Today we’d like to introduce you to Zach Woolever.
Hi Zach, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I don’t have the classic physical therapist origin story of a major surgery or injury exposing me to the field at an early age. Instead, I found my path to this profession because it aligned perfectly with the values that I wanted out of a career. I knew what I wanted and more importantly, what I didn’t want. I didn’t want to be checking into an office, stuck at a desk, or constantly be worrying about project deadlines. I wanted to be working alongside people in a manner that the relationship building was a huge component of the work. And most importantly, I wanted to be a part of something that truly mattered and made a tangible difference in people’s lives.
I got my start at a surgeon-owned sports medicine clinic in Nashville and I had to learn fast. They were the best in the city and expected the best. Here I learned firsthand what truly comprehensive high-level care looked like. Most of the clients we worked with were highly driven individuals and our team had the people (physical therapists, massage therapists, strength coaches, and nutritionists) to help them not only recover from injury, but come out stronger and better than they were before.
After moving out of Tennessee, I found myself managing more traditional insurance-based orthopedic clinics for larger corporations. I became increasingly frustrated with this high-volume model of care over the years as I realized that our healthcare system wasn’t set up to allow people to properly rehab or build the long-term resilience that would truly make a difference in their physical healthy and activity level.
The birth of my first son in 2022 was the tipping point that pushed me to finally step away from the traditional insurance model of big box physical therapy clinics and create something that aligned with the type of care and rehab journey that I had first learned and believed in.
I launched Embark Physio and Performance officially in January 2024 delivering a blended model of in-person 1 on 1 care and remote support programming. This model let me deliver highly personalized care through a rehab management approach that fits into my clients’ real lives. It gives them the flexibility and structure they need, while allowing me to be “in their back pocket” to navigate the ups and downs of rehab and build the tools and mindset needed to succeed.
Today, my focus is on either helping people overcome acute injury as well as helping people finally get out of the chronic pain cycle for good. My mission is to work as a partner in their journey back to doing what they love through a model that actually supports returning to long-term performance at 100%, not just symptom relief.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with all entrepreneurial journeys, the ride is anything but smooth. Upon starting Embark Physio and Performance, I knew I had the clinical skillset to succeed. The business side of things? A completely different story. While physical therapy school does a lot of great things, one aspect that it historically does a poor job at is teaching how to start or run a business. It’s just not something that a lot of class time is devoted to. I tried to bridge this gap by working with an excellent business coach, Ray Gorman. Learning the not-so-exciting but very necessary aspects of running a business such as bookkeeping, marketing, sales, and backend processes that keep things running smoothly has all been a steep learning curve.
As you know, we’re big fans of Embark Physio and Performance. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I am the founder and sole provider at Embark Physio and Performance. I offer a blended in-person and remote rehab and performance model specifically tailored to active people who want to get back to 100% of what they love doing as well as learn the tools and mindset needed to be resilient long-term. Each client gets a fully individualized plan of care including daily communication and guidance between sessions, so the rehab becomes a part of their training lifestyle rather than adding more stress to it.
I am a physical therapist, certified strength coach, and most importantly a fellow human that is passionate about not letting pain and physical limitations dictate what you can do.
Communities I specialize in are CrossFit athletes, recreational lifters and fitness athletes, and runners.
What sets me apart is that I provide a system that allows me to guide the client through the rehab journey on a daily basis without solely relying on coming to see me in the clinic. As much as I wish coming to see a therapist for a total of 60 minutes 1-2x/week would be what resolves the problem, the real work and rehab happens with what you do all the other hours of the week. The between session time is where progress occurs, yet this area is often where traditional physical therapy models provide the least amount of support. To close this gap, we approach your rehab the same way a competitive athlete would approach their training. This means that we are troubleshooting flare-ups, adjusting training loads, and clarifying when to push and when to hold back in real time instead of waiting for the next appointment. We don’t rely on cookie-cutter sessions or 2-3x/week insurance scripts, but make sure each session and each decision is built around the athlete’s goals, schedule, training history, and current capacity.
I am most proud when clients say that they feel heard, supported, and in control of their pain and rehab for the first time. My hope is to create a brand that provides clarity, empowerment, and trust in the rehab process. There is too much fear-based messaging and quick-fix promises out there, and I just want to provide real guidance that gets people back to crushing it on their own terms instead of opting out due to pain or chronic limitation.
If you are tired of feeling stuck in the doom loop of pain-rest-pain or constantly modifying your fitness journey, my services give you the structure, flexibility, and step by step path to rebuild both capacity and confidence. Whether in-person, remote, or a blended approach, you will be receiving an individualized plan of care, consistent guidance, and a clear progression that bridges the gap between rehab and performance.
How do you define success?
Success is a tricky definition because it entirely depends on what the goal is and usually is multi-layered. For Embark, my goal is to improve the quality of life for every single one of my clients and by extension the community that I serve.
If someone is seeking my services, it is usually because they have some pain point in life (literally and figuratively) that they cannot solve themselves and is impacting their ability to do what they want and how they want. If I can help them past that pain point and improve their quality of life, whether that’s via education, physical changes, mindset shifts, actual pain reduction, etc, as well as give them the toolkit to address any similar issues in the future, I’d consider that success.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.embarkphysioperformance.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/embarkphysio
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/embarkphysio
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@embarkphysioperformance
