretty strong self-care habits– I enjoyed reading, journaling, running and swimming, and making time for these activities felt easy. After my daughters were born, it became a lot harder. As a working mother, I put so much pressure on myself to minimize any time away from my children, and it left me with a lot of guilt when I would try to make time for self-care. To compound this, my husband Andrew and I started our pelvic floor physical therapy practice, Southern Pelvic Health, when our youngest daughter Mary was 3 months old. It was hard to feel like there was any time for self-care when I was juggling opening a new practice with being the best mom I could be!

Over time, I realized how much losing self-care can catch up to you. I realized that being my best as a business owner and mother meant creating time for self-care. I realized that self-care actually is a self-less act and enables all of us to thrive. As I built time in my schedule for reading, prayer and meditation, exercise, and more– I realized that I felt better. I had less stress and better stress management. I felt stronger in my body, more resilience, and better coping. It truly made a difference– both in my home and at my workplace!

For me, creating a self-care routine meant blocking out my schedule. This meant waking up at 5 am each day, exercising before I go into the office (I ran my first half marathon since having children this past year!), and heading to bed early enough to allow for reading each night to help my body wind down. I can’t say I’m perfect at my routine. Sometimes, I struggle– but striving to stay on this schedule has truly helped me so much in my life. I feel more productive and focused when I’m working. I feel better work-life balance. My stress management has absolutely improved dramatically. Truly, the benefits are endless.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I fell in love with pelvic floor physical therapy when I was getting my doctoral degree at Duke University nearly 15 years ago. I had been aware of some pelvic health challenges– like bladder leaks and constipation — but I really had no idea about the varying difficulties people experience, and truly how life-impacting it can be when a person is dealing with these challenges. While I was in a clinical rotation, I met a woman in her 30’s who had been experiencing painful sex since her first experience. She had several relationships end because of the pain (which I have my own opinions about!). She came to see us because she was with someone she deeply cared about, and wanted to be able to have enjoyable intimacy. I still get goosebumps when I think about the day she came into the office, sat down, and started crying. Between tears, she smiled, and said, “I had sex and it didn’t hurt.” This moment changed the trajectory of my life, truly. From there, I knew I had to help people. I had to make a difference in the lives of people dealing with problems like this.

I never looked back. And this vision, is why I do what I do!! In 2019, my husband Andrew and I opened Southern Pelvic Health- a dedicated, specialized pelvic health physical therapy clinic. My dream is that SPH is a place where people can find healing. A place where pelvic health problems aren’t taboo, whispered challenges between only the closest of friends. A place where people know that they are our priority, our passion– a place where we truly partner beside our patients to offer an unparalleled healthcare experience. And the beauty is that this is what SPH has become!

I am so thrilled that our clinic has grown to now include a location in Marietta/East Cobb and a location in Midtown, right near Piedmont Park. We have an excellent, experienced clinical team and a compassionate and driven administrative team. We all strive together every day to make a difference! And that difference expands to our colleagues as well! I’ve been involved in teaching other pelvic rehab providers since 2016. In 2021, Andrew and I co-founded PelviCon~ the first professional conference dedicated to helping pelvic health rehabilitation providers learn together, build community, and improve patient care! We are in our third year now, and will be bringing over 600 pelvic rehab professionals from around the world to Atlanta in September for this incredible event!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I would say: Finding my passion, being willing to jump, and staying teachable.

Passion is what drives me. I always keep my patients, their stories, their struggles and triumphs in my heart. This passion drives me to want to build a better practice. It drives me to want to teach other pelvic rehab providers because I so deeply believe that EVERYONE deserves the very best care. It drives me to want to learn, grow, and help as many people and pelvises as I can in the process!

Being willing to jump. In my professional journey, I have had so many experiences that felt scary. I wanted to get into teaching, but worried I didn’t have the experience or that people hadn’t heard of me enough. Then, I jumped and did it anyway. My husband and I nervously started Southern Pelvic Health, wrestling with fears of whether or not any patients would walk through our doors. When he left his established career to join me full-time in our business, we worried if we would be able to financially support our family. Then, we jumped, and we did it anyway. Risk can be scary. We all deal sometimes with imposter syndrome and other fears. In risk, however, we can find beauty. Through risk, we can ultimately live our passion.

Lastly, staying teachable. When I was in graduate school, I had a professor say, “If you ever reach the point where you are clinging so hard to a practice pattern or treatment approach that you refuse to be swayed by new research, you should retire.” This has impacted me so much in my professional (and personal life). Learning is important for growth, continued learning is how we build excellence. We strive to do that at the clinic– challenging what we do and how we do it so we can grow and improve. But, we also strive to do this in our business. We hire coaches, we learn from others, and we strive to do so with humility and willingness to accept that we always have so much more we can learn. I think this has truly impacted our success as a practice, our growth as clinicians, and the growth of our business.

How would you describe your ideal client?
At SPH, we are incredibly passionate about helping anyone and everyone overcome their pelvic health challenges so they can get the most out of life! This can include helping people feel more confident and prepared about childbirth (Yep, you can prepare your pelvic floor for birth!); helping postpartum individuals recover– feel strong, minimize pain or leakage, get back to exercise, sex & more; helping all individuals dealing with pelvic or genital pain get back to sitting, moving, and living without pain; We help kids and adults overcome constipation and build regular bowel habits. We help people with the most intimate and human needs– bladder, bowel, sexual health– and honestly, that’s the power of pelvic health physical therapy. Our patients are incredible people, and it is a privilege to be able to serve them!

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