We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mary Claire Aaron. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mary Claire below.
Hi Mary Claire, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
I get my work ethic from watching my parents work hard from a young age. I grew up with three sisters and two working parents so as you can imagine, our family was a very busy one. We were all involved in sports and several extracurricular activities. My father had a very demanding job as an assistant district attorney and my mother was a teacher. My father often worked late and on the weekends and my mother did a lot of extra work out of school hours to plan lessons always going above and beyond for her students. Despite the high demands of their careers, my parents always prioritized our family. They never missed a game or a chance to support whatever activity we were doing despite the sacrifice of having to stay up late to do what was needed for their careers. And yet, I never heard them complain about it, it was simply what they did for their family.I often saw them sacrifice their own wants and needs for ours. They have always been my example. As I grew up, I noticed that hard work is something that yields a positive end result. It is something that doesn’t cost anything and something that I am in control of. Even when I wasn’t thesmartest, most athletic, or most talented person in the room, I could still be the hardest working one. Hard work is a choice. I have seen this in sports, school, and my career. The other thing that I’ve learned about hard work throughout the years is that you won’t always reap the benefits right away. I had to set short term goals and focus on meeting those goals and trust that the hard work would pay off in the end. I often focus on things day to day or week to week, while keeping my long-term goals in the back of my mind. It helps me not to get overwhelmed or discouraged.
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?
Early in my career, I worked for several corporate physical therapy clinics and the work didn’t feel personalized to me. I didn’t feel like I could focus my attention on my patients and help them get better. I found myself thinking that maybe I chose the wrong career wondering if the 7 and a half years of school and thousands of dollars was a waste. Initially I was very discouraged. I became a mother and took some time off of working full time. I worked different contract jobs in several different settings, trying to find my way to a fulfilling work life. I finally found a private practice environment that met my needs. It was everything I was looking for. The focus was on the patient. It was personalized, individualized, and allowed me to grow as a therapist. Two years later, the practice closed and once again I was looking to find that perfect work life balance..
I couldn’t go back to a corporate physical therapy clinic where everyone was just a number and I felt like all I did for people was type notes about them. I decided the only way to check off everything on my professional wish list was to create my own practice. My vision was simple – put my patient first. Every time I wanted to quit or thought I couldn’t do it, a door opened for me. I had the support of my family, a great network of colleagues and friends who were behind me, loyal and encouraging patients, and the faith and trust that if I focused on treating people right and putting patients first that everything else would fall into place. That was five years ago.
Currently, I enjoy treating active adults and have a lot of endurance athletes. I have recently started offering custom orthotics to contribute to that specialty. Dry needling is another specialty we use a lot to release trigger points. Our active clients love the dry needling because it has quick results so they don’t miss out on the extracurricular activities that they enjoy. I have also recently hired a pelvic health physical therapist to expand the practice by offering this much needed specialty.
My job allows me to focus on the patient as a whole person and provide high quality individualized care. Most importantly, itallows me to prioritize my family. I am ableto adjust my schedule to go on my child’s field trip, be room mom for my kindergartener, and make every baseball game. It is a dream come true to be able to show up for my kids how my parents showed up for me. I am grateful for a hardworking team that allows things to run smoothly when I can’t be there.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Empathy is a really important trait to being a good human, but also a good physical therapist. When you work with people who have injuries, it is important to see them as a whole person and be able to understand what they are going through. If you can stop and try to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, it will make you a more compassionate provider. Listening skills- be in the present moment so you are really listening- A professor once told me that if you really listen to a patient, they will “Tell” you what is wrong with them before you even do any of your physical examination. A big part of my initial exam is just listening to the patient. I develop a timeline and I learn a lot about them at this time developing rapport and trust. A really important part of being a physical therapist is being able to gather information from palpation and a comprehensive evaluation. I often hear of patients seeing their providers without ever getting examined. I use special tests, movement screens, and palpation to determine what the patient’s restrictions and impairments are and develop a personalized plan of care for every patient. A movement exam and physical exam will tell me a lot about the individual patient and what is actually restricting their function. The only way to get better at this is training it and using it regularly on all different types of patients. One thing that makes my practice special is that our therapists take the time to assess patients one on one. We have the ability to try different techniques while monitoring patient progress each visit.
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
I have had several amazing mentors and colleagues throughout my career. I am very thankful for all of the wonderful people who have helped me along the way. My biggest supporter since I started my business has been my husband. He has always believed in me and pushes me to live up to my potential. He tells me I am good enough when I may doubt myself. When I’m not giving it my all, he holds me accountable. He is there every night when I need a pep talk or need to vent. This business really is a family business. It takes all of us to make each day happen. Without my family support, I would not be able to do what I do each day.
- Website: maryclaireaaronpt.com
