Jamey Schrier, PT, is an author, former physical therapy practice owner, and founder of Practice Freedom U. PFU solely focuses on helping practice owners work less, earn more, and reignite their passion for patient care. His book, The Practice Freedom Method has been an Amazon best-seller. Jamey is on a mission to help ambitious practice owners achieve their dreams of what is commonly called Practice Freedom. On this episode, Jamey shares about how changing one's mindset can transform and in some cases even save a business including a private practice. 

Susan Mahipaul is an occupational therapist, an educator, a researcher, and a disability and health naviagator and advocate who completed a PhD from McMaster University in Hamilton, ON in Rehabilitation Science (2015) and a clinical Master’s in Occupational Therapy from the University of Toronto (2004). She identifies as a disabled clinician and a critical disability scholar. Her doctoral work explored how her own reflections on living with spina bifida can be used to critique normative assumptions on disability within rehabilitation practices and society at large. Her research, teaching, and writing interests include advocating for equity, justice, and anti-oppressive practices within the rehabilitation sciences; academic ableism; how rehabilitation science programs often exclude disabled students; and using narrative research in teaching critical disability studies concepts within rehabilitation and disability studies programs. Susan teaches as an instructor within the undergraduate Disability Studies program at King’s University College at Western University Canada. She guest lectures extensively throughout many Canadian OT programs on critical disability studies and anti-oppressive clinical practice. She consults on several national research projects underpinned by critical disability studies and disability researching partnerships. Susan also has a professional practice where she consults with, advocates for, and supports disabled and chronically ill women in navigating their disability and health related needs. Susan is married and lives in London, ON with her husband and her retired racing greyhound. She grew up in Austria, Germany, and Canada and loves the outdoors. Susan comes from an active family and participated in many sports, committee work and volunteer and advocacy initiatives, until chronic pain and challenges with pacing led her to reimagine her work-life balance. Susan is an avid gardener who loves propagating plants and gifting them to anyone she can. 

Karen Park, OTD, OTR/L, BCP, SWC, CLE, is an occupational therapist with extensive experience in pediatric practice in a variety of service settings including early intervention, clinic, school, hospital and outpatient children’s mental health. Dr. Park is Board Certified in Pediatrics by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and holds Advanced Practice certification in Swallowing Assessment, Evaluation, and Intervention within the state of California. Prior to joining the faculty at University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences in San Marcos, CA (USA), Dr. Park was an Assistant Professor of Clinical Occupational Therapy and the Director of Academic Fieldwork Education at the University of Southern California, Chan Division of Occupational Science and Therapy. Her expertise in fieldwork education focuses on role emerging fieldwork experiences in children’s mental health settings; specifically mentoring OT students in identifying and establishing the role of OT in addressing the occupational needs of underserved children and families with a history of complex trauma. She was also clinical faculty at the USC University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) in the interdisciplinary Feeding Development Clinic serving children with feeding challenges, co-occurring neuro-developmental disorders and a history of medical or psychosocial trauma. She has taught courses on pediatric practice and given additional lectures on infant mental health and mealtime assessment and intervention. She also completed the certificate program in Sensory Integration at USC Chan. Dr. Park has lectured nationally and internationally on topics around interdisciplinary approaches to feeding assessment and intervention, the intersection of trauma and mental health factors on mealtime engagement and enjoyment, healthy weight for children with special healthcare needs, as well as developing and sustaining role emerging FW experiences.Note: We use the acronym "AAPI" throughout this episode in reference to the Asian Pacific American Islander community. 

Jennifer Renker, OTR/L, is an occupational therapist who works as a travel therapist, traveling across the U.S. to provide services to in clinics that are short staffed and in need of assistance. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy in 2017 from Utica College in Utica, NY. Jennifer has extensive experience working with people with a variety of disabilities and challenges in different settings that has helped inform her as a therapist. Prior to going to OT school, she earned an Associate’s degree in massage therapy from Suny Morrisville in Morrisville, NY. Jennifer was drawn to OT because of its holistic nature and ability to look at all of a client’s needs to better assist each person. The fluctuating and changing needs of clients in both of these past settings has allowed Jennifer to become more adaptable and creative with the ability to focus on her client’s immediate needs, while allowing her to excel in the changing environments of a travel therapist. She enjoys spending time on her crafting hobbies which include jewelry-making, diamond painting, silver clay creations, and epoxy resin items. Jennifer has recently melded her two passions for crafting and OT together into a YouTube channel called The Crafting OT Studio that was launched December 2020. The purpose of this channel is to make crafting and leisure activities accessible to everyone no matter what challenges they may have. The channel is a combination of crafting videos as well as suggestions and ideas on how to adapt each craft for easier access and completion. The videos are fun and informative. 

Nancy Peters, OTR/L, has been an occupational therapist for over 45 years. She attended the University of Buffalo at a time when there were not many occupational therapy schools in the country and the profession was fairly young. Upon graduation, she was offered a job at one of her fieldworks, the Buffalo VA Hospital, and worked there for 3 years until she left at the birth of her first child. Her next job was at Robert Warner Rehabilitation Center, providing therapeutic services for children. From there she became a school-based OT at Akron Central Schools. Nancy "retired" from the school job only to be called back into service at Summit Rehabilitation. Each job change required some study and continuing education to get up to speed with the different populations she was working with, but her OT background of looking at the whole person and helping them solve obstacles to their "occupation" made each job very fulfilling. Currently Nancy is working as a partner in DNS Designs, a company of which she is a co-founder along with her son and family friend, both of whom are engineers. The trio invented a product called Magzip and developed the brands are Ankhgear and Magzip using the motto "Innovations to Improve Life." Nancy has certifications in Infant Massage and Family Bonding and in Eastwest Somatics for Movement Therapy. She has taken multiple levels of CranioSacral Therapy, all levels of Reiki, Evaluation and Treatment of Sensory Processing Disorders, LomiLomi, Redefining Health from the Maryland University of Integrative Health, and numerous continuing education courses in diverse areas of study. She is a lifelong learner who delights in new information that can positively impact people's lives. On this episode, Nancy shares about her path into the profession of occupational therapy almost 5 decades ago and the many formative experiences she has had over the course of her career as an OT practitioner. She talks about her business venture, the beauty of universal design, and the development of the products like MagZip. 

Charlotte Foley is an occupational therapist living in Alaska, who feels that occupational therapists and physical therapists have a greater role to play than they currently do in working with people with ostomies. She has a passion for supporting fellow therapists in increasing their confidence with this population. Charlotte has worked in the adult inpatient rehab and acute care settings for the past 6 years, and she’s lived with a permanent ileostomy for 7 years (on and off for 13). Through her work as an OT and her personal experience with an ostomy, she recognized the benefit of OT and PT for ostomy surgery recovery. She started her business, Restorative Ostomy Solutions, in 2020 to provide educational information to therapists. Charlotte also supports "ostomates" - individuals living with ostomies - in living an active lifestyle through her website and social media. 

Arameh Anvarizadeh, OTD, OTR/L, is an occupational therapist and a leader in the occupational therapy profession. An alumna of the University of Southern California (USC), Dr. Anvarizadeh earned her BS, MA, and Doctorate in Occupational Therapy with a minor in Neuroscience and an emphasis in Ambulatory Healthcare. In her role as the Director of Admissions and Associate Professor of Clinical Occupational Therapy at the USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, she is responsible for ensuring the success of the admissions process by creating and maintaining effective admission strategies and procedures. She also oversees each academic program and makes certain the division is filled with high caliber diverse students.Dr. Anvarizadeh also serves as the Chair and is a founding member of the Coalition of Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity (COTAD), a non-profit organization striving to meet society’s occupational needs by developing local and national initiatives and aligning with key stakeholders to create a socioculturally diverse workforce that is able to provide culturally effective and client-centered services to occupational therapy consumers. An advocate and an ignitor of change in the field of OT as well as for social justice and human rights, Dr. Anvarizadeh is currently running for Vice President of the Executive Board of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). She has extensive leadership experience including through AOTA and the Occupational Therapy Association of California (OTAC). Within AOTA, she is currently a Representative Assembly Leadership Committee (RALC) member and the Credential Review and Accountability Committee (CRAC) Chair.She is listed on the AOTA Roster of Fellows and is a recipient of OTAC’s Janice Matsutsuyu Outstanding Service Award and Vision Award and an accomplished speaker who has served as the keynote speaker and presented on a variety of topics at both state and national conferences as well as lecturing internationally at the World Federation of Occupational Therapists’ (WFOT) congress. Dr. Anvarizadeh also serves on the Boards of Inclusion Clubhouse and Black Women for Wellness. She is passionate about building healthy, diverse communities through inclusion, health education, empowerment, and advocacy. She envisions creating sustainable communities through social entrepreneurship and policy using an occupational therapy perspective.On this episode, she shares about her path into the OT profession, her mantras and leadership philosophy, and her vision and plans for persevering and igniting change as she continues to create systemic change in the OT profession through action-oriented leadership. 

Lindsey Vestal is an occupational therapist and is the founder of The Functional Pelvis, the first in-home pelvic health practice in New York City run by an occupational therapist. She has helped thousands of people overcome chronic pelvic health challenges like incontinence and pelvic pain. Her goal is to empower women and men to listen to the wisdom of their own bodies—without resorting to invasive surgeries or prescription drugs—so they can heal and get back to enjoying life again. She understands that no one else knows a person's body better than that person. She considers the whole person, not just outward physical symptoms.