Brandon Balmelli
PT, DPT, CSCS, TPIc
Brandon grew up in Tacoma, WA and attended Bellarmine Prep. His love of sports started at a young age—from playing soccer to hitting balls on the range, he was very active from the get-go. Experiencing a few injuries along the way created a passion for wanting to participate in the rehabilitation process of others and sparked his interest in physical therapy.
Anne Harmon Grout
PT, MSPT, BSHSE
Anne grew up in Ft. Myers, Florida. She loved gymnastics and competed in the private club sector until early high school. Wanting to be more involved in high school athletics, she transitioned to competition cheerleading…
Nick Jackson
PT, DPT
Nick grew up in Redmond, Washington and attended Redmond High School where he played football and lacrosse. Since his childhood, he has been hiking and camping with his family throughout the Pacific Northwest and has a love for the outdoors. He gained an interest in physical rehab from both sports training and receiving physical therapy for knee injuries in high school…..
Victor Kollar
PT, DPT, CSCS, TPIc
While Victor was born in Toronto, Ontario, he grew up on the eastside in Redmond for most of his life. He attended the International Community School in Kirkland and went on to receive his BS in Human Physiology from Gonzaga University in 2013.
John Simonds
PTA & Admin
John was born in the Philippines but grew up in Monroe Washington. He served 5 years in the United States Navy as an Aircraft Director. During that time, he had the opportunity to visit the VA hospital in San Diego, which inspired him to pursue a position in Healthcare. In the Spring of 2020, John graduated from Lake Washington Institute of Technology with a Physical Therapy Assistant certification.
Matt Sato
PT, DPT, TPIc, SFMAc
Owner & Director
Matt grew up in Duvall where he attended Cedarcrest High School . He did his undergraduate studies at Western Washington University where he graduated in 2004 with a BS in Exercise Science/Pre-Physical Therapy. After graduating, he spent a year gaining more experience in the field of physical therapy and became the first Aide at Redmond Physical Therapy......
Aides & Front Office
Kelli Sato
Operations Manager
High School: Interlake
College: Western Washington University
Kelli Sato is originally from Bellevue Washington, where she attended Interlake High School. She graduated from Western Washington University in 2004 with a degree in Exercise Science. Kelli and Matt met in their undergraduate program and were married in 2005. Kelli has worked as a rehab coordinator, a Starbucks Barista, and even a Badminton teacher.
In 2010 she got the opportunity to work as the office manager at Lake Washington PT. In 2016 her path took a new turn as she and Matt started to think about opening a clinic. Kelli manages the financial side of the business. It has been an interesting transition for her, as her youngest child started school to allow her to work every day.
When Kelli has spare time she likes reading, yoga, fantasy football and golf. She also makes a mean strawberry rhubarb pie. Kelli loves to spend time with her husband Matt, two kids and dog Wickett.
Melinda Bernard
Front Office Coordinator
High School: Interlake
College: University of Washington
Melinda grew up in the Kirkland and Bellevue area and attended the U of W, where she graduated with a BS in Fisheries. She sailed with her family on the waters of Puget Sound and around the San Juan Islands, where she developed her love of marine life. After working as a lab research tech, she homeschooled her two sons and returned to the work force when her youngest son entered high school. She has been working as a medical receptionist, most recently in the field of orthopedics. It has been a natural transition to working with Lake Washington Physical Therapy and encouraging patients as they journey through the process of healing and regaining their mobility in order that they may live life to the fullest.
Melinda is married to her husband Mark, whom she met as a 9th grader at a local church. Together they enjoy spending time with family, their granddaughter, travelling to visit their eldest son in Florida, and spending time on the beaches looking for shells and scanning the waters for anything that moves!
Molly Guerrero
Aide & Front Office
High School: Chelan
College: Northwest University
Molly grew up in Chelan, Washington where she attended Chelan High School and graduated as Valedictorian of her class.
Being involved in a variety of activities ranging from raising goats for FFA to leading in Fellowship of Christian Athletes to playing numerous sports, Molly gained a love for being active in her community and building relationships with others. She also gained a passion for prevention and rehabilitation of injuries after tearing her ACL in her senior season of basketball and participating in physical therapy over the following nine to twelve months.
Molly decided to continue her passion for exercise and injury prevention at Northwest University where she is currently a senior in the honors program and working towards a BS in Exercise Science. While at Northwest, Molly played basketball for two years and is now serving as the team chaplain where she enjoys encouraging her teammates and leading bible study groups. She looks forward to graduating in May of 2024, and plans to pursue a career in coaching or physical therapy.
In her spare time, Molly enjoys hiking, running, reading, watercolor painting, watching movies, and spending time with her newly married husband Isaiah. Together, Molly and Isaiah enjoy visiting family and being active in the outdoors.
Cindy Lao
Aide & Front Office
High School: Inglemoor
College: UW
Cindy graduated from the University of Washington with a B.S. in Public Health and a B.A. in Dance. She was born in Guangdong, China, and immigrated to the U.S. when she was nine, living in the Seattle area since then.
In addition to English, she is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese. She attended Inglemoor High School, where she ran cross country and track, rowed, and played the violin in orchestra. Cindy began dance when she was young and reconnected with it in college, primarily training in the styles of contemporary modern and ballet. She has performed in the MFA Concert and UW Dance Presents Concert, and completed the dance summer program at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London.
During her dance education, she became fascinated with optimizing dance technique and performance through a deep understanding of human anatomy and physiology. This inspired her pursuit of a career in physical therapy, where she wants to help athletes reach their peak performance through proper alignment and strengthening. Cindy is currently taking gap years to prepare for physical therapy school and hopes to enter in 2025. Her loves and hobbies include dancing, running, traveling, skiing, roller coasters, and Avatar the Last Airbender.
Claar French
Aide & Front Office
High School: Blaine
College: UW
Claar was born in San Antonio, Texas but grew up in Blaine, Washington. She attended K-12 in the Blaine School District, graduating from Blaine High School in 2022. She enjoyed running varsity cross country and track all four years.
Claar’s interest in physical therapy began when she took a medical terminology class at a community college through the running start program. Her interest in physical therapy continued to grow when she helped start her high school’s sports medicine club. She also had positive experiences working with physical therapists to overcome her own sports injuries.
Claar is currently attending the University of Washington and plans to major in biology with a concentration in physiology and minor in nutrition. She enjoys being a member of UW’s pre-physical therapy club. Upon graduation, she plans to pursue a DPT degree.
In her spare time, Claar has fun playing guitar and ukulele, cooking, going to the gym, listening to all kinds of music, and dreams of traveling the world.
Karis Jin
Aide & Front Office
Karis grew up in Sammamish, Washington with her sister, brother, and parents and played volleyball competitively from a young age.
Within her first year of playing, Karis suffered from shoulder overuse due to poor mechanics and sought out physical therapy to help my recovery. Through these sessions she was positively affected by the care that PTs gave and was able to quickly return to playing volleyball. In high school, a sports medicine course gave Karis the opportunity to shadow some PTs in the area and she was able to see the variety of therapies provided and began envisioning herself as a PT. Karis also joined my school’s Club Med and competed in the HOSA championships.
Karis attends the University of Washington where she is pursuing a BS in Biology and a minor in Applied Mathematics. She also is part of the club volleyball team that plays with other schools in the Seattle area. After completing her undergrad, Karis’s goal is to continue on to PT school.
In her free time, she likes to play volleyball, search for the best matcha spot in Seattle, hang out with her dog, go on runs to Gasworks, and try new food spots with her friends.
Kira Lewis
Aide & Front Office
High School: Lowell
College: UW
Kira was born in Walnut Creek, California and grew up in San Francisco. Kira played a number of sports throughout her life including running cross country and track throughout high school. Kira’s interest in physical therapy began during this time as she and her teammates often suffered minor sports injuries. She continues to stay active by weightlifting, taking spin classes, and hiking outdoors when the weather permits.
Kira moved to Seattle for college where she is studying Public Health with a nutrition minor at the University of Washington. She is hoping to pursue physical or occupational therapy in the future. Outside of school and work Kira enjoys checking out estate sales, baking, growing houseplants, and going on long walks.
Katie Lee
Aide & Front Office
Katie grew up in Auburn, Washington with one younger brother and her parents. She grew up around sports. Katie was involved in competitive figure skating for 12 years and also ran track in high school. She competed in the NW Regional Competition every year for skating as well as districts for track.
Katie’s interest in physical therapy started when she sprained her ankle and injured her back. These injuries required physical therapy to recover, and the physical therapists left a positive impact during the entire road to recovery. With the intensive care and patience from her therapists, her interest grew and even talked to them about pursuing this career where she received positive feedback and encouragement.
She currently attends the University of Washington pursuing a degree in Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health. After completing her undergrad, her plan is to continue onto PT school with a focus in sports.