We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Diogo Trevisan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Diogo, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about your team building process? How did you recruit and train your team and knowing what you know now would you have done anything differently?

Great question! I started this business in 2020, all by myself for the first 4 weeks – answering phone calls, scheduling, treating patients, cleaning up the clinic afterwards, buying supplies, etc. Then my wife retired from Anesthesia and came to help me build up the clinic. She is the engine behind the scenes, she made it all happen when it comes to paperwork.
Around 3 months later we had grown enough and we needed employees. My first employee is a personal friend of mine, that happens to be one of the best therapists I know. We already knew we wanted him in the team, and he was on board with it. Around 6 months after that we had grown again, and needed to hire more employees.
I announced the position online and got applications through those platforms. My method of interviewing is a little unconventional. Most people check the applicants resume and call them to set up an appointment, I always called them first to hear them on the phone. I was looking for quality of interaction, signs of emotional intelligence and enthusiasm. Being in a healing type of business where we treat patients it is imperative to me that the person has the heart for it. You can teach management, but you can’t teach empathy. So the second step would be meeting the applicant in person and confirming what I heard on the phone. The third and final step would be checking their clinical knowledge, which is also very important to me since we rehabilitate reconstructive surgeries and all sorts of orthopedic conditions.
This method has worked really well for me, and I still have my original team. We are like a family.

Diogo, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I got my doctorate degree in Physical Therapy in Brazil, where I was born and raised. I moved to Miami in 2010 and started working under Dr. Pereda, one of the best clinicians I’ve ever met. In 2020 I finished my doctoral program at Utica College, NY, and started my own practice buying a franchise of Physical Therapy Now. I specialize in Orthopedics and deal with all sorts of reconstructive surgeries, postural problems, athletes and geriatrics. I currently enrolled a 3-year Master’s program in Chinese Medicine to include a more of a holistic approach to my practice. It was always a dream of mine to help the world, so I opened this practice to make the difference. We live in a time where chronic pain, depression, stress and anxiety are doubling at scary rates, and I felt the responsibility to bring some comfort to my patients at an emotional, physical and spiritual level. Our therapy is entirely one-on-one and the patients always receive manual therapy as part of their treatment, as well as postural training, therapeutic exercises and proprioceptive training. We also work with some of the best surgeons in the nation, and have a great relationship with them.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I have pivoted twice. The first time it was from Holistic Medicine to traditional medicine. I was always interested in holistic healing and studied it for over 16 years. But when I got out of college I had to choose a carrier and by my father’s strong suggestion I studied Physical Therapy instead of Holistic Medicine. I ended up putting all my focus and operating from a 100% western approach. However, after opening my practice I noticed that some patients cried if I asked if they were under some stress and simply from asking if they were sleeping well at night. That highlighted something I’ve always known, which is that intrinsic importance of listening and truly caring for how people feel. I slowly brought insights of the importance of emotional health and wellness to my staff, and started studying Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine.
I make it a point that all my employees are happy and don’t feel overwhelmed, so the atmosphere in the clinic can be uplifting instead of draining. Surprisingly, countless patients have mentioned that our place has a special energy.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

My wife and I had good paying jobs and we own a 4 bedroom house, so when we decided to start a physical therapy practice we analyzed 2 options. One was to borrow the money from the SBA (Small Business Administration) with an interest of 6.5% – at that time, or we could take an equity in our house at a 3.2% interest. Our initial investment was supposed to range between $80,000 and $120,000, and we would needed to have $80,000 in our bank account to get our AHCA license. We ended up using the equity money, which is definitely slightly more risky when you consider the possibility of not succeeding, however, that was never a doubt in our minds, so we chose the lower interest rate.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://physicaltherapynow.com/physical-therapy-now-sunset/
• Instagram: @diogotrevisan.pt
• Linkedin: Diogo Trevisan
• Youtube: Diogo Trevisan DPT

Image Credits
Jose Sevilla @eljotaccs or @thenoise360