“I could’ve written this article a decade ago and it still would have been relevant today. That in itself is a problem. We’ve known about the issue of healthcare burnout and allied health burnout for a long time, and yet little has changed. 

Thirty years ago when I started my career as an occupational therapist, I was excited to work. But ten years into my career, I was exhausted and burnt out, just like everyone else around me. I was struggling to spend quality time with my family and friends and no matter how many extra hours I put in, I could only do so much within the system. Paperwork over patient outcomes, cost-cutting over care, the writing was on the wall and I didn’t like what it said. “

Read the full article, authored by ActivOT Founder, Helen Whait, on AHP Workforce.

“Women want genuine, guilt-free flexibility and we want it now. If that sounds like a rally cry, it’s because it is.

Every day I speak with women who are sick of the token gestures of ‘flexibility’ that come with unspoken expectations of constant availability and extra hours. We want workplaces that truly support our need for balance, without guilt or compromise.

This is more than just a desire for adjusted hours or remote work options. It’s about creating an environment where success is measured by outcomes, not hours spent at work, and where taking time for family or personal health is seen as a fundamental right, not a weakness.”

Hear from ActivOT Founder Helen Whait about how she shattered workplace norms to create a truly flexible workplace in this article, originally published by Women’s Agenda.

As a woman and a mother, I understand the challenges that come with juggling family, career and everyday life. What I also know to be true, is that it is possible to “have it all”, with the right support. Throughout my journey to achieve professional freedom and satisfaction, I have consistently seen the benefits of providing women with the tools and autonomy to thrive, in all aspects of their lives.

“Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen” – Brene Brown

In 2002, pregnant with my first child, I needed a change. I constantly felt that bureaucracy and red tape were getting in the way of providing my clients with the best outcomes. I realised I needed to be the change I wanted to see in the #alliedhealth system and took the courageous step to begin my own occupational therapy private practice.

The path wasn’t always smooth, but I was convinced I could be doing more. I wanted to provide other therapists with the same freedom and satisfaction I had found for myself. While franchising in allied health was – and still is – practically unheard of, I did just that. In 2012 I founded Australia’s first and only occupational therapy franchise business, ActivOT, which now has over 50 franchisees and is continuously growing throughout Australia.

“Amazing things happen when women help other women” – Kasia Gospos

In my previous workplaces, prior to starting ActivOT, I often felt like the “boys club” was a huge roadblock and that despite the fact that occupational therapy is a largely female-dominated industry, I was constantly fighting against preconceived biases based on my gender. I have proven to myself that I am a strong and innovative trailblazer in my field, and I see it as my responsibility to empower my franchisees and my support staff to back themselves, by providing them with the tools to do so.

I firmly believe that women shouldn’t be labelled based on outdated mindsets. Our time is less valued than men’s, and women-dominated industries often earn less. In an industry where a level of care is involved, our behaviour is unfairly scrutinised that isn’t placed on our male counterparts. Some women also face wild inequity when it comes to domestic responsibilities too. It’s a minefield, but I’ve seen the benefits of cultivating an environment where women are supported – and encouraged-  to “have it all”.

Over the last ten years since founding ActivOT, I have witnessed how flexibility within a traditionally bureaucratic system has helped my franchisees, many of them also mothers, thrive both professionally and personally and become successful business owners. More than that, I have been able to provide them with a community that is supportive, where resources – and values – are shared. As a result, we have #occupationaltherapists who are advocates for their community, along with the capabilities to provide their clients with the best possible care.

“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails” – Dolly Parton

We’ve seen so much change to the way people work, particularly over the past few years, with flexibility becoming more and more important, particularly to women in the workforce. Mothers returning to work face many struggles, feeling pressured to return to the workforce before they are ready and the cost and availability of childcare at war with one another. An inflexible workplace, only adds to the burden many women carry of the #mentalload of daily admin, schedules and housework.

As a woman and a mother, I have personally faced these challenges and have experienced the burnout that comes from (unsuccessfully) trying to juggle everything. I have also experienced the difference that flexibility makes from my time in #privatepractice, and have wholeheartedly grasped the opportunity to provide real work/life balance to my franchisees and support staff. It is so rewarding to be able to see women pursuing their passions outside of their professional life, to enable mothers to spend more time with their children and foster a culture of support within the ActivOT team.

“Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher” – Oprah Winfrey

Having a strong set of values that guide me is the key to the success and sustainability of ActivOT as a business. I want ActivOT to be the best provider of #occupationaltherapy services in Australia and to do that we need to bring like-minded therapists onto the team. Therapists who put the client at the centre of everything they do and who are passionate about helping people.

Each of my franchisees has their own business, works their own hours and follows their areas of passion within occupational therapy. I see ActivOT less as a franchise and more as a pooling of resources, allowing the OTs to lean into each other’s strengths and providing them with the opportunity to broaden their knowledge. Any business growth is a happy by-product.

How does your workplace support both your personal and professional goals? How can this support be improved? What does flexibility mean for you? You can comment on the original article on LinkedIn.

Helen Whait, ActivOT founder and franchisor, is a dedicated mother of three boys. She wrote this article about how ActivOT has transformed her work-life balance: 

2022 marks fifteen years since I started ActivOT and ten years since I launched the business as a franchise. Back in 2007, with the birth of my third son, I knew I needed to redesign my work life so that I could be the kind of mother I’d always wanted to be.

They say that women are expected to parent like we don’t have a career, and to have careers like we don’t have children. Women know how impossible it is to do this without a support network – and even with an army of helpers we can become overwhelmed and burnt out.

We shouldn’t have to choose between career and family, but as OTs we’re too often expected to compromise one, or the other, or both – putting aside our own needs for the sake of family and clients or employers. We are professionals that care for others, but often we compromise on self-care.

Having worked in traditional OT roles previously, as well as having had experience with employing OTs as a private practitioner, I’m all-too-well-familiar the practical challenges that both employees and private practitioners face – as well as the opportunities for empowerment and a satisfying, balanced life.

With the ActivOT franchise, I set out to create a community of like-minded practitioners that would support each other in their journeys as therapists, parents and people. Support and resources – professional and personal – can be the biggest barriers to long term success for OTs in private practice. The ActivOT business model is designed so that each private practitioner has all of the practical things they need to thrive and succeed – proven business systems – as well as support in the form of coaching and mentoring.

The goal I always kept top of mind has been for ActivOT practitioners to be able to practice their core values alongside the freedom to be there for those crucial times in their families’ lives. Those magical, important moments in their children’s days – for the after school ‘download’, sports, music performances and graduations.

ActivOT practitioners are strongly encouraged to prioritise self-care – not just the kind of ‘time out’ activities like pampering days, but meaningful, satisfying ‘getting needs met’ kind of self-care that truly ‘fills the cup’. That in itself – discovering what self-care means to us – can be a body of work – but an important one!

My sons are almost fully grown now, and I couldn’t be happier that I made the decision to be present for them. There are also more than 40 ActivOT franchises in South Australia and South East Queensland – most of these are owned and operated by women with families. The community that we’ve built supports each other to make balance between work life and family life easier.

Getting here hasn’t been a straight line. There have been major bumps in the road for me personally, including a life-threatening illness that reinforced my need for rest and recovery. The biggest lesson has been to surround myself with the right network of people – professionally and personally – and to ask for help when faced with new challenges. Together, we’re stronger.

I’d love to hear from OT mums about how they’ve found a balance between career and motherhood. What are some of the day to day challenges you face and how do you manage these?