Hidden Gems: Meet Elisabeth Schramm of Branches and Balance

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elisabeth Schramm.

Hi Elisabeth, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am a pediatric physical therapist. I’ve been working in the field with children birth through about age 7 since 2014. While I enjoy my job and working with children with physical or developmental challenges, I feel like physical therapy is underutilized in a pediatric population. For adults, they go to personal trainers, fitness programs, and to physical therapy. However, the education and fitness side in children is, for the most part, ignored. It has always made me sad how much education is lacking in the children and their families. A lot of my job is educating the parents. I launched Branches and Balance in September with the goal of improving this.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As I am just getting started, it has definitely been a struggle. I had to learn about social media, marketing, website design, business models, and more. As a one woman show, I am doing everything myself, with the support of my husband and the free resources from the Small Business Development Center. It has been a stressful year for me and for my family. I have 3 daughters, and continue to work part time while I am building my business. This has contributed to time constraints, and lots of late nights so that I can get things done while still spending time with my daughters and husband.
Now that I am open, the biggest challenge has still not been conquered, so to speak. That hurdle is actually getting people to come. I had one patient come a couple of times, but they felt the distance was too far away. I also need to get doctors to recommend my services to their patients, which hasn’t happened yet. I don’t have the reputation that the long established local physical therapy clinics have since I am a new business. I am hopeful that this will change with continued networking, and eventually through word of mouth.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Branches and Balance?
Obviously, as a new business, I am not known for anything yet. What I hope will set me apart from other physical therapy clinics is my treatment model. Current treatment practices call for physical therapy on a weekly or every other week basis. However, much of what we do could also be achieved through fitness classes with a monthly or even quarterly check in with the physical therapist. This reduces the cost of treatment and allows me as a physical therapist to treat more patients, allowing for shorter wait times and more patients to be helped more quickly. I am trying to incorporate this into my treatment model by offering a variety of fitness classes in addition to treatment. The idea is that the patient would be evaluated and then be placed into one of my classes, with periodic check ins as necessary to assess progress. The classes also are more fun for children as they can be around their peers, and interact with other children their own age.
My hope is to have children attend my classes that don’t need treatment as well. My fitness classes are meant to be educational for parents and children, as well as fun, all while boosting fitness. I am placing a huge focus on the fitness and educational side of things. I have a blog on my website that I intend to use as a resource for parents and for education. I hope to eventually build online classes as well, to reach people in more rural or underserved areas. I want to reach across California and have my blog and classes provide education and resources for all families. I hope that those who are too far away to be willing to come in will use the information I provide on my blog as well. I want people to understand what physical therapy can actually do, and how important it is in children as well.
I also hope to implement programs in local schools to increase fitness and education as well. I recently submitted a proposal to a local school district for fitness classes for TK and Kindergarten students. I hope to expand to more schools and grades from here.
I will be launching my YouTube channel this year. I plan to start with reviews/walkthroughs of local parks. Then I intend to add more content related to development, tips for parents, details on various diagnoses, and ideas for fun ways to exercise for children.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My advisors at the Small Business Development Center locally have been a huge help. I have met with website design, accounting, social media, and business advisors. They all provide their time pro bono, which has been great as a startup with no financial income yet. I am still meeting with them regularly as I continue to work on attracting clients and establishing my social media presence. My business advisor, Paul, has been extremely supportive as he walks me through each step. It has also helped keep me accountable by providing me homework and deadlines so that things get completed in a timely manner.
My husband, TJ, has also been a huge support. Over the years before I even began this, he was supportive of my job, and being a part time employee and full time mom. It has been exactly a year since I first began the process of starting this business. Throughout that time he has listened to me complain and been an ear to bounce ideas off of. His support and knowing that he wants me to succeed has been extremely helpful in my motivation.
My sister, Sarah, has been helpful as well. I recently designed a program that I hope to submit to schools. As an elementary school teacher, her viewpoint was valuable. She also provided me with resources to make my proposal look more professional in presenting to the local school board. I am happy to say that the local district accepted my proposal. This is a huge step in the viability of my business and will be my first paying contract.

Pricing:

• Fitness Classes are $40/session
• Monthly Fitness Class Membership is $130, with 5th week free when there are 5 weeks
• Exercise Program Design is $120
• Initial quick consultations are free

Contact Info:

• Website: https://branchesandbalance.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/branchesandbalancept/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@branchesbalancept