Speaker 2 (00:34)
And welcome everyone to today's episode of Let's Have a Chat. I have Reggie too with me today and we need, I hope you stick around because we need some more hope and inspiration and love and that is what Reggie is bringing to you today. We spoke earlier and Reggie you gave me part of your story that you've been broke two times. You came to America β with 50 bucks in your pocket but in all actuality I wanted to hear it for the first time with the listeners. You've been broke.
three times and now you are a physical therapist, a clinic owner, a speaker and a coach. Holy geez, how on earth did you do that? And thank you. Thank you so much for being on the show today.
Speaker 1 (01:17)
Thank you very much for having me, Shalini. It's a pleasure to be here. So like I was sharing with you before, I was broke three times. One is I was born to a poor family in the Philippines. So we were broke back then. Very, it was a hard life. Came to America. So I was broke again because I used up all my savings to get here. Plane ticket, licensure exam, all those things. Then when I got my papers,
start working, saving. I thought life was going to be a lot better for a certain, for a while it got better because I was able to support myself. Then the third time I got broke was when I got divorced. most people or lot of people have been through that. They can they can relate to that stage, especially for the male part in the States. The law, it's still.
People will argue with me, especially women, but it's still not as even as I think it can be. So it was when they say they take you to the cleaners in a literal sense. Yes, so it was, I was fired shortly before that, which contributed to the financial stress, to the lead, contributed to the end of the marriage.
Speaker 2 (02:19)
As it should be, can't be
You got washed.
Speaker 1 (02:42)
And then going through the divorce, very expensive. And I joke with people, said, my son is worth more than a Maserati. And then at the same time, and those are, it's just, when you add it up, really literally, it really is, just with the lawyer's fees. And then also that is the time that I started my practice. Because when I got fired, I said, you know what? I was with that company for more than 10 years.
Speaker 2 (02:56)
It's true. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:11)
and I would just let go just like that. No warning.
Speaker 2 (03:15)
Isn't that incredible? Such loyalty from you and then just, okay, bye.
Speaker 1 (03:20)
Yes, it was a shocker to me. It was new to me that that kind of experience. I didn't expect that. So I said to myself, do know what? Do I work for somebody else or do I just start my own? Because I said I vowed to myself at that time, especially going through the divorce. I vowed to myself I would never let this happen again. I would never put my faith in somebody else's hands. So.
I just decided I start to practice because if that doesn't work out, I know I can always work for somebody else because that for that practice, I grew 10 years there. I grew them to twice a size. Basically, I handled everything there. So I knew what I can I what I bring to the table. So when I started to practice, then you have to owe money because I didn't have money. Spent it on the wedding also and all those things. And then to the lawyer, it was a very humbling moment for me because.
I was so broke at that time, I couldn't afford to pay the lawyer to fight for my son's custody. And I said, I will never put myself through that again. That was one of the lowest points in my life.
Speaker 2 (04:31)
And looking to where you are now, or sorry, looking back from that lowest point to where you are now, how much has changed?
Speaker 1 (04:43)
So from that point till now, it's like day and night. Because when you go through those times, you go through a divorce, people react differently. Sometimes people, they go into depression and feel sorry for themselves. They just, there's a lot of self-pity, self-doubt. And at that time, I felt like I lost everything. I lost the money.
lost my relationship, I lost my family, lost friends. And I felt like I lost myself because I couldn't even fight for my sons because I felt like a failure. I felt like I failed everything and everybody. So for a while, I was doing the self-pity also. For a while, I throwing a pity party. I was leading. Yes. But then I realized, though,
Speaker 2 (05:36)
Like, woe is me.
Speaker 1 (05:40)
I said, if I keep staying in this position, what's going to change? And there's nobody else coming to save me. I lost everything. I lost everybody already. And interestingly, when you're at your lowest point, you really don't have much people around you. The people who are there when you're up, a lot of them are not there when you're down. I'm just being honest. I said, I only like to...
Speaker 2 (06:01)
true,
hey? That is so true.
Speaker 1 (06:05)
rough realization, right? Those friends on social media, those Facebook friends? They ain't there. So now I call them acquaintances.
Speaker 2 (06:07)
Ha!
Yeah
For sure. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:17)
Yeah,
so I just instead of staying there I realized hey, you know what? I'm the only one who can get myself out of this. Nobody's coming to save me. instead of staying that route, I focus on just going with patients every day. never, didn't take a day off. Starting, starting. That's Just starting. Yes, so I didn't have any staff to start off because.
Speaker 2 (06:34)
You had the clinic at this, Okay. Just starting.
Speaker 1 (06:44)
You don't have a lot of I didn't have money, so I didn't have patience yet. I didn't have any staff. All I have at that time is really I want to make this work. I have to make this work. So I just work day in, day out, nonstop in the practice, on the practice. I didn't take a day off for, I think, the first five years when I was building the practice, which for me was a blessing because when I'm because I've been I've been a therapist since 99. So that's like 26 years now.
When I'm with the patient, I'm in the groove. in the zone. I forget about things. I forget about my life, which is what I want. I want to get away from that. aside from some people might be drinking, gambling, things like that, I focus on my patients. All right? So no judgment. But I focus on the patient. I focus on the business because I know this will generate money and this will lead to a better life for me.
Speaker 2 (07:30)
It was me.
Speaker 1 (07:43)
Why focus on other things? So that's what I did. And then now, 12 years later, it's a different, it's a whole different ballgame because I have a team that I love. They're helping me be able to do my speaking, do my coaching, have time to do interviews like this. While the clinic is running, we're serving people every day. We're serving thousands of people in a yearly basis. And there's just, this is the life that I wanted before.
that I can show to my son. Because for me now, it's about the legacy I want to leave behind. I'm a little older, I'm 47, and people ask me, even my coach asks me, why are you doing this? You already have the practice, it's established already, let's just multiply that, go raise the EBITDA someday if you want to sell. So I was like, but then there's always this passion, there's something in me that says, I want to share my message.
And now it's the legacy I want to leave behind to my son that, hey, you know what? We came from very humble beginnings. But you can do everything or anything that you want as long as you are willing to work hard for it.
Speaker 2 (08:55)
Do you mind me asking how old is your son?
Speaker 1 (08:58)
He's 11 now.
Speaker 2 (08:59)
He's 11. Okay. Okay. I think it's so important that our children, I have four children myself. It's so important that they can witness and see their parents not have this perfect, beautiful life and that we can parent with honesty and communication and they can see our struggles and know that
look, if mom or dad can get through this, then I can get through this. β Like with my story, β I drank for over 20 years. I was a functioning alcoholic, if that's what you want to call it. β My kids were taken care of, they were in sports and went to school on time, well dressed, but β behind closed doors,
after school and before bed, mom was cooking, mom was drinking the wine all the time and it got to a point of the yelling and the screaming and I was never abusive to them, I never hit them, any of that but that's, there's more than one form of abuse I guess and mentally and emotionally I was abusing them by my behaviors and my oldest children who are now 16 and 14
They witnessed that. They saw me get arrested. And that... β They're going to have those memories for the rest of their lives. I can't change that. But they saw me get sober. They saw me like put the bottle down. They saw me write my book and start my podcast and like come out of this hole that I was in. So even though it's really shitty that they had to see me go through all of that.
I think it's really important to show them that this is my first time being Shalane on this planet. This is my first time being their mom and this is my first time that I'm aware of, of me being a human just trying to figure it all out, right? And if they can see me go through this, your son can see you go from you called it humble beginnings to where you are now. I think that like it instills maybe a little bit of
cried in them and β if mom or dad can do it for whatever they're facing in their lives, their challenges being a teenager. Eleven sucks. My daughter just turned 14. Being a 14 year old girl sucks. Like I've lived it. But it's like these challenges are like a rite of passage that you have to go through in order to open the clinic, to be of service, to share your story, to
be a change maker in the world.
Speaker 1 (11:51)
Yeah, I agree with what you said there, because I believe that we have to share, be transparent with our kids, share everything with them. One main reason why I, my son knows where I grew up. He has not seen where my neighborhood is, where I grew up. I said, in a couple of years, I have to go, I have to go there and I'll bring him with me so he can see really, because he heard the stories. β But then I want him to know that. then that because if he only sees that now,
then sometimes they get into that sense of things come easy, that sense of entitlement. I don't have to really work hard because you see things come to my family easy. I don't want him to feel, to see that because I want him to embody the hard work that he will have to put in before he will get that result in the future. I think that's important for them to realize that and also to establish some humility. This happened just a couple weeks ago.
was looking out the window with my son and we saw this old Asian lady picking up the plastic bottles for recycle. I'm not sure if in Canada you have that, but here in New York we have a lot of that. And he said, oh, that's cringy. I was like, what's cringy about it? He said, just weird, because she's just walking and picking things up. Then I told him, what's weird about that? He said, I don't know, it's just weird. So I told him.
Remember I mentioned to you when I first when Papa first came to America I had to collect cans and recycle them for five cents each so I can buy grocery money I was doing what that old lady was doing and people were making fun of me. You know, I guess people think like you're Yeah, or something right they it never occurred to them sometimes as an immigrant this is you just hard and lucky just don't have β some of the things that are required to
Speaker 2 (13:37)
You're a drug addict or...
Speaker 1 (13:49)
be able to show what you have and what you know. So I told him that sometimes people are there not because they want to, and they're trying to survive. So they're doing what it is that they have to do to survive or maybe support their family. So I want him to have a different idea of what people are doing. I'm not saying everybody who, some of them are into drugs. We've seen that.
But not everybody, so at least take it with grain of Give them some benefit of the doubt as well. My point to him is don't disrespect anybody. Higher, Yeah, no judgment. Don't disrespect anyone. Even if you feel like they're lower than you, hey, we're all equal. And nobody's lower than you. Because if somebody's not gonna do that type of work, then there are things that are missing out. Like example, here in New York, some people, I hear people say, β
They're just a cleaning lady and you have a cleaning company, right? And say for me, hey, you know what? If it wasn't for your cleaning lady or cleaning man, you're gonna be living in filth. So you better, that's just how I talk. You better be grateful somebody's willing to do that job.
Speaker 2 (14:59)
Absolutely.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I β started, well, I've had so many careers in my life, but the two businesses that we have that my husband and I have, aside from my personal coaching and podcasts and all that, is the residential cleaning and being so committed to being of service to others. That's how we got our dream home. Right? That's like
This is we were in a rental paying someone else's mortgage. Now we're paying our own massive mortgage and it's because we were scrubbing toilets, you know? And at the end of the day, we all bleed red. And like you said, we're all the same. We really are. Now I want to ask you a question. How? Because I'm a mom, you're a dad and we're like...
We're making it, that the money is happening. We're being of service to people and contributing back to the world and seeing that, the fruits of our labor, I guess. And we always want to give our children a life better than what we have. But where's like the line of here you go and you got to work your fucking ass off to be a part of the family. You know what I mean? Like, how do we like,
what is this balance? Because we've got these companies, my son is working with my husband right now and he's making really, really good money, almost like between two and $300 a day at 16. That is really good money, right? Yes. But then it's like, well, do we just hand them the business? Like, how do we navigate this? What are your thoughts?
Speaker 1 (16:52)
That's a great question, especially immigrant families. come here, we struggled so much. We don't want our kids to go through the same struggle. For me,
Speaker 2 (17:04)
It's
hard because I'm like, want it like if I've got the money and like I want to get you the Milwaukee stick or whatever. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:10)
You
want to pamper them, right? Because we never got that before. For me, I always keep this in mind. Yes, I will provide what you need, but not everything that you want. Meaning I always look at it, if what you're asking is something that you need, you need it for school, you need it for something. Yes, we'll provide that. But if it's for what you want, I will make you work for what you want. Because that's how I can instill that you have to you have to put the work in.
Because if not, you're going to grow and become entitled. And they think that money falls on trees, that grows on trees in America, that type of stuff. So I want them to be stronger also. as early as my son, like he takes out the trash, then that's when you can get a dollar for that. Or you get a hundred on your exam, you get a dollar for that. Now, as he gets older, then I want him to start working more. And then that's the time you make money. So for me, it's just...
not everything that he wants, he will get.
Speaker 2 (18:13)
Yeah. Yeah. It's tough because even like with me growing up, β it was like, we were well below the poverty line. My mother was single mom, got paid once a month β because of her disability check that came in. And I remember β like the boxed mashed potatoes and the bagged minestrone soup, like those were...
just staples. only had like fresh fruit once a month when her check would come in. And I remember in one of my journals, one of my first journals, I I felt so bad because we were going through the grocery, going through the till and the bill was like $126 and I wrote it in my journal. I was like, I don't know how we're going to afford the rest of the month. And I put so much of that pressure.
on myself and $126 to feed us for the whole month. β it's tough having that upbringing and then like that food scarcity. And now in my life, I'm always trying to make sure like my pantry is full, my kids never go hungry, there's always snacks, right? And β I want them to kind of have this
the sense of abundance when it comes to food because I never had that. So it's interesting how when, as you get older, these things, like I'm like scared we're gonna be broke and not have food like subconsciously again. And I'm not gonna be able to feed my kids. So my food budget, I have no food budget. I'm like, I'm always just buying whatever I possibly can. It's interesting how these little things from your childhood can.
can sit with you.
Speaker 1 (20:06)
True, and they last for a while unless you start changing it. When you said the scar is sitting in mind.
Speaker 2 (20:12)
Now I need a damn food budget. I'm talking about it.
Speaker 1 (20:16)
So for me, that scarcity mindset affected the business as well, because you're thinking, you know what, let's not hire this person first because we may not have the volume consistently or, β you don't hire better quality people because you're trying to go cheaper. But then they say you get what you pay for. So some of those things are not really good in terms of
running the business or let's say you go into business thinking, there's a lot of in Europe, we have a lot of competition. There's just a lot of people also. But then if you're thinking is, wow, there's several other PT clinics in the area and then, β am I going to not have the patients or what's going to happen? So you're on the reactive mode all the time. And it's not it's not good. You don't make good decisions. You don't make decisions to grow the company. You're always being reactive.
And plus, believe in, I'm 80 % very logical, 20%, maybe 10, 20%, ooh, because being in the medical field, I believe in that energy in the thoughts that you put out. Because if you keep thinking that you're going to run out of patience, your mind is going to focus on you having less patience. So you're not going to focus on things that can attract the patients. So having that ab-
Breaking that scarcity mindset, having that abundance mindset, I think it's very important in the family and then in the business as well.
Speaker 2 (21:50)
and we can tend to talk ourselves out of things rather than gear ourselves up in order to do them. Now, I wanted to go back to when you were starting the clinic and you were broke and like really at like the lowest of the low and you had a great mentality. You're like, have to, I have to do this. There's no other options. And you may or may not have had this, but did you have any external resources?
Were there any books you were into? Like what kept that drive going? Did you have any coaches or spiritual leaders or mentors online that were kind of unbeknownst to them guiding you through this transition in your life?
Speaker 1 (22:37)
Yeah, so that's one of the reasons why I started my membership also to help practice owners grow the business, because at that time I did not have anybody. I did not have anything. I'm an introvert, so I mostly kept to myself. Most of the books I've read at that point were all medical books from PT journals. Everything is related to my field. So I was just navigating it all on my own.
For me, what really saved me there was tapping into, I know some people say they tap into the positive, and that's great. But when really, when shit hits the fan, I don't know, can edit. When it really gets really bad, sometimes you have to tap into the negative, because that's more powerful. You watch those Star Wars movies.
Speaker 2 (23:18)
Did it? No, we
Speaker 1 (23:32)
Usually the dark side is more powerful than the light side. But the thing is, it's how they use that power. So for me, I really tap into that. I don't want to get disrespect again. I don't want to be broke again. don't want to have I want to be with my son because I was barely seeing him at that time. First year of my son's life, I was seeing him like once a week and I couldn't even do anything to change that because I didn't have the money. So I said, I don't want to live this life.
ever, ever, ever again, and I don't want my kids, anybody to go through that. So that just kept me going and going and going. And one place that, and I'm not a very religious person, one place, the only place that I got peace at that time was actually being in church. I have not been in church for the longest time, but during that time, I had nowhere else to go. I didn't know what other way. So I said, you
Speaker 2 (24:27)
give
it a shot. We'll say it works.
Speaker 1 (24:30)
And I had sleepless nights. The only place I could sleep is actually in Mass. So again, so if you're judging people who sleep during Mass, hey, you know what? You don't know what they're going through. Because that's the only time I feel like I was able to get some peace. And for how many years I was going through four or five hour sleeps every night, because especially when I started having my son, when we won that arrangement, every time I have my son, I want to be there.
So, and I have to grow the business as well, do marketing, all these other things. So, for how many years I was going with four or five hours sleep. I have some people ask me, even some patients ask me, they know my story. They ask me, can you do that? And I tell them, hey, you know what? If you've been broke so much that you struggle so much that you don't even know where your foods are gonna come from. Because when I got to America, I was...
My food for the day is one Chinese takeout special. So basically at that time was like $4 something. That's it. Chicken wings with pork fried rice. was my favorite. So that's like $4 and change. I will split that into two so I can have lunch and dinner. So I live off of you have four or five bucks a day for food. If you've been through that, then the four or five hours of sleep doesn't really matter because you're going to do everything.
Speaker 2 (25:51)
You
don't want to go back to that.
Speaker 1 (25:52)
I don't want to go back to that. If I don't have to sleep, then I won't. I'll sleep when I'm dead. I just don't want to struggle like that again.
Speaker 2 (26:02)
If you could look back or if you could go back and change anything in your journey, would you and what would it be?
Speaker 1 (26:15)
So guess looking back, would I change anything? Not really, like I would say, must, must. Because now looking back, I believe that everything happened for reason. Everything happened for me, not to me. And I firmly believe in that. Because all of those things, the struggle, the bullying I went through when I was younger, I was thinking, why did I have to go through this? The divorce, and before that, I had an ex-fiance who cheated on me. It was like...
all those things. Why? What sin did I commit that is so bad that God had to punish me? And I said, now looking back, it's like it built the strength in me, the mental toughness that prepared me for the other things that were ahead. Entrepreneurship is rough. It's very unforgiving.
Speaker 2 (27:07)
You're preaching to the choir, sir. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:10)
So I feel like those prepared me for what lied ahead and made me realize that I wish at that time I had somebody to guide me. And now that's why I want to be able to share my experience, guide people, because I know how big that impact is, it can be in their lives. Is there something that I really want, want to change? No. But if I can make it better, probably. And one thing stood out in my mind there is
I wish I would have, like my lawyer told me, hey Reggie, you gotta have tougher skin. Because you cannot go all in to a marriage thinking that it's a fairy tale. It never is.
Speaker 2 (27:53)
That's so true. β We are both entrepreneurs and many of the listeners of the show are entrepreneurs and you speak on hiring the right fit and building a great company culture. And this is what your coaching practice is around. Is that correct?
Speaker 1 (28:12)
So it's one of the pillars there, because growing the practice requires different things, especially if they're just starting, then I help them set everything up. The structure, those are pretty fundamental when it comes to medical practice is pretty much similar. But the two things that I focus on that has given a lot of growth to my company is one is the hiring, because you can only get so far as a solopreneur, as a solo practitioner. You're only going to get so far.
If you want to serve more people, create more profit, create more impact, you have to have people surrounding you, great people surrounding you that can help you get there. Then the next level, the next one is creating raving fans because you have to get that business to come in. So creating that great experience, creating raving fans so you don't have to rely on ads, you don't have to rely on anybody's algorithm because this is something that you can...
just duplicate every day in your practice or in any business for that matter. So those are the two things that we focus on, but my membership helps them with anything else that is needed to grow their practice.
Speaker 2 (29:23)
Reggie, how do we let go being an entrepreneur and kind of taking a step back and allowing others to come in and be kind of a step parent to our baby, right? It's tough. This is like our dream, our lives, our reputation. How have you found β you're able to kind of take a step back and let others come in?
Speaker 1 (29:50)
That's a great question. That's that. How do we let go? That's a question that. And even I struggled with that at the beginning, because especially if you're a medical, you're the practitioner. You you're saying, β no, this is one thing that plays in my mind, or at least at that time, and other people's mind. Nobody can do it the same way as I do. Nobody can do it as good as I can. People won't come. My patients won't come because I'm not the one treating them.
Speaker 2 (29:55)
So hot. β
Speaker 1 (30:21)
But then I went to I realized that, you know what? I can only do so much. You can get burned out. And this is not the life that I want, because when I started that, my baby, my son is very young. It's a baby. I said, I'm giving myself a few years because my end goal is I want to be watching his games because I always want to be there for him. That was not we didn't have a great relationship even until he passed away. We never really patched things up. One of my biggest regrets.
I don't want to have that relationship with my son. I want to be there for him. I want to support him. Everything I can. I want that freedom to be able to do. That's why I started one of the reasons why I started the business aside from the financial. It's the time freedom. But then how can I have that time freedom if I'm the one?
Speaker 2 (31:07)
when you have to build the business. Yes. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:10)
Now that comes down to, I recorded everything. It's about creating systems because we have to get over that ego part that we're the best, only we can do it. Somebody else is always better than you. Somebody else can do it better than you. And even if they cannot do it better. But you have to admit that to get over the hump, right? Now, I guess for me,
Speaker 2 (31:30)
It's hard to admit.
Speaker 1 (31:39)
My
Speaker 2 (31:40)
Say
that again. That is really, really powerful that somebody else can do it better than me.
Speaker 1 (31:49)
somebody else is better than you. You're not the best in what you do. Somebody else is always better than you. So if you can have the system to show them how to create that experience that you want, because you're the visionary of your company, you will create that experience. And then you train your people to have that result, to have that experience. I think that's the key for you to be able to step back.
And but then you have to just accept that fact first because there's a lot of ego that plays there. I think that's mostly it. It's not based on facts, because if you look at other people who even just in your field, like people creating better results, they're better than you or they may not be better than you in what you're measuring, but they're doing something that's different. But you know what's the most important part is the result. My desire for the result is
more than my ego. So I had to get over that fact.
Speaker 2 (32:54)
My desire for the result is more than my ego.
Speaker 1 (32:58)
Yes. So for me, that's...
Speaker 2 (33:00)
by
Reggie too. But that quote is going to go down in history. My desire for the result is greater than my ego.
Speaker 1 (33:11)
Yes. When you accept that, you create the systems, then you'll be able to step back already. Because then you start using the data. You track the metrics, your KPIs. Are we getting this level of, let's say, are we getting this arrival rate, the cancellation rate? We have drop off rate, meaning patients that don't come back anymore afterwards. And more importantly, there is what is our revenue?
And even more important, the revenue, you as a business owner know, it's the profit. Because you can have a lot of revenue. You have zero negative profit. So then you track those. Once you see that, hey, you know what? This is, it's what I'm thinking, or what I was thinking was not real, was not true. And even if you're struggling with that, take little baby steps back. Now, I hardly treat patients.
Speaker 2 (33:48)
yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:08)
And the practice is seeing higher numbers than when I was seeing patients before. It's because now there are more people who are, it's like you're the multiplier. You have three, four different people now producing the result that you were doing once before.
Speaker 2 (34:26)
You talk about β culture within company. What does culture look like to you within your company or how should we think about culture within our businesses? Culture gets And I'm not saying like American, Canadian, Asian. Yes. I'm not saying that kind of culture. I'm talking about like values and that sort of thing.
Speaker 1 (34:42)
Yeah, so that's another good question.
Correct, because every company will have the different set of values, different set of culture. Doesn't matter the nationality or anything, right? And it gets thrown around a lot in social media that, oh, you have to have a culture. Then if you're the one listening, it's like, the heck, how do I get the culture? It's not something that, in my experience, and there was a year, this is one of my struggles going through the business world, there was a year that I lost 27 people.
in my company and I had a team of six at that time. So imagine the turnover each. If you have 27 team of six is like almost each position you're losing four. You went and they lost four or more in that year. So that was a very, very rough year. And I said to myself, how can I change this? And I realized that, hey, you know what? Not everything is on them. They're not all bad. Don't get me wrong. Some of them are right.
Speaker 2 (35:52)
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:55)
Some of them need to be fired.
Speaker 2 (35:57)
Just weren't fit for the gig, yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:59)
Yes, but not all of them. feel like something is in me. I take responsibility. And that's when I went to personal development. Now, my idea of the culture before Revenge is like, β things that you say, things that you share, you put it up, those quotes you put up in your office. It's none of that. It's what you show up as. It's what you embody. It's how everything is tied together. Because that's one of the...
One of the things I tell my staff, especially my supervisor staff, my coordinators, my clinic director, I tell them, I'm not here all the time and I want you guys to start making decisions when they started learning. And then he's like, how do we make decision? I said, base it off, it's just one thing. If it aligns with the values and assets, what are our values? Some of them don't even remember, right? But then after a while, because they've been working with me for a long time,
They already know, hey, you know what, it's our integrity, trust, honesty, β empathy with the patient, service, the act of service. So those are big things for us. As long as you make a decision, let's say you cannot reach me, you don't really know what to do, something comes up. You make a decision that's aligned with our values, you're not gonna be that wrong. Even if it doesn't come up with the result that we want. And that's one of our values, we don't throw anybody under the bus. Even if it's not what I would have done.
I will tell you, but you're still not gonna be that far off because you're basing it on the values of our company. So you don't have to memorize everything. It's not in the SOPs because you can't prepare for everything, but you know that what your values, what you embody. So they know off the bat, how would we decide, how would we solve this problem?
Speaker 2 (37:49)
This is why values are so important within a company. If you have those three to five core values, and just like recapping what you said here, if the head honcho, the boss, the owner isn't around the main decision maker and you have to make a decision, you don't know what to do. Is it A, B, C, D or E? Does it align with any of those values? Then go ahead and make that decision because you're heading in the right direction.
Speaker 1 (38:19)
Yes. Fantastic advice. That empowers them and then there's not too many things for them to remember because the decision comes from the heart.
Speaker 2 (38:20)
That is.
That's beautiful. That's beautiful. Do you have any advice on the hiring process and how when you're hiring, β do your values as a company come into play? Like, do you speak about them? Do you ask your potential employees what their values are? Like, how do we find these perfect people on Kijiji? Whatever, however we find them, right? Yes. Where do you find your people?
Speaker 1 (38:59)
Yeah.
Different places, there's really no specific one. β It can be referred by our team members because they know who's the right fit for us. It can be through ads, sometimes patients, sometimes patient recommended, sometimes interns later on. So in different places. To answer your question for the hiring, I was able to just going through all that mess, right, through the years, especially that one year, that was a rough year.
I was able to fine tune the hiring process and now we have five steps in our hiring process. Why five steps? Because each level will weed something out. And also I believe in making people, they have to go through hoops. At least for them to be a fit for my company. I want to see, you show me that you want this enough.
Because if you make the first interview, then the second interview, they don't show up, then you don't want it enough then. Do I want you to be in my team? No. And then each step, we weed something off. And that's something that I don't personally do anymore. I do the last interview. you can have maybe, let's say for front desk, a lot of applicants. My staff, my admin coordinator is the one.
Speaker 2 (40:22)
love that. You're the last one.
You're the last one to do the interview. Okay, so they've got to go through.
Speaker 1 (40:31)
because
then it's go through first. So when it comes to me, because I don't have a lot of time to sit down and interview everybody. So let's say the first one is my admin coordinator. And this one, when you have the system, it's easy for somebody to do it. The first example there will be just the resume application. So whoever's gonna review that, I tell them, these are what you look for. Wrong spelling, no capitalization. A lot of them are templates. So when you say,
Let's say I'm applying for the position bracket put job. I'm like if you are not paying attention to that detail
Speaker 2 (41:08)
Yeah. It's X. I'm not trusting you with my patience. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:11)
No, definitely not. all those little things, they're they X out already right from, let's say we have indeed we have a hundred applicants there when they see no capitalization, wrong punctuation, everything is just X out already immediately. That will be without probably because I was doing that. No, no, definitely not. Yeah, we just X out. That will weed out, I would say 50, 60 percent at least of those applicants already. And then after that, the second stage for us is
Speaker 2 (41:28)
So they don't even make it to the second step after that.
Speaker 1 (41:41)
we do what we call a phone interview. Basically, we want to see how they are when you're talking to them. Because one is, say, pick up, sometimes they pick up phone calls in the subway here, and they're they're so noisy background. That's not gonna be, because there's no presence of mind to say, hey, you know what, β I picked it up, can I call you back and let me move to a quieter place? At least something like that. So we're looking for that presence of mind, that they are aware.
please respect for people's time. Those are the things that we look for on the second one. And then the third one is we have them for a group interview. That's when we see when people come in, we want to see somebody who's enthusiastic, want somebody more vocal versus if you're somebody who's shy. It's just depending on the position. for this, we want somebody who's able to open up.
Speaker 2 (42:37)
Communicate.
Speaker 1 (42:39)
And this is this one thing that we look at in the group interview is in our clinic, we have cameras and I people we're inside the staff room. We have a big monitor there. You look at how people are when they're waiting, when they're not β looking, are they immediately on their phone? Or you see some people like almost.
Speaker 2 (43:01)
What?
Speaker 1 (43:04)
Like some people are like almost lying down, like almost falling asleep. So if that's how they are when nobody's watching, so you would kind of bet that's how they are when you're not watching them. My staff and I know we'll be looking up like this. Sometimes you think, look, look, look. Because the staff already knows those things. That's a third. And then the fourth one is when we think that they might be a good fit, then we do our one on one.
Speaker 2 (43:15)
Exactly
Speaker 1 (43:32)
And that's where the values come in. So that's a big thing when it comes to selecting them. I don't tell them our values first. I ask them what their values are. Because if I tell them the values first, everybody who has had it, you would repeat that. Here's the worst case scenario. If they don't, then definitely that's not a good fit. Because you just told them what the values are and they don't repeat it, then that's not a good sign. But I ask them what their values are and then I look at it.
Speaker 2 (43:45)
They'll just agree with you.
Speaker 1 (44:01)
Is it the same as what we as our values? And what are they looking for? If what they're looking for is what we have, then it can be mutually beneficial. But if they're looking for something else, then it's not it may not work out because we won't be able to fulfill what their expectations are. And we know that people don't leave jobs just because of money. It's because of the other things. Those are a few things that when I ask.
in my interview questions, don't really work, I don't really ask about the technical, the skill stuff, because I can teach skills and we have a training process for that. I want to know who you are first.
Speaker 2 (44:42)
Yeah, exactly. And then you nailed it. People don't leave jobs. They leave people. They leave the culture or the community or of values. β Reggie, you have so much insightful information. And what is your, I don't know, you might have to dig deep here. Maybe not, maybe it's right off the top of your head, but for anybody, β
coming overseas, born into, in America or Canada, immigrant, anybody who is going through the trenches of just feeling like, or experiencing just the beat down every single day. it's like one step forward, two steps back. And like, it's going on for years. What is your message to get through and to...
encourage people that they can get through it.
Speaker 1 (45:44)
Yeah, so that's a for me that that hits close to home because we went through that personally. What I can say is just don't stop. I know it sounds cliche. Just keep going. If you're there going couple years already, you start thinking, when is this going to end? When is this going to get better? The thing is, you don't know. Sometimes it may be a year, sometimes two, but sometimes it can be longer than that.
Just keep going and know that something will be for you in the end. It may not be for yourself, it might be for your next generation. And that's something for me is I'm willing to take that because I came here not only for myself, I came here with the sole purpose of having a better life for my family and especially for my next generation so they can have the opportunity that I did not have.
So just keep working on it, but at the same time, keep looking at different possibilities, different openings. Don't get locked in, okay, I want to do this. But what if the path is not that for you? Maybe it's something else. Just keep creating that connection with other people and just day in, day out, tap into, because you will need to tap into the reason why you're here.
because those days, those months, those years get longer when you're in it compared to when you look back. yeah, those 10 years that I was, before I got my paper, was like, those three years before I got my paper, β it didn't sound too long. But then when you're in it and you're struggling every day and you're barely making ends meet every day, those are three very long years. So for me, just keep going and then don't lose faith.
that there is something that's going to be better. But also think, also remember that it may not be for you. It may meaning it may be the next generation that's really going to be enjoying or benefiting from all the sacrifices that you've made.
Speaker 2 (47:52)
that can be a hard pill to swallow, to step back out of that ego and be like, I'm β doing this for someone else. β The days are long, but the years are short, is what I have really come to grips with. Especially there's six people in my house, it's busy, tired by the end of the day and it's like,
I don't want to be touched anymore. I don't want to be hugged. I don't, just want to go to bed. Right. And, then like yesterday, my daughter had her 14th birthday and it's like where, well, you always say it. Where did the time go? Right. And, it was in those long days. The days are long, but the years are short. And I thought that was a beautiful, I don't even know where I heard that from.
β Reggie, thank you so much for β being on Let's Have a Chat today. Is there anything we missed? Is there anything else that you'd like to share? I do like to end the episode if you have one, a quote or something that has stood out in your minds β over the years that has kind of helped propel you forward or keep you stable. One thing I always like to say is every journey begins with a single step. Does anything come to mind for you?
Speaker 1 (49:19)
So for me, on a personal level, I always remember that things happen for you, not to you, because that just... Not believing in that mess with my mind for a very long time. I just now leave it to God universe or whatever you believe in, that there will always be something that will happen, and then I will do anything and everything I can to get that. On the business side, it's...
One, when it comes to the hiring is I always tell people, you hire people to fulfill the position, to fulfill the mission, not to fill the position. that's important. So you hire people not to fill the position, but to fulfill the mission. So that's one thing that have allowed me to really grow the business. And when it comes to
marketing people when they struggle with marketing. β This is something that I share with them is it's easy for others to have more credentials, bigger company, lower prices, fancier equipment in our case, but it's not easy for people to have a bigger heart, to always serve with your heart.
Speaker 2 (50:43)
That's so true. What a beautiful message to end the episode with. Reggie, thank you so much for your β knowledge, your expertise, and for being vulnerable and sharing your journey with me and the listeners. And thank you for listening. β And as always, I hope you have the best day ever. And until next time.