Q 1. Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business. Please include what your business is all about, in which city you are located and if you have offices in multiple locations/ cities.
Ans: Union Yoga & Physical Therapy is a privately owned one-on-one holistic physical therapy clinic where each session is tailored to the patient’s needs. All sessions are 60 minutes long and are spent directly with the physical therapist. Additionally, I offer private yoga lessons to all levels and for most types of yoga. It is home-office based clinic in Annandale, VA.
Q 2. Kindly give us a brief description about yourself (it should include your brief educational or entrepreneurial background and list some of your major achievements).
Ans: My name is Dr. Danielle Rose but please feel free to call me Danielle. I hold a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from The George Washington University and am currently in my final year of Oriental Medicine School. I am a McKenzie certified Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy clinician. I also hold the Pelvic Rehabilitation Practitioner Certification for Women’s Health. Additionally, I have been teaching yoga for over 20 years and have gone through several teacher trainings from restorative to Ashtanga. As my husband says, I am an eternal learner. My biggest accomplishments have been my education. Never did I ever think I would have a doctorate in anything, let alone physical therapy. And in about a year, I will have a Master’s degree in Oriental Medicine. In my spare time, I like to read, travel, bake, take trapeze lessons, and do yoga.
Q 3. What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make significant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
Ans: I actually “started” Union Yoga & Physical Therapy in 2012 but did not use it functionally until 2020. I was working in a traditional clinic until Covid began; and truly, Covid is what realigned my priorities. I had dreams of owning my own company but didn’t know how to make it happen. For many years, I would talk about having a mobile PT company in the back of a Sprinter van. But it was never something I actively pursued. I had dreams of returning to school for Oriental Medicine, but consistently made travel a priority over school. When Covid began, my husband and I moved into a home that offered an amazing workspace with a separate entrance. That began moving the true start of my company forward. As Covid progressed, I decided to leave my former clinic, go fulltime in my home-based clinic, and return to school to further my knowledge base.
Q 4. What three pieces of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
Ans: I don’t know if I consider myself an entrepreneur…but when people would ask me about going back to school as I did to become a physical therapist, I would tell them “you’ve got to want it”. And I think the same holds true here. You have to want this life because it’s all on you. There’s no one else to fall back on if it doesn’t work. You are the one responsible. Have a support system in place to help you through the difficult times. There will be many.
Q 5. What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
Ans: Focus, willingness to put in the time/effort and knowledge base. As a physical therapist, having time and experience in my career has given me the specialized skills to have this kind of business. Fresh out of school, I would not have been competent enough to do this kind of work.
Q 6. How many hours do you work a day on average?
Ans: This is difficult to say as every day is very different and I am currently operating on a parttime schedule. Some days, I have a full schedule and some days I have no patients. It is also very dependent on my school schedule. What I will say is that patient care is only half of what I do. Documentation, communicating with current or prospective patients and laundry (!) take up the other half. Currently as a part-time business, I would say I work about 20-25 hours/week.
Q 7. To what do you most attribute your success?
Ans: I would say my success is attributed to the same things as I mentioned above. When I was in PT school, I was criticized by my supervisor at one of my clinical rotations. He said I was “too focused”. I couldn’t imagine how that was a bad thing. I still can’t. Focus, drive, desire – it’s what got me through all of the tough times at school and it’s what got me here.
Q 8. How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
Ans: Google reviews are by far the best form of marketing that I have. Most of my patients say that they find me through this. Word of mouth through current patients has also helped so much.
Q 9. Where did your organizations funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it? How did you obtain investors for your venture?
Ans: Conveniently, as I work out of my house, I needed very little to start my little company. I already had most of what I needed. So thankfully, capital/investors didn’t play too much of a part.
Q 10. What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
Ans: Constantly strive to be better. I have spent many years and thousands of dollars becoming better at my craft. And I’m not talking about the years I was in school. A former co-worker of mine never understood why I was always looking for the next certification. Though there are many talented people in this world without certifications behind their name, most people today look to find those who do. It’s a solid way to invest in your future.
Q 11. Where you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
Ans: Honestly, I’d be happy to be right here. Still practicing independently. But who knows? Maybe I’ll have a greater desire to expand one day? What I do know is that by 10 years down the road, I’ll be transitioning out of physical therapy and making Oriental Medicine my primary practice. This is a very exciting time.
Q 12. Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
Ans: There is a woman who runs her own company in Alexandria, VA. She is a speech therapist/craniosacral therapist. She runs it out of her house and is very well known. I don’t honestly know if she even has a name for her company or not. But she is busy and has a very long waitlist. When I’m finished with school, this is where I hope to be with my company.
Q 13. What motivates you?
Ans: Knowledge – learning. I love to know more.
Q 14. How do you define success?
Ans: Fulfillment in my life. I want to feel fulfilled in my work. I want to be making a difference for my patients.
Q 15. What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
Ans: To me, saying that I own my own company and that I am my own boss are the most satisfying.
Q 16. What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
Ans: As a business owner, you have to hustle. There’s minimal down time. When you’re working for others, it’s easy to allow things to happen to you vs. make things happen for you.
Q 17. If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
Ans: Nothing. I am lucky enough that my career has evolved with me. And I’m still evolving! I believe that the paths I’ve taken to get where I am, have helped form me as a person and as business owner. I have learned many lessons, sometimes the hard way, but those are the ones I’ll never forget. So why change?
Company Detail:
Company : Union Yoga & Physical Therapy
Contact : Dr. Danielle A. Rose
Address : 8207 Woodland Ave
City : Annandale
State : VA
Zip : 22003
Country : USA
Phone : 703-440-7423
Email : danielle@unionyogapt.com