Ep 82: OT Q&A: Funding Changes, Business Direction & The Future of Allied Health

Gday guys, welcome back to the poddy 🤍

In this episode I answer your questions about all the things currently happening in the OT and NDIS world. We chat about Thriving Kids, the future of rural OT, diversifying caseloads and businesses and navigating all the fear and uncertainty online at the moment.

I also answer questions about imposter syndrome, preparing for studying OT @ uni, my favourite PDs, the online OT creator space and where I hope the profession heads in the future.

As always, this is just my opinion and experience. 

Hope you enjoy!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

G'day guys and welcome to Holly the OT Podcast. My name is Holly, and I am an occupational therapist looking to create a judgment-free zone for all OT students, new grads, and early year therapists. Join me as I give my honest opinions on the highs and the lows and the ins and the outs of being an OT.

SPEAKER_02 0:19

Before I start today's episode, I'd like to acknowledge the Larakea people who are the traditional custodians of the land this episode was recorded.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Guys, I'm having audio issues. Can you hear me okay? Nod if you can hear me. I'm going to presume there was a unison of nods. Um G'day, Jeff!

SPEAKER_02 0:40

Welcome back to the potty. Um, every time I go through a period of like not recording episodes, I always say, Holly, don't do that because I have to reteach myself how to set up my microphone every single time. So this hereby, hand on heart, you won't you won't get enough of me now. I'm gonna keep recording potty episodes. Um guys, I was so keen to record an episode yesterday and I just had full creativity blank. I had no, no episode content that was pulling me in any direction. So I did what the best creatives do, and I learned on you guys. I put up a question box, and you guys have absolutely delivered on said questions. Um I do this all the time whenever I'm just like lacking creative juices of any capacity because you guys always pull through. Um, and it also reminds me what people want to know about and what people want me to talk about. So God bless. Thanks everyone who submitted a question. Um but first of all, I just want to say, how is everyone doing? Obviously, you can't answer that question, but I just I feel like there's an air at the moment in the OT, probably the Allied Health Space, probably the world, if I'm being so honest, without getting into any politics or anything like that. But there's definitely like a level of heaviness at the moment. So um, if you are going through something at the moment, if you are struggling, if you have been impacted by any of the things happening in the the world and the country at the moment, just know that I'm thinking of you and I hope that you are able to find those little bits of joy in your day and they make everything okay. Because yeah, there's just there's lots happening. So I'm I'm here with anyone who is is struggling at the moment. But I wanted to get in to the first question, which actually was asked four times, and it was, how am I going? And I just first of all, I love that people ask that because it's so nice. I always feel like like I really love the community I have through the podcast and everyone that is involved in in you know my work life and in in the community, and yeah, I I love it all. And when I go through periods of not posting, like I don't think I've posted in about six weeks, I always think, ah, God, I've lost my community. And then I do something like this, and people that message questions like that and check in, it's just so beautiful. So that's my long-winded way of saying thanks for asking how I am. Um, I'm good at the moment. I am I am good. There's a lot of things up in the air, as with anyone, but I think I think I feel good about it. I think it's one of those things where I think I spoke about this on one of my burnout episodes with like the big NDIS travel announcements last year, and how information comes and and it depends on how you are as a person in that moment and how you're going to perceive it. And I'm just really happy that, you know, recently I've been in a really regulated zone and and you know, things have been going well, that the recent changes, which are probably what 80% of my questions are about, if I'm so honest with you, yeah, that's not affected me as much. So I'm really good. Um I'm a little bit lonely, if I'm honest with you. God, that sounds dramatic. As I started saying it, I was like, whoa, are you really gonna say that out loud? Um, for those who don't know, my partner does FIFO. So fly in, fly out. I always say FIFO, and I forget there's people from other countries that listen, but fly in, fly out. So he's away for work two weeks at a time and then he's home for two weeks at a time. And sometimes I love it, sometimes I have no issues with it whatsoever, but sometimes I don't. And I he's away at the moment, and I'm just not really coping, if I'm so honest with you. I feel like it comes back to like when I have other people around me, it makes the time when he's away easier. But I feel like I still really haven't found like my group and my people in Darwin. Like, I have some beautiful friends and um, you know, people who have been so welcoming to me. But something I've learned the more I move around, that like, you know, building social connections takes a lot of energy and it takes a lot of time, and you've got to be really available. And I'm finding that I'm like, I don't have the energy on a weekend to, you know, go and hang out with new people and meet new people, um, even though I'm getting invited to things. And then it just is like this vicious cycle of like, well, you can't make friends and build community around you if you're not going out and making the efforts. And then I like beat myself up. I'm like, oh, there's opportunity. And then I think, oh, if Kane was home, it would just be easier because I could just hang out with Kane. And yeah, that's that's a whole thing about like living away from home and always moving. Like it's building connection takes effort. And sometimes you just don't have the energy for that. And I'm trying not to be hard on myself because I know I do so much and I know that I'm pulled in a million directions that like, of course, I'm not gonna have energy to do that. But then it also, yeah, it's now coming into the dry season, and you know, there's things on every weekend that I'm like, I just wish I had like my people to do all those things with. So it's a work in progress, but it's not a big thing, it's just something I'm reflecting on. Um, but yeah, other than that, I'm okay. I've got a lot of things in the works, a lot of projects, as I bloody always do, if I'm so honest with you. And I g I hate saying that, like, oh yes, I'm working on projects. Like, holly, no one cares. Tell us what you're doing. I can't yet, guys. I can't. But I will, and you'll love it, but I just can't yet. Um, but yeah, that's keeping me busy. I'm excited. There's lots to be excited about, I think. Also, I'm going to Fiji in three weeks, which I'm so excited for, for one of my really good friends' weddings. So I've just got that on the horizon. I feel like you always need a holiday in a tropical destination in your sights. And I've got it. I'm looking at it. Notice if I did just come back from a holiday four weeks ago. Four weeks ago? This week, what am I saying? Ay, ay, ay. I see, I already need a holiday, guys. I can't go more than three weeks without a holiday. That's a joke. Anyway, um, okay, let's get into it. Now, I would also like to acknowledge, like I said, 90% of these questions are about thriving kids and DIS business. And I love that that is what people are wanting to know about. Um, and when I opened my question box last night after I put it up and went to Netball Training, came back, and I was like, gosh, thank God I'm feeling okay about it. Because if I wasn't and I opened up, I would be overwhelmed. Um, and I I know it's the topic of the minute. Everyone wants, everyone's worried, everyone wants to know what other people are doing, and I'm so happy to share that. But yeah, I just, if you're feeling overwhelmed by NJS and Thriving Kids and all that, maybe don't listen to the rest of this episode because it's probably what I'm gonna talk about. And I think as business owners, as professionals, as therapists, whatever your capacity is, you know, we have the responsibility to ourselves to monitor what content we consume and not get bombarded by it. Because yes, it's gonna impact us, but it only is gonna impact us to the extent that we let it. So if you're not feeling up to hearing about that today, please don't. I'm not gonna be offended. I'm also not gonna know. Um, but yeah, switch off and maybe come back to it another time. Um, because I don't have the answers. I'm just gonna share my opinion, as I love to do. Okay, the first, or the second question, I've already answered the first one. As a business owner across different states, how are you planning to navigate Thriving Kids? Great question, because the across the states thing is something that is proving trickier than I thought. Not in any capacity. Okay, no, I'm gonna rewind. Rewind. First of all, I'm not worried about thriving kids from a business perspective. Obviously, it is going to change the way businesses run. Obviously, the way it's rolling out, I think is abhorrent, and I think it's terrible, and I think it's fear-mongering, and that's a whole nother story. I think it really is just a miscommunication between federal government and state government, and they are they have this great idea of how it's going to look, but no one can actually give a verbal explanation of this is what thriving kids is, this is how you access it, and this is how it will be available. So that naturally is going to create fear among businesses. And I like we are one tiny, tiny percentage of this. Like in the end of the day, if my business is impacted, that's my choice as a business owner, that's my risk I've taken to start a business, but it's not impacting my personal life, it's not impacting my children, it's not impacting my development. Like it's not, like, yes, it's impacting me, but I'm not the issue here, right? So I just want to preface with that. You know, the people who are going to be impacted by this to the most degree are the families, are the kids. And that's who we will always fight for. So I'm, if I'm seeing mean dismissive, it's not to the bigger picture. Like I understand the issues to the bigger picture. In terms of how it's going to impact my business, like it will, but it won't. I think, you know, we've known about this for a long time. Not a long, long time, but like there's been whispers. And I think anyone who runs an NDIS business knows that you really can't rely just on NDIS income to run your business. And you can't rely just on one income stream, you can't rely on one service delivery. Like we've we all should be and should have been diversifying our business structure. So thriving kids is going to impact early intervention. We know that. Early intervention is probably 30% of our caseload. I really, really, really feel for those businesses who are solely eight and under, which I know there are many, many out there. So that's not my situation. Um, if that is your situation, I do feel for you because I know that stress is going to feel feel far, far greater. Obviously, outside of Thriving Kids, we've been told that um eligibility for NDIS is going to tighten down and access and service assessments, service assessments, support needs assessments. Support needs assessments, what they're going to look like. Like there's obviously a lot of unknowns. You know, they came out with a number of, you know, we're kicking 120,000 people off the scheme. You know, they're all things that create fear and they're all things that create uncertainty. Um, I'm confident in the demand for our services that it's really not going to impact anything in the immediate future. And by immediate future, I mean probably 12 to 18 months. And I think within that 12 to 18 months, it's my responsibility as a business owner to make sure there are other options for income. Um, that's something that we've been working on for the last 12 months anyway. Um, like I said, I've got projects in the work. But yeah, it's obviously getting creative with that. So, in terms of what we are going to do as a business, I'm going to start a non-for-profit. I don't really know what that process looks like at this stage. Um, it's something I actually wanted to do last year because there's a lot of really great grants that you can get at the moment for service deliveries in schools, but you have to be a non-for-profit to get them. Um, so I started looking into it. And then again, the state thing was tricky because you can start non-for-profits in states and you use state, uh, use state jurisdiction. But starting one Australia-wide is not as easy as it seems. Um, but my vision for that is, you know, having a non-for-profit that can apply for grants and um contract to my company at the moment. So they'll be separate companies, but I can, you know, subcontract my OTs to the non-for-profit. So yeah, it's like intertwined, but it's separate businesses. Anyway, I'm having a meeting with someone um next month who are going to advise me if that's actually possible. Um, but that's what I'm thinking. And that way it won't impact the NDIS side of the business, but then way there's still capacity for, even if it's not thriving kids-specific stuff, but like fundraising, school grants, community grants, things like that, which is stuff that I have been interested in for a little while. Um, but in terms of the actual Thriving Kids services, we're not really going to dip our toe in it anytime soon. I think people need to remember that, like, and again, I hate that it's going to impact people in the interim, but this is not going to be perfect straight away. Um, and we don't need it at the moment from a business perspective. Like, majority of our clients are 12 and above. And, you know, we've obviously we've definitely got some early intervention clients. Um, and we've definitely got, you know, around that eight, nine year mark, where it's still not sort of certain what eligibility will look like. Um, but yeah, it's it's not something that we need to jump into straight away. So, like I said, for those businesses who are needing to jump into it straight away, I definitely am feeling for them. Um, but yeah, we're just gonna sit back and watch for now and focus on diversing income in other areas as well. Um, next question is again, similar tone. Whoa, where'd it go? How are you feeling about constant NDIS Thrive and Kids updates? Um, in terms of how I'm feeling about it, I think, like I said, it's a lot of a lot of fear, mongering. And then I'm also seeing people sort of praying into that a little bit. Like, I still don't think we as business owners or supervisors or mentors or anyone within the business support areas know what it's going to look like. So the fact that every time you open Instagram or open Facebook or open your emails, there's a webinar about Thriving Kids, and there's a webinar about how to plan for thriving kids. Like people are sort of preying on stressed-out business owners and wanting to get them to come to their webinar. But I don't think anyone knows enough about it to be able to confidently run a webinar. Maybe, you know, correct me if I'm wrong. Like if you've done a Thriving Kids webinar and you've learned something about it and you've paid 200 bucks and you felt like it was bang for buck, please, I'll eat my words. But yeah, I sort of feel like people are latching onto it a little bit too much, if I'm so honest with you. I'm not dismissing that we need to be aware of it. We need to be ahead of the game and we need to be thinking proactively. But I don't think it's the time for throwing your money at things just to try to get a bit of reassurance. Um, I think it's also important to pick what content you consume. I've been really conscious, you know, in Facebook, in Facebook, on Facebook. I'm a part of a fair few groups. I reckon I've muted 80% of them because, you know, every time you'd open Facebook to check what my niece is doing at soccer, um, you get bombarded with group posts about, yeah, someone's complaining about this or someone's got this fear, and it's all valid stuff. People have the right to share that, but I don't want to consume that every time I open social media. So I think, yeah, being conscious about what content you are consuming. Um I have my few that I go to that I I feel are reliable sources, and I sort of lean onto them, and then I don't really get anything from anyone else, if I'm being honest. So it's all about knowing knowing your limits of information and knowing what you need to know for your business and not drowning in the rest of the noise because that's debilitating, and that is where business owners come unstuck because it's just so dysregulating. And that impacts how you then run your business, how you show up for your staff, how you show up for your team, how you show up for your clients. So that's that's how I'm feeling. I obviously don't love it. No one loves it, and it's a bit of a headache, but yeah, it's just reaffirming what we already know, and that's just that we can't rely on NDIS as income. Um, next question is where do you see rural practice heading with the NDIS? Are you concerned about caseload? Um, I think there will be a lot of businesses who work rurally who charge an exuberant amount of money who will not be able to continue doing that. Um, I'm not too worried. I think we charge very fair travel amounts. I think it's the right amount of sustainable for us, but uh not absolutely running people's plans dry. I think as we see plans become less and less, which is what it seems will happen over the next few years, you know, capacity building funding will be less. I think we'll need to be, I guess, creative in service delivery. Like maybe it's one fortnight you get a face-to-face, next fortnight you get a telehealth, or maybe you do a block of four weeks of face-to-face, and then for the next four weeks there's some parent coaching stuff over telehealth, um, or alternating between OT and speech, things like that. So I'm not super worried at this stage. I think there will always be a need for rural practitioners. I think some people get into it for the wrong reasons and think, well, we can charge so much more and it's so profitable. Like it's not. I would make so much more money if I just had a little clinic in Darwin and just saw people out of the clinic. Like it would be way more profitable for me. So I think we will see services who are in it for the wrong reasons or who aren't thinking ethically they will be impacted, I believe. Um, but no, I'm not too worried in terms of caseload at the moment. Um, are there pathways to get into OT after doing the AHA cert? Is this common for the industry? Um, I think I don't actually know, if I'm being honest with you. Um, I know for a fact that I have a friend who was an AHA and she applied for, she was deemed a mature aid student, and she applied for to get into the OT program. And it you like they saw her experience and that strengthened her application. Um, but from as far as I am aware, there's no sort of carryover of like TAFE qualifications into AHA. But also don't not into AHA, into OT. Um, but don't quote me on that. But I think stuff like that will strengthen your applications if you're applying for programs who maybe only have a limited amount of spaces. Um but I also think if you are working as an AHA, that's going to be so helpful for actually studying as an OT and becoming an OT. Um, even when I hire like all the girls I've hired, like if they didn't have experience working with kids or um in an AHA role or in a teacher's aid role or childcare, whatever, like I wouldn't even look at the application again, if I'm being completely honest, because I think that role, that experience, sorry, is so so helpful and so important. Huh. Alright. Next question is any long-term vision for OT? Um, examples, awareness, OTs in different fields, etc., etc. Um, okay, I'm not gonna do what I think. I'm gonna do what I hope. Because I think it's very hard to know what will happen. But what I hope for OTs and what I hope for, you know, my vision for what OT can do, um, I think about this very often. I am a very firm believer that there should be an OT in every school, if not every school area, whether that's employed directly by the school or whether that's subcontracted in. But an OT that that school can reference to, I think would be so helpful. I know in Victoria it is common. I don't know if it's in every school or if it's just um like support schools. I think in Queensland there is a lot of it as well. But I know for a fact in New South Wales, WA and ENT where I have worked, it's not a thing. Um, and I love as an OT, you know, at the moment I have a school who have been coming to me for lots of questions outside of my clients and they've asked me to do some PD and training. And, you know, even the teachers have said, wow, if we just had access to you or people like you all the time, it would make things so helpful. Um, which I totally agree with. You can see the difference it makes. You can see when teachers have access to someone they can ask questions about regulation. Like I just think that would be so fabulous. Um, but I think I think we'll start to see more of that. I also think it would be so great if there was OTs in sports clubs, um, or sports clubs had to do some sort of training around kids and different learning styles and emotional regulation and stuff like that. I think sport has such a powerful role to play in children's social development, well-being, physical health, all those things. And coaches who are 99% of the time volunteers that just want to help out, I think they have such an important role to play in making that a positive experience for kids. So if they just had some help about how to deliver instructions in different ways, how to support kids after school when they're probably so overstimulated and then they've got to go to training, um, how to have tricky conversations with kids, if they've got to, you know, come and sit on the bench for a little bit, like stuff like that. I think OTs would have a really great role to play. Um, so that would be really cool. Um, and I also think play groups and like parental support groups, OTs being embedded in them, which I believe is what a lot of farming kids is going to be. But that would be so epic if there was developmentally focused OTs in those sort of zero to 36 month age ranges that parents could lean on as a norm, not as a, hey, you've been flagged for developmental concerns, but like, hey, you're developing as expected, but here is an OT that you can still lean on. Um, I think would be so great. So that's that's what I hope. Um in terms of what actually will happen, I don't know. Or I actually, here's another one. I hope, and I actually think this will be a thing, um, is more OTs in the juvenile justice system, particularly up here in the NT, where we do have a very high rate of incarcerated youth having OTs or any allied health professionals embedded within those systems as the norm, I think would be epic. Um so yeah, that would be so great. Um, next question Are you diversifying your caseload? I absolutely am diversifying my caseload. Um, we have been working on diversifying our caseload for a long time. Um, I would say we have a pretty good mix at the moment in terms of like age ranges. I would still say it's probably like 80% uh neurodiverse. Autistic children, ADHD, yeah, just general neurodivergence. But we are starting to lean into a lot more like physical disability. We've got a few clients with cerebral pausy, Down syndrome. We're definitely diversifying. And I think leaning into that older age range has been something I've been interested in for a while. You know, that young adult life skills, ADLs, independence type area, I think has been really, really great to work in. So yeah, we're definitely looking at diversifying. And I think you have to, regardless of what the funding bodies are telling you, I think it's really important to have, I guess, variety in your caseload. Not when you're starting out, and that's something I stand by. When you're starting out, get good at one thing first and then lean into the rest. But yeah, once you've been out for a few years, I think having that variety keeps things fresh, keeps things interesting, and means you don't get bored. Um, all right. Best PDs for a new grad OT. Another one said best PD in general, best PD to do in Darwin. Um, yeah. A few questions on PD. Um, I think I've done an episode on this. Maybe I haven't. Maybe I should. Um, again, depending on your caseload, I would lean into if you're in the NGIS, um, OTuition is still hands down, I would say, one of the best platforms ever. Um, with some really great uh training and checklists and all that jazz for really understanding NGIS and capacity building. Um, there is also, oh my god, I've forgotten her name. Your OT Tudor, Claire. How could I forget? Gosh, that's terrible. Um, yeah, your OT Tudor, she is fabulous. And her platform is very, very, very cost effective for what you get out of it. Um, and it's very helpful for report writing um and just general, again, NJS awareness, but also just job support and managing day-to-day things that pop up, you know, managing billables, managing caseload managing, deadlines, all that jazz. Like there's really so much great stuff on your OT Tutor. So definitely check that out. In terms of PD that I have done from a pediatric perspective, my favorite will always be traffic jam in my brain. If you are working with kids, I think every single person should do this at Traffic Jam in my brain. It is so fabulous. It covers so many um foundation areas. It is just, yeah, it is so, so great. Um, I'm also a very big fan of Carrie Evitts um and her sense-up approach. Um, I'm working through the complete sense-up model at the moment. It is absolutely fabulous as well. I also really love Harkler. Um, Harkler, who is the all things sensory podcast. Um, they do a lot of great training on reflex integration, which is a huge practice area of mine at the moment. Um, I've also done one about sensory and motor milestones, so again, that like zero to 36 month age range. And also on brain-body connection and the use of metronome, which has been really, really helpful. So they're my absolute favorites. I also did the SOS training many moons ago. Um, I don't do SOS groups because it's just not really practical in my service delivery, but a lot of the concepts of that have been very helpful in terms of understanding feeding and sensory impacting on feeding and all that jazz. I believe it is not the most neurofilm program. I've been reading a little bit about that in terms of actually delivering the feeding model, the feeding group model, sorry. Um, but I I loved the um the practical theory that you learn from SOS. So they're a couple of my faves. Um, but I think PD, again, this is a side note of PD, but just listening to like podcasts, I think is great PD. I also think Instagram, great for for those quick bite-sized bits of information. Um, but yeah, listening to podcasts in in long drives, particularly if you're a rural therapist, like use that time wisely. Use that time to get some extra learning in. I think especially once you're busy, PD is one of those things that sort of is the first thing to go out the window. But if you're an early year therapist and you're listening to this and you feel like you don't have time for PD, please make time. It there will never be time for it. We will always be convincing ourselves that the time spent with clients is more important or time spent researching or what have you. But if you don't dedicate time to PD, that is going to impact you out and your ability to learn and your ability to know what to do. Like think about all the time you spend before a session researching stuff because you're not sure what to do. Whereas if you just put an hour or two a month into PDE, that would save that time. So you've just got to do it. And if your workplace doesn't allow that, sign R say. No, don't don't take my advice. I've been told I'm too, too, uh, what's the word, flippant with my advice. Anyway. Oh, this is a fun question. What is the most annoying thing about recruiters? Asking for a friend. Um, I would say the person asking this is a recruiter. Thank you, Chris. Um, my theory on recruiters, Chris, you're a great recruiter. Um, I think recruiters are lazy. This is a very general term. I should just I should say that very, very general. I get so annoyed when I get messages on LinkedIn or messages on Instagram or messages on my phone. I don't even know how they get my phone number. But it's like, hey, Holly, love your content. Like, let's talk about these roles that are available. Like, sis, if you just did three minutes, not even three minutes, 30 seconds of scrolling, you'd see I own my own business, you'd see I have employees, you'd see that I don't want your role in Parramatta in workplace rehab, respectfully. No offense to anyone who works in Paramatta in workplace rehab. But the amount of text messages I get for positions in that, like, it's just annoying. Like, do like I totally get you've got to get the word out there, you've got to contact people, but don't don't message me about jobs anymore, please. Please, please, please, recruiters. Advice on how to prepare to do my master's in OT. Anything extra I can do, resources, etc. etc. Also, to the person who asked this question, I love that you did anything extra I Can Do with Nose Faces to try to get the question in the question box. I respect the the effort for that. Um, I think, first of all, you you're gonna learn so much. So if you're about to go into OT, I think it's okay to just chill out and enjoy this time before you do start studying. So I think go easy on yourself and don't feel like you have to go in with a million things already that you know. That would be my first point, of course. But again, coming back to the Instagram front, I think there are so many cool creators, even if we're on TikTok now. Like I love the amount of creators that there are who are yeah, sharing their day in the life, sharing resources, sharing tips. I think leaning into that and getting that experience and that knowledge of what it looks like to work as an OT through that really like low demand, low pressure, quick digestible info. Like I think, yeah, leaning into OT creators um would be really helpful. And then even trying to think podcasts. Obviously, you could listen to my podcast. I know that I don't post regularly, but what's some great ones back from like 2023? I feel like that was peak podcast year. Go back and listen. And again, listen to some of the stories of other people because I think that's the coolest way to learn and prepare yourself is to have that real like inside knowledge of what it really is like to work for and work as an OT. I also think if you're really keen, like you could message some providers in your area and see if they let you come in shadow, or you know, if you do have capacity to get a job as an AHA, like there's nothing that will prepare you more for studying OT than being in an OT environment. So AHA work, hands down, is the best thing you can do while you are studying. So I could lean into that. Uh, not a question, but I'd love to get on the pod. Public mental health new grad here. Slay. Uh Amy, send me a send me an email. I'll get you on the pod. Um, I feel like I made a uh expression of interest to come on the podcast and then never tell anyone about that. So maybe I'm going to put that on my story. And then if people want to come on the podcast and be interviewed, let me know. Um, because I'm all for it. I love to hear people's stories, that's why we do this. Um, ooh, how to deal with imposter syndrome and constant self-doubt. Okay. This is I'm gonna give you the most like straight answer. It will never go away. And I don't mean to scare anyone who is in the thick of that. Like that imposter syndrome and that doubt, I feel like if you don't have a level of imposter syndrome, you're probably not really considering the importance of your role, and you're probably being a bit lazy, um, and you're probably not doing extra learning or being aware of what you do need to learn. Like, I think it's it's almost good to have a level of imposter syndrome because you're so aware of what you need to do and what how you need to grow confidence. Obviously, it's not a nice feeling, but it's it's sitting in it and being okay with it. Because can I tell you, at every different phase of my career, from when I was an AHA, from my first day of uni, from when I've started working as a new grad OT, from when I became a supervisor, to when I started my business, every single time you get to a next step of your career, almost like it's a level up, like you're in Mario Kart and you've eaten a mushroom and you're getting stronger. Like every time you get to that new level, you're gonna feel impossible syndrome. You're going to feel that self-doubt. You're going to question what you know, question if you're ready. And I genuinely think if you don't do that, you're either too comfortable and you're not challenging yourself. And I think we always need to be challenged and we always need to be learning and we always need to be leveling in some capacity. Obviously, that doesn't mean that everyone has to go and become a supervisor if they don't want to, or become a business owner, or whatever that means. Like that's not what I'm saying. But there always needs to be a level of, okay, I feel confident now, I need to do more, I need to learn more, I need to take my practice to the next level. So, in the nicest way possible, like it will always be there, and I feel like it should always be there to an extent. You can't let it creep in, though, to the fact that it starts impacting anxiety and it starts impacting your well-being. Because I will also say, as much as a bit of self-doubt and imposter syndrome is normal, I've always found any period of really intense imposter syndrome where it's actually impacted my ability to do my work or show up for myself or show up for my clients, you know, that really, really strong self-doubt that has you questioning everything, anytime that's happened has also been matched with periods of dysregulation, no routine, I'm not eating well, I'm not looking after myself, I'm stuck on my phone, I'm stuck on my screen, I'm not putting boundaries in place. Like all of that is almost like that natural anxiety response I feel. So if you're noticing that it's really creeping in and really getting intense, like scale it back and just really look at yourself and and, you know, what's your well-being like at the moment and how you're looking after yourself outside of work and how is that impacting how you show up at work? Um, I hope that's not dismissive. I like impulse syndrome is a really gross feeling and it can be really impactful. But I think it's that level of awareness we need to have of, okay, I have a little bit of self-doubt. I have some impulse syndrome. Maybe it's because I'm taking things to the next level and I'm pushing myself and I'm outside of my comfort zone. What is the online OT community like? I want to start a page, but feeling a little bit intimidated, would love your thoughts. Oh, I love this question. Guys, make a page. If you want to make a page, you want to post, you want to be creative, absolutely do it. I think I actually reflected on this the other day with um one of my friends of mine who is also a OT creator, and we're talking about how like three, four years ago, there was not many pages at all. Whereas now there are so many pages and so many students popping up with pages, and I just love it. I think it's so great. And I think there is so much room for so many people in the OT Allied Health content creation space. Like people want to see what no, people want to be what they can see. Um, so the more Allied Health creators that there are out there, I think it's absolutely a positive. Um, in terms of what the creator community is like, like I think it's really beautiful. I have made so many really great connections with people. Natalia from Innocence OT, um, Inside Out OT, she used to be, but Innocence OT now, like she was at my wedding recently. So, and we met on Instagram as fellow creators. And then other creators like Alaska, Alaska OT, she is beautiful and such a kind, generous person with her time, like just so, so lovely. Um, and there are other creators out there who, yeah, I I only know from Instagram, but we have helped each other out. It's a bit of a you scratch my back, I scratch your back situation. Like there is a very nice community. What I will say to that is though, is there are definitely people with ulterior motives. And I think the more you are around and the more interaction you have with people, the more you start picking up on it. Um, there definitely were times where, you know, I had connections with people and we'd go back and forth for ages. Um, and this was probably the time where the podcast was like popping off at its peak, and you know, people would be so nice to me over message and, you know, they'd be so chatty and engaging. And then it would come to the point where I'd, you know, offer for them to come on the podcast, and then they'd come on the podcast and they'd be so lovely and we'd have this great chat. And then afterwards it was sort of just like radio silence. And then that happened a couple of times, and then I thought, okay, the trend here is either I'm a shocking podcast interviewer and they hated me and they don't want to talk to me anymore, which I don't think is the case, if I say so myself. Um, or the other side of it is they were actually just fluffing me out because they wanted to get on the podcast and they wanted to get something out of it. Um and then they, yeah, didn't really need me anymore, so they stopped engaging with my content. Which is like fine, whatever. It is what it is. Like it's a business at the end of the day, like it's okay. Um I also have found there is a level of and again, this is such a pardon me, choking on my own words. Um, this is such a non-issue, but I guess it's relevant to the question. Um there are people who will take advantage of your kindness and your willingness to share information, I guess. I'm a very open book. If anyone messaged me anything about anything that I've done, you know, writing a book, starting a podcast, anything like I will share. I think there is no need for competition in our space. But I also think there is a level of like due diligence of, you know, if you're doing something similar to someone or you're um, you know, opening up a new business in a similar area or offering a similar thing. Like obviously there's room for that and there's room for everyone, but I think there is a level of communication that can make things easier. So I've been a little bit disheartened by people who were close connections, I guess, releasing or doing things very, very similar with sort of no context or no check-in or no background, and even people who have asked my advice on certain areas and sort of kept it very casual and oh, I'm just curious. And then they go and do that exact same thing. And I'm like, you ain't curious, you wanted my information. Like if you just ask me, I'll help. But don't be like, don't be sneaky about it. So yeah, I would say 99% of the OT community is really beautiful, but it is important to remember that there is a level of competitive competitiveness that I think people maybe don't want to admit. Um and that can feel icky sometimes. But I think majority of people, it's really beautiful, and there's a lot of engagement across creators, and that's so nice. So that is all I will say on that matter. Hey, hey, hey. Um, this is a fun question. What gives you the most anxiety about all of these changes that are happening? Obviously, I'm anxious for the future of my business, but I am confident in everything I'm doing to like streamline it. Like I'm not, I'm not gonna lie and say I'm not anxious. Like, of course I am, but I'm putting things in place and you know it's the risk you take with business. Like, so I'm not that's not my main anxiety. What I'm most worried about and fearful of is the impact that all of this is going to have on like the next generation of OTs. Like the chatter at the moment, I have always been very honest on my podcast, and I've always wanted to share the reality of being an OT. That's literally what this podcast and platforming is. But I'm then so conscious of the if we only focus on the negative stuff, if we only focus on what's going wrong, that perception down to early like new grads, down to students, down to people unsure if they want to become an OT and you know, tossing up between being an OT or a teacher. Like if you looked at the public commentary at the moment, you're gonna be a teacher. You're not gonna become an OT. Like OTs are being scrutinized in the media, scrutinized on social media, public platforms, scrutinized by each other. Um, like I just don't think it's a nice space at the moment. And I would love it to get back to this positive, happy space. And there are glimpses of it, absolutely. But I think in this anxiety that, you know, more senior OTs have, which is like I said, it's warranted. Like it's what's happening at the moment is scary. But I think people are forgetting that our words have impact and our words have carry-on effect, and we have a responsibility to the next generation of OTs to not only focus on what is going wrong. Because let me tell you, my job as an OT is still making incredible impact. It's still changing people's lives, it's still, you know, doing incredible work that I couldn't dream not doing. Like it's it's the most incredible career. But nobody seems to be talking about that at the moment unless it's tied to a farming body. So I'm fearful for the future of the next generation if we don't all sort of ruin it in a little bit. And again, I know I say that liely because I want to share honest things and I think it's so incredible the advocacy work that people are doing. But I think with advocacy doesn't always come talking about what's going wrong. I think advocacy needs to be focused on what's going right as well. And that's not just for the future generation, you know, that is for funding bodies. Funding bodies need to see what positive stuff is happening, not just us complaining about our businesses being impacted. I don't know. That's that's my thoughts. Also on that though, and this probably goes back to like the first question, and now I'm going on a rant. No, I wouldn't say it's a rant, but it's a it's a rant. I think one of the biggest things I've learned as a business owner is you can't be reactive. Like I said, we've been getting wind of these changes for a fair while. So, you know, I've been doing things in the background for a fair while to prepare for this. I think what we're going to see is people who are running businesses who lazy isn't the right word, but I just can't find another word. No, I'm forget I even said lazy. But the structure of an NDIS OT therapy business, particularly in the capacity building space, is easy. What I'm like running the business is not easy. I'm my business is not easy, but the business structure of, hey, I've got 40 sports for therapy a week. I'm going to open my books. That is typically going to fill within a couple of weeks. And then I'm going to have a wait list, and then I'm going to see those kids weekly or fortnightly. And then if one of them drops up, I pick up a kid off my wait list and I've always got that constant income stream. Obviously, cancellation, school holidays, things like that happen. Um, but for the most part, once you're at capacity, you know what your income's gonna be, you know what your overheads are, and you can action accordingly. What I think is going to happen over the next five, 10 years for businesses is people are going to have to, again, diversify their income. They're going to have to rely on different funding streams, they're going to have to get creative, and they're going to actually have business structure and business forecasting and business planning beyond regular predictable therapy. And I think what we will see is people who aren't doing the work in learning how to structure businesses are the ones that are going to be feeling the pinch and they're the ones that are going to be very reactive at the moment, which is then, you know, creating that ripple effect to their staff and to their teams. So I think, yeah, I think you will see a big difference between those businesses with that focus on, you know, marketing. Like my I mean, and I also think marketing within a therapy space is icky and like advertising, it is icky. But, you know, for programs and for parent coaching and for all these other things, like social media is going to become important. How you market your service offering is going to be important. It's not just going to be a matter of I'm filling my books and closing my books, and that's my income forever. Like there is going to be that level of challenge to it, which I don't think every business owner, and I say this so lightly, but I don't think every business owner is not cut out for it, but wants that. So I think those ones who just want that consistent income stream, like that is going to be tricky. I don't know if that makes sense. Please don't be offended if that resonates with you. Um, I just think it's really gonna be more about running a business and having a business structure and actually leaning into business education a little bit as well. But that's just my thoughts. And the final question, oh, I love this question. What is your favorite thing about eucalypt OT? Oh, I love it. Um, I had a very big pinchy moment the other day. Um, I had someone from the NDIS message me, email me, and they said, hey, like, I think it was just a what where do you service? Like, we've had a few, like a small town that needs OT services, something like that. And I had to like just type out all the areas that we service. And I just thought, holy dooley. I'm I'm just a girl. I'm just a young 28-year-old girl, and I had this idea to start a business. And now I'm literally looking at this list of where we service, and it's in three states. It's over like 200 square, 200,000 square meters. Like, I have a team that is so beautiful and aligned and similar, and we all value each other, and everyone gets along so well. They were all at my wedding. Like I just have such a beautiful, beautiful team who have the same values and vision of, you know, accessible rural health. And I don't know, I just had this pinch-me moment of wow, I've I've really done this. And I'm still so early in my career myself, but I'm so confident in the business that I am building and the direction that it is going to go in the future. And it's probably going to look completely different in five years' time. But like I'm just, I'm really proud of it. So I think my favorite, and the short answer to that question is my favorite thing is my team because none of it would be possible without them. I just was on leave for three weeks and they just kept going with it and there was no issues at all. And I just am so appreciative for that. And I know it comes, and I don't like to focus on this, but I also know it comes back to how I've set the business up. Whoa, I just dropped my phone. Um, yeah, it comes back to how I've set the business up and I guess that preventative planning and and knowing that there, you know, we are a remote business. We're not in the office with each other every day, but we are in regular contact and everything happens for a reason. And like, you know, there's purpose behind everything. And I just, I don't know, I'm really proud of the business that I have set up. And I, yeah, I think sometimes we forget to reflect on that ourselves. Um but yeah, I I am really proud of it and I I just love my team so much. And if you've made it this far, I actually have finally had the the epiphany um of of expanding the team. Um so I'm currently working on, yeah, job applications and how we want to deliver that job because it's really scary when you have such an incredible team to add new people into that because obviously it can completely shift the dynamic. But the time has come. I I am going to expand, but yeah, I want to make a fun job campaign. I'm gonna make a fun video. Um, anyway, that's so fun. Um, okay, that's gonna wrap my questions up, I think. Um, thank you to everyone who sent a question through. Thank you to everyone who is listening to the podcast. I appreciate you guys. More podcasts to come because I'm not learning how to set the microphone up again in five weeks' time. Anyway, that'll do me. Have a beautiful, beautiful rest of your week, and I'll talk to you soon. Goodbye.