Interview: Balancing the Grind with Jonathan Moody, CEO & Co-Founder of Physio Inq

Originally Published Dec 3, 2021

Article written by Hao for Balance the Grind

Jonathan Moody is the founder and CEO of Physio Inq, a business providing a range of physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology and exercise physiology services.

1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?

At primary school I did all sorts of things to make a dollar- I delivered newspapers, painted garbage bins, delivered milk, I even grew mushrooms under my house to see (very badly!).

At university I occupied myself with various ventures and tried to experience as many jobs as I could from jumping castles and karaoke to digging holes with a plumber. I tried to keep as busy as I could experiencing every walk of life I could. Uni at times took a back seat!

I eventually put my head down and received a Bachelor of Applied Science (Physio) from the University of Sydney, I started working in clinics before opening my own, aged 24.

I did plenty wrong, worked 12-hour days and let bookkeeping slide – but was successful at marketing my physio treatment style, offering one-on-one care when others were double-handling patients. Within a few years I acquired other clinics and began managing other physios.

I realised that I offered significant value as a business educator and began providing more resources to practitioners to help them keep on top of the operational side of their clinics. I now oversee 17 franchised clinics across Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, and the number is growing.

In 2016, one of our employee’s had a lived experience with a child with a disability. We always believed in having employee’s chase their passions, so we launched a new arm to the business with a focus on providing mobile services for disability and aged care clients. This service has seen significant growth and now includes roughly 200 mobile practitioners.

We plan to open a Physio Inq clinic in all capital cities and regional hubs over the next five years. Through the combination of mobile and in-clinic care, our goal is to positively impact the lives of a million Australians a year through quality and accessible health care.

2) What does a day in your life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?

7:15am – The whole house (me, my wife, our kids) wake up and tuck into breakfast around 7:30am.

8:15 – I reply to urgent emails until I take my nine year old son to school at 8:45am, the school is just up the road from where we live. On the way back I grabbed a coffee for Emily (my wife) from our favourite coffee shop.

9:00am – I get into my ‘deep work’ for a couple hours so no distractions and focus on projects that require a clear head.

11-1pm – Time I reserve for meetings whilst I am walking around (this is a new ‘covid’ habit), this is normally about 8km

1pm – Lunch with my family

1:30pm – I work on clearing my funnel that might be holding others up.

3pm – Try to have my last meeting for the day

4pm-5pm – I get back into deep work again – I love to end by getting immersive work done.

5pm – I go on a run with the family (we go on family runs most days which includes Jonah (2) in the pram, our dog and Justin (9) on his bike).

7:30pm – Dinner

8pm-9pm – Family movies (every night) the children are in bed around 9pm

9:30-11pm – Adult sanity time

11pm – Bed time

Outside of my daily work routine I immerse myself in ultra marathon running and spending quality time with my beautiful family.

Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?

Our entire workforce is across the country, so by definition it is a flexible role. I can work from the office as much or as little as I like and ensuring that all remote employees remain connected to the business is something we take really seriously.

It has allowed for great work life balance for most employees and we really encourage work not getting in the way of our day to day lives with family and our passions.

4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?

To me, work life balance means to feel content and calm. I’m a rushed person generally, but when my balance is best, I tend to slow down a bit. It doesn’t necessarily mean my hours change, it is more my mental state and approach to down time.

5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?

I just recently put a limit on my app use! It dropped my screen time by 50%! I have also started taking meetings whilst walking which has been a game changer.

6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts, or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?

I love long form podcasts with two people having conversations. Book-wise, I’m not mature enough to read fiction! I usually stick to autobiographies and personal adventure stories.

7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?

My running shoes. Other than that, I could probably live without the other stuff, but I choose not to!

8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be? 

Richard Branson seems to have always had balance. I love that he takes cat naps, as that’s one of my favourite past times!

9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?

It is super personal to the individual. What is balanced for one person is incredibly stressful to someone else. Balance is about embracing that feeling of balance in your life. Look at the symptoms, are you calm, are you happy, are you content?

Additionally, look to those around you, your spouse, your kids, your pet, are they the same? We are community based creatures and it is vital to understand that our own actions also have an impact on those around us, so be reflective on how we map impact those we love the most and strive for balance in your own home, not just yourself.

This article was originally published on Balance the Grind.

Want to read more about Physio Inq? Check out our other pieces:  

• [Podcast] Finding Peak Performance: Personally and Professionally
• [Podcast] The Mentor with Mark Bouris: Jonathan Moody | Physio Inq
• Allied health after the Royal Commission: What’s next
• Job Ready with Transferable Skills