Today we’d like to introduce you to Tina Chaney.
Tina, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Growing up, I was involved in sports for as long as I can remember, basketball being my favorite. I also loved learning about anatomy during high school, even though it didn’t come easy. When I went to college, I started as a Math Major pursuing a Teaching degree, but mostly, I loved the thought of coaching basketball. In Kansas, at the time, you had to be a teacher to be a coach, so that was the route I was going to go. The rules changed, and that no longer applied. So, I began to wonder if teaching was where my heart was. During high school and college, I had friends have surgeries and suffer athletic injuries, and physical therapy was how they got back to walking and playing sports. During my sophomore year of college, I switched my major to Exercise Science intending to go to Physical Therapy School.
I was thrilled to get into PT school! I began doing internships in a variety of settings, where I learned more about what PT was, outside of the textbooks. Almost everywhere I went, it was a fast paced, rushed, and productivity based structure. Productivity means billing insurance enough and seeing as many people as possible for optimal profit. I had a couple of internships where I was seeing or supervising 3 to 4 people an hour! That was a lot, and it was very stressful for me. During one of my last internships, which is where I would start my career in Kansas City, I was exposed to a different structure and they scheduled clients every 45 minutes, only seeing two people per hour. This gave me the hope that I would love my future job as a PT. At this internship, I was asked if I wanted to shadow a pelvic floor PT. I didn’t know what that meant, but eager to experience new things, I said absolutely. So, I shadowed the pelvic PT for a day, and fell in love with the specialty!
I had no idea there were solutions for so many of the hidden problems! Leakage, postpartum issues, painful intercourse, constipation, urinary urgency/frequency, vulvar pain, tail bone pain, etc. I had experiences of urinary leakage while playing sports since high school and it was almost a given that any time I was stressed, I found myself to be constipated. I struggled with my bowels so much, for such a long time, that I gave myself a prolapse. Crazy right!? So, after that day, this became my passion and I learned as much as I possibly could. I took 3-4 courses per year after I graduated and was certified four years later. Through my journey learning about pelvic health and how to help others, I healed myself and improved my symptoms. This has allowed me to say, “I’ve been there; I understand.”
Over time, insurance reimbursement declined and there was more and more pressure to see more patients and reduce treatment times. There was an insurance company that paid so poorly. The clinic lost money every time someone with that insurance was seen. So, there were new rules. Rules that ignored what the patient needed. This was unsettling and it angered me. It wasn’t just. It didn’t seem ethical either. I wanted to treat people the way they needed and deserved regardless of insurance. As time went on, I was seeing more and more people each day and each week. I was going home emotionally exhausted only to find myself making patient care notes in the evenings, just to do it all over again the next day. To reduce my hours in the clinic, I started teaching the pelvic health elective at a local college two days/week. I loved pelvic health but I wasn’t happy. I pondered a career change.
I was off work a few months recovering from hip surgery. During that time, I explored my options. Did I want to pursue a different degree? Start dog grooming? Continue teaching? Continue PT, in a travel job, where most jobs were in nursing homes? Although I was burnt out, I didn’t want to give up pelvic health.
After my recovery, I accepted a pelvic health manager position and moved to Dallas in 2015. I was able to see one person per hour, learn new leadership and marketing skills. The move was exciting and scary as I didn’t know anyone, but it seemed perfect, and I could continue pelvic health. Over time, the pressure to see more and more people crept up. While I gained many great experiences and learned a lot while at that job, I found myself burnt out again and didn’t feel the quality of care I was providing was as good as it could be. During my time at this position, I met my husband, got engaged and got married. In April 2017, we moved to Mansfield to be closer to my bonus kids and be more involved in their lives.
Deep down, I knew the only way I could treat patients the way they should be treated, with the best quality of care, and in a way that I could be proud of, was to start my practice.
Has it been a smooth road?
There was so much I didn’t know about starting a business! I never learned anything about business in school. After a lot of research, consulting with other practice owners, listening to podcasts and webinars, and attending business lectures at our national conference, I decided that I could do this. Once I made that decision, all of my extra time went into personal & professional learning and growth. After doing all the legal stuff, getting a side job to supplement my income, and renting out a small space in a birth center in Mansfield, I saw my first client in May of 2017. Only two months later, my husband was diagnosed with cancer.
So, was is smooth? No! Our lives were flipped upside down. I didn’t have the time nor the emotional energy to put into a start-up. So, the owner of the birth center graciously let me out of my lease, and I picked up more hours at my PRN job at the hospital. This job was supposed to be my side-gig as I built my practice, but it became my main job for the next year or so as my husband went through cancer treatment.
As a PRN employee, I was able to pick up weekday and weekend shifts to get the hours I needed. It gave me the flexibility I needed to take my husband to radiation, doctor appointments, and even allowed me to be out of town for six weeks when he had a bone marrow transplant in San Antonio. As his health improved, doctor visits turned into monthly instead of weekly, and as I was able to spare some emotional energy, I decided to re-start my practice.
Not wanting to get in financially over my head, I started seeing people in their homes, then I transformed a spare bedroom into my home office until I was able to rent space again. I grew organically and slowly but with much less pressure this time around. I started renting a small space inside an orthopedic PT clinic, and after eight months, I was able to move into a larger space that was my own. It’s beautiful and it’s exactly where I hoped I would be someday.
A more recent challenge has been the coronavirus. However, it has given me the time to expand my telehealth practice (for anyone in Texas) and work on online program creation. I’m still very excited about the future of my practice!
We’d love to hear more about your business.
At North Star Abdominopelvic Physical Therapy, I specialize in all things Pelvic Health. From my point of view, Pelvic Health encompasses any problem or unwelcomed symptoms you could have from the rib cage down to your knees. Although I often find problems in the foot or the neck can contribute to the pelvic region. I even help people find different pitches in their voices to help with bowel movements or lifting strategies. Ultimately, the nervous system controls the whole body, so it’s head to toe!
My clients have a variety of different concerns. I’m most passionate about helping people find solutions and heal from Persistent or Chronic Pelvic Pain, Postpartum Recovery, Scar Management (Joints, Abdomen, or Vaginal), Recovery after Pelvic Surgery, Sexual Pain and Constipation.
My husband called me his north star shortly before we got engaged. He said he was wandering and didn’t have a clear sense of direction before we met. When I think about how I approach patient care, I often called myself a guide, a teacher. I meet people wherever they are in their journey and provided a guiding light to help them heal. His support was the only way I was able to leap to start a business. So, I thought it fit perfectly as the name of my business.
I am most proud of the way I’ve structured patient care. I schedule visits at least 60 minutes long and I leave 30-60 minutes in-between visits so I have extra time if needed to answer questions, return calls, texts or emails. I see up to 5 people each day, and I try to limit to 15 appointments per week. This allows me the time, attention, and emotional energy to care for each of my clients on a deeper level. I need this time because I don’t believe in cookie-cutter treatments or protocols. Each one of us is unique in our experiences, injuries, the number of births, year of age, nutritional sensitivities, etc. The most successful approach is one that is individual to you and only you. Most people, including physicians, think pelvic floor therapy is about doing hundreds of “kegel” exercises each day. Unfortunately, for a lot of people, it can make their symptoms worse, and it leaves them frustrated and unwilling to try PT.
At North Star PT, I focus on teaching people how to make small, manageable changes to improve their symptoms or conditions in the long run. My approach values self-sufficiency and confidence so you may only need me as a short-term guide. Success to me means you will have all the tools you need to live a life of joy instead of limitation & be able to reach any goal you have a desire for.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Absolutely! There aren’t enough Pelvic PT’s here in the Metroplex.
Pricing:
- Pricing depends on the duration of the visit and ranges from $100-$250
Contact Info:
- Address: 1475 Heritage Parkway
Suite 121 Mansfield, TX 76063 - Website: https://www.drtinachaney.com
- Phone: 817-405-9502
- Email: tina@drtinachaney.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtinachaney/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrTinaChaney/
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1IL-LqkikPOkGjZv-Uh2Jw
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