Meet Katie Carbiener | Doctor of Physical Therapy and Run Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Katie Carbiener and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katie, what do you attribute your success to?
Passion is the most important factor behind my success. I get excited and feel invigorated as I educate my patients and athletes to help them achieve their full potential. This fire and excitement I feel is a reminder, this is what I was meant to do and the work is worthwhile. It is my passion that continues to motivate me. It makes me believe there has to be a way to make my passions my work, and for my work to be lucrative enough to support me.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a physical therapist who also has had several jobs in the running industry these jobs include race timing, working at a running shoe store, coordinating a race team, and coaching. I have made a great effort to always keep one job in the running industry in hopes of eventually finding a way to combine my love of helping people and running together. It was during COVID where I actually started exploring this idea further. My hours were cut in half at the clinic I was working at so I decided to start, “Carbs Running”. I took on private PT and coaching clients. When I went back to full time I continued to occasionally see private clients and find joy in treating them as I saw fit without any restriction.

The biggest thing I have given up has been time, money and security. With each job change I had to take a pay cut. Often times, I would have even paid to get out of the toxic work environments I was exposed to though. The management only saw dollar signs and numbers, The process to leave clinic settings like this has been uncomfortable. Each transition has started with me having to speak up for myself and my patients, demanding the opportunity to provide better care. This has been responded to with hostility and disrespect in many situations. Conflict is anything but comfortable for me. I went back to my thought process I have with my patients, I need to provide the tools for them, and then it is up to them to make the decision to follow-through. Some of my past management chose not to hear my feedback, so I knew I needed to leave.

Luckily there are “good” PT’s still out there wanting to find others craving to provide the care we all dream about as a PT student, true “patient-centered care”. This model of care is what I found at Sirona Physical Therapy. With this small practice, I was now responsible for my own marketing. With the support of my boss at Sirona, Audrey Waldron, I was able to join Leadership Golden which has been on my list of things I wanted to do for a while. I once had a patient who regularly talked to me about her involvement in Golden including Leadership Golden. I decided I wanted to join, but then this was put on hold due to COVID. In the summer of 2021, I was able to now follow-through on joining Leadership as I had promised my past patient. Little did I know, she has now since pasted. I do believe, God had a plan for me to meet her and for her to plant the seed of citizen-leadership in my brain to help lead me forward.

Learning to respect and understand my self worth was the next challenge. I now represented myself and had to sell myself. I had been put down my past management and had to regularly remind myself I am good at my job, and love my patients. This love for their well-being kept me moving forward.

Eventually Andrew with Peak Performance Running asked to take me to breakfast. He essentially said he has heard enough about me from athletes of his I have treated and even some of his coaches, and wanted to make the connection. He also asked me if I wanted a job. He noticed I was dabbling in many, many things and wanted to help me find a way to narrow down my focus and be happy. What a thought?! A boss who wants his employees to be happy and thinks I am worth while to have on his team.

These stories only barely touch on the recent process of me getting to where I am today, and it still is an evolving story. In the next few years, I am looking to find a way to create an environment where my coaching and PT can continue to evolve into one.

The last thing to share is another thing that sets me apart from other therapists and business professionals. During all of the aforementioned, I have continued to pursue my personal desire to be a competitive runner. I keep up with my training on top of 50+ hour work weeks. I have had to overcome past injuries and setbacks as well as recovered from a surgery at one point. I bring my personal experiences to my patients regularly. Being able to have empathy rooted from past personal experience has allowed me to connect with my patients on a whole other level.

Lessons learned from both my experiences in business as well as a PT are the following:
Listen first, people often tell you what they need.
Know you are as strong as you want to be, never let another person make you question your worth.
Be patient and open, opportunities regularly present themselves if you put yourself out there and share your testimony.

My “brand” is myself as a coach and physical therapist. My “brand”/business is all about being different than the status quo. I am in the business to help others achieve their dreams and to give them fire and motivation to pursue whatever they desire! I want to teach them the tools, not just use the tools in my treatment. I want my clients to be empowered and not dependent on my care. I want to share my passion for health and movement with anyone that wants it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take you to my lovely city of Golden!

We would have to hit the tourist favorites, a drive up Look-out mountain and a tour of Coors. Next is a walk along Clear Creek taking in the sights and sounds of nature, tubers and more! The walking would continue (as my favorite part of Golden is that it is walkable) to breweries. We would make our rounds to classics like the Mountain Toad, Golden City Brewing and Barrels and Bottles. If we make it late enough into the evening, some karaoke is necessary at the Ace High Tavern or sharing a pitcher of Coors Light at the Columbine listening to bluegrass.

Again, more walking is necessary to take in all that is Golden. I love walking through School of Mines Campus, seeing these young engineers heading to class working to survive the challenging curriculum.

An early morning run along the creek is needed as well. It is in the morning when the path can be empty, no screaming tourists and chaos. You can run free listening to the rushing water and the songs of the birds. Continuing down the new Peaks to Plains trail, you feel small as you get deeper in the canyon and feel the crisp breeze against your skin. You might catch a few climbers getting in some routes before the crowds ensue or fly fishermen snagging a trout as the sun starts to glisten on the flowing water of Clear Creek.

We’d make it home to then wash up and head to a local spot for breakfast. My favorite muffins are at Cafe 13. If you want a hearty breakfast for more adventures we would head to the Golden Diner and get a “Hey Dude” smothered in delicious green chili or fluffy pancakes at JC’s Diner.

I’d take my guest on a hike or climb or drive to continue to take in the mountain life. We’d grab some of the best sandwiches at D’Deli. It is always worth the wait in the long line! Dinner can be a toss up, but the priority is spending it with friends and running into familiar faces in the small town that Golden can be.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The list is long of those who have had an influence on me to get me to where I am. Some influences have been positive and negative.

I have had multiple amazing bosses that have set an example for both the standard of patient care as well as a standard of respect for me as an practitioner. Bernard Codevaux was an influence on my career for a very short time but made a BIG difference. He believed in my capabilities and provided just enough feedback to let me know that. He had faith in me and my skill set so much so to make space for me at his clinic. He left the practice I was at to pursue his dream of working with professional sports. His actions to do this ended up setting a little fire inside me. He made me believe that maybe one day too, I could do it all with my degree!

There are also bosses that have made me realize the challenging and dark side of healthcare and have pushed me away from those practices. This push is important to me because it has left me wanting to figure out how healthcare can be better and to find a way for it to be a career with an appropriate work-life balance. I am thankful for these negative experiences that left me desiring more for myself.

Most recently, my partnership with Peak Performance and Lifelong Endurance has opened my eyes to a better future The owners, Andrew and Katie, have been intuitive enough to pick up on that I needed to find direction to achieve my dream of a better therapy model, while also pursuing my love of running. I am thankful for them asking me the hard questions of what I want in life as well as offering a way to help me do that.

My peers in the Golden Young Professionals have been influential as well. This group is all about supporting one another as well as supporting the Golden community. From offering up connections, providing introductions and being friends, this group has made me believe that I can do more on my own as a professional than I ever thought possible.

Finally, my family and significant other have also stayed by my side as I decided to take risks, as well as provided a listening ear as I sort out my wild dreams of a future!

Website: https://www.lifelongendurance.com/katiecarbiener

Instagram: carbsinco

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiecarbiener/

Other: https://www.lifelongendurance.com/katiecarbiener http://www.waldronspt.com/sirona-physical-therapists https://peakperformrun.com/coaches/