We were lucky to catch up with Amanda Fultineer recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Amanda thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.
I had been practicing as a physical therapist for about 7 years before I decided to open my own practice. I had worked at two very different outpatient orthopedic clinics. One was large and corporate where I saw a high volume of patients and the other was a smaller, family run business with a smaller caseload. Soon after I started at my second job, I learned that I was positive for the BRCA2 mutation (the gene mutation associated with a high risk of breast and ovarian cancer). At the time, I was an otherwise healthy 32 year old. I was use to being the caretaker and I suddenly was on the other side of healthcare. After testing and many doctor consults, I ultimately decided to have a prophylactic mastectomy with reconstruction to significantly reduce my risk of breast cancer in the future. I’m usually a Type A, go getter so being bedridden and reliant on everyone around me while I recovered was a very new experience for me. I’ve also worked since I was 18 years old so it had been awhile since I’d been off work for a long period of time with the exception of maternity leaves. I used the downtime to start listening to podcasts, read and work on my personal development.
After returning back to work, I felt like my perspective on life was different. I have a wonderful husband and we had a then 3 and 5 year old that were quickly growing up. I realized that I didn’t want to miss the little things with my family but I also really wanted to continue to work as I am so passionate about movement and helping others get back to living their lives to the fullest. I read a book written by my mentor, Danny Matta, about moving away from the traditional PT model. After reading it, I decided I was going to take the plunge and open my own practice. I’m fortunate to be married to the most supportive man in the world and once we crunched numbers and did some research, we were all in. We expected it to take several months to find a space that would be in our budget and fit our needs but the first place that we looked at was perfect. I took it as a sign that it was meant to be. Balanced Physical Therapy & Sports Performance was born so that I could provide top quality, one on one care to my patients without treatment being dictated by insurance companies, so that I could work and do what I love AND be there to watch my kids grow up. I wanted to have the best of both worlds as a working mother and when I couldn’t seem to find it, I decided to create it.
We had a lot of challenges when we first opened. We started seeing patients late October 2019 and 5 months later all of our lives were turned upside down. Trying to manage growing a business while having 2 kids at home was challenging to say the least. During the fall of 2020, my son did 4 months of 2nd grade virtually in our back office while I worked. We have some of the kindest, most caring patients and they were all so understanding when he’d come out of the room frustrated that technology wasn’t working or that he couldn’t understand his teacher. The days were long but in hindsight, having our practice was such a blessing. If I had been working for anyone other than myself, I would have had to quit working to come home and be with the kids full time. Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids but being a physical therapist is a large part of who I am and I think it would have been really hard on all of us if I had to give that up for a year.
Other than the struggles of COVID, things really went smoothly as we opened. We had a lot of support from family, friends, former patients and mentors to guide us along the way. One thing I would recommend to anyone that is planning to open their own practice is to find a good business coaching group or other support system. I am fortunate to be in a group of 200+ other physical therapists and chiropractors. Not many people understand the highs and lows of being an entrepreneur. Having someone there that’s been through some of the struggles that you may be going through and can offer advice and support was key for us. They’re also there to help celebrate the wins and bounce ideas back and forth during periods of growth.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Amanda Fultineer and I am a physical therapist and the owner of Balanced Physical Therapy & Sports Performance. When I was 9, I went to a bring a friend class at the local gymnastics facility with my best friend and gymnastics has been a huge part of my life ever since. I was a competitive gymnast for 10 years competing through level 10 at the club level and collegiately at The Ohio State University. My interest in physical therapy began as an athlete where I received treatment for many injuries I sustained during gymnastics. From a very early age, my goal was to become a physical therapist and to work with gymnasts. Today, a large part of my caseload is gymnasts. I see girls from all over the Triangle and have been treating the USAG team at Sonshine Gymnastics since 2017. This summer, we expanded to a bigger office and we started a strength and conditioning program specific to gymnasts. It has been so incredible and rewarding to give back to the sport that has taught me so many valuable lessons and provided me with so many opportunities over the years. Knowing that I made that dream a reality is something that I’m proud of. How many people can say yes, I am doing exactly what my 14 year old self said I wanted to do one day?
I received my Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Temple University and I’ve been a physical therapist for over 11 years. I’m a Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Orthopedic Physical Therapy. I’m certified in FMS (Functional Movement Screen) Level 1 and 2, Integrative Dry Needling, Ready State Mobility Coach and have completed Herman & Wallace Level 1 for the evaluation and treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction.
I am passionate about all things health, wellness and movement. I also have a huge love for Women’s Health. This ranges from the young, female athlete, to the pregnant or postpartum momma, to the post menopausal woman. We primarily treat the active adult population and competitive gymnasts. What sets us apart from traditional settings is that we look at the whole person. When someone comes in we’re talking about their pain and that particular body part, but we’re also discussing nutrition, sleep, hydration and stress management as these are all things that contribute to healing. We look at how their whole body is moving vs. one specific area as everything is connected and needs to be moving properly together. We also don’t stop seeing patients when they get out of pain. That is just a part of the process. We want to figure out the root cause so that the pain doesn’t come back in 6, 12, 18 months. We help our patients train around their injuries and improve their movement quality to reduce the risk of injury in the future. We also spend a lot of time educating our patients, empowering them to take an active role in their recovery and care.
Our other staff therapist specializes in Pelvic Health. She has been a PT for 17 years and has spent the last 11 years focusing on women’s health including pregnancy, postpartum, pelvic pain and dysfunction, urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. Pregnancy and childbirth are an amazing testament to the human body. However, it is a large trauma to the body and often times women are not adequately educated or followed up with postpartum. As mothers, we both understand how busy life can get and the priority often shifts from yourself to the tiny humans that you brought into this world. We both love talking to mothers of all ages on the things that they can do to take care of themselves. As our business continues to grow, we will be looking for outgoing, driven therapists that are just as passionate about helping our community live an active, healthy life.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
Growing our clientele was challenging in our first year as it was difficult networking with others in the health and wellness community due to COVID. I remember sitting in my back office stressing about how we were going to get more patients through the door in those early days.
I grew up in a small business. My Dad was a single father with 3 kids running a waste management business. I was the youngest and got to spend most summers on the trash truck with my Dad. I learned a lot from watching him run a business from the front seat of that trash truck. He always put the people first. He made it a point to wave and say hello to anyone that he saw in the morning, he was sure his workers put everyone’s trashcans back neatly, he would help people if the had a major tragedy. It was always about his customers. I mean how many people know their trash man? He could tell you about their kids, their families, their businesses. I thought about that a lot when we first opened and the phrase “patients first” would always go through my head when I had a long list of to dos to keep the business running. I’d pay attention to details and provide the absolute best care that I knew that I could. And if I couldn’t get them better, I’d do everything to help them find where they needed to be. Eventually, those patients told their friends and their family and quickly the word of mouth referrals filled up my schedule. To this day, when I look at my day’s tasks, I always ask, are all of my current patients taken care of? Does anyone need a follow up email? Do I need to check in with anyone that hasn’t been in for a few weeks? That always takes priority over anything else that I have planned for the day.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
I’m a big reader so there are a ton of books that I think have been helpful along the way. When we opened, it was just me. As we’ve expanded and grown, I’m reading more books on leadership. Extreme Ownership by Joko Willink and Leif Babin was really helpful. I enjoyed reading the war stories but also how they tied these examples back to businesses. I think it helped me pause with most situations in life and think, what could have I done better in this instance? It also helped me to fine tune our system and procedures so that it was clear how things should be run. Other favorites are, The Daily Stoic, Atomic Habits, Rising Strong and The Obstacle is the Way. I do believe that personal growth is a large part of being an entrepreneur. If you have personality faults, they will bleed into your business. I think continued personal and professional growth are key to running a business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.balanced-pt.com
- Instagram: @balancedphysicaltherapy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/balancedsportsperformance
Image Credits
J.P. Lord Photography