"Wellness is a Right, Not a Privilege"

More About My Guests:

Doug Vestal is the founder of Freedom of Practice where he helps OTs build successful private pay practices through his comprehensive course and mentorship program, Private Pay MBA.  If you didn't catch it from his last name, he is my husband and was my original business coach who helped me start and grow the Functional Pelvis.  He worked on Wall Street for 15 years in NYC and Paris before transitioning to working with OTs where he brings a distinct blend of financial acumen and healthcare entrepreneurship.  He has a PhD in statistics and applied probability and he is the author of the forthcoming book "Financial Freedom for OTs: your stress-free guide to money."  But, the best job he's ever had is being an amazing father to our two kiddos.

Shari Barta is a Pelvic Floor Occupational Therapist with two decades of physical rehabilitation knowledge, personal training, and Pilates to help people overcome both new and chronic physical conditions. She holds advanced degrees and certifications in Occupational Therapy, Ergonomics, Personal Training, Pilates, and Postpartum Corrective Exercise.   

Shari’s passion for healing has driven her to create CoreRehab, a women’s health program designed to help women restore their bodies post-childbirth and prevent common chronic conditions. The program helps all women whether you are 6 weeks or 60 years postpartum.  The goal of this program and its mission is to erase the stigma surrounding pelvic floor conditions and allow women to rehabilitate with dignity.  

CoreRehab was born from a personal experience and mission.  Shari is a mom of 2 and had a diastasis recti and pelvic floor dysfunction following her 2 childbirths.  In Shari’s attempt to get better, she was met with subpar healthcare and statements such as “It’s normal you need to accept it.”  Her answer was HELL NO!  In the journey to cure herself, she came up with the CoreRehab program.  CoreRehab is a fusion of pelvic floor therapy, postpartum corrective exercises, and Pilates. 

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Transcript

Lindsey Vestal I am so excited to introduce you to my guest today who is Shari Barta. She is an integrated health specialist fusing two decades of occupational therapy, pelvic floor therapy, personal training and open ladies to help our clients overcome new and chronic physical conditions. She also holds advanced degrees in ergonomics, personal training, Pilates and postpartum corrective exercise. Sherri has a passion for healing that has driven her to open posture, power, wellness, where people can continue to overcome chronic conditions, chronic pain and strengthen their bodies to live long and strong. She wants her clients to never accept the status quo, and this exact drive helped her to create Core Rehab, a women's health program designed to help restore their bodies following pelvic floor dysfunction. I am also joined by my husband of over 20 years and my business coach for over a decade. Doug Vestal Now Doug found it Freedom of practice where he helps OTs build successful private pay practices through his comprehensive course and mentorship program. Private Pay MBA. He worked on Wall Street for 15 years in New York City and Paris before transitioning to working with OTs, where he brings a distinct blend of financial acumen and health care entrepreneurship. He has a Ph.D. in Statistics and Applied Probability and is the author of the forthcoming book Financial Freedom for OTs Your Stress Free Guide to Money. The best job he's ever Had is being an incredible father to our two kiddos, Avery and Liam. I cannot wait for you to hear today's conversation. 

Intro New and seasoned OTs are finding their calling in Pelvic health. After all, what's more adult than sex, peeing and poop? But here's the question. What does it take to become a successful, fulfilled and thriving O.T. in Pelvic health? How do you go from beginner to seasons and everything in between? Those are the questions and this podcast will give you the answers. We are inspired, OTs. We are out of the box, OTs. We are Pelvic health OTs. I'm your host, Lindsey Vestal, and welcome to the OTs and Pelvic health Podcast. 

Lindsey Vestal Today's episode is going to be incredibly different, and I'm really excited about it because I'm joined by a co-host, which happens to be my husband of 20 years and my business coach for over a decade. Doug Vestal, thank you so much for being here. 

Doug Vestal Absolutely. Thanks for having me. 

Lindsey Vestal Yeah. Yeah. And Sherri. My goodness. Okay, so I've had the privilege of hanging out with Sherri twice in the last six weeks. We met in person at the third annual OTs and Public Health Summit where, my gosh, she just lit up the room with her infectious energy that I know you're going to feel in today's episode. And then we had no idea, but we were both at the Colorado State Conference in Granby, Colorado. What was it, two weekends ago? And you came up to me and you're like, Is that Lindsey or is that her doppelganger? I'm not so sure which. So it was just phenomenal. And I feel like fate put us together so we could have this conversation today. So, Shari, thank you so much for being a guest on the podcast today. Thank you for having me. This isn't such an honor because I am definitely fangirling a little because I love what you have done and I, you know, this is actually my third dealing with you, except the first one you didn't know because I did O.T. Pioneers. And I thought that was amazing and I loved it. So to be at this level is just it's such an honor. So thank you. My gosh. So I don't know if you know, but O.T. Pioneers has been completely revamped, so I don't know how long ago you were a student. But can you do you need to log back in and see the changes? Because it's like gone from six lessons to 12? 

Shari Barta I did the six lessons. I, I took a peek, but I haven't had a chance to get digging in and I cannot wait. I'm super excited. 

Lindsey Vestal Awesome. Well, you've got a lot of other things going on which we're going to talk about today, so take your time. You got lifetime access, no rush at all. But I am doggone, because, you know, he helps start private pay practices. And any time we talk business, I am a little bit obsessed with the way his brain thinks and what he brings to the table. So, Doug, thanks for being here. Thanks or thanks for being a part of this conversation. And I know that you have a question. You love to kick it off, so I'm going to turn it over to you. 

Doug Vestal Yeah, Yeah. Thanks so much for joining us, Shari. I'm really excited to talk with you. Lindsey shared a little bit about your business with me, and it just got sort of all the good feelings like, you know, happening with it with me. And I wanted to start off just with some background from from you. So could you introduce and tell us about your business? What do you offer and how is your business set up? Because it's pretty unique. 

Shari Barta Yes, absolutely. So my business is called Posture Power Wellness. I actually have two pieces to it. So I'm going to get into both because I think it's it's all with the why so posture power. This we are a multidisciplinary wellness center that specializes in private therapy, Pilates and yoga. So my goal when I open my doors is I'm going to step back for a second. Sorry. Right before Covid, before lockdown, I left health care. I'm a 20 year old. I was working in acute care, home care, rehab. I've I've done it all. I've been around the block a couple times. And every single time I got really frustrated because I felt like we only got enough time to rip off people's Band-Aids. We were sending like the Band-Aids were coming off. We were sending them on their way. But like, well, here's your home exercises. We really hope this works out. And we all know that they don't have the form they like. They're not doing the exercises correctly. And then then we're saying, maybe they hopefully will find a decent trainer to help them. And that's always sometimes hard as well. So those feelings just kept growing and growing and that frustration grew to the point where I was like, I've had it. I'm done. I'm a certified pro, I'm a certified personal trainer, I'm a certified Pilates instructor as well. And I decided to go to the next level and I wanted to open a community based studio where people could access things on a day to day basis. My my goal is to make wellness an everyday thing. It's what you choose to go do instead of these fitness studios that are really hurting people because they're pushing them too hard. They don't have good form. Like I wanted to give that alternative, especially for our more fragile population. I mean, it was kind of cool, as I see anywhere from age nine is my youngest client to 88 right now. And every single one of like every year in between there, I can benefit from wellness and benefit from what we can offer. So everything we offer is clinically based. My signature program is called Core Rehab. Core Rehab is a fusion of pelvic floor therapy and Pilates. And I actually designed this. This has been my baby for years. It's come from a. Personal place, and I designed that about eight years ago. I've been working on this and using this for a long time. An idea behind it. Is there a few statistics that we all know and I'm just going to keep saying them because I think they're really important. Is that whole. Only 1 in 10 women will go out and get help. After waiting an average of 6.5 years. And then. But the kicker is 80% of all pelvic floor issues can be fixed through exercise. That is like. Yeah, that makes me pause. It makes me want to cry. So that's why I opened my doors because I wanted women to go to a place that was stigma free. Hey, I'm just going to take holidays. No, they're not. It is a very, very curated program that is hitting all the right stuff. It is getting into that pelvic floor, rebalancing the core. It is doing all the good stuff we needed to do. But it's handed them in a socially acceptable silver platter. So I took that and I started to expand on it. So I do a ton of private therapy as well. So people come and do a one on one session with me. We're completely cash based. And then we also have some yoga options, all my teachers. So a good chunk of my teachers that work for me are Pilates teachers or yoga teachers. But I work with them. I teach them those clinical like some of those body mechanics focus. I've come up with some key tricks or modifications that I can transfer. So they almost work as rehab assistants within that that Pilates in yoga practice. So it's very community based and it actually helps, I notice, going too far. But the model actually helps me keep my overhead low because my driving mission is that wellness is a right, not a privilege. 

Doug Vestal I love everything that you just described. Did you find many? Yachties will find a little bit of a challenge blending fitness with OT and offering crew programs because they wonder how to market market. They market it as OT or they market it as wellness. Like how how has that journey been for you and what have you settled on that's obviously working for you? 

Shari Barta Doug, I think you missed my epiphany at the summit because it was mind blowing. Clear Ness came out. I've struggled with that definition for years. So I'll be open for years. As of December, I moved into my current space. In January of 2023. I had sublet it for a while and that January 2023 was when I really start to be able to define myself. And initially I was like, I have to define in the Pilates industry for multiple reasons. I'm going to tell you that that always came up short. It just it wasn't right and it didn't feel real and authentic. And it's because I'm an not and I left that and thought that's where I needed to be. And I will tell you that my vision for where my business is going is so crystal clear since Summit. It's amazing sitting there at O.T. Summit, surrounded by so many brilliant minds, so many and feeling the love in the warmth in everybody's response to what my model is. They were like, Wow, that's amazing. That's such a a need. It's such a niche. Like this is such a, you know, you're like bridging the gap and they're like, What a great way to be. And what I'm like you, right? I really am. Like the truest O.T. I've ever been. It it became it was this massive epiphany and just became so blatantly clear that I realized that how to move forward is literally diving deep into my own truths. I since the summit, I've actually hired a physical therapist to join me. We had been chatting prior and then I actually had an O.T. talk about like the world telling you in the right direction. I had an O.T. reach out to me being like, I want to learn what you're doing. So I potentially have a second therapist joining me as well that I'm starting to train. This has actually brought me like a new future thing coming up as I am starting to formulate a program to teach therapists about Pilates and make it therapy focused because the Pilates equipment, it allows us to modify and grade everything. It's brilliant. It like you can take it down to a fraction of your body weight, which we need to grade things. That is, it's so modifiable. Every exercise that it is, it's perfect. The perfect tool for a therapist. Sure. I'd love to hear more about the community based model that you have. I know you offer some sliding scale options. Tell us about how that is set up. Okay. So first, like I said, wellness is a right. And so what we've done is a private therapy rate. Now, do you want details about rates? I will give you guys now. I love it. Great. So we offer our private rate at $125. So that keeps it low so that people can afford that, especially people on fixed incomes. From there, if you want to join a class, I purposely keep all my classes small, so there's only six people in every single class so that we can really watch body mechanics, we can give corrections. I really I've taught more than six. You can't. It's impossible. So by keeping it smaller, you can do that. And at that rate, that rate starts at $31. From there, we have packages and we have packages and memberships so that they can start getting a little bit of a discount from it. The third tier that I have is I have corporate partnerships. I have partnered with Classpass one Pass, which is a united health care program, and the other one is a Cigna one. It's called Active and Fit. So these are benefit based workout ones that they will the insurance will pay for them to turn to for classes a month. 

Doug Vestal That's amazing. 

Shari Barta Yeah. So then people with Medicare can come at no additional costs and come to four classes a month. So that's where I'm making this very accessible. And then on the flip design of it, the idea is if I am filling my classes, that is paying a chunk of that rent and takes a huge chunk of the overhead. So that's where I can keep my private rate lower and still pay myself and my therapist a competitive salary. Or I can live wage. Everybody is also contractors right now. I do hope to be shifting that business model. But right now everyone's contractors because there's not enough hours. So it's a way for me to be able to give them a little bit more money. So I'm trying to be smart about how I do that. 

Doug Vestal Yeah. I love everything that you just mentioned. And I want to ask you something. Feel free to take a pass on this type of question. But many of us struggle around money and paying themselves and making money and they want to. There is a conflict with giving back to the community, but also making a livable wage for their family and saving and prioritizing their their own health. Would you mind sharing sort of like, is your business profitable? How profitable is it? You know, are you paying yourselves with everything that you're doing to give back? 

Shari Barta I am. So I am I am the cliche. I don't like dedicate myself. Well, when I hired a new it really did force me to look at my numbers. And I did just raise them to be able to give them a competitive rate. So my rates are I am profitable. I do wish I was paying myself more. But I have to point one piece out because I would be making way more money except the rent of my studio. I anybody who's in the Denver area will know. I put my studio in a neighborhood called Cherry Creek North. Cherry Creek North is striving to be the Rodeo Drive of Denver. So my rent is quite pricey. And I know that if I put my place someplace else, I could have made that same model and be way more profitable. But I did this because that's where my clients already started, so I had already built a base there. So I was like, If I leave this neighborhood, I'd have to start all over. So I chose to stay in the neighborhood. I have no regrets, but I do know that when I go to open my second clinic, it will be way more profitable, way faster, purely because my rent is not going to be what it is. So my rent is huge. 

Doug Vestal Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Getting those fixed expenses down as much as possible is really key. And it sounds like you have a great plan doing that with the second location. 

Shari Barta Yeah. 

Lindsey Vestal One of the things you really touched on there was your your raving fans. And one of the things we talked about in Colorado when we hung out was that you have a ton of them, so many so that they have even offered to stand outside your business doors and like hand out fliers on your behalf. I would love to know how have you cultivated this? Like, how how are your fans, like willing willing to do that. 

Shari Barta So, you know, in this raving fans thing, I think this is really like this is kind of my own pat on my back in, I don't know like there industry is different because you usually see somebody for so long and then they go. In a Pilates or wellness industry, you usually keep that client and they keep coming. They say like statistically, people on an average stay for about six months and then they disappear. I've been seeing the same people for five years. I see my people. I'm a no tea. There's no secret to this. We see them. We look at them. We ask them where they're hurting, what is happening? I don't go and check off boxes. I even in a class, they know it. I don't write a class. I don't free write my classes. I don't teach to the class name. I teach to the people who show up. I cultivate on that spot. So my Watson's like, Ooh, my neck is tight today. We throw some exercises in to start getting that firing. I don't. And maybe this is the type of O.T. I've always been. You know, I did acute care in to be a real O.T. or even home care. The same like you never know. It's never about the diagnosis. We can be fabulous voters and not know what the diagnosis is because we look at the person and we treat what's in front of us. We treat those functional lines. We treat those functional deficits. That's how I approach them. And so every single one of my people really feel like they are seen, which that's why because they go there are other studios like the ones that they want to stand outside with cards. They have 20 plus reformers in them. They're lucky their teacher even knows if there are he or she. I mean, it's it's so sad. I know people's names. I know their families. I ask how their vacation was like, I know my people and I really make it. Clients centered and like, that's why they they'll do anything for me. Like they they get upset when a studio works up, like opens up around the corner. And I'm like, Those aren't my competition. They're going to hurt people. Those people will come to us after, but they're like, Put there. They're like, It's okay. 

Lindsey Vestal Sweet. And I just so endearing and I can I can picture it. And I now wish we were living in Denver. Doug I would come to your studio every day. Well, next year when you come, you're coming to the studio. Yes, we're we're building in some extra time to do that. There's there's no doubt about it. By the way, the Colorado State conference is amazing for anyone listening like you need to you need to prioritize it. It's so much fun. 

Shari Barta I'm really bummed only what one day it was by time I had it planned. It was it was one day, but it was. Yeah, it was great. It was great. How would you described been an evolution for you in terms of not treating the diagnoses but treating the client in front of you? Has that been an evolution for you, Sheri, or have that is that always been like the day you graduated from high school? Is that kind of how you showed up? That was the the day it was it was school. I will never forget. I actually you know, my memory is fuzzy from all those years ago because it's over 20 years now. But I remember my professor, Nancy McCray at University of New England. We were sitting there and she walked in and she was the one that introduced the importance of being client centered. And that is what O.T. is all about. And it hit me profoundly. And being a little bit of an aid kind of person, it made sense why that spoke to me so much, because my story is very similar to yours. Cindy. I shadowed a p t at an o t trying to figure out which way I want to go. And I was like, it's great. I volunteered in a p t outpatient. I kind of knew I wanted to do something in that field. And then I met an O.T. and I was like, Whoa, this is cool. Like, it doesn't matter. Like you can have five people with the same diagnosis and you treat them all differently depending on the person. So when Nancy came out there and talked about client centered ness, it was like it all lined up. It was that that it was my first light bulb. You were my second light bulb. And that changed how I approached always. So even like as an acute care person, I never got caught up on diagnosis and I always got frustrated with the therapist that did get caught up on the diagnosis. And I'm like, You're missing the mark. See the person. And so I've always approached it that way. 

Doug Vestal Surya, when you first get started, how did you build up your clients? How did you attract them in the very beginning? 

Shari Barta This is probably the not so nice piece of my story and I will take full ownership of it. I was working at a Pilates studio in the in the city and I. I knew I wasn't a great fit there. I knew that, like, they were very traditional places. Rightfully so. Rightfully so. But I could see, like, people who had I asked, assess who were not being treated correctly. And I'm like, they're building their domain. Please stop. And like I take that do no harm commitment that we have made so seriously. It became very difficult to be there. And so I was starting to be like, I think it's time for me to break out. It's time for me to start thinking about differently. At that time, I had already been doing a private caseload there, and basically when I said I was going to open my own space, I had about 25, 30 people walk with me. 

Doug Vestal Wow. 

Shari Barta I did not poach them. I think that that like, I did not say, please come with me. Please come. I said, Hey, it was wonderful to work with you. It's been an honor. I would love to continue working with you. I am opening my own space. I would completely respect however you want to proceed. Like it was a goodbye. That was it. And they chose to follow me. And so, you know, which is an honor. And I don't take that honor lightly. It doesn't feel good on the same breath either, because in the end, I kind of, you know, took people away from another small business owner. But I did not do it intentionally. Intentionally so. 

Doug Vestal Well, I think I think what you experienced is something that a lot of people experienced, which is that you built up a name and reputation, reputation for yourself, you know, and that is something that you just take with you everywhere. And as you said, you didn't post them. It's just you have a relationship and you make an announcement, you know, and then people are free to make their own decision for their own lives for what fits with them. There's no forcing or coercion or anything else. It's just like, you know, if you if you like me and you like what I'm putting out there, then here's here's a space where you can we can continue that work together. It's very reasonable. 

Shari Barta And it's continued to grow through word of mouth. Yeah. And I say that I pay a lot for my rent. The other beautiful thing I did is I got smart and I took I have very large glass doors in a high walk traffic area. I pay a lot of money for those doors, Those I put signs up and down my book, my doors saying rehabilitation, corrective, exercise, you know, live long and strong women's health. Like I spelled it all out. And then in my rebranding, when I talk about how I said I'm a multidisciplinary, I'm actually in the process of getting that sign made to be put on those windows. So my windows leave no. Like if you know exactly what you're walking into, we don't pretend to be anything about that. So that's the other part where I think that's helped. I've had a lot of people walk in purely from walking past my doors. Is there any other marketing you do you know? Do you do any paid advertising? Do you meet with referring parties? Do you do any sort of community workshops? Like what else is there besides the fact that you had an established reputation, People chose to follow you and then word of mouth has continued? Yes, Yes and yes. I have partnered with a company called It's a magazine is a neighborhood magazine that goes free to the neighborhoods. It's called end to the Neighborhood magazine that is comes here, is called Stroll. And so I've partnered with them and I advertise in them. What's cool about them is their magazine is free to the residents. The residents are like, what is on the front pages? It's a very neighborhood centric magazine. So I and it's always targeting more affluent areas. So in I, I am surrounded by affluent areas where my studio is. So I thought that would be a good choice. So I've been doing that. I actually there's a ton of apartment buildings here. So I go out and I teach a free class here and there at them actually doing two one on Thursday and one on Saturday this week. I What else have I done? I get crafty. I do all of it. I do social media. I think one of the best investments I ever made is I have a social media person. I acknowledged that that was my weakness. I am I am in my 40s and I am not tech savvy at all. I am a cliché. I literally lose things by just touching the wrong button. And so keeping up with social media gives me the heebie jeebies. I just literally get a panic attack. So I hired this young girl who is fabulous and she does all my social media for me. Like, she will literally send me messages like, I need you to talk about this. I'm like, okay, I'll do it. And I think that so I'm just very trying to keep myself out there building that reputation. And I think that one of the hardest things I did and I think this is something that is hard because, you know, we talk about how OTs can be a jack of all trades and we sometimes have such a hard time defining ourselves. Well, that's no different when you open your business and you're it's scary. So scary to own your space. And I mean, not even like, physically. OTs Because, I mean, just your space in the world. And so the best thing I ever did is owning my niche. I am a pelvic health specialist. I do women's health. I do postpartum. I do prenatal. I allow women to curate a mind body connection and heal all of that in a socially acceptable way. So I'm dealing. So, like, we do things. In more of a community base. So that becomes for a lot of women that's a little bit more palatable than some traditional ones. And I don't I think there's an importance to traditional. I think that there's a time and a place, but there has got to be alternatives because we are missing such a large population. So when I committed to that and I owned it and I stopped apologizing out of my insecurities, that is when things started to come together. 

Lindsey Vestal I was going to actually you kind of hit on something that I was going to ask. And so I'm not sure how relevant is after that. Beautiful answer. But, you know, I know we haven't always you it is so clear you love what? I don't know that that was always the case just on some conversations that we've had. What would you tell someone listening to our conversation today who maybe is a little bit out of love with OT right now and is kind of struggling to meld, maybe like you coming from two worlds, what would you tell that person? 

Shari Barta So, you know, Western medicine is hard when you're not you know, like I said, I was just listening to you talk to Rebecca Graves, which is so great because she is a pity in hearing the two of you talk like it, like builds that like hope in me. Because, you know, for me, my lack of love of O.T. was actually never what I actually think. OTs are so cool. It is that. I'm like, what word? And I won't use like just that that the yucky ness between pizza and OTs that is created in this western medicine where there is I've had so many. It's just me trying to be quiet centered, whole body encompassing. I've had Petey's ask me why I'm walking with somebody, why am I the first person to stand them? I'm like, I didn't know it was a race or a competition. I didn't know I needed your permission. Last time I checked, we're supposed to be colleagues in. In many places I have been treated like I am below them. And this has always been a problem for me because I'm like, we are interdisciplinary. We are supposed to be working as a team. And so that. That's what made me fall out of love of the therapy world and wanted to leave. Honestly, anybody who is on the fence here come to have a close summit. You're going to have to double in size. Lindsey, because I'm telling everybody to come because it was so empowering to sit there and see an artist talk openly about collaboration. We are. There was actually something you said that was so profound to me, and you were like, people, do you know where all this disconnected fighting came from? I think it was you. I remember somebody that I was so marveled there, like it was the big farm. Like, they want us fighting because then we're not as effective. And it's so true because when we all work together, we're unstoppable. Unstoppable. We don't like there are so many more answers out there besides drugs. And so, honestly, if you're feeling on the fence, know that there are alternatives out there. There are more people like you than you think. Because I thought I was standing alone. And then when I stood in that space a couple of weeks ago, I was like, wow. Like my fuzzy negative glasses have been like, blown off and I am seeing everything clearer and just like a nice like it's ours to own and we have to stop giving that to Western medicine and we have to start owning that relationship. And I think that the more that break out in our in this more entrepreneurial setting, we are going to be able to start shifting the dialog in shifting this partnership because we all want the exact same thing. 

Lindsey Vestal So much of what really elevates you and that you have anchored your practice in has been around community. You know, not only the people that you serve in the way that you make it so accessible, but also hearing that being in community at our summit really lit that fire beneath you. And so I just want to point that out because you're definitely someone after my own heart that the power of us standing in believing in our profession and opening doors and being collaborative is is really what it's all about. So I love that. And I also want to give credit where credit is due, because it was our amazing president, Dr. Allison Stover, who actually stood up during her address and talked about the pharma being behind the disconnect. And that was that was I also was blown away by that. 

Shari Barta Yeah, really, it was sad. And I was like, whoa, okay. And then I'm like, I have no idea. It was gone. It was gone in the files of my high poverty summit. So sorry, sorry. Allison She was amazing to amazing self And she was at our Colorado State meeting, so she I told the attack to both of you. I thought ownership of that attack away. I'm so glad you did. So share. You hinted a little bit about what's next for you in terms of on the auspices of hiring a potentially an O.T.. Anything else big picture that's going around in that brilliant mind of yours for what's next for your business? Yeah. Like I said, I came off my high of Arizona. It was like, my husband's like, my gosh. So my husband's in HR and so he's in the process of helping me. We are over the next year or two years we're going to my goal is next year to open a second clinic and then we want to start opening up the framework of how our model can be replicated. And make this an option. Because, you know, as we know, a lot of voters, entrepreneurs are really makes them nervous. And so this is a community based, completely community based model. It's a little different. So we're going to tighten it all up and then be able to share that with others, because I think there's such a need for this. There's such a niche. And so we are going to expand on all of that. And like I said, I am starting to start a the Pilates for therapists hoping to make that a continuing ad, So I'm starting that process, which I have never done this before. It is a whole journey and adventure there. I also to open up the community place. I've been dabbling in a web based app. So it is it is my core rehab. It's my women's health program. My my attitude again is babies are born everywhere. Women are everywhere. I live in a city and got mediocre care. I can't even imagine what our ladies in the middle of nowhere are getting. So I wanted to give them, you know, when you go on to the App store, like there are 5 million cable apps, but that's it. And so I wanted to make this more encompassing app that has diagnostic specific tracks. So I was so inspired, you know, this summer when I was working with a couple of my postpartum clients that I am shifting stuff into these very educational tracks. But we discuss everything. Like it's not just key goals, it is some exercises. There are bladder diaries, there is bladder retraining. Like all the things that we do is no t is built into this app to give them these resources. So my goal for 2025 as well is to get that into the App store so that we can have more reach because I want to help as many women as I can. 

Lindsey Vestal That's incredible. So did you have any other thoughts that you wanted to ask Sheri? 

Doug Vestal No, I just I mean, I'm really impressed with what you've been able to build in a relatively short amount of time. And I think you have been able to accomplish that, something that a lot of OTs want to be able to do, which is be able to pay themselves, be recognized in the community, provide community resources, be a hub, create raving fans. And you seemed I know we didn't touch on it, but you seemed to do it and you still have a passion for it, even though it's really hard work. Like Lindsey and I know how much hard work goes into this, but you're still fired up. You're not burnt out. You have amazing plans for the future. So I just want to say I'm incredibly impressed. I can't wait to see what you do in 2025. 

Shari Barta Thank you. I love what I do. And I think diving deep into some of those pieces in like owning my niche, owning my space helped me find that. And I think I didn't sound like this five years ago. I was trying to find that place and I was lost. So I think that it's really important to do that self-reflection and be really honest and true to yourself. And I mean, we we both have loved it. But like Western medicine is hard. Those traditional medical models, they burn us out. And it's interesting because when I have clients come to me and complain about that mediocre outpatient visit they had, I'm like, you have to stop for a second and realize these therapists, they did not go to school to be human loyalists. They did not go to school to see somebody every 15 minutes like it is. It just beats you down. So I'm like, I get that you want better care and you deserve better care. But now you know that that therapist is not intending to give you anything about their best. But that is everything that's wrong with our medical model right now. You know, I say to everybody, unfortunately, I don't think we have health care. We have sick care. And I think the people who are brave enough to go out, drive for what they want and be passionate, we are flipping that script. We are going back to wellness. 

Doug Vestal Yeah, Yeah. 

Lindsey Vestal I think you're just such an amazing model of why I fell in love with private pay. Why? I know Doug loves helping coaches start their private pay practices because there's no there's not a sacrifice. I think sometimes they think they're giving up something to have that. And actually you're able to serve it all. You're hitting all the priorities. I also know you're a very involved family member like you're doing Shari, you're really living true to your authentic values and to what you care about. And I just have to, like, shout from the rooftops that I, I personally think private pay is one of the things that made it possible without you compromising your values and ethics. And so it just was a beautiful, beautiful conversation today. I'm so grateful to be able to see what you're bringing to the world, not only to our profession, but for your your mazing lucky clients in Denver. Thank you so much for being a guest on the podcast today. 

Shari Barta Thank you so much for having me. This was amazing. 

Outro Thanks for listening to another episode of OTs and Pelvic health. If you haven't already, hop on to Facebook and join my group OTs for Pelvic health, where we have thousands of OTs at all stages of their Pelvic health career journey. This is such an incredibly supportive community where I go live each and every week. If you love this episode, please take a screenshot of this episode on your phone and posted to IG Facebook or wherever you post your stuff and be sure to tag me and let me know why you like this episode. This will help me to create in the future what you want to hear more of. Thanks again for listening to the OTs and Pelvic health podcast.