Some people stumble into a career.
Alison Berglund did not.
She says she knew in high school.
Not vaguely. Not “something in healthcare.” Not “maybe sports medicine.”
Physical therapy.
That was the plan.
Years later, after undergrad at the University of Delaware, grad school at UNC, and a demanding first job treating soldiers at Fort Bragg, she’s still doing exactly that — only now on her own terms.
That kind of clarity is rarer than we admit.
Baptism by fire
Berglund’s first job out of school was at Fort Bragg, working as a contractor in a physical therapy clinic serving the 82nd Airborne.
She was a new graduate.
The patients were soldiers.
The injuries were… varied.
“Anything from a cute ankle sprain to someone whose parachute didn’t open when they were jumping”.
There was also sick call — meaning injured soldiers could walk in before seeing a physician.
Her job was to evaluate them and decide:
Need imaging?
Need orthopedics?
Need PT?
Need something else?
That is serious responsibility for someone just out of school.
It also tends to sharpen you quickly.
Charleston kept calling
Berglund grew up in North Kingstown, Rhode Island — an active kid who played soccer, lacrosse, cross country, and track.
But Charleston had been on her radar for years through family visits.
Every trip felt the same.
Good weather. Water. Energy. People outside. Run clubs. A city that likes to move.
Eventually, she listened to that feeling.
She moved here in late 2022.
The harder business model
Before Charleston, Berglund worked in an insurance-based clinic in Raleigh.
That experience clarified something.
She wanted to help people get better. Faster. More personally. Without being told every patient needed the same sequence of treatments or arbitrary visit limits.
So when she launched her own practice, she skipped what many would consider the safer route.
No insurance model.
Direct pay from day one.
“I wasn’t creating a business to make a ton of money,” she said. “I wanted to treat people how I wanted to treat people.”
That line tells you almost everything.
Why runners talk about her
If you spend enough time around Charleston’s running community, Berglund’s name comes up.
Usually the same way trusted mechanics, great bartenders, and elite youth coaches come up:
Quietly, but often.
Her philosophy is simple.
Pain is often not where the problem starts.
“If you’re only looking at the knee, you’re missing the issue,” she said, explaining how ankle mobility, hip mechanics, strength, and movement patterns can all be connected.
In other words:
Treat the system, not just the symptom.
A bigger bet
This February, Berglund opened a new roughly 1,700-square-foot location in Mount Pleasant with treatment rooms and an open gym space.
She also added another physical therapist, continuing the move from solo operator to growing business owner.
That leap matters.
Going from talented practitioner to employer, lease-signer, and builder is a different game.
Many never make it.
She did.
About the name
6:33 Physical Therapy comes from Matthew 6:33:
“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”
Berglund said the verse kept appearing while she was deciding whether to start the business.
“There’s no way I would have done this if I didn’t feel like God had called me to it.”
The bottom line
Some people spend years trying to figure out what they should do.
Alison Berglund seems to have known early.
Then she did the harder part:
She stayed with it.
And in a world full of pivots, detours, and half-hearted plans, there’s something powerful about a person who found her lane. And kept running.
