Documenting Your Day to Fill Your Practice with Dr. Odell Miller

[00:00:00] Welcome to The Aaron LeBauer Show. This is the number one show for passionate, physical therapy

[00:00:10] and healthcare entrepreneurs looking to level up their income and impact on the world.

[00:00:15] If that's you then you're in the right place so sit back, chill out and let's get into

[00:00:20] the show.

[00:00:21] Hey, what's up? Welcome back to The Aaron LeBauer Show. I'm your host, Aaron. Well, the

[00:00:31] funny thing is we've got a guest today. It's been a little while since I had a guest

[00:00:34] on and so our special guest today is Odell Miller. Odell is a physical therapist,

[00:00:39] New Grad. He owns a couple of businesses off the bench app where he's been training

[00:00:45] people through PT school and he's got a clinic now a cash clinic off the bench clinic

[00:00:49] in Kalamazoo Michigan. Odell, welcome to the show. I'm super stoked to have you.

[00:00:53] Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here. Yeah, man. So just to kind of get started

[00:00:59] I just want to get a little bit of background on who you are kind of set the stage for

[00:01:03] like how we got here. You graduated college. You didn't go right into PT school. Can

[00:01:11] you give us a little bit of like a compressed version of their journey between like college

[00:01:17] and how you decide to become a PT? Yes, sir. So like you said, my name is Odell Miller.

[00:01:22] I grew up in Michigan and I played sports my entire life. I never had like an injury or

[00:01:27] anything that really made me choose physical therapy but I've always been intrigued with

[00:01:31] the body muscles the way it moves. So I was like I can go be a personal trainer massage therapist

[00:01:37] but I was like I'm an extremist like even with football. I was like if I'm going to play

[00:01:41] football, I want to go to the NFL so I take that same passion as same like same viewpoint

[00:01:47] on physical therapy as well as far as I want to take it as far as I can to get my

[00:01:50] doctorate. So why not do that? So that's why honestly I got into physical therapy and

[00:01:54] then like I mentioned, I played a lot of sports growing up so I actually played football

[00:01:59] in Michigan and then after that I had a great opportunity to go trial for the Cleveland

[00:02:03] Browns and the Washington Redskins and that's where I was in between undergrad and grad

[00:02:09] school. So I was doing an NFL for that time and while I was doing that because NFL is not

[00:02:14] promised and I applied to physical therapy school and I got accepted so I knew exactly

[00:02:18] what I was going to go is the second that they released me. So then I ended up in physical

[00:02:22] therapy school and took the same exact passion for football and sports and put it into physical

[00:02:27] therapy and that's how I started. That's awesome. So how did physical therapy get in your

[00:02:34] mind? Did you just look up like what professions did, you know if you didn't see someone?

[00:02:38] Neither did I. You know like we put that idea in your head that would be the right career

[00:02:43] pattern. I'm actually not sure that's always a good question because I'm not sure so I think

[00:02:49] I got an undergrad degree in extra science. So a lot of people with extra science degree

[00:02:53] would try to go for physical therapy and I think we might have had a speaker come in

[00:02:56] or something like that maybe and then once to be honest once out they had that tag doctor

[00:03:01] on it, I was like oh I can come be a doctor or something I really enjoy and that I

[00:03:04] really agree with because I never wanted to be medical doctor. I was like I don't want

[00:03:09] to give medication. I don't want to do that just for the sake of being a doctor. I was

[00:03:12] like that aligns with what I want. Then I was that guy in the training room like to this day.

[00:03:18] My mom's side therapist I had one this morning. I'm always asking like hey like what were you

[00:03:22] doing with your hands? Like what are you doing back there? Like tell me more about it. So I was

[00:03:26] always intrigued with the body. I just I didn't want to know like I didn't want to just have

[00:03:29] services done to me. I wanted to know exactly what was going on so I can care that information

[00:03:32] with me for it and I was like I want to be able to provide that for people like myself

[00:03:36] and the future. So that's awesome. So you went from college to NFL, right? Like do you play

[00:03:44] do you play University of Michigan or Michigan State or somewhere else? I was a Michigan.

[00:03:48] Okay. I just want to know who to root for when it comes up on TV next time.

[00:03:52] Exactly right. Yeah. I played Michigan and Michigan State so okay very cool. So tell me like

[00:04:00] what was it in the NFL or training? Like are there a couple lessons that you learned

[00:04:05] through that whole process of becoming an elite athlete that helped you now in your businesses?

[00:04:10] Yes, of course. It's like it's so weird. So at first and I've just recently been able to like

[00:04:16] see this in it. I used to say like oh man I fell like I fell that making a long career in NFL

[00:04:21] but then I looked back and I was like actually succeeded. It actually taught me like that I can

[00:04:24] literally do with a throw up on my mind too because even growing up in high school everyone wants

[00:04:29] to be an NFL. What do you want to go to the NFL? I want to be a professional athlete. Everyone's telling

[00:04:33] me that and it was like so hard to do the 0.01 percent but then once I did that and it actually

[00:04:39] was in the NFL locker room with guys that used to watch on TV and now that I work with an

[00:04:43] NFL athletes, I'm like I truly can do whatever I put my mind to and having that mindset now

[00:04:48] I'm like there's nothing that's going to be as hard as me of what I did in my opinion going to the

[00:04:53] NFL. Like it was very hard so I was like I might just direct that same energy somewhere else

[00:04:58] I can do anything I put my mind to. So that really that's what it taught me honestly. The NFL taught

[00:05:02] me hard work discipline all the characteristics that you know from athletes and stuff like that

[00:05:07] passion determination zealous but at the end of the day I taught me that if I put my mind to it

[00:05:12] and I'm willing to do the work I can accomplish it. Yeah that's awesome. You know and now I've

[00:05:17] been noticing a pattern lately I mean I've noticed this a while bit like people that not just

[00:05:22] excelled in sports but spent years doing the same sport to reach the highest level they can

[00:05:27] you know are ones that are excelling in like business. That makes sense.

[00:05:31] Doesn't that make sense? Like it does. I mean you don't go play NFL overnight. You know that's true

[00:05:38] that's true. That's true. A while. That's true. A couple like just side questions who

[00:05:44] was the most like who'd you show up to in the locker room that you were like in awe of but

[00:05:49] just became who was the most humble person you know do you have that I mean I've had those

[00:05:54] like I would just want to know. Who was that person? Yeah I guess it was I wasn't so in awe but the

[00:06:00] first person I met in my first date with NFL is Baker Mayfield and he was like right there

[00:06:06] greeting us shaking hands talking to like as it was nothing and then another one was his name is

[00:06:11] David New Jumko. He's a tight end for Cleveland rounds and I was like used to watch him to like

[00:06:16] learn from him and then we're just like hanging out just sitting there in the training room

[00:06:20] and he's just talking on our phones and I'm just like obviously the first thing they tell us when

[00:06:24] we get there is like all right you guys are not in a fell there's no more like fans there's no more like

[00:06:30] like you're gonna start to see these guys walking around like like O.B. J was on the team when I was

[00:06:33] there so like you have to just act like it's normal and obviously my head is like this isn't normal

[00:06:38] but you become so acclimated to it and then you're like all right I need to act like this normal so

[00:06:41] you kind of calm down and then you started to tell yourself like dang I made it like I'm here I'm

[00:06:45] supposed to be here so it kind of switches your mindset around a little bit but that was definitely

[00:06:49] different but I also showed me like dang it's cool to see them in the light of like humbleness and

[00:06:54] like just talking to be a normal humans then what do you see on TV and what they talk about

[00:06:58] these professional athletes so yeah I had a couple and these are like I had this experience where

[00:07:04] like the guys racing bikes most guys around my ability or a little above were just assholes you know

[00:07:10] they didn't want to help they didn't want to do anything but these guys that were you know

[00:07:14] like I don't know a big jump above like Eddie Gregus was national champion in race in Europe and

[00:07:20] he was just like hey guys how's it going great to see you here you did a great race today just like

[00:07:26] hey let's Jonas Karney was the best sprinters you know and I think I finished like third or fourth

[00:07:31] one race off the front and it but I but he did someone else pipped me from the sprint and they were

[00:07:36] like oh man great race like that was awesome like but all these other guys were just like always

[00:07:42] like clawing at you and trying to keep you down and it was like yeah as at the top or like

[00:07:46] let me pull you up and just treat you like you know you go this is very different yes that is

[00:07:51] very factual yes I love that yeah so um let's see so NFL then PT like when you went to PT

[00:08:00] school um you went as an older student too like what was it about school that uh you thrived in

[00:08:08] where and where there's some things in school that kind of like hey they're holding you back or

[00:08:13] I should be different you know yeah so starting off with what what I thrived in what I thrived

[00:08:21] them was manual skills being able to communicate um in physical baby school like all the practicals

[00:08:26] and lab practicals people would absolutely freak out in those like right before and I'm like what

[00:08:32] why is everyone freaking out because of their pressure they're not used to having like a professor

[00:08:35] watching them like I said earlier in this podcast uh my experience with NFL there is nothing else

[00:08:40] that would scare me as much as an NFL coach second up millions from me or they're like way more

[00:08:47] ruthless than these professors would ever be or could be so like to them people will cry before

[00:08:51] they'll be like so nervous and shaken but to me I thrived in it I was like all played in front

[00:08:56] of a hundred thousand people before like this is nothing one professor looking at me like I'm in

[00:09:00] there just joking around like I normally wouldn't be in myself so I think I really thrive with that

[00:09:04] and I didn't realize that I had that special thing until I saw what other people it would really like

[00:09:08] keep them up all night and they were practiced so much and then even like in the practice of that

[00:09:12] they will keep practicing up into it all day every day but I understood how to prepare yourself

[00:09:17] for the game day for the practical you shouldn't just burn yourself into the ground 24-7 it's like

[00:09:22] there's a strategic way and I took that to PT school and it absolutely worked um but as far as like

[00:09:28] what I struggle with or I felt suppressed in the standardization like yeah I'm not a standardized

[00:09:34] don't try to standardize me even in a way that I learn the way that I speak the way that you speak

[00:09:38] to me because like even if football the coaches know their players they know who they can how they

[00:09:43] can speak to someone to get them going versus someone else like you know what I mean so you talk

[00:09:47] two different ways to get you motivated but when they standardize it won't work like that

[00:09:51] so I think of everything in terms of like a team so we have a team and you're just standardizing the

[00:09:55] way that you're teaching or standardizing the way that you're explaining something and you have no

[00:09:59] other way to do it to help me that's that's gonna struggle for me and then like I just felt like

[00:10:07] not a negative way I love the PT profession but going through PT school all saw was like how we

[00:10:12] were so boxed in but not even within the rules but within like ourselves like the professors

[00:10:18] the students when I talk to students some things I will talk to them about they're just like

[00:10:22] mind blown and I'm like is it not that black and white like why are we doing it this way

[00:10:26] and I was that guy in school always raised my hand saying like hey why are we doing it that way can

[00:10:29] you tell me why and then sometimes at no like judgment to them they wouldn't even know and I'm like

[00:10:36] so we're all just following like a blind system and not questioning why there's some

[00:10:39] us to do things or why this happens so I struggle with that aspect but I knew what I needed to do

[00:10:45] and I knew that I mean I was gonna do something different and everyone in school knew I didn't

[00:10:49] keep it silent but I wanted to help other people see that there are other ways as well so yeah

[00:10:54] that's awesome I had the same experience as this thing crazy the black seat that didn't make sense you

[00:11:00] know so you started a business in PT school right and you was this your so you started

[00:11:07] business doing like what training other like healthcare providers or other people doing weight

[00:11:11] loss I think can you tell us a little bit about that and was that your first business or is this

[00:11:15] you know okay so it's actually not so I used to know people like I'm like an entrepreneur

[00:11:20] turned doctor of physical therapy so obviously I was playing football for so long so it was my

[00:11:25] main focus but I was Uber in college so that's one thing I would Uber make money and then what I did

[00:11:31] was we went to like a bowl game one time and they had like these line bird scooters have you ever

[00:11:36] heard of those yeah yeah I forgot where we were but I saw those and I was like what are those

[00:11:40] so everyone else is like I wasn't fun we're like therefore a week like it's like a celebration

[00:11:44] game and I was literally just like going around the streets looking at the scooters like how does

[00:11:48] this thing work trying them out and then when we got back to that bowl game I literally looked

[00:11:53] up manufacturers got a manufacturer made long story short I made my own app and I created my own

[00:11:59] scooter business locally and I put them on campus for a couple weeks but compliance stuff they're

[00:12:05] like our roads aren't ready for this I met with like the president right before COVID I was meeting

[00:12:10] with the mayor of the city right before COVID as well oh I met with some like neighboring cities

[00:12:14] COVID hit then NFL PT school so then I redirected the scooter business a little bit to where it was

[00:12:20] like a leasing model so I just leave it on the street so I was actually in PT school my first year

[00:12:24] running the business from Chicago and this was a Michigan and I had my dad like delivering it

[00:12:30] it was it was tough so um I'll be in school I'll be in class and like people because I was

[00:12:36] customer support I was everything at the thing I had one assistant and he was like free he just

[00:12:39] wanted to be a part of it um so I was assistant everything and then I had to close it because

[00:12:43] it was too much like in school I was like like I need a call like what if I'm an exam and like

[00:12:47] someone calls and says my school just not working they're stuck in a store drive it it was just a lot

[00:12:51] so I stopped that one um then also I had a wedding entertainment business where we like do DJing

[00:12:57] of videography for weddings so I have a couple subcontractors and I DJ myself absolutely fun

[00:13:03] and I started that with uh football scholarship check I was like how can I make this

[00:13:08] two thousand dollars for the semester or a couple months until whatever and then

[00:13:13] yeah flipped over yeah so I did that and then how I got to the training at is so I started posting

[00:13:19] on social media and I was just like living their life just showing my workouts and people started

[00:13:23] asking like do you have any training programs that you can give me um so basically my audience

[00:13:28] decided what they wanted and it was also something I was very passionate about because obviously I was

[00:13:32] doing it and I was like oh there might be something here so after like the 15 person person I was like

[00:13:37] matter of fact I do have training programs that I have for sale so I collected a list um and I

[00:13:41] sold that list and I was like I'm gonna figure out what to do with this list so actually I sold

[00:13:45] people before I even had an app or anything and then I started looking around for something I can

[00:13:49] like do a platform on and then I made my own app and what they made a white label my own app

[00:13:55] and then I started that business like in the first year second year PT school knowing

[00:13:59] then I was like this can lead right into my physiotherapy business when I graduate

[00:14:04] and I'll have better have both yeah that's awesome that dude that's dope um just for context for

[00:14:10] everyone this thing like how much money were you making per month with that business while in PT school

[00:14:16] uh with the app I got up to 10k yeah actually hit 12k the last few months so yeah that's dope and

[00:14:22] you know so this is one of those things where you know like what what bothers me is when I hear

[00:14:28] people say new grad should start businesses they need to work for five years did anyone actually

[00:14:34] ever tell you that directly to your face um that shouldn't start no one's ever told me that shouldn't

[00:14:40] start but people were like you can tell that they'll say like oh what are you gonna do like how

[00:14:43] are you gonna get mentors you probably gonna I said I have I can get virtual mentors I can have trust

[00:14:48] me that's not like hard to do so people would say like you know like that um not negative but the

[00:14:52] uh I forgot the verbatulant it but like kind of like negative but not negative trying to like

[00:14:57] undermine you a little bit even with my app they were like my classmates would say like and they're

[00:15:02] in a loving way like what do you get too many clients what do I said I was joking around if I get too

[00:15:06] many clients I'm gonna hire you like that's what's gonna happen I'm not worried about getting too many

[00:15:10] clients that's a good problem like I'll fire some I don't know upcharge but um so people would be

[00:15:15] like have like negative stuff around that but I think it was just more of cuz they they see in you

[00:15:20] what they wish they had in themselves like not in a cocky way that's oftentimes what I've

[00:15:24] started to realize people seeing you what they wish they had in themselves so then they talk

[00:15:28] down about it but they say like negative things about it because they wish they had it yeah yeah

[00:15:33] that's very true yeah and I think that you know it's one of those things where for me like I was

[00:15:38] basically told like you know same thing like oh it's never gonna work and all that and you know

[00:15:44] I'm still hearing it I mean clients 10 years ago told this and doing million dollar years and

[00:15:48] it's just like but I think what happens is as you're right but they're dismissing or

[00:15:54] they're kind of like discounting people without even knowing some of the other things they've done

[00:15:58] I mean I had already had a business you already got a business like yeah adult students like why

[00:16:03] shouldn't we be able to get out and start yeah exactly it's the craziest thing so I just want

[00:16:08] to like air that because people listening students listening should know that like it's not just

[00:16:13] airing it's not just so Dell it's a lot of people yes a lot of people start yeah right so

[00:16:21] I guess right now like if you had like advice to Odell as a student or maybe some word of advice

[00:16:28] to other students who might be listening thinking about doing something like this like what would

[00:16:33] that be right now thing my biggest advice thing a couple of things so like my biggest advice is like

[00:16:42] to do it try it so a lot of people like speculate and like they look at things but they never try

[00:16:49] they never do or they mentally jog mentally run they'll just think about doing something research a lot

[00:16:55] of things out of a few classmates like that they're interested in something but I will see them

[00:16:58] they would just keep talking about it doing it where me I like to do stuff fast speed speed speed

[00:17:04] fell fast or less and we like to call it in the mastermind uh learn my lesson fast and move on

[00:17:10] so like even the businesses that I've had in the past in between here I did Amazon selling I did drop

[00:17:15] shipping it but I was like I'm gonna do it do it do it do it do it and keep keep learning fast

[00:17:20] and be able to carry everything that I can to the next thing but if I ever take so much time to do

[00:17:24] that one thing and it doesn't work it's gonna discourage me from doing the next thing which could

[00:17:29] have been the thing that works and you only need one thing to work like you only need one thing

[00:17:33] then also who are you surrounding yourself with I got a huge saying I've noticed that in school

[00:17:38] people even growing up in football like I've never like I won't say that I didn't fit in like

[00:17:43] I wasn't like a bully or anything but like people knew that I like I didn't go out and drink I was

[00:17:47] ubering in college like after we won a game I will go uber and I was like very like real to me it

[00:17:52] wasn't like I was trying to do anything um but I was okay with being alone but I realized other people

[00:17:58] aren't so many people want to fit in so much that they're willing to do things that they might not

[00:18:01] believe in or that they know they shouldn't be doing just for the acceptance of others so definitely

[00:18:07] who you surround yourself with like go find like minded people and surround yourself with that

[00:18:12] and then I hope you elevate so much more and if everyone around you don't understand what you're

[00:18:16] doing it's probably a good thing if you can't be understood by a lot of people but it's probably

[00:18:21] good thing yeah it's like a good sign that you're doing something right when people are telling you

[00:18:25] your dreams are like gonna fail or they're wrong yes exactly right if your dreams are bit is like

[00:18:30] if your dreams are too big for other people to believe then they're the right dreams yes

[00:18:34] that's facts yes awesome so when do you graduate actually I don't even know like did you graduate

[00:18:42] summer the spring last spring graduated thing was it April April May yeah like April May almost

[00:18:53] it like almost year it's 2020 like February so April not even a year yeah yeah okay and then

[00:19:00] how'd you decide to start like an in-person practice your online businesses

[00:19:04] new better than a lot of people right like what was that kind of decision did you already know

[00:19:08] that hey I'm just doing this thing and gonna transition into an in-person practice like what was

[00:19:12] that like how would that process come about and how'd you make that decision to park yourself

[00:19:17] in one place because I know you'll like to travel yes yeah that makes sense so originally before

[00:19:24] the app I knew I was like even started pd school I'm opening up a business out of school I just

[00:19:29] need to learn everything that I need to learn to open it up but then the app came about

[00:19:33] then I started doing well in the app and I was like dang and like little birdies came in like

[00:19:37] am I going backwards opening up a place and putting myself like in a location but then I was like

[00:19:42] I just know if I put a location here like from the original vision of what I had because I didn't

[00:19:47] have this in my area growing up and then growing up I played a lot of sports type of lot of connections

[00:19:51] in the area so I was like what I just stay online and not use those connections locally and then also

[00:19:58] I could also build this up and hire people to train them under my vision so then ultimately

[00:20:04] decided to open up and I really really enjoy doing stuff in person too like obviously I don't want

[00:20:08] to be doing moving the needle when doing everything myself forever like I just hired a doc

[00:20:16] but yeah I just knew what I could provide in person as well and my team would be able to

[00:20:19] provide eventually I see the setup the structure and I'll be able to get back to being able to

[00:20:23] travel and have more time learning the CEO role but it'll be great to have both so that's why I

[00:20:28] ultimately decided. That's awesome so who are you around in your life that where you had that vision

[00:20:33] like that hey I can start this and hire someone within the first year to see my patients so I don't

[00:20:38] have to get stuck in one place because they are obviously not like hey I'm going to build a job

[00:20:42] for myself you're like I'm going to build a business you know that leverages my time so where did

[00:20:49] like how did you had you figure that part out to be honest I really don't know

[00:20:56] like I said earlier but like we smile yourself with and then also what you listen to yeah

[00:21:00] yeah like when I was driving Uber when I work out sometimes my foreign workouts in school

[00:21:06] foreign wakeups in school I would instantly put on business podcasts

[00:21:10] they drove I put on Gary V so just like by listening to my osmosis I start to learn how they think

[00:21:16] I read books I learn how people who are in positions that I want to be and think reading your book

[00:21:22] learn how you think okay they think like this and over time we do that for years while you're doing

[00:21:29] an implementing you just think differently so that's I think that's where that came from yeah I

[00:21:34] think that's where that came from yeah that's awesome so let me just sidetrack a minute okay before

[00:21:41] I wanted to talk about your cash practice I'm gonna talk about some other cool things about you

[00:21:45] um you live in a van yes right like tell us about your baby how long you've been living in it and

[00:21:51] how that how that come about I think it's uh it might be it might be like a year and a half now

[00:21:58] a little less than a year and a half I wish it was longer like I wish I knew about this at the

[00:22:02] beginning in undergrad I'll probably be having seven three years already but I did at the end of

[00:22:12] PT school so I had like a weird like time like least and stuff and I was like why don't we sign

[00:22:17] another year because right after school I'm leaving it I'm open up to practice that was already set

[00:22:21] so I'm gonna pay like six months of rent in Chicago while I'm still here paying rent at my new clinic

[00:22:26] I was like what can I do and then thankfully that's why everything happens for you everything

[00:22:31] happens for you for a reason you've got to figure out your perspective on it so I was actually on

[00:22:35] the way to one of my weddings from Chicago which also did during school so like every weekend I was

[00:22:40] up and down the highway like back and forth so worth it but one time I was on a way to a wedding

[00:22:44] and I got in a car accident someone like ran in red light and hit me in the side um total my car

[00:22:50] and then I was like well I gotta figure out something to do as far as a car so then I started looking

[00:22:55] and I was like well I've been thinking about this van life thing or I saw a few things and I was like

[00:22:58] maybe that's the sign like I have to buy something else so it's like why not buy something

[00:23:02] that I can like save money on um so long story short that's how I fell into it yeah and then I was

[00:23:07] like I'm gonna get the van and then I was like it's an asset right off because I had those problems

[00:23:12] because having an app like I wasn't I didn't have much overhead and I didn't spend a lot of money

[00:23:16] I don't I just keep reinvesting so I was like okay I can reinvest this to a van and have a

[00:23:20] write-off in an asset answer where to stay so I don't have to keep paying rent to that makes me

[00:23:24] zero dollars so right right how was a van an asset um so one I mean so I've got because it's above

[00:23:32] four thousand pounds and then I use it for my wedding business and then I use it um we're not

[00:23:38] scooters anymore but you use it for the business so my entertainment business which was making

[00:23:43] the most money at the time I use that for that got you okay so then so basically what you pay for

[00:23:50] it at some point whether it's your one or over five years it gets uh tax right off

[00:23:54] yeah I'm not gonna advertise taxes on that yeah exactly yeah that's all so it's an asset but

[00:24:00] not gonna also sell it like people I've had a few people already asked like to buy it because like

[00:24:04] it's rare so the van like different like companies and stuff one van's like that so the first

[00:24:09] week I had my my VW van I had someone come up and knock on the door and and tell me about another

[00:24:15] one for sale and I was like I just want this thing but you know we have three why do I need two

[00:24:20] I know I'm gonna get this one more um and then I met you through Jess at just Jenny last year

[00:24:26] at CSM did you guys at that time know that she had a van too or did you like no so I don't

[00:24:33] man I ended up being a blessing obviously because we are where we are today so

[00:24:37] um CSM was CSM was crazy so like I said I started posting in PT school so I had like a I started

[00:24:44] like gaining like a little bit of followers in PT school and I didn't realize that they're all

[00:24:47] like physical therapists physical therapy students so when I went to CSM obviously it's the biggest

[00:24:51] event where all of them are in one location before I left my hotel I had like three people

[00:24:55] asking to take photos with me and I was like nice so I was blindsided because I had no idea

[00:25:00] I was gonna happen so that's when I met Jess she came with to me was like this is gonna sound weird

[00:25:04] but I've been following on Instagram for the last couple years and you are killing it and I was

[00:25:07] like awesome like let's connect so we connect it um and then that's how we made that connection

[00:25:14] and then obviously you heard no one the businesses I was doing she was like let me introduce you

[00:25:17] to Aaron and I was like sweet and I've heard your name before so like sweet please do I would love

[00:25:21] the introduction and then I read your book and then this is history well that's awesome yes so um

[00:25:27] so what I want to do is talk about the how are you a couple of the strategies using to build like

[00:25:32] your social media you do some really great stuff I mean it's you know you're not the only one

[00:25:37] in the world that does it but I think exactly what you're doing it resonates with you and your

[00:25:41] personality it's like tell us a little bit about you like you're like your social media strategy

[00:25:47] how'd you fall into it what are the things you do that are working really well to get engagement

[00:25:52] and people following you at set etc yeah that makes sense so the biggest thing I tell people is

[00:25:58] literally I don't create content I document my life so even from the beginning um in PT school for

[00:26:05] example I would fill myself studying I would fill myself walking in buildings I would do a

[00:26:09] little mini vlogs then life I would fill with therapy student um and just document my life so

[00:26:15] I seldom sit down and like create content or make a funny rule or something like that like

[00:26:20] even this podcast we're both documenting so it's just like having a conversation document everything

[00:26:24] and then now with my clinic as well I just document me growing the clinic show me work with patients

[00:26:30] um get in reviews so it's literally documenting my life that's all it is yeah and so what are

[00:26:37] like just someone of the strategies like how would someone get started documenting their day are

[00:26:42] you asking patients for permission like what are some of the things that you do to um do that yeah

[00:26:48] definitely ask uh the patient's permission do you mind being filmed um but also so a lot of people

[00:26:53] would say oh my day is not exciting I'm too boring it's not but in reality everybody's day is so unique

[00:27:01] you're such a unique human that somebody wants to see what you're doing and your day's way different

[00:27:06] like if you look at my social media it's very repetitive it's the same thing because I'm a very

[00:27:11] routine person so I'll show myself getting coffee probably four times a week and it does well

[00:27:16] just like you did the first time because you have new people it's eight billion people in the world

[00:27:20] someone hasn't seen it um and then also I like to think about like like for you I would love to see

[00:27:27] how your day structured even at our last maximum I was asking like how do you structure your day

[00:27:31] like tell me take me through your day like how you do your meetings I want to see that stuff

[00:27:35] because if somebody that is in a position I want to be in I want to learn how they think

[00:27:41] how they operate how they do their day how they do their morning routine workouts all that type of

[00:27:46] stuff so like what was someone that wants to like be in my position that I am right now that it's

[00:27:50] behind me that want to see that same thing it doesn't it's the same thing the latter you know what I mean

[00:27:56] so like I'll be that guy for someone else and continue to elevate and someone else is that guy

[00:28:00] for me so documenting your life I mean it's it's not boring um to start doing it and then don't

[00:28:05] be afraid of judgment a lot of people are afraid of judgment to start filming themselves

[00:28:10] but once you get over the judgment and realize that you're having an impact easy

[00:28:13] so is it like get a phone get a tripod set it up put it in the bathroom and then I walk back

[00:28:20] to my bedroom and then I walk back in the bathroom and brush my teeth on film that's simple right

[00:28:25] and then I go down I skip the getting dressed part and then I put it in and I have it

[00:28:30] film me making the kids breakfast you know yes and then I put it outside and then it's

[00:28:35] I just turned on it and me and the kids walk out the door and then yep and that's a whole video right

[00:28:40] there right I stitched these things together I just hey that's just my morning routine boom 15 seconds

[00:28:46] mm-hmm and people what I've seen yeah people want to know what you're doing it's like that's why

[00:28:51] whatever whatever the business is I tell other people make sure it's your living what you preach

[00:28:54] whatever you are preaching whatever that is make sure you are doing it and living it and not just

[00:28:58] talking because then when you show it the discipline and seeing you go to the gym every day

[00:29:03] when I go to the gym and I don't feel like it I tell my social media I'm at the gym I don't feel

[00:29:07] like it they want that in themselves because when they don't feel like it they don't go to the gym so

[00:29:11] they want to know how you think and how you take and what makes you get there so show them that

[00:29:15] so it's just literally that simple yeah and then all right so now you've got your

[00:29:20] reels captured for the day right and you just open up Instagram create a reel and you just find

[00:29:25] some background music and put in a couple little clips of the different pieces from your phone

[00:29:29] yep that's all I use an app called InShot that I sit together but I film and documents so much

[00:29:35] that I can stop documenting or filming today and I will have content for like seven months right so

[00:29:42] it's the continual thing so you never run a content so I'm not like waking up and like oh I need

[00:29:45] to post today let me go try to make something up so I've documented so much is like let me go see

[00:29:51] what I want to post today yeah so the piece of contents is there like a folder on your phone with

[00:29:56] like yesterday the day before like yeah like organize that stuff because you know that gets

[00:30:01] overwhelming too I'm just like oh exactly that's true so I have I use Google folders so I have

[00:30:06] a virtual team to my guy a couple full-time virtual and he edits a lot for me too as well now but we

[00:30:13] were organized it so well to wear like it'd be the patient clips and I put it on the same patient's

[00:30:19] name session one session two session three he can go in there and edit some folders I can go in

[00:30:23] there and edit some photos and now I know what I'm when I'm shooting I know what I'm shooting for

[00:30:27] and I'm like oh this would be a really good one show myself grappling the belt from the drawer

[00:30:31] and my clinic turn the camera a little bit show me putting it on doing the distraction that's it

[00:30:35] talking to the patient that's a whole video but I can see these micro things now that I've obviously

[00:30:40] filmed for so long and it makes it so much easier but I just I'll say I'd rather have too much

[00:30:45] content than too little because even when I'm like traveling on a plane for a few days it's like

[00:30:50] I don't have to create this entire week I don't have to

[00:30:54] yeah I'm good to show people last week this week and it did exactly exactly and no one ever knows

[00:30:59] some contents like from seven months ago so yeah that's cool and are you doing anything like

[00:31:05] are you doing like a called action like follow me or you're just like hey here's my thoughts for

[00:31:08] the day here's the thing and then people just following you know liking messaging you etc.

[00:31:14] yeah definitely do I do CTAs that they're my rules too where it's like liking

[00:31:18] liking um comment for more like and follow for more because like those little soft T.C

[00:31:23] I forgot the statistics but it actually does help people convert more because they might

[00:31:26] like what they saw but they might forget to like and follow they're like oh like let me follow

[00:31:29] this guy or they go check out the rest of your stuff and that's how you get more people to follow

[00:31:33] but always definitely a CTA yeah of course that's awesome um okay so now we've got uh let's say

[00:31:40] it's like last summer like we started working together in like August-ish I think and you had

[00:31:46] yes like started so you hadn't yet started your practice you're getting in the process of doing

[00:31:51] it and you're like Aaron I'm gonna I've got this lease to open like January 1st between graduating

[00:31:56] and then did you just like travel around your van work on your like your your app like what were

[00:32:01] you do did you take some time off like um what are you doing then my family always jokes you need

[00:32:07] to take time off no so then I was like obviously I was studying for boards because boards was in

[00:32:12] June July okay July so I'm studying heavy for boards um and then working on the app

[00:32:19] and then also then at a time I was writing like a plan like a loose business plan

[00:32:23] for the clinic just so I can have ideas marketing because you know as time goes on you start to do

[00:32:28] stuff you start to forget which are original plans were um and then I actually went to

[00:32:32] California for five weeks in the van that was my first van life trip solo van life trip

[00:32:36] um with the same Diego hung out on the beach um really got inspired by staying on the houses

[00:32:41] like literally every day I had like 25,000 steps a day I will walk around up and down the beach

[00:32:46] and I'll just look at the houses I was sitting on a little board wall and I'm just like looking like

[00:32:50] okay there's people living like this not just one there's another next door then there's another

[00:32:54] next door and I'm like look at that car look at that person someone owns his business

[00:32:59] so it just made me so inspired I was like why not me so then I go to my pad and write down like

[00:33:03] what do I need to do to get there and that really helped me a ton and then obviously in that

[00:33:08] process too I think I might have just passed boards I might have talked to you when I was still like

[00:33:13] studying towards the end of boards so I was trying to like time it up properly because I knew

[00:33:17] once I'm zealous so once I focused on the business I didn't want to take away from boards and not

[00:33:21] passing keeping the main thing the main thing so then when I started with you I was like okay I need

[00:33:25] to like start with him so it's in time so I can like do it a few months before I open I don't

[00:33:30] want to wait until I open so I can like prepare ask you questions and go hit the ground running

[00:33:34] with speed and that's what I did and I mean it it helped I was able to literally pay for like

[00:33:39] three and a half years of rent four years of rent within the first couple of months yeah so that

[00:33:43] was that was the biggest weight I was like what about this rent but then now I'm like okay

[00:33:48] I'm good for four years yeah that's awesome I remember you being like Aaron but I don't

[00:33:52] open till like officially open till January and you know you you start seeing patients in the fall

[00:33:58] and you did some months even before you were officially opened yeah boxes on the floor everything

[00:34:03] not to people for they came in but they still came yeah that's awesome so what's the like was

[00:34:08] January December was that like one of your biggest months like what do you guys do like revenue

[00:34:12] in the clinic um so I did the highest I've done was 33k yeah and that was right before the new year

[00:34:21] and then of I don't know a month it is now right now I'm at like 27 we're halfway through

[00:34:27] 19th 20th 27k so yeah I've been consistently ever since opening I've been over 20k which is

[00:34:34] absolutely amazing and then now it's just reaching the trying to get to the next level so yeah

[00:34:40] that's dope so just for context for people like how many people a week are you seeing what are

[00:34:44] you charging was your like most popular programs that you're um so I have four programs I have

[00:34:50] the app which is like a fat loss workout program and then I have the wellness program which I roll

[00:34:56] physical therapy clients into um and what I do with like my NFL guys and then I have physical therapy

[00:35:01] and then I have the sports performance yeah sports performance I'm working with like youth athletes

[00:35:08] so the sports performance is 4,500 for six months and they come see me once a week um then I get

[00:35:13] their workouts online as well and that's why the app is a really good asset too because the app

[00:35:17] goes across all of these but there's no additional cost to me so my physical therapy clients get on

[00:35:21] there as well so it's just like extra value stacking um and they get a community and I've sent like

[00:35:28] e-books that I already have then the physical therapy program so normally I haven't really done

[00:35:33] any other besides 10 sessions um so I have a 10 session pack it's 300 an hour what if you pay

[00:35:40] up front it's 2700 almost 98% of people pay up front or do the pay them full so it ends up being

[00:35:48] um 270 a session after they do that and then it trickles down same price down then the wellness

[00:35:57] membership um is 399 a month and they come in like once every other week or something like that

[00:36:04] and then I think that's it oh and then the app is six months for 2,500 that's totally virtually

[00:36:10] virtual then I have like a virtual team too that helps me with all of that so dude that's dope

[00:36:15] that's really awesome what were like one or two of the things that we worked on when you first

[00:36:20] started it made the biggest difference for you hmm hmm one of the biggest difference is like

[00:36:30] the structure like going through the modules and learning seeing how you had your practice set up

[00:36:36] the legalities of different things make sure that I had that in tied in it actually helped me like

[00:36:41] mentally be able to like okay I have my foundation I'm good to go try these different things

[00:36:46] and then also honestly the simple fact of being around other like high achievers in that group

[00:36:51] other people that are doing it I met some really good people that I meet with all the time

[00:36:55] and it's like really cool to be surrounded by them because otherwise who else am I really talking

[00:36:59] to it feels really really lonely um so being able to have that and then be able to get questions

[00:37:03] answers on our weekly calls um and yeah so that's been like the biggest part too yeah did that's awesome

[00:37:09] because I mean wouldn't you agree like I mean you'd probably be successful without any help

[00:37:14] you'd probably figure it out but it's not right it's getting there faster right doing it like not

[00:37:19] feeling isolated yes right yes you know like do you have people in your life that you can talk to

[00:37:25] about your but outside of like our group like uh I think your your girlfriend is also a business

[00:37:30] yes so yep now I do so before before that it was like so I opened up um funny story so I opened up

[00:37:39] here and social media she found me on social media she messages me I didn't message her back for

[00:37:44] like three weeks four weeks I have people in my DMs and sometimes girls message hard eyes and

[00:37:49] says seven of them is like hey disregard that stuff I'm not worried about that right now and then

[00:37:54] we have like a mutual friend who owns a business also in her area and she saw me like in their restaurant

[00:37:59] and was like hey do you know this guy like what's his number so she got my number and then we met

[00:38:03] on like just referral basis she owns a couple chiropractic offices a restaurant real estate um so we

[00:38:08] just met on like business and then we're like wow we're very very similar we have a similar outlook

[00:38:12] on healthcare she's also cash based um so we just hung out a lot and and then we started dating

[00:38:19] yeah so now it's amazing because now we can talk about business so much and it's not like

[00:38:24] having a spouse who's not a business owner to where you got to kind of suppress it or

[00:38:28] trying to talk about him and like oh can we just talk about something else but no so we literally

[00:38:32] get together and we can talk about business all day every day and it's really cool um to have

[00:38:36] that support too and then in the community as well we do a lot of stuff together and people

[00:38:40] love it in our local area so it just happened to work out really well what's something before

[00:38:45] that's awesome yeah I've got a couple friends here that I can talk business with like unfiltered

[00:38:49] a lot of you know yeah like you're like holding your breath trying like

[00:38:55] you really want to talk about business and just can't really no you can't you know you talk

[00:39:00] about certain numbers and they're like what do you you know they just don't have the you know

[00:39:05] the context is like yeah yeah yeah yeah that's really cool um oh Del like where do you see this

[00:39:13] going in the future like what's your like one or three year vision for your businesses your life

[00:39:18] like what are some of the things you're planning on doing down the road

[00:39:23] so when I haven't decided if I want to have like a multi location or have like one booming location

[00:39:28] I haven't decided that yet um but I want to continue to grow the online platform then also the

[00:39:33] clinic and then also what I'm very like passionate about is like hoping people behind me like

[00:39:39] I don't know why that keeps coming back but I used to so before I used to hate speaking like I don't

[00:39:44] want to speak to a presentation but then something like switched God like just like hey this is

[00:39:49] switched and now I'm like I yearn to speak to people I yearn to go talk on stages and stuff like

[00:39:54] that so I've had a great opportunity to last like couple years to speak like 10 times I went

[00:39:59] out to Vegas and spoke to their students and it's like really cool because now the information

[00:40:03] that I thought everybody knew that I can like tell them about it just gives them a perspective and

[00:40:08] you can change one person's life so one of my passions is like helping like other PT's um realized

[00:40:14] what they can do and it's not even necessarily yes business but I want to do more of like the

[00:40:18] social media thing too so like that would be like the niche that I want to do in the future um

[00:40:24] yeah so and then a lot of people see what I do with so so many people ask questions and stuff

[00:40:28] and like I realize that people really don't know something that might seem black and white to me

[00:40:33] isn't so black and white to someone else and likewise sometimes black and white to you that

[00:40:36] I've learned from you wasn't black and white to me so then I learn like even when I open up

[00:40:41] to in person because I'll still use the online um my girlfriend was like oh do you have business

[00:40:44] cards I want to put it in my business pamphlets or something like business cards pamphlets no they just

[00:40:49] message me on Instagram and then they they buy but it's not like that in person so it's like

[00:40:53] few things where I'm like it's not basic so I want to go back and teach people different things too

[00:40:57] no it's awesome and you've started you have a group for PT students or mentoring can you tell us

[00:41:02] a little about what they come about and what who's it for yep so PT students similar to the app

[00:41:08] always I'm an audience let the audience tell me what they want based on what they see me doing

[00:41:12] so like I got I got to like 35 people who asked me like do you have any mentorship can we get on a

[00:41:17] Zoom call the chat to pick your brain I want to start a business and I'm like well we can't do that

[00:41:21] respectfully um so I was like okay I keep getting these there might be something here so why not

[00:41:26] just start a Facebook group or free Facebook group or do something to start to curate this audience

[00:41:32] the value contact information this is like so valuable because they're all want the same thing in one

[00:41:37] area so then we started that um and there's like a little over maybe like a little over 600 people

[00:41:42] in there now so that's shown me like okay people need help and most of them are students um students

[00:41:47] are new grads and people who are interested in business one of the questions on the group is like

[00:41:52] hey we're gonna talk about numbers we're gonna talk about business we're gonna talk about making more

[00:41:55] as a PT more impact and what's more impact comes with more money so if you're not interested in

[00:42:00] that don't join the group so that's kind of what we do too and showing them kind of what's possible

[00:42:04] dude that's really awesome that's that's really cool you know I think it is one of those lessons that

[00:42:11] it's about like listening to the audience and what do they want like asking them but also kind

[00:42:15] of recognizing the patterns because I think a lot of people sort of force an idea because they

[00:42:19] think it's green but it's like what are the people who resonate with you want that's true right

[00:42:24] is there anything that you've done in your clinic based on what your patients have asked for

[00:42:28] that might be different or something different you know something new or that you're doing maybe

[00:42:32] even different than what you learned from like my program like is because people ask for it um yeah

[00:42:40] not really not many things people asked for um

[00:42:46] mom I guess my marketing right now which I'm gonna so I'm trying to like

[00:42:50] I think a lot of people struggle with this so seeing a lot of people struggle with this

[00:42:54] it helps me like make sure that I try not to they see what other people are doing as far as like

[00:43:00] workshops running ads doing this and they hear from one person they switch to this they hear from

[00:43:05] those persons switch to this so they're spread so thin and cost their marketing funnels but what I'm

[00:43:10] doing is maximizing dry out the funnels that I have so far before I move on to the next so one

[00:43:15] thing that we learned a lot in the mastermind which I've been learning I still know how to do it um

[00:43:20] is the workshops I haven't done any workshops yet yeah but rather what I'm doing is using my asset

[00:43:25] which is the social media social media meeting with people because I've had that's how I met my

[00:43:30] girlfriend she met with me she wanted to like talk about social media and like get some tips on

[00:43:34] that and then I find out what she was doing I'm like I want some tips you guys have to figure

[00:43:38] business I want some tips from you so it was like a mutual thing so I'm using social media as my

[00:43:42] asset um to get people in as well they're making relationships but one thing that I did learn

[00:43:47] like I said before I don't I was like no I can't get on zoom with you I don't want to meet with you

[00:43:52] so even when I opened it up so people in the local area knew where I was based on like my video

[00:43:56] and I didn't even know that local people followed people a few people came up and like gave me their

[00:44:00] business card a chiropractor came massage therapist another chiro another PT down the street and I was

[00:44:05] like how are you guys finding me I don't even have my location out there I was like wait I need to use

[00:44:09] this social media and I didn't want to meet with people then my girlfriend was like no you need

[00:44:14] to meet those people those are like referral sources and I'm like I said back away this some people

[00:44:19] wasn't back right to me then I met with a few of them in a local gym as well and then they're like

[00:44:23] sending patients because they want to be a part of it and they believe in what you stand for

[00:44:27] and tagging them on social media I mean doesn't cost me anything so anything is so cool so that's

[00:44:33] kind of like my main like driver right now which I thought is different than what I was going to do

[00:44:37] because before opening up I did study the workshops and I'm oh come on we're gonna go to workshop

[00:44:41] here workshop here but that's not my marketing kind my marketing funnel right now right I think like

[00:44:46] what I hear you saying is you're doing what's working for you and it may not be what's working for

[00:44:50] everyone else but it's working for you so you're not going to shift away from it until exactly

[00:44:55] right it's either it stops working or you have time to do another channel

[00:45:00] exactly yeah that's awesome and that's a huge lesson um Odell uh before we wrap up uh if someone

[00:45:07] wants to find you online on your social media check you out where did they go to find you

[00:45:12] you can go to my instagram at Odell Miller 25 ODE LLL Miller MILLE R25

[00:45:19] awesome was 25 your number or uh no I think that's my I made that I think it was my high school

[00:45:24] number or something that's like my favorite number I think it's my football number in high school yeah

[00:45:27] yeah do you have a do you have an off the bench football jersey with your name on the back yet

[00:45:33] now I'm gonna look for one that's genius I didn't think about that yeah I was talking to

[00:45:37] at the retreat and Utah's talking to Zach you know because he does soccer and I have an

[00:45:42] Aaron LeBauer soccer jersey you know it's like my A you know it's got my A here's the crest and

[00:45:47] he says LeBauer on the back in the number is 80 because 80% is good enough but uh I don't get

[00:45:53] I wanted Jersey of my own and actually then I ended up getting um like six sets of cycling you

[00:45:59] know bids and stuff with my logos and stuff that's really cool that's really cool you know let I mean

[00:46:04] if you get one I think it'd be dope you know I think it's yeah that's it's something that I would

[00:46:09] be doing is like don't wear don't wear a jersey with someone else's name on it where

[00:46:12] Jersey would get your name on it exactly yes so you know I love that I have a bunch of

[00:46:17] jerseys from obviously from playing football but nothing like without the bench on it that's really cool

[00:46:21] yeah yeah so I think you could do like a little off the bench Miller you know whatever your number is

[00:46:26] and you could give them out to people that's really cool yeah that's really cool um I'm gonna get

[00:46:31] it so when you do that let me know I would love one with a little Bauer on the back I'm

[00:46:35] gonna write that on my to-do list right right when we get off of this um my cuz my my nephew is

[00:46:41] playing football in high school and I was like uh me oh when you get a jersey with a little Bauer

[00:46:45] on it and you get a chance to get an extra I was like can I have one you know so if you just tell

[00:46:50] me uncle Aaron you know I'm we're gonna get Jersey's this year so anyways that's that's that

[00:46:54] that's that um that's funny if there's any advice you have to people listening that maybe we

[00:46:59] didn't talk about today or that you think is important to reiterate um can you just share like

[00:47:03] your one or two top pieces for people who want to like grow a business and you know scale things up

[00:47:09] and help more people. Number one thing do it start it try it what do you have to lose like we're

[00:47:16] only we're only time continues to go it doesn't stop for anyone and then for people that say they don't

[00:47:21] have time to start they're in school I have a full-time job I have kids trust me you have time

[00:47:27] because we all have the same 24 hours started you will not regret it only thing you were regret

[00:47:33] in the futures honestly not trying yeah that's huge oh Del thank you so much for being here today

[00:47:39] this is thanks for having me awesome absolutely yeah I hope to do this again in like another year

[00:47:44] and catch a big one easy yeah okay done and uh I'll do a couple uh day in the life of Aaron Labawe

[00:47:52] uh videos so let's go tag me we'll definitely do it all right oh Del thank you so much um hey guys

[00:47:59] thanks for joining us for the Aaron Labawe show um just get out there start do it go big and we'll see

[00:48:04] on the next episode. Hey what's up it's Aaron thanks for listening to show if you enjoyed the

[00:48:11] episode and you'd like to help support the podcast please share it with others post about

[00:48:15] on social media relieve a five star rating and review overnight and to catch all the latest for

[00:48:20] me follow me over on Instagram at Aaron Labawe thanks again and I'll see you next time