By Julekha Dash
“If I can help a person get better and relieve their pain, that’s my goal. If I can help someone achieve even a little bit of range of motion in the shoulder – so they can take that glass out of the cupboard – that’s an achievement.” Renuka Jain
When Renuka Jain opened Ellicott City’s Revive Physical Therapy two years ago, she was the sole employee, 
seeing one patient per week while answering the phones and handling administration.
“I was the front desk. I was the physical therapy aide,” says Jain, who also lives in Ellicott City. “I was doing it on a cash basis.”
To make matters more complicated, Jain became pregnant with her son Aagam just as she was launching her business. “I had nine months to get my act together,” she laughs.
The practice grew by word of mouth and physician referrals. Today, Jain has five employees, including two other physical therapists, two aides and a receptionist. All are women. Jain’s husband, Akhil, a software engineer, handles the billing. She credits him with supporting her dream of starting her own practice. “I don’t think I would have been able to go forward without him. Akhil was 100 percent behind me.”
Before opening Revive, Jain managed a physical therapy practice in Columbia. She grew up in Chicago and New Jersey and received her doctorate in physical therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She moved to Maryland seven years ago when her husband took a job as a government contractor.
Jain says she enjoys the work-life balance that comes from being your own boss — and living five minutes from your office. “I wanted to do something on my own terms,” she says.
