Podiatry Hive Member Profile- Andrea Castello

  • Member Profile

    Name: Andrea Castello

    Name of Clinic: AC Podiatry

    Where do you operate: Adelaide, South Australia

  • How long have you been in business?

    7 and a half years.

andrea-castello

  • What attracted you to Podiatry?

    Personal experience as an 11 year old boy.

  • What are the 3 crucial elements to your success?

    1. Risk taking
    2. Self-Awareness
    3. Passion for the profession

  • What‘s your philosophy on WHY you’re in business?

    To make a difference. At the age of 11 I had a podiatrist give me my life back. His expertise and knowledge allowed me to perform all the tasks and activities I hadn’t been able to do for 3 months. I wanted to pay it forward and make that same difference to peoples lives that Simon had to mine.

  • What has been your biggest OOPS! moment?:

    Straying from my vision. Allowing other peoples perception of what I should or could be doing cloud my own reality. This resulted in several decisions that put my business back 2 years. Lesson learned was to stay true to yourself.

  • What has been your biggest A-HA! moment?

    That the fish rots from the head down.

    It is important to be the leader your team needs. To take ownership of the failings and take steps to address them. Show up every day the way you want your practice to be. I used this approach to transform a poor culture into a good culture. Light bulb moment!

  • Can you you share one or two marketing elements or methods you’ve used in your practice, that have been successful, and have provided growth?

    Introducing online booking to our website and practice. People want convenience and providing the opportunity for prospective patients to make an appointment at their fingertips has proven successful.

    Education based marketing. Raising my profile by speaking to different groups of people, whether retail, professional or recreational, has been invaluable in bringing patients to the clinic. Particularly if I want to target a specific type of patient (e.g. ESWT)

  • If you had your time over again, what would you do differently?

    I would create my vision very early on and build a business around that. It might have taken me longer to get to where I am now, however the business would be aligned to my life goals. It is much harder to reshape a business when you have 20 employees than it is when it’s just you.

  • Other than being a fabulous Podiatrist, what do you do outside of Podiatry?

    I have a beautiful wife and 2 gorgeous kids. They are the reason I get up in the morning and I love nothing more than spending time with them. My life outside of work is mostly about the kids and all of their commitments (sporting and otherwise).

    We are also currently renovating a home so between the renovation, the family and the business there isn’t much time for anything else!