Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Duvall.
Sarah, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started out volunteering at a local hospital when I was 12 on the cancer floor. Refilling waters and connecting with patients helped me realize I wanted a career helping people. Through continued volunteer work and athletics, I was drawn to the field of Physical Therapy. Very few people know what they want to do at the age of 14 and are still passionately in love with that job 23 years later! It is truly a gift.
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?
Through the process of gaining my education, I realized I didn’t love the traditional clinical model. Insurance and paperwork had a big hand in determining treatment and I wanted it to be 100% patient focused. So, I eventually moved into a private practice, cash-based model where I was able to give all my time and attention to the patient in front of me. Over time, my practice grew into a thriving business with other health and wellness professionals. That’s when my husband’s company got bought out and we ended up having to move.
I sold my practice to someone amazing and so that ended well, but now, I found myself living in a new state and starting from scratch again. It took some work to get things going again, but soon, I found myself with a new practice and a waitlist. I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to build a practice again, that maybe the first time I just got lucky, but it was actually easier the second time.
Then, my husband lost his job again (small biotech companies!!), so that’s how we ended up in Cambridge. This time, I wasn’t worried about starting a new practice. Once you’ve faced a challenge and overcome it, doing it again is easy! This time, I decided to do things differently and started an online business.
That has been a whole new host of challenges but is extremely rewarding because now, I’m getting to help women all over the world. Some of them in very underserved areas without proper healthcare.
My advice to others starting is to stay patient. Careers build in pieces and sometimes when you feel off track, you’re actually learning vital tools that will help you down the road. There is no bad experience, so take action, commit to something and see it through. From there, you’ll have a better idea of where to go next, but if you never act, you never move forward.
Please tell us about Core Exercise Solutions LLC.
Having kids changed my life, like it does to everyone, but it changed my career track in a big way as well. When I was recovering from my first, I couldn’t find the information that I needed to achieve complete postpartum recovery. I was left with problems and no answers and I was supposed to be the professional in this area! So, I dove into more research on women’s health and found the answers I needed. Then, I kept going. So, even though I still consider myself a sports or ortho PT, my biggest role is helping women get back their body after baby.
I specialize in helping women that didn’t get results from the standard advice. Things like, “do more Kegels.” I help women get back to CrossFit, running or any other extreme sport they want to do. I believe that we as women should be able to have babies and still do the things we love without our bodies letting us down.
Now, before you start with, “well, I have prolapse, leaking, pain, etc.,” I’m here to say, you can have your life back as well. I’ve been there! I know what it feels like to feel betrayed by your body, but if I can overcome it, so can you!
So, that’s my specialty area now. Giving women the tools and confidence they need to take on life after kids!
Are there any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve benefited from using?
I’ve spent a lot of time studying fear. What keeps us from acting, why we fall into patterns of self-sabotage, and what keeps us from really putting ourselves out there. This relates to business as much as it does sports.
Brene Brown has some great books, but I particularly like “The Gifts of Imperfection.” I rock climb for my sport, so the “Rock Warrior’s Way” has always been high on my list, not just for climbing but applying the principles of facing risk to everyday life.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.coreexercisesolutions.com/programs/
- Email: Info@coreexercisesolutions.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsarahduvall/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coreexercisesolutions/
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