Meet Katie Usher | Physical Therapist & Pelvic Health Specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Katie Usher and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katie, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The drivers behind starting my own business have evolved over time. At the beginning, I opened my LLC to run workshops and help out my husband’s gym in addition to working in the hospital. I never originally planned on leaving my physical therapy job in the hospital-based acute and outpatient setting. Less than a year later, however, my daughter was born, and I realized I needed more control over my time and energy. I also had a newfound passion for working with women around birth after going through my own experience. In 2020, just 18 months after opening my LLC and a year after my daughter was born, I went full time with my business. The rest is history.

What should our readers know about your business?
I started Kaizen Pelvic Wellness (at the time called Mula Bandha PT & Wellness) in 2018 to run pelvic health workshops and see some of my husband’s clients. At the time, I was working full time in a hospital-based outpatient physical therapy setting but was excited to start transitioning to pelvic floor physical therapy. I had started taking post-grad coursework to train in this area in the summer of 2017. My husband. Ryan, is a strength trainer and had recently moved to a new space with his partner. They decided to leave an office for me in their buildout of the gym. It was an incredibly generous thing to do since I didn’t have much extra time on my hands and the overall space of the gym wasn’t that big. That room was very special because it gave me the freedom to build my business without pressure. I started seeing a few patients a week in addition to working in the hospital.

Our first daughter was born in January 2019, eight months after opening my LLC. Becoming a mother changed my views on work and business. Suddenly I was keenly aware of every moment not spent with her. It lit a fire in me to build my own practice so I could take more control of my schedule. By January of 2020, I was at a point where I felt comfortable going full time with my pelvic health practice. Of course, as we all know, COVID hit in March. It was a scary time for everyone. It was particularly scary for me with a toddler and wondering if I made the worst mistake leaving the security of the hospital behind. I went 3 months without seeing a single patient, but it slowly did recover in the months that followed. I have learned in the almost 4 years since that time to be patient in business. As an entrepreneur, your to-do list is often miles long. You can end a day feeling like you accomplished nothing, but can look back over the course of a few months or years and see the tremendous progress made.

Today, KPW is a team of 4 and we’ve upgraded our work space significantly since then. I’m proud of our team and the brand we have built in the community. We are women, mostly mothers ourselves, who are passionate about helping men and women heal their pelvic health concerns. We love helping women prep for birth and recover on the postpartum side, because we know the lasting impact it can have on a woman’s body and mind for her lifetime.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
When my friends visit Palm Beach, the first and obligatory thing to do is always go to the beach. Jupiter and Juno are our go-tos. Would probably end up at Guanabanas or UTiki afterward for a nice place to hang out.

Most of my friends love coffee as much as I do so we’d likely visit a bunch of our local coffee shops, like Oceana, Pumphouse or Candid Coffee.

Food go-tos would have to be split between downtown West Palm, Palm Beach, Gardens and Jupiter. The food scene is up and coming so there’s a lot to choose from.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My shoutout dedication must go to my husband, Ryan. He gave me the mental and physical space to go out on my own “safely”. He saw long before I did the potential in growing my practice. I am lucky to do work and life alongside him.

I would also like to shoutout all my pelvic health colleagues. It truly is a field that believes a rising tide lifts all boats. The people I have learned from are kind, generous and inspiring. My practice would not be what it is without each of them pouring into me.

Website: Www.kaizenpelvicwellness.com

Instagram: Www.Instagram.com/kaizenpelvicwellness

Facebook: Www.facebook.com/kaizenpelvicwellness