Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Strom.
Hi Hannah, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am a pelvic health physical therapist and own a specialty physical therapy practice in Woodbury, MN called Awake Pelvic Health and Wellness. As a pelvic health PT, I help individuals of all genders with pelvic floor address pain, weakness, or dysfunction in the pelvic floor muscles or around the pelvic and low back region. I help people with bowel, bladder, and sexual dysfunction. I also treat individuals who are pregnant manage pain during pregnancy or prep for their delivery, as well as helping with postpartum pelvic floor and core healing. I also integrate yoga, Pilates, and strength-based exercise into my work as physical therapist to help my patients reach their goals.
I didn’t always know that I wanted to be a physical therapist. In fact, while I was completing my undergraduate degree, I did not think I wanted to be in the medical field at all. I was teaching yoga at multiple studios across the Twin Cities and fell in love with teaching and being able to talk about movement and yoga all day long. I became more fascinated with the biomechanics of movement, injuries, and injury healing/prevention, and realized that if I wanted to take these interests to the next level and really understand how to help people heal injury or dysfunction, becoming a physical therapist was a great next step. I applied for one PT school in MN, I got in the rest is history. When I was in my final year of PT school we took an introductory pelvic floor physical therapy course, and I knew that this was the field in PT that I was going to do for the rest of my career. After a couple of years of working as an employee, I decided that I finally needed to open a PT practice in order to really provide the kind of care that I believed my patients deserve. I look forward to continuing to grow my practice and serve my community!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Definitely not a smooth road. There were many days filled with anxiety, tears, and challenges. Going through PT school itself is a really intense three years filled with learning a lot of new information very quickly, many exams, and clinical rotations. After graduating from school it took me a little while to find my footing and figure out the type of environment that I could see myself in for the next 30+ years of my career. It took about a year to plan my business launch and figure out all of the behind the scenes aspects of starting and running a PT practice. In the end, it was all worth it and each step lead me to where I am right now.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My business is a specialty physical therapy clinic called Awake Pelvic Health & Wellness. In my practice, we provide physical therapy for individuals with pelvic floor concerns. We help individuals with pelvic pain, urinary and bowel issues, sexual dysfunction, and pregnancy-related concerns find lasting relief and while empowering life-long health and wellness.
What sets us apart from other physical therapy clinics is that we only specialize in pelvic health, and offer a broad spectrum of care including women’s health, men’s health, and pregnancy/postpartum. We infuse evidence-based practice with holistic care and look at each patient as a “whole person” and work to address the root cause of someone’s pain or issue.
We offer one to one physical therapy, private yoga and pilates sessions, and Prep for Birth visits. Our Prep for Birth visits are unique in that we help pregnant folks prepare for their delivery by teaching them perineal massage, labor and delivery positions, breathing strategies to optimize labor, and early postpartum healing. We do this to help empower and educate birthing individuals as they move through their pregnancy and postpartum journey.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I truly believe that in order to grow personally and professionally, there will need to be some risk involved. I think taking a little risk allowed me to put myself out in the world a little bit more and push myself to achieve the next thing. It was a risk to completely quit my full-time job during a pandemic to open a pelvic floor physical therapy practice (where I would be paying rent, have no guaranteed income, and manage all aspects of my business totally solo). But this risk has allowed me to grow in so many ways, learn more about myself, and grow a business.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.awakepelvichealth.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awake.pelvichealth/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AwakePelvicHealth
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTlIcDHj2ENJMxwGOl1NDXQ
Image Credits
Kelly Morin Photography
