Sarah McMahon: Building Community Through Movement and Motherhood
This Doctor of Physical Therapy is revolutionizing how families approach wellness together in Philadelphia.
For Dr. Sarah McMahon, the moment everything clicked happened during her final semester at Drexel University. After years pursuing dance and education, a single kinesiology class taught by a physical therapist sparked an “aha moment” that would reshape her entire career trajectory. “I realized PTs still work with kids, PTs still teach—obviously I’m teaching people about their body or how to rehab it. And I was like, that fits,” Sarah recalls.
That realization led Sarah to make a bold decision: dropping out of her master’s in education program to pursue a doctorate in physical therapy instead. When she nervously shared this news with her parents, expecting resistance, her mother’s response surprised her. “She was totally cool as a cucumber. She said, ‘That makes total sense’. She could just tell something wasn’t right with me.”
Today, as a Doctor of Physical Therapy specializing in pediatrics and neurology and the entrepreneur behind Phun Phit Pham, Sarah has created something uniquely needed in Philadelphia’s parenting landscape—a space where family wellness isn’t compartmentalized, but celebrated as a shared journey.
Sarah McMahon is a 2025 Philadelphia Family Women of Influence Award Winner
Philadelphia Family’s Women of Influence Awards celebrate exceptional women making significant impacts in our community. Sarah was nominated and selected based on her achievements and dedication to creating positive change in her community. Each Women of Influence Award Winner has committed to support Family Focus Media’s core values. Together, we are committed to foster a sense of belonging and empowerment for all for all families. All backgrounds, races, genders, and sexual orientations are welcome and safe with us.
Beyond the awards, our Women of Influence Luncheons and Speed Networking Night attendees come together as our Women of Influence Network, a community fostering connections, collaboration, and mutual support.
From Dance Floor to Therapy Room
Sarah’s unconventional path to physical therapy began with dance—a pursuit she actually quit as a child because “they make me stretch and stretching hurts,” a sentiment she now finds ironic. Returning to dance in eighth grade, she quickly progressed from recreational classes to competing nationally and performing in the Orange Bowl halftime show. Though passionate about dance, her practical mindset led her to seek a backup plan.
At Drexel’s inaugural dance major program, Sarah was working toward a five-year BS/MS program combining dance with K-6 education, initially planning to specialize in special education. Her sister’s epilepsy had sparked her early interest in neurology, laying groundwork for her future focus – But it was a final kinesiology class that revealed her true calling.
The variety in Sarah’s educational experience proved invaluable. During her time at Drexel, she earned a 450-hour Pilates certification through the dance program and volunteered at HMS School for Cerebral Palsy, working with movement therapists and dance buddies. These formative experiences now shape her unique, family-centered approach to physical therapy and wellness.
Breaking Traditional Healthcare Molds
After graduation, Sarah strategically took two part-time positions to achieve her dream of working in both pediatrics and neurology—rare specialties that typically require choosing one path. Half of her week was spent at a nationally ranked neurological rehabilitation hospital, helping those with brain and spinal cord injuries take their first steps in recovery. The other half of her week was dedicated to early intervention services, where she supported families navigating developmental challenges in infants and toddlers.
However, working part-time in traditional healthcare settings presented unexpected obstacles. Despite initiating a Pilates program, leading support groups, writing guest blog pieces, teaching at local universities, and bringing in thousands of dollars in fundraising, Sarah was told she wasn’t demonstrating leadership when she applied for advancement. “They always said, ‘Well, you’re just part-time,'” she explains. “It took a full year for them to actually honor the title change and pay raise from when I applied for it.”
This frustration with institutional limitations, combined with her husband’s encouragement to value herself more highly, planted seeds for something bigger.
The Crisis That Sparked Innovation
The turning point came during 2023, a year Sarah describes as when “everything that could go wrong did go wrong.” A second-floor washing machine flood caused $40,000 in damage to their home. Her husband lost his job and, despite quickly securing a new government position, remained unemployed for seven months while waiting for required security clearances. During this period, they also tragically lost a beloved family dog.
By month six, the financial strain had reached a breaking point. “We were at the point where we couldn’t pay our bills.” Sarah remembers. Despite family members offering support, it was also laced with criticism, deepening her resolve to never feel so helpless again.
“I felt like we had no control,” she explains. “I was like, I need to do something. I never want my family to feel this way and not have the support we need to get through life.”
Birth of Phun Phit Pham
That October, Sarah looked around at online influencers making millions sharing “hacks” without qualifications and realized she had valuable clinical knowledge to offer families. “There’s so much in my brain that I feel like I can offer to help people, and I feel like I could reach a lot of people because of my clinical background.”
On November 1, 2023, she launched her Instagram page for PhunPhitPham, initially planning to focus on educational content. But meeting families through social media and attending classes led by community leaders like Gina from Music with Gina showed her a different path. “I remember sitting in her class thinking, ‘She hosts one class a day and has such a wonderful community and gets her own time with her family. What could I do?'”
The answer was Playlates—Sarah’s trademarked program that allows parents and children to work on physical development simultaneously. Unlike typical “mommy and me” classes focused primarily on children, Playlates addresses the gap where parents’ needs are overlooked.
The Science Behind Play
What makes Playlates unique is Sarah’s intentional combination of physical therapy and Pilates expertise. “In the shoulder bridge exercise, I have parents hold their child on their hips. When they work through a posterior pelvic tilt to lift their hips up, it puts the child facing them in an anterior tilt,” she explains. “The anterior tilt helps make their posture straighter and teaches them how to engage the muscles they need for sitting.”
Each exercise serves dual purposes, benefiting both parent and child developmentally. The classes maintain flexibility for real parenting moments—Sarah has had mothers nurse while doing side-lying leg exercises, and welcomes families whether babies are sleeping, fussy, or fully participating.
Despite her passion and significant investment in trademarking the program, class enrollment can be very inconsistent. “While it can be confusing and frustrating, just putting myself out there has given me so many incredible opportunities,” Sarah notes, including featuring Playlates on the DOWA Health platform and guest lecturing at Heartwell Yoga’s Children’s Teacher Training.
Building Authentic Community
Sarah’s approach centers on meeting families where they are emotionally and developmentally. Drawing from her experience feeling unheard during difficult times, she opens each class with introductions and check-ins. “You have to know if you’re going into a session and you’re about to present a family with information—what’s their readiness in terms of digesting that information?” she explains.
This philosophy extends beyond classes to her broader mission of connecting Philadelphia families with local resources and activities. By collaborating with brands and businesses that share her values, she highlights and helps to develop places, products, and events focused around sustainability, play, accessibility, and family-focused initiatives.
Lessons in Perseverance
Sarah’s children, ages three and five, are getting a front-row seat to what it takes to build something from the ground up. “They probably see the hard work that it takes,” she reflects. “So many times I’m up trying to get myself to the next step of what’s in my head.” She often tells them, “Mommy still has work to do” after bedtime routines.
Yet the business also creates opportunities for family experiences, like attending fireworks at Penn’s Landing through community partnerships. Most importantly, Sarah’s work aligns with her core value: “Making sure that you’re putting time aside for your family and playtime. If I could do something where I get them more involved and get more time with them, that will always come before a job to me.”
Breaking the Pastel Mold
One aspect of PhunPhitPham that sets it apart is Sarah’s intentional inclusivity. Tired of seeing family wellness brands default to pastel colors and mom-focused messaging, she’s creating something “bold but inviting” that welcomes all parents. “I want a dad to be just as excited to come to a Roll and Stroll group,” she explains.
This philosophy extends to pricing—classes are charged per family rather than per child, making them more accessible regardless of who attends on any given day. “It doesn’t matter if your husband’s with you one day or grandparents are coming with you another day. Everyone can just be there together.”
Vision for the Future
Sarah’s immediate focus is on streamlining her services and expanding accessibility through downloadable guides for families beyond Philadelphia. She’s also writing multiple children’s books with her husband, with hopes of having the first one publication-ready by the end of the year.
Long-term dreams include developing a children’s toy line addressing developmental concerns she sees in current market offerings, and potentially creating a play space that serves the whole family. “I hate how there’s so many things on the market that are so bad for development, and that information is so hard for parents to sort through.”
Advice for Others
For Philadelphia-area mothers with professional expertise who feel stuck in traditional roles, Sarah’s advice is simple: “Just don’t be afraid to go for it. When you really put yourself out there, you’ll end up discovering opportunities that you didn’t even know existed. If you’re really passionate about something, people will recognize that and things just have a way of working themselves out.”
Sarah McMahon’s story demonstrates that sometimes the most impactful careers emerge not from following predetermined paths, but from combining diverse experiences, embracing uncertainty, and refusing to accept that professional dreams must come at the expense of family priorities. Through Phun Phit Pham, she’s not just helping Philadelphia families move better together—she’s modeling how to build something meaningful while keeping what matters most at the center.
