Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Mac Nwosu, PT, DPT, MBA, FAAOMPT, CAPP-OB, CSCS.
Dr. Nwosu, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
While in physical therapy school, the plan was always to become a sports medicine physical therapist working with high-level athletes, however, that all changed after attending a lecture presented by a women’s health physical therapist. This lecture sparked an interest that I didn’t know I had. The curriculum did not give me an opportunity to learn more about women’s health physical therapy while in school, which led me to visit with professors and research prominent influencers in the field. I noticed that pelvic floor and women’s health physical therapists were few and far between.
After physical therapy school, I proposed to the love of my life and got married in 2016. We dated off and on through college and found our way back to each other years later while I was in physical therapy school. It was such a blessing to have her as a support system. While engaged, I worked as a personal trainer in a boutique fitness studio.
I have a very distinct memory of a client who changed the course of my career and changed my life. One day my client came in with a weird disposition. She pulled me aside and said, “I am pregnant.” It was great news, and after giving her a hug, it dawned on both of us that we would need to make some adjustments to her current fitness program.
Even though I graduated from physical therapy school, I had no idea how to treat pregnant women. In addition to the physical changes that occur during pregnancy, she had a lot of morning sickness that did not allow her to perform many of the exercises we typically did. Due to my ignorance, we decided to stop training. I promised myself that this would be the first and last time, my ignorance would cause me to lose a patient due to pregnancy or postpartum issues.
I began taking courses, reading books, and searching for mentors. As I gained knowledge, I gained confidence and felt more empowered to help women maintain physical activity throughout pregnancy and postpartum. The learning process took a couple of months, and I worked as a staff physical therapist while completing numerous programs that taught me to treat pregnant and postpartum patients.
Not long after I began learning about women’s health physical therapy, the unimaginable happened, Hurricane Harvey ravaged the city of Houston. Two weeks after the hurricane, I showed up one day without a single patient on my schedule. I thought there was a glitch, or something was wrong with my username, but I was asked to report to the conference room, and the dreaded conversation began. I found out that due to a low census, I no longer had a job and was asked to go home without any notice.
A day later, I was scheduled to be in Atlanta for a course, and my wife was scheduled to be in New York to sing at a conference. As I sat in the hotel room and stared aimlessly at the ceiling, she calls me, and hesitantly says, “I might be pregnant.” The thoughts were flowing through my head, I start asking a million questions, but I would have to wait till we both returned to Houston to get any confirmation. Monday morning, I wake up to a positive pregnancy test. I am frantic, I am excited, and within minutes I go through a range of emotions.
It immediately dawned on me that we are pregnant, I am jobless, and I can’t seem to find any job openings. As the pressure mounts, I had to create my job and Genesis Physio and Wellness was born.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The journey began on a bumpy road, so it has not been smooth. I was personally full of self-doubt and lacked the confidence to believe I could help my patients. People would question my motivation to work with women and say things like, “you are a guy.” It was challenging, to say the least, but for every person that questioned my motivation, ten more encouraged me.
It was also a struggle to keep going. As most business owners will say, funding and capital are the lifeblood of every business. So, I had to make decisions about how to sustain my growing family as well as pursue my calling. I always came back to the fact that this was my passion. There was no going back. I could never imagine myself as a staff therapist. I had tasted the nectar of entrepreneurship and serving my community on my terms, and it was intoxicating.
Finally, I had to show the world that I was an authority. I wasn’t a known figure, and no one knew me, so it took a while to gain credibility. So, I appreciate all those patients who saw something in me, and their results validated that I was doing the right thing.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Genesis Physio and Wellness is a boutique physical therapy practice that exists to provide one-on-one, undivided, specialized quality care to our patients and clients. My mission is to help moms reach optimal health and fitness so they can regain control of their bodies and thrive.
My goal is to remove self-limiting and false beliefs that motherhood means losing out on experiences after birth. I hope to empower moms to rid themselves of the false belief that just because you are a mom, you cannot return to normal function. Being a mom doesn’t mean you need to live a limited life due to things like leaking with exercise, sneezing or coughing, pain related to pregnancy, and postpartum or diastasis.
At your first visit, I provide a comprehensive evaluation, including gathering information about specific symptoms and general wellness to develop an individualized and successful treatment plan. Unique to my practice, all sessions will always be one-on-one with a licensed Doctor of Physical Therapy, allowing patients to receive flawless care designed specifically to the patient and her goals.
I am dedicated to providing a unique and individualized program based on symptoms, history, lifestyle, and goals. Due to the luxury of one-on-one attention with the patient, my goal is that the patient will achieve their goals in a shortened amount of time for you to gain knowledge and live the life they chose while taking care of the new bundle of joy.
To help women and moms to the fullest, I became a BIRTHFIT Professional, offering the BIRTHFIT Postpartum Series. In addition I am currently the only physical therapist who provides Low-Pressure Fitness or Hypopressives for anyone who needs an alternative to traditional exercise.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Clinically speaking, empathy is the most important characteristic. As a male working with moms, I will never know or understand what labor is like. The closest I can get to that experience is serving moms prior to, during, and post-labor. So, the ability to empathize with their journey while being unable to go through the same experience is crucial.
In business, perseverance is the most important quality that has contributed to my success. There have been many days that I have wanted to throw in the towel and walk away, but at those times, I return to my “why” and my vocation. During the hard times, I remember that my mission to help Houston moms is greater than the discomfort I might endure.
Contact Info:
- Address: 16840 Clay Rd Suite#117, Houston, TX 77084
- Website: Mygenesisphysio.com
- Phone: 832-478-8060
- Email: mac@mygenesisphysio.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/thepostpartumphysio/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/drmacnwosu
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