From middle school, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career where I could help people get stronger. I fell in love with training in 7th grade when I started going to the weight room after school and found comfort in the process of self improvement. When I applied to college, I wanted to pursue being a strength coach so that I could help other people get stronger. I began coaching powerlifters my junior year of college after my first internship and everything seemed to fall into place, except that something started to bother me when my training partner had a low back injury. I couldn’t keep helping him get stronger. There was a part of getting people stronger that I had no skills in.
Shortly after this occurrence, I was sitting in a meeting with my advisor figuring out what classes I needed to add to my exercise science curriculum to apply to physical therapy school. I adjusted my academic plan and suddenly had shifted the trajectory of my education and career.
During physical therapy school at Arcadia, DPT students interviewed for clinical rotations to serve as our final experience to prepare us to enter the field. When I had my interview with Jessica Valloreo, the owner of 3DPT Haddon Heights, there was something about 3D that felt comforting and friendly that I couldn’t quite put words to. I had the same feeling when I visited 3DPT Deptford a few weeks before my clinical, and met Zach Friedman who had just opened his location and would serve as a mentor to me for 6 months. Zach encouraged me to apply to the other clinics in order to stay with the company long term. The feeling happened again when I met each of the founders, Jeff Sallade and Ken Guzzardo. It wasn’t very long until I was determined to land a job with 3DPT by the end of my clinical.
3DPT West Berlin!
I started working at 3DPT West Berlin the week my license was finalized, less than two weeks after I took the board exam. Something that stuck out to me as I entered the workforce was the difference between my experience compared to my peers. The structured mentorship at 3D, the monthly meetings of the entire company, or even the flexibility of purchasing equipment to better meet patient’s needs were all things my peers who took other jobs were not experiencing.
Throughout my first year as a PT I would often have lifters reach out to me about physical therapy in Philly but would be deterred after finding out I was 45+ minutes away in West Berlin. While I was building a reputation with lifters, the distance was consistently an obstacle to being available to them. This frustration, accompanied with my classmates’ experiences, made me realize that I had an opportunity to address both issues. As a partner at 3DPT I felt that I could help more lifters, and beyond that bring the employment experience that I found so fulfilling to Pennsylvania for other physical therapists to experience.
When the opportunity to secure a space within Mass F.I.T. in Philadelphia presented itself, I immediately went to Ken to see what he thought. As anyone who has met Ken may expect, I was met enthusiasm and support, which was echoed by all of the partners! My manager, Sarah Obuchowski shifted our weekly mentorship meetings to help me prepare for the shift in roles. At staff meetings each partner within the company I spoke to offered valuable advice and encouragement and any time I had a question there was someone eager to answer.
I cannot express my excitement to bring the same experience I have had to the city I love and into the powerlifting community especially.
3DPT Old City and Mass F.I.T. (Old City’s premier powerlifting hub!) are located at
𝟒𝟎𝟏 𝐒. 𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭
𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐚, 𝐏𝐀 𝟏𝟗𝟏𝟒𝟕
𝟐𝟔𝟕-𝟓𝟏𝟗-𝟐𝟓𝟓𝟐
Click here to learn more about 3DPT Old City and to make an appointment!
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