We recently connected with Erin Gallardo and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Erin, thanks for joining us today. How’s you first get into your field – what was your first job in this field?

My work has evolved since I first started my career path. I’m still a neurologic physical therapist, but I no longer work in a clinic. My work now is to help other neuro PTs, OTs, assistants and fitness professionals with mentorship, continuing education and coaching through my company NeuroCollaborative. I never saw my career going this way because what I’m doing now didn’t exist when I first gradated school. My first job set up everything for me, and I landed it in an unexpected way. After graduating physical therapy school in 2007 I wanted more mentorship to help the people I’d be working with. I didn’t feel like I knew enough as a new grad to be great, so I applied for a residency program, which is an intensive extra year of study in a specific field (neurology for me). I took a leap of faith and planned my next step around making it into that program. I moved from Ohio to Los Angeles without knowing what I’d do next. The problem was, I didn’t get accepted for the residency program, but, as luck would have it, the hospital providing the residency training asked me instead if I wanted to interview for a job. I was thrilled because it never occurred to me that could be an option. Rancho Los Amigos is a well known neuro rehab hospital in my field, and I didn’t think I’d be able to just apply to work there or they’d even want me since I hadn’t been a student there. I came back a second time to interview for the job, and luckily I got hired! Working there absolutely changed the trajectory of my career and personal life. I learned from the best mentors in the country. I met some of my best friends. I met my husband. I created an invaluable professional network and continue to have a close relationship with many who work or worked there. A supportive network is one of the best things a person can have in any career.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Erin Gallardo and I am a neurologic physical therapist living in southern California. Most people don’t know that physical therapists can specialize in different areas, but, much like physicians, we can. I grew up in a small town in Ohio and was always involved in sports. I enjoy movement and solving problems. To give you a background of how I became an entrepreneur, I went to college at Ohio University knowing I wanted to go into physical therapy, but it wasn’t until I got into PT school that fell in love with neuro. I enjoyed the complexity and how different each person could be even with the same diagnosis. I was intrigued by the need for creativity and resourcefulness in neuro PT and felt fulfilled by how positively you could impact someone’s life. Early on I loved working in the inpatient rehab setting, but over time I craved more. I wanted to be creative and have more freedom. In 2012 I left the hospital to pursue building a practice with another neuro PT and found the process of building something that would truly transform people’s lives fulfilling and fun. One of my favorite aspects of owning a clinic was meeting with other neuro practice owners so we could help each other grow. I began itching for a group that brought neuro therapists together to learn from experts in the field, build sustainable businesses, and create programs all over the country. So, four of us started to create that vision. The idea of growing it was very enticing to me because I felt like it fit my strengths better than managing a clinic. I decided to go for it. I sold my partnership shares in the clinic, slowly decreased hours, and built a new dream. My neuro PT friend, Claire McLean, and I officially incorporated NeuroCollaborative together in November 2018 and launched our first program to help neuro providers start a business or grow their career. Our vision is to transform healthcare by empowering the clinicians who deliver it. We bring new, evidence-based treatment ideas, provide mentorship, and – for the ones who want to – help them build sustainable neuro businesses that work for their lives. Our values are connection, collaboration, growth and inclusion and we intertwine these values in an innovative and fun way. Healthcare is in a crisis, and we want to make things better both for the people who access it and for those who provide it. If we support our colleagues, everybody wins. Our strategy is to find a win-win-win solution every time.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

One of the most helpful things for succeeding in my field is to be a life-long learner. As a neuro physical therapist, it’s important to stay up to date with the research so you can provide the most effective treatments to your clients. New research is being published all of the time, and you can learn creative ideas from experts in the field who follow the research. Finding a learning community is a great way to get ideas to try immediately. Now that I’m not practicing PT as much the trait of being a life-long learner is still critical because running a business requires a ton of learning. You need to read a lot of books, join communities, invest in coaches and coaching programs, etc. Things change rapidly in the online space, but also as your business grows you need to learn more so you can continue to optimize it at each new level. Beyond tactical information, business requires you to be a different version of yourself. All of your insecurities, limiting beliefs, and subconscious issues rise to the surface when you start putting yourself out there. It’s absolutely a crash course in personal development, so it’s important to embrace it and use it as an opportunity to grow. Finding coaches, coaching communities, therapists, or whatever works for you to move through your stuff will absolutely pay off. The sooner you work through your issues, the more successful you’ll be – inside and out.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Managing a team is challenging for a lot of people, but I love it! Something that has helped me is to know yourself. Have a good understanding of your management style, how you like to work, and what your business needs. When you understand this, you will attract and hire the right people. For example, I prefer working with people who have some level of experience. I want someone who can teach me something so there’s a two-way learning street. I don’t hire people who are brand new. Some people enjoy molding a new person, but that’s not me so I know that about myself already. Certain roles require me to hire someone who’s strengths are the opposite of mine and certain roles require me to find someone with the same strengths so they can take on things that I don’t have space for anymore. When hiring I look for the type of person I want, not just the skills needed for the role. For example, a different type of person will excel at customer support than the person who will excel at number crunching, automations and data analysis. In the application period, whatever I can find out about them is helpful to me – personality testing like 16personalities, DISC, human design profile, astrology, Gallup Strengths, enneagram, etc. I love understanding people because I want to find the person who’s really suited for the type of work they’ll be doing and understand how our dynamic will work. I’m very discerning about who I hire because good company culture is critical. I want them working in their strengths and zone of genius as much as possible. If there’s work that drains them that I can take off their plate, automate or eliminate, I try to do it. I aim to find out what they’re are motivated by and use that to structure the position. The other important thing is to let people own their work without overriding their decisions. Nothing is worse than a micromanager and I’m sure we’ve all had them. Lucky for me I love delegating and I also have good self awareness about my weaknesses, so that is helpful to develop if you haven’t yet. When you respect your team’s work they’re not afraid to give you honest feedback and input. I really don’t want someone on my team to just “yes ma’am” me. I need to hear if they think the idea will work or not AND also offer a solution. Decisions of the business are always a team effort. I might come to the team with the idea, but I rely on them to hash it out with me so we make sure it works within the overall goal and ensure we all have the bandwidth to execute it. When you have the right people on your team, develop a strong culture, have them working in their strengths, respect each other’s abilities and decisions, it is a blast working together! And that’s when magic happens!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.neurocollaborative.com
• Instagram: @neurocollaborative
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NeuroCollaborative
• Other: NeuroCollaborative Professionals Facebook group for neuro PTs, OTs, assistants, and fitness professionals: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1049612841832499 I Love Neuro Podcast – available on all platforms

Image Credits
Brittney Jean Photography (not all photos are from her, fyi)