We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stephanie Duffey. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Stephanie below.
Hi Stephanie, 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?
Taking care of myself is so incredibly important not only for my own well-being, but also for me to be able to run my business, be a great leader, and care for my clients to the highest level.
I’ve always been interested in health, wellness, and fitness, so the physical part of self-care comes naturally to me. My exercise routine has taken many different forms over the years depending on what is going on in my life, what my goals are, and what feels FUN at the time. Sometimes I’m training for a half marathon, other times I dive in to yoga, and I always love strength training too. My workouts are sacred time for me and help me start the day off right. After having kids, I had to become more disciplined with getting up in the morning to exercise before my kids woke up. This ensured that I got my workout in and got in a good head space for the day. I continue this routine to this day.
The part of self-care that doesn’t come as naturally for me is the mental/emotional/spiritual side of self-care. Being a business owner forces you to deal with your own limiting thoughts and self-destructive thought patterns and behaviors. Time after time, when I focus on myself and my own mental well-being, my business does well. When I fall into old habits or get in a funk of negative thoughts, my business suffers. I have a team of coaches and entrepreneur friends who I can rely on to help me keep an optimal head space and work through the gunk that inevitably comes up. I journal, pray, read mindset books, and reflect on a regular basis so that I recognize when limiting thoughts arise and am better equipped to work through them.
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?
I can confidently say that I never thought I’d be doing what I am doing today…but am forever grateful for where my life has led me.
I pretty much always knew I wanted to be a physical therapist. From the first day I volunteered in a PT clinic, I knew this was the path for me. While earning my doctor of physical therapy degree from The Ohio State University, I thought I wanted to work FOR someone who owned their own practice. I loved the freedom that private practice provided- you could help the individual in front of you the way they truly needed to be helped and not be dictated by corporate America or insurance companies. But I had zero training in business, marketing, and sales, so working for someone else who was doing those things seemed to be the perfect solution.
But that isn’t what God or life had in store for me. A friend of mine got me involved in a group of PT entrepreneurs and I soon realized that it wasn’t as hard or complicated as I thought. The idea kept pulling on my heart and I realized I was being called to start my own practice. Four years later and I hired my first physical therapist to join my practice and work alongside me. Again, I never thought I’d hire a team but this has been an incredible experience. I’m so excited to have her on board and impact more people in our community.
Starting my practice was born from the desire to do PT differently. People need to be truly heard and given individualized attention so that the underlying cause of the problem can be fixed, instead of just putting a band-aid on a bigger problem. They need to know how stress, sleep, and nutrition affect they way they feel physically. They need someone to explain what is going on with their body, someone to truly believe in them and their goals, and someone to guide them in the process of allowing their body to heal. This is severely lacking in our current medical system. It is my mission to provide this experience to people so they can regain hope and confidence in their body’s ability to move.
I learned a lot through my own struggles with pain and injury. Throughout my teenage and adult life, I struggled with knee and neck pain that would come and go. It really got in the way of things I loved like running, exercise, and playing with my son. It wasn’t until I became a PT, and even went to PT myself, that I learned that the underlying issue was never fixed- that was why my pain kept coming back. Once I committed to the process of healing the root cause, I got off the rollercoaster of pain and injury flaring up every few months. It feels so amazing to focus on living my life, not modifying my life to stay out of pain. I want other people to have this same freedom and confidence as well. It is truly life changing.
It is so rewarding to see the transformations people make in their lives when we work together. We heal years of back and neck pain, get injured runners back on the road, eliminate debilitating headaches, and get people back to the activities they love- things like hiking, traveling, keeping up with grandkids, running, gardening, and living life unrestricted. It is truly humbling and amazing.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I would say that my eagerness to learn, confidence, and setting boundaries were most impactful on my journey.
After graduating from PT school, I had great clinical knowledge from my clinical rotations, but had zero knowledge on starting a business. Most of what I have invested my time and money in as an entrepreneur has been business coaching. This has been invaluable in getting my business started, growing, and now expanding to hiring a team and impacting more lives. You have to be hungry to learn what you don’t know and keep on top of clinical skills. This allows me to run a successful business and also provide the best care and services to clients. If you’re early in your entrepreneurial journey, soak up as much knowledge, both free and paid, as you can. Grow your network of people you know. Not only will it help your business, but you will learn from all of these people too.
Confidence is huge as an entrepreneur. I’m not talking about arrogance or self-pompousness or never feeling scared. You need 1% more confidence than fear to move the needle forward. You will be pushed outside of your comfort zone, so having confidence in yourself and your abilities will help you overcome the hurdles of entrepreneurship and stay focused on your goals. Growing up, I was never the most confident person, but once I knew I wanted to start my own practice I was confident that this was the best path for me and all the clients I would work with in the future. I know I have an outstanding service to offer that is so desperately needed in the current healthcare climate. This keeps me driving forward even when things get hard.
Setting boundaries is also super important. When you work for someone else, it is easier to go home and forget about work. But as an entrepreneur, your business is so entwined with your life that your brain never totally shuts off from business thoughts. The passion behind this is wonderful but unfortunately it can lead to burnout. I had to learn to set boundaries of when I would and would not respond to clients, when I would shut off from business tasks for the day, and be intentional about spending quality time with friends and family. This has helped me a lot. I still will wake up in the middle of the night and have thoughts about business things I need to do or how to best serve my clients, but I’ve gotten better at managing this so it doesn’t consume me. If you’re starting out, don’t fall into the hustle mentality. Set up a work structure that feels honoring to you. Stick to your boundaries. There will always be more to do, but time is precious so spend it doing things that fill you up.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
Breaking The Habit of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza has impacted me the most. It changed my life during a low point both in my business and personal life. In this book, he teaches about how your thoughts create your reality. The tricky thing is that most of the thoughts that shape your life are subconscious, meaning you aren’t aware of them. This poses a challenge! The first step is to be conscious of every thought you think so you can determine if it serves you or not. You have to dissociate with the negative thoughts and strengthen the thoughts that do serve you. Knowing that I have all the control and power over my thoughts and therefore my reality was huge. It helped me create and embrace thoughts to manifest the life of my dreams.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://empowerphysioandwellness.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empowerphysioandwellness/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/empowerphysioandwellness
Image Credits
Brigid Yates
