13 - Dave Leyland on starting and scaling Coast Performance Rehab, building strong clinic culture, and growing an education business through Loaded Manual Therapy.
Please welcome clinic owner and educator Dave Leyland to The Health of Business! He pulls back the curtain on what it really took to build and scale his clinic Coast Performance Rehab. We get into smart leases, hidden build-out costs, and how to hire with practical interviews that actually reveal skill. Dave walks through culture across multiple locations, leading with transparency, and the tough lessons from insurer policy shifts that disrupted PTSW models in BC. We talk strategy for repurposing gym space, creating time freedom as an owner, and growing revenue through practitioner education like his education company Loaded Manual Therapy. Real numbers, real tradeoffs, and a clear playbook for physios who want to grow, innovate and lead.
Coast Performance Rehab: https://www.coastperformancerehab.com/
Loaded Manual Therapy: https://www.loadedmanualtherapy.com/
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple Podcasts
Timestamps
00:00 Welcome, setup, and Dave’s intro
02:45 Family, life balance, and clinic realities
06:30 Dave’s background and the origin of Coast Performance Rehab
11:50 Manual therapy philosophy and integrating movement
16:40 Opening clinics 1 to 4: lessons, leases, and build-out costs
20:55 Advice for first-time clinic owners and starting smaller
22:50 Culture, hiring for fit, and practical interviews
27:35 Squamish market differences and work-life balance norms
29:50 Org chart, leadership roles, and delegation
35:35 Biggest challenges of ownership and people-pleasing
45:00 Insurer policy shifts, PTSW impact, and clinic pivots
55:10 The upside of ownership: freedom, earnings, and growth
1:01:00 Clinician education and the Loaded Manual Therapy model
1:08:00 Balancing clinics, education, and family
1:10:00 Leadership philosophy and growing people
1:12:10 What a healthy business looks like
1:13:20 Where to find Dave and Coast
Keywords:
bc physio, PABC, Canada physio, physiotherapy business, clinic ownership, Coast Performance Rehab, Dave Leyland, Loaded Manual Therapy, BC physiotherapy, physiotherapy culture, hiring physiotherapists, practical interview physio, clinic startup costs, lease negotiation clinic, HVAC build-out costs, Squamish physio, North Vancouver physio, Kitsilano physio, kinesiology programs, PTSW insurance changes, Pacific Blue Cross physio, gym utilization clinic, clinic org chart, leadership in healthcare, mentorship for physios, manual therapy education, online physio courses, Danielle Boyd podcast