We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dr. Dawn Andalon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Dr. Dawn, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
As a physical therapist for the last 20 years, I have worked in many outpatient settings that don’t allow for the time and personalized care to get people long-term relief from spine, pelvic floor issues, and joint injuries, leaving them frustrated and ready to give up on the idea that there was a place that could be effective in solving their concerns.
Too many women aren’t even aware what pelvic therapy is and how it can serve to be a successful solution for incontinence, prolapse, painful intimacy, back pain, sciatica and more!
With my area of specialty in pelvic floor therapy and Pilates, I saw a gap in the market where women over 40 needed the care and support from experts in the field, but often didn’t know where to turn. I heard too many stories of women being dismissed from their health practitioner and were told too quickly they needed to take a medication, get a surgery, or they were given the answer it is because of “your age and that is what happens as you get older.” NO WAY!!
Also, being in the fitness industry even before I was a physical therapist, I had the passion to provide the “next level” of effective exercise for women by empowering them with education, hands-on care and custom programming with Pilates and weight training.
In the traditional medical system, women are often not given other resources that exist as a more natural approach. That’s where LEVEL4 PT & Pilates was born to help be the sanctuary to support and guide women toward an active, mobile, and stronger body as they age. We give women solutions for long-term relief from back pain, sciatica, and pelvic floor issues using effective methods of therapy and Pilates. For women who hear about the benefits from Pilates exercise, we also host semi-private and private sessions to give them in a personalized approach and tailor the programming to meet their goals in life. This is different from other fitness and Pilates studios in the area that have large classes and don’t have the medical knowledge to know what types of movements are best suited for injuries, pelvic floor conditions or joint issues.
Our method involves a screening and interview first to make sure they are a good fit as we don’t just take on every person that calls us. This sets us apart by working with the people we know are motivated and will be a good fit for our results-driven method. We are big on building a community of women who love the feeling of being stronger and healthier into their 50s, 60s and beyond and many of our clients have made life-long friendships at our wellness center!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I was a personal trainer and dancer prior to becoming a physical therapist. I had a passion already for the fitness and health industry, but wanted to provide more to the clients I saw in fitness. After getting my doctorate in physical therapy, I went back to my roots in dance to use Pilates-based exercise for my patients. Molding the two fields together, I saw first-hand this was the key method to keep people out of pain and solve long-term issues. Plus it made people feel and perform better with other activities they did in life.
After two pregnancies, I then realized all the body-related questions I had for my own postpartum recovery and other moms that I knew. So after the need to help myself and other women even more, I went on for more continuing education for pelvic floor therapy over 12 years ago to become an expert in this area of specialty. Women told me how much this type of therapy changed their life, tears were shed about how their intimate relationships were saved, and how empowered they felt in their body. It was pretty incredible to make this type of positive impact on women’s lives, even after they lost hope and thought nothing would help them get better. I had it in the back of my mind that more was needed to support women with this amazing approach of combining therapy and Pilates in an exclusive women’s wellness setting. That is where LEVEL4 PT & Pilates was born!
Our purpose is to help women heal their body and find lasting relief without medications or surgery… so they can live a more active, healthy, and happier life.
My husband, Oscar, who is also a very experienced physical therapist had a passion for business and has been a big part of our success. This business has evolved a lot over the last 7 years, but we now understand how my personal passion and our vision is truly possible to achieve if you just keep moving forward and evolve with an amazing service. We now have a fully operating Pilates studio with semi-private classes, private sessions, physical therapy pelvic floor and back pain programs that include Pilates-based approach, and therapeutic massage.
We are proud of the team we have built who stand behind our vision and mission, plus the amazing clients we serve. Many of the clients are still with us prior to the n2020 craziness and have stayed with us for our Pilates program. They have seen our business withstand some major hurdles, but also some major successes.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Like many business owners, not only was 2020 a year of pivoting and reinventing ourselves due to the pandemic; we went online and closed our doors for 4 months, but we came back stronger. 2020 was a time to learn more about ourselves and how we handle pressure. This was a time to show ourselves we can get through anything and we did.
But in the summer of 2022 after losing some staff (and bad hiring decisions) we decided a rebrand was needed if we wanted to stand out in the community and attract more female clients who were perfect for our method of healing. We also wanted to stand out as a brand to represent our purpose so we could attract more qualified candidates for our team. We re-invented our business to create what it is now, a boutique women’s wellness practice. We took what was working really well in the years prior and amplified it to the next level with a deeper focus on our Pilates program, our offerings, and recruiting and training our team to back up our mission and core values. Ultimately, we want our brand to exist as the BEST for women’s health and wellness services in North County San Diego, if not the world, growing more online options as well.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
We say an educated client is our best client so empowering women through helpful information is what has helped grow our community of long-term clients.
We use a variety of digital marketing strategies for getting our educational material out to the local community through Google, Social Media, and a podcast called the “Women’s Health Happy Hour.” I also have a successful YouTube channel with lots of free information. We find networking with other like-minded health professionals and businesses has been a great way to get our name and our message out to the local community. I have published three books, 2 being exclusively for women, with stories and information that helps guide women toward understanding their body and give helpful tips to solve back pain, sciatica, and pelvic floor conditions.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://level4pt.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/level4pt/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/level4PT/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/level4pt/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa99k19-6mKmkq_TYeF9L2A
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/level4-pt-and-pilates-encinitas
- Other: Women’s Health Happy Hour Podcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/womens-health-happy-hour/id1536539983 Spotify Podcasts: https://open.spotify.com/show/2oKaOpPaeZHqfobk6DTVBQ?si=797a9487b7504c46
Image Credits
Image credits to Patty Brutlag: @petulapeaphotography and www.petulapea.com