We recently connected with Taylor Bushnell and have shared our conversation below.
Taylor , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.
I have been practicing in physical therapy since 2010 and worked in hospitals and clinics from Boston Ma all the way to Eugene Or. I spent years learning specialized manual therapy skills and working with patients of all walks of life and age. My favorite skill and tool I learned over the years is dry needling. Dry Needling involves using a small monofilament needle and inserting it into muscles and fascia to treat pain. It became a big part of my treatment paradigm and I spent time working with patients managing chronic pain to world class Nike track and field athletes in preparation for the Rio Olympics.
In late 2017 I moved across the country from Eugene, Oregon to St Louis, Missouri to relocate closer to my wife’s family. This required me to reestablish myself in the field of physical therapy and I started thinking about how much I would like to teach dry needling to other physical therapists and chiropractors. In my years of practice I saw how powerful of a tool needling was and I wanted it to become the standard of care in rehabilitation and pain management. For another year my idea stayed in a state of contemplation through all of 2018.
Then in February of 2019 due to a traumatic ski accident I fractured my left femur and had to have a titanium rod and screws put in my leg. I was bed ridden with little to do. This was the moment that I took the steps to build start building my dream. I figured out how to setup my LLC and started writing two manuals at the same time. I designed my first round of courses to be two levels. So in a matter of weeks I had two manuals an LLC, and a website up and running. I named my company Dry Needling Pro, LLC.
As I returned to work at my company I presented my courses as an option to further our company and they were very supportive of me teaching across the state of Missouri to our clinicians. This allowed me to ease into my growth without having to do a deep dive into marketing from day one. Our courses spend more time teaching and supervising, and focus on better teacher to student ratios than other companies out there.
Overtime Dry Needling Pro, LLC has expanded and I now have brought on business partner and we have now utilized 7 assistant instructors. We offer 4 dry needling classes at this time and continue to develop more programs moving forward. In 2023 we are currently teaching in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Alaska and look forward to expanding to other states.
My biggest piece of advice from my experience is don’t’ be afraid to utilize setbacks in your life. The points in life that allow you have more self reflection will teach you more about yourself and what you want in life. Also don’t be afraid to fail, failure is good teacher, then look back and see what you can improve on.
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?
Dry Needling Pro, LLC is continuing education company that teaches weekend seminars on dry needling education courses to physical therapist, chiropractors, acupuncturist, and athletic trainers. We currently offer a level 1, 2, and 3 for certification and 1 day pelvic floor dry needling class for pelvic floor trained clinicians. Clinicians can take our courses and start integrating these safe effective techniques the next day in the clinic. We also offer online video tutorials in dry needling that can be purchased on our website.
We also have been expanding our relationships with physical therapy and chiropractic schools and introducing students to dry needling before they graduate.
So if your interested in either yourself or your company learning dry needling, or would like more information please reach out and contact us at dryneedlingpro.com
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
I met Laeth Hamil, PT, DPT, DNPro by teaching him in one of my first courses. He was another clinician out in Kansas City who had previously trained and taking needling classes from another company. Over the course of the next year we chatted more about collaborating and then I had him start teaching for me.
Laeth had such good energy and connections and drive to grow the business that we decided for him to buy in and restructure the company. He has been developing a video manual series and training program to expand our instructors.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Our company has been a grassroots marketing effort directly to clinicians. We have trained clinicians they have spread the word. We are starting to add in other online marketing strategies, but will maintain our grassroots approach.
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