DR. ASHLEY SPEIGHTS (She/her)

PT, DPT, PES

Owner/Physical Therapist

Dr. Ashley Speights, PT, DPT, PES is a physical therapist, business coach, educator, and the founder and owner of The PHYT Collective. A champion in improving patient outcomes, she seeks to break down silos in the healthcare space by removing barriers to care. Serving as a bridge between people, industries, and ideas, she believes community education to be the key in achieving athlete goals—opening lines of communication and sharing knowledge between healthcare and fitness industries.

An evidence-based practitioner, Ashley understands how chronic pain inhibits every aspect of a person’s life and wellbeing. A former competitive volleyball player and rower, she experienced recurring shoulder dislocations resulting in ER stays and ultimately surgery. Today, Ashley seeks to solve the unsolvable cases, returning freedom of movement to the patient. Her mantra of, keep athletes in the room, serves as a rallying cry amongst boutique fitness spaces in Washington, DC, educating fitness professionals on modifications and biomechanics to safely protect and progress each athlete. Her willingness to try every strategy and refusal to accept the phrase, that’s just the way it is, advances clients through recovery and into their next goal—allowing them to continue the activities they love most. 

A masochist in unearthing genius solutions, Ashley’s ability to pilot creative strategies extends beyond patient care—advocating for her fellow practitioners as much as she advocates for her patients. The PHYT Collective seeks to erase the churn-and-burn method of outpatient care, giving every athlete the one-on-one, undeniably-focused attention necessary to achieve their goals. Her “barbershop” business model is an anomaly in the industry, creating unlimited earning potential for PHYT providers. She is a business coach through PT Biz, and regularly hosts workshops gathering some of the brightest minds in the wellness space. Inspired by the pioneers and mentors who came before her, Ashley is a clinical instructor, guest lecturer at Duke University, and mentor for physical therapy students of color at Tufts University.

Dr. Speights has been featured in The New York Times, Runners World, and NBC4. She holds a B.S. Ed in Kinesiology with a concentration in Sports Medicine and a BA in Spanish from the University of Virginia, and received her Doctor of Physical Therapy from the Duke University School of Medicine. She is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association, a certified Functional Dry Needling Practitioner, and certified personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. A second-generation Washingtonian, she proudly owns two practices in her home city.