Originally a Sergeant in the Canadian Army Reserves, at 21 I was teaching at the Canadian Military’s Leadership School.

Within a year of graduating from physio school, I built one of the largest clinics for a big physiotherapy company while seeing clients full-time. I worked 44 hours a week while the contractors building the location lived with me, so we could touch base regularly. Those days were a whirlwind. I made a point of saying yes to every opportunity and I kept focused. 

All this led to leading a group of 10 clinics, coordinating proposals in the millions of dollars, and heading up project to open a group of 6 clinics simultaneously in one geographical location. 

My direct reports based my performance and the performance of my clinics on profit and loss statements that were at least 3 months old. It was a gong show. It wasn’t until I met my wife that I realized work was my life. I made up excuses saying I was trying to learn to work in a white collar world, when all I knew was a blue collar world. 

I realized I had to change direction. I quit my 6 figure job and the Audi that came with it. I went to work in a clinic that aligned with my values and wanted help to expand. What I learned is that a clinic that aligned with my values came with a $30,000 pay cut and the clinic didn’t make money. The fears that others had instilled in me had come true. You had to run a clinic where the model was seeing 5-6 clients per hour with a physiotherapy assistant to get ahead. I’d been taught there was no other way. 

The plan to expand fell through and I moved on to work for my old company. They’d brought on someone that understood leadership, management, and decision making. I met with him and our values aligned. I would be leading a large project doing something no other company had ever done – open 6 clinics simultaneously in one geographical area. Unfortunately, the company ran into financial challenges as well as infighting and the project was scrapped. 

I traded a long commute for working closer to home with a company who promised they were different. It ended up being more of the same: seeing 5-6 clients per hour with an assistant, performance being based on profit & loss statements, not actionable information. I was at my breaking point. If this was physiotherapy, I was going to leave. 

I reflected for a long time and came to the conclusion that I loved physiotherapy. I loved what it was and how it could help people. My only option was to open my own clinic. I had seen every facet of clinic ownership.

My goal was to figure out how I could own a clinic that aligned with my values, enjoy helping others, and share that experience with other physiotherapists. I worked 40 hours per week at a clinic while I spent 40 hours per week planning. I calculated everything out to see if I could make it happen. Could I provide physiotherapy that aligned with my morals and values at the same time as support my family? 

From this work, ClinicDash was born. It provided me the freedom to see my clinic’s performance and make very specific decisions about marketing, coaching, and service.