Good Neighbor Podcast: Tri-Cities
Bringing together local businesses and neighbor of the Tri-Cities region. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Skip Mauney helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around The Tri-Cities.
Is your business serving the residents of Tri-Cities? Then, we need to talk! Visit gnpTri-Cities.com to schedule your free interview.
Good Neighbor Podcast: Tri-Cities
EP# 286: Yoga, PT, and Coffee: Dr. Leah Johnson's Unique Wellness Approach with Second Arrow
Wellness just got a groundbreaking makeover in Richmond, and Dr. Leah Johnson is leading the charge. Her upcoming venture, The Second Arrow, isn't just another business—it's a thoughtfully designed approach to healing that breaks down barriers between rehabilitation and ongoing wellness.
After fifteen years as a yoga teacher, Dr. Johnson's curiosity about the physiological benefits of the practice led her to pursue a doctorate in physical therapy. Now, as a board-certified orthopedic specialist for over six years, she's creating something truly unique: a physical therapy clinic, yoga studio, and coffee bar all under one roof in Church Hill. Opening this October, The Second Arrow addresses a critical gap in traditional healthcare. Too often, physical therapy ends with patients being sent home to continue exercises independently, without support or structure. Dr. Johnson's solution integrates affordable yoga classes ($12 drop-in, the lowest in Richmond) as a natural continuation of the healing journey.
Her vision of accessibility extends beyond physical therapy. "Yoga isn't meant to be done once a month on a random day because you can afford it for $25," she explains, challenging what she sees as an elitist trend in yoga pricing. Instead, she's creating a space where regular practice is financially feasible, believing wellness should be sustainable and community-focused.
Dr. Johnson's personal journey is equally compelling. As the first in her family to attend college, she's traveled from rural Iowa to Spain, Costa Rica, and Portland before finding her home in Richmond. Now balancing the demands of three children (including a 14-month-old) with her entrepreneurial vision, she embodies the integration of personal and professional wellness she hopes to inspire in others.
"Let's prevent injury together and create community," she says, summing up a philosophy that places preventative care and human connection at the heart of healing. Ready to experience this innovative approach to wellness? Connect with Dr. Johnson through secondarrowrva.com or follow her active Instagram presence for tips and wellness advice.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Skip Monty.
Speaker 2:Well, hello everyone and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast live. So I am very excited today to have a very special guest in our studio for the first time, and I'm sure you'll be just as excited as I am because today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, dr Leah Johnson, who is the owner-operator of the Second Arrow. Dr Leah, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Like I said, we're very excited to learn all about you and what you do, so if you don't mind, why don't you kick us off by telling us about your business?
Speaker 3:All right. So I am going to open a physical therapy clinic, yoga studio and coffee bar in Churchill in October.
Speaker 2:All right, Very cool. So a coffee bar, physical therapy and yoga, not necessarily in that order, huh. That's right, that's very cool. So what made you think? What drove you to take this journey?
Speaker 3:So I've been a yoga teacher for about 15 years and I wanted to take it farther. I wanted to understand the why of yoga making you feel so much better physically, mentally, emotionally and so I pursued a doctor of physical therapy because I could be independent with my practice. So with that I got out of grad school and then I realized that I needed to basically get into the trenches and experience these injuries and what it means to be a clinical practitioner. And now that I have that I'm a board certified orthopedic specialist I'm adding the yoga back in and it really fits, because you do physical therapy and the whole idea is that you get to know your body, you rehab from this injury and then we boot you out independent and continuing to do this on your own, and that's really hard to do, and so having the yoga component is a way of offering people an option for continuing being active in a regular way, safely.
Speaker 2:Safely. That's important. So, and this is unique, you know yoga, physical therapy and coffee, love coffee. So what are some myths or misconceptions in the physical therapy, slash yoga, slash coffee business?
Speaker 3:Misconceptions. What do you mean by that?
Speaker 2:Well, some things that people maybe about physical therapy. What are some assumptions that people make about physical therapy? That or yoga, either one that you know maybe isn't necessarily true.
Speaker 3:Well, I was actually just talking to a friend about that. So a lot of people, some people associate yoga as being like this, elitist practice, and you can kind of see where it comes from, because the drop in rate, especially in Richmond right now, for some reason, is twenty five dollars and I don't know who can afford that. It's not me. So the model is to balance the physical therapy with the yoga, and I'm offering the lowest drop in rate in Richmond at $12. Uh, yoga is meant to be done, not not once a month on a random day because you can afford it for $25, right, it's meant to be done two to three times a week to keep you active regularly.
Speaker 2:Very good. Well, um, very interesting. So just got to ask I've interviewed other yoga instructors and do you get? Do you have goats or kittens involved at all? No, what's funny.
Speaker 3:There's no goats, there are no kittens, but there is coffee.
Speaker 2:There is coffee, which is awesome. Yeah, I was interviewing a yoga instructor somewhere and I asked that question trying to be funny. I said you know, do you have any goats in the place? And she's like no, but we do have kittens. Where there's a kitten rescue that brings like 30 kittens into the room. I'm like that would be so distracting. I don't think I could do the yoga if there were kittens everywhere, you know.
Speaker 3:That's amazing.
Speaker 2:Anyway, sorry I'm getting off subject here. So outside of work, dr Leah, what do you like to do for fun?
Speaker 3:For fun. I am very active, as you can imagine, so I do yoga, I run. Today I really changed it up and I went swimming and I went to the gym. I have three children, so that doesn't keep me busy enough. I have a 14-month-old, a 6-year-old and an 11-year-old.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and a wonderful old Wow yeah.
Speaker 2:And a wonderful Wow. Well, congratulations, that's incredible. So that does keep you busy, I'm sure, yeah, and the right answer for what do you do for fun is always time with family, right, that's? That's always the best answer. So very cool, and running is good too, and exercise. So let's switch gears for just a second. Can you describe a hardship or a life challenge that you've overcome and how it made you stronger on the other side?
Speaker 3:Let's see, I would say there was quite a few, you know, going through the Rolodex in my mind. Let's see, I was the first person to go to college, so my family is very rural, from a small town in Iowa, iowa, so yeah, so pursuing my undergraduate degree was a big deal and then going beyond that was a very big deal. And you know, I haven't had any examples in my personal family, but I've had wonderful friends for guidance, but I'm definitely a learn as you go kind of person. Sure.
Speaker 2:Well, what brought you? You're in Richmond, right, so what brought you to Richmond from Iowa?
Speaker 3:So I never felt like I quite fit in Iowa and I knew I was always going to head out, and so I studied abroad. I lived in Spain for a year or so, I mean, I studied abroad and then I found a job, and then I stayed, and then, after I graduated from undergrad, I moved to Costa Rica because of an opportunity there, and then I stayed after the opportunity. I actually lived there for four years because I didn't know where to go, and then, since I was around all these West coasters, I decided to move to Portland, oregon, because I knew the culture and it was really gloomy, so don't recommend it. And so I wanted to go somewhere that was similar to Portland but had seasons, and so I ended up in Richmond.
Speaker 2:Gotcha. So if, Dr Leah, if you could think of one thing that you would like our listeners to remember about you and the second era, what would that be?
Speaker 3:One thing that I want them to remember is you know, let's prevent injury together and create community. Create community, I mean, the whole idea behind physical therapy is to basically put yourself out of business to keep people safe. You know, enable people to have the tools for their specific body and needs to prevent injury, and I'm hoping to do that with yoga.
Speaker 2:Very cool Presentative medicine Right, yep, awesome, awesome. Well, for those of us who are interested and intrigued and love coffee and yoga and need physical therapy, how can we learn more about what you do and how to make an appointment or come see you?
Speaker 3:So you can make an appointment through the website or you can call me. The website is second arrow rvacom and instagram as well. I'm pretty active on there. I'm always giving tips and advice and things like that.
Speaker 2:So very cool instagram and second arrow, rvacom Correct.
Speaker 3:That's right, come on out.
Speaker 2:All right, you guys heard it here straight from the doc's mouth. Well, dr Leah, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to three kids and and and what, what, what sounds like three jobs, but really appreciate you taking the time to tell us about what you do. And what sounds like three jobs, but really appreciate you taking the time to tell us about what you do and more about yourself. And we wish you and your family and your practice all the best moving forward.
Speaker 3:All right, thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Thank you, and maybe we can get you back on the show sometime in the near future.
Speaker 3:Yeah, once it's all kicked off.
Speaker 2:There we go. All right, keep us in the loop.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 2:All right Thanks.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnptry-citiescom. That's gnptry-citiescom. That's gnptry-citiescom, or call 423-719-5873. Music.