EPISODE 074 | The Identity Shift That Comes After the Leap

There's an identity shift that happens in OT entrepreneurship that doesn't get named enough. The clinician-to-entrepreneur transition gets a lot of airtime. The shift from entrepreneur to founder, from operator to leader, from the person who built the thing to the person who has to learn how to lead it, gets far less.

In this episode, Melissa gets into what that shift actually looks like in practice. It's not linear and it's not a clean progression. Some days you're the practitioner, some days you're back in startup mode, and some days you're dancing with something bigger and it feels exciting and slightly terrifying at the same time.

She also names a pattern she sees consistently in OT entrepreneurs who are already in it: the quiet cost of outsourcing yourself to other people's programs and priorities while trying to build your own thing in the margins of your time and energy.

Topics covered in this episode:

• The identity shift that follows the clinician-to-entrepreneur transition, and why it rarely gets named
• What the entrepreneur-to-founder shift actually looks like in practice, and why it's a mosaic, not a ladder
• The outsourcing pattern that keeps OT entrepreneurs working hard while still not building the thing they came here to build
• The kayak-to-bigger-vessel metaphor and what it means to lead something that has real weight behind it
• What opens up when the shift starts to take hold
• Where Rogue Scholars sits on this journey, and who it's designed for

To explore our current programs and ways to work together, go to: https://www.otsgonerogue.com/workwithus

If this episode landed for you, share it with an OT entrepreneur who's in the middle of their own version of this shift. You can also find us on Instagram at @otsgonerogue.

Transcript

Melissa LaPointe [00:00:03 - 00:00:50]

Welcome to the OTs Gone Rogue podcast. I'm your host, Melissa Lapointe. Over the years, I've worked closely with thought leaders, changemakers, and OTs who are ready for something more. And now I'm inviting you behind the curtain where you'll hear stories about overcoming adversity, challenging the status quo, and finding the courage to do things differently. Let's dive in. Hey everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the OTs Gone Rogue podcast. Today's episode is for a specific person. So, I have a specific listener in mind as I'm recording this content, not someone who's just starting to contemplate entrepreneurship.

Melissa LaPointe [00:00:51 - 00:01:54]

Not someone who's still deciding, is this path for me or not? So the person that I'm carrying as I'm recording this is the person who's already in it. So they're building something. They know something is shifting beneath them. It's someone who's actively trying to figure out what this shift means and what comes next. So if that's you, or if you're curious, this may be you or even someone you're close with, stay with me. So I'm going to talk about something that doesn't get named enough in the OT entrepreneurship space. So it's something I've been really leaning into through my master's in adult education, and that's the professional identity shift. So in this case, in this instance, Yes, there's the clinician to entrepreneur, and I think as a collective, we're starting to talk more about that, but I'm also talking about what happens after that.

Melissa LaPointe [00:01:55 - 00:02:54]

So it's not just clinician to entrepreneur, or maybe clinician to program designer to entrepreneur. There's also that shift from entrepreneur to founder, from entrepreneur to team lead. So from the person who built the thing to the person who has to learn how to lead it. So that shift into CEO, into visionary. And here's what I want you to know, that this shift, it's something that's happening whether you're aware of it or not. So the question is, do you have the language for it? And do you have the right support around you while it's happening? Here's what this looks like from where I sit. So watching the people I work with or coaching the people, consulting, advising, mentoring. So there are people all around me navigating this identity shift.

Melissa LaPointe [00:02:55 - 00:03:42]

And what I can tell you is it is not linear. And I want to acknowledge that I also speak from experience. Like, this identity shift is something that has been part of my journey for the last Oh gosh, 13 years now. It's not a clean progression where you wake up one day and, yes, my business has reached this milestone. I can call myself a CEO, or I have survived the first 12 months in business, so I can call myself an entrepreneur. It's not a straight line. It's not, you know, I'm going to add this title to the end of my name and call it a day. There are days where you are fully in your OT hat, the clinician, the practitioner, the one with the expertise.

Melissa LaPointe [00:03:44 - 00:04:28]

Some days, even with an established business, you may feel like you're back in startup mode. You may feel like you're a newbie. You've taken on a new software, you've done a pivot, you're trying to reach a new audience, you're creating something new, and all of a sudden, all your expertise, it feels like it goes out the door. And you are starting from scratch and you feel like you know nothing. There are some days where you're figuring it out. There are some days where you are in a groove and you are identifying fully as an entrepreneur. And then there are those days that you're dancing with something bigger, where you are leading a team. You do acknowledge that you are a founder building a legacy.

Melissa LaPointe [00:04:29 - 00:05:07]

That you are a leader. You are a visionary, a changemaker. And this can feel exciting and slightly terrifying at the same time. Now, that's not being confused, and that's not you being behind. This is what this transition actually looks like. It's messy. And the more aware you become of it, the more you start to see your own patterns. So you start to recognize where you get stuck, where those limiting beliefs are showing up, what it is that you need, when to push and when maybe to pull back.

Melissa LaPointe [00:05:08 - 00:05:59]

You get better at self-coaching. You start surrounding yourself with the right people, the right conversations, and the right questions. The shift starts to have momentum. Starts to have more direction. This is actually what all of our programming within OTs Gone Rogue is built around, meeting you where you are in that identity shift, whether you recognize it or not. We're there to help you recognize where you are and giving you the right support, not just for that specific stage. But helping you to navigate through that stage into the next one. So let me paint a picture and see if this sounds familiar.

Melissa LaPointe [00:06:00 - 00:06:31]

So you're set up as a business. You have a business bank account, you have a business name. It's exciting. And when you take a step back, you have multiple revenue streams coming in. Sometimes it's to your business. So maybe you have an online course, maybe you have an online membership. You're also contracting out 2 days a week at another clinic. And maybe this isn't under your business name.

Melissa LaPointe [00:06:31 - 00:06:57]

Maybe this is just you as a professional. So you have revenue coming in through your business, and then you have revenue coming in to you, your, your name, because you've contracted yourself out. Mm-hmm. Maybe you're doing some adjunct teaching. Maybe you're a peds therapist. You're still going into the schools, but only on a part-time basis at this point. And on paper, it looks like you're doing your own thing. You are your own entity.

Melissa LaPointe [00:06:57 - 00:07:45]

You are out on your own. You're building something. But here's what's actually happening. You're outsourcing yourself to other people's businesses and organizations. You're adding to their programming, their legacy, their programs. And somewhere on the side, in the margins of your time and your energy, you're trying to build your own thing. Except there's never enough time because you are pulled in every direction except the one that truly lights you up. The irony is that you left, or maybe you are thinking about leaving, you haven't actually left.

Melissa LaPointe [00:07:45 - 00:09:01]

So the traditional employment model, you left because you wanted freedom, you wanted that autonomy, you wanted to build something that was yours. And instead, in some way, you've created a version of work that is actually costing you more hours, more energy, and And more of yourself than any salaried position ever did, except now it's without the benefits, often without the sick days and without the vacation time. And I think the worst part with this, because I've been there, like I'm speaking from experience, the worst part, it's not the hours, it's the feeling. It's this quiet sense that, gosh, you are working incredibly hard. And somehow you're still not building the thing you actually came here to build. So there's that spark, that spark that, like, you've experienced it before. So it shows up, you know, at a networking event or in a conversation with another OT entrepreneur, that spark where it lights you up. You start talking about that vision, that idea, and everything feels possible again.

Melissa LaPointe [00:09:02 - 00:09:44]

And then you go back to your week and it's like you don't know how to get out of your own way. You don't know how, like there's this glass ceiling over you. You seem to hit the same revenue cap and you're not sure how to get out of this circle. That's not failure. That's a pattern. It's actually a super common pattern. Again, I've been in it and I've supported a lot of OTs through it. And honestly, it makes complete sense given how we were trained to be excellent practitioners, to deliver the service, to be the one in the room doing the work.

Melissa LaPointe [00:09:46 - 00:10:52]

And specifically, nobody trained us to build an online program as a service-based entrepreneur. The clinical expertise is there. The program design instincts for most OTs are genuinely there. What's missing is the business infrastructure around it, the marketing system, the delivery system, the sales system, the operations, the pieces that make an online program sustainable and scalable, the pieces that you want to get in place so that you're not required to personally hold everything together All the time. Because when that infrastructure isn't there, the pattern continues. You have to keep outsourcing yourself to everyone else's priorities. You keep building, but you're building in the margins. You don't have time, you don't have structure to actually focus on what matters to you.

Melissa LaPointe [00:10:52 - 00:11:39]

And the cost of that isn't just professional, it's personal. Yeah. In time, in freedom, in the work that actually lights you up. That's exactly the gap that Rogue Scholars was built around. So this is a mentorship container that I have been building. It has been evolving for 10 years now. We've had a few different names. We've had a number of iterations, and It's a mentorship container for OTs who are ready to build a sustainable online program and the business infrastructure around it, the systems, the operations, the marketing, and delivery, so it runs without the founder being the bottleneck.

Melissa LaPointe [00:11:40 - 00:12:55]

So when you are going on vacation, when you are taking a step back, when perhaps your attention has to go elsewhere, it doesn't mean that the program has to stop. That the marketing has to stop. So how it can run, how we can get these systems in place to build a sustainable, consistent revenue where you, the founder, are not the bottleneck. So this program, this mentorship container, it also works really well for those who already have a program, but they're still the ones holding it all together themselves. You'll hear more about this program before this episode is done. But before we get there, let's talk about what's actually happening beneath all this, because this identity shift, this professional identity shift from entrepreneur to founder to leader to CEO, it's not something that happens to you all at once. It's something you move through, and the way you move through it matters enormously. What I witness working with the people in our programs is that awareness in— as awareness increases, everything changes.

Melissa LaPointe [00:12:56 - 00:13:38]

They start to see their own blind spots. They start to anticipate where they're going to get stuck before they get there. They get better at asking for the right kind of support. They stop white-knuckling it alone, and they start building the conditions around them. That enable them to grow. And that identity shift itself, it looks more like a mosaic, not a ladder, definitely not a straight line. You're pulling from your OT identity, you're pulling from your clinical expertise, your practitioner roots. You're pulling from your entrepreneurial experience, the scrappiness, the figuring it out.

Melissa LaPointe [00:13:40 - 00:14:22]

But you're also starting to pull from something newer, the program designer, the thought leader, the founder who is building something with longevity, something that doesn't collapse when you step away from it. Here's a distinction that I want you to sit with. In the early stages of building a business, you are more like a kayak. You can pivot fast. You can change direction on a dime. You are nimble and responsive. And at that stage of business, that is a strength. But at some point, if you're building something real, you become a bigger vessel.

Melissa LaPointe [00:14:23 - 00:14:49]

You have momentum. You have a small team. You have members, clients, community. And pivots at that stage, they're not a 180 anymore. They take longer. They require everyone on board. They need to be cohesive and considered and communicated clearly. That's not a limitation.

Melissa LaPointe [00:14:49 - 00:15:49]

That's what it means to be leading something that actually has some weight behind it. And this is what I think Or this is what rather I find really beautiful about this stage. The decisions you make start to carry further. So the way you show up, it ripples outward in ways you can't always see in real time because you're not just building a business anymore. You're building a company culture, a methodology, a body of work that outlasts any single program. Or any single cohort. That's the founder identity, and it requires a completely different relationship with yourself, with your time, with your decisions, and with the people around you. So what does it look like on the other side? Now, I want to be careful here because I'm not describing a destination.

Melissa LaPointe [00:15:49 - 00:16:28]

This isn't about arriving somewhere. It's about what opens up when the shift starts to take hold. When you stop fighting it and start building it. What I'm seeing in the people that I work with who are living this, in the people in my network, there's a different energy. There's a different quality of presence. It's hard to put into words exactly, but you know it when you're in a room with someone who is genuinely building something that is theirs, when they are working towards their legacy. There is a clarity there, a sense of pride. They are grounded.

Melissa LaPointe [00:16:29 - 00:16:58]

They're not performing entrepreneurship. They're not wearing this label. They're not feeling a little bit of imposter syndrome. They are in it. They are living it. They're building their own frameworks, their own intellectual property. Their own financial freedom, not borrowed from someone else's business model. It's not contingent on a contract renewing.

Melissa LaPointe [00:16:59 - 00:17:39]

It's theirs. And here's the part that moves me the most. The people that I work with who reach this stage, it is so cool to see how they give back, not because they have to, but because they want to. They're giving to charities. They're investing in their communities. They're building company cultures that people actually want to be part of. They're looking after their teams in ways that reflect their values, not just their budget. There is something genuinely powerful about women who are generating wealth, who are leading with integrity.

Melissa LaPointe [00:17:41 - 00:18:13]

It doesn't stay with them. It moves. It is this energy that ripples. It ripples into their families, their communities, their professions. The people they serve go on to build things of their own. That ripple effect that we're seeing, it's not always really loud or visible, but it's real and it's deep. And the work stops feeling like work. Not because it gets easier, but because it's aligned.

Melissa LaPointe [00:18:14 - 00:19:11]

Because they wake up, and what they're doing with their day reflects who they actually are and what they truly believe matters. That's what's on the other side of this identity shift. It's not perfection. It's not this specific destination or this arrival. It's alignment and the freedom that comes with living in alignment with your values. Now, you've already heard me mention Rogue Scholars, so I referenced it a little bit earlier in this episode. Now I want to tell you where it actually sits on this journey that we've been talking about, this journey of identity shift, because that context matters. Rogue Scholars is for the OT entrepreneur who is ready to build a sustainable online program and do it right, with the systems and infrastructure in place.

Melissa LaPointe [00:19:12 - 00:20:23]

This might be someone in the early stages of program development who's past the business basics and wants to build it properly from the ground up. Or it might be someone who already has a program and they've run through a few cohorts, But when they're honest with themselves, they know it only moves when they do. When they take a vacation, the marketing stops. When their attention goes elsewhere, revenue slows. When they step back or they're distracted, something breaks. What we do in Rogue Scholars is help you build, or sometimes rebuild, the program itself and the infrastructure around it: the curriculum, The delivery, the learning experience, and the systems, the operations, the marketing and sales that make it a sustainable business so that the program generates consistent revenue and your team can help carry it even when you're not the one with your foot on the gas. You've moved past the business basics. You're not quite at the founder CEO stage yet.

Melissa LaPointe [00:20:23 - 00:21:29]

You're in that generative, messy middle, and that phase deserves a a real container with real support. Not a course you consume alone, not a one-off workshop, a place where you build the thing with people around you who are building too. And if Rogue Scholars isn't quite where you are right now, whether you're still building your foundation or you're further along and ready for something more advanced, I want you to check out our Work With Us page. We have programs designed for every stage of this identity shift, and there's a right fit for you wherever you are on this journey. Go on over to the website, www.otsgonerogue.com/workwithus, or the link is in the show notes. Okay, that is it for today. And I'll talk to you soon. As always, thanks for listening to the OTs Gone Rogue podcast.

Melissa LaPointe [00:21:29 - 00:21:53]
 
If today's episode resonated with you, the best thing you can do is share it with another OT who needs to hear it. And if you haven't left a review yet, I would genuinely love one. It takes 2 minutes and it means more than you know in terms of supporting this podcast. Links for everything we mentioned today or in the show notes. Take care of yourself, and I'll see you in the next episode.