Women are at the core of Alpine Physical Therapy and PhysioTrekk, Alpine’s sister physical therapy clinic that offers urgent care and is available to walk-in patients. Co-owners Samantha Schmidt, Angela Listug-Vap, and Leah Versteegen were brought together when they were each hired as physical therapists at Alpine PT between 2005 and 2008. It just so happened that each woman came to the company with the goal of becoming a manager and eventual owner.
“Our individual drive first presented the opportunity for us to work together,” said Leah. “And then, as we created our management and ownership team, we really saw how our strengths played off each other.”
Plus, they all relish a day together playing on the river or in the mountains.
Each of the three offices of Alpine PT offers a traditional physical therapy approach treating patients with pain and injuries resulting from a wide range of causes. Samantha describes PhysioTrekk as a new model of physical therapy. Patients can walk in or make a same-day appointment online and then pay cash for their services. There is no need to wait for a referral from a primary care physician, approval from an insurance company, and no need to wait—often a long time—for an appointment. Samantha explained why Leah, Angela, and Samantha decided to open PhysioTrekk.
“From a busy mom’s schedule, which we all are, we juggle our kids’ schedules, our work schedules, our social schedules, and then just life of laundry, board meetings, grocery getting, etc. so adding another appointment in the mix just doesn’t get done sometimes,” said Samantha. Because of this, the idea of a walk-in model of physical therapy just made sense to them.
“Our expertise lies in the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal pain and injury,” said Samantha. “We aim to treat the whole person and understand not only where the pain or injury is but what underlying or external factors may also be contributing.”
Regardless of which location patients visit, they can expect their physical therapist to listen, diagnose, and offer treatment with the goal of reducing pain and improving movement.
As busy moms and business owners, these three women have learned the importance of leaning on each other both in business and in life. They also credit much of their success to the amazing team of people within their offices from aides to managers to the billing team.
Samantha would give two pieces of advice to other women committed to running their own company. One: “Match your own personal values with the values that create the foundation for your company.” Two: “Find a team of others who share your values that you can lean on for support. Having a place to ask questions, listen to others' experiences, and seek support is key.”
Providing support to their patients, each other, and the Missoula community is important to all three ladies as shown by the long list of nonprofits and local athletic organizations that they participate in and sponsor, from Garden City Volleyball to Ballet Beyond Borders.
“Being an active and contributing member of our community is one of the values that we all share and we regularly come back to that community-centered value when making decisions about our business,” said Leah. “We want to give back and embed our values as part of this amazing place we get to call home.”
For Samantha, Angela, and Leah the responsibility of owning a business goes far beyond clocking in and out. Leah said, “For us, running our businesses is not about profit, power, or recognition. It is about our ‘why.' We believe in our profession and what physical therapists have to offer in health care. We believe in our community and how special it is. And we believe in how knowledge empowers progress--for ourselves, for our company and its people, and for our patients.”