Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Wakamoto.
Hi Karen, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’m a physical therapist and business owner, but this was never my game plan. I never aspired to start a business so what a journey it’s been! Being a business owner certainly has its challenges, but I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be able to run the practice in a way that truly reflects my values and allows me to bring all of who I am to the work I do.
I got married and graduated from physical therapy school at USC in 1991. When I started having babies, I really wanted to be able to stay home and raise the kids myself and my husband was really supportive of that plan. So I put my career on the back burner for 12 years, working one Saturday a month to keep some semblance of my skill set alive. Once the youngest of our three started 2nd grade, I started back to work doing home health, then I took a part time job working for a rehab-based chiropractor. Ultimately, the chiropractor gave me the opportunity to start my own corporation, sharing his space, equipment and staff. Over the next 2-3 years, my clientele grew and I hired another PT, and then another. When the chiropractor retired, I was given the opportunity to take over the entire office space. I rebranded the practice and remodeled the office. Now MoveWell Physical Therapy has 6 physical therapists, 4 administrative staff and we have built a solid reputation in OC as movement specialists, helping people get back to the activities they need, want and love to do.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The greatest challenge has been finding a way to provide the best quality care while navigating the steady decline in health insurance reimbursements. At MoveWell PT, patients receive one-on-one treatment sessions with the same physical therapist for the entirety of each session, 45-60 minutes. We’ve gotten creative in developing a hybrid model offering both private pay and insurance based care but ultimately, we’ve figured out that if you do good work, people will come and they’ll tell everyone they know to come too. As folks find value in the time spent at MoveWell, their attendance is steady, their outcomes are great, they refer friends and family and return when they suffer a new injury or episode, keeping our schedule full and marketing expenses negligible.
Another challenge is that being healthcare providers who earnestly care is hard work. Burnout is common for those who carry the pain of others, so we have been intentional to keep a manageable pace and have invested in things that build community amongst our team so we can keep each other moving forward.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
In 2018, we rebranded the practice as MoveWell Physical Therapy in order to reflect our passion for movement science. I teach my patients that “How you move matters”. While movement is essential, improving the quality of movement can optimize efficiency/performance, decrease pain or prevent injury. Clinically, I have been greatly influenced by Dr. Clare Frank. She is a renowned physical therapist specializing in movement science and is an International DNS Instructor and a Certified Vojta Therapist. Each of my clinical staff has also taken courses offered through her organization, Movement Links, which has given the team a common lens which sets us apart from other clinics and really drives us to keep learning.
What were you like growing up?
I come from a family of health care professionals who are also business owners. My dad and brother owned a pharmacy, my sister worked there too. My other brother and brother-in-law own their own PT clinics. (Shout out to State of the Art PT in Tustin Ranch, CA and MotionStability Physical Therapy in Atanta, GA!) Taking good care of people is what we do. Although I’m a novice as a business owner, I do see how many of the intangible successes of MoveWell PT come from skills learned far beyond what I learned in PT school. The skills forged through all the seasons of my life, whether as a youth leader, a Girl Scout Leader, a Room Mom, a Team Mom, or a Sunday School Teacher have helped equip me to run the practice and do what business owners do: make wise decisions quickly, perpetually juggle, anticipate needs, instantly read the room, help others feel welcomed, get people motivated, think outside the box and to build community. What a crazy ride. If given the chance, I’d do it all over again!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://movewellcypress.com
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/movewell-physical-therapy-cypress?osq=MoveWell+Physical+Therapy
