Today we’d like to introduce you to Margo Recla-Juedes
Hi Margo, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in the house I live in now, which I knew I wanted to buy as soon as I left for college. I returned home following graduation from physical therapy school, and my husband and I began to remodel the house and make changes so that it no longer would feel like my childhood home, but our home together. We love living here, and although my husband travels to Utah 25% of the time for his job, it’s amazing to find a place like this that just continuously feels like home.
I began work at Back In Motion Physical Therapy immediately following graduation, and enjoyed that job fully. My husband accepted a job in Utah in 2020, and we found out we were going to be parents shortly after. After nearly losing my life during childbirth with transfusions and emergency surgery to address a uterine prolapse, we were able to go home with our healthy baby boy named Tucker. One year later, my husband was offered a promotion that required more travel for him to be on site. We decided to make some changes to our careers, allowing my husband and I to travel to Utah with our son, but also requiring me to step away from Back In Motion. As much as I knew it was the right choice, I knew that I wanted to keep treating patients. It is part of who I am and what makes me happy. I had previously created an LLC based around teaching self-defense, which was just gaining momentum until Covid hit. I used that same LLC to treat patients, traveling to homes 2 days a week and then renting a space in Norway 1 day a week for patients that required an electric table. I calculated everything down to the penny, and I found that if I treated 5 patients a week, it would allow me to pay my rent and my biller at no take-home profit. At the end of the day, we could live off of my husband’s salary, I could still treat patients, and be home with our son 4 of 7 days out of the week. I always said, “I’m just a kid who wants to treat patients. That’s it.”
Within 3 months, I knew I needed help treating patients. The business grew, which was something I always hoped, but never actually thought would happen. I brought on an old friend and colleague, Molly Uhazie, who is a physical therapy assistant, a massage therapist, a Pilates instructor, and an absolute work horse. Together we began to treat 3 days a week, and soon needed more room. In September of 2022, we moved into the old Ben Franklin building in Downtown Iron Mountain. Everything was running full steam ahead. I rented my clinic and paid for the remodel, and brought on a massage therapist.
My business model is a little different, but is open to changing if needed as this dream becomes a reality. I have done everything slowly. I purchased every paint brush, exercise band, computer, decoration, and water cup with money earned from the business. Because of this, I have yet to need a loan. It feels good to know I made it to this point without one. I was awarded a small business grant last year that allowed me to purchase a new weight machine and a few smaller items to expand into holistic recovery.
Every team member I have is a sub contract. I do not have any employees because, to be honest, I hated being one. I want my team to work for their clients, not me. I want them to respect each other as a teammate and fellow business owner. Everyone has equal say, regardless of their position. I pay them more because there are no health benefits or paid time off. But as a team working toward the same goal, we have accomplished more together than we ever could apart. To date, I have 5 subcontracts, but it started slowly with just 1. Being in private practice 9 years, 3 years an owner, I’m happy to say that every single person has stayed and grown their own business, as well as mine. As business grew, so did the freedom felt by my team. Life was good. Business was good. Better than I ever hoped. We were busy. We worked through lunch most days, and loved every minute. We had Christmas parties, lunches, and every day was fun and full of laughter. Not knowing what the future held, but was happy to be along for the ride.
Then one day everything changed for me. On February 23, 2023, my sister Jill attempted suicide at my moms home, which is next to me on E Bar D. Our world completely stopped. She passed away 3 days later on February 26th, leaving my family and I shaken to our core. She was 38 years old. She had her Ph.D. in functional genomics was talking about coming to join me at my clinic as a Reiki practioner that January. She loved everything green, loved camp, and loved her white horse which is still in my pasture to this day. Saying goodbye to my sister in the hospital was something that I never dreamed I would do. My siblings and I are best friends, and this hit hard. Needless to say, that was also not in my 5 year business plan when I began this endeavor.
In the hospital, my family was around my sister for one last goodbye, and it hit me. A goal. A dream. A purpose for what I am doing. I decided right then that I was going to expand into mental health in my sister’s honor. I didn’t know how, but I instantly could see this vision. I could see the color of the building. I want my patients to have access right when they need it. A walk-in mental health clinic designed for patients that are struggling not only physically, but mentally. I can’t tell you the amount of whiplash patients I treat that have trouble sleeping because they replay the accident. Or the amount of people that open up about their child struggling and they themselves have nowhere to turn and are feeling overwhelmed. I want it to be financially covered by The Real Heal. I want it to be easily accessible and welcoming, something my sister struggled to find in this area when she needed it. I want to create a whole-health building that is full of self-employed practioners, all working towards the same goal of improving access to patients to help get answers sooner. And so I set out on this venture. I knew deep down then that I likely could no longer stay where I was renting, although as most businesses experience, you grow when the opportunity strikes. 2 months after my sister passed, I rented a second space down the hall and now have 2 massage therapists on my team as well as a “Lounge” with a space for clients to recover with holistic options of healing. But the fact remains that my dreams are confined by my space and parking.
The more people I have shared this with, the more support I have received. I have offers of grant writers, mental health workers, holistic medicine practioners, a chiropractor, a book store, gardens, and a small juice bar to join in on this space, in addition to my physical therapy business, 2 massage therapists, one-on-one specific sports training, and Pilates classes that are currently being held 2-3 times per week in my clinic. The dream is there. The town needs it.
I need to design a space that my sister would have loved. A space that welcomes people, but is still private and discrete when needed. A space that is quiet, but filled with laughter when you need it. A place that still has easy access to the town, but is not so busy that you can’t hear yourself think. I want it to have green plants, a safe place to be outside for exercises and challenge balance, bistro tables outside for my licensed professionals to sit with clients and have privacy if they want to breathe fresh air. I want to have a place where people meet can sit and have a laugh with their friends after their Pilates class. I want a hammock outside on the deck, because my sister loved to lay in the sun and listen to the birds. A place that can be hidden from the prying eyes, but is not so far out that people get lost. A space that fits what I need, and what the town needs.
I am currently looking to purchase a building to help the dream become a reality. I am excited beyond belief, but absolutely terrified, which I think is a good thing to make sure I stay grounded in the process.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been a smooth road, but mostly due to external factors. My sister passing, rearranging our lives to accommodate all the changes that entailed, and also being a mom and running a business has been a wild adventure. But I have to say, people and clients have made it easier. Most of my business growth ideas come from talks with patients. I hear what they need, and I see how it can help the business and if it fits the overall dream I envisioned. It’s a wild thing to have so may difficult events become a beautiful reality.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a physical therapist since graduation in 2016, and have been self employed since 2022. I specialize in orthopedics, manual therapy, chronic pain, dry needling, ergonomics, and applied prevention + health promotion. I am honored to say I learned from some of the best PT’s in country, and put a lot of their techniques in my “toolbox” for treatment.
My belief is a little different. I believe there is a lot of ego in healthcare. Who is better than who; don’t go here because…; all the saying that we think we have heard. But my belief is this: I don’t care who your team is, but you do need a team. If I am not your PT, that’s ok! You have one that works for you and your body responds to. At the end of the day, isn’t that the goal? To help the patient in front of you find the best care possible, and if that doesn’t include you, you have to be humble enough to accept your limitations and get the patient where they need to go. Our motto that a patient once said to us was, “It’s just different here.” That motto has stuck. PT Done Different.
I think I am most proud of the fact that the business is growing, the town believes in it, and they believe in the team. The team I work with is just incredible, and without them, the dream couldn’t happen. No one is more important than another, and just because my name is on the paper does not mean that I am more valuable. I think that sets us apart as well, and I think patients feel it.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
O man, I love to read. I honestly have anywhere from 1-3 books going at a time, all different genres. I tend to do audible because honestly, if I sit down and grab a book, I’m usually asleep before I finish the first page. I listen to fiction, fantasy, leadership books, and autobiographies. Non fiction if it’s a topic I like. I love to listen to people who are successful and learn how they did it. I want to know how they failed. What they learned. And I tend to try to implement a few pearls from each person I read about. But then after something heavy, I like to read a good ole’ fiction or comedy book. Life is too serious, so I need to laugh.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: therealheal906
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/therealheal906
