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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_02: It's Calgary's Podcast on the Canada's Podcast Network.
[00:16] SPEAKER_01: Hello, this is Mario Pattenewsie coming to you today with Calgary's Podcast, a member
[00:21] SPEAKER_01: of Canada's Podcast Network, where we talk to the entrepreneurs who are making it happen
[00:26] SPEAKER_01: in Calgary, Alberta. So you can listen, discover and engage.
[00:31] SPEAKER_01: Today's guest is Shelley McGregor, founder of Apex Therapy. Thanks for joining us today,
[00:37] SPEAKER_01: Shelley. Hi, thank you for having me. Tell us a little bit about the history of Apex,
[00:41] SPEAKER_02: when and why you started it. Apex actually, we have been a therapeutic massage clinic in Calgary
[00:48] SPEAKER_02: for 25 years. We started in Kensington, we were there for 18 years, and then we had another
[00:54] SPEAKER_02: location on 17th Avenue in the Devanish, and six years ago we moved everyone into one commercial
[01:00] SPEAKER_02: building in Briar Hill. We started here six years ago with 13 massage therapists, and now
[01:06] SPEAKER_02: we have 30. So we've seen a huge growth over the last six years, and I think it's because
[01:11] SPEAKER_01: we have free parking. That's always a blast. It is. So how did you get involved in this industry?
[01:19] SPEAKER_02: Really young in my 20s, I sustained an injury that put me in a wheelchair and a back brace,
[01:25] SPEAKER_02: exactly two vertebrates in both heels, as well as cracking my head open. I spent a good 10 days
[01:32] SPEAKER_02: in the hospital, well medicated, and then the next year I spent in a wheelchair and
[01:37] SPEAKER_02: crutches and a lot of rehab. At the time I was working in a dental office, but I was
[01:42] SPEAKER_02: a C.P.O. in the Sush therapy, and because of that treatment I was able to run a half
[01:48] SPEAKER_02: marathon a few years later, where my surgeon thought I would probably walk with a limp and
[01:52] SPEAKER_02: never run again. So I knew the power of the touch and how it healed me. So I quit my job and
[02:00] SPEAKER_02: went back to school and became a massage therapist. I practiced for 12 years, building a practice,
[02:06] SPEAKER_02: and then I realized that I really wanted to build a business and space for other people to do what
[02:10] SPEAKER_01: I did. So you've been in a calendar for 25 years, you know, this business. What are the
[02:17] SPEAKER_01: main benefits that you've seen of being a business owner in Calgary? You know, I think
[02:25] SPEAKER_02: reflecting right now on the economics of Calgary and the changes Apex has seen through
[02:30] SPEAKER_02: the sessions, I think it really keeps us on our toes. It helps us to innovate, it helps us
[02:35] SPEAKER_02: to focus on our customer experience. For me, it's a constant growing. I think we're always
[02:44] SPEAKER_02: asking our clientele and our customers what it is that they need from us and bending and
[02:49] SPEAKER_02: making sure that we accommodate them. As a personal service, I think one of the best things
[02:54] SPEAKER_02: we've done in the last few years is innovation. So we've actually incorporated a lot of online
[02:59] SPEAKER_02: booking. People that were using artificial intelligence as well. So when people call us and
[03:05] SPEAKER_02: miss their call, because obviously our priorities to pick up and answer. But if we have somebody
[03:11] SPEAKER_02: at our desk, we will let it go to our assistant and they will try to book the appointment through
[03:16] SPEAKER_02: text. So for us, it's really been a milestone. It's one of the biggest things to see,
[03:22] SPEAKER_02: almost 200 new clients a month. And our numbers are skyrocketing through online bookings.
[03:29] SPEAKER_01: Now I've been correcting you for a month, but I thought I saw something on your website where
[03:34] SPEAKER_01: you can get an appointment that same day if you call in. Is that true?
[03:39] SPEAKER_02: It is true. Yeah, because we have such a big team here, we also have nine treatment rooms.
[03:46] SPEAKER_02: So we try to leave at least one room available Monday through Thursday for last-minute
[03:52] SPEAKER_02: bookings. So we guarantee you same day booking if people call before 10 a.m. Monday through Thursday.
[03:58] SPEAKER_01: What are the main challenges an entrepreneur, a business owner, spacing these days in Caledon?
[04:06] SPEAKER_02: I think really one of the things that I really tried to narrow my search on is there's so many
[04:14] SPEAKER_02: places to advertise. I think as a business owner, you're inundated with social media and all
[04:21] SPEAKER_02: of the avenues of trying to reach as many customers as you can. And for me, it's really trying to
[04:28] SPEAKER_02: focus on the customer care piece. So always kind of like clearing out the noise in my head,
[04:34] SPEAKER_02: you should be, you should be. I've come up with something you're saying that don't
[04:37] SPEAKER_02: should on me. So everyone tries to give you lots of advice and I love learning all the different
[04:43] SPEAKER_02: avenues of marketing. But I also really come back to the client care focus point and see how we can
[04:51] SPEAKER_02: increase that experience through clients that have already been here, rather than acquiring
[04:56] SPEAKER_01: your clients constantly. You know, we get a lot of ideas about life, about our business in a lot of different ways, right?
[05:06] SPEAKER_01: And just wondering, is there anything you do that, you know, away from the office that kind of
[05:11] SPEAKER_01: inspires you and gets the creative juices going in your head about the business?
[05:16] SPEAKER_02: Yes, of course. I think for me, I always talk to people, why do you live in Calgary? And everyone always says
[05:21] SPEAKER_02: it's so close to the mountains. I think there's some real truth to that. I think nature has really helped me
[05:29] SPEAKER_02: focus and spend a lot of time in insular. I'm quite an extrovert. So I know that I have to bow
[05:35] SPEAKER_02: in between that energy that goes out and bring all the energy back in. And so for me, meditation is really helpful.
[05:43] SPEAKER_02: Also, regular massage gives me a lot of quiet space where sometimes if there's in a trainer room, there's absolutely no one talking to you
[05:51] SPEAKER_02: and you can't answer your phone. So for me, there's no point of contact except me and one other person is always helpful as well.
[06:00] SPEAKER_01: What are you most excited about your business these days?
[06:03] SPEAKER_02: Hi, well, I'm Nick here. It's a big one. We did celebrate 25 years. So we closed the clinic for a day and we took more than 30 of our staff
[06:11] SPEAKER_02: up to the Ken and us this small holiday to take care of the people that take care of others. And so that was really important to me.
[06:19] SPEAKER_02: I think I'm really excited to see what the next 25 years will look like. For me, it's not always about getting bigger.
[06:27] SPEAKER_02: It's about getting better. And so it's really for me focusing on client care and making sure that people that come here are getting the care that they need.
[06:35] SPEAKER_02: A lot of them are suffering with product stress and pain that doesn't go away. So for me, it's being really treat-ness focused.
[06:43] SPEAKER_02: And making sure that we bring on the team that's really treat-ment focused and want people that are coming in with the concern and that we can help address for them.
[06:52] SPEAKER_01: So you mentioned the next 25 years. What's your vision for the business for going forward and your plans?
[07:03] SPEAKER_02: I know everyone keeps saying, why don't you have another location? I've had other locations. I did basically found a despot, Sponan01 in front of you see a few years ago, which I thought the two of my staff members.
[07:15] SPEAKER_02: It was at that point where I had basically three locations as a mobile spa as well. And I realized that I wasn't living my core funds.
[07:24] SPEAKER_02: When my mom was diagnosed with dementia, I wanted to be close to her and help her. And so for me, I think that really staying close to our core values as a clinic.
[07:34] SPEAKER_02: And making sure that that vision creates loyalty from our team, as well as a clientele, is really what I want to do.
[07:41] SPEAKER_02: I don't know if it's really even another location.
[07:45] SPEAKER_01: So when you look back over 25 years, what would you say we're biggest challenge has been as an entrepreneur?
[07:54] SPEAKER_02: Well, I think it was changing from building a practice to building a business. That was a huge challenge.
[08:01] SPEAKER_02: I still say things like, oh, I don't really know. I'm just a massage therapist. I undervalue what I've learned as an massage therapist.
[08:09] SPEAKER_02: That was instrumental in understanding what people need as a client. So do you mean the perspective for a customer is as well as it helped me create an awareness of what our industry standards should be?
[08:26] SPEAKER_02: And how I've been able to create incomes and lives and professions and careers that have been such therapy and for people graduating in the field.
[08:36] SPEAKER_02: Our association thinks that the lifespan is about four years from a massage therapist. And we've had people's state effects over 10 or 12 years.
[08:46] SPEAKER_02: So that's a real feather. I think that we've created a really amazing clinic for career massage therapist as well.
[08:54] SPEAKER_01: When you look over it over the last 25 years, what do you think the best piece of advice is that you've ever received about being an entrepreneur?
[09:04] SPEAKER_02: I would have to say, ask for help. Always be open to advice and support. I never would be right now without the support of our team, my husband, my family.
[09:19] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm touched every day, knowing that I've been lifted up by this people to be able to create this space in a business for 20-30 years.
[09:28] SPEAKER_01: I'm going to ask you a couple of more personal type questions. So everybody these days has kind of like a bucket list of things they want to do or see or things like that.
[09:40] SPEAKER_01: Do you have something that's on top of your bucket list these days on a personal level?
[09:46] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I would like to even simplify my life a little even more so as I just turned 51.
[09:54] SPEAKER_02: And so I start thinking about the care of our parents and my mom is still with me. She's 50-what or 81 this year, as well as my in-laws are a huge part of our lives.
[10:05] SPEAKER_02: So being available to them as well as traveling, I love to travel. I have a trip plan for Thailand in February, so it's really spending time with the people that I can most vote.
[10:21] SPEAKER_01: When you look back on things, if you weren't doing what you're doing now, any idea of what kind of a career or profession you'd be in?
[10:30] SPEAKER_02: You know what I always think about the career I should have had and I can't sing but I would love to be a singer.
[10:38] SPEAKER_01: We're kind of music.
[10:41] SPEAKER_02: Probably be like a Tracy Chapman era.
[10:43] SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
[10:46] SPEAKER_01: Are you reading any books lately?
[10:49] SPEAKER_02: Actually, I just finished talking to strangers.
[10:54] SPEAKER_02: Gladwell, one of Outliers, the author of Outliers as well.
[10:58] SPEAKER_02: I just finished it. It was an audiobook. We were just on a road trip for a few days. My husband and I, and so we just finished it.
[11:04] SPEAKER_02: It was very insightful. He's always been an outlier to me.
[11:08] SPEAKER_02: The author, so we take it for a bit of what it might be, but I really enjoyed it. We don't know people, even when we think we do.
[11:18] SPEAKER_01: Now, if you had one word to describe yourself, what would it be and why?
[11:26] SPEAKER_02: Transparent and authentic. I think we're two.
[11:30] SPEAKER_02: Not everyone is a fan of Shelley and Gregor. And that's okay. I think for me, it's just being true to who I am and always arriving as that person.
[11:42] SPEAKER_01: No, you're not thinking about Calgary. Is there any place in the world that you love the most? Let the spend time and be at?
[11:53] SPEAKER_02: Well, fresh in my memory, we spent some time in the South of France this year. And I would love that to be my new backyard.
[12:00] SPEAKER_02: But my true backyard is for an NPC. I spent a lot of time there. We continued to go back there and we had a video and we were going to host that one day.
[12:08] SPEAKER_01: Oh, cool. So we're creatures of Habitat. I'm just wondering if you have a daily routine that you follow every single day.
[12:17] SPEAKER_02: Everyday. Well, I have two dogs and a husband. And so the three of us are pretty lazy in the morning. We're slow to get up.
[12:25] SPEAKER_02: I'm not a type A entrepreneur that you read about that has like up at 5 a.m. I'm more of an up at 8 a.m.
[12:34] SPEAKER_02: We basically take our dogs for a walk every morning. And then I usually hit cafe for a American on the stove.
[12:45] SPEAKER_01: I'm going to present a scenario for you and just bear with me. Imagine sort of a beautiful tropical island in the middle of the ocean with only one phone booth and no internet.
[12:59] SPEAKER_01: We're going to drop you off there. You have no technology whatsoever. At any time you can use a phone to call us and we'll come pick you up.
[13:08] SPEAKER_01: So a couple of questions out of that. How long do you think you would last there before making that phone call? And what do you think you'd be doing while you were there?
[13:19] SPEAKER_02: Oh dear. I am again back to that extrovert. I'm not sure I would last for a long. But I would give it a good 30 day try for sure.
[13:29] SPEAKER_02: I think I would be meditating. I would be doing yoga. I would probably be swimming. I love to swim in the ocean. And yeah, I would be reading. Probably just really. I have no problem being really lazy as well and chilling out.
[13:48] SPEAKER_02: So I think that would be pretty good for days. I'll take you up on that.
[13:53] SPEAKER_02: Is there anything you'd like to add before you leave us today, Shelley? No, thank you so much for sharing my story and for everybody who needs it.
[14:03] SPEAKER_00: Hey there. Thanks for taking the time today to listen to Calgary's podcast on Canada's podcast network. We hope you enjoyed the show today.
[14:12] SPEAKER_00: Make sure you sign up for our newsletters and write a review for us on iTunes and then connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn at Canada's podcast.
[14:24] SPEAKER_00: You can also check out what other entrepreneurs are doing across the country. See you next time.
