The physio
in your feed
The Female Physio Co on a mission to make pelvic health more accessible
The physio
in your feed
The Female Physio Co on a mission to make pelvic health more accessible
"Hold. Off. Hold. Off. Hold." Every day, hundreds of thousands of women find Bond alumna Sarah Percy in their social media feeds, where the physiotherapist shares practical pelvic health advice with her 2.8 million followers.
In her late teens, Sarah’s mum suggested she consider physiotherapy, and later that she’d own her own clinic. But Sarah never pictured it for herself and insisted it wouldn’t happen.
But today, Sarah runs Female Physio Co and has become one of Australia's most recognisable voices in women's pelvic health.
The making of a physiotherapist
Physiotherapy wasn’t always part of the plan.
After school, Sarah enrolled in a health science degree while working out what she wanted to do next. She took a job as a physiotherapist’s assistant in an aged care facility, and something clicked.
“I worked in aged care for a couple of years. It’s not my passion but that’s what brought me to physiotherapy,” she admits.
After deciding to pursue physiotherapy Sarah set her sights on Bond.
“I only wanted to do physio at Bond, there was no other option,” she says.
“I wanted to be part of a small cohort, and I knew a few friends who had been through the program and they couldn’t say enough good things about it.”
Sarah enrolled in Bond’s Doctor of Physiotherapy program and, in her final placement at Pindara Private Hospital, chose to try women’s health.
At the time, she didn’t know much about pelvic health physiotherapy, and the placement wasn’t an easy choice.
“I didn’t really want to do it, but I gave it a go and I ended up loving it,” Sarah says.
“That was the lightbulb moment.”
"Hold. Off. Hold. Off. Hold." Every day, hundreds of thousands of women find Bond alumna Sarah Percy in their social media feeds, where the physiotherapist shares practical pelvic health advice with her 2.8 million followers.
In her late teens, Sarah’s mum suggested she consider physiotherapy, and later that she’d own her own clinic. But Sarah never pictured it for herself and insisted it wouldn’t happen.
But today, Sarah runs Female Physio Co and has become one of Australia's most recognisable voices in women's pelvic health.
The making of a physiotherapist
Physiotherapy wasn’t always part of the plan.
After school, Sarah enrolled in a health science degree while working out what she wanted to do next.
She took a job as a physiotherapist’s assistant in an aged care facility, and something clicked.
“I worked in aged care for a couple of years. It’s not my passion but that’s what brought me to physiotherapy,” she admits.
After deciding to pursue physiotherapy Sarah set her sights on Bond.
“I only wanted to do physio at Bond, there was no other option,” she says.
“I wanted to be part of a small cohort, and I knew a few friends who had been through the program and they couldn’t say enough good things about it.”
Sarah enrolled in Bond’s Doctor of Physiotherapy program and, in her final placement at Pindara Private Hospital, chose to try women’s health.
At the time, she didn’t know much about pelvic health physiotherapy, and the placement wasn’t an easy choice.
“I didn’t really want to do it, but I gave it a go and I ended up loving it,” Sarah says.
“That was the lightbulb moment.”
Closing a gap in women’s healthcare
After graduating from Bond, Sarah began working in private practice, treating a range of clients, but her heart and ambition stayed set on women’s health.
She invested in additional training, mentoring and professional development to build her expertise.
The more she learnt, the more she became convinced there was a significant gap in healthcare education.
Research shows pelvic floor dysfunction affects a significant proportion of Australian women, with conditions such as urinary incontinence, persistent pelvic pain and prolapse common during and after pregnancy. Yet many women delay seeking treatment or assume their symptoms are a normal part of ageing, pregnancy or motherhood.
"Women don’t get enough treatment in pelvic health,” Sarah says.
“When I was specialising in pelvic health I thought, women need to know all the things I’m learning. We shouldn’t be gatekeeping pelvic health.
“Every woman needs to learn about it; we should be getting pelvic floor checks before we fall pregnant, or even if we’re not going to have kids.”
Closing a gap in women’s healthcare
After graduating from Bond, Sarah began working in private practice, treating a range of clients, but her heart and ambition stayed set on women’s health.
She invested in additional training, mentoring and professional development to build her expertise.
The more she learnt, the more she became convinced there was a significant gap in healthcare education.
Research shows pelvic floor dysfunction affects a significant proportion of Australian women, with conditions such as urinary incontinence, persistent pelvic pain and prolapse common during and after pregnancy. Yet many women delay seeking treatment or assume their symptoms are a normal part of ageing, pregnancy or motherhood.
"Women don’t get enough treatment in pelvic health,” Sarah says.
“When I was specialising in pelvic health I thought, women need to know all the things I’m learning. We shouldn’t be gatekeeping pelvic health.
“Every woman needs to learn about it; we should be getting pelvic floor checks before we fall pregnant, or even if we’re not going to have kids.”
Going out on her own
In 2020, Sarah rented a room in a GP clinic for half a day each week while continuing to work in another practice. Her appointments filled within four weeks. Soon she expanded to a full day, then two, then three.
Within a year, she had outgrown the space.
Sarah opened Female Physio Co with a vision to create something different from the traditional environments she’d worked in and experienced herself.
“I wanted to create a space that was not clinical,” she says.
“When you’re getting your pelvis assessed, it’s not a very fun appointment to come to. I wanted it to feel warm, welcoming and calming.”
Today, the clinic has expanded into a larger, purpose-built facility and employs a growing team of physiotherapists solely dedicated to women’s health.
“I found this newfound passion for business,” Sarah says.
“It was a huge learning curve.
“When I started the business I had no idea what I was doing, but now that I’m in it, I love it.”
Shattering the stigma
Outside of the walls of her Robina clinic, Sarah’s impact started to grow on social media.
She started her Instagram account to share evidence-based information. Overnight, it exploded. One particular video, featuring Sarah speaking to camera and directing the viewer through a simple pelvic floor exercise, gained millions of views.
"I did not expect to go viral,” Sarah laughs. “I woke up and I had 100,000 new followers.”
100,000 quickly became millions. But more important to Sarah is what the followers and views represent: an appetite for conversations that were once considered too awkward or too personal to have publicly.
Sarah receives hundreds of messages daily from women around the world sharing how her content has helped them better understand their symptoms, seek treatment and improve their quality of life.
“The main goal of the Instagram and TikTok pages is to actually shine a light on these topics and break the taboo,” she says.
“That really motivates me.”
The motherhood effect
Since the start of her career, Sarah worked closely with pregnant and postpartum women, expertly guiding them through one of the most significant physical transitions a body can experience.
Still, becoming a mother herself changed everything.
“I can relate on a whole new level to my clients now,” she says.
“I think I’m a much better physio because of it. Before I became a mum, I was very clinical, I gave the evidence and gave the facts.
“But now, I understand the days when things are really tough. I can pivot a lot better and make the treatment and exercises more realistic.”
Now a mother of two, Sarah balances scaling a business, raising a family and continuing her mission to make pelvic health information more accessible.
She says she isn’t entirely sure where Female Physio Co will be in ten years’ time. Another clinic may be on the horizon, and more educational resources certainly are.
But for Sarah, every new follower, clinic space and business milestone serves a bigger purpose: ensuring more women have access to the information that should never have been difficult to find. It’s the same mission that first drew her to pelvic health during that final placement.
“The more education about pelvic health that we have out there in the community, the better,” Sarah says.
“Not everyone can afford physio all the time, so if I can provide people with free, evidence-based information, that’s what I’ll keep doing.”
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