We had the good fortune of connecting with Laura Kummerle and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Laura, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
My goal in my business, Paradigm of Perfection, LLC is to help people learn more about their bodies so they can move better and live the life they want to without being limited by their body. Working with patients in the clinic as a physical therapist, I see what happens when people don’t prioritize their bodies. They’re limited in hobbies, family activities, and it can really impact quality of life. Our medical system in the US tends to wait until injuries are more extreme or have already happened vs. educating people on how to prevent injuries or reduce the risk of injuries in the first place. Additionally, by waiting until after an injury has occurred or gotten worse, the cost to the individual and the overall healthcare costs are significantly higher than what they could have been. With prehab programs, individualized programs, and more, we can improve people’s quality of life, keep them active for longer, and reduce healthcare costs.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I grew up doing gymnastics, and that’s when I fell in love with learning how the body moved and the capacity that the human body has for movement. I ended up competing in college and going on to grad school to get my Doctor of Physical Therapy.
After retiring from gymnastics in 2015, I felt like something was missing. That was until I stumbled across calisthenics on Instagram. I started including more body weight/gymnastics style training into my lifts and ended up adding hand balancing and ninja warrior training into the mix. Without the community I found online, I would have still felt lost and too embarrassed to include the type of training I enjoyed while at the gym.
Through training, I started to learn who I was again after losing my identity when I retired from gymnastics. This was when/why I decided to create my Instagram page back in 2017. I thought if I was able to impact one person’s life the way I was impacted by seeing the community online, it was worth it!
I decided to name the page @paradigmofperfection because I initially wanted it to be anonymous in case people I knew found it. I was a recovering perfectionist and wanted a daily reminder for myself to change my own paradigm of what the definition of perfection is and to remind myself that no one is perfect and that in itself, is perfect.
Fast forward to 2020, people started asking me for training advice online, and that was when my training services were born. I now have programs you can purchase to help you learn more about your body, be able to continue to do the things that you want to do or learn specific skills. These programs include general training programs, skill-focused programs (like pull-ups, muscle-ups, and handstands), or prehab/injury prevention programs. I also do individualized workout programs online for people who want more feedback or an individualized approach.
Since physical therapy school, I have also been treating patients in the clinic, completed a post-doctoral orthopedic residency program, and received my Orthopedic Clinical Specialist certification, in addition to completing many other continuing education courses to further my education.
My goal with Paradigm of Perfection, LLC is to educate people on their own bodies to allow them to continue to do what they love safely, for as long as possible, to allow them to live the life they want.
As in life, the road is never smooth! I have been fairly lucky so far in my struggles and they have been more related to balancing in clinic work and assisting patients with my own business as it has grown. The work-life balance has been the most challenging as I have had to spend early mornings, work lunches, and weekends working on my business and helping clients. I’m still working on that part as well, as we’re all a work in progress!
Additionally, with a business that started on social media, I’ve had to deal with the nature of the platform including inappropriate comments, people commenting on my body, people stealing content I’ve worked hard to create, etc.
Because I am a physical therapist by trade, I perform online training services with a unique perspective. With my education in physical therapy and background in gymnastics, I can take a unique approach with different populations that may find it challenging for someone to understand the demands of their sport. I work with anyone and everyone from the high-level athlete to those wanting to get back after an injury or an average person wanting to learn a split or handstand or just have a well-balanced training program. Due to my unique perspective and understanding of bodyweight sports, I have worked with many circus artists, rock climbers, martial artists, swimmers/divers and other bodyweight athletes.
I specialize in taking a balanced approach to training including mobility, strengthening, and specific skill work while optimizing how the body moves to reduce injury risk and continue to progress my clients toward their goals while educating them in the process. I am able to bridge the gap between skilled physical therapy that you may get in the clinic and actually getting back to sport/training.
It truly makes my day when I receive messages saying by including some of my mobility work, they were able to recover faster from a marathon or by doing one of my programs, they’re no longer having back or shoulder pain. I love hearing the feedback on how my programs, or even the extensive free content I have online, has made a difference in someone’s daily life!
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
To be honest, I try to avoid going into the city due to the craziness. I’m more of a cook at home kind of person and don’t eat out much. If I were going to go into the city, Piedmont Park and Stone Mountain are classic places to hang out – I’m all about being outside
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I couldn’t do this without my family’s support. My husband, parents, siblings, and friends couldn’t have been more supportive along the way in growing my business.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I couldn’t do this without my family’s support. My husband, parents, siblings, and friends couldn’t have been more supportive along the way in growing my business.
Website: https://paradigmofperfection.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paradigmofperfection/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paradigmofperfection
Youtube: youtube.com/paradigmofperfection
Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@paradigmofperfection