Provider Spotlight – Kinetic Worx
Walk into Kinetic Worx, in Turlock, CA on any given day and you enter a hive of activity. Technicians buzzing from client to client – administering pre-hire screening for a steady stream of job applicants. Prospective employees eager to enter the workforce for major employers such as Foster Farms, Hilmar Cheese, and E & J Gallo Winery, pending the results of their pre-hire screens. Today, Kinetic Worx offers the full gamut, from drug screening to Post Offer Employment Testing, often testing up to ten hours a day, six days a week. And they don’t offer just any pre-hire physical testing – they are a certified BTE Provider, executing the most accurate, legally defensible pre-hire physical tests available. In fact, a majority of their recurring business volume comes directly from BTE referrals. By all metrics, Kinetic Worx is a very successful, growing operation, providing critical pre-hire testing, improving health and safety for employers in the Turlock, CA area.
But there’s so much more to Kinetic Worx than constant testing output and growing revenue. Behind Kinetic Worx is an incredible personal story that begs to be told. This business is a testament to the courage and tenacity of a brave, ambitious, woman who pursued her dreams and aspirations. A natural competitor who wouldn’t take no for an answer, and risked it all to capitalize on a unique opportunity. Building a business through sheer, unrelenting grit, to meet her personal goals as an individual, and to take control of her family’s financial future with her own hands. Meet Susy Gutierrez.
Early on in her higher education at Cal State Fullerton, Susy, the youngest of six siblings and a North California native, developed a passion for observing human movement. After studying athletic training, biomechanics, and clinical exercise, she began her career working at a Physical Therapy clinic. When her mother fell ill with breast cancer, Susy moved back north to be closer to her family. There, she was introduced to BTE Post Offer Employment Testing. She became an expert at it, managing testing in a PT clinic for five years. Then, came a life-changing opportunity. Due to restructuring their system of clinics, Susy’s employer would no longer be able to continue performing BTE POETs.
As a highly driven professional, Susy recognized the opportunity to go into business for herself, building it on BTE POET testing volume. Her employer encouraged her to do it, and BTE assured her it would be a great fit. But, Susy recalls, “It was a little scary… I’m a single Mom of three.” So Susy turned to the people closest to her, who knew her best, and asked “what should I do?” She continues, “My sisters said ‘You’ve gotta jump on this; you can do it!’ They had a lot of confidence in me, and I always credit my older sisters for pushing me. They always believe I can do anything. So I did. I got a small loan, found a small office, and started Kinetic Worx, doing BTE testing.”
Susy recalls the difficulty of the first days and months. “The scariest part is going from an employee to a business owner. There’s no one manual to tell you how to do it. You just learn all these things along the way.” As always, Susy’s tightly knit family was there to help. “We were busy doing Foster Farms testing for BTE. I was working 10 hours a day – me and my niece. She scheduled and answered phones.” Then tragedy struck. Susy’s father passed away from a sudden stroke. It was a heavy blow. But through it all, Susy and her family pulled together and persevered. Her nieces Aymee and Neomie have been integral to Kinetic Worx’s success. And the love and support from a special someone has helped keep Susy going, overcoming day to day challenges. Helping Susy meet her goal of building her new business with BTE POET testing.
Since Kinetic Worx’s humble beginnings, Susy has more than doubled her office size, bringing in additional BTE equipment to handle the rising volume of testing. She has also expanded Kinetic Worx to include pre-employment hair follicle drug testing. And she’s branched out into performing postural analysis services to the local community – something she truly loves doing. “I’ve come a long way in two years. Now I have three employees helping manage our testing volume. And I credit my great staff for all their hard work and commitment. Their contributions are crucial to our growth in daily operations.”
Navigating the obstacles of starting a new business, Susy attributes a lot of her success to working with BTE. “I feel like I’m partnered with a great company.” And Susy believes the uniqueness of the BTE POET has a lot to do with her success and continuing BTE referrals. “Unlike all the other testing methods I’ve seen and used in the past, BTE’s objective technology delivers consistent, accurate results. Eliminating subjectivity and human error to prevent injuries down the line. No other pre-employment testing can offer that. Today’s companies need that, and they are willing to pay for it.”
Susy is pushing Kinetic Worx forward, growing revenue year over year. All because she took the risk to establish her own venture, and put in the long hours, hard work, and unwavering commitment to professionalism to ensure success. Regarding making that pivotal decision to go out on her own, Susy shares, “BTE is the reason I was able to start my own business. I am really thankful to Darlene Walker, Director of Client Services, for having the confidence in me that I could do it. And Kassie McClintock, Director of Provider POET QA, too. Knowing that my work and my work ethic were recognized by them, together with the support from my family, gave me the confidence to go ahead and do it. I’m a natural competitor, and I really wanted to see if I could do it!”
Looking ahead, Susy would like to open additional offices, continuing Kinetic Worx’s growth. She recommends anyone considering starting their own pre-hire testing business to explore partnering with BTE. “I have had nothing but great experiences with BTE. From Tobi in Customer Service to Darlene in Operations, they always approach me like I’m the only customer they’re thinking about at that time. Even though I know they have a big network and plenty of people to help.”
And Susy sees employer demand for BTE testing continuing to grow, driving more referrals. “In today’s market, with injury and claims costs being what they are, I don’t know why any company would not do BTE POET testing.” To Susy, it all just makes sense. “As a driven small business owner with aspirations for continuing growth, the fact that I believe in what I am doing as a BTE provider is huge. It makes all the hard work worthwhile, both for me and for my family.”