When Wendi Potter McKenna got a diagnosis of an athletic career-ending injury, she wasn't willing to accept it. Instead, she found a physical therapist who was willing to get her where she wanted to go. In the process, she realized she wanted to do that for others. Find out how knowing what you want and not taking no for an answer is as much about listening as it is about determination.
Guest Wendi Potter McKenna, Dartmouth ’96, has always been one to look for what others found impossible and pursue it. In college, she found her passion and home among the women’s rowing team and considered it a big part of her identity. When she got a diagnosis of an athletic career-ending injury, she wasn't willing to accept it. Instead, she found a physical therapist who asked “What do you want?” and helped get her to do the impossible and get where she wanted to go. In the process, she realized she wanted to do that for others.
After changing majors senior year to get her closer to the PT dream, she finished her prerequisite courses at Boston University and got a job working as a part time aide to a teen with cerebral palsy. That experience changed her focus from sports therapy to pediatric therapy, where she has spent her career ever since. She built her own clinic and helped countless families through the journey of their babies' and children's motor and sensory development. Along the way, she developed a deep understanding of the psychology behind the work and has shifted her practice to spend more time with parents on their own transformational journeys.
In this episode, find out from Wendi how knowing what you want and not taking no for an answer is as much about listening as it is about determination…on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley.
About This Episode's Guest
Wendi McKenna is a pediatric physical therapist and transformation parenting coach who is passionate about helping parents understand, marvel at, and support their babies' and children's motor and sensory development. She is the owner/founder of Strides Physical Therapy, Inc., in the San Diego area where she lives with her husband and their three kids. But she coaches parents everywhere through her Success Parenting program. You can find out more about Wendi’s world at MovePlayGrow.com.
Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley
Music: Brian Burrows
Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com
Email the show at RoadsTakenShow@gmail.com
Wendi McKenna: So I walked into the PT office and he looked at me, he's like, what do you want? I'm like, what do you mean, what do I want? It's like, what do you want? I'm like, I want to have a metal at the end of the year at Eastern sprints. And he's like, okay, I'll get you there. I'm like, you don't even know what's wrong with me. And he's like, I don't care if you know what you want, I'll get you there. And I was like, oh!
Leslie Jennings Rowley: When Wendy Potter McKeenna got a diagnosis of an athletic career ending injury, she wasn't willing to accept it. Instead, she found a physical therapist who was willing to get her where she wanted to go. In the process, she realized she wanted to do that for others. Find out how knowing what you want and not taking no for an answer is as much about listening as it is about determination…on today's Roads Taken with me, Leslie Jennings Rowley.
Today, I'm here with Wendi Potter McKenna, and we are going to talk about knowing what you want, going after it, and having your cake and eating it, too, I think. So Wendi, welcome. So glad to have you here.
WM: I'm so excited to be here, Leslie. Thanks for connecting with me and having this platform. It's so fun.
LJR: Yeah. It's a little boring though, because at the beginning I asked the same two questions and they are: When we were in college, who were you? And when we were getting ready to leave, who did you think you would become?
WM: Oh, my gosh. Well, that's a big question to start off with. When I was in college, who was I? Well, I really identified myself as a rower. I was a rower and that was my life there. I loved it.
LJR: And had you rowed before?
WM: No. I was new as a freshman. Although everyone thought I was experienced because I went to a camp this summer.
LJR: Well, you were more experienced than most of us.
WM: I’m more experienced than some of them, but, but I really, I fell in love with it and it really gave me this sense of anything is possible.
And the team part of it was nothing short of extraordinary. You had to be in sync with everybody else. And it was just one of the most profound experiences that I had in my life. But what really got me where it really solidified was I had what most people would call or what four surgeons called a career-ending injury the summer before senior year.
And I wouldn't take no for an answer. And so they said, there's no surgery we can do. And you have to stop rowing. And I was like, no, that's not going to happen. So I finally, the last surgeon is like, you can try physical therapy, but you know, it's probably not gonna do anything. And I'm like, oh, anything, anything.
So I walked into the PT office and he looked at me, he's like, what do you want? I'm like, what do you mean, What do I want? It's like, what do you want? I'm like, I want to have a medal at the end of the year at Eastern Sprints. And he's like, okay, I'll get you there. I'm like, you don't even know what's wrong with me. And he's like, I don't care. If you know what you want, I'll get you there. And I was like, oh!
And so the experience that I had with Reese Jensen, my physical therapist, that year. Shifted my entire major. I was an environmental biology major. I was on my way to Kenya or Costa Rica. I switched to my major senior year to go to PT school. And so I got as many pre-recs done as I possibly could, because I knew I wanted to be a coach or a teacher. I also knew that I wanted to be outside in nature. I wanted to kind of bring it all together and then I wanted to do what everyone else thought was impossible. Like, I always just, I wanted to be able to do that thing that everyone was ah, it’s not possible. And so here, this is the first time I really met someone who was willing to take me to the impossible and it's like, oh, okay. This is good.
And long story short, we got our bronze medal senior year. I got it…right? And everyone's said it can be done. We were seed 11th. We weren't even supposed to be in the grand finals. And, and then we ended up with a bronze medal and so at that point, I knew I was going to go to PT school. And I've been a PT ever since.
Yeah. So for 21 years now with children and teaching them how to move and play and do the impossible because parents will bring them into me and say, the doctor says they're never going to walk. And I just call BS to say, we don’t know. It's possible that they will, and it's possible that they won't, but I am going to dedicate everything that I've got to that possibility. And these are the steps that we need to take and let's go. And more often than not these kiddos end up doing things that the doctors are just like, wow, how is this possible? And so that's, that's my life. It's doing the impossible and helping others do the same.
LJR: Yeah. Okay, so this is kind of medical, but you're not, I guess you were taking some pre-recs, but you weren't on a pre-med track.
WM: Yeah, no. So, so I, I took as many science courses as I could, other than, you know, I was environmental biology. So I had to shift it over a bit, but almost all the prereqs were the same as medical school. And so I ended up graduating with an environmental biology major, but then continuing at Boston University next year, finishing up my prereqs. And so I had a whole year at BU just to finish prereqs and then I went to PT school at USC for three years. So I had four more years of school after Dartmouth.
LJR: Great. And then, but I mean, at this point, you know, like you have the. Amazing. Have you ever talked to, or gotten in touch with that PT?
WM: He definitely knows. Yeah, we've, we've definitely been in touch. My picture is still on the wall and his office as one of the wis. That's one of the success stories and, you know, and you know, every PT loves to work with an athlete that wants to go all the way. And so, you know, he didn't promise me it wasn't going to be painful and it was painful. And I'm glad that senior year,it was only a year because I don't know if I could have done it much longer, but…
LJR: Yeah. After PT school, you join a practice and start doing that. And is it everything you thought it was gonna be?
WM: Well, yeah, I mean, so I went into pediatrics. I thought I was going to go into sports because that was how I was introduced. And then the year before I started PT school, I happened upon a job where I ended up being a full-time aid for a boy who's 13 with cerebral palsy. And I didn't know much about CP. He was very severely affected. Couldn't walk by himself. Couldn't do anything by himself. His speech was unintelligible and I walked in the first day and I just said to myself, what am I doing? Who am I to be able to help this child? And so the third day the PT came and she turned on the music and she got him out of the chair and started dancing. And my jaw dropped to the floor because there, again, she just did the impossible. And so I got to play with him like that throughout the whole summer.
And so I felt lucky cause going into PT school, I was certain, a hundred percent certain I wanted to do pediatrics, which is more of the neurologic track than what you would consider normal PT, which is I get injured and then we get rehab. So most of my clients are babies and young kids. And then I ended up having them for quite a long time, you know, as they're growing and developing. And then when they get older, just for spurt visits, like I want to learn how to ride bike. Great. Let's do an intensive for two weeks, you know. I want to learn how to do cartwheels. Great. Let's do this for…so that's been really fun.
And, you know, it led me to, you know, I'm almost transitioning out of it right now, believe it, or not, as much as I love it. But I've, I found another true calling of mine through happenstance. And, you know, you asked the question of like, who was Wendi in college? And one of the things that my mom always said to me was, you know, your only job is to find what you love and do it with reckless abandon. And I don't know if she actually used those words, but that was the way I interpreted it. And so through bringing what I do online and to an online place and marketing and learning through marketing. I didn't get any marketing experience at all in PT school. And so I was trying to do what I was doing online and it wasn't working.
And so I hired a business coach and which I didn't even know existed. I was like, okay, I'll try this. And long story short, having met her, led me to the work of transformation. So that is where my passion is right now is the work of transformation and leadership and, and really where my heart lies. And, and so though I still have the PT clinic and I have another therapist working for me and seeing my caseload, this is really where my next, my next chapter is.
LJR: Okay. And I want to go there, but I, I can't let you off the hook so quickly because you kind of throw off this like, oh yeah, my practice. But you, at one point you were working as one does for another organization. And then you said, wait, I can do this by myself. So you were an entrepreneur in this?
WM: Yes, but not because I said I could do it.
LJR: OK, so tell me about that.
WM: I was an accidental entrepreneur. So when I moved to California, I was in Chicago. And when I moved to California, none of the clinics inspired me. They were not what I wanted to work in and for and the hospital was going through some crazy shifting. And I was like, ah, no, I'm not going to be a part of this. And so I just thought that I do some per diem work again, not entrepreneur. But the problem was I have a preexisting medical condition. And so I couldn't get health insurance. Isn’t that funny? And so the only way to get health insurance is to create a group. And so I, I created a company and it was at that point, your husband was allowed to be the two, the second person. So I created a company with just my husband and me, and that was the beginning of my practice.
LJR: But it turned out to be exactly, you needed them for the health insurance, but you needed it really to do the kind of work you wanted. And so, yeah
WM: Exactly. And I've been, I've been doing that. I think it's 2004.
LJR: Wow. Okay. So long time ago.
WM: Yeah. A long time ago.
LJR: And then probably, within that maelstrom, you were also thinking about your own family.
WM: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, well, that was part of it too. It's like we were trying to get pregnant. I'm like, I can't not have health insurance getting pregnant. Right? So, yeah. So I had, I have my oldest who's 15 and then my second and who's 13 now. And then my youngest is eight.
LJR: Wow. Okay. So this has been chugging along . Your business, you have people working for you. It's—and we'll link to this in the show—notes: MovePlayGrow.com. But before we get to the another true calling, I do want to just press on this a little bit, because although you were motivated by the pediatric part and helping kids, you're actually helping families.
WM: Oh, of course. Yeah.
LJR: And I can imagine the PT background helps with the let's get you doing the things you want to do or doing the things you, as a parent, want to see your child doing. But not necessarily grounded in the psychology that you're probably having to deal with in terms of this is really hard for parents to watch slower progressions or even be in this position in the first place.
So how did you..again, you backed yourself into something you might not have known was part of the plate, but how did you gain those skills? Was it just doing it and understanding?
WM: It was doing it during, absolutely doing the psychological skill of work. I mean, the first couple of patients that I had, we weren't as new PTs in the pediatric space, you're not really allowed to touch the babies yet. They're so malleable and you can do a lot of great things for them, but you can also do some harm. And so I got the teenagers and so working with teenagers from the very beginning, it was all psychological, you know? And so I ended up being this confidant for so many teens, you know, going through high school and middle school, you know, with some of these challenges that they had.
And it's so interesting because I called one of my former patients a couple of years ago who's now in her thirties and I just wanted to get feedback from her. And I said, you know, what was your experience of me as a PT? And she's just like, you listened to me. You were the only person in my life who listened to me and she was like, you also pushed me and I appreciated that, but more on than anything as you listened to me. And so I take that to heart with everything that I do and helping families and being a person that is compassionate and wanting and not just wanting, but committed to seeing change that actually works in the world is that we just have to listen without an agenda and without expectations and, and really allow ourselves to see that what we see on the surface is really the tip of the iceberg. But unless we're willing to be curious and dive deep into what's under the water, we're never going to see any transformation. And, and that comes physically, that comes psychologically, that kind of spiritually, cognitively, all of that.
And that is the work of transformation, but it's so interesting that you, you know, I gained those skills as a PT, but as a mom, completely different. And so when my oldest was in third grade, that was my two-by-four over the head that actually I was an emotional Desert. I was very much logic driven. I was very science driven. I had the plan, you know, do the plan, but I didn't understand much more than the feelings that we would consider a quote unquote “Good”. You know, and I didn't really allow myself to feel the ones that were icky yucky, but my daughter was going through icky, yucky, and I was just trying to fix it. Because that's what we try to do is like, if they're sad, make them happy. If they're mad, calm them down. Like, so I learned that that was really not only not effective, but actually detrimental. And so that's when I started diving deep into psychology and personal development work, which is leadership and transformation. And that's where it's brought me full circle because that's what saved my life when I was a teenager myself, even before Dartmouth. And, and so it took me 30 years to find my way back to it. It's all connected and I'd been doing it for all those years, working with families anyway, without really knowing what I was doing or going deep into it. And so now that's where I'm going.
LJR: Let’s talk about that then. How do you juggle doing this business and keeping going what you really, you know, a passion and then add another passion on top? What is feeling like it's going to look like for you?
WM: So for a moment, it was a little much, my husband's like, where are you? The kids are like, where are you? I was like, okay. So we went too far. And even though I still have my clinic, I'm not treating anymore. And so I've really opened up my day to the other things that are really bringing me true joy right now, because really what's the point. If we're not working on what brings us true joy, why do it? Like, I can't want anything more for my children that I'm not willing to do for myself. Like it doesn't work. And so I get to show the way, not just tell them that it's possible. Obviously there've been bumps along the road and this pendulum has swung too far one way, but that's where, you know, you shift and you learn.
And I receive feedback from my kids and my husband as to like what's working and not working and I can take it not personally. And, you know, just, you know, make those shifts. And so my goal, and really this year was probably the first year that I really did it, is to work a school calendar year. And so, you know, I work when the kids are in school, you know, I do have some phone calls here and there after they're out of school.
But for the most part, I am available as a mom outside of the school hours. And I've set myself up with a team of people cause can't do it by myself. And so I get to lead that. And make sure that we're all having as much fun as we can in the process. So it's gotta be the right team, the right people. And I've, I've been through some that didn't work and, you know, you make that shift as fast as possible. And for me, the easiest part about it is that I have a vision and I'm vision-driven. I know what I want. And so if, if what I'm doing in the moment is aligned with that vision, great. Let's figure out a way to make it work. ‘Cause it's possible. If it's not aligned with my vision, I get to say no. And I get to say no without feeling guilty or that I'm supposed to be doing that. Or this is what people are expecting of me. And I'm free from any of that, which is lovely because that takes up a lot of the extra energy that you're talking about, too.
LJR: Right. So how do you articulate that vision?
WM: For me, my vision. I don't know how I'm going to live to 111 years old. I'm going to be surrounded my family and friends, and I'm going to know every one of them intimately and deeply in what lights them up and what excites them. And I, yeah, that's, that's my vision.
And so having that connection people and knowing everyone on such a deep level, no matter what their beliefs are, no matter what their political persuasions are like, and just honoring them as inherently worthy, just because they've been born. That's my vision. And so I get to create that in my family.
And I also get to help others come to their visions. You know, whether they want to hop on board with mine, they can hop on board with mine. That's fine. But if they want to create, create their own, that's what I help them do.
LJR: And those others are within your circle. You're not talking about clients.
WM: No, clients, too.
LJR: Clients. Okay.
WM: Oh yeah. Yeah. That's the work of transformation and leadership. So I am a parenting transformation coach. And so that's the next step that I ended up going. I've been working with parents and families for 21 years in the physical therapy realm. And now, you know, I'm a transformation coach. And working with parents in that realm.
And I come at it from a very different perspective than most parenting coaches. And we make shifts very quickly in the families because people get to have what they want. You know, it's the most important question. What do you want? Like, how do you define what you want and is it really what you want or is it what you like, people expect you to want?
And so, you know, we get to unpack all of it, which is fun.
LJR: Wow. Well fun for you because you get to see the transformation, but not so much fun for them…
WM: Fun for them because they get to actually create the journey that they want, that they maybe thought wasn't possible. I mean, we have all these myths about motherhood that you can only be as happy as your most unhappy child. Not true. You know, that, that you can't have your cake and eat it too. Not true. You know, we have all of these cliches that we all just believe. And they're not true. And it's really fun to just show people that they can have their cake and eat it too.
LJR: Yeah. Because I mean, you are right? You’re a walking example.
WM: Yeah, I know. I am.
LJR: Though I will say you're one of those people that, already from the start of our conversation, said I want to do the thing that people say is impossible and not everyone has that very high level, like focus, achievement, whatever it is. So you have…Probably there are some clients that you're bringing along and they're huffing and puffing behind you.
WM: And see, that's the beautiful thing though about listening is because you meet people where they are, and then you just take that little next layer off you just crack open a little bit more. This is possible because, because a lot of us, we don't even realize it, but we are led by fear, not by love. And we make decisions based off of worry and concern and what ifs and all of that. But when we can let that go and really just make our choices moment to moment, day to day, you know, based on who am I, I am peace. I am love. It’s so freeing. It's so freeing. And then, and then when you be that way out in the world, it's amazing what people…like people I barely know will come up to me and tell me their life story. Why did they tell you that, you know? I never told people this and it's like, I know. You probably thought you were going to be judged by a lot of people, but I don't judge, like, it's really very freeing to be in our community because everyone just knows that it's all okay. You know, whether you've had a history of yelling at your children or, you know, spanking them more than you want, like whatever it is. Like, there's no shame in any of it. And we get to move towards what really works because at the end of the day, our children, the beliefs that they have about themselves, about others in the world, are set by the time they're eight.
And you carry those beliefs through your entire life, unless you do the work to figure out what they are and shift them. Because most of us, they lie in our subconscious, unless we actually go do the work. And so that's the work that I do.
LJR: So Wendi, you were…that senior year? When you encountered that PT, you had the aha moment. Like this is not only what I need right now, but what I want to do, who I want to become, you had such clarity about that. And you ran with it. Now you have so much clarity about this and you're running with it. Would the Wendi from way back then see this as like, oh, but wait, I'm getting off track or would she have had the foresight at that point to be like, yeah, yeah. All of this marries one another and go, go do that. How exciting!?
WM: I always, you know, and I described myself as a person who was never just on the straight path that I was always looking left and right to see if there was something that aligned even more than the path that lay in front of me. So it was very much in alignment with who I was, even though I didn't know how to define it at the time.
Even from the wanting to be a mom, like I knew. It was one babysitting job that I had and I saw one connection between the mother and the daughter that I saw it and I just said to myself, I get to be a mom. Oh my gosh, I get to do that. I was 13. I mean, I knew I didn't get to be a mom then, but every choice that I made, you know, from where I went to school to the career that I chose was one where I was going to be able to work and be a mom. So have my cake and eat it too, and have it in a balance that it really worked, you know, as an entrepreneur, under my own schedule. Which at the beginning, I'm not going to lie. You know, the beginning of his as an entrepreneur, you know, you're working a lot. So, but, but once you have the team set up, which can take a little bit of time, it doesn't have to take a ton of time, then the flexibility of time and schedule really, really allows itself to flourish.
LJR: Well, it does sound like you've been flourishing from the minute you had that epiphany you probably even before, but we're so excited that you have had this journey and have been able to share it with us today. And we look forward to hearing what this next chapter is going to unfold for you.
WM: It's so fun. And what's so great is that I don't have to leave PT to do it. So again, having your cake and eat it too.
LJR: That was Wendi McKenna, a pediatric physical therapist and transformation parenting coach, who is passionate about helping parents understand, marvel at, and support their babies’ and children's motor and sensory development. She’s the owner and founder of Strides Physical Therapy Inc. in the San Diego area, where she lives with her husband and their three kids. But she coaches parents everywhere through her Success Parenting Program. You can find out more about Wendy's world at MovePlayGrow.com. And find out more about our world at RoadsTakenShow.com or wherever you find your podcasts. Please listen, rate, review, subscribe, follow shout from the rooftops, all the things and come back next time with me, Leslie Jennings Rowley, for another episode of Roads Taken.