From Classroom to Clinic: Finding Your Footing as a New Grad in Wellness

Finding your footing in a corporate clinic

When Roni graduated, she didn't picture herself running a business.

"I never had the intent of starting my own practice. I really was interested in having a good job where I knew my hours, and I could go, and then I could leave."

For Roni, that "good job" was a corporate physical therapy role where she spent her first two years. She had steady hours, a defined schedule, and a strong mentorship program. She was paired with a seasoned clinician for regular check-ins, joined a cohort of other new grads, and worked under an encouraging and hands-on clinic director. Together, they formed the "clinical safety net" she craved coming out of school.

Even though corporate life wasn’t a forever fit for Roni, it gave her the reassurance every new grad hopes for: space to build her skills while knowing support was there if she needed it.

Lessons from the early years

1. Keep learning before you leap. Like most new grads, Roni thought she had to know everything on day one.

"I felt like I needed to be perfect in my clinical skills."

But in reality, mastering those skills doesn't happen entirely in school. What matters most is that you show up ready to learn. Three years in, she feels much more confident and stresses that this timeline is completely normal. That's why she encourages new grads to focus on becoming strong clinicians before rushing into business ownership. Starting a practice too soon can feel like trying to learn two demanding jobs at once.

"There's a lot of learning that happens in the years right after PT school. Give yourself a handful of years of boots on the ground, doing the work... before you start thinking about opening your own business."

2. Continuing education keeps you creative. In the first year out of school, most practitioners slip into what Roni calls a "program of treatment." You develop a reliable rhythm. Maybe you start processing initial evaluations the same way or reach for familiar exercises. It's efficient and helps you manage a packed schedule, but it doesn't leave much room for fresh thinking. That's why Roni leans on continuing education, especially in-person courses.

"For new grads especially, I'd steer clear of the online [courses] if you can."

Hands-on practice and the energy of learning alongside other clinicians keep her creative spark alive. She's taken everything from dry needling to lumbopelvic courses, and each time she walks away with a mental list of patients she wants to try something new with.

"The classes give you an opportunity to take a step back. Relearn some of the things. Maybe come at them from a different approach."

3. Protect your time early. Burnout is common in PT. You're often managing long hours in high-volume settings while paying off student debt. Turnover is high, which means clinics need you as much as you need them. But as a new grad, it's not always easy to advocate for yourself.

Roni admits she didn't speak up about her schedule until she was a year into her first job. By then, she had spent months juggling overlapping bookings, at times seeing four patients at once.

Her advice? Be strategic about when and how you raise concerns. Clinics will always have productivity targets, and you can acknowledge that. But managers also know that if their clinicians burn out, they don't stick around. Use team huddles or quarterly meetings to pull aside a director or front desk staff you trust, and frame the ask as a win-win.

"I know you need me, and I know I do good work. But here's what I need from you if you want me to keep doing that."

Private practice 101

Roni's first steps into private practice were small and scrappy. After joining a CrossFit gym, members began asking if she could treat them outside of clinic hours. And she did…on a fold-out table her parents had given her for Christmas, set up in her upstairs guest room. It worked, at first, but she didn't love having strangers walking through her home.

"I wanted more control over the experience. Something that felt more professional and legitimate."

A trainer and friend connected her with a local gym owner who had private training rooms. It was a better fit than her guest room, and within a few months she decided to lease her own space in the building.

When she officially opened her doors on April 1, 2024 (yes, April Fools' Day), she only had one patient booked.

The moment was equal parts exciting and terrifying.

"Part of me was like, 'Wow, look at all this room I have to grow,' but also, 'How am I gonna make money?'"

Lessons from building a physical therapy clinic

1. Systems prevent chaos. When Roni first started, she figured being a great PT would be enough to carry her business. And for a while, it was. Patients liked working with her, and word of mouth kept people coming through the door. But behind the scenes, it was chaos.

Roni wrote documentation on her laptop, scheduled appointments on her phone, and took payments through another app.

"Everything was just sort of piecemealed together," she recalls, making every interaction a little clunky. She would finish a session with a patient, and then they would have to wait while she toggled between apps or hunted for a payment confirmation.

She soon realized she needed more structure across every part of her business — not only in the clinic, but also in how she introduced herself to local business owners and explained her services. It took some trial and error, but those "awkward encounters," as she calls them, helped her learn how to create a smoother, more professional experience for her clinic.

"If you want to grow, you have to have systems in place."

Tip: Roni’s not the only new business owner that opened a private practice with a pieced-together system. Here’s some advice from your fellow practitioners on why starting with a dedicated software is important.

2. Marketing = connection. Roni's approach to marketing is all about meeting people where they already are.

In person, that meant starting in gyms, where potential patients were already thinking about their bodies and performance.

"It's like a direct marketing funnel for patient leads."

Online, her strategy has evolved. When she first started posting on Instagram in 2022, her content was almost purely educational exercise demos: "Top 3 go-to leg day exercises," "Common fixes for back pain," and "Hip mobility drills."

These posts were clear and helpful, but education alone didn't build much connection.

So she started sharing more of her own story. Now her content blends practical PT tips with day-in-the-life glimpses and honest reflections. She shares her clinic tours, a "quitting my corporate job" series, pregnancy-safe exercises she's doing herself, and even clips of a rehab session with her husband.

By pairing useful tips with real-life stories, she shows followers she's not just an experienced clinician, but also a person they can connect with.

"If you're posting because you feel it's a box you need to tick off, you're probably not gonna see that much growth. If you like your content, chances are other people will like it, too."

Tip: your website is also an important growth tool. Here’s a look at how one therapist grew her clinic through improvements in her web presence.

3. Growth is more than getting booked. Roni's early goals were simple: see 10 patients a week by summer, then push for 20. Those numbers gave her something concrete to work toward and a quick way to gauge if the business was moving in the right direction.

Since then, she's learned that appointment volume alone doesn't tell the whole story. Tracking metrics like average visits per client or patient retention earlier would have given her a clearer picture of growth — whether patients were returning and sticking with care vs. booking once and dropping off.

"I've had to push myself to grow in the business aspect, because PT school doesn't really get into that."

Her approach to care has evolved, too. In the beginning, she defaulted to one-off visits. It felt safer. It was less intimidating for new clients and less pressure on her.

"I was nervous and scared to ask people to come in."

Switching to packages changed that. With a block of visits, patients had a roadmap for recovery and felt more committed to the process. Outcomes have improved, and Roni's confidence has grown along with them.

From new grad to new hire, and beyond

Three years after graduating, Roni took her biggest step yet: hiring a staff PT to keep the clinic running while she prepares for maternity leave.

"It was a big step. Honestly, one I never thought I would take this soon."

But after nearly two years of steady growth, keeping the clinic running felt like the natural next step.

For new grads watching her path, her advice is simple: stay the course. Don't rush into business ownership before you've seen enough patients to hone your instincts.

"Getting the reps under your belt is paramount before you decide to go open anything."

Still, if you're curious about entrepreneurship, she encourages starting small.

"Start your side gig if you want to, and learn."

If there's a theme that runs through Roni's journey, it's that you learn as you go. And now, she's bracing for her biggest lesson yet.

"It just doesn't stop. Now, I'm like, well, why don't we just learn how to be parents, too? That'll be fun."

If you’d like to open a private practice or are new to business ownership, Jane has a guide that can help. Built with the support and stories of practitioners like Roni, The New Practice Guide is a free resource for those just getting started.

And if you’re in the market for software, Jane can help, too. Book a demo with the team to see if it might be a fit for what you’re building.

Roni Glassman is a physical therapist from Chattanooga, Tennessee and owner of Rehab With Roni. Find her at rehabwithroni.com or @rehabwithroni on TikTok.