Episode 028: Female Fridays with Dr. Danelle Dickson

Happy Friday, Female emPOWERED listeners! My #FemaleFridays guest this week is Dr. Danelle Dickson PT, DPT, a licensed physical therapist, Performing Arts specialist, orthopedic clinical specialist, and owner at Performance Plus Physical Therapy. She is also the co-founder of a business mentorship for minority women, The Black Female Foundation, and co-founder of the Dance Ready Project, an online hub for tools and resources for dancers. I’d say she keeps herself busy, in the best way!

Passion turned career

Dr. Danelle’s 39 years in the dance world fueled her passion to work with dancers’ injuries, after overcoming an injury herself. She has combined her passion for dance with her skills in orthopedics to work with thousands of dancers and other athletes, at the pre-professional level and professional levels. 

She lives in Washington D.C, where her company, Performance Plus, is located in the heart of downtown. She frequently travels to Trinidad, where she was born, to visit family and friends. 

Tune in as we discuss her winding journey to finding the world of Physical Therapy and why she is so passionate about mentoring other minority business women who are facing similar pitfalls that she has overcome.

In this episode we discuss:

• The story of how she became Dr. Danelle Dickson, PT, DPT
• The Dance Ready Project and Black Female Foundation
• An injury that changed her career path and direction
• The impact a PT can have on someone’s life 
• Generational impact that comes from helping someone heal physically  
• Why people may fear niching down + its ultimate benefits
• Pitfalls and difficulties for females of color in the business and PT world
• Culture, race, and seeing America from a different lens
• The ABCs she teaches in her mentorship program
• Women helping other women in business 

Follow Danelle on Instagram on all three of her handles: @3ptdc, @blackfemalefoundation, and @dancereadyproject. Be sure to head over to Danelle’s website to learn more about Performance Plus as well!

Looking for advice and resources to help you market and grow your clinic or client based business? Visit my website or follow me on Instagram!

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Performance Plus Physical Therapy
• Dance Ready Project
• Black Female Foundation
• Dancing around Elephants Podcast

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review for the show to help other female fitness and wellness professionals find our podcast! 

Interested in being a guest on a future Female Friday episode? Email me at [email protected]!