Today we’d like to introduce you to Marc Gregory Guillen.
Marc, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born and reared in Chicago & spent the majority of my childhood going to work with my parents in Little Village, Pilsen, Humbolt Park & Logan Square. When they immigrated to this country from Ecuador over 50 years ago, their vision was to bridge the gap that existed by supporting & offering other latinos with professional services. This experience inspired me to seek a profession where I could educate & empower others, as I saw my parents do. I have always been passionate about health & fitness, as well as the need to learn & grow, therefore physical therapy seemed like a natural fit for me.
After receiving my Doctorate from Rosalind Franklin University in 2008, I spent five years working at a variety of clinics along the west coast learning with some of the best Physical Therapists in the country. Upon returning to Chicago, I completed a Fellowship in Manual Therapy as a way to become a more skilled & effective Physical Therapist. I created my own business as a way to do what I love without being pressured to see a specific number of patients a day or treat numerous patients at the same time. Now I get to provide the quality of care I always felt was necessary when treating patients & it feels really cool. I look forward to coming to work, as I am making the difference I always envisioned which allows me to love what I do.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Taking the leap to starting your own business is not necessarily smooth. You are constantly learning, revising, changing, & evolving. It’s a challenging yet very rewarding experience. One of the biggest hurdles was learning how to market effectively. Accepting the fact that your skills & desire to provide quality care is not enough, unless people know you are there. Learning to navigate social media & optimizing it to leverage your business is something that takes time getting used to & is a landscape that is very dynamic.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Free Body Physical Therapy story. Tell us more about the business.
We are a Physical Therapy clinic with the intention of breaking the mold of standard physical therapy practices. In a standard clinic, a patient is likely to see a different Physical Therapist every time they come in. The majority of the visit is often times spent with an assistant or technician & not the actual therapist. In a standard clinic, a Physical Therapist if often attending to several patients at the same time. This results in overall poor quality of care & unnecessary length of therapy.
At Free Body Physical Therapy patients see the same therapist one on one at each visit for 40-60 min. We do not use assistants or technicians. With a combination of expert manual therapy, exercise & education we create individualized treatment plans for conditions such as low back/neck pain, shoulder, hip, knee or ankle pain. We also provide preventative assessments from work injury prevention, enhanced athletic performance, pre-surgical strengthening & pre-natal strengthening.
Research shows that fellowship trained therapists provide higher quality care & have improved patient outcomes. Currently less than 1% of the 200,000 Physical Therapists in the U.S are Fellows. I am one proud to be one of the few Fellowship Trained Therapists in Chicago. In addition, I am Latino with Spanish being my 1st language. With only 5% of all the Therapists in the USA being Latino, this puts me in a unique position to serve a variety of patients.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My faith in God has given me the strength & calm to weather any storm & guidance to be successful. A close spiritual connection has helped me realize what’s most important. My wife for her unwavering support & love. My family for their constructive feedback. My coworkers & Physical Therapy colleagues who have helped me master my craft. My instructors who made learning fun & were always there to guide me along the way. And ultimately my patients, who trust me with their care & enlighten me with their stories.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2618 W Division St, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60622
- Website: https://freebodypt.com
- Phone: (773) 599-3393
- Email: Marc@FreebodyPT.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FreeBodyPhysicalTherapy/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/free-body-physical-therapy-chicago
Image Credit:
Gretchen Villaluna (http://www.moonhouseproductions.com/)
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