11-month-old patient Kiara Devenyns in the safe hands of former Warrnambool resident osteopath Dr Allanna Treweek.
FORMER Warrnambool College student Allanna Treweek never dreamed she’d own her own osteopath practice, let alone be a double finalist in the Western Australian Telstra Business Awards.
Dr Treweek, 30, is a finalist in the marie claire young business women’s award and the Commonwealth Bank business owner award.
She moved to Perth in 2009 after noticing a shortage of osteopaths in Western Australia.
“My family moved to Warrnambool when I was two, my parents are still there,” she said.
When she was 18 she moved to Melbourne to study at RMIT and graduated in 2005.
She said her business in Perth, Melville Osteopathy, had grown rapidly.
“When I arrived I was working at a practice for two half days a week. That grew to two full days.
“Now I have five osteopaths working in my clinic.”
Dr Treweek’s practice is six days a week and offers other treatments such as naturopathy, remedial massage, shiatsu and traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture. The number of patient consults a week have grown from 20 in 2009 to 140 this year and Dr Treweek now has her eye on bigger premises and other clinics.
She said her advice for anyone thinking of starting a business was to have a good plan in place before you start anything.
“And you need to be prepared to put in a lot of hours.
“At the start I was the washing lady as well as the receptionist.”
The winner will be announced on Tuesday, October 16.
cquirk@standard.fairfax.com.au
