We were lucky to catch up with Natasha Hastings recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Natasha thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?

The first $85 I ever made in my business came from setting up a massage table on Mission Beach by the volleyball nets. I knew I wanted to work with more athletes, and my husband was playing pick up volleyball that day, so he encouraged me to start there. So out I went, lugging all my stuff with my hubby, and picked a spot smack dab in front and center of the nets. I set up my Tommy Bahama chair, put up a flimsy Coleman 10 x 10 tent, and taped on it a bright, neon green poster board with big letters in black Sharpe marker saying “FREE INJURY SCREENINGS”, and it was there I met my first client who opted in for a session. I had no idea what to charge and just said “$85” and couldn’t believe I got it! From then on out I knew I could make this work someday and I was hooked.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I got into physical therapy because I knew it was an active job, as an athlete that’s appealing, and this job had a guaranteed good salary. I wish I could say I had some miraculous physical therapy story myself, but my parents told me I needed to go to school and get a good job and this was the best fit. Physical therapy 12 years ago is not what it is or anything like what I do today, or at least where schools were placing us. I was working in nursing homes and corporate facilities that were not exciting at all (picture people in khakis telling people to do boring banded exercises).

Social media began to grow and I just was feeling burnt out at my job. I started to see way more active people getting cool rehab and physical therapy for athletes. Well I wanted to do that! I couldn’t get it at my corporate job, so hence why I set up on the beach and paved my own way to get to where I wanted. I’m a big believer if you want something you have to have faith, a hard work ethic, and you can’t give up no matter what happens. I buried myself in sports rehab, surrounded myself with athletes, and started doing CrossFit because I wanted to absorb it all so I can assimilate with the athletes I’d treat in the future.

I now own and operate Athletic Edge Physical Therapy, have 2 employees, and about to have my own stand alone facility! We provide the best sports performance & rehab, combined with pelvic floor physical therapy that you can find in San Diego. We empower people and really encourage them to shoot for the stars. If someone comes to us who’s only been running 3 miles with back pain, and wants to run a half marathon in 8 months, well then we’re gonna do whatever we have to to get them there and meet them at the finish line. We don’t stop there; we provide strength and conditioning coaching programs, and have plans to provide a training facility for youth athletes.

I’m most proud of the relationships we build with our clients and amongst ourselves in and out of work. I made an oath to myself that I would create a sought after work environment where people actually liked coming to, as well as our clients. If you’re not happy where you work, then it’s going to show, and then the client won’t get the outstanding treatment that we stand by. It’s a fun environment at Athletic Edge Physical Therapy; we’ve created a culture that is welcoming to all, we laugh, have fun, are there to support each other, provide top notch service, and hold each other accountable.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Being good at what you do, be accountable, and be passionate about what you do. If you say you’re going to do something, you best follow through on it, and I’ve stuck to that in business and just regular life. You have to have passion. Many clients have told me “you can tell you’re passionate about what you do and you care.”

It’ll show if you care or not, and when you care, that has a massive ripple effect in the community you’re aiming for.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

COVID! I will never forget, I put my 2 weeks notice in at my part-time job to finally go all in on my side hustle, and next thing I know I see tanks rolling across the screen in Italy. I froze for a minute, but then just said to myself “you’ll figure this out” Thank God I had clients at the time who said they’d switch to online physical therapy and were there to support me. I also treated out of multiple “speak easy gyms” at that time, literally had brown paper on the front window to act like they weren’t open, and I had to tell my clients to come in the back alley and knock on the locked door to come in. What a time to be alive haha I’ll never forget that, and looking back, my business grew so fast then because I was one of the few people open who could travel to clients houses or treat out of the speak easy gyms.

I guess the word resilient fits perfectly for this story.

Contact Info:

• Website: athleticedgept.com
• Instagram: athletic_edgept
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/athleticedgephysicaltherapy
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrNatashaHastingsDPTCSCS/about
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/athletic-edge-physical-therapy-san-diego
• Other: email: [email protected]

Image Credits
Shawn Peone Photography