My first year at Longevity

Our team is always growing! This week our Longevity Exercise Physiology Drummoyne, Edgecliff, Marrickville, Castle Hill, Randwick, Pymble, Kingsgrove,Neutral Bay and Coburg teams asked Grace, Accredited Exercise Physiologist at Edgecliff, to give us some insights into her first year of Exercise Physiology work.

My first year at Longevity – Grace’s Experience

It’s hard to believe it’s already been 8 months since I joined the Longevity team. I graduated from university in August 2022 and started working as an Exercise Physiologist in a mobile role in October of that year. In this position I would complete primarily home visits to client’s houses. Without a team around me, I was feeling somewhat isolated and was growing concerned I wouldn’t be able to increase my clinical and communication skills when working on the road by myself.

I came across an add for Longevity on LinkedIn and reached out to an existing staff member to find out more about the role. I had never planned to move jobs so soon after finishing university, but after several phone calls with multiple members of the longevity team, I was  intrigued decided to sit or an interview. The interview itself was definitely challenging! I came away convinced I hadn’t gotten the job, so was over the moon when Jarrat called me the next day to offer me the position.

I started in full time in February, three weeks after the interview. I began my role shadowing Angela with the plan to take over her clients as she stepped into her new role as Operations Manager. This was quite a daunting task taking over long term clients from a senior EP and it took me a while to find my feet and to lose the self-doubt. Thankfully, this handover process wasn’t rushed and I was very well supported by Angela and the entire team at Edgecliff to assist me in building confidence and ensuring the handovers were as seamless as possible.

February through to May my client caseload was steadily building, allowing me time to complete other onboarding tasks and familiarise myself with the  systems and standards at Longevity. During this time my confidence in my clinical, communication and time management skills was improving. I was also learning to be more creative with my exercises to make the sessions more enjoyable for the clients. Come June and July, we had 2 EPs away for holidays and as a result my client caseload jumped massively, making me one very busy EP. I was also helping out in the Longevity marketing team so I was forced to manage my time as efficiently as possible. Balancing the demands of multiple clients pushed me to adapt and develop my problem solving skills. 

During this time there were some longer work days but it was all made so much easier by having such a great team around me, developing a strong sense of camaraderie.

Not only was the Edgecliff team fantastic at supporting each other through this busy period, but the wider Longevity team was very aware that we were in an extremely busy period and were helping wherever they could. This was incredibly refreshing coming from my previous role.

Upon reflection, this phase couldn’t have come at a better time in terms of my growth as an EP in both my clinical skills, but also my time management and communication skills with clients and my colleagues.

 At Longevity, we have unlimited access to experienced EPs and mentors. It’s clear our team leaders are dedicated to help the newer EPs grow and improve. 

Throughout my time at Longevity, I’ve learned that being an EP isn’t just about prescribing exercises but also about building relationships and instilling confidence. 

More recently, my caseload has stabilised as my team has returned from their leave and I feel more confident to head into another busy period. I am grateful for the fast pace at Longevity, the growth and positive change I have made since starting in February has given me a massive kick start to my career and witnessing the progress our clients make is so rewarding. It’s exciting to think about how many lives we can positively impact through exercise.

Written By Grace Ryan