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

Jackie , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Have you ever experienced a times when your entire field felt like it was taking a U-Turn?

In the medical industry, there is starting to be a shift of mindset for the clinicians when talking and working with patients. It’s much like turning a barge, very slow, but we are starting to see some great glimmers of hope, particularly in Physical Therapy. In the past, it was common for medical professionals to tell patients to stop doing activities (usually one they really loved) due to injuries or pain. As you can imagine, this has a profound impact on happiness and quality of life. It can also scare the hell out of people, where they think the thing they loved (golf for example) was *bad* for them. Now, we know that we can help people get out of pain and do almost anything they want! We, as an industry, are working towards shifting the narrative to encourage folks to keep moving and do what they love!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

If you asked me in high school what I wanted to “be” I would have already been saying “physical therapist” but I had no idea what that actually looked like. Being a collegiate athlete, I fell in love with the strength and conditioning side of sports and thought about changing my plan and focusing on being a college strength coach. But as I immersed myself more into the rehab and training world, I realized there was space to do both. I coached CrossFit throughout PT school, then landed my dream job after PT school in a private clinic where we helped active adults stay active. This looked like some “acute rehab” but also plenty of movement coaching, strength & conditioning, and wellness.

Having suffered an injury in my senior year, I identified with folks who felt like they lost their identity when not being able to participate in their sport/activity. I also experienced the frustration of healthcare professionals not listening to me, acknowledging my own goals, and seeing me as a person versus a diagnosis. When I decided to branch out on my own nearly 4 years ago, I wanted to help barbell, endurance, and sport athletes keep training and feeling good. We focus on what THEY want the goal to be, and we aim to keep them moving and fulfilled throughout the process.

Any advice for managing a team?

One of the biggest lessons I have learned while managing a team is that simply asking colleagues what they want/need is such an efficient way to get things done! It’s easy to assume what they want or need, or treat them as you would want to be treated. But with the help of some business coaches and collaborating on learning styles, feedback styles, etc, we were able to establish a procedure for how each employee would be best addressed for different needs. Long story short, we are all different in how we perceive the interact in the world. So simply asking someone for their preferences can make a huge impact!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

At Spectrum Performance, we value: authenticity, empowerment, humor, curiosity & wellbeing. We show up as ourselves, humans who also deal with life stressors and body aches, with a little bit of wit, and an open mind. My hope is that when people work with us, they feel that we were 100% focused on their needs and goals, and that we asked questions that perhaps no one else has asked them. We are able to uniquely support people in a healing space but also as they feel better and transition into wellness care and training. The experience here and support they receive is undoubtedly a large factor in our reputation in the area and in the market.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.spectrumperformance.fit/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spectrum.performance/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spectrumperformance
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-varnum/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/spectrumperformance

Image Credits
Tin Can Photography