We were lucky to catch up with Alisha Ponce recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alisha, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I guess I should start off by saying I’m not a risky person by nature. I’ve been a physical therapist for 10 years. For many of those years, I worked in a hospital-based outpatient setting. I used to believe that I enjoyed the consistency. But after a while, things became redundant and mundane. I was burned out by the demands imposed by insurance companies on physical therapists and the lack of autonomy to treat patients exactly how I wanted.

I came across a group of entrepreneur physical therapists on facebook who too experienced all the trials and tribulations of being an outpatient physical therapist. Many of them were burned out, they desired more for their patients, and they wanted more balance in their life. These group of entrepreneur therapists took matters into their own hands and started their own business by treating clients one-on-one. Not being a risky person by nature I told myself, “this isn’t you”. However, I still followed this group, read forums, discussed my thoughts with a friend, and listened to podcasts. Slowly my fantasy of starting my own company started to formulate into my own business plan and on January 26, 2022 (on my youngest son’s birthday), I applied for a PLLC. At that point, The Movement Doc of Texas was born. It was game on. The process of starting my own physical therapy company took months to plan out and execute. I still worked my outpatient job full-time and when my kids would go to bed, I’d work on all the business stuff.

There was one big problem though. I needed an actual clinic or office to see patients out of. Luckily, I had the support of my husband who encouraged me and supported me every step of the way. He had the idea of starting my physical therapy “clinic” out of our garage. I thought to myself, Jeff Bezos did it, why can’t I? And in July of 2022, I officially made an announcement, I am now taking new clients! Unfortunately, my phone didn’t ring and I didn’t have very many new clients flock to my front door. I thought to myself, well this was a stupid idea. I knew I needed to do something. I knew I just needed a catalyst to get me started. So, I took a drive down the road to the closest Crossfit gym and asked to meet with the gym owner. When I expressed my desire to grow into a larger office, he offered me office space in his gym. I thought this was it, this was what I needed to put my name out there. By October of 2022, I was official in a Crossfit gym. I spent months working on social media, meeting with other crossfit gyms, getting to know members of the community, sometimes offering free treatments, and doing pop-ins at other well-known businesses. Slowly, customers started to walk through my door. For several months I juggled my full-time job at another establishment while working tirelessly to build my brand. In May of 2023, just when I was garnering momentum, the owner had some bad news – he was moving back home and closing the gym down. I panicked for a moment and considered what my options were – Move back into the garage? Find another gym? Close down the business? Or look for my own office?

Just when I thought I was done with taking risks, I had to take the biggest risk of all. I knew in order to grow, I’d eventually have to make that giant leap. After weeks of searching, an office space opened up! It was perfect! But holy hell, it was so much more expensive. I thought to myself, how can we afford this? We have 3 children, a mortgage, bills, and student loans. Luckily, I had money in my savings to cover the cost of the first month’s rent and the down payment. If it wasn’t for my husband who believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself, I wouldn’t have taken that leap. This was the riskiest decision I’ve ever had to make in my life. I had no choice but to succeed, my back was against the wall. Professionally, my dream was being fulfilled. I had a business space of my own. By October 2023, things really begin to really ramp up. I was running out of appointment space for clients, I was seeing the population I desired the most, I was able to leave my full-time job, and word of mouth was finally getting out. Currently, things are looking up for 2024. Word of mouth referrals continue to enter the front door and I’m hoping to hire soon. I’m excited to take The Movement Doc to new heights!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’d love too! I’ve been a physical therapist for 10 years. I was introduced to the profession when I was 15 years old when my great grandmother received physical therapy for her hip. It was during that time, I fell in love with the profession.

I’ve always had a strong desire to learn more and serve others. This desire, lead me to complete my fellowship training and become board certified in orthopedics. These credentials put me in the top 5% of my profession. As I begin to advance my skills and clinical knowledge, I realized patients deserved more. Unfortunately, when working for an insurance-based model, clinicians must see 2-3 patients in one hour. This was not quality care. I was burning out. I knew something had to change.

I made the decision to create my own company. Instead of applying and looking for another establishment to work for, I decided to create all the things I wanted in a physical therapy company. The Movement Doc of Texas provides one-on-one orthopedic and sports-based physical therapy to all active individuals. I help athletic and active individuals return back to sport or exercise. While most doctors or other physical therapists may tell you to take a two-week break from whatever activity, I encourage people to continue the activities they love without ceasing and utilizing my recommended modifications. Evaluations are thorough as I get down to the root cause of someone’s symptoms. Treatments don’t just involve treating the area of pain but looking to the areas above and below that may be causing or contributing to the symptoms. I employ a combination of progressive and advance exercises, dry needling, manipulation and manual techniques, patient education, and a structured home exercise program to treat a client’s symptoms. As the client becomes progressively pain-free, I begin to ramp up their program to ensure we are building tissue resiliency and resuming normal function.

The type of care you receive at The Movement Doc is rare. Our clients are not defined by their injury or body part. Their goals, their life, and their concerns mean something to us. I always tell my clients, your wins are my wins. They are part of The Movement Doc family.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I was always told word of mouth was the best way to build a business. I didn’t believe it until I started seeing it. It starts small initially. When you start treating clients, this person tells their spouse, friend, or other family member. I’ve done it all, I’ve done pop-ins and workshops. Those things really didn’t work. People talk. People don’t just want answers but want to find someone who truly cares. Once you connect with people and they realize your intentions to get them better are genuine, they never let you go and they must tell others.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start?

I fortunately had a lot of equipment beforehand in my garage. However, I still had the overhead costs of buying additional equipment. My advice is to start with the necessities only. Look for deals on facebook marketplace or wait for black Friday for marked discounts. Before getting excited, still keep that other job to finance your business and start slowly. Be patient and prioritize your needs.

Contact Info:

• Website: themovementdocoftexas.com
• Instagram: TheMovementDocofTexas
• Facebook: The Movement Doc of Texas
• Other: To schedule: themovementdocoftexas.janeapp.com/%23staff_member/1

Image Credits
Robert Ponce