Inspiring Conversations with Nicole Fowler Frost of Frostbodyworks

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Fowler Frost.

Hi Nicole, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
As a little girl, I was always doing sports, gymnastics, dancing, running, etc. anything that involved moving my body. I had plenty of minor injuries and struggled with back and neck pain for a long time. Not being able to participate in activities that I loved left me feeling down and discouraged. That’s when I decided I would pursue physical therapy. My ultimate dream was/and still is to work for a professional team and help the athletes keep playing with the least amount of pain/injuries and improve their performance with the proper bodywork. I got my BA in psychology and master’s of science in physical therapy. I started my career working at TIRR, a spinal cord/brain injury unit. I moved onto working at an orthopedic hospital/clinics, worked in Alzheimers units, nursing homes, home health and Ballet companies. All sound very different, but there’s one common goal with every patient that I would see. To be in less pain, do more than they were able to the day before, and improve performance in whatever activity they were focusing on. I started to think about the struggles that people were going through….why wait for an injury/condition to pursue help? I decided to go to massage school so that I could work on people without a specific injury and help prevent them from getting there. I continued to work in the clinic until I had kids and then shifted to home health, which gave me a little more flexibility with my time. I did that for a few years but was I was missing the ability to work hands on with people. I worked on getting new skills: pilates certification, dry needling certification and continued to perform massage therapy on clients while working in home health. Eventually, I quit my full-time job and started working on building my own practice in 2012. After the birth of my 4th child, we moved to a larger house and I was back to square one, working home health full time.

One day, I got a phone call from a friend who wanted to open up a business that would allow people to come in and get the bodywork that they needed/wanted without having to wait for an injury: maintenance work. It was an ultimate opportunity for me to put my skills to use and do something that was bigger than I’d ever imagined. I spent a year writing a program for massage therapists to learn and perform. Investors/owners got on board and we started to open up studios. The mission of the business was a struggle for some of the business owners, and soon after, I walked away.

So back to home health to make ends meet and restart my private practice. Slowly but surely, I started to come up for air. And then….covid. I had to quit everything, go on unemployment for eight months, and home school four kids under the age of 12. This, by far, has been the hardest of all times. I sat on my porch thinking of how I was going to have to change careers to survive. I looked into real estate and had my resume on every job website. When things started to open back up, I started getting texts and calls from people that desperately needed help with body aches and pains. Once my kids went back to “school”, I got off unemployment and since then, I’ve worked as hard as possible to see as many people as I safely can do.

Everyone needs body maintenance, especially now more than ever. Whether you are a musician, athlete, chef, student, we all need help with keeping our bodies healthy. Maintenance is far easier than waiting for something to break and have to fix it. That takes you out of the game of life and that’s no fun for anyone. My goal for every person I see is this: To allow them to do more than they did yesterday and improve their performance in whatever it is they love to do.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It’s been quite the opposite of smooth. SO many struggles.

1. Working in hospitals, clinics and home health have a lot of restrictions and limitations on what you can/cannot provide to your patients due to insurance reasons. The paperwork becomes a huge part of your job. It’s extremely frustrating to all parties when you can’t get provide/receive the care you need/want.

2. Working with patients/clients daily can be exhausting. You must be present and give them your all, physically and mentally. But at the end of the day, the reward of knowing you helped someone gives energy back to you and somehow, you do it again and again.

3. Trying to make a living in the medical world is not easy. It doesn’t have the money that many other jobs offer.

4. Covid was a huge obstacle with working on other humans, it was impossible. Going on unemployment as a single mother with four kids was by far the biggest struggle.

As you know, we’re big fans of Frostbodyworks, LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I am a one person show at the moment. I set up a studio and treatment room in my home and see patients and clients here. I specialize in myofascial stretching, fascial manipulation, dry needling, cupping, massage, postural restoration and pilates. As a PT, I try to see folks 3-4 times max and spend an hour with them trying to resolve their pains/limitations. With bodywork, it’s not exactly a relaxing massage, it’s more functional and the goal to restore the body back to its normal state. I’ve had to start, close down, restart a few times and I am proud of where I am today. I offer physical therapy evaluations and treatments, massage, maintenance bodywork, pilates, and consultations.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Most important lesson along the way…..There are a lot.

But top lesson, NEVER TAKE YOUR GOOD HEALTH FOR GRANTED. Your body is THE most important and valuable thing you own. You cannot exchange it for a new one.

Never let anyone tell you, “you can’t or you won’t. Where there is a will, there is a way.

Contact Info:

• Email: fowlerpt2000@yahoo.com
• Website: www.nicolefrostbodyworks.com
• Instagram: frostbodywrx

Image Credits:
Casey Chapman Ross Photography, CCRstudios