We recently connected with Dr. Cassandra Sanders-Holly and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Cassandra, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I loved my job. Fresh out of my grueling Doctor of Physical Therapy program at the University of Southern California, I landed the first job I interviewed for, my dream job, working with a county program that served disabled children. The stability of a government funded position, with all of it’s benefits including a healthy retirement payout if I worked for them until the age of 55, a great schedule, and a generous starting pay, was attractive given the investment I had just made in my doctorate education, a substantial debt that was clouding the celebration of the accomplishment. And though it was an intense commute of over an hour, each day I was grateful, and poured my heart into serving those children, studying, learning and practicing new skills to advance the care I provided to them. I got to know each and every family and felt incredibly responsible for their child’s success in the world, learning to sit, stand, to walk, to use a power wheelchair, to participate in the things that their friends were able to , to live a life without limits, despite their disability. We shared struggles,n defeats, wins, tears, smiles and laughter. I was dedicated to my employer, and to my work, taking on additional tasks, finding new ways to serve, new duties, new collaborations and efficiencies, all to serve the children. My volunteerism and dedication to continued learning was recognized by faculty at USC, and I was offered a part time position teaching in the prestigious program I had just gradutaed from. Another dream come true! My county employer was proud and supportive, and accommodated a part time schedule so that I could do both. It was an incredible first five years, until suddenly I was told I was being moved to a different location overnight. I had to leave the patients and families that I had grown to love, and it didn’t make sense, but I did what I was told. I dove into the new location with a smile on my face, I tried to bring my best attitude each day. Just when I had found a groove and rapport with the new children I was serving, it happened again. I was moved to another location to “follow the need.” I was frustrated, but I definitely needed the steady employment to manage all of the expenses that come with starting an adult life, a mortgage, car payment, insurance, student loans, and all that goes into being an adult. I held on and continued to do my best, keeping my eye on the nice, stable pay and retirement that would be promised to me. I would be crazy to leave that in an economy that was slowing. And then, I was moved again. And that was when I woke up and thought “At what price am I chasing this ‘stable’ life?” And so I told my husband I needed to quit, and I was going to start a small private practice, to see just a few patients “on the side” while I built up my budding career as a professor at USC (which would eventually lead to a nice, stable tenure position, that our family needed.) And he said “you better keep your job while you do it!” Our budget was tight, and I knew we needed the steady paycheck. And so, I designed a logo, registered my business name, and got to work forming my little company, building a generic website for $100 and getting everything in order. I needed a space, but all I could afford was a 600 sq foot cinder block room, in an office of offices, in a dumpy strip mall next to a bar. I went to work with $500 on a credit card, hand me down office furniture and toys, and a little help from some friends to make it happen. I answered the “office” cell phone on my lunch break from my regular job, and after the first week of launching my website, I got my first patient! And then another one! “This is incredible! If I do the math right, I just need 6 patients to leave my stable county job.” Unfortunately those two patients were IT for 6 whole months. Somewhere in between working two jobs, and trying to get this little practice off the ground, I was blessed with a baby on board! I was pregnant. After 10 years of trying, I had given up, and poured myself into my new baby, this tiny little practice. What was I doing? I was sinking what little savings and room on a credit card that I had into a losing game. I continued to work my stable county job and my teaching job at USC , with long commutes, and 14 hour days, but saw those two patients in the late evenings or on weekends, and now, I had a delicate pregnancy to think of. But I just couldn’t quite. These two patients were making big changes, I was changing their life, and their families were grateful, no matter the risk, I had to keep going. Slowly, more calls came in and I got those 6 patients I needed to say goodbye to the “dream job,” the nice and stable county job that I thought was perfect, with that fabulous retirement. I left the great pay, the benefits, the stability, to take the greatest leap of my life, with a baby on board. I would make it work, I had to. There have been many more risks along this 14 year journey of my little practice, a second mortgage out of our house, an emergency loan to make payroll with my car as collateral, borrowed from a 401k, borrowed from family members, leveraged the whole house as collateral, to name just a few. But the result is nothing short of amazing. Here we sit 14 years later, with 100 employees, serving over 1200 children per week, with the most stunning clinical building I’ve ever seen, that we own, sitting on a ranch that we also own, with over $6 million in revenue per year, countless awards, accolades, and achievements, but most importantly we made our community a little better, and we have the honor of making special lives better, by helping make miracles like walking, talking, living independently, smiling, laughing and living a life without limits that might come with living with a disability. My life is overflowing with purpose, and meaning, and so are the lives of ever single person who sets foot at Leaps & Bounds Pediatric Therapy, thanks to taking a risk- a giant leap- of my own.

Dr. Cassandra, 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 received my BA in Dance and my BS in Kinesiology from California State University Fullerton in 2001 and graduated from the #1 Doctor of Physical Therapy program in the nation at the University of Southern California in 2004. Physical Therapy was the perfect blend of my graduate career, a blending of the art and science of human movement. I wanted to work with dancers who had suffered injuries, but after spending a 2 week observation in pediatrics, I knew that is what I was born to do! I achieved my board certification in pediatric physical therapy (less than 800 people in the nation at the time) in 2007. I joined the faculty at USC in 2008 as a guest lecturer and lab assistant, and eventually a course director of the Lifespan Motor Control and Management of the Neurologic patient. I authored 3 chapters of a diagnostic text book, published editorial commentary on research articles in peer- reviewed journals, and contributed testing questions to national licensing examinations for physical therapy. I have served on the Medical Advisory committee for the United Cerebral Palsy foundation, on the governing board of Corona Regional Medical Center, and the American Hippotherapy Association Board. I founded Leaps & Bounds Pediatric Therapy Inc., one of the largest practices in the nation to offer the evidence based treatment hippotherapy. After it became clear that not all patients who needed my services at Leaps & Bounds could afford them, I founded a 501c3 non profit organization, Friends o9f Leaps & Bounds Pediatric Therapy, to help all children have access to this life changing therapy. I am viewed as an expert in the field of pediatric physical therapy, and hippotherapy, as well as an innovator, by solving a need in my community through the fundraising efforts of Friends of Leaps & Bounds. When most business owners might be forced to “walk away” from offering a service that is not sustainable, I chose to raise the money instead. I love my community, my geographical community, the community we’ve built at Leaps & Bounds, and the community of children and adults living with a disability. The innovation of a solo corporation working with a non profit to solve a community need is exactly what was needed for my special patients.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

My life is exactly the way it is supposed to be! Though I had grand dreams of being a professional dancer on Broadway, my life is overflowing with purpose and meaning. In the pursuit of helping others, I have filled myself with joy. It does not feel like “work,” I have achieved a work life integration that has brought success, peace and joy!

Can you talk to us about how your funded your firm or practice?

I started small. Embarassingly small! I got my hands on used equipment, used toys, and started my practice with a ball, a bench, and some bubbles. My space was modest, without fancy equipment, fixtures, or furniture. It was bare bones, but the service I provided was state of the art! And customers, and the community felt that. I grew slowly and intentionally, with the initial investment of $500 on a credit card. I only spent what came in. I did not take a pay check for the first several years. In my personal finances, we cut cable, did not have cell phones, drove old cars, never ate out, did not buy new clothes for years, and spent our weekends picking up and recycling cans to build our savings to pour into the business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.leapspediatric.org
• Instagram: @thepedsdpt and @leapspedstherapy
• Facebook: Leaps & Bounds Pediatric Therapy
• Linkedin: Cassandra Sanders-Holly
• Youtube: @leapsboundspediatrictherap74
• Yelp: Leaps & Bounds Pediatric Therapy

Image Credits
Corey Morgan Photography Carper Designs Photography