We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lauren Glisic. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lauren below.
Lauren, appreciate you joining us today. 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.
Most people who have been to physical therapy for an injury have had similar experiences in their rehab and this has shaped their expectations of what physical therapy looks like. When people think of PT they may think of “massage”, ultrasound, electric stimulation, and doing exercises with an assistant including”clamshells” and “dying bugs”. The reason that these sessions are so predictable is because in a traditional insurance-based model, each physical therapist is seeing between 2-3 patients per hour. Reimbursement rates are cut each year by insurance companies, and clinic owners slam as many patients in the door as possible to compensate for these cuts. This drastically reduces the quality of care that each patient gets because only about 1/3 of their session is spent one-on-one with a Doctor of Physical Therapy. There is often not enough time to take progress measurements, monitor exercises for form and progress them appropriately, or focus on sport-specific movements and higher level programming.
When my business partner and I started Athletic Lab, we knew we wanted to break free of this model and in order to provide the highest level of care for our clients, we committed to having all of our clients work one on one with a Doctor of Physical Therapy for the full hour. Our sessions are individualized to help our clients meet their fitness goals with data and science-backed treatments. Our physical therapists all have a very strong background in strength and conditioning, so attention to detail with our exercise programming is guaranteed. If someone is trying to get back to running, their exercises should be training their body to accept the load of running in a way that looks and feels a lot like running! This seems like a no-brainer but it’s a concept that is often missed in a traditional PT clinic given the time and resource constraints. We have created a model where people see physical therapy as part of their regular health and fitness regimen, fostering a proactive versus reactive approach to fitness.
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 graduated from USC’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program in 2014, where I met my best friend Lyssa. Over the years we’d always talk about opening our own PT practice one day. The reality is, there’s a huge burnout factor in the PT profession, mostly driven by a high volume of clients coming through the door and decreasing reimbursement by insurance companies. I had hit a point in my career where I didn’t even know if I had chosen the right profession anymore. I was frustrated by the model of the clinic I was working in, feeling limited by both time constraints and insurance rules. So with encouragement from friends, family and my husband, I quit my job, teamed up with Lyssa, and we opened Athletic Lab in January of 2021. Although it was terrifying to open a business in the thick of a pandemic, we knew we could do better for our clients and ourselves if we were given the right environment to succeed. We felt like we had a lot more to offer our patients and wanted to prioritize building relationships with them, focusing on overall health and wellness, and addressing the root cause of their pain for long term results. So often in PT, therapists are chasing symptoms without understanding the underlying causes of the pain (weakness, stiffness, muscle imbalances, impaired running mechanics) due to time constraints. With our model, all of our clients work one on one with a Doctor of PT, and the only people driving the PT program are the therapist and the client. Our goal is to seamlessly blend physical therapy with performance training to create that holistic approach to fitness that is often missing in just physical therapy or personal training alone. Our clients are proactive about their health and fitness, prioritize wellness, and they see physical therapy as a piece of their regular fitness and health regimen. I take it as a huge compliment when my clients tell me “This is so different from every other PT clinic I’ve ever been to,” because that’s our mission here. We want to redefine what Physical Therapy looks like and feels like.
At Athletic Lab Physical Therapy and Performance Training, we’re redefining what Physical Therapy looks and feels like with a holistic, movement-focussed approach to rehab. We use a 3 Step Process to get results. First, we fix the pain (This is where most PTs stop). Next, we identify and fix the root cause of the pain. Finally, we teach you how to stay pain-free and moving well for life. We help active people solve their pain problems for good, optimize their movement, and get back to doing the things they love to do.
While we work with athletes of all forms and sports, our PTs specialize in treating runners. We have a very in-depth evaluation process that helps us to identify underlying muscle weakness, joint stiffness, imbalances and asymmetries, or core instability. From there we do thorough movement analysis specific to your sport, whether it’s running, deadlifting, or swinging a tennis racket or golf club. Based on our findings, we come up with a program specific to your needs and goals. We are constantly monitoring your progress, testing and retesting strength and mobility to make sure that the exercise programming is appropriate to get you to your goals. We also do a lot of injury prevention in our athletes, helping them to stay strong and avoid injury down the road. Our ideal client is proactive about their health and fitness, prioritizes wellness, and sees physical therapy as a piece of their regular fitness and health regimen. Our goal is to seamlessly blend physical therapy with performance training to create that holistic approach to fitness that is often missing in just physical therapy or personal training alone.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
Our favorite referral sources are our current clients via word of mouth. I can’t tell you how many of our clients have sent their spouses, best friends, sisters, bosses, etc to come see our PTs and it is the highest compliment of all when they trust you with the people they care about most! Lyssa and I have grown our business over the past 3 years through relationships with clients, word of mouth referrals, and community connections. We’re often out in the Santa Monica area running with local run clubs, playing volleyball in beach leagues, working out at our favorite fitness studios, and that’s primarily how we’re marketing our brand. It’s definitely a slower burn and requires more of a time investment than doing digital marketing and advertising, but we find that this personal connection leads to new clients who connect with our mission & values and ultimately stay in our ecosystem for months and even years after their injuries are resolved!
How’d you meet your business partner?
I graduated USC’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program in 2014, where I met my best friend and future business partner Lyssa Cleary. We were inseparable during PT school, and even stayed roommates for years beyond graduation. We were hired at the same PT clinic right after graduation and worked there for 5+ years together prior to starting Athletic Lab. Over the years we’ve traveled the world together, she stood by my side at my wedding as a bridesmaid, we’ve supported each other through the best and the worst days of our lives, and we also started and grew a successful business together in the middle of a pandemic. Over the years we’d talk about what our dream clinic would look like–from what equipment we’d have to what music would be playing in the gym. Reality has surpassed all of our expectations. We’ve created a workspace that we’re excited to go into every day. We’re surrounded by clients who prioritize their health and wellness and employees who are just as passionate about our mission and core values as we are. I realize that what we have going is very special– there are tons of examples of friendship and business not mixing well, but I truly don’t think our business would be where it is today if Lyssa and I weren’t first and foremost best friends. It’s very reassuring to know that your business partner truly has your best interest at heart. We have very similar values and goals outside of work, and have always treated the business as just one aspect of our lives.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://athleticlabpt.com
- Instagram: athleticlabpt
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-glisic-bb413a237/