Let’s talk about real growth. Not the fake internet guru kind. I’m talking about going from a struggling $500,000 practice to a thriving $4.2 million powerhouse with happy patients, profitable margins, and a team that actually loves showing up.
That’s what Jody Layne did.
And on this episode of the Garlic Marketing Show, she breaks it down step by step.
Jody’s not your typical practice manager. Before stepping into the healthcare space, she ran marketing campaigns for political figures and big agencies. But it wasn’t until she started helping a hormone therapy clinic that everything clicked.
Why?
Because hormones are a real problem. And when you’ve got a solution that actually works, the marketing gets a whole lot easier. But that’s not what made the difference.
It was how she built the business.
But before we proceed, don’t forget that this episode is brought to you by videocasestory.com. Click here if you need help collecting, crafting, and delivering customer stories.
The Bold Dinner That Changed Everything
Jody didn’t plan on running a clinic. She was doing marketing for the doctor who owned it, and loved the impact the practice was making, especially after seeing firsthand how it changed her husband’s life.
Then came the steak dinner.
One bold move (and maybe three glasses of wine) later, she told the doctor to hire her. Not as a marketer, but as the one to build the whole business.
And that’s exactly what she did.
The First Move: Treat It Like Retail
One of the smartest things Jody did was drop the “doctor’s office” mentality. She treated the clinic like a retail business, because it was.
This was a cash-pay practice. No insurance billing. No fluff.
That meant she had to focus on:
- Pricing and positioning
- Culture and experience
- Real marketing and lead tracking
It started with a business plan, not a 2000-page MBA thesis, but something actionable, based on the EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System). Vision. Values. Goals. Metrics.
And most importantly: a plan to make real money and deliver great care.
Why Most Practices Fail at Growth
Jody sees it all the time. Healthcare providers throw money at marketing without knowing where they’re going.
Her response? “How much money do you want to make?”
If you don’t know that, how can you possibly set a marketing budget?
They used hard numbers to reverse-engineer growth: service category revenue goals → number of patients → number of leads → marketing actions.
Simple, powerful, scalable.
But most practices also forget something critical: projecting expenses.
She built a detailed overhead worksheet with every cost a clinic could encounter. That stopped underpricing dead in its tracks and protected the business as it grew.
The Mistake That Cost Them Big
Even with all that success, Jody admitted to one painful misstep: expanding into aesthetics.
It seemed like a natural fit. Hormones… aesthetics… why not?
But it distracted the team, broke their culture, and forced processes they weren’t built for.
Lesson learned: don’t expand without treating new services like entirely new businesses, with their own goals, team, and marketing.
Introducing the POWER Framework
Jody took everything she learned and turned it into a framework any clinic can use:
P – Positioning
O – Operations
W – Workforce
E – Experience
R – Revenue
Most providers want to jump straight to marketing to the “R.” But if you don’t have the first four dialed in, all the leads in the world won’t help.
One Final Piece of Advice for Healthcare Providers
If you take nothing else from this episode, hear this: Educate your patients.
They’re scared. They’re unsure. They’ve heard myths about hormone therapy from friends or outdated studies.
Your job is to create content that teaches, not just about symptoms, but about what long-term wellness really means.
Because the goal isn’t just getting more patients. It’s getting the right ones and keeping them for life.
Watch the full episode now, and make sure to leave any questions or comments you have about the episode.