Meet Dr. Amy Gulledge | Physical Therapist & Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Amy Gulledge and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Amy, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I graduated with my Doctorate degree and I was passionate to help people. I quickly learned that healthcare can be more focused on business and money than the people we are suppose to help. I didn’t care as much about money as I did about using the tools I had learned and feeling like I was making a huge difference for people. I became disheartened and bored over the years — feeling like I could do so much better if I had more time with my patients, feeling like the companies I worked for took me for granted as I built their brand, feeling like I wanted to do more than just work on a single joint on someone day in and day out. I missed personal training. But I also loved the science behind what I did as a Physical Therapist. Although I loved most all of my patients, I was tired of feeling the monotonous strain of my work and felt like I could do and be more. The day I redefined the definition of failure changed my life. I realized that to fail meant to not try, not to fail financially. Apparently I had been talking about owning my own business since I was a teenager so it was always nagging me. And I had a problem in the world to solve: I wanted to offer a bridge from traditional health & wellness and healthcare services to give people a more holistic and quality experience to their care. Why should we care just about a single joint instead of caring about how it affects the whole body and your overall fitness and activity levels and goals? I started to mesh my passion for Physical Therapy and personal training services and offer a full hour of my time to each one of my clients to cater a specific program personally for them. Nikao Performance and Rehab was born! The love and passion I have for what we can do for people has kept me from never turning back — even when times got hard. We are happy to be celebrating our 4th year of changing lives for the better!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
To do anything in life and stick with it, you have to understand why you are doing it and have a drive to continue even through adversity, I believe people need better quality care and more holistic services that focus on rehab, fitness goals, and performance. We have great client success at Nikao and the joy and progress of clients is what continues to drive me in business, even through the tough times. Every business owner has, I am sure, considered throwing in the towel at least 500 times. Business ownership is never easy and comes with a ton of exhaustion, doubt, and joy. It is an emotional roller-coaster, but as you get more season you learn to ride the waves more gracefully. Nikao Performance and Rehab is a product of passion, hard work, faith, prayer, and love for people over profits. We believe that if we do right by people, and genuinely care about the lives and feelings of those that we work with, that the money will follow.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I am an outdoors person. I think that Phoenix offers amazing places around the city to continue to be active and enjoy yourself. One of my favorite places I go is Tempe Town Lake. I love inviting people to jog, go kayaking, or play volleyball by the lake followed by some great food selections on Mill Ave. Hiking Camelback would be another day trip followed by Bartlett Lake for some boating.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My gratitude, fist, to the Most High. I am a product of prayer and faith. I am truly blessed to have been in the path of amazing friends, family, patients, and mentors. I could not have done it without all of you! A special thanks to Hustle Phoenix for continuing to mentor, support, and network me with instrumental individuals (you know who you are). Noteworthy thank you to my mentors: Ricky, Frank, Krista, Cindy, Debbie, and Sam and to Dani, CR, and Malkum for being my extra prop of support.

Website: www.nikaohealth.com
Instagram: @nikaohealth
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-gulledge-32992252
Twitter: @nikaohealth
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikaohealth
Yelp: @nikaohealth
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnsfawLGle3SLTRHn26NpkA
Other: Pinterest @nikaohealth