Janine: I love hearing the
stories, the back stories,
the highs and lows from
incredible women who have
built their own businesses.
And today I have the absolute
joy of sharing with you
a conversation with the
incredible Kelly Wilkie.
I met Kelly, uh, a few
months ago and was super
impressed with her journey.
She runs a business that
is coming up to 25 years.
She has a team.
She has twin boys, and
she's also traveled the
world for 10 years with
the Australian rowing team.
In terms of how she's built
her business, her vision, how
she's hung onto her boundaries
and her values, and the way
in which she's structured her
business to both facilitate
the life that she lives
and the business that she's
building is a true example of
business and life by design.
please enjoy this episode
as I chat to understand
a little bit more about
Kelly, her business, where
it started, where it's
going, and how she's juggled
all the things, enjoy.
Now there are some business
women that you meet that blow
your way, and my guest today
is one of those Kellie Wilkey.
I had the pleasure
of meeting Kellie for
the very first time.
Actually towards the
end of last year.
We were both, uh, speakers
at an event we'd been asked
to speak at this event.
You know when you go into
the room sometime and you
gravitate to someone, and
then you start chatting and
the more you're chatting,
you've got more questions,
and the more questions
you have, the deeper the
answers go, and you just,
you almost want a notebook
to write down those lessons.
This was my conversation
with Kellie.
Any of you that follow
my blogs, my newsletters,
follow me on LinkedIn.
You might as we talk today,
go, oh, that's the person
she was talking about.
and I reached out to Kellie
and I went, please come on.
I wanna have a conversation
with you about what it means
to be a woman in business.
I really wanna share with
our audience some of the
stuff that you've learned.
some of the things that
you might do differently
in hindsight, some of those
lessons, et cetera, because
as more and more women are
entering into entrepreneurial
landscapes doing their own
thing, which is awesome, at
the same time, there is so
much that we need to learn.
Now, to give you a little bit
of background, Kellie's been
running our own business for
around 25 years, and it's not
little, it's not small fry.
We're talking employees
of 24, I think 25 people.
she's also a mom of twin boys.
the conversation that we
started on was, understanding
her, work that she did with
the Australian rowing team.
Apparently, you know, she
shared with me offline that
this was 10 years of working
with the Australian Australian
Rowing team, and she still
finds time to give back, to
show up, to share, to turn up.
So thank you, Kellie.
Welcome.
Thank you for letting me.
Just put you on the hot seats.
it's such a pleasure
to have you here.
Kellie: thank you very
much for having me, Janine.
It was really, you know,
fortuitous to meet, um, at
that conference last year and,
um, you're absolutely right.
And you start talking to
someone and you really hit
it off and you have great
conversation, be kept, lots
of values in common, you could
just keep chatting all day.
So it's a real pleasure
to come and have a
chat on your podcast.
Janine: So let's delve in.
Let's, let's start with
letting people know a
little bit about you.
So, so you have your
own business talk to us,
share with us what does
that business look like?
Who do you serve?
and what are you doing
right now with it?
Kellie: Yeah.
So my business is called
Body System and it's a
physiotherapy and exercise
physiology, clinic
in Hobart, Tasmania.
And, um, we have 16
practitioners and between
six and eight administrative
staff at any one time.
And so we provide
physiotherapy, consultations
and exercise physiology
consultations, to clients.
But also on top of that we
have a rehabilitation gym
where we prescribe exercise
and supervise exercise
to follow people's rehab.
All the way through.
And so we've got various
different practitioners
within the practice.
So I'm a sports and
exercise physiotherapist
and, particularly have
a special interest in
the athlete, spine.
So particularly low back pain.
And we've got five
sports physiotherapists.
We have musculoskeletal
physiotherapists, we have
hand physiotherapists, and
we do, we have a bracing
and casting service too.
So we're a one stop shop.
We have one clinic location.
a lot of, uh, medical
practices these days spread
themselves around different
suburbs, but what we try
and be is a, a gold standard
service where people will
travel to see us and be able
to, access all of their needs,
you know, under the one roof.
And what does make this
business really different
is that we see people
over much longer than
average treatment times.
So we'll see a new patient
over an hour, and we'll see
a reassessment over half an
hour, which is fairly unheard
of in the medical world, and
there's a reason for that.
Number one, we
can provide gold.
Standard, service to
our patients when we're
servicing them in that way.
But also what it means is
our physiotherapists and our
exercise physiologists have
time to do their paperwork,
their communication with
referrers, everything within
work hours so that they're
not taking that home.
This practice is very much
set up to be able to look
after staff health and
happiness first and foremost.
That's why I set it up for
my, myself in the first place.
And, if we can all be happy
and healthy and functioning
as a team that's continually
curious and continually trying
to help each other be better,
then you're in this lovely
flourishing environment where
you enjoy coming to work.
You are not overworked, you
don't work on weekends, and
you don't work late at night,
and therefore you can provide
the best services to patients.
So it's quite a unique.
Healthcare facility.
But um, yeah, it's something
that I'm really proud of
that's been, yeah, next
year in April it will be 25
years of business, which,
um, as we know, It's no
mean feat to start it in a
small business by yourself
and get to that point.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Janine: Now you mentioned in
there that you've set this
up in the way that you wanted
business to work for you.
And you know, already
there's a little gem, right?
Because, I'm working with
so many incredible women who
have left corporate, many of
them who are setting up their
own businesses, and before
we know it, they've built the
very thing that they left.
They've built the very.
Thing that they
wanted to not have.
And it's almost like there's
this conditioning around how
we should run our businesses.
Can you tell me a little bit
more, if you can remember
when you first started and
you were really clear about
what you wanted and what you
didn't want any challenges
along the way, like even the,
that concept of we do it for
an hour, not half an hour.
So what I'm hearing is this
constant challenging norm
and rethinking about it and
even going, I don't care.
I'm gonna do it in my way.
I'd love to hear your
thoughts on that.
Kellie: Yeah.
So a lot of you that have
been to physiotherapists in
the past would realize that
the medical, profession in
general, whether they're
physiotherapists, osteopaths,
chiropractors, gps have
become really high turnover.
Businesses and you don't
get a lot of time to
actually sit and tell
your story with the person
that's looking after you.
And, um, I couldn't study
physiotherapy in Tasmania.
When I finished year 12.
I wanted to become a
physiotherapist, so I
went to Adelaide to study.
I did really well.
I induced the whole
university, so loved
what I was doing.
Spent lots of time studying.
Came back to my first
job and I got a job
in private practice.
It's quite hard to get a
job in private practice
as a new grad, but I had
done well and I went into
a practice that was very
high turnover and I burnt
out within about 18 months.
So seeing lots of people
all day, every day, having
patients pushed into your
lunch hour, staying back
late at night, taking
mountains of paperwork
home after 18 months.
I just went, yeah,
actually that's not for me.
Like if this is physio,
I love studying it, but
it's actually not for me.
And I gave up the profession
altogether, so I was never
gonna be a physio again.
And my dad was actually
running a business in the
construction industry at the
time, and his business was
growing and he wanted a pa
and he said, well, why don't
you come and work with me?
and I really didn't go
and work for him to learn
how to run a business,
but that's inadvertently
when I look back.
You know, that's what I did.
I was actually in a really
great, well-functioning
business, learning how to
run a business, and really it
was just a time filler until
I decided whether I wanted
to go back to physiotherapy.
What happened over that time
is, um, I was a competitive
swimmer and my swimming
club had said, why don't you
actually just come down and,
see a couple of swimmers
a few times a week and
see if you still like it.
And so I did and I went, you
know, maybe this could be
done differently if I had
more time to be able to see
someone, and to be able to
apply my knowledge and be
able to look at not just,
what's in front of me, but
all the contributing factors.
The health and wellbeing
of the person in front of
me and had time to really
drill down into helping them
perform, not just helping
them get better from injury.
maybe I might like
this a bit better.
And so I actually rang every
physiotherapy practice in
Hobart saying, would you
employ me to see people
over longer treatment
time even pay me less?
I just wanna see if I
still want to do this, and
no one would employ me.
So that's why I started
my own business.
And so I found a little room
in the Hobart CBD that was
just me and a receptionist,
and I thought I was the
only person in the world
that wanted to run physio
and medicine like that.
And, um, my dad helped me put
together a business plan to
say, you still actually have
to make money doing this, so
if you are gonna see people
over a longer time, you
need to charge more for it.
I'm like, I don't
know anything.
I'm a new graduate.
And fortuitously, I
actually had a really
experienced physio ring
up and say, I've always
wanted to work like that.
Give me a job, and I was
like, I know nothing.
You don't wanna come
and work with me?
He said, no, no.
I will mentor you.
To be a great physio if
you give me a job where
I can be a great physio.
And so within a couple
of months of starting my
business, I had an experienced
physio that moved in with me.
And since then, more and
more it was never meant
to be a massive business,
but since then, more and
more people have wanted
to work in the same way.
I've had a business partner
come and go around when I
had children 18 years ago.
Go.
and I've also got a current
business partner that's been
with me for the last 10 years.
And every single time there's
those transitions have
happened to have people buy
in and out of the business.
I've made sure that I've got
a water tight shareholders
agreement that basically says
these are the things that
can't change 'cause these
are why I set up my business.
'cause it would be
very easy to see more
people per hour put.
Profit before people, not
provide great services.
And yes, your business needs
to be profitable and yes, you
can still run a profitable
business if you set it up in
the right way, but it's very,
very easy for these things to
change over time if you don't
stay the course and make sure
that you stay really true to.
The business values
that you first set
the business up with.
So that's been challenging.
So you've hit the nail on
the head there, Janine.
It's really challenging
because it's really
easy for those things to
morph and get out of hand
really, really easily.
But then all you
end up doing is.
Burning out your staff,
having higher staff
turnover, retraining
costs so much money.
You are better off to look
after your fabulous people
and grow as a team together.
and yeah, the, building
blocks for that are making
sure that you look after
your staff as well as you
possibly can so that they
can provide great services to
patients just like you have.
Janine: there's just so much
in there that you've shared.
starting back with, that
willingness to learn how to
run a business, I. Number
one, the second piece
around the curiosity around
doing things differently.
And what I love about
what you shared there,
Kellie, is, you know, a
couple of times you said,
I didn't know how to do it.
But it actually doesn't
matter sometimes that it's
more you identify that
something had to change
and you were going to do it
and maybe the, the naivety.
From a business perspective
is actually what enabled that
idea to get planted and grow.
I think all of us can take,
particularly in this current
climate that we're in right
now, you know, there is so
much opportunity, I think, and
it's having that curiosity to
identify that opportunity and.
We might not know the
answers, but just, go for it.
I call it like
experimentation.
I'm all about experimentation
then, the piece about
seeking, like having a mentor.
we can get mentors, but it's
that willingness to listen.
It's that willingness to
learn and then you know,
your peace on your passion
around people before profit.
You were almost
before your time.
Like if you think about
where conversations about
businesses are going now, 25
years ago, I can't imagine
many businesses were talking
people before profit.
And yet it's gonna be
interesting isn't it, over
the next few years 'cause
it sort of went profit,
people before profit.
And now we'll see what
happens in the back of
what's going on economically
and the boundaries
you put around that.
and congratulations.
Congratulations for
what you've achieved.
As you said, 25 years.
There's so many businesses
that fail, in such a short
time, but you are here
and you're not only here.
You're doing the thing that
you love according to your
values, and it's growing
and continuing to grow.
what do you think when you
reflect on those 25 years,
what have you learned
about yourself, Kellie?
Kellie: I've learned
that I actually really
do have very strong
values, and they're around
honesty, integrity team.
Kindness and really
looking after people.
And I get that from my
parents, my dad and my mom.
And my first business
mentor was my dad.
And I was lucky enough
to access his accountant.
He bought his first business
when we as children all
went off to uni, which
is pretty gutsy actually.
So as an adult, I got to.
See what he did to actually,
you know, go into a business
and make it flourish.
so I had access to a
really good accountant
at that stage as well.
And what we did, my dad as my
business mentor and myself and
my accountant, is we just sat
down really regularly and we
made sure that we discussed
all elements of the business.
They made sure I was
paying myself first.
I wasn't.
making $20,000 and putting
it all back into my
business, they made sure
I was paying myself first.
They made sure I had
money for growth.
They made sure I knew
where I was going.
They made sure I had a plan.
But every single time they
would sit down and they
would go, you know, you
could be making more money
if you do it the other way.
And I was like, guess
I could, but I saved
money because I haven't
got a high turnover in.
Staff.
And so it is really easy to
see an hourly rate and go, you
could see three people an hour
and you could make more money.
Yes, we charge more for
longer treatment times, but
it's, you want people to
access your service as well.
You're actually really making
sure you've got a bit of staff
downtime built into that.
And, um, they would remind
me, but then they would also
congratulate me for sticking
to my guns, knowing what my
values were and how I wasn't
actually gonna change it.
And so in terms of.
Profit in the business, it
probably grew a lot slower
than other businesses
might, if that makes sense.
But it also gave me a
chance to make sure the
business wasn't growing
too quickly in terms of
putting administrative
procedures in place.
making sure whenever a
problem came up, you know.
First time someone's
going on maternity leave,
how do I manage that?
What does that look like?
How can I make sure
they're looked after?
How can I make sure
I'm looked after?
How can I make sure my
client's looked after?
I better write a policy for
that, so I know how to do that
next time, once I've tested
it, I better change that.
So when you start your own
business, you know you are
not in a big corporate world
with a whole heap of policies
and procedures behind you.
You have none of them.
Um, but actually one of
the things that my dad
taught me is make sure you
do all of those things as
you go so that you've got
things to lean back on.
And then when you have enough
profit to employ someone
in a management position,
you've already got the script
for how you want it to run.
that's allowed me to have
a lot more freedom to be
able to, since I've had
children only be in my
business three days a week.
And be at home two days
a week, probably doing
a whole heap of business
in the background when
they're at school or
childcare or, or whatever.
But also when they
were little, have more
time with them at home.
Um, it's allowed me when
my children were in primary
school to travel with the
Australian Rowing team for
10 years because I had, I.
Policies and procedures set
up in the background where
everyone would be able to
go to those things first
before being on the phone
and asking me, and me trying
to troubleshoot things
from, you know, Europe when
you were there for six to
eight weeks of the year.
So, I had great business
mentors, but they really
respected my values and
the way that I wanted
to set things up.
what I learned about myself
is they were unwavering.
I was sort of lucky that
I learned a lesson about
burnout really early in my
professional career because I
was never gonna go back there.
'cause I knew what it felt
like and I knew I didn't
want to be in that space.
that sort of, I.
Held my values too,
if that makes sense.
And, um, and certainly, Yeah.
they come from the way I
was, brought up, the service
that I wanna provide, all
of those sorts of things.
I'm certainly not saying
that, you know, I made
silly decisions where my
business wasn't profitable.
You just making decisions
where maybe you were slightly
less profitable in some ways
and you gained efficiencies
in other ways over time.
And having.
Sort of the broad ability to
have a look at all of that
rather than just what's here
and now is sometimes hard.
You've gotta step out of what
you're doing and to be able to
look at the bigger picture, to
figure out why you're making
these decisions and be able
to justify 'em all the time.
Janine: and I love what
you're talking about there
in terms of, it's almost
like a little bit of.
The, I call it the commercial
patients, like so many
people are rushing and
rushing and rushing ahead to
either make or grow quickly.
And there's very few
businesses, successful
businesses that are
actually made overnight.
you know, most people take a
little bit of time and there's
the occasional unicorn,
which we all look up to.
but the reality is that
for many of us, it's about
actually working out what
is the right move at the
right time that's going to
enable that bit of growth.
And the other piece that
you talked about was
the, the patience around.
Actually, I don't necessarily
want to make that decision
because we're not ready for
that next period of growth,
which is the business smarts.
Right.
And I see, both sides of the
spectrum in other people where
they're moving so quickly
that all those foundations
and the policies, et cetera,
aren't happening and their
businesses fall apart.
And then on the other side,
the fear, the procrastination
that stops 'em from doing it.
But, but this self-awareness
that you've got, Kellie of.
those decisions that you
made, and I've got a very
good friend of mine, Chris
Power, she talks about these
inflection points in your
business where at every single
point it feels to me like
you've been very considered
in your decision making.
I just wanna go back as
well, 'cause we, as we
tend to do as moms, right?
we jump over the fact that
you've been in business for 25
years, you've got twin boys.
How old are you boys?
Kellie: they're about
to turn 19, So, they're
starting university study.
Yeah.
Yep.
Mm-hmm.
Janine: so six years in your
business, five years maybe.
'cause there's pregnancy
before that, right?
Correct., you've got the two
boys or you got more children?
Kellie: No, two boys.
That's all.
Yep.
Mm-hmm.
Janine: not only were you
starting a business and in
that early phase of business.
You then went through
pregnancy and then
you had the beautiful
surprise of twin boys.
Though it probably wasn't
a surprise, but suddenly,
you know, not only were you
new mom running a business,
you were a mom of two little
people running a business.
how did you cope through that?
I was literally talking
on a podcast this morning.
I was, I was reflecting,
you talked about burnout
and I was going, oh my
God, if I look back, there
was definitely a moment in
time where I must have been
on the brink of juggling.
I had three children under
seven at the time, and it
was the start of my business.
I was like, I actually dunno
how I got through that.
So you had team and clients
that were relying on.
Kellie: Yeah.
Well, firstly, I've
always prided myself
on Having exceptional
administrative staff.
So exceptional front of house
staff, exceptional people that
can actually just make the
place run if I'm not here.
And what had happened
before I had twins is I
was traveling with the
Australian Junior Swim team.
So I was only going away for
two or three weeks at a time,
but that's when I started
going, when I'm not here.
I don't wanna be on the end
of emails and I don't wanna
be on the end of phone calls.
So before I became pregnant,
I was having these little
mini trips away all the time,
and recognizing that the
business needed to run really,
really well without me there.
And so we needed policies
around everything that we did
from opening up the business.
And I've read, you know,
books about franchises
that had, you know, they
have policies right down
to exactly what you do when
you first walk in the door.
The first person walks in
the door of the business
each day, and it seems really
pedantic, but actually.
If everyone follows the same
procedure, whether you're,
you know, one admin staff or
another that comes in in the
morning and everything is done
and your business is presented
in a really, great way, it
gives you the confidence
that when you go away, that
your business is being, it's
reflecting your values and
your service in the way that
you want it to, otherwise
it's too stressful to go away.
So that's probably
the first part of it.
the second part of it is that
I knew I wanted to become
a sports physiotherapist,
when I gave up.
Swimming competitively.
And I had this dream
that I wanted to go to
the Olympic Games and I
didn't really realize how
hard it was to get there.
Not many females, um, not
many physiotherapists get
to go to the Olympic games.
so I was really on
this sports journey and
wanted to become a sports
physiotherapist to be able
to give myself an opportunity
to do that at some stage.
And so I started
my Master of Sports
Physiotherapy while I was.
in the infancy of my
bi of that business.
So I was like six years
down the track from starting
the business of course.
so I was studying as well
as traveling with swimming,
but had, you know, no
children at that time.
And I thought, you know
what, if I have a baby over
this period of time, I'm
gonna be at home a lot and
I'm gonna be able to finish
off my sports masters.
Like, you know, that's
how naive you are
before you have a child.
Right.
And then I got
pregnant with twins.
Now, you know, we took
those twins to Melbourne as
nine months old for a two
week lecture block and, you
know, crazy, crazy time.
But, I had a husband
that also ran a business.
Okay.
So he also had lots
of challenges with
having, you know, twins
come into his life.
But the one thing running
a business affords
you is flexibility.
If you have a business that's
set up really, really well
with the right people around
you, you have flexibility.
So over that time of being
pregnant and finishing off
my masters, Jason worked a
little bit less to allow me to
be able to get to that point.
I wanted to spend time and
obviously you, you have to
spend more time with your
children once you have
them because you are the
person that can feed them.
And so I wanted
more time to myself.
after that period.
And, and he worked
more at that time.
So we've always had the
thought process that if
you're both working flat out
all the time, that's when
things are gonna fall apart.
So when one of you needs more
support, the other works less.
And so when my boys were
two is when I was asked
to travel with rowing
for the first time.
And, um, I can hear probably
lots of you going, Oh.
my God, like, how do you
actually go away once you've
got, you know, two, two year
olds, if that makes sense.
And, um, I had been
working with rowers
and swimmers in Hobart.
I was thinking I'd just start
traveling with swimming again
when the boys got a bit older.
But rowing came and said,
okay, we've got this,
this trip coming up.
It's Junior World
Championships and non
Olympic World Championships.
So the senior boats don't
go to world championships
in 2008 in the, in the
Beijing Olympic year.
It's a two and a half week
trip to reckon you can do it.
My first thought was.
How can I do that with
two, two year olds?
And I came home and
spoke to my husband.
He was like, if you don't say
yes, they won't ask you again.
Like, is this
your opportunity?
You know, there's more elite
rowers and swimmers in Hobart.
Is this your opportunity to
go into Olympic based sport?
And I was like, Yeah,
probably is it.
He is like, well there's never
a great time for it, so I'm
gonna wind my hours back.
So he put more management
in place in his
business and he worked.
25 hours a week
in his business.
over the period that I started
working with Australian
Rowing and running my own
business, when I'd go away,
he'd drop his hours down to
15 hours a week, and do a
lot of management from home.
And, yeah, so essentially
in 2008, I, traveled every
year with Rowing Australia
to Europe, and then to an
international competition,
starting with their
junior teams and under 23
teams and senior teams.
Yeah.
I was.
Fortunate enough to
be asked to go to the
London Olympic Games with
the Australian Rowing
team, which was amazing.
then after that, I was
asked to be the lead physio
for Australian rowing for
the whole Rio Olympiad.
So traveling a lot around
Australia, looking after
our best rowers, making
sure our physios placed
right around Australia.
Were looking after our rowers
really well, and, my husband
went well while this is here.
This is great.
Really, really happy
to support you.
but there needs to
be an end point.
We can't do this forever.
And so we really went right
af after two Olympic games.
That's it.
I will work less while my kids
go through high school and
my husband will work more.
And so that's how we,
we've juggled it that you
both can't be going flat
out all the time, but
also that, you don't want.
To remember those years
as a child with your
mum being away a lot.
So we made sure we planned
things like every second year.
Jason and the kids came
away with me and lived with
the Australian Row team.
They got to go to
two Olympic games.
We made sure they had
positive experiences to
remember, you know, we really
saved our pennies to be
able to make sure that they
didn't remember mum being.
Away they remember these
amazing experiences that they
wouldn't have got otherwise.
So, we really had, a
challenging period of time
over that time to balance what
was going on with all of us.
But you just have to
act as a team, right.
And, um, make sure that you
can pull it off together and,
I'm working a bit less, my
husband's working more, that's
affording me great flexibility
to see my kids, you know,
through a later, later stage
of high school into the
university studies, which has
been an absolute pleasure.
Janine: Well, as you said
there, it's giving you
the business, gave you the
flexibility and the choice
to be able to determine what
are the right frameworks for
your family and your team.
talk to me about the Olympics.
I know you talked about
that being a dream.
so we've just come out of
an Olympics and watched so
many incredible, you just
watch, I watch in awe.
And you know, I say to my
kids, you know, you don't
get there just by going, oh,
well, I'll go to the Olympics.
It doesn't happen
without effort.
What did you learn, from
being at the Olympics?
Kellie: Yeah, I think,
the journey to get there
and following the athletes
all the way through, to
the Pinnacle event is.
The bit that's the
most interesting.
So when you're at the
Olympic Games as a
physiotherapist, you don't
see much of the competition.
You, you're in the background
and you're supporting
the athletes, and you're
supporting the coaches.
but the journey to get
there is the bit, that
I've enjoyed the most and
probably that I've learned
the most lessons out of.
And what I would say is.
When you're dealing with
people that are striving to
be on the Olympic team or
that get onto the Olympic
team when you're overseas,
while they're preparing to
do that, they're striving
to be the absolute best
versions of themselves, both
physically and and mentally.
And so what you become
involved with is not just
treating injuries, but
actually working with
coaches to accelerate
human performance.
And so you are constantly
making sure that you're
communicating in the right
way to not, put fear into
athletes to be able to give
them support, to be able to
be appropriate in your role.
but also on top of that,
you're actually breaking
down strengths and weaknesses
physically of the athletes
that you are working with.
Or a combined effect, say
maybe if you're out on the
water with a rowing coach
and looking how they can
make that boat go faster,
and you are looking at the
very small gains in human
performance now, You look
at something like that
and go, that's fabulous.
You know, I've helped
people row backwards as
fast as they possibly can.
And is that as important
as helping someone to
get off the toilet and be
able to be independent in
their life, in their home?
Nowhere near as important,
but those lessons that you
learn about human performance
and how to get the best
out of human performance
from a strength point of
view, a flexibility point
of view, a movement control
point of view, they are.
Really squishing, all of your
knowledge out of you making
you perform at the absolute
best that you possibly can,
making you think at this much
higher level all the time
about how can we do better
than the rest of the world?
How can we, you know, it's
this curiosity constantly
of pushing you to be the
best version of Yourself,
you can be as a practitioner
in performance health,
that you bring all of those
learnings back to your
environment to, number one,
educate all of the other
people that work with you.
But then number two, for your
everyday patients to benefit
from, because you know, the
Olympic Games is the pinnacle
in terms of human performance.
But actually all of those
learnings I can apply to
every single person that
works through my clinic do
probably actually have a
greater impact in their life.
Janine: Yeah.
Wow.
and one of the things I
remember you saying when
we were talking last about.
You know, those athletes
don't get there on their own.
And this concept of, when
we are in business, we can
have the learning, we can
have the vision, we can
have our values, we can
have our team, but nobody
can achieve whatever.
Peak performance, pinnacle
of their performance is for
each of them on our own.
and obviously I think you
see it that firsthand when
it comes to athletes because
it's not just you as the
physio that's contributing to
that performance, but there's
other parts of that team.
And equally there's
the athlete themselves.
And I'd love you to share the
story, which literally just
I wrote about on LinkedIn.
Around one of those female
athletes that you were looking
after and, the awareness
that she had in terms of how
to get to that next level.
And from your perspective,
I'm curious about what you
took out of that, that you
take into everyday life.
Kellie: Mm. So the story that
Janine is referring to is
a really lovely one, and we
had an athlete who won a gold
medal in the Rio Olympics.
Her name was Kim Brennan,
and actually her name was Kim
Crow before she got married
at the London Olympics.
And.
In London, she won a bronze
medal in the, in the single,
and she won a silver medal
in the double, and it's quite
unusual to race in two races.
She's very talented.
She's a really,
really hard worker.
but she wanted a gold medal.
So for her, she hadn't
achieved that in London.
She wanted to
achieve that in Rio.
And so she had committed to
rowing the single skull, um,
for four years to be able
to try and get a gold medal
at the Rio Olympic game.
She was based in Canberra
and I was based in Hobart,
but I would go into
Canberra for training camps.
And I came in for training
camp one day and I sat
down with her and we'd been
talking about some back
pain that she'd had and how
we were gonna manage that.
She said, right when you are
working with the Men's Going
Program, and they're mainly
based in Hobart, before we
would go overseas, um, you're
doing this trunk conditioning
program with them and, you're
doing, all of this work to
make their abdominals as
strong as they possibly can.
She said, do you
realize that my race is
longer than their race?
So they're in a quad.
They've got four people
rowing two kilometers.
I'm in a single, I've got one
person rowing two kilometers,
and I'm a female that don't
have as much muscle mass.
So their race is over
and done within about 200
strokes, but mine could
be 250 or 300 strokes,
and so it lasts longer.
My trunk and my abdominals
need to be stronger.
My capacity needs
to be bigger.
I've already talked to my
coach about the fact that
I need to train more on the
water than what they do.
But for you, I need
you to make me more
physically prepared
to be able to do that.
And I hadn't really
thought about that before.
And she really had thought
about exactly what her
needs were, to be able to
get to where she needed to.
Not just from a, when I get
back pain, this is what needs
to happen, but also this
is how I need to perform.
And so we put a trunk
program together for her,
um, that involved some
endurance trunk work,
some strength trunk work.
Worked with her strength
and conditioning coach.
Worked with her coach, we
had to periodize it into her
program so she could do it
when she wasn't fatigued, or
we didn't want to do her to do
it before she went out of the
water and fatigued her trunk
so that she got back pain
when she was on the water.
So we put this whole program
together with how we were
going to stage this, and then
I would have to leave and
come back to Hobart and she
would have physiotherapists
in Canberra looking after her.
So we needed to make sure
that everyone was on board and
everyone understood the why.
So they'd keep supporting
her to do this.
And, Then when we got
overseas, she was like,
you know, I've done it.
Like I'm good.
And we had like a lead in to
the Rio Olympics for about
six weeks with the team.
I'm, I'm here, I've got this.
She was like, but you
know, I can't always
apply it in the boat.
And you know, my coach says
that we go out on the water
and sometimes my trunk
doesn't look that strong,
but when I'm doing the
exercise in the gym, it does.
And so we had this
sort of just general
conversation 'cause you're
living with the athletes
overseas at this stage.
And the men's coach that I'd
been working really closely
with from Tasmania said, well.
Why don't, whenever one of my
rowers has got a niggly back
or, or can't row, rather than
us just going and sitting
on the rowing curve, why
don't you jump in elbow.
We know how to use it.
We do it from the moment
we push off the pontoon.
And so that's what we did
when we were overseas.
Whenever they had someone
that had, you know, a cold and
couldn't do a session or had
a niggly back and couldn't do
a session, she would jump in.
And it was pretty unheard
of for the girls to jump in
with the boys because they're
producing so much power.
But she learned how to
apply that force, which
was really, really lovely.
And there's so many beautiful
things that come out of
that aren't there about not
just physiotherapy and human
performance, but team the
learning for me was how to
get her to a point where she
could win a gold medal and she
did in Rio, which was amazing.
And it was really lovely
to see that journey.
But the other part for
me was when I'm at home
in my business, I am the
leader of that business.
When I was working with,
um, Australia's best
rowers and the Australian
rowing team, I wasn't the
leader in that domain.
So it was making sure
that you knew how to be
a really good team member
in that environment.
And not overstepping
your mark.
Mark, even though
you've got leadership.
Skills, leaning into them
occasionally, but also
trying to do that would've
been disruptive because
there was already a plan.
So knowing your role in team,
knowing when asked to push a
little bit harder, but also
when, there is team management
there already and you might
have the skills to be able
to contribute there to go no.
my place in team is here and
this is what I need to do
and this is what, how I need
to be the best version of
myself and my place in team.
that's actually pretty
hard when you've got
great leadership ability.
But you know, what I say
to the people that work
with me at the moment
is not everyone can be a
leader at the same time.
Like we all have to
be a cohesive team.
And sometimes I drop
back into a team role.
Other times I'm more
in a leadership role.
But over there I really needed
to know where my place was.
Otherwise I could
have been really
disruptive, if that makes
sense.
Janine: Hmm.
Oh, I could keep talking
to you for hours 'cause
there's so much wisdom in
your story and your learning.
I. For me, what I've
heard is, I love your
messaging around running.
Our own business actually
has the opportunity to
give us flexibility and
choice if we choose to.
And the link from there
therefore, is a, you do have
a choice as to the decisions
around which you're gonna
build your business, which
you very clearly did in
terms of putting your values.
front, left, and center.
and they have guided every
decision that you've made,
right down to actually
then setting up the head
stuff, the policies and the
procedures to enable that
vision to come to life.
and as a result of that,
that's then unlocked more
opportunity for your business.
And this last piece that
I've you know, what I take
out from what you've said.
is understanding your role,
understanding your role, what
is needed at that moment in
time, and understanding that
your role doesn't operate in
silo, but actually you are
always part of a team and
learning how to operate within
that team and around that
team and lean into that team.
and overarching all of
this is, this taking
ownership of your dreams?
which Kim did, the athletes do
as you shared at the Olympics.
But also you've done this
and you're doing it for
both your clients, your
customers, and also your team.
as we wrap up, Kellie.
' cause I'm sure there's people
listening to this that are
either where you were a few
years ago or they've got
dreams within their business.
They may even be, you know,
so part of my work is I see so
many women that have created
something and as opposed to
it bringing them the very why
that they set out, it's almost
become shackles around their
ankles or it's negatively
impacting their lifestyle.
what would be some of your
key messages to those?
People that may be
listening, going, yeah,
I've set off with that.
I've got the vision and dah
la la but I feel constrained.
cause this is what's
inspiring about your story.
You've got a business, it's
established, it's growing.
You've fulfilled this
dream of being part
of the Olympic team.
You're a mom.
This beautiful
flexibility that you have.
And I agree with you
totally in terms of.
Sometimes we can't
all be on at the same
speed all the time.
what would you say to anyone
listening, going, yes, I
want, how, what, what would
be your, your message to them?
Kellie: Yeah, I learned a
lesson really relatively
early in my business journey.
And, um, it was when, so my
first business was just called
Kellie Wilke physiotherapist.
And then when I realized
people wanted to work
in the same way as me,
it became Kellie Wilke.
And associates, and
then it became, alright,
there's five of us now we
really need to brand this.
And so I engaged the services
of a branding company and
I met this wonderful woman
called Heather Rose, who's
also a Tasmanian author, and
she had a branding company
at the time, and she wanted
to learn about my values,
my beliefs, my journey, what
my business needed was all
about before she helped me.
Rebrand my business and she
had a marketing business at
the time and that's where the
name Body System came from.
So, you know, that was a
creation of, of her marketing
business at the time.
But she listened to my
story and she said, gosh,
you've got so much going on.
She said, can I give
you a bit of advice?
And because this was
just, you know, when I was
having children and when
I. Studying and I had so
many different things going
on and she said, I've got
lots of things going on.
I'm an author, I've got
a company, I'm a mom.
She said, if I can give
you one bit of advice,
this is a bit of advice
that I would give you.
You can only do one
of those elements.
Well, at the time she said,
what I like to think of is
putting a literal hat on.
When I'm sitting at work
in my marketing business,
I'm not, oh my God, I've
had a good idea of my novel
and writing it over there.
I put my business hat on
and I'm in business, and
I'm there for all the
people in my business.
I'm not closing my door and
trying to do other work.
I am there for that, and
then when I get home, I
take my business hat off.
I put my mom hat on, and if
you answer that business phone
call with your mom hat on, you
will not be the best version
of yourself and your kids will
go psycho in the background.
We all know that as soon as
you put your, you know, pick
up the telephone when your
children are young and you
don't have a good conversation
anyway, so put your mom hat
on when you go in the door.
And then when you're doing
your sports related stuff on,
try and have your sports hat
on and not be running your
business at the same time.
And that was some advice
that I got back in, 2009.
So eight years into running
my business and when I had
toddlers as children it was
a fabulous piece of advice.
Heather actually went
on to nominate me for a
young Tasmanian, Telstra
Businesswoman Award.
So we got to know each
other really well through
that awards process,
which was really fabulous.
And that's actually when
I got invited, to become
a member of Women of the
Women's Chiefs Association.
That, we have
met through, but.
That bit of advice.
I still hold really dear
to me that you can only do
one thing well at a time.
And when you try to juggle
three at once, you'll never
make the right decisions.
And so now I do things like
I walk to work, so I've got
time between I. Home and work
to be able to turn the work
brain off, make the couple
of phone calls on my way home
before I walk through the
door and everyone's there
waiting for you and, and
wanting to debrief their day.
And so yeah, trying to wear
one hat as a time as a female
business owner, whether
that's mom or business or
whatever else you've got
going on in your life.
And.
Often we've got business
but also a profession.
That's why we started our
business in the first place.
So there's an element of
working in the business
and on the business.
I try and do one of those
things at the time and do
it really, really well.
That's one of the rules
that I've stuck to and, and
really has resonated well
with me for many, many years.
'cause I still
talk about it now.
And, um, yeah, it was
a lesson I learned, but
really, really early on in
running my own business.
And I, and I think it really
has made a massive impact
on how I've been able to.
Achieve some success in
lots of different areas.
Janine: What a wonderful place
to end this conversation.
just the visual of
that one hat at a time.
Again, it's that
intentionality isn't it,
of making sure that you are
intentionally focusing on
whatever hat you've got on
versus letting it slide off
to the side and poking some
stuff in through the side.
and you know, the
results are there.
Kellie.
Uh, you are a remarkable
businesswoman.
you are.
Smart sharing.
You live and breathe the
concept of connection
and collaboration.
And I just wanna thank you for
allowing me to reach out, uh,
without really understanding
what I wanted to talk about.
You're like, yeah, sure.
And just knowing that
there's so many gems
of fabulousness in here
that are going to help.
So many people.
your work is important
and, uh, people can
find you on LinkedIn.
I will put your details
in there for anyone
that's interested.
Make sure to check out
Kellie's details in the
show notes it's so been so
fabulous to have you, Kellie.
Thanks for joining us.
Kellie: Thank you
very much Janine.
It's been a fabulous, you
know, it's been really
fabulous to share some
of those stories and um,
yeah, hard to believe.
25 years has nearly gone by.
Janine: Congratulations.
Awesome achievement.