Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Benton.
Hi Amy, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My path to founding Prime Performance began in Lake Oswego, Oregon, where I grew up dancing and playing sports. Those experiences, and the injuries that occasionally came with them, sparked an early interest in how the body moves, performs, and recovers.
After earning my Psychology degree, I completed my Doctorate in Physical Therapy at Simmons College in Boston. While living in Boston, I danced professionally, which gave me a firsthand understanding of the physical demands placed on performers and athletes and ultimately shaped my approach as a clinician.
It was also in Boston that I met my partner, Matt Marino. Matt earned his degree in Rehabilitation Sciences before completing his Master’s in Physical Therapy at Northeastern University. Like me, he grew up active in sports and developed an early interest in human movement and performance.
After completing our education and beginning our careers on the East Coast, we moved to the Pacific Northwest. I continued dancing professionally while working in outpatient orthopedics, where I developed a specialty in treating dancers, performing artists, and active individuals. My experience as a dancer gave me a unique appreciation for the physical and mental demands performers face, and I became passionate about helping them stay healthy and continue doing what they love.
Meanwhile, Matt built a career focused on industrial injury prevention, ergonomics, and human performance. His work helping employees stay healthy and productive led him to become a Certified Professional Ergonomist and eventually into the world of wearable technology. He helped support the early development and launch of HeroWear, an exosuit company commercializing technology developed at Vanderbilt University’s Center for Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology. Along with years of ergonomics consulting, that experience provided valuable insight into innovation, entrepreneurship, and performance optimization.
Throughout our careers, we have remained committed to lifelong learning, earning advanced certifications and continually refining our approach to helping people move better, perform better, and stay active throughout their lives.
Over time, I became convinced there was a better way to deliver care—one that brought healthcare, fitness, and performance together in a truly collaborative environment. I envisioned a place where people could access individualized care from experts across multiple disciplines, all working toward the same goal.
That vision led Matt and me to found Prime Performance in 2021. Today, Prime Performance brings together physical therapy, acupuncture, massage therapy, Pilates, personal training, group training, sports science, and performance coaching under one roof. Our mission is simple: to help people heal, live, and perform at their best—whether they are recovering from an injury, pursuing a new athletic goal, or simply wanting to feel and function better in everyday life.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Like most startups, it definitely hasn’t been a completely smooth road. Struggles are part of the process, and we’ve tried to take each challenge in stride.
One of the biggest hurdles early on was finding the right space. We had a very specific vision for what Prime Performance would be. We wanted a space where we could seamlessly integrate healthcare, wellness, and performance. It took nearly two years to find real estate that truly fit that vision. During that time, we kept moving forward in a much smaller studio space where only one of us could work at a time. It wasn’t what we initially planned, and it lasted longer than expected, but it forced us to stay focused, be resourceful, and continue building the foundation of the business.
Beyond that, starting any business, especially in the healthcare space, comes with its own complexities. Blending physical therapy, acupuncture, massage therapy, pilates, applied sport science, metabolic testing, health, wellness, and performance coaching into one cohesive model required a lot of problem-solving, iteration, and learning along the way.
That said, none of the challenges were insurmountable. If anything, they helped shape what Prime Performance has become today. We’ve built something that feels truly unique in Portland, and we’re proud to be delivering superior, personalized care and meaningful results for our patients and clients every day.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
At Prime Performance, our mission is simple: helping people heal, live, and perform at their best. We are a Portland-based clinic and performance center providing one-on-one, expert-driven care that bridges rehabilitation, wellness, and human performance. Our services include physical therapy, acupuncture, massage therapy, breathing assessment and intervention, Pilates, AcroDance instruction, strength, conditioning and performance coaching, as well as applied sports science services such as resting metabolic rate (RMR) testing, VO2 max / graded exercise testing, training program design, and more.
Our team has extensive experience working with clients of all ages and backgrounds, with specialized expertise in dance and performing arts, endurance sports like running, cycling, triathalon, and mountaineering, technical climbing, team sports, combat sports, and tactical populations. Whether you’re recovering from injury, managing pain, optimizing your health, or striving for peak performance, we combine hands-on care, science-driven assessment, and individualized programming to help you move better, feel better, and perform at your highest potential.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Work hard, never stop learning, put your best self out there, follow your passions and do what you love.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://primeperformancept.com/
- Instagram: @prime_performance_pt
