We recently connected with Christine Ballou and have shared our conversation below.
Christine, appreciate you joining us today. How’s you first get into your field – what was your first job in this field?
My first official job was what I thought my DREAM job, but I quit after 3 months.
I was treating patients with pelvic floor and neurological conditions. I thought it was everything I wanted. But I was driving 100 miles a day to/from work 5 days a week. I became so burnt out in such a short amount of time.
I knew I wanted to work in a hospital setting because of the benefits provided. So I applied to an opening at a hospital near me. I heard nothing. So I called the department and asked for the director. She told me the job was for someone internally and she’s not hiring. So, not knowing how to take no for an answer I asked for her email and emailed her my resume. And I called again the next week. I thought it was a long shot because she told me she wouldn’t hire a new grad but that she’ll schedule a phone call with me. After the phone call she told me not to get my hopes up but that I will have an interview with my managers. I passed that interview and progressed to the in person clinical part of the interview. My now supervisor and I hit it off from the start, we joked around and he gave me his email and said if I don’t get this job to contact him and he’ll help me get a job. Until now he’s one of my mentors and best people I know.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m a pelvic floor physical therapist, I mainly work with women. I started this line of work due to my own personal experiences. As a child I have pelvic floor dysfunction and spent countless years at doctors offices, trying to figure out what was “wrong” with me. It wasn’t until I was in college that I finally saw a pelvic floor physical therapist that changed my life. I come from a family that saw sex as this negative thing, so I had no knowledge about it. I went from a kid that couldn’t hold back urine, to a young adult that thought sex was supposed to be painful/uncomfortable and would have to RUN to the bathroom whenever she had to pee.
When I learned about pelvic health my life changed. getting to work with women every day from all ages and walks of life has been the most rewarding thing of my life. I get to help women feel more confident in their bodies, do the things they love without feeling embarrassed, enjoy intimacy with their partner, and feel empowered in their bodies. It’s an honor to be the person you trust enough to tell me all the personal things you’re having trouble with that you may not talk to anyone else about and its a responsibility I don’t take lightly.
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
Empathy – you need to care deeply for other people or else you’ll have a difficult time connecting and making any difference.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I’m very thorough with my patients and I make sure I explain what I’m doing and why I’m doing it, including their treatment program at home. This goes back to their referring doctor more times than I even thought, and now there are doctors that specifically tell their patients to ask for me. I”ve also had some medical doctors as my own patients and they were able to see what pelvic floor physical therapy is and what it does – I was even invited to speak to the internal medicine doctors and residents about pelvic health.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.alooro.com
- Instagram: dr.christineballou
- Facebook: Dr. Christine Ballou
- Linkedin: Christine Ballou
- Youtube: dr.christineballou
- Other: IG, Threads, Tiktok: dr.christineballou
