Liz Yates Horton beams as she hoists the glass trophy that signifies her as the 2025 Wise entrepreneur of the year. Five years ago her physical therapy business, Engage Wellness, was little more than an idea and something to keep her and her Parkinson's patients moving during the pandemic. Horton is an example of an entrepreneur that used the disruption of the pandemic to pivot and find a niche, and is now reaping the benefits of her work.
“Having started Engage the week that everything shut down in COVID without a business background, just lots of years as a physical therapist and having been able to grow my practice to have 10 employees, in two locations.” she said backstage.
Liz Horton’s story sounds nearly impossible; a physical therapist with a specialty in parkinson’s and dizziness, with no formal business training, with two small children at home after their daycare shut down, starts a thriving physical therapy practice using exercise science to give people with crippling neurologic conditions and injuries their lives back. From zoom workouts, to social distanced parkinson’s walking groups, to a small home office, to her first location, Horton has accomplished in five years what many dream to achieve in 10.
She didn’t do it alone though, Horton was guided through this incredible journey by the WISE Women's Business Center. Founded in 2002 from the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University, WISE is a firm dedicated to the support, connection, and empowerment of central New York women in business at every stage of their journey. The firm puts on a yearly event, the WISE symposium, which brings together hundreds of women entrepreneurs and business owners each year for inspiration, education, and connection. It’s at this event that they honor the WISE entrepreneur of the year.
“It's really thanks to the Wise Center,” Horton said, “I've been able to participate in, all the programs [they] have to offer, along with one-on-one coaching, which has really facilitated me being able to start and then grow my business to where it is today.”
Horton’s approach centers around a philosophy that exercise is a miracle worker for neurologic patients, particularly those with Parkinson's.
“They've actually done research looking at the brain of individuals with Parkinson's when they've taken their medicine and the areas that light up in the brain.” she said gleefully in her office.
Horton freely admits that Parkinson's and its treatment is one of her favorite things to talk about.,
“When people do focused, intense exercise, the brain lights up even more in terms of the areas that help us with movement. So I always say that exercise is better than medicine and it doesn't have the side effects,” she said.
One of Horton’s patients who can attest to her brilliance just so happens to be former WISE director Joanne Len Weaver, who served in the role for 10 years from 2009 to 2019. She was diagnosed with Parkinson’s 13 years ago. In the nearly decade and a half that Weaver has had the condition, Engage Wellness has been one of the biggest game changers.
“When I was diagnosed, I really had no idea how I would go through the next step in my life,” Weaver said before her therapy session, “I will say that without the guidance of Liz and all of her workers here, I don't know where I would be. Her favorite line is, you got this, okay? There are moments when it's very difficult for me to navigate, and those words come into my mind, and I got it.”
Despite being retired, Weaver continues to dispense wisdom amidst her sessions, sessions which include both practical movements which simulate day-to-day activities like walking across the street or reaching up to a high shelf, and more conventional workout activities. But it isn’t just about movement and functionality, there is a critical emotional element to Horton's methods that forms what one might call the ‘secret sauce’ of her practice that makes Engage so life changing. Horton insists that patients count loudly through exercises, and smile as much as possible.
“I always say that here and at Empower Parkinson's, you get free dopamine”
Weaver said as she powered through reps on a pilates reformer.
Weaver is one of many patients that Liz Horton has managed to change the life of, it’s something that Liz does not take lightly. However, like every great story, there are challenges. Insurance is a daily battle which is both frustrating and discouraging. It is a learning curve for Horton but also a visceral sadness to see some patients who need Engage and the care it can provide, be denied coverage. Physical therapy, particularly the therapy that is done at Engage, is often not covered despite appeals by Liz herself, defending the necessity of the therapy.
“New York's one of the lowest reimbursing states for physical therapy specifically.” Horton said sadly.
“I can think of a gentleman who we're currently working with who had a stroke,”Horton recalled, “ he had 20 therapy visits for the whole year and he needed physical, occupational, and speech therapy. And that is really challenging to navigate.”
It’s the setup to an all too common story in healthcare and Horton lives through that story with her patients far more than she would like,
“We wrote letters to the insurance company to try to appeal it and really work within what the insurance company would provide us. We were able to get some additional visits, but not nearly what he needed to be able to regain everything that he wants to be able to do.,” Horton said.
Running a physical therapy business has many challenges, and starting one has even more, but Horton has succeeded at both. She is looking forward to the next phase of her business journey.
“I have the blessing of every day getting to see the wonderful work that myself and our team do and how it changes people's lives.” she said pensively, “and my goal for the next 10 years is that we continue to make that impact.”
