We recently connected with Krystal Tyree and have shared our conversation below.

Krystal, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you get your first job in the field that you practice in today?

My first job was a graduate assistantship. I had just finished up my undergraduate degree, and I was getting ready to move down south to Texas from Kansas. A former classmate and now good friend got me the job if I am being honest. He had graduated a year early and was student coaching and teaching at the time. He informed me that they were looking for a graduate assistant athletic trainer. I had no luck landing any of the other positions I had applied for, so I said, “why not.” Texas was honestly not on my radar. I knew I wanted to get my master’s degree but for some reason, I did not want to move to Texas. However, I believe it was one of the best decisions I made. I was a graduate assistant athletic trainer at Texas A&M University – Commerce. I primarily worked in girls’ soccer and men’s and women’s cross country and track while also working on my master’s degree in Health, Kinesiology & Sports Studies. I ended up finishing my master’s degree a semester early in the fall and moved to Dallas in the spring. I stayed in Dallas for a few months hoping to land a full-time job but that did not work out. I moved to Mississippi that following fall after accepting a position as an outreach athletic trainer through a community hospital.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I grew up playing sports. Even though I took dance and ice skating in my early years, I played softball, volleyball and basketball in high school. I always knew I wanted to be an athletic trainer, it just took a while to get there. I ended up going to college on a basketball scholarship. In my first and second year of playing, I tore my ACL, TWICE! So, you can imagine how much personal experience I got as a patient. That drew me closer to the athletic training profession and after I graduated, twice (associate of arts and associate of science), I transferred to a 4-year school that had an accredited program. I then went to graduate with my bachelor’s in science, got my master’s degree and eventually my Doctorate in Athletic Training (DAT).

Activated LLC was launched in April 2021 as an emergency management consulting business and in 2022, I began Activated Sports Medicine. I recognized the need in my community for direct access to orthopedic healthcare for physically active individuals and continued athletic healthcare for my student-athletes. I have a wealth of advanced knowledge and skill set and bring personal experience from being both a high school and collegiate patient-athlete. I serve as an expert clinician in the field of athletic training, analyzing, developing and implementing solutions to improve the delivery of athletic health care and the health outcomes of my patients.

The main thing I want my potential patients to know is that this is virtual athletic 1:1 health care. No insurance limitations, no long waiting to get in to see the doctor. Get access to health care before, during and after an injury.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

This business. It has been a long time coming! It has been a work in progress. This is not something that happens overnight. I have been working on this business for a while. Ideas are constantly changing and evolving. I initially started looking into entrepreneurship while I was in the DAT program and then soon after. I realized no one is ever going to pay me what I am worth and that there is not a dream job out there for me, so why not create it. Although minor, I also do not like earning other people money and to be on my schedule. I want to create and have a life where I can balance work/life appropriately.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

Honestly, no. I would choose a profession that would allow me to get into business for myself easier. With athletic training, there are limitations. You cannot have your own practice without first having a physician to work under. If you cannot find a physician, then you cannot start a business or at least a practicing athletic training business. Luckily, I have found a physician to work under; however, that is not without looking and asking around for almost two years. Like I said, resilience :)

Contact Info:

• Website: www.activatedsportsmedicine.com
• Instagram: @drkrystaltyree
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/drkrystaltyree
• Twitter: @capital_KT
• Other: Linktree – https://linktr.ee/drkrystaltyree