The CEO Shift: What It Takes to Grow Beyond One Location

When Dr. Josh Funk opened his first PT clinic, his vision was clear: recreate the type of care he once experienced as a Division I athlete—fast-paced, collaborative, and relentlessly focused on results. But that idea stood in stark contrast to his experience as a PT patient. To put it simply, if he wanted to rethink the way physical therapy clinics could operate, Dr. Funk had his work cut out for him.

Over time, he made it work, building a well-oiled PT machine that brings in patients from all over. He anticipated the success, but what he didn’t anticipate was how much the success would test him, pushing him to grow into the role of CEO.

Today his clinic, Rehab to Perform (R2P), is a multi-location enterprise with 11 practices, more than 110 employees and nearly 175,000 projected patient visits this year. But the road to success wasn’t paved by clinical skill alone. It required resilience in the face of setbacks, a willingness to seek out education and a deliberate shift toward modern systems and strategy.

The Crucible of the Second Location

After proving the fast-paced model could work with his first clinic, Dr. Funk’s second location showed him what it truly takes to build for the long term.

“The second location was easily the worst,” said Funk.

In a single-location startup, subleasing space and sharing equipment worked well, and improvised processes seemed sufficient. But with a second location came higher costs, larger leases and new staff to support. Dr. Funk’s business reached the point where informal systems had to evolve.

But Dr. Funk decided he would do what it took to bring his second location up to the speed of his first.

“My stubbornness leads me to just continue to pick my feet up, as opposed to being married to methods or things that might not be working. I am more stubborn about the fact that I have to win. I have to find a way to win.”

The second site marked the turning point that reshaped his leadership. It forced him to evolve from a people-dependent business, where success hinged on individuals’ memory and heroic effort, to a process-dependent business capable of scaling across markets.

Education as a Growth Catalyst

Many founders rely solely on trial and error. Dr. Funk chose a different path. He invested heavily in his own education to shorten the learning curve and bring discipline to his growth.

Through SCORE, the Small Business Development Center, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses and the Birthing of Giants program, he absorbed frameworks for finance, leadership and strategic planning. Each program layered in a new lens: how to measure success, how to build teams, how to lead beyond the clinic floor.

That pursuit of validation also extended to the market. R2P has made the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies five years in a row.

These programs and benchmarks gave Dr. Funk something trial-and-error alone could not: the confidence and clarity to lead strategically rather than reactively.

Building a Model for Expansion

According to Dr. Funk, the best sign of leadership is not how many patients a provider sees, but how many leaders they create. Today, R2P’s expansion strategy reflects that belief.

Instead of treating clinicians as employees waiting for orders, Dr. Funk built an entrepreneurial incentive model. High-performing staff can open new locations, often in their own hometowns, with shared ownership. The model fuels growth and creates loyalty from clinicians who feel they’re building their future alongside the company.

This approach flips the traditional growth model on its head. Rather than centralizing power, it decentralizes opportunity. By investing in people, Dr. Funk expands the reach of his vision without stretching himself thin.

The CEO’s Job: Strategic Reinvention

Growth brings a new challenge: what got you here won’t get you there.

“When you get to about a hundred people, you have to kind of reinvent the company,” Dr. Funk reflects.

Hitting that milestone made it clear that old systems would no longer suffice. Payroll, communication, accountability and everything else needed new structures. And with technologies like AI and automation accelerating rapidly, idling wasn’t an option.

“We want to make it a second decade, so we’re asking ourselves: what does a company that makes it through the next 10 years look like?”

For Dr. Funk, this reinvention means spending less time in patient care and more time as a strategist anticipating trends, reallocating resources and ensuring the company can thrive without his direct involvement. It’s a mindset shift many clinicians struggle with: letting go of the exam room to embrace the boardroom.

People as the Core Metric

Despite the emphasis on systems and strategy, Dr. Funk insists that success isn’t measured by spreadsheets. It’s measured by people.

“I always think of my success as being directly tied to the success of the individuals in the organization.”

That philosophy drives decisions around compensation, work-life balance and professional development. Feedback loops give staff a voice in shaping the company. Investment in culture makes retention a strength rather than a weakness.

This approach, rooted in the principles of conscious capitalism, places team members at the center of the stakeholder ecosystem. In doing so, it creates a workplace where people don’t just show up for a paycheck, they show up to build something meaningful.

Lessons for Clinician-Founders

Dr. Funk’s path proves that sheer determination isn’t enough. Lasting growth comes from learning to evolve.

• Turn stubbornness into adaptability. Don’t cling to failing methods; stay committed to outcomes.
• Seek education and validation. Learn from mentors, programs, and market benchmarks.
• Design scalable models. Build processes and empower entrepreneurial leaders within your team.
• Reinvent regularly. Anticipate the next decade, not just the next quarter.

Every stage of growth demands something new from a leader. For Dr. Funk, the challenges of his second clinic were not a setback but a turning point. They forced him to stop thinking only as a provider and start acting as a CEO. His journey is proof that leadership is not about one clinic or one win. It’s about building a foundation that can expand, adapt, and endure.

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