#25 What No One Tells You About Your First Year as a Myofunctional Therapist

In this episode of the Myo Life podcast, Carmen shares the raw, real, and often messy truth about your first year as a myofunctional therapist. From pricing drama and messy systems to unexpected wins and awkward client situations, you'll hear what it *really* takes to get started, stay the course, and grow a life you’re bonkers about.

🌐 The Profitable Myofunctional Therapist™ 

https://theprofitablemyofunctionaltherapist.com

Transcript

Welcome to MyoLife

Speaker 1 0:09

Hey , I'm Carmen , and welcome to Mayo Life . That's short for my Outrageous Life , which is exactly the kind of life I get to live since I found the courage to ditch dental hygiene and build a life I'm bonkers about as a myofunctional therapist and entrepreneur . Here you will find all the things myo business and how to build a life that you , too , are bonkers about . I'm very happy you're here . Shall we dive in Well hello , friend , and welcome back to the MyoLife podcast . I'm Carmen , the Director of Bravery at the Myofunctional Therapy Training Academy , and I'm so very glad that you are here . We have a great topic today

First Year Truth Bombs

Speaker 1 0:55

.

Speaker 1 0:55

Today , we're going to be pulling the curtain back on something nobody really talks about your first year as a myofunctional therapist . Buckle up , my friend , because this ride is not all filtered Instagram posts and Stripe bank deposit screenshots . It's messy , it's wild , and , yes , I'm pretty sure that I ugly cried a time or two . The other thing , though , is , my friend , it's also magic , so let's dive into the real raw behind the scenes . Look at what this first year actually looks like , and how to make it one that you're proud of . All right , you are going to feel like you do not know enough , and if you're waiting to feel ready . You are going to wait forever . That imposter syndrome , totally normal , my friend . You just dropped out of the hygiene chair and into a whole new identity . I always tell this to my students borrow my confidence until you build your own . You don't need another certification to start . You don't need another class , my friend . What you need is reps . You need to do the work . You need to start talking , start doing , start talking even more , doing more . Start right now . You only need to be a step ahead of the person that you're helping . You don't need to know it all and my friend shocking , you won't know it all . I don't know it all after all these years . Maybe it was because I needed to get out of dental hygiene so bad that I was scrappy , but y'all , I was so unhappy I was having heart palpitations on the way to work . I didn't have a choice but to start before I was ready . You're going to have to start ready , or before you're ready . Also , okay , take ugly and perfect action . Remember when you were a new dental hygienist , you didn't feel ready , but , boy howdy , you started scraping the distal of number three , didn't you ? And in no time it was super easy , okay . So of course you remember doing that . You have proof that you can get started without knowing everything . All right , you're also in that first year , my

Pricing and Business Evolution

Speaker 1 3:21

friend .

Speaker 1 3:21

You are going to change your mind a lot . You'll price things one way and then you're going to adjust . If you don't believe in your price , your product , your people , your uh yourself , or what's possible , then you will always question this . Your knee-jerk reaction will always be to lower your price . But the objection isn't always about price . Quite often it's about something else , like time or if the woman believes that she can actually make the commitment to do the work so that she can get the results . So sometimes the objection isn't even about you . It's about the person believing in themselves .

Speaker 1 4:03

I take a deep dive into this inside the Profitable Pricing Lab , but let me sum it up here there is no going rate . There is no mayor of my town and no one should be helping you set your prices . You are the captain of your ship , my friend , and you need to set them . You also should not crowdsource them . Your prices will fall somewhere between your resentment level and below . So above your resentment level and below your , I'm going to vomit , just saying the price out loud level . I call this your happy pricing . It will be very different for everybody and many factors go into this and I cover that in the program . But just know , nobody else should be telling you what the going rate is Okay . Another thing that you're going to change your mind on in that first year are your hours , or maybe your ideal day . For those of you who don't know anything about the ideal day , this is part of the calendaring process that I teach is we each identify how we really want our day to look and feel , and then we build our business so that we can have that .

Speaker 1 5:18

Another change that you'll most likely make in that first year is , you know , changing equipment or adding something , or maybe you're going to change your exam process . It's all going to change multiple times . You're going to say yes to clients who drain you and then you're going to learn that you never want to do that again . We talk about that a little bit more later . You might niche down and then pivot and then niche down again . You guys , it isn't failure , it's evolution . Business is just repeated experiments , and the ones who win are the ones who stay in the lab , and this is where your standard operating procedures or your SOPs come in . They're basically the operating system for your business . So when you change something , you know . When you're doing a lot of changing your mind and stuff in that first year when you change it , be sure to change your SOP so that you actually know what you were doing . And then the other thing is is when you see this evolution , you can see over time what's working and what's not working . So I'm a big fan of getting data like hey , what did I do , why did I do it and what is the result . So this was a big one for me . And even sometimes I catch something in my business that I didn't update my SOPs and I get into it , you know , because I'm not in this content or this process every day and I'm like , oh my gosh , what do I do

Avoiding Comparison Traps

Speaker 1 6:48

here ? So that will be really helpful . But just know that in that first year you are going to change your mind a lot . Now this one really hits home for me . So comparison will try to steal your joy .

Speaker 1 7:04

Scrolling through social media makes it look like everybody else has it all together . Everybody else has their poop in a group , but those people you know this they're just showing you their highlight reel . They're perfectly filtered when what you don't see is the late night breakdowns , the refund requests , the client no-shows . Stay in your lane , put your blinders on , run your race . Okay , first of all , it's not a race , it's your life . But just don't spend time looking at what everybody else is doing . Okay , the time that you spend looking side to side keeps you from going forward , and this is still an area where I have pretty intense boundaries . I don't know how to say this eloquently , so I'm just going to say it . I know so many fellow therapists that are totally consumed by the business , and I get it . I get it , they love it and I'm not beating them up for that . But , man , they attend webinars most nights and they're part of study groups and they like or comment on every social media post that pertains to anything in our field . They are constantly in my own mode and you guys , this exhausts me just thinking about it , because it sounds terrible . I purposefully have to have boundaries so that I get to live a life . I'm bonkers about .

Speaker 1 8:34

Going back to comparison and social media . I have a big boundary with this because I don't scroll . First of all , it's a complete waste of time . You already know this . But second of all , the feeling that it gives me . Even after all these years and all the success that I've had . The feeling is not a good one . It's yucky . I immediately feel like I'm not doing enough , or I'm not saying the right thing , or I don't have enough followers , yada , yada , yada . I have to remind myself that I built a multi-million dollar business with a small but mighty following on social media , and these days social media can be very fickle . I know people with big followings who do not earn as much as they would like , and I also know people who have very successful , profitable , profitable businesses who don't even really do social media or do very little of it . So I guess what I'm saying here is to remember the old saying you know that comparison is the thief of joy , and when you're wasting time in the comparison spiral , you are overlooking the amazing , joyful , outrageous life that you are living because you chose to get into this field , whether that's the money or geographic freedom , total control of your calendar or something as simple as my pups laying here on the floor and under my desk .

Speaker 1 10:05

I like to focus on the joy in my cup and not doing a bunch of comparisons to make myself feel like garbage . I just refuse to do it

Client Selection Lessons

Speaker 1 10:16

All right . Another thing that you're going to experience in that first year is that your first clients they're not going to be perfect . Pulse and a purse that was really my first screening tool . If they had a heartbeat and a credit card , I was game , but not anymore . The early clients in that first year or two will teach you what you love , what you don't and what boundaries you need . Every tough session is a gift wrapped in grit .

Speaker 1 10:46

I've had nightmare clients that I have had to dismiss from therapy because they are just absolutely impossible to work with or they are very non-compliant and at some point they are going to make me look bad . I remember a client that I accepted , basically because I was getting ready to go on vacation and a lot of cash was going to be a nice thing . What I didn't consider was the cost of working with the client , both emotionally and mentally . This particular client had been in my Facebook support group and had really said some pretty weird off-the-wall stuff , so I had my reservations about working with her anyhow . Then I made the terrible decision to work with her and in the end she ended up flying to see Dr Zoggy for a consult . So we were both co-treating her but she wouldn't do what I taught and she just wasn't getting anywhere . I ended up dismissing her from my care because of the non-compliance and she was just really going to make me look like a damn nut job and an incompetent therapist because she was marching to the beat of her own drum . Let me tell you that was an awkward letter to have to write to Dr Zoggy's practice and and just tell him like hey , I'm dismissing this person because they're not doing what they're supposed to . And you know I never wanted his practice to think that that was the type of work that I did . So that was no fun . But just know you will make those mistakes as well .

Speaker 1 12:25

Now , another thing you're also going to experience in the first year is you know basically just that you're going to be trying to do a lot of hustling and you won't be spending time to set up your systems and you just I think it's really important that you need to know that you don't need to be everywhere , but you do need a good system and I love me a system . Scrappy is fine , but sloppy , oh gosh , it's going to sink you . It's really going to slow you down . Start small . Have templates for

Celebrating Progress Beyond Money

Speaker 1 12:56

emails , set up workflows for onboarding your clients , send up canned or guided responses for frequently asked questions . Document everything You're going to thank yourself later . This kind of goes back to what I said earlier about SOPs . Stay organized and have systems in place from the very beginning . I have a document in my Google Drive that is quite literally called guided responses , and I never give the same canned response to somebody , so I'm not just copying pastings a response to somebody , but I have a guided response . So I have basically the meat and potatoes already in a document so I can copy and paste that into an email and then I personalize it to whatever the email is pertaining to . All right .

Speaker 1 13:50

Another thing that you're going to experience your first year as a myofunctional therapist is the money . Okay , the money . Um , in the first year might be slow , it is okay , the money will come . You got to stay in the game and you have to stay focused . You're building trust with your community , yes , but you're also building trust with yourself . Okay , every free assessment , every DM conversation that you have , every exam that you complete , it's all practice . And when that first client pays in full and they say thank you , or when you do that first final exit and they say this changed my life , you're going to cry . I did . Many of my clients , time and time again , have just made me really proud of myself and it reminds me of like this is why I do it .

Speaker 1 14:46

Okay , many of you have been in my community for years and or maybe you've taken one of my training programs and you get discouraged when you don't have a six figure year right out of the gate , when people don't come flocking just because you hung up your open shingle or added myofunctional therapist to your Google email signature . My friend , that didn't happen to me either . You have to give , give , give , educate , educate , educate before you can ever expect to receive . So stay focused and patient . So many of my students get in their own way because they take their foot off the gas because they're not rolling in $10,000 months right out of the gate . Wouldn't it shock you to know that it can take someone a year or longer to actually make the decision to move forward with therapy ? Okay , it's true , I've had clients , you know , two , three years later that will email me and tell me they're finally ready to get started . And you know , I go back into my , look at my notes and they just um , they , for whatever reason , sometimes they have to save the money , sometimes they're moving , you know , some of them have to go through um , airway orth . You know a lot of different things , but stay focused , don't take your foot off the gas .

Speaker 1 16:08

All right , and I think another important thing to talk about kind of the last thing I have outlined here for what is important that first year , what you might experience that first year that you're in business , is that it's really important to celebrate more than just clients Okay , um , when you finally make that first post , my friend to celebrate it , when you have that first no show . This , you know , sometimes we look at this negatively , but it is still progress because those no shows are going to help you shape your business policies and boundaries . I used to do free assessments and I no longer do them because I got tired of people wasting my time , you know , taking up a spot in my calendar and then no-showing , and it hasn't hurt my business at all . Another thing you can celebrate is that moment that you say no to a red flag client , so the one I was telling you above that I should have said no to yeah . So you should celebrate when you are um of the right mindset to say this person is not a good match for me , okay . So when you , when you get to that point , that is a major win . You are becoming the therapist , the business owner , the woman who runs her life . So track it all , celebrate it all .

Speaker 1 17:29

At the end of every day , when I lay my head on the pillow , I run through the wins of my day , both personal and business , like , yay , I got my workout done . Or I slated in the kitchen with my delicious new recipe , yay . Or I slated in the kitchen with my delicious new recipe , yay . Or I batched six podcast episodes , because you know I like me some batching . Or maybe I figured out a new tech platform or a feature . Like that's a double yay .

Speaker 1 17:56

It's not only about money rolling into the bank . There is so much more to celebrate , so get in the habit of looking for the little things to celebrate . I also have to add in here that if you set your goals properly which , of course , you gotta know , I teach you how to do that in the program you will usually be celebrating small wins , because it might be a dozen little goals that add up to the big goals , to the BHAGs , which a BHAG is a big , hairy , audacious goal . So remember that Often we can easily celebrate the big goal of reaching your first 100K year , but you never even considered or celebrated the thousand little other things that you had to do to get there , or celebrated the thousand little other things that you had to do to get there .

Speaker 1 18:55

All right , my friend , let's get ready to land this plane . All right , your first year in myofunctional therapy isn't about perfection , it's about permission . You'll feel like you don't know enough . I hope that I reassured you that you do . You're going to change your mind all the time , and that's totally normal and it's okay and you're going to grow faster than you thought possible if you just keep going . There's a lot of growth involved in this , both and professionally . So it's not just about those dollars in the bank , my friend . Forward is the direction and I really don't care what pace it is , as long as you're going forward . A mile is still a mile , whether you run it in 10 or whether you run it in 5k .

Speaker 1 19:39

So if this episode has got you feeling fired up or motivated , do this next . Head

Getting Support and Next Steps

Speaker 1 19:46

on over to your calendar and block time right now to map out your next 30 days . What are you going to test ? Remember , you're staying in the lab , the business lab . What do you need to clean up ? Who are you going to serve ? And hey , if you need help with the roadmap , if you need help with figuring all that stuff out , maybe the Ditch Hygiene Academy or the Myo Business Accelerator is what you need .

Speaker 1 20:13

So how do you know which one ? Well , I like to say that the Ditch Hygiene Academy is . It's a massive program . You guys . We recorded it over 40 weeks . There's over 100 hours in it . Okay . Program . You guys , we recorded it over 40 weeks . There's over a hundred hours in it . Okay . So that includes the Mayo instruction as well as all the business support that you need . So if you feel like you're very ill prepared for the industry , then you probably need this program Now . If you feel really strong in your Mayo skills and you just need help growing your practice , then the MBA program is for you . So we will be opening this program soon .

Speaker 1 20:47

So if you want to be on the list to get notified , just send me a fan mail message by using the link at the top of the episode description , wherever you are listening to this . So the link is going to say let's connect , text me , okay . So click on that and just send me the fan mail . I will get it and then I will have your information in that message . Make sure I know who you are and how to get ahold of you . And last , I have a favor If this episode helped you out , hit , subscribe , follow , rate it and share the my All Life podcast with a fellow therapist . It's one of the best ways that I can reach and support others who are just trying to figure this all out . And hey , guess what ? If it's not your vibe , you can always unsubscribe . So until next time , go build a life you're bonkers about , and I'll be back soon with more Myofunctional Business Goodness .