Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Denesha.
Mark, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
In 2012 I moved to Brooklyn to attend physical therapy school. My first apartment was in a newly renovated building and I had four roommates (we were all strangers). Most of the tenants were new to the city so everyone became friends easily. One of those “friends” went on to become my best friend and in 2019, my wife. In 2015, I graduated with my DPT and entered the workforce. After a year and a half, Amanda (my fiancé at the time) and I quit our jobs to travel the world. This was planned. We had saved up for a year and stockpiled points from a number of travel credit cards. We had also given our employers plenty of notice so we left on good terms. On Oct 19, 2016, we boarded a flight with a one-way ticket to Colombia.
Over the course of 18 months, we traveled to 23 countries! During that time, we documented our travels and grew a social media following. Not only did we have amazing experiences, but we had also gained marketing skills. I fell in love with photography and videography. All good things come to an end and in May 2018, we returned to our little studio apartment in Gowanus, Brooklyn. After two weeks, we returned to work and it felt like we had never left. Two years later COVID placed the city on lockdown. Even after the quarantine was lifted a lot of New Yorkers didn’t want to commute on public transportation. That’s when I decided that I’d bring the clinic to them. We had lived/traveled in a van in New Zealand and Australia so I knew just how versatile these vehicles could be. It took me a year to transform a 2020 Ford Transit into a fully equipped mobile physical therapy clinic and during that time, we decided it was time to leave our studio apartment. Our priorities were changing and we wanted a house. We wanted more space. That’s what ultimately brought us to Austin, Texas.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been smooth and the path has been winding. I couldn’t have envisioned where I am today and that excites me because I’m curious to see where I’ll be in another ten years. I could be a staff physical therapist at an outpatient clinic making a steady paycheck with 100% stability. Making the decision to step away from that and into the unknown wasn’t easy. I had my doubts. I still have doubts. Negative self-talk is real. Imposter syndrome is real. We’re buying a house in Austin so is this really a good time to be launching this new business? I think these are challenges and struggles that most entrepreneurs will have to tackle. What reassures me? Well, as I said, the path has been winding. Traveling the world gave me time to develop a skill set that allows me to feel confident in marketing my new business. I use that same skill set to consult and create social media content for other physical therapy companies. I had the idea to create a mobile PT clinic but how do I transform an empty van into that? I learned. I made mistakes. But now I have a clinic that can go where it’s needed. Now, I’m learning to start and run a business. I know I’ll make mistakes, but I also know that in the end, I’ll have another skill and who knows how I will be able to apply that in the future.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Physical therapy, delivered! Forever Forward provides convenience and quality. Sure, there are plenty of great PTs that provide home health care, but what sets us apart is that I bring an entire clinic to your doorstep. I can bring the clinic to your workplace and meet you after you are done, at a local park or your driveway. You no longer have to deal with traffic and sit in a waiting room. We treat orthopedic injuries, provide strength training, sport-specific training, or concentrate on recovery. I’m proud of the mobile clinic. We put a lot of thought and effort into the build. First and foremost, we want our clients to get better, second, we want them to have an incredibly memorable experience that they’ll want to tell everyone about! This is why we go above and beyond.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I used to listen to Tim Ferriss religiously (while commuting on the subway in NYC). He inspired our “mini-retirement”. If you’re interested in travel, we highly recommend the book Vagabonding. We read this before we left for our trip and helped shaped our perspective. The Greatness Guide is great easy to read. It didn’t have any life-changing ideas but the short chapters are easy to digest and provide motivation if you’re in a rut.
Pricing:
- Free 30 min screen (Limited to first 10)
Contact Info:
- Email: mark@foreverforwardpt.com
- Website: www.foreverforwardpt.com
- Instagram: @Foreverforwardpt
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foreverforwardpt
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVW7-hI4lkhmVg7vgmyDV4g
