¶ Pelvic Health and Social Media's Role
In the last 10 years , our field has gone from an unknown specialty to a household name . This brings unprecedented opportunities , but we need to rise up to meet them and give our patients the care that they deserve . In order to help others get better , we need to be better .
This podcast will help you to become more confident with your patients , more successful in your practice or business and a leader in pelvic health , and we're going to have some fun along the way . Join us as we rise together .
We're Jesse and Nicole Cozine , founders of Pelvic Sanity Physical Therapy and the creators of the Pelvic PT Huddle , and this is Pelvic PT Rising .
Hey guys , welcome back to another episode of the Pelvic PT Rising podcast with Jesse and Nicole Cozine . Hey , nicole , hello .
I am so excited today for our conversation with Sarah Worden , the vagina whisperer and someone who has really changed the game with the stuff that she has done on social media , the way that she has expanded the role of pelvic health , the way that she has helped reach people who would never have been able to get help before .
I think she is an example to all of us , a trailblazer , as many of our Pelvicon speakers are , and I cannot wait for her to get to actually run a panel at Pelvicon . All about expanding your reach , and obviously Sarah has done a great job of that through Instagram , through her work at NOLA Pelvic Health as a practice owner .
But I'm excited for her to be able to talk with other leaders in the field and see how we can all expand our reach and that it's not just about being a Instagram giant or a TikTok creator or a Snapchatter whatever they call those people anymore or being on X Twitter switched over to being X now .
I did not know that , and anybody that's like a Snapchat star is also a nobody .
Wow , coming out hot on Snapchat guys , but this is going to be a really great conversation and I think this really gets to the heart of how our profession , our specialty , has grown so much over the past five to 10 years .
It's really been through , in large part , social media , being able to reach directly to patients , and Sarah has been at the forefront of that .
Absolutely .
I think that there's been a through line with some of our speaker interviews , both past and present , about the importance of reaching people through social media and different means , but definitely social media is in that conversation and , like Jesse said , Sarah Reardon has really led from the front in that aspect and I think she is a huge reason why our specialty
has grown in the amount of people that are aware of it . The awareness factor is huge with that . You know , when Jessica Rial and I were talking about who were we going to have in Pelvicon 2023 speakers , we had a lot of fan favorites . Sarah Reardon was certainly one of them and she did an excellent couple of talks last year at Pelvicon .
We decided to bring her back in her true expertise in this leading on how to educate our potential patients and clients , and I'm really excited for her to lead this panel and I think you will be very interested in hearing some things that she has to say in this coming up podcast .
So , for those who are going to be with us in Atlanta in a couple of weeks , we are so excited . Hope you are getting pumped . I hope you have already gotten your swag . If you are listening to this on the day of drops , you've got a day or two to order that so it will arrive . You can show up in your Pelvicon t-shirts , in your Pelvicon beanies .
We got some incredible new stuff this year . Make sure to order that and make sure to get your add-ons to the conference . If you are not able to join us in Atlanta this year , either because it just didn't work out or because tickets were sold out , just make sure that you are getting the recording .
You've got about two weeks left to get the early bird discount on this . You will get the entire panel discussion . You'll get Sarah's talk . You will get the talks from each of our speakers and you'll get $50 off on that when you register for the early bird discount on that . So that clock is ticking on that as well .
So excited for you guys to hear our interview with Sarah , excited for you to hear her entire presentation at Pelvicon . And no further ado . Here is our conversation with Dr Sarah Reardon . Hey guys , so excited to be talking today with Dr Sarah Reardon , the founder of Nolapelvic Health , the vagina whisperer . Sarah , thanks so much for being on .
Really appreciate you jumping on with us .
Thanks , jesse . I'm so excited to be here with you and Nicole .
¶ Navigating Social Media in Pelvic Health
Okay so if someone has been living under a rock and does not know who you are , can you give us just the rundown of who you are , where your clinic is , what it's called , what you do , and you're up to freaking 500 . I looked 537 freaking thousand followers on Instagram . Yes , Sarah , what else did you do ?
Sarah . I raised two boys in my spare time , so I am a Pelvic floor physical therapist . I went to Washington University in St Louis and graduated what feels like a long time ago , in 2007 .
I am living and working in New Orleans , louisiana , which is my hometown , and have a clinic here called Nolapelvic Health , and I am on Instagram as the vagina whisperer and I'm trying to be on TikTok as the VAD whisperer . And yeah , I'm here with my husband and my two kiddos , who are six and eight , in New Orleans .
Wait . So someone on TikTok jumped in and stole the vagina , whisperer .
No , I actually had the vagina whisperer , but TikTok doesn't like the word vagina as much as Instagram , so they took me off of there and I had a re-think of a new one . So I did the best I could , but they let you do VAD .
whisperer , they did . Let me do VAD , which is so weird . No , that's awesome . Okay , cool . I've checked you out on TikTok . Do you do the same content there ? No , it's different .
It's like a totally different , as you all know , like community and feel and trend , so I don't put nearly as much time into it as Instagram , because I love Instagram . I feel like it's like my home and where I started . But I've got like a thousand strong on TikTok , so I'm there .
Great , that's actually awesome . I use TikTok as hey . Let me just see if this sticks . My TikTok sucks , I think . But then all of a sudden on there , it's like I've got like 10,000 followers on there . I'm like , who are these people ? Where are they coming from ?
And they're probably like 12 , like getting educated on public health , it's a different demographic , and I think it's we're learning and I it's just . I think it's amazing the way that we can reach people in different ways , which we're going to talk about today .
So I think it's just awesome to have these different avenues that everybody kind of finds like what works best for them .
Yeah , and to kind of hit it right where , as we all get older , right , we have to look at where people are getting their information . Now and I guess let's just actually dive into this topic , because I feel like this is a very interesting thing Like we can't just stay . These like dinosaurs that are like I'm still using Facebook and posting pictures .
You know what I mean . It's like we have to look at where our people are getting education , and so can you just speak a little bit to that and how you're able to switch a little bit of what you're doing and keep up , because I feel like that feels overwhelming to people . So does that feel overwhelming to you at all ?
ever Holy a hundred percent . I think that so kind of pulling it back a little bit .
I think that social media it kind of was this networking platform and it still is , but it's really , I think , for public rehab professionals , become this educational platform where we're able to access people not through physicians , not through other kind of medical avenues , and it's really going direct to them to educate them about hey , this is a really cool service
. These are the things that we can help with . This is what we do , and it's awesome to be able to kind of promote our profession and ourselves . I think that it's completely overwhelming . I think that anybody who says that it's not is I don't know what they're doing differently , but it's an entire job by itself and I feel really grateful that I love it .
There are times I love it less , but you know , I found myself on that community . I've built a business , I've built a brand and , more than anything , I feel like I've built connections .
I mean being able to connect with y'all and Jessica and just so many other people who , if I just stayed in my little box in New Orleans , I wouldn't have been able to meet or connect with so many people , and that's really what I love most about this . So there's just a lot of benefits . There's a lot of challenges , but there's also a lot of benefits .
When you're talking about that , and I 100% agree with everything you're saying there , sarah too . I think that , honestly , the rise of social media and the presence of people like you and Nicole and all of these other people out there providing great content , I think is the reason that pelvic health has become so much better known than it was a few years ago .
I don't think it's like doctors are changing their minds and referring more people . I don't think it's that education in schools for practitioners is a whole lot different or better . It's the fact that you've got 537,000 people who are watching , who now know what pelvic floor physical therapy is and know to be able to get that .
I think it's a huge driving force in our field . I've been interested to see . I feel like there's been some backlash and I get this . I'm usually kind of a crotchety old guy just to begin with like I want to be sitting on the lawn like yelling at kids and playing pinocchio and all of the things . Whatever , man , I still got my Myspace thing .
You guys are talking about Facebook being outdated .
I'm like where did Tom go man , he's remember Friendster . I mean , that's where we all started , right ?
But I feel like there's been some pushback . I do think there's a generational component to it Of people who feel like , oh , if we're going to be online , we have just this massive responsibility to make sure that everything we say is cited and evidence based and with all of the different caveats in all of the things .
I'm sure you've gotten at least some of that , Sarah . What are your thoughts on that ? Is there a responsibility that we have as a medical provider ? But where does that end when we're trying to educate ? And I feel like sometimes those are a little bit at cross purposes .
Right . So I think that there's really two ways that I look at this is like one . We do have a responsibility to make sure that the information that we are putting out there is accurate as we know it , but I also think we have nuances in our practice that are different .
Like the way that Nicole treats is different than the way that I treat , and what she says or does isn't necessarily wrong , it's just her way , and the way that I may do something is my way , and even the clinicians I work with in my practice . We all have our own kind of flavor to how we do things .
There's no like the Sarah way , and so I think that that's important because it's a practice , and I think it's important that we connect with people differently and we approach people differently , and there is no cookie cutter way , but it is all somewhat hopefully , based on evidence and clinical expertise .
On the flip side , I really think that we have a responsibility to promote the heck out of ourselves and the amazing work that we do as a profession , and I think that if we get stuck behind every article and every term , then we're not giving the skills and the ability and the help that we can provide to people .
We're not reaching that because we're just hiding behind our clinic doors and physicians and journals and it's all important , but the thing is , if we're not out there saying it and doing it , somebody else is .
There's an exercise professional , an athletic trainer , pilates instructor , somebody who does not have the qualifications and certifications and education that we do .
That's who people are going to follow , and I think that's what drives me more than anything when I see people putting out wrong information and that's who people are following and it drives me totally bananas and I'm like okay , let me tell you what's really happening here .
And so that's what drives me where I feel like we have a responsibility to put out the most accurate information that that we can I love the way that you put that right Is that if you see something that's wrong , like , that's one thing , but if we're talking about , I just don't like the infighting essentially of like the judgment of another therapist , like
judging what content you're putting out to that if the end user is the one that's hurts , if we don't do anything and we get stuck behind and with the fear of just putting ourselves out there and like , this is what I think . Have you struggled at all at any point in your Instagram career with like what is my voice ? What am I trying to do here ?
Or have you always just kind of like known ?
No , I think I definitely struggled . I think one of the benefits I had is I showed up as a newly postpartum mom with like a new baby pictures of just me breastfeeding and covered in breast milk or poop , and it was really kind of a more like personal feed with some tidbits of education .
And so when you show up at your lowest , you can only go up and like that's where the past five years have brought me up , like , okay , they've seen me as a hot mat , like we can call it authentic , but I'm like I just showed up the way that I was and they did .
¶ Managing Online Pressure and Finding Inspiration
The pressure has been taken off of me to be anything different than that . However , I do think that where I get the most clouded is when I'm watching what everybody else is doing and I start doubting myself like , oh , I did something on that and it didn't do as well .
Or oh , my gosh , they're posting about this and I need to post about that , and oh , I like the way that they're doing this . And I start just kind of getting in my head and literally to the point where I have to just unfollow people .
And it's nothing personal , it's really because of my own kind of mental health and management of my own creativity , that I have to kind of take a step back and be like , okay , what's going on in my brain and how do I want to create this , versus I'm looking at what everybody else is doing and trying to mimic that .
That's such an important point and I want to reiterate that for our listeners too is that you do have the ability to curate your experience online by following people , by unfollowing people , and I think sometimes we've seen this with some of the people in our mentorship programs . I think exactly what you just described , sarah .
Everyone that you're following is another pelvic health provider and it seems like every topic has been covered and everybody else is doing this and everybody looks so great and they're taking a picture at their clinic and everything is so wonderful . And you kind of trapped in that little like echo chamber and feel like , well , why should I post something ?
Somebody else has already done that , or I'm not feeling creative because I've seen all those things I love that you're just able to . Hey , maybe following this account right now is not very helpful for me in my journey . And again , nothing personal , but yeah , that's not what I want to be looking at .
When you're looking for inspiration , are there other types of creators that you look to that are outside of pelvic health ? Or how do you find kind of inspiration for some of the things you're doing ?
Yeah , I think that a lot of . I mean , I'm a mom of two . I think a lot of mommy accounts that are just hilarious and funny . And you know , I think some of the things it's like the public health , that's great . But one of my biggest , most watched real , is me trying to suck up a cockroach with a vacuum , you know .
So it's like the things that aren't even related to pelvic floor therapy , just kind of the behind the scenes stuff , and so it's less curated content that I think you sometimes do well .
But I really like just watching what other accounts outside of pelvic floor therapy are doing , whether it's like with nutrition or food or fitness or motherhood or anything like that . I think it's kind of still entertainment for me , and I work in pelvic health , I do pelvic health .
It's kind of like sometimes I want to not just watch public health reels all day . I think that that's helpful for me . Yeah , and I mean I still want to enjoy social media . It's definitely a labor of love , but it's something that if I want to kind of stay the course , I think that we you've got to find a way to enjoy it too .
And the other thing is , I think it's really easy to compare yourself to say like , oh , sarah's got this , or Alicia's got this , or we're Malik got this , or whoever . Like you really have to do what is working for you , and not just for your community , but for yourself , whether it's blogs or podcasting or YouTube or Instagram .
Like you don't have to show up in a costume all the time to like put your best self forward . I think you really have to dive into like maybe I want to write a book or maybe I just want to do blogs or whatever it is .
I just think of people really needing to stay true to themselves , because then you're going to be more successful on whatever course you walk .
Yeah , 100% . I totally agree with that . And I just feel like that self awareness to know , like , what are you actually good at ? Like , if you're good at being in a vagina costume , then go for it . I mean , but seriously , are you creative like that ? Are you creative at getting a message through humor , or are you better at writing ?
Maybe you do need to do a blog , and don't let anyone tell you then that a blog is outdated . If that's your strength , then great . Then I feel like I want people to show up the way that it's not going to seem so draining to them right .
That's why you see Nicole's face on our Instagram and you only hear my voice on the podcast . We're leaning it to strength here let's be real .
That's because Jesse's on the front lawn playing P-knuckle , that's why , Right , we can't give any of that .
Yelling at the neighborhood kids . That's it . One thing I wanted to just ask you about , sarah . We hear this all the time with people who are like oh Sarah , that's the dream for a lot of people . Is this idea of online passive income ? Could we just ?
I feel this is again my crotch , the old guy's side coming out , but we preach all the time that's not passive . You just said that Instagram can be a full-time job .
Can you speak a little bit to that , because I think we all have this thing that maybe marketing advertising is putting in our head of you just put a couple of things out online and you sell a course and then you just sit back and cash the checks in this passive income and you retire on a beach somewhere .
I mean that sounds great but that is not my life and I'm sure if not yours either . I mean I've been a pelvic floor PT for 17 years . I will really say I can boil it down to like three things that have helped me really kind of excel . One of it is I have a lot of support from my partner .
Like I was able to make the leap to start my own clinical practice because we had a situation set up where it was like I could kind of be flexible with my schedule and be flexible with how many patients I was seeing . So if it also kind of show up for young kids while he was traveling , those kind of things .
The other thing is that I work my tail off . If I'm not on social media , it's because I'm writing email marketing , some reviewing blogs , I'm making videos .
I work my tail off and it is not between the hours of nine to five in a clinic , it's on the weekends and it's at night and it's you know , I missed my kid's fourth birthday because I was doing a TED talk , like I've .
I mean there are times where I really had to make a choice of like how much am I willing to take out of my personal life to put forth in my professional life and there is no balance , like I either feel like I'm doing great in one arena and another arena suffering , or vice versa . But I work a lot . It's not passive , I mean there's always .
It's kind of a machine that's always running . You just don't see it behind the scenes . And the other thing is I have a really great team of people that I work with , people who help me behind the scenes with customer service and emails and graphics and social media and email marketing . So it is not just me , they are kind of the behind the scenes people .
It's kind of like the crew when you put on a movie . They're not the stars , but they are helping everything run and I really couldn't do it without them . There's a lot of moving parts and I don't want to pretend like it's just me showing up . I have that . It appears that way , but it's not .
And I mean I could burnt out like everybody else where I'm like , all right , peace out . I'm taking a week off , you know , and it's just . We all need that , but it's definitely not easy or passive .
I always appreciate your honesty with this , sarah , and I've heard you talk about that before and I love just admitting . Yes , as entrepreneurs , I think we get burned out as much or more as people working in a mill job or anything else . What do you do when you're feeling that way , when you're actually ? Let me ask two questions .
One how do you know when you're getting burned out , because sometimes they can sneak up on us , I think . And then what do you do ? How do you recharge ? How do you get back to you know , coming in and showing up for your people with the energy you want to ?
Yeah . So I think that it's . You know , that's something that we're always going to be challenged with in healthcare . I think that we , working with other people , were constantly giving and I think that the more that you do , the more you're giving out and you're like , how am I going to fill my cup up ?
I think right now I mean the way that I am with my kids and my husband is a direct reflection of how I'm holding up in my work .
Life is , if I'm doing great in work and I'm working a lot , I mean it's just like I'm snappy with my kids , I'm not sleeping enough , my husband and I are bickering about the setting on the air conditioner , you know , I mean it's just you can find those petty things just kind of start to creep up .
But I also have learned over the years that it is really easy to burn out and I have part of the reason that I have a more flexible work schedule now is because I just wasn't able to sustain just this rigid schedule with being a wife and a mom and a business owner . So I do a lot of self care .
I mean I go to acupuncture , I have a mental health therapist , I exercise a couple days a week .
I mean I do a lot of it because it's like I have to have that balance to turn off or recharge , because I just you're putting out so much to other people in the home and in the workplace , so , but I fall apart , I cry , like my sisters will be , like you're melting down on Instagram . Get it together , sarah . I'm sorry , is it that evident ?
But I mean it's like we're all riding this roller coaster . It is not always pretty , but like it's high and low , like anything else .
Yes , love that . So for those of you guys who don't know , sarah was a speaker at the first ever Pelvicon . We were so glad that you did that . It was so well received .
We're so excited to be able to bring you back and we're actually going to be having you lead our panel and Nicole talk a little bit about kind of the origin of that and what the title is this year .
Yeah , so last year , at Pelvicon 2022 , for those of you who don't know or weren't there didn't get the recording Sarah talked about early postpartum care and our huge role as pelvic therapists to meet our patients in that space , and also spoke on how to build a brand , and that topic was really one of the things that people said that they loved the most , and ,
of course , they love Sarah the most , and so we asked you to come back , and this time we're like oh , how can we shake things up a little bit ? And we asked Sarah to lead a panel discussion on some of her expertise with building Instagram , and the title is Expanding your Reach in the Pelvic Health Arena a Panel Discussion .
We'll remind you who's going to be on the panel , but , sarah , I'm really excited about this topic . But why are you excited about this topic ?
Well , first of all , Pelvicon 2022 was literally a highlight of my career and the best professional conference I have ever attended . I mean , I walked away from that .
It gives me chills now just talking about it , because it was so uplifting and fun and energetic and invigorating and I just was like this is a new wave of not even just therapists coming through , but just the way that we're connecting and engaging and how we're like lifting our profession together .
So I just loved it and I was super honored to be there and I'm super honored to be coming back . So I'm just excited about the whole event .
¶ Various Physical Therapists and Their Impact
But the other thing is that I think that there are so many amazing physical therapists who are doing really cool things in different ways and I think that I can speak to what I've done . But there are therapists who are doing work in clinics and in local workshops in their community . There are , you know , Alicia is rocking it on TikTok .
We have Brie who's like crushing it on YouTube , and then we have someone who's an occupational therapist and that's probably one of the biggest questions is like hey , am I an OT ? Is that ? Where do I fit in ?
So I think you really want to show everyone that , no matter what kind of pelvic rehab professional are you are , and no matter what kind of avenue you want to choose like , there is a space for you to show up and serve your community and serve your clients and grow your own brand to really continue this amazing work that everyone's doing .
Yeah , I'm really excited . So , just to reiterate , we have Alicia Jeffries , who is going to be able to speak to her experience growing to . I think she's over a million now on over a million on TikTok .
We've got Brittany Sargent , who has a multi location , multi clinician practice in Florida and she is an occupational therapist and she just hired a physical therapist , which is a really cool Philippidan reverse it situation . Then we've seen it mostly in our field . And then we've got Brie Grogan , who lived in Germany for a while .
She is huge on YouTube and has something called vibrant public health . And then we've got Moa Berk , who does some online programs for people with endometriosis and is really reaching and going deep , like in her local community , with some really cool resources there for people .
So I'm really excited to see , just like you said , sarah , all of the different ways that you can expand your reach and use some of their experiences to sort of enhance your own and choose the best fit for you .
Yeah , absolutely , and create your own .
I mean , I think that we didn't know that TikTok or Instagram or YouTube were going to be these different things , you know , and so I think that you know it goes back to kind of like it's so cheesy to be like follow your passion , but it's like it's kind of like go with what works for you , you know , but I think it's just so amazing to see these women
all over the country reaching people in different ways , and it's all with the same mission , though , and I think that that is what I really love about this field and love this group of women and just the Pelvicon community in general . Like we're trying to move the needle .
If Instagram or YouTube or all these things were to go away tomorrow , like have we left it better than when it started ? And I think we could all , hands down , say yeah . So it's just a shared mission , and I love seeing the different ways that we're accessing people .
Wonderful .
Hey , I have a question for you too , just for some of our listeners as they think about you , know how they want to show up and if they choose , because I think a lot of people have like the desire in their head to like , hey , I really want to make this program , I really want to do this thing for to help patients , and I think you've done a really
great job of being able to educate the masses and create programs for that apply to a lot of different individuals in one program . How do you create that when our background is such the individualized care model , totally .
You know what I really how this came about was .
I remember telling people , hey , go home and do these , like bridges , and this exercise and this exercise , and then like come back in a week and then we'll change them or I'll email you these , and I was like gosh , I wish I just really had something that like was what I kind of find myself giving most people and then they could just kind of follow along at
home . It was never meant to replace individualized care , because I don't think anything does . I mean , I still provide individualized care . But it was like where are the gaps and like what can help most people get some support ? It's also increasing access . So is it going to be the specific program for one person ?
You know , maybe , but like can more people reach it at a more affordable price point ? Or maybe they don't have access to a PT or OT in their area ? Yeah , I mean we just again it's about like what's going to help the most people . So you know , what I really did was I recorded a bunch of videos with a lot of what I found myself recommending .
I put it together in these series and then the hope is that it's a journey that most people can follow and , if you know , I instruct them . This is not medical advice . If this is something that is , your symptoms are getting worse , I'm not getting better you really need to check in one on one .
I have a lot of PTs who recommend my programs to their clients so that they can do them alongside of PT . So I think there's a lot of ways to fit it in .
But back to even where we started in this conversation , there were other , like fitness professionals or other trainers who were coming out with these programs that I was like I don't know , y'all like this is not what I would recommend . But if people weren't finding what a PT was recommending , they were just going to go to whatever was out there .
And so I really was like I kind of want to bring it back to our lane , like I want us to stay in our lane and do this , provide this information , but from a pelvic PT or OT or whomever , versus somebody else who was like read about the pelvic floor .
Yeah , absolutely .
And you know , I think you hit on something else too , where you were like the thing that you're giving most people , the thing that's appropriate for most people , and I know that we would all love to pretend like every single plan of care that we give is so different that it wouldn't be appropriate for anybody else , but at the end of the day , we also fall
into pattern recognition and things that we know are going to work for everybody , or we always , we tend to always start here because that's what we , as therapists , like want to do , or we want to emphasize , or we're looking for something .
I just want to just say like I commend you for just being able to say like , yeah , sometimes there are things that are appropriate for everybody that won't hurt and at the minimum , won't hurt and could totally help . And yeah , like
¶ Feedback and Adaptation in Pelvic Health
that's what . There's , certain things that we give most people , because I think otherwise then we start to get too far into stopping ourselves before we're creating a good thing . Get in our own way , kind of a deal .
And I think that that's where telehealth was a couple of years ago , like how do you guide someone if you can't touch them ? Like well , we were at a point where we couldn't touch somebody , so what did we do ? We found another way , right , the best way that we could move forward .
And so I think again , it kind of comes down to like you can go to a personal trainer and they can devise an individualized care for your fitness . Or you can follow an app and like pay a less expensive price and , like you know , you hope that you get the most benefit out of it .
So I really think , in an effort to kind of bring pelvic health where we want it to be , where it is a little bit more mainstream , a little bit more well known , it's a little bit more accessible , like we have to kind of step up a little bit and stop saying like , oh , this is the way that we do it , because there are now there's a lot of ways to do
it and we want to be part of that conversation .
Yeah , absolutely . I think that the other thing I really respect , Sarah , about how you approach this and just in talking with you I've gotten this sense is you're really just meeting people where they're at .
I think sometimes we get so wrapped up in our own feelings about things of like , oh yes , the gold standard is coming into my office and having a full hour or two hours or a whole process and you're saying , well , that's not necessarily realistic for every single person .
How do I meet somebody's need where they are and acknowledging , hey , maybe this isn't telehealth , is telehealth is not the gold standard ? Would I rather have you here in my office , Absolutely . But if that's not the option , then here's this how do you feel like you made that transition ? How did you have the confidence to be able to do that ?
Because I think so many of us get in our own heads and say , well , it's all or nothing , it has to be perfect or nothing , and I think you've done a great job of being able to say like I'm just trying to help people and meet the need .
I'm far from perfect , as my husband will tell you , but I actually think that people tell us what they want . I mean , I will say that everything that has come up , it's been somebody asking for it . If they were like , hey , do you do online consults ? I'm like no , but I guess I can start to . Or like , hey , do you have an online fitness program ?
Or what do you think about this , I'm like well , I should probably come up with that . And so I think that people are telling us that they weren't . We just have to listen and we also do have to have some courage to throw it out there .
I mean , was I terrified that I was going to create something and invest in it and put it all together and put it out there and nobody was going to like it 100% ? I mean , we feel that way about every real and you're like I spent two hours on that and I got like four likes . Okay , you know , but it's again .
You kind of just have to like you put your head down , you do the work , you throw it out there and see what works , and I know that there will be as many dips as there are like as many valleys as there are killed and you just have to ride that roller coaster .
But I think the things that really keep me going are when I get really positive feedback from people where they're like , hey , I did this and now like I had the best birth because I followed this program .
I don't know if it's because I they followed my program , but the feedback is encouraging of like , hey , there's the potential that this could help people and I love that . I think that that's why we're all doing . What we're doing is because it feels really good to help other people . So when we get that feedback it kind of keeps driving us .
Then how do you do that ?
Because online is notorious , I think , or maybe I mean maybe you'll disagree with this characterization , but I feel like we all have this negativity bias , and you talk about the valleys and the hills , and I know when we get a negative comment or some kind of problem , it always weighs in our mind way more than the 10 great things that other people say .
How do you balance that ? As someone who does have a half a million people listening to things you say , I'm sure you get some negativity . How do you balance that with the positivity and keep doing what you're doing ? Because obviously , if you let the negative things affect you , you wouldn't still be putting yourself out there in the way that you are .
Right . I mean I'm just like everybody else , like negative feedback hurts because you're like whoa , I'm just doing the best I can here and people want to kind of come at you . So I put some layers there over the years that have protected me a little bit .
So I now have someone who helped me check comments and DMs , because if I saw everything , I mean I used to lie awake at night like ruminating about these comments and how do I respond or what do I do , and I'm like that sucks all of your energy out towards these negative things versus like focusing on the 99% .
That's really positive and that's just the impact that those things have . I think that that's human response . So I , you know , somebody helped me kind of filter those . You also learned to detach yourself a little bit .
I think you know , maybe when we all first started this field , in this field , we would go home with these heavy patient cases and we would lie awake at night like , oh my gosh , this person came in and this was so heavy and that used to really kind of very viscerally affect us as medical providers .
And I think now you build up a little bit of thicker skin where you're like okay , I've seen this before . I've been through this , I know how to handle this and so someone with just experience that helps us kind of layer up a little bit . When those things happen , you know they hurt .
I mean I have a therapist , I talked to my partner , I talked to friends who were in the same field and it's hard .
I mean there are some things that just go along with it and you have trolls that come at you and I still use this like killing with kindness kind of thing , where somebody can be really salty and you're like thanks so much for that feedback .
I'll take that into consideration . Yeah , you know , recently you had somebody and it always feels very personal . It is hard to say like , oh , I don't take things personally . And you know , I don't know if any of you all have read the four agreements , but that's like agreement number two , to not take things personally .
But it's one of the hardest ones , especially for someone like that's a perfectionist , is putting themselves out there all the time .
But you had somebody recently blast you on social for saying something about access when you have a cash based physical therapy clinic and your response if no one saw your story response I think you ended up doing it as a real as well , which was so awesome . I think that it was so disarming to just be like , let's talk about it .
You literally said in your real like I hear you and let's talk about that . And then you just laid out in a very succinct way the reasons why you've chosen to do a cash based model .
I thought that that was just showed so much just leadership in the field and then also just leadership on social media to just be like , yeah , like I got this negative comment . That was . You know , I didn't check to see how many followers that person .
I don't know if it was someone that was , like you know , Sally pants , 56 doing it , or if it was or if it was like an account , like I don't know , but but it was something enough to the fact that it was something that you felt like you needed to address and I just really like loved your response there and I think that we can all take a lesson from
you to just be like , instead of ruminating about it well , maybe you did ruminate about it , but but deciding to respond . You know , I feel like there are certain things that you do need to decide to respond to .
So how do you balance , like getting negative feedback and then being like , actually , that is something that I do need to address Versus just like okay , sally pants , 56 . Thank you so much , but I'm just going to like leave you be in your negative world .
Yeah , I mean , it's a little bit of both . I think it all depends on kind of my current situation and like can I handle that emotionally or do I need to just like block them or let it be and just like let it ride out ? You know , for that one , I think what was really important to me is that I did not broadcast to that person .
Was I blocked out their name ? It wasn't about personally attacking them . It was a little bit of a defensive like hey , I'm not the only private paid practitioner out there . It's probably the most asked question that we get , like why are you out of networking with insurance ?
And I think it's really important that people understand why we're making the decisions we are making . And it's not because people who are in network are less amazing skilled practitioners .
It's just that , as a business owner , this was a choice that I had to make to deliver the quality of care I wanted to deliver , and it's I can only speak for myself and so many people said this was awesome . Thanks for saying that , but I didn't know if that was the same for everybody else .
I think the other thing was like a personal attack on our profession and like whoa , whoa , whoa Everything that we put out here is free , like I'm out here teaching people how to pee and poop and give birth because I think that there's a better way and it's free . But yes , this is my profession .
I have a family to take care of , I have employees who need to earn a living wage and live fulfilling lives , and this is a job . And I also think that nobody's attacking the people who really created the system that we're trying to just figure out how to work in and to serve people .
Well , like you're not going to hospital saying , what are you doing for this community that can't afford your services ? Or what are you doing ? Like nobody's attacking those people and like I don't have time to attack those people . I have time to deliver the best care I can and that's it .
Yeah , freaking rock on . That was for those of you guys don't know . You should go check out .
I'm sure you have to scroll back a little bit because you're good , but it's a great one , it's just perfect , and I was like watching you're doing and I was like , oh , she's like going back and make it and creating content in a way that's going to be helpful to get people to understand .
Right , you combating that negativity with more education , right , and that's what I really like loved about that whole series .
Yeah , we talked about like it's taking the best form of the argument to write there is a kernel of something there , like that is a tension in our field and instead of running from it or hiding from it , you just addressed it and I thought it was . It was really great to do so for pts who have patients who might benefit from this .
Talk to me where do people find your stuff , Sarah ? How do people kind of look through your programs and where do they go ?
Well , my hope is that if you Google the vagina whisper I show up somewhere on the first page .
So hopefully , there's not too many vagina whispers out there .
There's a couple , which is fine , but my website is the vagina whispercom and on there is . You know , really , over the past few years I've worked to create this kind of platform of public health education and exercise that is accessible to people .
It's at a very low price point and it's kind of a membership level so that if you're looking for guidance on painful sex or strengthening or childbirth or whatever , there's a program in there for people to find .
And then I am , as we mentioned , on Instagram as the vagina whisper and on TikTok , and I'll be at Pelvicon 2023 , which is exciting , and so if nobody's , if you can't attend , you know the recording will be available . Yeah , so that's kind of what I'm
¶ Exciting Projects, Brand Growth, Challenging Yourself
up to . I've got some exciting projects coming up over the next year and there's two things I kind of keep in mind .
As we talk about kind of growing a brand or reaching people , is that one like I really try , and as much as I invest in this brand or this platform , I think that a lot of it is about creating community , and so , even over the past year or two , I've been trying to like take people off of Instagram a little bit and kind of create this own community where
we have more touch points with them , whether it's a podcast or a monthly zoom or whatever the case may be to kind of just get a little bit more connection with them , because it is such a huge platform . And I think that the other thing is that I always want to be challenging myself .
I think you know we started , nicole , you and I started in this field when , like it wasn't a cool thing to be a Pelvic Health BT and we were like very new and people will be like what is that ?
And so it's like , whether it's you're starting a podcast or starting your first social media counter , starting your clinic , like it's hard but like you have to keep putting yourself out there and it feels icky and weird and I will walk into a conference or a room and I look like I'm fine and on the inside I just want to show it all up and be like , oh
my god , who's the one person I know , who I can talk to and feel comfortable with ? But like you've got to just keep putting yourself out there , because it's how we grow until we grow our businesses , it's how we grow our profession and I think it's just the most important thing that we keep doing .
Love that and we're going to dive into a quick lightning round with you before we do . I just giving you the opportunity . Is there anything you want to drop ? Any news on this podcast Projects coming up ? I know there's always something cooking , challenging yourself , anything that you're ready to talk about yet , or what are you excited about coming up ?
As detailed or as vague as you want to be .
You know I'm not even like allowed to say it yet , but I there will be a really exciting project in the next year In stores at some point that you know Nicole had been here before and really committed herself to a big project like this .
So I think , yeah , it's just I'm always like , well , okay , I've done this , like what the next neck and do that will kind of reach more people and , sure , more about what we do .
So I'm sure , I don't know , maybe next year I'll share that with you all , but that's awesome , so make sure to be following Sarah and check out her website frequently then .
So we've got to to the lightning round here . Sarah , you've done this once with us before . Different questions , same idea . We want to get to know you here . What is the most New Orleans thing about you ?
Probably my accent and my body girl costume closet . So I think two things when I moved here I moved back to New Orleans six years ago after being away for 17 years and people like where's your costume closet ? On my costume closet I legitimately have a costume closet now with like half a dozen wigs and sequence coming out of like every hanger and drawer .
And if you live here you have a costume closet . And then the other thing is I say things kind of funny . I say like almond instead of almond , and the other day my eight year old like can you give me some of the spicy almond ? And I was like yes , it's like it's generational now . So some words I say are a little bit different .
How cute . That's awesome . I didn't know that about you . That's awesome . I guess I've never heard you say that word . Say it again , almond , okay .
Pet Steven Peltz ? No , I used to . I used to have an amazing cup and this is kind of embarrassing to admit , but I'll say it when I had my second kiddo six years ago are my cousin adopted my dog because I was just kind of drowning and so our dog is still with her and they're amazing family and I get to see her every time we go to Dallas .
But we don't have her anymore .
Yeah , but she's in the family . She's in the family , perfect .
Good , nice . What is something that you are really excited about just in the pelvic health field , from the perspective that you have ?
I mean the growth . It is amazing . People know what we do now and they're asking for it and they're going to providers and asking for it and they're knocking on our doors and saying like I want this and I just we are like right there for this just becoming mainstream and the standard of care and just implementing it at so many touch points in people's lives .
So I just think the growth of how many people are going into this profession , I think the growth of how many people are seeking the care it is just Awesome and I think that every PT who was showing up , either in their clinics or online or in whatever space they are in their communities , like they play a piece of that growth , and so I think it's just so
exciting .
Yes , keep doing it . All right , sarah . Last question if you weren't a physical therapist , what would you be doing what ? What occupation would you have ? What would you be doing with your time ? What would you be ?
So I think , if this is , I would be doing two things I would be writing a book and I would be reading books .
Okay , I love reading and I think if my kids have gotten older , now that they read to themselves , I can kind of just lay next to them and read and it feels like I'm not playing on my phone as much , and then , yeah , I would probably maybe be writing a book .
So cool that's awesome , awesome and we were reading . Are we reading fiction , nonfiction .
Girlie like romance , exciting dramas , like summer mindless beach reads , but all year round it's like nothing , nothing major , just like good juicy books .
Awesome . Sarah will love it . Well , thank you so much for being on . We're so excited to have you at Pelvicon and , honestly , thanks so much for everything that you're doing for the profession .
A lot of what you were talking about being excited about is due to the work that you're doing , that people like you are doing being out there in their local communities , whether it's social media , whether it's doing a local workshop but just seeing that expanding the reach , I love that topic and I think it's so important because that is the thing that's changing
our field and I just want to acknowledge that you've been at the forefront of that and we're so excited to have you come in and talk about it at Pelvicon .
Thank you , and same to y'all . I mean , y'all are kind of really carving out this incredible path to that . We're happy to you know , feel lucky to walk down with you . So same to y'all thank you , oh cool .
Thanks , alright , you guys have a really wonderful rest of your time and thanks for being on the podcast .
Nicole , every time we talk with Sarah , I feel like the word that comes out is just authentic . She's so real with what she talked about .
I love some of the things that she was saying about burnout and how really vigilant she's had to be as a clinician , as an entrepreneur , Entrepreneur burnout is a very real thing and that she's been able to combat that with recognizing early self care , just being vigilant about making sure that she's . She's being proactive about her , her health .
Yeah , and really just self aware . I really appreciate Sarah for sharing all that stuff with us that she did .
It really is a real thing in our field and I think one of the reasons why she's been able to reach so many people is because she's shown up so authentically , both as a new mom when she first started Instagram , and also just being that authentic person as a creator is really how she can reach people , and I think we can all learn a huge lesson from her
and the way that she shows up both on social media and in life . So thanks so much to her for this really amazing interview , for being on social media , for the way that she has trailblazed in our field in this way , and I'm so excited for her to for you all to see what she's going to have for us in Atlanta .
So if you guys are coming , we're excited to see you in just a couple of weeks . If you are not , remember to head to pelvicconcom slash recording . You can get the full speakers lineup . You can get the two talks from every single speaker Sarah's conversation , her panel and a downloadable version of the entire Pelvicon manual . That will all go directly to you .
And I have a question for you , jesse is the recording available for CEUs ?
So , yes , it is eligible for CEUs this year . We are really excited for that . It has been pre-approved in Georgia for 14.25 CEUs , which means if your boss asks , is this eligible for CEUs , your answer is absolutely yes and you'll get all of the stuff that you need to submit to your own state when you complete the process .
So really excited that this can be something that not only is an incredible career altering conversation with some of the leading trailblazers and minds in the field , but also can start hitting that CEU requirement . If that clock is ticking for any of you guys , so make sure to check that out and grab it in the next few weeks for that early bird discount .
Again , you can get that at pelvicconcom slash recording . As always , we'd love to hear from you . Please reach out . Please . If you are feeling moved by this episode , you can drop a review and some stars in the review section . I don't know , I don't even have iTunes things , so I don't even ever get to review it .
Jesse is so annoying because he's an Android user and I don't even care if there's many Android users listening to this podcast , I just totally . I think there's four of us Through some shade .
We appreciate the four of you . We should get on our own group text , not with these iTunes people out there . It's not even iTunes anymore . They changed it up Apple Apple , which is a stupid name , honestly , for a technology company . That's a fruit , Come on , but guys would love to hear from you . Please reach out . Please keep this conversation going .
And let's continue to rise .