Nelin Krull is a physiotherapist, Myofascial Release therapist, and Co-founder of Myofascial Canada. She works with her husband Justin Krull in their practice to help people manage injury and chronic pain. While they founded their company in Canada they are working hard to bring their therapies and philosophy to the world through online courses and blog content.
It is fair to say that they have been on a bit of a roller coaster since they founded their business in 2020. The pandemic forced them to close their business for several months and once open again they had to navigate the challenges many businesses were facing. Lessons learned helped Nelin and Justin grow as entrepreneurs and see the potential in connecting with people around the world virtually. In the years since they have grown their business to not just serve in-person patients/clients but to also embrace the virtual and help people all over the world through their online courses and articles.
While theirs is a different or unique business there are many lessons learned over the past four years that can help all entrepreneurs pivot, face challenges, and push through to finding a better business on the other side.
Tell us about your business.
Myofascial Canada offers chronic pain treatment centered around the mind-body connection technique of Myofascial Release provided by licensed professionals.
What is the main WHY for you? Why did you start your business?
My husband and I opened our clinic in January 2020 after I left my position at our local hospital as an ER Physiotherapist. I had taken a year off after leaving and was helping my husband run his solo Myofascial Release practice and he had gotten to the point where he had more clients than he could serve on his own, so it was time to expand. His zone of genius is patient care, while mine is definitely more rooted in business administration and education so naturally I became Clinic Director and Co-Owner of our new multidisciplinary practice.
Having seen both sides of Physiotherapy practice, both the acute care hospital practice and private practice, I noticed the primary problem is the same, there is an external locus of control for most people when it comes to their own physical health and their perceptions around pain.
Since the technique of sustained-pressure Myofascial Release taps into the body’s innate healing wisdom, it offers greater and often lifetime resolution of pain and dysfunction. Learning the practice also empowers clients with the skills and tools they need to self-manage any new issues they come up with without having to rely on their therapist to ‘fix’ them.
Utilizing Myofascial Release was an absolute game changer for me as an acute care Physiotherapist and kept me going in a very physically demanding job as a petite person. Knowing how beneficial it was for me and the results my husband was getting in his solo practice, I was certain I needed to share how this could help anyone willing to give it a try. Empowering others, especially women, with this gift of self-managed ‘healthcare’ is a passion of mine and keeps me going every day.
You started an in-person practice in 2020 – a year that the world faced the challenges of the pandemic. How challenging was that and what lessons did you learn from navigating that experience?
We had only been open for 10 weeks when the pandemic forced us to close our doors. From a business perspective, it was frustrating to have to halt all the momentum we had built since our opening and all of the new ideas we were working to bring to fruition.
From a personal perspective, it was actually such a blessing. We had our foot on the gas to get the practice open and established for the previous 5 months and we were exhausted. We had a toddler at home and to add to it, just a few days before we opened, we learned that I had a silent miscarriage and in our first few weeks of being open I had to undergo a D&C procedure to formally end the pregnancy. We were devastated and hadn’t really had the opportunity to grieve in the push to establish our new practice.
Our business was officially closed for about 2.5 months. This time was needed for healing, connecting as a family, and getting really clear on who we wanted to serve and how we wanted to achieve that in our business.
Since the nature of Myofascial Release requires hands-on assessment and the body’s feedback in order to treat according to the needs of each individual, virtual Physiotherapy was not really an option for us; so we were very excited to be able to see clients in person again. We cultivated a great online community of people seeking authentic healing during the lockdown and connected with them regularly with tips, education, and self-care demonstrations.
As regulated health professionals and Physiotherapists, we were deemed an essential service, and we were allowed to re-open our in-person practice at the end of May 2020.
Re-opening was a whirlwind of attempting to source PPE, sanitizer, disinfectant and re-organizing the flow and booking practices of the clinic in general, but we opened our door to eager clients and a full schedule, and it has been growing ever since then. That first year was a roller coaster of changes with each new Public Health announcement and figuring out how to be able to bring on other practitioners who were not deemed essential yet. Since then, we have grown our practice to a team of 8 amazing and heart-centered therapists with various designations from Physio, to Osteo, RMT, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Nutrition.
What are some of the biggest challenges when it comes to your business?
The biggest challenge we face now and have been navigating since before we even opened is that there is no other practice like ours to model after. Everything we have created is new and so we have had to figure it out as we go. There are certainly handbooks that already exist for creating a successful multidisciplinary ‘Rehab’ practice, but the methods don’t apply to a practice that focuses on Myofascial Release.
Our appointments are longer, a minimum of an hour, and we don’t use assistants or machines. We market to a different clientele, individuals who have chronic pain and typically associated past traumas and need an empathetic and gentle approach. It means a different clinic setup, fee structure, and marketing approach. It’s been a lot of trial and error, but we always return to our core values of client-centered care and the principles of Myofascial Release when making decisions.
You recently created online courses, why have you decided to expand your business to the online space?
One of the many lessons that the pandemic taught us was that there is a whole wide world of people seeking healing and often start their search through online platforms. In the first few years of business, we were so focused on the success of our brick-and-mortar that we didn’t have the resources to connect to a wider audience but it was always on our minds. Being that our service is quite unique, and we are one of only 2 clinics in Canada that has multiple Myofascial Release practitioners, we knew we could only help so many individuals by focusing on our local community.
Our online courses make the Myofascial self-care techniques we teach all of our clients accessible to anyone regardless of geographic location. The courses empower clients to learn the first steps in taking charge of how they feel in their own bodies with practical video demonstrations and mindset-shifting exercises. Once they have learned to connect with their bodies and go inward, they can better identify when additional help is needed and are less likely to ignore symptoms that can eventually cause bigger problems. Ultimately if the course can save anyone from chronic disease or lifelong pain and dysfunction, then we feel compelled to share it.
When it comes to PR and media, what is your main goal?
To help educate people suffering from Chronic Pain around the world that they have the power to make a change in the way they feel in their bodies today. Learning the simple techniques of Myofascial Release can help keep them feeling great for their lifetime.
What is the biggest challenge for you when it comes to PR and the media?
As entrepreneurs and parents to a 7- and 3-year-old, life is busy! Finding the time and ensuring the messaging hits home with the different audiences is challenging. We are often put into a box of ‘Physiotherapy’ and while that is what we are, our approach is very different than what most people think about when they hear that term. Changing expectations around what we deliver from a demonstration and education perspective is another area we find somewhat challenging.
What advice would you give other founders about business?
Make sure your heart is in it and you have the supports you need in place! If not, navigating the challenges that will inevitably come along may mean the end of your business.
What advice would you give other founders about marketing and PR?
Trial and error are okay, there is no one solution for every business, but make sure you are tracking ROI! Marketing can be expensive, so be sure that every dollar counts.
To learn more about Nelin and Myofascial Canada visit their website or check them out on Instagram
Hi. I’m Christy Laverty!
I’m so excited to be here getting the chance to share my knowledge with the She Owns It community.
I have spent nearly 20 years working in some of the biggest television and radio newsrooms in Canada. I have seen my share of good, bad, and ugly story pitches and press releases. So, now I am sharing tips, tools, and techniques with entrepreneurs so they can better pitch the media to get mentions, press, and publicity.
It’s a win-win-win really. I get to help people share their business and mission with the world, entrepreneurs learn how to better connect with journalists for press and publicity, and, finally, I get to help my Journalist friends get better stories to share with their audiences.
When I am not doing my media and PR thing, I am blogging, occasionally filling in on the radio, playing news anchor, and I also teach in the journalism program at a Canadian college.
So where else can you find me?
Swing by my website and social media channels for tips, techniques, and strategies to help you get media mentions, press, and publicity. Oh, and of course how to work with me.
