Six years ago, during a game, Kristen Markoe was dodging a trap at half court when she heard a sharp pop and felt her knee give out. Her left ACL had torn. She was out for the season and would require reconstructive surgery. But her experience of being sidelined and undergoing extensive physical therapy would go on to inspire her to become a physical therapist and coach who is dedicated to helping other athletes not only recover physically and mentally, but also focus on injury prevention.

As part of the Hunter College Women’s Basketball team, Kristen was a star player and team captain who broke numerous records, becoming the first player at Hunter ever to record over 1,000 rebounds and earning the second all-time career points in women’s basketball. She was named CUNYAC Rookie of the Year and then Player of the Year three times. Now an Assistant Coach, Kristen remains heavily involved in developing the team’s conditioning program, emphasizing proper warm-up body mechanics and strength/agility/stamina workouts to improve performance. Have a seemingly inexplicable pain? Coach Kristen’s the first point of reference. Don’t have access to the department’s PT/conditioning staff during off-season? Coach Kristen’s door is always open.

This October, she hosted her third injury prevention screening for Hunter’s basketball teams, focusing on familiar foe and the number one culprit for sidelines: ACL injuries. Rallying over 15 SPEAR Therapist and Tech volunteers, Kristen designed eight stations for over 20 participating players to provide assessments that were unique both to each player and their athletic goals. Players were able to get direct feedback on their leg stability/ROM, landing control, push-off and landing, running/cutting mechanics, and more. Throughout the event Coach Kristen poked, prodded, demonstrated, and encouraged before sending each student home with an individualized exercise program to help them work on any weaknesses and avoid potential injuries.

Having organized the event a couple times now, Kristen says she’s gotten to learn and improve a lot. When first bringing up the idea to her SPEAR director, Joe Costello, last year, it was just an idea, something she’d tried as a PT student. But by the end of her meeting, “Joe was giving me deadlines to make things happen.” There were people to coordinate with, spaces to reserve, clinical exercises to design, materials to gather. Before she knew it, Kristen’s passion for bringing physical therapy to student athletes before they’re injured, and the experiences that allowed her to empathize with her team, turned her into a SPEAR leader.

In addition to providing SPEAR the opportunity to connect with more patient athletes, Kristen says these injury prevention screenings also “allow [therapists] to hone skills in movement assessment at high levels of athleticism.” Not only do these outreach efforts provide us with opportunities to connect with our communities, but they also help us develop as healthcare providers.

When asked about her next goals, Kristen says, “I am definitely looking to hold a screening for other teams at Hunter College—the women’s volleyball team, men and women’s fencing team, and men’s soccer team coaches have reached out with interest. Within SPEAR I am interested in becoming Assistant Clinical Director.” On November 6^th, it was announced that Kristen Markoe would be promoted to Assistant Clinical Director of our W 57^th clinic.

Thank you to all the Hunter College basketball students who joined us at Kristen’s ACL injury prevention screening–stay safe!

SPEAR is continuing its expansion across the most bustling city in America! We’ve now opened our second location in the world-famous neighborhood of Tribeca, right on Chambers Street! This brand new, state-of-the-art clinic is a stunning 5,000 square foot, two-floor space with ample room for all of your physical therapy and occupational therapy treatment needs. Built out by our award-winning architectural experts, the space has been skillfully designed with you in mind, fusing together elegance, style and practicality to bring you an inviting environment to get you back to your best self. With brand new equipment and plenty of space, it truly allows our team of talented therapists to provide you with physical therapy and occupational therapy treatment, as well as a multitude of specialties including hand therapy, vestibular therapy, and return to play testing.

Leadership Done Right

The new clinic is led by Lauren Carleton, PT, DPT, CHT. A SPEAR veteran, Lauren previously led the team at our Tribeca–Park Place location, just a few short blocks away. Lauren is a certified hand therapist, as well as involved with women’s health, chronic pain patients, and a wide range of post-operative care.

Watch as Lauren details her journey as a physical therapist below:

“As a physical therapist, my favorite part of my job is being able to help people get back to doing things they love. It’s a very personal job; you have to take things home with you, and now it’s great to give that same effort and energy to building a team of others around me so we can reach more people.” – Lauren Carleton

Located in a New York City Historical Landmark building, the clinic is just a few blocks away from several MTA subway lines (R, W, A, C, 1, 2, 3, J, Z, 4, 5, and 6). It’s a short stroll from some of Manhattan’s most renowned attractions, including Battery Park, the World Trade Center, the Woolworth Building skycraper, the New York Evening Post Building, Zuccotti Park, and Pace University.

We are elated to be able to bring this newest location to such a bustling neighborhood. With so many New Yorkers to bring back to life, we want to ensure we are always able to accommodate our patients’ and physicians’ needs.

Ready to Try Out The Space for Yourself?

You can schedule an appointment at our gorgeous new clinic at 646-973-5437, or by using our Request an Appointment form online.

We’re really proud of the team we’ve cultivated and built here at SPEAR. Our teammates are truly aligned with the core mission of the organization and lead their lives with purpose and intent.

Sarah Lloyd, PT, DPT and the Clinical Education Liason at our W 44th St clinic, is a shining example of that purpose. Sarah truly enjoys treating a diverse patient population, with the goal of educating and empowering patients through functional movement. She is dedicated to the pursuits she is passionate about: helping patients get back to life, and spending time playing the sport she loves. Sarah is an active professional lacrosse player and currently plays for the Women’s Professional Lacrosse League for the WPLL Command. The team spent their summer season this year competing at games from Virginia, all the way up to Massachusetts!

Sarah started playing lacrosse at age 8 and has carried a great love for the sport ever since. Her collegiate career began at Princeton University, competing as a varsity lacrosse player and serving as Captain during her senior year. She was later drafted by her current team. “I love it because it lets me play the game at a very high level with the absolute best players in the world, but I can still be a physical therapist during the week!” she shares. Sarah has always been an athlete—her first introduction to physical therapy was actually after injuring her ankle playing soccer in high school! She has spent much of her time working with adolescent and collegiate athletes, as well as athletes training for the NFL combine.

While Sarah has a true passion for lacrosse, she also loves that the WPLL is tied to a mission—the league has a WPLL Futures division, which provides clinics and opportunities for middle school and high school lacrosse players, designed to support the growth of girls and women to excel in life. “One of the best parts of being a part of this league is that we get to help with clinics and mold the future of girls lacrosse moving forward,” Sarah says. “We are able to be role models for younger girls to look up to in our sport, something we ourselves did not have while growing up.”

It’s amazing to see our team members so passionate about helping others, through many different avenues. We believe it’s important to always remember our core values in everything we do—Sarah, keep up that incredible SPEAR-IT!

The duo celebrates their accomplishment atop a mountainside peak

Summertime is often a time that inspires people to get out into the world and make the most out of life. That’s exactly what our PT and Director of Hand Therapy Phaeleau Cunneen did when he set off on a 13-day adventure with his daughter to hike the Dolomites, a mountain range in Northern Italy. The expedition was no easy feat, especially in the middle of an August summer!

The two frequent hikers have embarked on several journeys, from hut-to-hut hiking in New Hampshire, to hiking in the Swiss Alps. On each hike, they’ve met great people from many different countries, all while getting to experience the wonderful natural beauty around them.

Nothing but smiles when you’re surrounded by natural beauty!

“In Italy, we were over 8,000 feet above sea level, so the sunsets were amazing!” Phaeleau says. “We were above the clouds. The next day you get up and hike to the next point. The scenery was ever changing, the views spectacular, and the people warm and friendly.”

For this most recent expedition in Italy, Phaeleau did not need to train, as he knew what to expect from past hikes; however, his experience as a PT proved beneficial: “As both an experienced hiker and a PT, I knew what to expect and how to best prepare. There was some altitude, for example, so we knew we had to be ready for that. We went for almost two weeks, and I had a 27lb backpack in total for the trip, because I knew that carrying weight would be an issue.”

Even though they’re experienced, the trip wasn’t without any obstacles. The most challenging part? Not getting proper directions from the locals! “Sometimes the trail markers were not accurate or non-existent! We had a map, guide/trail description book, and a compass, but it was still very challenging.”

In spite of the obstacles they faced, the trip was a rewarding and successful experience, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life: “It was incredible quality time with my daughter. There was no TV, cell phone, internet, or agenda. Just you, nature, and what you have on your back.”

We love seeing our teammates take on new challenges and accomplish amazing physical feats! These two are true #BacktoLife goals.

Our headquarters team in celebration mode!

We’ve got some exciting news: SPEAR has made the Inc. 5000’s list of the most successful companies in America for the 6^th time in a row, a feat only 3% of companies accomplish! Making it to Inc.’s annual list of the fastest-growing private companies is a distinction we are very proud to earn, and one we’ve carried with great honor since our first procurement of the award. The list is nationally considered to be a great indicator of success and growth. Per Inc.’s figures, companies that made the list on average have grown sixfold since 2015!

We are super enthusiastic about this recognition! Our driving factor, the basis of our “why” we do what we do, lies in our people. We are devoted to giving our patients a better quality of life. Since SPEAR’s founding 20 years ago, the soul of everything we do is to help people get back to life—that’s why we’ve adopted it as one of our mottos! And we aim to accomplish that mission, every single day. We commit to and carry out our vision through the heart and soul of SPEAR—our people. The culture of SPEAR is at the center of our values. We call it our SPEAR-IT for a reason! No doubt that the success we’ve seen is due to our team members, who come in day in and day out to prioritize their patients’ needs, and one another’s as well. Our physical therapists work daily to get each patient one step further toward better health. Each clinic staff member, from our care coordinators to our PT techs, work collectively to create an elevated experience for each patient. They also prioritize cultivating a warm, dynamic environment, one that works not only at each individual clinic, but also overall company-wide. It is this support system that keeps the lifeline of SPEAR alive.

As this year marks 20 years of SPEAR, it’s been an ongoing celebration of growth, success, and life. In our 20^th Anniversary Origin Story video, where we chronicled the origins of SPEAR’s story, CEO and Co-founder Dan Rootenberg made an influential point: “the most important responsibility that I have to this company is hiring A-Players.” The most essential component of SPEAR is having people who carry the passion close to their own personal “why”. We’ve been able to help our patients achieve remarkable results because of our team. In an open letter thanking our team members for choosing to be a part of SPEAR, Da

n affirmed: “We are fortunate to have humble, talented, hard-working, caring team members. For that, I am extremely grateful.” Gratitude is the name of the game—we are so thankful for the entire SPEAR team. Without them, we would not be where we are today.

A big thank you to Inc. 5000 for recognizing our dedication and passion. This award is for all of us at SPEAR!