Kyle Cicero: Co-owner, Ascension Physical Therapy – Helena Independent Record

Would you rather slave 9 to 5 or hustle 24/7?

For Kyle Cicero, co-owner of Ascension Physical Therapy, the answer is simple. He knows that true success in any area of life requires a dedicated amount of hustling. And that is exactly what he spends most of his days doing.

A single session of physical therapy following an injury in high school first sparked Ciceros interest in the field. He admitted being attracted to the more hands-on, patient friendly profession of physical therapy and decided to pursue that as a career.

A 2006 Carroll College graduate, Cicero is also proud to have been a member of two of their NAIA championship football teams. Cicero later attended Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences and graduated in 2011 with a doctorate of physical therapy. He has been practicing in the Helena area ever since.

After working for Heuiser Physical Therapy for a few years, Cicero made the bold decision in January 2016 to open his own practice, Ascension Physical Therapy, along with business partners Anna Larson and Jeff Shirley. At Ascension, Cicero specializes in low back pain and spine care, post-operative care, shoulder pain, knee pain, and any other physical therapy needs of his patients.

For Cicero, the greatest rewards from his physical therapy practice come from offering his patients a place to be comfortable during a stressful time and watching them walk through the door smiling and free of pain.

In addition to his physical therapy practice, Cicero also spends his days hustling with a new business venture in the CrossFit industry, which Cicero has been part of for several years. He was first introduced to CrossFit in 2010 while attending physical therapy school.

I instantly fell in love with it, said Cicero.

What stood out most to Cicero about CrossFit was the sense of community it creates. Unlike traditional gym settings where members pop in their headphones and tune out everyone else, CrossFit is a group effort each day. Cicero explained that members perform the same workout of the day with several other people right beside them who offer support and encouragement to one another. All of the workouts are also based on functional movements, which Cicero appreciates as a physical therapist.

Its more motivating and creates a better overall lifestyle, said Ciceroof CrossFit.

Ciceros passion for CrossFit compelled him to later acquire a CrossFit Level 1 (CF-L1) Trainer Certification in 2015 to coach others. His background in physical therapy makes Cicero very safety oriented when it comes to his coaching. Since he understands what the body can and cannot do, he trains his clients to properly perform dead lifts and other movements to prevent injury. Cicero explained that he is considered the CrossFit physical therapist in town, as hes worked with patients who have sustained injuries from CrossFit workouts.

Cicero was also instrumental in the founding of another CrossFit gym in Helena where he served as a coach for a period of time. But once again, Cicero eventually grew restless and decided to branch out. After partnering with friends, Alex Tubbs and Krista Boutilier, the trio began developing an idea for their own CrossFit gym. The new gym, which will be called Seven Devils CrossFit after the seven mountaindraws behind the Sleeping Giant landmark, is scheduled to open in early August.

Besides being able to run a gym productively, Cicero also envisions the newfacility bringingtogether all of the CrossFit communities in town. While he is still sorting through the logistics, he hopes to allow members from other CrossFit gyms in town to visit his gym, and vice versa.

The samecamaraderie that happens inside the gym needs to happen outside the gym as well, said Cicero.

Looking back on his entrepreneurial endeavors, Cicero admits that hes been very lucky having had only successful experiences thus far. He attributes a lot of his success to the positive business partnerships hes been able to form. He explained that qualities like enthusiasm, kindness, work ethic, attention to detail and willingness to compromise help create a strong team that Cicero can be confident about.

At the end of the day, Cicero relies on laughter to help get him through all of the challenges that come with running a business.

Laughter is the only way youll get through it all, he said. I wholeheartedly believe that.

In pondering Ciceros uncanny ability to juggle so many endeavors, his brother Kerry Cicero stated, We have heard of the phrase working nine to five but Kyle works five to ten, said Kerry. What I mean is he is up at five to go coach CrossFit, then goes to Ascension and later bounces back to CrossFit. Kyle is able to take these risks because he knows he can bet on himself and will succeed.

Just where exactly does Ciceros inner confidence stem from? Cicero chalks it up to the support of his family and friends and Kyrie Hoang, his girlfriend. He also explained that his dad, Noel Cicero, passed on a lot of helpful qualities to him.

I just have the tenacity, said Cicero smiling. Its a Cicero thing.

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Kyle Cicero: Co-owner, Ascension Physical Therapy - Helena Independent Record