We were lucky to catch up with Dr.’s Colleen and Sean Rollo recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Dr.’s Colleen and Sean, 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.
Becoming entrepreneurs is the biggest risk we both have taken! Our entrepreneurship journey began somewhere around 2020 when we both have stable, good paying jobs. Dr. Colleen worked for a local hospital splitting time between outpatient and inpatient care and Dr. Sean was working on Camp Lejeune as the lead performance physical therapist for a U.S. special operations battalion. While we enjoyed these jobs, we weren’t feeling very satisfied and wanted something more. At that time, we had a combined 23 years of work experience as physical therapists and wanted to build something that was ours instead of just being another cog in the wheel.
We began thinking about the possibilities of opening our own physical therapy clinic, but we absolutely hated the current state of healthcare and how it is very much reactive to disease and injury instead of being proactive. In physical therapy, not only do insurance companies dictate which types of treatments they will pay for, they also dictate how many visits they will pay for, what the goals are for the patient, and they will stop paying once the insurance companies’ goals are met or will stop if it is taking too long to meet those goals. They do not take the patients’ goals into account let alone what the patients’ goals are.
Also in the current physical therapy healthcare model, it is very common to see a physical therapist treating anywhere from 2-4 patients concurrently for a 45 – 60-minute session. This means the patient is getting very limited 1-on-1 time with the physical therapist. They are spending most of their session working with an aide or intern, while working independently on exercises, or laying down with ice packs and heating pads. This type of care makes it very challenging for patients, especially athletes or highly active individuals, to get the appropriate individualized care they need to meet the goals that are important to them and to help get them back to doing the things they love without pain and fear of reinjury.
Thus, after long consideration, we decided that the current physical therapy model was not good enough and we would push for a paradigm shift to create a new model of care that we believe is the gold standard. In October 2021, we ultimately decided to open an out of network performance-based physical therapy clinic, Paradigm Performance Therapy in Wilmington NC, for all active and motivated individuals who want more from their healthcare providers. We use a personalized 1-on-1 treatment approach based on the motto that progress happens when you ACT:
A: Alleviate your pain
C: Classify and Correct the Root Cause
T: Train your body to build long term resiliency
This risk has turned out to be a great one. We have helped so many more people get out of pain and back to doing the things they love.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
At Paradigm Performance Therapy, we are in the business of empowering our community to live a life of freedom from pain. Together, we work to build our clients an individualized plan to alleviate their pain and achieve their goals, and we’re right there beside them in their health journey.
About Dr. Colleen:
Dr. Colleen Rollo is a highly respected and successful clinician with over 10 years of experience in treating post-surgical orthopedic pathologies, complex orthopedic conditions, neuromuscular conditions/disorders (strokes, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, Parkinson’s Disease), vestibular dysfunctions, and balance disorders. As a former multi-sport, tri-captain, high school athlete, Dr. Colleen was introduced to the field of physical therapy while nurturing a hip injury she sustained playing soccer. She attended American International College in Massachusetts where she earned both a Bachelor’s of Sciences in 2010 and her Doctorate of Physical Therapy in 2012. Dr. Colleen is passionate about providing exceptional, evidenced-based interventions for her patients in order to assist in long term, pain-free relief. She specializes in helping all active individuals, recreational athletes, weekend warriors, busy professionals, parents or grandparents get back to doing what they love pain-free. When not in the clinic, you may find her spending quality time with her husband Sean, loving on her two fur babies Tedy and Brody or enjoying time at the beach. Dr. Colleen is an exercise enthusiast, an avid reader, a world-class cupcake baker, and a wine enthusiast who earned the WSET Level 1 Award in Wines from Napa Valley Wine Academy in 2020.
Certifications:
Board Certified Geriatric Clinical Specialist,
American Board of Physical Therapy Specialities, 2019
Certified Rehab Exercise Specialist
Dry Needling
APTA Credentialed Clinical Instructor Level 1
Certified Rehab Exercise Specialist, 2015
About Dr. Sean:
Dr. Sean Rollo is a physical therapist with more than 14 years of experience in the sports, orthopedic and performance therapy field working with athletes at the professional, Olympic, and collegiate levels as well as military tactical athletes. Some of these athletes have been associated with U.S Special Operations Command, the Boston Celtics of the NBA, players from the NFL, NHL, WWE, US Ski & Snowboard, and NCAA. As a former NCAA Division 2 collegiate wrestler and multi-sport high school athlete, he understands first hand the mental and physical demands placed on athletes, and is extremely passionate about sports medicine. Dr. Sean attended American International College in Massachusetts where he earned both a Bachelor’s of Sciences in 2007 and a Master’s of Physical Therapy in 2008, then went on the earn his Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Shenandoah University in 2016. Since then, he has sought out and possesses training and certifications in multiple sports medicine related disciplines including his board certification as a sports clinical specialist (SCS), athletic training, spinal manipulation, and performance enhancement. Dr. Sean has completed a tactical performance mentorship with the world famous EXOS and recently completed his certification in sports and orthopedic manual therapy (CSOMT) with the esteemed Institute for Athlete Regeneration. Through a multi-disciplinary, eclectic, and holistic approach, Dr. Sean assists his patients in injury risk reduction, performance optimization, and post-injury rehabilitation. He specializes in helping athletes and active individuals of all levels to feel better, move better, and heal faster from injury so that they can return to doing what they love and perform at their highest potential. When not working in the clinic or gym, you’ll find Dr. Sean spending time with his wife Colleen, his dogs Tedy and Brody, chasing sunsets at the beach, exercising, or enjoying a movie at home with a fancy bottle of wine or local craft beer.
Certifications:
Board Certified Sports Clinical Specialist (SCS)
American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties, 2020
Registered International Sports Physical Therapist
International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy
Certified Sports & Orthopedic Manual Therapist (CSOMT)
Institute for Athlete Regeneration, 2021
Diploma in Osteopathic Spinal Manipulation
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS)
Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES)
Performance Enhancement Specialist (PES)
Certified in Functional Movement Screening (FMS)
Certified Kinesiotaping Practitioner (CKTP)
Dry Needling
M1-Basic Training in Graston Technique
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
We have challenged ourselves in many ways but one of the most important lessons that we have learned is the importance of investing in ourselves. In such a fast-paced society, it is easy to let the simple things fall through the cracks; taking care of ourselves in respect to our physical fitness, managing emotional stressors, trying to get enough sleep, following through with good nutritional habits, and staying hydrated. Being athletes ourselves, we believe in some form of movement daily, but the fast pace of our lives as entrepreneurs in a community where we are starting from the very beginning in building a reputation and a network has reinforced these habits so we can not only set a good example for our patients/clients but continue to live our lives to the fullest without restraint. In the first year of business, we gained a ton of insight from our business coaching mentorship but also through reading a variety of books. Our first book recommendation would be ‘Obstacle is the Way’ by Ryan Holiday – this is a fantastic book that provides a modern take on ancient philosophy to help the reader endure a positive mindset and perspective during the struggles of life by using discipline, resiliency, and grace. Our second book recommendation would be ‘The Four Agreements’ by Don Miguel Ruiz – this book resonated with our journey early on because the four agreements are so simple to follow in your own personal life but also can be applied in business; to always be impeccable with our word, don’t take anything personally, don’t make assumptions, and always do your best. Now these are very simplistic ideas but they provided a framework for us in setting expectations as we navigated this journey of promoting a paradigm shift in how our community views their health and well-being.
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
To truly succeed as a great healthcare provider and physical therapist, we believe it is extremely important to be passionate, committed, and adaptable. Passionate and caring people want to do everything they can to help others. Passion is an internal motivator, a following of one’s values, a regard of one’s intrinsic, unique desires. Commitment is the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause or activity. It is passion for our field and our commitment to others that keeps us up late learning the newest research and information in our field to be able to continue providing the best care for our patients. A great physical therapist will be committed to pushing our profession to be better, to raising the bar for what is considered the gold standard of care for their patients. Being adaptable is an ability or willingness to change to suit different conditions. Pain and injury are complex and multifactorial, rarely straight forward. Physical therapists must learn to be adaptable to how the patient might present themselves each day. Like pain, human emotion is very complex. When a person is injured, the individual will go through a lot of different emotions such as anger, sadness, and frustration when unable to perform the activities that they love. Therapists must show compassion while being adaptable to the patient’s needs and try to be a guide in their injury and rehabilitation journey. Part of our paradigm shift includes our core values that consist of commitment to all of our patients, providing care with passion, integrity but most importantly, fun!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.paradigmperformancetherapy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paradigmperformancetherapy/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@paradigmperformancetherapy7812/videos