3 Unexpected Ways Athletic Training Taught Me About Running a Business

Before I became a fractional COO helping business owners scale their operations, I spent thirteen years in healthcare as a certified athletic trainer. And honestly? Those years on the sidelines taught me as much about running a business as they did about athlete care.

When people hear about my background in sports medicine, they usually assume it's completely unrelated to what I do now. But the truth is, the skills I developed treating injured athletes and managing sports programs are exactly what make me effective at diagnosing operational problems and keeping businesses healthy.

This is the first post in a series where I'm pulling back the curtain on my professional journey—sharing how my unconventional path led me to become the fractional COO I am today. Over the next few weeks, I'll be diving deeper into the lessons, pivots, and "aha moments" that shaped my approach to business operations.

Here are three unexpected ways my athletic training background shaped how I approach business operations—and why it matters for your growing company.

1. Knowing What to Refer Out (And What to Keep In-House)

In athletic training, one of the most critical skills you develop is knowing when you can handle an injury yourself and when you need to send someone to a specialist. A grade 1 ankle sprain? I've got you covered with some tape, ice, and a solid rehab plan. But a compound fracture? That athlete is getting loaded into an ambulance, stat.

This same principle applies to everything in business operations.

As a fractional COO, I constantly help business owners figure out what they should handle internally versus when they need to bring in outside expertise. Just like I wouldn't try to perform surgery on a torn ACL, you shouldn't try to build a custom CRM when a simple solution already exists.

I see too many business owners burning time and energy trying to DIY everything—from graphic design to legal contracts to complex software integrations. Meanwhile, their actual zone of genius (the thing that makes them money) sits on the back burner.

The key is developing what I call "scope awareness." Can your internal team realistically handle this project with the skills and bandwidth they have? Or are you trying to treat a broken leg with a Band-Aid?

Similarly, maybe you’re an expert at making heel and lace pads, but you have 20 years of experience and five students. Spending an hour restocking your taping station is literally a TERRIBLE use of your time. As a business owner, sure, you’re perfectly capable of keeping your books… but how long would it take you? How long would it take a bookkeeper or virtual assistant? Time is money - maybe it’s time to farm out your bookkeeping and focus on the thing in your business nobody can do but you. 

When I work with clients, we audit their current projects and identify what should stay in-house versus what needs to be referred out to specialists. This isn't about admitting weakness—it's about strategic resource allocation. Your energy and your team's time are finite resources. Spend them where they'll have the biggest impact.

2. Developing a Triage Mentality

Picture this: It's the fourth quarter of a championship game, and suddenly I've got three injured players—one with a potential concussion, one with a twisted knee, and one with a cut that's bleeding all over his jersey. Everything feels urgent, but I can't be in three places at once.

This is where triage becomes your superpower.

In emergency situations, athletic trainers are taught to assess quickly and prioritize based on severity and urgency. What needs immediate attention? What can wait five minutes? What looks dramatic but isn't actually serious?

Running a growing business feels exactly like this most days.

Your email is exploding with "urgent" requests. Your team needs decisions on twelve different projects. A client is having a meltdown about a delivery delay. Your website is acting weird. And somehow, your bookkeeper needs those receipts from three months ago right now.

The business owners who thrive are the ones who can step back and ask: What actually needs my attention first? What's a real emergency versus what just feels urgent because someone used red exclamation points in their email?

When I'm working with clients, we establish clear triage protocols for their operations. We identify what constitutes a true emergency (revenue-threatening issues, team safety concerns, legal deadlines) versus what's just noise. This prevents the constant state of reactivity that burns out so many entrepreneurs.

Most "urgent" business problems aren't actually urgent—they just haven't been properly categorized and assigned priority levels.

3. The Power of Meticulous Documentation

If there's one thing athletic trainers are obsessive about, it's documentation. Every injury, every treatment, every conversation with a coach—it all gets recorded with timestamps, specific details, and follow-up notes.

Why? Because when you're dealing with someone's health and safety, "I think I remember what happened" isn't good enough. You need facts, timelines, and clear records that can stand up in court if necessary.

The same principle applies to your business operations, even if the stakes feel less dramatic.

I can't tell you how many times I've walked into a business where critical information only exists in someone's head. The onboarding process is "whatever Dianne usually does." The client management system is "we just figure it out as we go." The financial procedures are "check with Jack, he handles all that stuff."

This works fine when Dianne and Jack are around and everything is running smoothly. But what happens when Dianne gets sick, Jack goes on vacation, or you need to scale beyond what two people can remember?

Proper documentation isn't about creating bureaucracy—it's about creating predictable, scalable systems that don't depend on institutional memory.

In my work as a fractional COO, one of the first things I do is audit what processes actually exist in writing versus what lives in people's heads. We document the workflows that are working, identify the gaps where things are getting dropped, and create systems that can survive team changes and growth spurts.

Good documentation protects your business the same way good medical records protect athletes—it ensures continuity of care no matter who's in charge.

Why This Matters for Your Business

The skills that make someone effective in sports medicine—diagnostic thinking, priority management, and systematic documentation—are exactly the skills that create operational excellence in business.

If you're a business owner who feels like you're constantly putting out fires instead of focusing on growth, these three principles can transform how you approach your operations:

• Develop scope awareness about what you should handle internally versus refer out

• Create triage systems that help you focus on what actually matters

• Document your processes so your business isn't dependent on anyone's memory

Your business deserves the same level of systematic care that I used to provide athletes. The question is: are you ready to stop treating symptoms and start building operations that actually support your long-term success?

This is just the beginning of my story—there are so many more lessons and pivots that led me from the world of sports medicine to helping business owners scale their operations. Follow me on Instagram and LinkedIn to catch the rest of this series and get an inside look at my unconventional journey to becoming a fractional COO.

Ready to apply these principles to your business operations? Let's talk about how fractional COO support can help you build systems that scale. Book a discovery call to get started.