Exploring Life & Business with Carrie Hall, Maggie Mills, and Amy Graber of Fit Family Physical Therapy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carrie Hall, Maggie Mills, and Amy Graber. 

Hi Carrie, Maggie, and Amy, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
The short version of our story is that we are three sisters who share a passion for physical health, fitness, and an active lifestyle! 

Maggie and Amy grew up playing competitive soccer and went onto play D1 collegiate soccer for Washington State University and Arizona State University, respectively. Their time spent on the field and work spent with athletic professionals off the field, fostered their interest in biomechanics, kinesiology, and an active lifestyle, ultimately leading them both to pursue doctorate of physical therapy degrees. After physical therapy school, Maggie and Amy each spent time working in different settings with a variety of patient demographics. They’ve worked in home health, private practice, and hospital-based physical therapy settings in both pediatric and adult populations. 

During this time, the third and youngest sister, Carrie, was working on a business degree from Arizona State University. Carrie did not follow in the athletic footsteps of her sisters but instead found her calling in business operations. After graduating from ASU, she spent many years as Chief Operations Officer of a successful e-commerce business in Phoenix, Arizona, managing and scaling end-to-end business operations. 

After almost a decade of working separately, honing in on and developing their crafts, the three sisters started talking about the idea of working together. Both Maggie and Amy shared the same desire to create a physical therapy model for all ages. After working in clinics focusing solely on a specific patient population, they both wanted to create a broader, family-style practice of physical therapy. They enjoyed working with patients of all ages and wanted to build a business where they could help patients spanning all ages and needs. 

At this same time, Carrie was transitioning out of her e-commerce operations role onto a new chapter. She decided to take a break to pursue a long-time goal of becoming a Certified Personal Trainer to expand her fitness knowledge and share her passion for health and wellness with others. This new fitness knowledge, combined with her business operations passion and experience, led her to convince her two sisters to finally get the business idea off the ground! 

After a few months of planning and discussing the business goals and vision, Fit Family Physical Therapy was born! 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been a fairly smooth road thus far! As with starting any business, there are always unexpected highs and lows – but we feel like we have been faring well! We all agree that the biggest struggle we have had to overcome was the decision to start the business in general. We all have a little perfectionist in us, so it was easy to keep putting it off for a while, saying “it’s not the right time to start a business.” Finally, after a global pandemic, a job change, and a move back to Arizona, we feel like the stars aligned and made the choice and timing clear! There is never a “perfect,” risk-free time to start a business and we’ve realized that we can be confident in our skills and ability to think through problems as they arise – and that’s just part of running a business. 

It has taken a lot of manpower to get our name out there in an organic way that doesn’t feel too “salesy.” We’ve worked hard to create relationships within the community and with other members of healthcare professions that are more personal and genuine. And, we just hope that as we continue to work with more patients and families, our reputation will continue to grow and expand via positive feedback and word of mouth. 

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Fit Family Physical Therapy provides private, mobile physical therapy services for all ages. Our mission is to use physical therapy practices to encourage a sustainable active, pain-free, and health-forward lifestyle that empowers patients of all ages to lead a full and healthy life. We strive to make physical therapy accessible and convenient for all members of the family, emphasizing quality care across the lifespan. 

Our mobile physical therapy model allows us to treat patients in the comfort and familiarity of their own space. We provide more specialized home exercise and treatment plans because we have knowledge of our patients’ space and equipment. This, coupled with our broad experience, sets us apart from specialized clinics or practices. 

We have the expertise and, most importantly, the passion to treat every age and life stage in the family – from newborns to seniors. And the cool part is, we’re doing just that. We are currently treating patients ranging in age from 2 months old to 93 years old! 

Our mobile physical therapy team not only provides private physical therapy treatment but also strives to ensure lasting education for our patients. We want to empower patients and families to find new ways to live a full and healthy life well after we are gone! We provide tools and resources to help patients continue to move well after treatment is completed and find that this is such a missing piece when it comes to healthcare. We feel strongly that our care should go beyond the time we spend together and we want people to feel a sense of confidence carrying forward without us, but know they can check back in with us when they need help. We’re proud of that. We want people to feel like they’re part of the Fit Family. 

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
While working with family may be thought of to present its challenges, it also presents many benefits – one of those being, we all grew up with similar values and mindsets! We grew up in a family that valued physical activity and community, both of which we bring to Fit Family Physical Therapy. 

While we grew up participating in different activities and pursuing different goals, we all shared a strong work ethic, attention to detail, and dry sense of humor (thanks, Dad). Our parents coached us to see the benefits of thinking critically and independently, which made a lasting impression on all three personalities. 

We each have different strengths and it’s been fun to see those strengths play out and come together as we build our business. Maggie is the oldest of the three and she has a very typical elder-sibling personality. She brings experience, practicality, and a lot of logic into our practice. She’s a busy mom of 3 and that translates so well as she works with pediatric patients and their families because she’s been there. Amy has an impressive attention to detail that keeps us all on our toes, a passion for learning and research, and a creative middle-child streak to help with our graphic design and marketing materials. Carrie is the youngest of the three sisters and is deemed our business pro of the group. She’s organized and keeps everyone in check without missing a beat. She’s friendly, personable, and everyone feels that sense of warmth from her. All three of us are married to some pretty awesome husbands who have been a great support system for us as we started this new venture. We really feel lucky that we all get along so well and are, truly, friends who enjoy being around each other. When not working, we all enjoy being outside in the AZ sunshine, being active in some way, trying out new restaurants around the Valley, and a good craft beer or cocktail. We’ve been known to have some pretty intense pool volleyball competitions in the summertime too. 

Pricing:

• $160 – 60-minute mobile physical therapy treatment session
• $600 – Four (4) 60-minute mobile physical therapy treatment sessions
• $1180 – Eight (8) 60-minute mobile physical therapy treatment sessions

Contact Info:

• Email: hello@fitfamilypt.com
• Website: www.fitfamilypt.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fitfamily_pt/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fitfamilyphysicaltherapy
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/fitfamilyphysicaltherapy
• Other: https://goo.gl/maps/97k22wZEvtvLXLiH9