Reflections On Six Years In Business

This May, CONNECT will celebrate six years since we opened our doors on the corner of 16th St E and 16th Ave E. It feels like both a lifetime and a moment as we look back at everything that's happened since that bright May day in 2019.

When CONNECT opened, we weren't sure if we had overshot with the space we leased. We built five treatment rooms, a yoga and paediatrics studio, and a gym space that looked more like a small CrossFit gym than a physiotherapy clinic. We didn't have doors, except for temporary ones on the bathrooms, because of a manufacturing hang-up, and we spent the first few days without internet because Bell is... well.... Bell. Steph and I went to work, with Leslie manning the desk, all on a hunch that we could do something special.

Fast forward six years, we have a team of 16, we expanded our clinic space in 2023 to add four more treatment rooms and another gym space, we run 24 classes every week, and over 1800 different people visit CONNECT each year. We've experienced exceptional growth in the last 6 years, and we've done so while holding tightly to the vision we started with: creating a space where people go to reclaim their lives, to move towards a better version of themselves, beyond just getting out of pain.

To honour these last six years, here are a few reflections on how far we've come.

We grew more than we thought we would... a lot more

Did we think we would have a team of 16 amazing full- and part-time people when we started six years ago? Absolutely not. CONNECT was always the kind of dream where we were told, "if you build it, they will come," and there were many times where we felt like they were not, in fact, going to come. We thought we were too far away from major cities to attract clinicians to join us, we weren't sure others were going to be as willing to take a bet on us as we had been, but all of a sudden, there they were. Leslie, Nick, Jamie, Cody, Sarah, Britt, Katie, Lisa, Emily, Dana, Michelle, Megan, Ryan, and Amanda now make up the dedicated team that gives CONNECT its heart and soul.

We found our groove and our role in people's lives, particularly in women's health

We always knew we wanted to start running programs serving women in our community. We started with the very first Barbells4Bones classes for women in menopause in January 2020, and we expanded from one group of 8 women coming twice each week to now over 60 women attending 11 different classes throughout the week. Stephanie started #NewMomStrong to serve our moms and babies, I started #STRONGmom to serve our moms of older kids who can only find a workout if it's at 6am, Dana spearheaded Find Your Strength In Perimenopause this year, and Emily created a Barbells4Bones offshoot called Slow n' Steady for women who want to get stronger but who's mobility restrictions make it unsafe to be in a regular gym environement. We also offer Birth Essentials for our moms-to-be, we have a highly requested prenatal strength class on the schedule starting in September, and we just announced our first Empower Your Perimenopause workshop coming this June.

We know that our role in people's health goes beyond pain and its treatment. Sure, we'll get you out of pain, but that's the least we can do for you. Our role is to help you do things you didn't think were possible, things that you wrote off years ago, things you've accepted as "just not in the cards" for you, and when you get to see the potential that you have and the things you can accomplish, it's hard to stop at just getting rid of your knee pain.

We love what we do, and who we do it with

We've never been so happy going to work to see the people that we work with, both our clients and our team. Something amazing happens when you decide that the quality of the people on your team means a lot more than the quantity: you actually look forward to seeing them every day. We have our squabbles like any family, but there's not a single person on our team that we don't want to spend time with. The side effect of a happy team is an energy that permeates the clinic, making it hard to have a bad day within our big blue walls. Anyone who's been to CONNECT can attest to the feeling that you get when you come in here, people actually want to be here, and happy clients make clinicians happy, and vice versa, and so the cycle repeats.

We're not done yet

Being the highest-rated clinic in Owen Sound isn't where we hit cruise control; we're going to keep improving on creating a truly exceptional healthcare experience, and we're going to keep pushing the limits of what you can come to expect from our team. We've got a vision for what generational health can look like, and we've still got ground to cover. We're excited to build out our second Vivid Vision in 2025 to look forward to what CONNECT can become.

We have a few open clinical spots to fill, too, so if you know a pelvic health physiotherapist or an orthopaedic physiotherapist that are looking to work at their dream job, you know where to find us!

Thank you for spending the last six years with us. We're forever grateful to all of the people who have trusted us with their care so far, and to those who have thought highly enough of us that you've entrusted the care of your family and friends to our team. We can't wait to see what the next six years of growth, refining our vision, and creating change (and a sprinkle of disruption!) in the healthcare world look like.

Until next time,

Clare and Stephanie