Get ready for an energizing episode of The FOX Five. We sit down with FOX Rehabilitation’s Anthony Lombardo, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS, USAW, USA-PL, TSAC-F, Pn. 1, as he shares his FOX Five: The Five Perks of Working with FOX. From flexible scheduling that fits your lifestyle to building meaningful relationships, Anthony breaks down why FOX is more than just a workplace; it’s a community. Discover how independence, patient impact, and career growth make FOX a truly unique practice. Plus, hear Anthony’s personal insights and a few fun surprises along the way. If you’ve ever wondered what makes FOX special, this episode is your inside look!

Jim: Welcome to The FOX Five, the show that explores FOX Rehabilitation through an original list created by a FOX colleague. That FOX colleague today is FOX Rehabilitation force of nature physical therapist, Anthony Lombardo.

Anthony: Hey guys, what's going on?

Jim: How you doing?

Anthony: Doing very well, Jim. I had a great time on the first podcast. I'm looking to spread some more knowledge to the people out there watching and listening.

Jim: Yeah, you did so well on the podcast. I said, “Anthony, you have to join me on The FOX Five,” and here you are.

Anthony: I appreciate that. I don't know who said that, but I appreciate that compliment. Thank you so much.

Jim: So, Anthony, what is your FOX Five today?

Anthony: My FOX Five today is the Five Perks of Working with FOX.

Jim: All right. There are many, and you are going to break them down. So, let's get into it. What is Number One on your list?

Anthony: Number One on my list is going to be a nice classic for all home care. It’s having a good, flexible scheduling with FOX.

Jim: Yes, that's important to a lot of people that I speak with on The FOX Five. You make your own schedule with FOX, so you can frontload your week or you can backload your week. If you have to go to a doctor's appointment or a dance recital, you can schedule around that. And if you have an MMA fight, you could schedule around that, too.

Anthony: If I have some MMA practice on a Tuesday at 10 o’ clock, I'm probably going to have to schedule around that for 11 o'clock. Yes, sir. That is correct.

Jim: Anthony, what is Number Two on your FOX Five?

Anthony: Number Two is having meaningful relationships with my colleagues. Even though I'm in home care, you still have very good relationships with the staff and your colleagues.

Jim: Yes, and they're easy to reach out to. We have a thing called the Clinical Community. If you have any type of clinical question, you ask it to the field, and you'll usually get a quick answer. We have occasional happy hours. We had a FOXapalooza last year where our colleagues’ bands played for everyone. That's where I met you. I may have met you prior to that, but I saw you at FOXapalooza.

Anthony: Yes, we did. We broke some bread over there at FOXapalooza. And if there's something that I think a lot of people might think about home care is that they don't have a lot of camaraderie with staff. That's actually not true. If you're at a good practice like FOX, like you said, you have the Clinical Community page where if I have any niche questions of a unicorn that I just can't figure out, I can reach out to thousands of great colleagues. We have great socialization with each other, and it's been a blessing to be a part of this secondary family with FOX.

Jim: Anthony, that brings us to Number Three on your FOX Five.

Anthony: Number Three on my FOX Five would be home care independence. And what I mean by that really is the world is your oyster with home care. You can schedule as many patients as you want, and I love that about doing home care with FOX.

Jim: Yeah, you have options.

Anthony: You know, I personally love to frontend my Mondays. I like to do a nice long Monday and slowly trickle down the week. you can really create any type of work life balance that you want to with FOX. That's a really big blessing for me to have that ability to do that as well as with the patients. Sometimes patients want to have it frontloaded during the week and you can easily accommodate that. I love to be able to accommodate both myself and my clientele for the best between for each other.

Jim: Yeah, and not that every clinician would want to do so, but you could also work weekends, you could work holidays. It's totally up to you.

Anthony: Exactly. Correct.

Jim: All right, that brings us to Number Four on your FOX Five.

Anthony: Number Four is something I love about home care—you actually see the impact that you're making with the clientele as well as your growth in the practice. That's one of the biggest things that I love about working with FOX.

Jim: It's not a one-off. You get to see a patient throughout their entire journey.

Anthony: Exactly. which is so rewarding at the end of the journey because you can say we were here and now we're here. There's something that I always wanted to do with clients and maybe one day they'll allow me to do it. I always wanted to take a photo of them the first day I ever met them and then the last day, because I see the impact but sometimes it's hard for them to see that impact. Personally, to see that visualization of them getting better with stairs, transfers, walking, or something as simple as just getting out of bed and going to see their grandkids, is a beautiful thing to visually see rather than just seeing it on paper. Yeah.

Jim: Now Anthony [you can take before and after pictures], we have our Success Story series. You are able to document that, you just have to get your patients signed consent.

Anthony: I'll talk to them and see what we can do.

Jim: We would love to see a Success Story from you! Yeah.

Anthony: Oh, thank you. You know what? Maybe I'll get some MMA fighters in there. I'll call Mr. Johnson, see if he can throw a punch in there for me.

Jim: And that brings us to Number Five on your FOX Five.

Anthony: Number Five, and I think this is another thing that people don't think too much into, is the growth that you have in home care. You really can be anything you want to be, especially with FOX. I've been a staff physical therapist to now going into our senior living community. I also do some socialization and organize some parties with my region in Long Island.

The growth is just an absolute beautiful thing with FOX, and not only that, no one leaves you hanging. They walk with you on the way up and they guide you. FOX doesn’t throw you in the water. We all go in the water together. It's a beautiful thing to be a part of that.

Jim: So, they have you organizing parties?

Anthony: They have me organizing parties. So, you know, be on the lookout for that, Jim. You're going to get a VIP invite.

Jim: Invite me! And they couldn't have picked a better person to organize and throw a party than you.

Anthony: Thank you, man. I appreciate that. You know, if there's one thing I've learned about being on a team is treat everyone like family, which is absolutely a beautiful thing. I don't want to say work hard, party hard, but work hard and enjoy each other's company at a nice social event. That's just the icing on the cake to have a great team effect.

Jim: No, as our founder, Dr. Tim FOX says, “Bring the circus!”

Anthony: Yes, there you go. Perfect idea. Yeah, I love that. Bring the circus.

Jim: Anthony, thank you for the time. You'll have to come back to The FOX Five, and I have a feeling you just might.

Anthony: Thank you, Jim. It’s always a blessing to be a part of this. I enjoy breaking bread and talking shop with you, and it'll be an absolute honor and a privilege to be back for another one of these. Thank you very much for having me!