What Ted Lasso Taught Me About Building a Community

With Season 4 of Ted Lasso landing in August, I have been rewatching the first three seasons and falling in love with it all over again. And the more I watch, the more I see it as one of the best lessons in community building I have ever come across.
In this episode I’m talking about the difference between a following and a community, why one will serve your practice so much better than the other, and what Ted Lasso, yes really, can teach us about showing up, being seen, and building something that lasts.
I’m also sharing a prediction. In uncertain economic times, the chiropractors who have focussed on creating genuine human connection are the ones who will weather it with ease.
If you’ve ever wondered whether any of this visibility stuff is actually worth it, this episode is for you.
ChiroVisibility, where chiropractic finds its people. 🌸

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About Philippa:

Philippa Wilmot is a chiropractor of 16 years and the founder of ChiroVisibility, a membership community helping chiropractors build real visibility through social media and marketing that actually feels like them. In 2026 she was recognised by Women in Chiropractic with the Impact Award - "an exceptional chiropractor creating IMPACT in the lives of others." She's also the host of the ChiroVisibility Pod, where chiropractic finds its people.

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Transcript

Why Ted Lasso Matters Here

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Before we get into today's episode, I'm going to tell you something about me. I don't know if you know, but season four of Ted Lasso is coming in August, and I'm so excited and in preparation, and because I just love it, I have been re-watching the first three seasons, and I had genuinely forgotten how incredible it is. I started watching it because my brilliant friend Marianne Shazawa shared a little snippet on social media. She's a chiropractor, she's awesome. I knew if she loved it, it would be brilliant. And from the very first episode, I knew I was going to adore it. It spoke to me on a level I really wasn't expecting from a TV programme. And today I'm going to use it to talk about why we build community. I grant you that sounds like a slightly tenuous link, and it probably is, but I am not sorry. I will probably be bringing Ted back into future episodes too. So consider this fair warning. Before we delve too deep, I want to say welcome back to the Cairo Visibility Podcast. I'm Philippa Wilmot, I'm a chiropractor of 16 years, I love visibility, and I'm your host. So today I want to talk about what Ted Lasso taught me about building a community. And before you wonder what a TV programme about an American football coach doing an apparently terrible job at a British football club has to do with your chiropractic visibility, stay with me. So if you haven't watched it yet, here's what you need to know. Ted Lasso is a relentlessly optimistic American coach who gets hired to manage an English Premier League football team, AFC Richmond, despite knowing almost nothing about football. By every conventional measure, this shouldn't work. He's not the most qualified, he doesn't have the biggest reputation, he's not remotely impressive on paper, and yet people start to follow him. And he doesn't do it by shouting or demanding or finding their pain points. They chose to follow him because he takes the time to connect with them, because he takes the time to listen, and because of how he makes them feel. And that's the bit I want to talk about today.

Following Versus Real Community

SPEAKER_00 2:26

There is a vast difference between a following and a community, and I think it's one of the most important distinctions in how we work with visibility, and especially in how I work with visibility. A following is simple numbers, it's maths. More is better. It includes the people who press that button who wanted to follow you but scroll past you most days. The reach has no deep roots, it will never go that far. You can have thousands upon thousands of followers and still feel completely alone in your content. Because if there's no real connection, that following is literally a number. A community though is something else entirely. It's the people who show up, not just for you, but at times for each other. It's those people who respond to your questions, who remember what you said last month, who tell their friends about you, not because you asked them to, but because they absolutely want to share what you do, who feel in some small way that they belong to something important, something bigger, a community. Ted Lasso did not build a following. He built a community, one that was as interconnected with each other as it is with him. And now I know that's not for everyone. I have a family-based practice, which means a lot of people who walk through my door naturally know each other. But imagine when you start to weave those roots between your content, those roots through your content, through your online presence. People start to connect and that community starts building. And what I want us to build isn't just a number.

Believe Comes Before Results

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Ted Lasso walks into the locker room on his very first day and says, and I love this. I do love a locker room. It smells like potential. Now, as someone who used to work in rugby, I can tell you it smells like a lot of things, but potential is one of them, although it's a stretch. But that potential, that possibility, that pre-game promise of something, that is actually what we're building. And in that locker room, we call them a change in room, right at the front, was a single word on a piece of paper that Ted pinned up on his very first day. One word, believe. Didn't say win, didn't say perform, didn't say beat the competition into the dust. It said believe. Because Ted understood that before any of the results could change, the people in that room had to believe that they were worth something, that what they were building together mattered. Your content, believe it or not, can do the same thing for your community. Every time you show up honestly, warmly, real, you are saying, I believe in this. So I'm gonna tell you what I think it actually did. When

Noticing People Changes Everything

SPEAKER_00 5:33

he started at AFC Richmond, he was not popular. He was called all sorts of names, some really rude ones. But what he did was he kept showing up. He learned people's names, and it wasn't just the top star players, it was everyone. From the kit man who was treated as importantly as the top player, the pub landlady, May, behind the bar. He got to know her too, and he asked her advice. Even Mr. Mann, the vintage gentleman, who greeted Ted with a word I'm not going to repeat on this podcast, because I have committed and promised you it can be played on every score run, but it was rude, trust me on that. Ted Lasso got to know all of them, and he treated them all as equals. And everyone he noticed, everyone who felt seen knew they were valued by him, and he would say, possibly the most common thing you hear throughout the entire series. I appreciate you. Now think about that in the context of your practice. It means the person who's been coming for years needs to get as much attention as the people who are just walking through your door for the first time. It means the person with the last appointment of the week needs to get the same value, the same quality, the same attention as the person who books the first, the people who are quiet, the ones who don't make a fuss, they all need to be seen, heard, and valued. In the words of Ted, I appreciate you. Three words said like you mean them. That is a visibility strategy all by itself. And if we're honest, it's a retention strategy too. But really, what I'm talking about is just being a decent human being and valuing every single person because people notice when you notice them, and they remember it long after they've forgotten what adjustment you did.

Authenticity And Not Being For All

SPEAKER_00 7:23

There is a moment in Ted Lasso, and if you've watched it, you'll know exactly the moments I mean where someone is crawled to Ted, waiting for him to crumble, and he just doesn't. He stays himself, he doesn't shrink, he doesn't conform, he doesn't try to win that person over, he doesn't even put them down, he just keeps going. There is an incredible monologue, and he is exactly who he is. That's a visibility lesson for all of us because you won't be for everyone. Some people will just scroll past, some people will not get your vibe, your humour, your approach. And I want you to hear this clearly. That isn't a failure. That is actually the upside of showing up authentically because people who do get it, they get it completely. And those are the people you get to welcome into your practice. And the chances of them truly understanding chiropractic the way you want them to, of becoming those you love working with, is so much higher when you attract your people. One of the

Truth Telling Builds Stronger Culture

SPEAKER_00 8:31

most powerful things about the culture Ted builds at AFC Richmond is that people start telling the truth about being scared, about struggling, about not having it all together. And rather than making those individuals seem weaker, it builds the team and it makes it unshakable. Your content can do the same thing. When you share something real, it sounds different, it feels different. It can be about a time you struggled, it can be why you started, it can be the things you used to believe that you no longer believe anymore. When you are human, you give your audience permission to be human too, and people are magnetically drawn to that kind of honesty, especially in a world full of highlight reels and perfect lighting. Building a community rather than a following doesn't mean you need more content. It does mean you need slightly different content. Content that invites people in rather than broadcasts at them. It means asking questions and actually caring about the answers. It means creating a space, whether it's your social media or waiting room, your email list where people feel genuinely welcome, where they are part of the conversation and not spoken at.

Community In Uncertain Economic Times

SPEAKER_00 9:42

And one last thing. This is my prediction. We are currently in uncertain economic times. People are already making choices about where their money goes, and if you haven't felt it yet, great. Long may that continue. I'm not trying to be doom and gloom. I'm just a big fan of building the roof before it rains. But there is something I genuinely believe. The chiropracts who've built a real community around them, those are the ones who will weather it. Because when people start cutting things, they cut the things they don't need. They don't cut the things that matter to them. If you are part of someone's world, if they look forward to seeing you, if they feel genuinely cared for, if your name comes up in conversation because they told a friend, you stop being a discretionary spend. You become something they don't want to lose. And I want to be really clear. I'm not saying build community as a recession strategy. I'm not saying be warm and human because it's good for business. I'm saying be warm and human because it's the right way to treat people. The resilience in these times is just a wonderful byproduct of that. Real connection cannot be faked. People feel the difference, and the ones who feel genuinely seen and looked after, they stay. And yes, this takes time. Good foundations always do, but the stronger and deeper you build them, the longer they last.

Thanks, Appreciation, And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 11:03

And thank you so much for listening. I truly do appreciate you. So if you want to come further into the chirovisibility world, the membership is open. It's here when you're ready, and the link is in the show notes. Get on the mailing list, follow me on socials, come and say hello. You are always welcome. And thank you so much for being part of the chirovisibility pod where chiropractic finds its people. See you in the next one.