We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rhonda Chamberlain. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rhonda below.

Rhonda, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

After having 2 kids, I dealt with prolapse symptoms that made it scary and challenging to get back into exercise again. Even as a physiotherapist, I had NO CLUE how to rehab my pelvic floor (we weren’t taught this information in school).

I went down a podcast and social media rabbit hole learning anything and everything I could about the pelvic floor and how to rehab my body postpartum.

I became a Certified Pregnancy and Postpartum Athleticism Coach on my mat leave, and knew I had found my calling.

During that course I had a vision of creating an online physiotherapy + postpartum fitness coaching business that moms could access from the comfort of their own homes (without needing to find childcare). I knew if I was feeling lost and confused about postpartum rehab as a physiotherapist, there would surely be other moms feeling the same.

I knew this was a unique niche in my area. There are a ton of wonderful pelvic floor physiotherapists in my town, but no one specialized in return to exercise that I was aware of. And not many practitioners offered virtual care.

I started my business in May of 2020. Before the pandemic, not many insurance companies reimbursed for virtual care, but post-pandemic all of them did. So this made my service even more accessible for busy moms.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a mom to 2 girls, physiotherapist and lover of all things fitness and wellness.

I have been practicing as a physiotherapist since 2010. From 2012-2022 I worked as a physiotherapist in a CrossFit gym, so I have always been passionate about helping clients manage their pain and build strength.

My love of exercise began at 3 when I started competitive gymnastics, a sport that I competed in for over 12 years. I now find my passion in strength training, and in inspiring women to realize how strong they really are!

After having a more challenging recovery with my second daughter, I found a passion for all things pregnancy and postpartum.

I attained my Pregnancy and Postpartum Athleticism (P&PA) Coach Certificate in March 2020. And I’ve continued to learn and expand into this specialty since.

I offer virtual 1:1 physiotherapy for clients to help them minimize postpartum symptoms such as leaking, prolapse, diastasis, low back pain, hip pain, neck/shoulder pain and more! I also help them slowly ease back into exercise and strength training to prepare them for the demands of mom life.

I also have a signature program called the Strong at Home Membership. This is a monthly virtual fitness membership that is designed to ease clients back into exercise and strength training with a postpartum specific plan.

I am also starting to work with other fitness and healthcare pros by offering mentorship and PDF design. I want to help other business owners create their best lives too!

One thing that sets me apart from other fitness businesses is that I choose not to focus on weight loss. With a disordered eating past myself, this has been a value in my business from day one. I love to help clients understand that there are so many benefits to exercise and strength training outside of weight loss and body changes. I also love helping clients ditch the all-or-nothing mindset with exercise and realize it IS possible to fit it into their busy lives.

I’m proud of myself for turning my 3 passions – physiotherapy, exercise and pelvic health – into a unique, growing and thriving business. I am so thankful I am able to make my own hours, work with my ideal clients and still have time to take my kids to school every morning. It truly is a dream come true.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Building my Instagram audience has been one of the most enjoyable parts of my business. After the birth of my 2nd daughter, I dealt with prolapse symptoms and began learning about the pelvic floor on podcasts and social media. I was amazed how much information I attained on Instagram. It inspired me to pivot my account to focus on education, inspiration and motivation for busy moms.

When I started my online business in May 2020, I think I had around 500 followers (I had an existing account that posted basic postpartum workouts daily). Since that time, my account has grown to just over 4000 followers.

It’s been a slow and steady process but it really has helped my business grow.

I credit a ton of my learning on Instagram and online business to one of my mentors – Shanté Coffield (@themovementmaestro). They are a physical therapist turned business and Instagram coach for healthcare and movement professionals. I highly recommend checking them out if you’re trying to grow your social media following!

My biggest tips for growing your social media presence:

1. Focus on 1 platform – it can be overwhelming to learn IG, Facebook, TikTok, Threads etc. Buckle down and get really proficient with 1, and then down the road you can grow the others if you want.

2. BE YOU. There is a lot of noise on social media, and it can feel like everyone is doing the same thing as you. But what sets you apart from everyone else is they’re not YOU. You have your own approach, experience and way of explaining things. That is your secret sauce.

3. Just. Keep. Going. Pick a pace that feels good for you and stick with it. Focus on progress and not perfection. I post 4-5 days a week and take weekends off social media. I have been consistent with this for 3 years now (with the exception of a couple weeks here and there). I don’t stress about metrics like saves, shares, likes. I try to post and move on with my day, knowing that my body of work and audience is slowly growing.

4. Focus on what you enjoy creating. The pressure can be strong to keep up with the trends like Reels, dancing videos etc. Stick with what you enjoy and the right people will be attracted to your content.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

When I started my business in 2020, I was still working part-time as a physiotherapist at a CrossFit gym. I worked 3 days a week as an employee and 2 days a week on my business.

The 2 days I worked on my business I focused on building my social media presence, starting an email list, working with a handful of clients for free to start, reaching out to local businesses in pelvic health to let them know about me, and offering free talks/presentations to local gyms/ midwife offices.

As my client list began to grow and my business began making some money, I was able to cut back to 2x a week at my job. This happened around 9 months after I started my business.

During that time, my 1:1 client roster really began to grow (much of this through word of mouth and local referrals).

After 18-months of juggling both, I began to feel really burned out trying to manage it all. In January 2022, I decided to make the leap and commit to my business full-time.

I wasn’t exactly in the financial position to make this move (I was making equivalent to my part-time job, but I was hoping to be making more before quitting my job). However, my mental health was struggling. Thankfully my husband’s pay cheques were steady and we both felt comfortable accruing a bit of debt if needed to turn my business into a full-time gig.

It’s been a slow, steady build since then, and I am getting to the point where we’re starting to feel financially comfortable again. Owning a business is definitely not for the faint of heart, and I do sometimes miss the consistent pay cheques. However my mental health is immeasurably better and I’m so thankful I have created a career I am passionate about.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rhondachamberlainpt.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rhondachamberlainpt
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rhondachamberlainpt
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@rhondachamberlainpt

Image Credits
Lindsay Totzke