2023 was a wild ride! This past year will always be so special, the year the AWAKEN dream and vision became a reality! Man oh man, there have been so many exciting (and equal parts nerve-wracking) moments...
Let's rewind to January 2023... this is around the time that Mackenzie and I really started to feel that God was placing on our hearts that we needed to make a change from our current situation in Greenville, SC. We had followed a calling to move there right after we got married in August of 2020... Mackenzie pursued a lifelong goal of running on an Olympic Development team while I worked at an incredible sports and orthopedic outpatient PT clinic called Purposed Physical Therapy. We do not regret our time living in Greenville one bit as we made some wonderful lifelong friendships, had an amazing church family, and had the opportunity to grow closer to one another in our marriage while living in a city away from home! However, Mackenzie and I very much felt that God was leading us back closer to family in Buffalo... and with that, I began to realize that this may just have been the exact timing God was calling me to live out a dream of mine to one day start my own physical therapy clinic.
We officially made the decision to pursue this wild dream of opening a one-of-a-kind, modern physical therapy and performance business by the end of January 2023! And then the craziness began...after hundreds of phone calls with my dad (a long-time business owner himself), the small business association, bank, commercial real estate agent, and landlord/property manager, we had created a business plan that allowed us to be accepted for a loan and to secure a clinic location all while still living in SC! We officially moved home to Buffalo at the end of May and were given the keys to our clinic space on June 1st! The months of June and July consisted of ordering a ton of highly specialized, unique equipment - some of which is completely new to the WNY region including our 3-Dimensional Running Analysis system!! We then officially opened doors on August 1st, 2o23 and haven't looked back!
As exciting as everything has been, I would be lying if I said that these first few months of being in business have not been very stressful and at times even discouraging. I have battled doubts that this is really what I was called to in the first place, anxiousness that this dream will be able to support our family financially, and the feeling of rejection when potential business partnerships have not worked out like I thought they would. However, recently there have been a few things that have happened that I have no other explanation for other than God letting me know that He did lay out this path in front of us and will continue to walk me through both the mountaintops as well as the valleys!
Heading into 2024, I am going to make an effort to let go of the plans that I may have had for AWAKEN and learn to be more trusting of the Lord! And with that said, I am also going to work harder than ever to be the absolute best physical therapist that I can be for all of my patients/clients as well as looking for opportunities to give back to the Buffalo community when able! We already have had so many success stories of clients who have been able to resolve long-time issues, and I will not stop continuing to do my best for as many people as God puts in front of me!
I hope our story can be an encouragement for you as well, especially if you are currently feeling stuck or frustrated in a current situation. While I obviously have a lot to learn still myself in this area, don't lose hope... if you have a passion for something there likely is a good reason for that! Continue to pursue after those passions and do everything you can to keep moving forward without giving up!
Here's to a wonderful 2024 full of fresh beginnings and building on the foundations laid in 2023!
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