We were lucky to catch up with Katie & Abby Lakoff & Conrady recently and have shared our conversation below.
Katie & Abby, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.
Our practice model was born out of both personal and clinical experience. We have both felt and seen the gap in healthcare coverage for pregnant and postpartum women so when the opportunity to be a part of the providers trying to fill that gap we took it! When we first opened it felt like there was one form after another that we didn’t know we needed, but when you’re passionate about what you’re doing it all becomes worth it. Our goal is to provide the care that we want to receive, and we believe that is how all healthcare practices should be run.
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.
While we love working in an amazing clinic, we know that it can be difficult to get out of the house when you’re knee deep in the third trimester or with a newborn so we decided to take one barrier out of the equation by providing in home pelvic health physical therapy visits. We both have orthopedic certifications as well which allow us to treat the whole body and person to maximize healing in this ever-changing time for a woman’s body. We believe that our unique dynamic as best friends, moms, and specialists allows us to create a warm, friendly atmosphere during treatment sessions no matter which one of us is your physical therapist!
How’d you meet your business partner?
I (Katie) met Abby fresh out of Physical Therapy school at my first job. She had already been working a year and she was instructed to talk to me on the phone and tell me all about what it was like working for this company. I knew I liked her right away. About 6 months later we ended up working at the same clinic, and mostly because she vouched for me that I would be a good co-worker to our boss. She’s been stuck with me since. When I moved jobs, she came too a few months later. When she moved neighborhoods, my family and I moved to that neighborhood too. We started a Covid-boredom-fueled podcast that we never released. Then we had this crazy idea to start our own practice, and thankfully that is something we did follow through on.
If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?
I (Katie) wanted to be a physical therapist since I was in the 6th grade. I had strained a muscle, and my physical therapist was pretty and nice and she said she didn’t have to do a lot of math in her job. So that’s when I decided it was the job for me. About 6 months in to my first job at a general orthopedic clinic I found myself disappointed that my career was not nearly as exciting as I had dreamed it would be. But then, I went to my first pelvic health course in Atlanta, and on my first break I called my mom crying because I had found my “passion.” At first I felt relieved – I didn’t have to work for the next 40 years in a career I didn’t like, but then I was just excited. I love what I do. I think I was made to do what I do. I’m so thankful I get to do it.
I (Abby) wrote a paper in 8th grade about becoming a PT when I grew up and it was always in the back of my mind from that point on. In high school when I did some job shadowing, I saw how physical therapists get to be a part of people’s day to day recovery and a really key part of helping people meet their goals after injury or life changing illnesses. That is when I decided to go to PT school. I liked working as an orthopedic PT, but after having my first baby I really realized the importance of pelvic floor PT. Katie had just attended her first course and helped talk me through some of my own issues. When she changed jobs, our clinic needed a new pelvic floor PT and I quickly asked if they would send me to the courses. I fell in love with pelvic floor PT the first day and haven’t looked back. Working with women and helping them with issues they didn’t think they could fix is my favorite thing.
Contact Info:
- Website: nashvillepelvicpt.com
- Instagram: @nashvillepelvicpt