No Pain, No Gain

The Peak Potential Story

Bridie Cullinane is not your average chiropractor. In 2002, aged 22, she leap-frogged into private practice before completing her final year of study at RMIT University. Against the advice of some of her lecturers - but with the blessing of her parents - Bridie bought a 50% share in two practices owned by Dr Matthew Bateman. Most chiropractic grads wait years before taking that big step.

At times it seemed like a misstep. Bridie had to learn how to run a business while completing the demanding fifth year of chiropractic study. She says: "It was pretty crazy. The hardest thing was figuring out how to work with people and inspire staff. For the first time in my life, I questioned my ability to handle a situation."

Five years later, Bridie and Matthew have a thriving business, with 10 staff and practices in the Melbourne suburbs of Bulleen and Mentone. Bridie manages human resources, marketing and systems development.

The Challenge

How to hire and motivate staff and run a business.

The Solution

As the partnership's HR and training manager, Bridie wanted to inspire her staff - there were four employees then - and have them share her passion and excitement for health. But there were challenges. Bridie says: "In the first few years, I made some bad hiring decisions. I haven't always been the best judge of character. But making mistakes is all part of the learning process and you can't beat yourself up about it too much."

Bridie now requires job applicants to attend group interviews, a setting that quickly reveals social skills and personality traits. Applicants are asked penetrating questions about their ability to handle challenges and conflicts. Alarm bells ring for Bridie whenever someone blames others for problems. "I want people who take responsibility for their lives and the results they achieve. Until someone can show me that they are capable of this, I won't work with them."

Finding good staff is one thing; keeping them is another. One of Bridie's incentives is to allow all staff - and their family members - to use any of the services available at Peak Potential free of charge. For some staff members, that might mean twice weekly chiropractic treatments, which normally cost $40 a session. There is double benefit: happy staff and people who know the benefit of Peak's services.

Finding the balance between being a friendly boss and one who can make tough decisions can be difficult. Bridie says: "When I first started, I just wanted to be liked. That got in the way of me being able to show staff what they were not doing effectively. I used to be much harder on myself if I thought that I hadn't been very effective with my staff. Now I just try and learn from it and move on."

She has learnt to compartmentalise problems and accept that there will always be ups and downs. "These days, I might say ‘Okay, things will be hard for a period of time - say, two weeks - we just need to get through it'." When feeling overwhelmed, she asks herself  ‘What is one thing I can do to get to where I want to be?'.

Bridie has learnt from management books. Her favourites include Michael Gerber's The E-Myth,  Mark Victor Hansen and Robert Allen's The One Minute Millionaire, Stephen Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now.

Partnerships can be tricky to negotiate when disputes inevitably arise between partners. Bridie says that having a calm business partner has been invaluable. But if they disagree, they are careful to sort it out privately while showing a united front and supporting each other publicly. "It is important that people don't sense instability."

The Result

In 2005, Bridie was named Telstra Young Businesswoman of the Year.

Bridie and Matthew were invited to co-author a chapter for volume two of the international best-seller The World's Best-Kept Health Secret Revealed. It has sold more than 35,000 copies worldwide.

Peak Potential has increased its staff from 4 to 10 in the past four years and added new services including myotherapy, Pilates, naturopathy, nutrition, personal training and small-group exercise classes.

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