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Dr. Ben Bagge, PT, DPT, CSCS, is CEO and Founder of Pro+Kinetix Physical Therapy & Performance, a cash-pay physical therapy practice with locations in San Diego, Oakland and Des Moines. Patients pay the clinic directly instead of billing insurance, and Pro+Kinetix works with active adults and athletes managing an injury while they keep training.
Ben is a non-clinical physical therapist, and he runs the business day to day rather than treating patients himself. His answers below get into what that looks like week to week.
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What is your full name, title, and company name for your current, primary role?
Dr. Ben Bagge, PT, DPT, CSCS — CEO/Founder of Pro+Kinetix Physical Therapy & Performance
Where are you located?
San Diego, CA.
Where did you go to PT school, and what year did you graduate?
Clarke University (Dubuque, IA) – 2018.
What did you do when you first finished school, and for how long?
Opened up my own cash pay physical therapy clinic.
In what setting(s) did you work, and what types of patients did you treat?
Ortho/Sports.
What did you enjoy about your early roles? What didn’t you enjoy?
The excitement of all the possibilities. The uncertainty of if those possibilities would ever come to life. They did, and I’m extremely grateful.
What else have you done since then, prior to your current role?
Scaled Pro+Kinetix to the largest cash pay physical therapy clinic in the U.S. and first 100% cash pay clinic named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in the U.S. Also mentor 100+ other cash pay clinic owners on how to scale their cash pay clinics to achieve time and financial freedom. Began investing profits from the clinic into real estate about four years ago and have reached a $10M real estate portfolio.
When and why did you decide to do something non-clinical?
Impact — to help more people achieve the same thing I have in my cash pay clinic.
What are you doing these days?
Continuing to grow Pro+Kinetix, helping clinic owners, and investing in real estate on the side.
Are you still treating patients, or are you solely non-clinical?
Solely non-clinical.
How long have you been in your current CEO role?
November 2017 (8 years).
What do you wish you would’ve known before going into this role?
How much personal growth someone has to go through to achieve success in business.
How did you find your job? Did you apply or find it through a connection?
Created it.
If you advanced through a company to get to where you are, what are some of the things you did to stand out, take initiative, and advance in your career?
Ability to learn effective motivational interviewing and sales skills.
If you’re a business owner, when did you start your business?
November 2018.
If you’re a business owner, where did you get the idea for your business?
Providing low-quality care in an insurance-based clinic wasn’t an option for me. Cash pay was the only way I could see myself staying in this profession and being fulfilled from it.
If you’re a business owner, what is your business, and what types of products or services do you offer?
Pro+Kinetix Physical Therapy & Performance – Performance-Based Physical Therapy.
How have people reacted to you leaving patient care?
Mixed. People who are growth-minded applaud it. People that are not, criticize it.
What’s a typical day or week in the life like for you?
Every day is different. Mix of whatever the business needs from me that day/season of business. Hiring, marketing, sales, leading the team, helping others level up in leadership, coaching effective communication, etc.
What are some of the rewards of your CEO role? What are the biggest challenges?
Seeing team members grow personally and professionally and be able to achieve their dream life. Filtering out low performers when hiring, and making sure we protect the culture we’ve built.
People are very good at masking during interviews, and it can be challenging to tease out.
How did your clinical background prepare you for this role? Which skills transferred?
Confidence, and the ability to realize clinical skills weren’t as important as professors and most PTs think. Ability to communicate and motivate will change patients’ lives more than any clinical skills. Can have the best clinical skills in the world, but if you can’t communicate that value, they won’t come back — and ultimately those skills don’t matter.
Roughly speaking, how are the hours and pay compared to patient care?
Grateful to have built a business that allows me to work as little as 10 hours a week.
I truly love what I do, and I do 60-80 hours per week.
What type of person do you think would do well in your CEO role?
Grit. Drive.
Do you work remotely or onsite?
Remotely.
Does your organization hire PT, OT, or SLP professionals into non-clinical roles?
Patient Intake Specialist (DPTs only).
Did you read any books, take any courses, or do anything special overall to get you where you are today?
The Magic of Thinking Big. 10x. Charisma Myth. Profit First.
What is a typical career path for someone in your CEO role?
I recommend starting a cash pay clinic as soon as possible. You don’t need clinical experience or business experience to do so. I certainly did not — I started right out of school, and it’s now the largest cash pay practice in the U.S.
What is next for you? What are your high-level career aspirations?
Continue to grow Pro+Kinetix and create more leadership positions for our current staff to ascend into. Help 1,000+ cash pay clinic owners start and scale their practices to seven figures.
What would you recommend to someone who is considering going into a role like yours? Do you have any special words of wisdom for the readers?
Find someone who’s done it and learn from them so you avoid all the mistakes they did and ultimately be able to do it faster.
What would you like to change most in your profession, and why? How would you propose doing so?
Become non-reliant on insurance.
What career advice would you give yourself that you wish you had during school?
You’re on the right track, and don’t let others discourage you.
What would you teach to today’s graduate students in your profession, if you had the opportunity?
The power of the cash pay model, and that there’s a better way.
Do you have any special advice for others who want to follow in your footsteps?
Find a mentor.
What to read next
- Aaron LeBauer’s spotlight on building a cash-based PT practice — another PT who went cash-pay from the start, and later built a coaching business around it.
- Jamey Schrier’s spotlight on Practice Freedom U — a PT-turned-business-coach helping other practice owners get their time back.
- The Non-Clinical Jobs Report, from Go Non-Clinical — administration, management and operations led all non-clinical postings in Q2 2026.
More resources for your non-clinical career
If you’re finding your own way through the non-clinical transition, we’ve created these FREE resources to help you get your bearings.
- Our weekly jobs newsletter: 100+ fresh non-clinical job postings every week, plus new spotlights, our latest articles, and hiring partners recruiting straight from our community.
- Four Secrets to Landing a Fulfilling Non-Clinical Healthcare Job: our free mini-course, delivered to your inbox.
- Our free career quiz: 15 questions, and you’ll come out with a much clearer picture of which non-clinical sectors suit you.
If you’d rather follow a step-by-step roadmap than piece this together on your own, that’s exactly why we made Non-Clinical 101. It’s our course & community teaching rehab pros how to make the switch in half the time with twice the confidence.
