It’s that time again, one of my favorite posts of the month! Sharing today about Katie White from Charlotte One on One Physical Therapy and how she does this mompreneur life! Want your business to be featured in our Mompreneur blog series? Contact us for find out more details.
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family:
My name is Katie White and I am the owner of Charlotte One on One Physical Therapy. I graduated from Northeastern University and I have practiced Physical Therapy for almost 11 years. I am a wife and mother to two beautiful girls, Brielle (4), and Chloe (2).
2. What prompted you to start a business?
Opening my own clinic has always been a dream. I was working as a clinical manager for a large orthopedic company and found myself pulled in many directions and found my attention was unevenly divided amongst my staff, my duties as manager, and my patients. I noticed I was unable to provide the care to my patients that I wanted to give them due to time constraints and lack of ability to spend one on one time with each patient. Little by little, my planning details started to fall in to place and I opened my practice in November 2017.
3. How did you decide on the name/brand of your business?
I wanted the name of my business to reflect my intentions for the clinic and the care each patient would receive. ‘One on One’ means I truly intend to have myself and my clinicians spend one on one time with each patient. No double booking, no changing providers, no flip flopping back and forth between patients. Just one on one attention between patient and therapist for the entirety of their photography session, There’s no better way to capture your memorable moments with a professional photographer.
4. Tell us more about your product/business and your role:
We provide highly skilled and individualized outpatient orthopedic physical therapy. We treat any and every injury related to orthopedics or sports medicine. We see patients with low back pain, neck pain, ankle sprains, post-operative recovery, pre-operative care, TMJ dysfunction, vestibular problems, and everything in between. We like to make sure we are providing manual treatment by using our hands, dry needling, or an instrument; and then follow that up with corrective stretches or strengthening exercises the patient can easily replicate at home. As the owner, I am currently treating patients with a full-time schedule and I manage the operations and flow of the clinic.
5. Do you have a storefront or do you work from home?
We have a small private practice location located directly across the street from the Park Road Shopping Center.
6. What does a normal “work” day look like for you?
Exercise is a big priority, (and stress reliever!), in my life, so I love to start my work day by exercising at Burn Boot Camp from 5AM-6AM, and then I start treating patients at 7:30AM. If I’m lucky, I’ll at least get to say good morning and start getting my girls ready before I leave for work. My husband drops them off at school, and I get to pick them up everyday.
7. How do you handle work + kids? (what is your schedule? do you have childcare?)
Planning and staying as organized as possible is key. Meal prep and planning for the week helps with dinnertime, and my husband and I work together to make sure the girls attend their activities throughout the week.
8. How do you balance all of the roles that you have?
I think it’s impossible to balance everything, and I have to submit myself to that. There are a lot of days where I feel like there’s just no way to possibly get everything done, and there are fewer days where I’d give myself an ‘A’ in everything. I do my best for my family and my company, and there’s always tomorrow to figure out the details. I have to remind myself that life is a marathon, not a sprint.
9. What is the best aspect of having your own business?
Being able to treat patients how the profession truly intended to and seeing my dreams come to fruition. I have been able to connect with and understand my patients more, and that is extremely rewarding. I have re-found my passion for physical therapy, and I am so thankful for that.
10. What is the hardest part about owning your own business?
Time! I always wish there were more time to see patients, more time to run the business, or more time to market within the community. Since opening the business, and even before that, I’ve had my fair share of ‘learning experiences’. It’s definitely a learning and growing process.
11. What are some long-term or future goals you have for your business?
I’d like to continue to grow a practice where we focus on the patients first and serve the needs of our community by providing specialized physical therapy care.
12. What do you do when you’re not being supermom?
Supermom might be a stretch! Since I do work full time, I like to spend as much time with my family as possible in the evenings or on the weekends. I have awesome friends and we enjoy working out together, going on runs, or grabbing coffee or a glass of wine!
13. What famous person would you love to have dinner with, and why?
Sheryl Sandberg. She is very influential and empowering for women in the workplace. She is an inspiration to professional working mothers and I would love to pick her brain.
14. What are the best resources that you’ve found as a small business owner and mom? (podcasts, online or local resources, people, great vendors, etc)
During my planning phase for the clinic, I was constantly listening to podcasts from other physical therapy entrepreneurs. Listening to their process and advice was extremely inspiring and insightful. As a mom, I lean on my family and friends. Being surrounded and supported by other strong women and moms is comforting and makes me want to be a better mom.
15. What is one piece of advice that you can give to a mom starting a business?
Just do it, don’t wait. There will never be a ‘right time’, so do your homework, plan accordingly, and go for it. I hope I can be an inspiration to my girls as they pursue their dreams for whatever the future may hold for them.
Find out more about Katie and her business here:
