In 2001, Dr. Amy Serin worked in international business development for online startups in Los Angeles. Her role was stressful and draining, and she wanted to find something more altruistic, something meaningful within business.
She left her job and took a leave from UCLA’s MBA program to begin the path to a Ph.D. in pediatric and adult neuropsychology in Santa Barbara. Five years later, she returned to Arizona, where she grew up, and opened the first Serin Center clinic in Peoria.
Today, Serin Centers are the largest independently owned businesses of their type in Arizona and conduct over 8,000 appointments per year. Along the way, Serin wrote her first book, The Stress Switch, an international bestseller.
“I have never seen a doctor be so business savvy and navigate wearing both the doctor and the entrepreneur hat so well,” one of Serin’s employees said.
Serin Centers assist people to reach their potential using cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology.
The business is poised to grow by three to five times in the next five years. Its EBITDA is similar to companies with eight to 10 times the revenue, due to its 45% margins, very high for the industry. The company recently added office space in North Scottsdale and will add an East Valley clinic in the Gilbert area and expand into the Reno/Tahoe area of Nevada over the next two years.
Serin’s team raved about how she interacts with her employees. She gives employees handwritten notes of praise. Last year she bought compasses for employees, and each compass listed the employee’s top five strengths to remind them to use those strengths in the workplace. She navigated the pandemic without making any layoffs.
“Everyone has within them untapped potential that can be accessed and utilized for the greater good,” Serin said. “People aren’t looking to me to dictate or control or demand. When I recognize people’s unique strengths and abilities, empower them to use their strengths creatively in their positions, acknowledge when they are using them, show appreciation, and leverage them as part of the larger process, this yields the best results for everyone.”
Serin is former president of the Arizona Neuropsychological Association and has been a featured or keynote speaker at over 100 conferences around the world. She is an adjunct faculty member at Midwestern University, has published research articles in professional scientific journals and presented nine research posters with graduate students she helped train over the last few years.
She was valedictorian at Arizona State University in 1996 and voted “funniest girl” in high school.
“Her trademark humor, along with her brilliance, shines through and sets the tone for the company culture,” her team said.
“Dr. Serin is an internationally known neuropsychologist who leads with the heart and then surprises you with brilliant knowledge that she applies to help people live their best lives.”
