All right, before we get started,
a quick shout out to PT Breakfast Club.
That's a weird meeting of the minds.
Me, Tony Maritato, and Dave Kittle,
live on YouTube every Tuesday and
Thursday, eight thirty a.m.
Eastern.
Real talk, zero jargon,
probably a little bit of jargon.
And the conversations PTs actually want to
have.
Come hang with us live again Tuesday,
Thursdays,
eight thirty Eastern on YouTube.
You can just follow at PT podcast.
on the YouTubes.
We've got a pretty cool, weird,
I call it a ricochet.
It doesn't make sense until it makes
sense.
The best fake physical therapist on
LinkedIn.
That's what we're calling him today.
It'll make sense, I'm telling you.
Never treated a day in his life,
but somehow keeps getting mistaken for a
PT all the time.
Currently obsessed with connecting
wellness and longevity to the profession
of physical therapy.
Please welcome back to the show,
Hunter McWhorter.
Hunter, welcome back to the program,
my man.
Thanks.
Thanks for having me.
Excited to be back.
What does it mean?
I intro'd you.
Best fake PT on the internet.
You're mistaken for a PT.
Why?
How did that start?
Where does this come from?
Yeah,
I always want to be a physical therapist
and just decided to stay in the field
without getting the DPT after my name.
First of all,
maybe not a horrible financial decision,
but keep going.
You found a niche.
You found a narrow angle.
Keep going.
Yes.
Yeah.
And now seeing where it is, I'm like,
hey, this might actually not be the worst,
like you're saying,
from a financial standpoint.
And so.
been in it for so long now and
i guess my content resonates every once in
a while with people when i post on
linkedin and recruiters just see oh you
worked at pd solutions oh you've done
stuff with physical and web pt like surely
you have to be a pt and then
i get fun traveling pt roles offers all
the time i get all sorts of opportunities
and it's always fun when they're like wait
work what and i've even asked ai i'm
like does it say anywhere on my linkedin
that i'm a physical therapist even ai is
tricked by it so that's how i'm like
i probably need to really focus on some
stronger rebranding so we're just
embracing it now
All right, so you're PT adjacent.
You're sort of entrenched,
but you come at it with a different
angle.
So let's make this more of rapid fire
questions.
Answer one word, one sentence,
one paragraph, one soliloquy,
whatever you want to do.
You've said this before.
I want you to explain why.
You think PTs are uniquely positioned for
a trillion dollar wave.
Help me understand this.
I wouldn't mind getting a couple of drops
of water from a trillion dollar wave.
What's this mean?
Yeah.
So I feel like I didn't realize this
until recently that most patients see
their PTs more often than their actual
primary care doctors.
So they're seeing them all the time.
And
There's also an increase in education
around the patient of, hey,
I want to live longer.
Hey, I want to be healthier.
You're seeing this health trend with
wearables, with data,
and it's slowly becoming a trillion dollar
industry of longevity and wellness.
And because of the frequency of which PTs
see these people and because of the
relationships they build,
I feel like it's a really easy way
for PTs to start seeing and be like,
hold on.
You're sleeping terribly.
Have you thought about trying a supplement
that might help you with sleep?
Like little things like that.
You're not shoving anything down anyone's
throats.
You're simply saying like,
I hear what you're saying as a person.
And so here's some solutions for you that
might help.
Or, hey,
you're really struggling with weight loss.
Like maybe there's something else out
there,
a medication or something like that could
help.
And it's just helping leverage that
relationship in the time you're investing
in people.
Why are PTs so anti-this?
It's almost a visceral reaction.
It feels like this is in our operating
system or something like that.
It's difficult to remove,
but some embrace it, but most don't.
Where does it come from?
I think a lot of it just comes
from the education system.
They worked so hard to become doctors.
There was such a push to transition from
the master's program to a doctor's program
that they're like,
we have clear swim lanes.
We have to stay in because we worked
really hard to get here.
And I don't want to jeopardize my future,
my business.
Totally fair.
But at the same time, it's, hey,
do no harm.
We want to help make people do better.
If there's alternatives to it,
what do you lose from just...
suggesting it when they could go to rufus
on amazon and it'll tell them hey you
have this here's this suggestion here's
that suggestion it's like people are
trusting ai and the internet now why not
try and help steer them in a healthier
better direction yeah
You got a hot take,
and I like hot takes.
I'm going to quote you,
and then you got to back it up.
You said the farmer's dog has better
messaging than physical therapy.
Break that down.
What is the farmer's dog?
Is that like one of those box
subscriptions that comes in the mail?
Yes.
Their commercials are just
heart-wrenching.
They're almost up there with the please
adopt this animal commercials.
Oh, yeah.
In the arms of an angel.
Yes.
Exactly.
The Sarah McLachlan special.
But farmer's dog, they do a great job.
And it's like no human should ever have
to eat processed foods for every single
meal.
And you resonate.
You're like, yeah, that's true.
Why should we be eating heavily processed
foods?
And then it hits you with your pet
shouldn't either.
Here's a farmer's dog,
like natural organic food.
It helps with their wellness, all of this.
Like it improves their quality of life.
And it makes it so short and resonates
with you.
Like, yeah, no one should be.
doing this like why would anyone eat
heavily processed food for every meal um
it connects with PT you hear some people
say it's only good after surgery it's only
good if you're young like there's just so
much mixed messaging that I feel like it
could be super consolidated especially
when you see the ad campaign CrossFit put
together for CrossFit where it's like wow
that's so clear
Take out CrossFit, put in PT, and boom,
there's your clarity of messaging.
And I just think more brands adopt it,
yet PT is still the one that's like,
we can do all these things and all
these different flavors,
but it just confuses the consumer.
I had a professor in communication school
advertising.
He said,
you're going to build a fake campaign.
uh we were actually doing real fake
campaigns for real organizations in the
community so i thought that was brilliant
because it felt like there were stakes um
and he said you're one of the part
of it is going to be a billboard
a bumper sticker a t-shirt he said on
the billboard you're allowed seven words
on the t-shirt you're allowed like four on
the on the on the bumper sticker you're
allowed five like he put a limit he
goes you can have more but everyone more
than that you owe me a hundred dollars
And two words in, it doubles.
You owe me two hundred dollars for the
second word.
You got real clear real quick because you
realized there were guardrails.
Yeah.
I feel like if you ask a PT
a question to give a presentation,
the first thing they do is this.
They're going to inhale because you're
about to get seven paragraphs.
Yeah.
But that's not the right way to do
it.
No,
and I think it's so cool what you're
doing with APTA, different states,
where I think recently you made a post
about just like, hey,
why isn't this clearly stated on the
website?
And that's what kind of dawned on me
of like, okay, hold on.
There's all these brands watching
football, watching Time with Family,
and you're seeing how concise some of the
messaging is on these commercials.
It's like, why not?
And then seeing that post really got me
thinking like, what is going on?
Why do we resist that?
Why do we want to use two hundred
when when when two words will do?
I mean,
I'm just going to keep kicking the dead
horse,
but I think it was a push for
doctors, physical therapy.
You've worked your tail off.
You've got your bills.
You got to pay like you're proud of
yourself and what you do.
And you want to make sure you do
it to sort of fight against maybe that
imposter syndrome of people.
You're not a real doctor.
It's like, no, I am.
And this is all the reasons why.
Like, yeah.
To me, it's a justification of the degree.
It's like, I can't wait to tell you.
And I think it comes from a good
place.
I know it comes from a good place
because I know enough PTs who are guilty
of doing it.
They know they even do it.
They can't help it because they got so
much inside.
They can't wait for it to pour out.
My response would be,
I want you to practice this.
There's a great vocal coach who teaches
people how to speak on stage.
and he his exercise is this it's three
so he says i want you to speak
for five minutes don't care about the
topic hit record don't think about it
speak about it for five minutes hit end
do nothing twenty four hours later bring
the video up push play but uh i
only want you to listen to it just
focus on the audio yeah
When you're done,
maybe jot some mental notes down.
Go away.
Twenty four hours after that,
I want you to come back.
Push play.
I want you to mute it.
I only want you to watch the visuals.
Same thing when you're done.
Mental notes.
Third day.
I only want you to read the transcript.
And you'll start to the exercise I was
taught in communication school,
which mimics this.
is you are performing sculpting.
You're chopping away everything that
doesn't need to be there.
You're like, oh gosh,
why don't I say those eleven words when
two will do?
This only comes about with work,
and if you do it,
you get better at it.
How'd you get so good at speaking without
filler words, Jimmy?
I spoke with lots of filler words and
then was forced by bosses in radio to
listen to myself speak,
and I got less crappy and less crappy
and less crappy until I was pretty okay.
We don't that it's no,
it's never part of the job,
but it's part of the job it is,
but this is hard and it's not on
the syllabus.
Right.
So that's not easy to train.
No.
And who likes to hear their voice?
Not a lot of people.
I was in radio for fifteen years.
Still never got used to it.
Yeah.
Like I cringe coming on somebody's
podcast.
I have to listen to it again.
And to your point, like,
why did I say that?
What's going on?
But it forces you, like you're saying,
to get uncomfortable and to grow and
really try.
So I think that's a great idea that
I might start adopting.
Thanks.
All right.
Finish this sentence for me.
PT could change overnight if we just
blank.
what would that be pt could change
overnight hunter if we just blank i'm sure
there's a bunch of things that could fit
in this but what's one dang i think
just collaborate more like put aside the
egos i think you would change overnight if
instead of viewing the therapist down the
street from you as like your arch enemy
be like hey
might be patients that i can't treat that
they can't treat like they like treating
it i don't i'm out of network with
some they're in network with some like
just finding small ways to recognize that
everyone's in this together and the
collaboration is what really needs to
elevate because i feel like in other
healthcare silos there's a lot more
collaboration and a lot less animosity of
like oh they're trying to steal from me
it's hey what are you doing well what's
what's working out let's figure out a way
to collaborate and work together because
I don't know if you're seeing this.
So many people want to get into PT
right now in terms of companies.
Oh, sure.
Yeah, yeah.
There's so much technology available to
practices that are probably very cheap
because they're saying, hey,
we just want reps.
Just give us some feedback.
That, I think, can really help where it's,
hey, they have an Alt-G down the road.
Maybe we can partner with them and help
offset the cost of that for them or
just send some of our patients there for
certain things.
I just feel like there's a huge
opportunity to collaborate,
and that's where it just doesn't seem to
–
Be encouraged or recognized.
It feels like there's probably more
opportunities to collaborate than there
are to compete.
Exactly.
Myself included,
we're probably built or our default is
defensive,
when it should be not offensive either,
collaborative.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Quick thanks to one of our sponsors
keeping us on the air,
Brooks Rehabilitation Institute of Higher
Learning.
That's Brooks IHL.
They're simply a place PTs go when they
want to get really good.
Whether you're thinking about orthopedics,
geriatrics, or pediatrics,
residencies and fellowships at Brooks IHL
help you become the clinician people rely
on.
More information right now, if that's you,
if you're on the edge of a diving
board thinking about a residency or
fellowship, Brooks IHL.
dot o r g what what got you
interested hunter in the wellness and
longevity space in the first place again
you said at the top of the show
you're not a physical therapist but what
about the wellness longevity health care
made you start paying more attention
Yeah,
understanding firsthand the brokenness of
the system.
So I was supposed to have my senior
year of high school,
a pretty simple back surgery that was
gonna be a quick recovery,
no PT necessary, here you go.
Took seven years and seven surgeries later
before it finally got figured out what's
going on and realizing, hold on,
the system isn't working the way it's
supposed to be and then understood a lot
about blood panel testing and realizing
your body tells you a lot of what
you need if you just listen to it
like it'll help you be preventative in
that sense and went down the rabbit hole
listening to various podcasts reading
different books and then all of a sudden
um i have a whoop and so i
started looking at the data differently
and started seeing okay wait if i sleep
more and don't need a meal later my
sleep improves which then all these other
metrics start improving like
what if I actually start trying to
understand how all this comes together and
got the blood panel test,
got on some supplements and started
realizing like, huh,
you mean gaining weight does take work
because it's just ignoring it.
Things like that, that just,
I didn't realize how simple it was to
sort of take ownership of your health and
start finding hacks from alternative
perspectives that don't necessarily say,
Hey, here's a surgery,
here's a prescription,
here's whatever it is.
And we're going to keep you in the
sick cycle because that's how we're making
money off of you.
Yeah.
I love that.
Um,
why does physical therapy as a profession
need more non physical therapists like
Hunter?
who care about the profession?
Why do we need that?
Why is that a need and not a
nice to have?
Yeah,
I think because there's a bit of an
echo chamber where everyone has the same
ideas and everyone went to school,
they all went to the same exact general
course load and all training.
And so when you have people come in
that don't have that perspective,
they can offer new ideas and they can
say, hey, well,
what if we try this way?
Or what if we do it that way?
Let's try innovating this.
And two,
PTs only know what they know.
And so oftentimes when I was selling into
some of these practices,
they didn't know billing.
And so had they had somebody that
understood billing that they're willing to
bring in and do things,
it could have been a whole different world
for them.
And they couldn't have been seeing six
figure profit instead of six figure
losses, things like that,
where I think it just helps elevate the
profession.
Um, let me ask you this.
What can physical therapy as a profession
learn from brands that communicate
directly and simply with consumers?
You mentioned CrossFit,
you mentioned farmer's dog,
but what are those things that they can
learn from brands?
You've done things like,
I'm about to say a dirty word,
bad word.
It's selling.
You've sold things.
Which I think is, I love,
I quote from my favorite Peloton
instructor, I make suggestions,
you make decisions, right?
That's the simple way.
Detaching yourself from the outcome is a
great way to sell.
I'm going to make a suggestion,
you make a decision,
and whatever decision, that's yours.
But what can physical therapists, owners,
clinicians,
what can they learn from brands who
communicate directly to consumers?
that it's a means for growth,
that clearly it works because they're
spending money into it.
And if it wasn't working,
they'd be saying, bye-bye, see you later.
But I think healthcare as a whole is
so used to potentially operating at a loss
with insurance and all the other things
that they have forgotten like, okay,
hold on.
Consumers are out there.
They want to get healthier.
They want to stop living in pain.
They want to do all of these things.
Pharmaceuticals run the ads and it gets
them to go to their doctor to say,
hey,
what about this thing I saw a commercial
on?
Or pet food companies see it?
There's so much there that I think if
you just start viewing it from a lens
of consumers are intelligent,
they care about themselves now and you're
seeing an increase in general health
awareness.
Why not help motivate people and meet them
where they are?
This is a great time.
Like, there's so much attention.
Like, you know,
I was walking with one of my friend's
kids the other day and someone was
smoking.
And I remember the reaction from the kids.
It was so weird to see someone in
the wild smoking.
But twenty years ago, that was not weird.
And ten years ago, it wasn't weird.
And now it's like,
look what that person's doing.
And the kid reiterated to me why it
was bad for you.
And I was like,
we're in a moment right now where there's
a big spotlight on health, wellness,
taking care of yourself,
what's good or bad for you.
Just being aware.
There's no right or wrong way or there's
no one way to do a lot of
these things,
but people are hyper-conscious.
Your radar is on where if you start
giving them good signals over time,
they're going to start nodding along with
you and maybe they...
I make suggestions.
You make decisions.
Maybe they make a decision to now do
the thing that you've been preaching for
twenty years.
But now they're ready to hear that song.
And that's got to feel it's a pretty
it's a moment right now.
We should take advantage of that.
Totally agree.
And have you seen the research around the
decrease in alcohol sales amongst?
Yes.
Like it's this whole thing of like there's
an awakening, for lack of a better word,
happening.
And the PT is so primed for it.
And it's crazy because I go to crunch.
And they have PTs everywhere.
They have treatment tables,
they have hypervolts,
they have norma techs to anyone that
doesn't know anything.
They're like, hey,
this is a physical therapist.
Fine print says, no,
that's a personal trainer that is cosplay
as a.
But there's there's a business model there
because Crunch pays for those people to be
there.
They have people that show up that patient
patients,
the clients that they
have built relationships with and so i
think it's just showing there's a larger
shift happening and gyms are taking
advantage of it right next to major
physical therapy practices it's like how
how is this happening here like what's
going on so i definitely think there's a
unique opportunity it's happening in plain
sight their cards are being shown and a
lot of our professors looking at it and
going but but but
they're trying to say no when a lot
of people in my opinion it sounds like
yours should be saying yes and how do
we collaborate going back to that
collaboration piece you mentioned before
yeah i want to say thanks to one
of our sponsors because that's something
you can do you can collaborate with
sponsors uh the episode brought to you
today by empower emr built specifically
for physical therapy practices it's the
only emr designed by pts to think like
a pt
see what makes them different at
empoweremr.com all right uh hunter we're
gonna do a quick three questions in a
row the last one will be your parting
shot but rapid fire questions number one
why should physical therapists care about
this conversation that we just had about
things like communication collaboration uh
branding you know saying it clearly why
why should they care about this entire
conversation this conversation is not on
the syllabus at pt school but why should
they care
Yeah, because come January,
they're going to have to when deductibles
reset,
when all of a sudden it's a lot
harder to find patients and it's a lot
harder to hit your numbers and you're
going to be overwhelmed with Medicare,
which some people love,
some people loathe.
But now's the time to start thinking about
it and giving yourself a four week
headstart maybe to start saying, hey,
let's just throw stuff at the wall and
see what sticks because we have openings
on our schedule.
We don't really have a clear path to
fill it.
What's the worst thing that can happen?
No messaging, no margin, no margin,
no mission.
So now you see attention goes to your
mission.
It's not just about the bottom line.
The bottom line feeds your mission.
No message, right?
No margin, no margin, no mission.
Question two,
what's something you believe that maybe
the profession doesn't believe yet?
What's something that Hunter knows to be
true, believes to be true,
that the profession isn't there yet on
that you wish they were?
Yeah.
Supplements will not suddenly make you not
a legit DPT.
It's okay to recommend different
supplements to people.
It's okay to look into things like hormone
replacement therapy,
like things like that,
that might actually benefit your patients.
It's not going to suddenly put you on
a watch list where the APTA will show
up in your house and be like,
you Googled this and we don't,
this isn't on brand for us.
Like give us your license.
Like, no, just,
Try and learn.
And worst case,
you might start seeing some patients
actually really respect you for that.
And you gain tertiary business from that.
Yep.
Last thing we do on the episode is
called the parting shot.
That's just your mic drop moment,
your soapbox statement.
What's the last thing you want to leave
with the audience as we wrap up today?
What's your mantra?
What's the thing?
Yeah, I think the thing is you...
As a practice owner,
you control your own destiny.
You don't have to continue to be beholden
to the way things have always been done.
You can find the companies,
find the resources,
find the partners out there to help make
twenty twenty six be a super successful
year and not just have to feel like
there's a gun to your head and you
have to do the same thing over and
over again.
Yep.
At PT Pinecast and the website,
ptpinecast.com.
Subscribe,
share the episode with a colleague if you
think it'll benefit.
And don't forget to come hang out with
us on PT Breakfast Club.
We do want to do a PSA share
for something that's close to my heart.
That's Team Gleason.
They're helping people live with ALS,
stay independent with tech gear and real
support from therapists, from technology,
from industry.
ALS takes a lot.
Team Gleason gives something back.
Support them at teamgleason.org.
Hunter,
if someone wanted to connect with you,
where do you want them to go?
What's the best route or routes to reach
out to you?
Yeah.
LinkedIn.
I'm super active on LinkedIn.
I'm probably sickening to some people,
but I'm there.
So you can slide into the DMs.
You can comment,
do whatever you want there.
And then my email, phone number,
all that's listed there as well.
the greatest fake physical therapist on
the interwebs on LinkedIn,
Hunter McWhorter.
We'd love to have you back on the
show next month.
Well,
maybe we'll do like a quick marketing
update and see how twenty twenty six is
going to play out for us.
Hunter, thanks for the time, man.
Yeah, thank you.