Meet Dr. Arienne Wrigley Ashby | Physical Therapist & Pelvic Health Specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Arienne Wrigley Ashby and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Arienne, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
In honesty, I wasn’t the kid, or even young adult, that imagined myself having my own business or navigating everything that entails. I was brought up in a home with a teacher mom and a geologist dad who dedicated most of his career to one company. It was a typical “go to college, get a good job, have some stability in life” kind of home and I never longed for anything different…. Until I started my career as a physical therapist.

They don’t prepare you in PT school for the endless hurdles of insurance vs. productivity vs. quality of care vs. business success. Most outpatient orthopedic clinics were full of burnt out PTs like me, who got into the field for the right reasons, but constantly felt worn down by “the system” and all of its many flaws.

My initial spark came simply from the desire to impact people in a meaningful way, without insurance companies dictating what was an appropriate number of visits, or when they felt a person should be “functional enough”, or management dictating how many minutes I could spend with a patient because of productivity standards. I wanted the opportunity to treat in the ways that I found were best for my patients to progress.

Later, after I birthed my first daughter, I got to experience another flaw in our healthcare system – the lack of education and resources regarding women’s health, and more specifically, pelvic health. We are taught by our mothers and sisters and mom friends, that when you pee on yourself after having a baby, it’s just one of the unpleasant “inductions” into our role of motherhood. Our concerns are dismissed by healthcare providers as “normal” because we ” just had a baby”, and as someone who experienced this first hand and who is also in healthcare, it was discouraging and damaging to my self esteem, but also frustrating that no one seemed to take my issues seriously! If I was experiencing my own pelvic health issues, even as a PT who had a good anatomical, and biomechanical understanding of muscles and organ function, then WHAT were other women feeling and experiencing? And it was in that time, that my focus shifted from orthopedics and sports injuries, to pelvic health for the prenatal and postpartum woman, and female athlete, and my niche of a business was born.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I am an orthopedic and pelvic health physical therapist (Arienne Wrigley LLC), who primarily works with prenatal and postpartum women and the female athlete. I am most proud of my ability to educate and empower my clients to have a more active role in their health and wellness journey, but also to bridge the gap between the most basic pelvic floor functions, and return to fitness, function, or just enjoyment of life and all of its adventures.

Growing a business has been FAR from easy. As most physical therapists will tell you, we pursued our careers to help people, and business 101 was not part of PT school. Naive as that may sound, that was my reality. I knew what I wanted my work to look like, but I didn’t understand how to put that into a solid business plan. I flailed like a fish out of water for a while. But I kept learning, kept trying, kept failing forward. I started with very slow, very organic growth, and now am in a position where I receive new inquiries and new clients weekly.

Lessons wise, I have learned a lot about boundaries – and how/when to separate my naturally empathetic instincts from the business specific logistics . I have learned a lot about myself – who I want to be as a person, as a mother, as a partner, and as a professional, and I have learned a lot about my determination and drive. I have learned that success is a journey, marked by many many little victories, and the line is not linear.

What I want the world to know about my story and my brand, is that it was built from the NEED of a mother, and a woman, to feel like herself in her own body. I want every woman to feel empowered and confident in her body and ALL of its capabilities, before, during, and after she chooses to birth children (or even when she decides NOT to birth children). I want people to know that there are resources out there, and I want people to know that our health and wellness journeys begin with US and the investments we make in OURSELVES. We don’t HAVE to live with incontinence, painful sex, horrible periods, etc. There is HOPE, and I am here to help make that difference in our community.

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?
I think first and foremost, I have to shout out my parents for raising a daughter to be independent, resilient, and ambitious – a daughter who felt confident and supported enough to stray from the beaten path, even when I was straying into the unknown. I also have to shout out my husband, Farley, who reminds me every day that he was born to be a leader and businessman, and who has confidently supported, mentored, and challenged me on this path of creating a meaningful and purposeful business. While I may not have been mentored by a specific organization or group, I have received so much guidance and support from other pelvic health physical therapists, other health care practitioners who allow me to pick their brains, old colleagues, current colleagues, and friends. I have been lifted up by clients too many times to count, and every day, I have to shout out the people who trust me with their physical (and sometimes mental and emotional) health. I am BLESSED to work with clients that are invested in their health and who value the services that I can provide them.

Website: www.doctorarienne.com

Instagram: @doctorarienne

Twitter: doctorarienne

Facebook: facebook.com/drarienne

Image Credits
Adrian Enchemendia