Growing up on a dairy farm in a small town of Ngongotaha, near Rotorua, Amy Dibley knew how difficult it was for rural residents to access services, such as physiotherapy, in their nearest town.

After graduating from Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and living, working and travelling the globe for four years, Amy returned to New Zealand with the ambition to take physiotherapy services to the doorstep of small, rural communities.

Today, Amy is the director of Physio Direct, a rural physiotherapy service with 10 physiotherapists that provides treatment to about 300 patients each week, in areas ranging from Rotorua to Matamata, Putaruru, Murupara, Whakapapa and Ohakune.

The venture has been such a success, Amy was recently named the overall winner of Rural Women New Zealand’s annual Enterprising Rural Women Awards.

Amy said the award is recognition of the hard work that’s gone into establishing her physiotherapy business over the past five years.

“Having a model like mine is challenging and physios are always hard to find, being on the job shortage list here,” she said.

“Having an award like this is great for the company, not only for the communities we work in - knowing they are part of a model that is helping bring a service to the rural areas, but also for future physios who want to be part of a team that has this as its vision and has been recognised nationally for it.”

When Amy first launched Physio Direct, she created a business model designed to attract physios to work in rural areas and in her clinics.

“I thought of who my target physios were, what they would want and need to make rural living easier, and how I could be an attractive company to work for,” she said.

“I decided to base my business model on the experience I had when I was working in the UK.

“When I was working there, I was happy to work anywhere - not having any family or friends there.

“I didn’t care where I went, as long as I had a place to stay, good money, and knew I wasn’t going to be staying there for too long, as I was all about experiencing something different and exciting.”

Amy said building her business hasn’t been an easy road - it’s taken a lot of hard work, long hours, stress, anxiety and determination.

“If you want something you have to be prepared to work hard for it - nothing just happens,” she said.

“Everything you do has an effect on something else. If you want to do something different - go for it and good luck!”

Eventually, Amy hopes to expand her business to establish clinics in the Pacific Islands, delivering physiotherapy services to those who need it most.

“It would be great to be able to help people on a larger scale who have limited health services,” she said.

“I’ve done a lot of travelling and have seen first hand how a simple injury can be devastating on people and their families, and so easy to fix.”