In 2024, after years of consideration, I chose to look for opportunities to both learn and contribute even more directly to so many communities I care deeply about. Building from my 30 years as an engineer, manager, and director with some of the biggest software firms, I want to continue to drive business in a way that allows me and my teams to focus on our clients’ needs while working sustainably, to reinforce that success is measured by much more than bank account balances.

Despite my career experience and direct involvement with so many that I could see being able to benefit from any number of services, I felt I was too risk averse to try going out on my own. It took a lot of mental processing, remembering how much I valued what I learned in my first jobs working for local business owners, following along as a small number of dear colleagues who left “the steady paycheck” to start their own gigs, and a direct marketing intro to a franchise consultant at exactly the right moment.

Franchising, to me at the time, had a bit of a bad reputation. I feared it would mean big name/gimmicky/lower-quality/hustle with restrictive practices that push out small business. I assumed it wouldn’t fit what I was looking for at all, but I quickly learned that generalization is not even true for a majority of brands. Quite the opposite. I was presented with eight potential systems, and I immediately knew that I wanted in, and that it was going to be a very difficult decision to select one to start with.

I ultimately chose to start with FYZICAL, a brand whose simple tagline completely speaks to me: Love Your Life®. Their operating model is one I’m familiar with and could easily see myself in, and it also gives me opportunities to get into other business areas I haven’t yet conquered, like commercial real estate and marketing. The truly critical components to complete the deal, beyond the obvious ones of being affordable and potentially profitable enough here, were these:

1. I fully believe in how beneficial their niche physical therapy offerings are to so many people, where I want clients number 1 and 2 to be my sweet, aging mother and my inspiring, disabled son. And I checked with some industry contacts I have, and they also seemed excited about the potential.

2. They have a flexible model that allows the team to tailor the wellness services offered to more specifically and proactively meet the needs of and strengthen our clients and employees. Things like personal training, massage therapy, audiology, laser therapy, and much more.

3. There were regularly repeated statements about how supportive the brand is, made by each of the existing owners I met.

I wanted a solid, sustainable service offering, I wanted help to offer it, and I have found it.

Now, everyone wants to know if my husband is leaving his career to work with me, and that answer is, “Not at this time.” He’s been with our local hospital group for a long time and is thriving there, and honestly while we’re getting started with this business it reassures me to have a steady income stream. We also looked into another brand, quite complementary to FYZICAL in fact, and after things settle well we may look at pulling him out then to help pursue that or another like it. Not to say that he won’t be involved with the business here – Mitch is my first and favorite partner, always. (And I’d like to keep it that way, so we have to consider that before he’d leave to work more closely with me, too 😘)

I cannot wait to welcome and expand FYZICAL to help strengthen and support the wonderful people in St George and surrounding areas, to help grow the teams that will make that happen, and to help build and contribute to the physical therapy, wellness, and small business communities here.

Which means I should stop typing here and get back to work. ❤️

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Here’s the official, short version of the intro:

Liz is building from her 30 years as a software engineer and leader, and her experiences as a caretaker for her son with special needs and her elderly mother. Leveraging Mitch’s knowledge from his career as an oncology nurse, they are partnering on a local business that helps support and strengthen the people in their community.

They’ve chosen to bring FYZICAL to St George and surrounding areas, to offer not just support, but a robust solution for the large and increasing number of individuals with balance problems and vestibular disease, and other specialized physical therapy plans. That alone is reason enough, but FYZICAL primarily focuses on prevention, and provides many other wellness services such as personal training, massage therapy, laser therapy, and Pilates, which can benefit everyone.

Personally, Liz looks forward to regular, part-time working hours, plus learning a great deal through focus on marketing, operations, and empowering a local team’s growth. She really identifies with the services focused on becoming stronger through a number of different offerings to improve many areas of health. Making this available in a beautiful, quality location and engaging with the community where they’re at makes this an ideal candidate for her next adventure.

Love Your Life® ❤️