In Focus | Rob Ewanuk of New Leaf Physiotherapy

In Focus is our gift to the community. A way for us to help show our recognition for the people, businesses and organizations that help make our city great. The team at KelownaNow.com is passionate about this community and the people that make it amazing. We want to show our friends, neighbours, family and colleagues that we notice them and the fabulous things that they do.

What is your name?
Rob Ewanuk

What do you always find yourself saying?
I find myself always asking the question, why? It does not seem to matter if I am renovating part of my house or working with a client. It is a reoccurring theme in my life, wanting to learn.

If you could spend one whole day with anyone in the world who is currently alive, who would you select and why?
Robert Kiyosaki, he is the author of the book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I have read a few of his books. I am currently reading his newest book, Second Chance. His lessons on financial education are great and every time I hear them, I try to apply them in my life. I think it would be great to get some one-on-one coaching and simply have a good ol’ conversation about life in general.

If you were to receive any existing public award, what award would you like to win?
The Golden Hands Award, see below.

If you could spend a day with any historical figure, who would you choose and why?
David Lamb. David is a historical figure in the world of physiotherapy. He was a world class physiotherapist whose clinical reasoning and manual therapy (using your hands to work on the client) have been classified as legendary. In fact, the Canadian Physiotherapy Association, Orthopaedic Division created an award in his honour. It is the Golden Hands Award. The Golden Hands Award is given to a physiotherapist that “exemplifies the commitment to our profession in manual therapy, education, mentorship, and research”.

Having a day with David Lamb, I would learn so much about technique and the thought process/clinical reasoning that made him a pillar of the world physiotherapy stage.

Who inspires you?
My mom who passed away last year from cancer. From the start, the doctors said it was going to be a losing battle. After a year or so, of fighting an aggressively spreading cancer, she said that was enough. No more chemotherapy or radiation. She did not quit, she taught me that sometimes you simply have to say “I have had enough” and move on.

What are three things on your bucket list?
1. Run some more marathons in some big cities, i.e. Boston, London, Chicago.
2. Travel to Australia and South America to see those continents. So much to see in each one, I would have to do some major research before.
3. I would really like to own a Bed and Breakfast out of my house. Getting to meet people from many parts of the world that come to Kelowna to vacation. I just know it would be fun!

If you had an enormous yacht, what would you name it?
Should have bought a bicycle.

What are you passionate about?
People that know me know that I am passionate about physical fitness. I really enjoy running and cycling. I have run numerous half marathons and seven marathons, including 2014 New York City marathon. That was a pretty cool experience. Little known fact about myself, I ran two full marathons before I entered a half marathon or 10 k run.

I started cycling seriously back when I was 15. My dad went halfer’s with me buying my first real mountain bike, BRC Gonzo. It was hot pink! Some friends, who were much older than I, took me to Banff for a week of solid riding. The next year, we spent a week in Banff riding and a week in Whistler.

What has been your favourite day of your life, up to this point?
I am not sure that I have a favourite day of my life. I have had some many amazing days in my life it is difficult to pick just one. My first thought in my head most mornings before I get out of bed is “what am I going to learn today”? That spurs me out of bed and onto my day to see what I might learn at work, from a book, a friend…When I learn/understand something that I did not know previously that is relevant to myself, my business, or my clients, that is a pretty great day!

What has been your proudest accomplishment?
Deciding to make the move from Halifax to Kelowna.

Where is your favourite place to dine in Kelowna? What do you like about it?
My girlfriend, Carolyn, took me out to Raudz for my birthday. That was pretty spectacular! The food and the company were incredible that night.

What is your favourite activity or event in Kelowna? Why?
Doing just about anything physical! I sometimes get up at 6:00am and run with friends’ downtown or I will head to the lake and paddleboard for an hour.

What is the name of your business/organization?
New Leaf Physiotherapy

What does your business/organization do?
New Leaf Physiotherapy is a mobile physiotherapy service. I travel to my client’s home, work, or sporting events and assess and treat them. After working in private practice for eight years, then with the military for two years and at Kelowna General Hospital, KGH, for a year. I perceived a gap in the system. I noticed that some people were having difficulty getting around, especially after surgery. This was apparent to me, right after I started working at KGH. A friend and I were talking about this gap in the system and I said that I wanted to help eliminate one barrier so more people could attend physiotherapy, to help them recover faster and improve their quality of life. I thought it would be great to ‘turn over a new leaf’ and start my own business. My friend suggested the name New Leaf Physiotherapy and within a few weeks New Leaf Physiotherapy was a reality.

My schedule works around my client’s schedule. I have even done a couple of house calls at 11:00 pm because that is when it worked best for my client.

In addition, New Leaf Physiotherapy does bill Pacific Blue Cross benefits directly. Right from my client’s living room!

Finally, New Leaf Physiotherapy is experimenting with PAYD. It is a cool, mobile device that allows for mobile debit transactions from basically anywhere I can get mobile service.

Where can people find you or your business online?
www.newleafphysio.ca

Where can people find your business on Facebook?
New Leaf Physio

What is your Twitter account?
@NewLeafPhysio

What is your mission?
To work with our clients through their injury and towards optimal health. All in the comfort of their home.

If you could achieve one thing within your field, what would it be?
It would be to create/develop a test to determine a client’s weakest link. Once you know what the problem is or could be, then you could use exercise to strengthen/stretch the weak links before they get injured. That would be amazing. It would be so revolutionary because so much of medicine today is not preventative, it is reactive.

Where do you want your business/organization to be in five years?
I would like to try and partner with one or two (or a few local) businesses in town. For example, a yoga studio, Pilates studio, or a local gym. New Leaf Physiotherapy could come to those businesses assess/treat their client that is injured and work with the client’s yoga/Pilates/personal trainer directly to help them recover fully.

Additionally, it would be great to bring one or two physiotherapists onto the New Leaf Physiotherapy team. With someone else on your team, you can have someone to discuss the client’s in which you are having trouble with and get someone else’s opinion on.

Who do you consider to be a forerunner within your field?
Greg Redman is pretty awesome!

What three qualities do you feel that your business/organization exemplifies?
1. Trust – I am entering my client’s house. There has to be a mutual trust and respect between client and physiotherapist.
2. Convenient – Traveling to a client’s house is what my business is all about. It is very important to me to be punctual and explain what is going to happen during my visits.
3. Knowledgeable – My client’s like to know that I am keeping up with current research in physiotherapy. In addition, being selected as a sponsored physiotherapist for the 2015 Canada Winter Games or seeing me give a talk to a running clinic, lets people know that I am knowledgeable and passionate about physiotherapy and helping people.

What would you like to say to your employees/volunteers?
I do not currently have any employees; New Leaf Physiotherapy is a one-man show at the present time. However, I would like to thank everybody that has helped me to grow. To my clients, thank you for working with me as we have worked through a few unique injuries.

How does your business/organization impact the community?
It helps to eliminate one more barrier for people to make it to physiotherapy. Most people think that this is only seniors but in my experience, it is not. It is anybody with more than one child that would have to pack everybody up to go to physiotherapy. Young moms/dads can now access physiotherapy at home if they injure themselves without having to bring tow or three children to physiotherapy. Those parents really value my service, especially when I bill Pacific Blue Cross directly.

If you were trapped in an elevator with several wealthy investors from any field, which field would you want them to be experts in? What would say to them/talk about?
This is one tough question! My immediate thoughts go to physiotherapists, some of the greatest/most influential in the world. But then my mind turns to investors to build wealth. Not the kind of wealth in the stock market but passive income wealth. How they did it and how they would do it now with the new government restrictions on HELOC’s and other borrowing options. I would ask them how to purchase a second house and go on and upwards from there...How to develop land into a strip mall or apartments. It would be a great conversation and wonderful financial education on how money works in real life.

If I could change one thing about Kelowna, it would be:
Better traffic control. I use Springfield Road a lot and I find that if I hit one red light, I hit them all. I find the same with the green lights as well. However, it sure feels like I hit many more red lights than green lights.

What do you think makes Kelowna great?
The weather and the people I have met. I really enjoy my work colleagues as well as my friends that I am lucky enough to run with.

My choice for the Kelowna In Focus spotlight is:
Clayton Kessler, claytonkessler.com. He does SEO – search engine optimization.

Some general comments I would like to share are:
I would like to say thank you to Leanne Doering, Leanne Doering Professional Wellness Coaching for nominating me to be InFocus with KelownaNow. It was great that she thought of me.

We encourage you to leave your comments and words of support below, and submit your own nomination by clicking HERE. You are also welcome to submit a form of your own by clicking HERE. Thank you, Kelowna!