We recently connected with Andrea Reed and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Andrea, thanks for joining us today. Have you ever experienced a times when your entire field felt like it was taking a U-Turn?
Most people have some kind of previous experience with physical therapy and oftentimes imagery of rows of treatment tables and physical therapists performing stretches come to mind. While the power of a thorough evaluation and interventions like manual therapy continue to be central tenants of quality practice, I along with the rest of my field are finally fully embracing the transformative effects of fitness development. That is why, at Onward Physical Therapy, you won’t find flimsy bands or 1lb dumbbells, but a full array of strength equipment from barbells and kettlebells to squat racks and pull-up bars. We are finally realizing that improving your fitness doesn’t just serve a role in injury prevention but also drastically moves the needle forward on total quality of life and longevity. For this reason, my understanding of what I’m able to do for a patient who really commits to the process has broadened from simply getting out of pain to truly changing their life. Not only has this change enabled me to have a greater impact on those I serve, it has also reignited my passion for my field as I see our mission as essential to our community members.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I have been an orthopedic physical therapist for about 10 years now, but my practice truly changed after finding functional fitness in my personal life. This unleashed a desire not only for myself to get more fit and strong, but to somehow marry this foundation with physical therapy. Shortly after, I became pregnant with my daughter and was trying to navigate the all too common struggle of staying physically active while undergoing a huge change in my body, both pregnant and postpartum. Cue the deep dive into pelvic health physical therapy, and I wanted nothing more than to help other women thrive during this crazy time in their lives, especially when there is so much misinformation about exercise and pregnancy! My practice now marries these two niches of orthopedics and women’s health and is based on a fitness forward approach in a performance-based model, completely one-on-one and 100% focused on my clients’ goals.
My physical therapy clinic, Onward Cincinnati, helps clients eliminate pain to maximize fitness. This could look like the weekend warrior that hurt his back playing with his kids but wants to get back to deadlifting in the gym, the mom who is recently postpartum and wants to rehab her core and pelvic floor to return to CrossFit, or the man or woman who recently retired and wants to get into better shape so that they can play with their grandkids on the floor comfortably. Whatever the goals, I want to find a way to help my clients succeed.
Above all else, I want people to know that “back to baseline” should not be the goal. We are going to go beyond getting you out of pain and get you fitter and stronger than before your injury in order to make you a more resilient and healthy human.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
I get 90% of my patient referrals from word of mouth. Above all else, we are in the business of humans and because of that, customer service is king. It doesn’t matter that I am in the medical field, I want every person who walks through my door to feel like they are being truly heard and cared for. When they feel that, they trust me to take care of them and help them with their pain. This is one of the reasons why people want to come back to physical therapy, and what makes them committed to putting in the work to achieve their goals. When people have a tremendous experience and have fun in physical therapy, they love to spread the word to friends and family.
Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?
I absolutely would go back and choose physical therapy all over again. While there are a lot of burnt out physical therapists out there (whole other discussion), I am extremely fortunate to have found a niche that I love and that brings me joy on a daily basis. The cool thing about physical therapy is that there are multiple specialties to go into depending on where your interests lie; women’s health, acute care, neuro, pediatrics etc. and it’s easy to jump from one to the other even mid-career. This means that you will never get bored and can always explore new challenges.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.onwardcincinnati.com
- Instagram: @onwardcinci
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100073290381436
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo_DsU8UbjM-05ahD0Q3vGA
Image Credits
Amy Smethurst, Space Cabin Studios