What if your biggest dream turned into the thing that drained you the most?
You work for years to build something meaningful. You sacrifice time, sleep, and energy to grow it. You scale up. You serve more people. You hire a team. You hit the milestones you once thought were out of reach. And then, one day, you wake up and realize you’re exhausted. The very thing you built is now the thing holding you hostage.
That’s exactly where Juli Iracheta found herself. She had a six-location pediatric therapy practice that looked incredibly successful on the outside but was quietly unraveling on the inside. And what she did next is something every overwhelmed owner needs to hear.
“It just felt like everything was a fire.”
This is what operating from the center of a growing business often feels like. Every issue, every decision, every crisis circles back to you. You try to fix things on the fly. You make policy as you go. You answer calls while replying to emails while wondering how you’re going to make payroll. And you convince yourself it’s just temporary.
But for Juli, it wasn’t.
She was running at full speed with no margin for error, and the business kept demanding more. She was pulling longer hours, handling more problems, and sinking deeper into debt just to keep things afloat.
“There were some weeks that we didn’t make payroll. We borrowed and scraped from every nook, cranny, corner, even from those that give loans, in order to keep the business running.”
This is what it looks like when the business outgrows its structure. It’s not that you don’t care. It’s that caring isn’t enough when you’re stuck in a reactive cycle. The more you hustle, the more things break. And eventually, you start to break too.
“I realized I didn’t have another wrong move left in me.”
Juli didn’t look for help because she didn’t know how to work hard. She looked for help because the way she had always done things stopped working. She had reached her personal limit. The kind where every additional decision feels risky, and every misstep feels dangerous.
Even with a loyal team and strong values, she couldn’t keep doing it alone. The webinars weren’t cutting it. The books weren’t helping. She needed someone who had sat in the CEO seat, someone who could help her rebuild from the inside out.
“I used to think, if all six locations could just burn down, I’d be okay. That’s when I knew. This isn’t just burnout. This is a system problem, a mindset problem, and I can’t fix it alone.”
Most owners never admit that out loud. They keep pushing, hoping the next hire or next influx of patients will solve it. But growth without clarity is a trap. Juli broke that pattern by shifting how she led, not just how she worked. And that shift gave her back her voice, her confidence, and her perspective.
“Practice Freedom U didn’t just change my business. It changed my life.”
Once Juli started working differently—creating space, building real leadership, redefining her role—everything else began to shift. She stopped being the problem-solver and started being the guide. Her business stopped relying on panic and adrenaline. Her team became stronger. Her systems became clearer. And her life finally started to feel like hers again.
The results weren’t just operational. They were transformational.
“I took my daughter to Italy for her music program and was gone for two weeks. I didn’t check email. I didn’t worry about the clinic. My team had it. That kind of freedom was unthinkable before.”
This is what happens when a practice owner reclaims their business and themselves. It’s not about working harder. It’s about building a business that runs because of the systems and people in place, not because of how much you carry.
That’s the work we do at Practice Freedom U. We don’t just fix businesses. We help owners rise into leadership that actually supports the life they want.
🎥 Watch Juli’s full story here
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Are you ready for a coach? Join the hundreds of physical therapy owners who are building the practice of their dreams with the support, guidance and direction of a Practice Freedom U Coach. Take the first step towards creating a business that sets you free by scheduling a Discovery Call
