How does a Marketing Chick end up in a PT World? What IS a PT World?? PT stands for Physical Therapy, at least in this instance. And that’s where I work, in a Physical Therapy world. How did I end up here? It’s a long story, but let me see if I can shorten it up a bit. After 2 kids, and a stint as a stay-at-home Mom, I thought I’d be able to jump right back into my pre-baby career world of public relations and life would be rosy again. Let’s just say it took 8 years and many thankless, not-in-my-career-field jobs later to find “the ONE”. Finding the right job, the right company, can be like finding the right soulmate. Sometimes you’ve got to kiss a lot of frogs along the way!
When I walked through the doors of Nesin 4 years ago, I knew there was something different about this place. And to be fair, I really had no idea what I was getting into, other than how excited I was to have the chance to be back doing the work I love. I mean, I somehow managed to walk myself into a Best Places to Work company and not only that, but one that had been awarded that distinction multiple times! To a company that was not only women-owned, but family owned, and woman-founded by the current owners’ mother. Heck even the leadership team of the company (of which I now proudly serve on) was at that time, and up until very recently, all women led. And as it happened, the year I started at Nesin was the year they celebrated 30 years in business (2017), which is seemingly unheard of these days; and 4 years later we are still going strong! Did I hit the jackpot or what?
I started out as the Marketing & PR Assistant and there was, I admit, a learning curve since I had never worked in healthcare before. My knowledge of physical therapy was also limited to my own personal experience years before, which began with me bending over to put my daughter down, hearing a popping sound, and not being able to get up for 30 minutes…sound familiar? I eventually ended up in PT clinic where I saw my physical therapist for 10 minutes and then spent the rest of my appointment doing exercises while being supervised by an assistant. It was evident from Day 1 at Nesin, that was NOT how things worked here. To say that watching my co-workers in action was like watching some sort of magic take place was an understatement; I’m still in awe over it even 4 years later. And then I got to experience their magic, manual PT ways for myself and needless to say, it becomes a little addicting!
Now I’ve made mention of a couple of things I’d like to circle back around to. First, the “PT World”…let me tell you more about it…you know how they say Engineers are a breed of their own? I can say this because 1) I’m married to one and 2) you can’t throw a stick in this town without hitting one! Well, so are Physical Therapists. They are more knowledgeable than I ever realized about the human body and what it can do and what it is capable of. They do like to tell us Marketing “chicks” how terrible our high heels are for us; how bad our posture is when we’re bent over our laptops typing away at blogs, and making graphics; how that loaded up laptop bag hanging off one shoulder is probably why we have neck and upper back pain; etc., etc. But I will say it mostly comes from a place of love and concern, and a little bit from a place of knowing it all. They are quirky, funny, compassionate healers, sometimes with no filters…sometimes forgetting that not all of their co-workers are PTs. So…I’ve heard a lot of things, informational things mind you, things I wish I could unhear nonetheless. But that’s a story for another time…or maybe for a podcast series…stay tuned for more on that.
Which actually brings me circled back to the second topic…that I had never worked in healthcare before. You see, in a lot of companies the PR or Marketing person is the company or product expert or spokesperson. It’s a strange situation for me that I’m not. I can certainly tell you all about Nesin Physical Therapy. All about the history of our company. All about the fact that what makes us different is our hands-on, manual based, one-on-one approach to physical therapy. All about the fact that our therapists spend the entire appointment time working with you. All about our 3 locations across the Madison and Huntsville area – with a 4th to open in late spring/early summer! That I think our therapists are the best at what they do and no, I’m not biased at all about it. I can even tell you what Plantar Fasciitis is and where your Coccyx is located. But if you’d like to get an opinion of your strained groin muscle, I’m not your gal…at all…ever…never. If you want to talk physical therapy, I’ll hook you up with any of our experts (which is any of our physical therapists), and they’ll talk to you and ask you questions and even set you up for an appointment to come in and have a look. As for me, I’m in Marketing for a reason, as I like to say.
Now, as the Director of Marketing & Public Relations, I manage a team of two, market and promote multiple clinics, our therapists and the fact that they change lives every day…I couldn’t ask for a better job. And over the last few years, us Marketing Chicks have seen and heard a lot – oh the information we can share and the stories we can tell! And starting in April 2021 we will, with our podcast “Marketing Chicks in a PT World” – an entertaining insight into the world of physical therapy through the eyes and ears of 2 extraordinary yet non-PT chicks. So…stay tuned!