Southern Urogynecology’s Founder Built a Practice Where Women Can Breathe Again

When someone starts a medical practice, people assume it’s a straight line – black and white. Find a location, open the doors, and wait for the phone to ring. Dr. Andrea Pezzella, the founder of Southern Urogynecology Wellness and Aesthetics in Columbia, South Carolina, describes it differently:  less like a straight line and more like a series of pivots, calculated risks, and small acts of momentum that multiply over time. 

Pezzella started her practice in 2010, entering a market that she believed was underserved for urogynecology and pelvic health for women. In the early days, she didn’t have the luxury of “brand awareness” or passive growth. She had to be found, trusted, and chosen. To build that trust as an entrepreneur, she kept one concept in the forefront of her mind: showing up consistently.

Born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, she attended Syracuse University and earned her medical degree from St. Louis University School of Medicine. She completed her residency at Hartford Hospital before returning to Massachusetts for additional training in urogynecology through Fallon Clinic and UMass Medical Center. After years of medical education and specialized training, she practiced briefly before an opportunity emerged that would ultimately shape the next chapter of her career.

In her case, the decisive moment wasn’t only clinical. It was entrepreneurial. In 2006, she recognized that there wasn’t a full-time urogynecologist serving her target region. In 2007, she and her husband took the leap while their children were young, leaving behind their established network and starting over without family nearby to cushion the transition.

Pezzella describes her grounding during that transition as coming from community connections — colleagues, real estate agents, local business owners, bakers, and the many people whose support can make “starting over” feel survivable. With the move to Irmo, her long-term vision was not simply to “get by,” but to build something meaningful and make an impact.

Her early strategy was simple: “Hang up a shingle.” Find a small space, build the practice around a clear specialization, and launch. Together, with her practice manager, she handled the practical essentials – phones, computers, equipment, furniture – while she prepared for the hardest question every founder faces: 

Would anyone come to the practice?

After practicing for two years, Pezzella gave her notice and, on September 15, 2010, established Southern Urogynecology, LLC. She expected uncertainty, but her first day felt like a full schedule. “My patients found me, and word-of-mouth did what word-of-mouth does” when a service addresses a genuine need. Still, she didn’t simply wait for word-of-mouth to grow. She took matters into her own hands.

Rather than relying on pitch decks or traditional marketing alone, she physically visited other physicians’ offices with cards, brochures, coffee, and bagels. The gesture was more than hospitality — it was relationship-building and the beginning of a referral network that would help establish the practice within the community.

As her vision expanded, she added another clinical provider within three months: Suzanne Smith, PA-C. The practice continued to grow, eventually welcoming additional nurse practitioners, including Wendy Walker, CNM, MSN, who brought bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and women’s wellness management to another level.

Pezzella describes this expansion not as a mission drift, but as an evolution of women’s health care under one roof — especially addressing the concerns that can sometimes make women hesitant to seek additional help.

Southern Urogynecology eventually incorporated wellness and aesthetics, including laser services, injectables, and nonsurgical intimate wellness options. Over time, weight loss management, including GLP-1s, became part of the practice, alongside programs tied to hormone replacement and overall wellbeing. Supplements, peptides, vitamin B injections, and other wellness services further expanded the practice’s offerings. 

For Pezzella, these services all connect to a central theme: helping women regain confidence and quality of life. 

One of the most significant milestones came in 2023 with the addition of Dr. Jessica J. Rueb. A board-certified urologist and urogynecologist, Rueb joined the practice and brought a complementary perspective as a female urologist with expertise in both urology and urogynecology.

After Rueb earned her medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, she completed her urology training at the University of Virginia, followed by a highly specialized fellowship in Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery (URPS) at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic.

Rueb has helped Pezzella continue to expand the center’s capabilities, offering specialized expertise in minimally invasive treatments for pelvic floor disorders and urinary conditions affecting women.

Another important chapter in the practice’s evolution began with a building Pezzella had originally leased when she founded her practice. She eventually purchased the very building she had once rented and kept it as an option even when it became vacant between tenants.

In 2024, Pezzella and Rueb jointly renovated and repurposed the space, founding SU Surgical Associates at 109 Midlands Court in West Columbia. In some ways, it was almost poetic: parts of the original practice space were transformed into preoperative and surgical environments, allowing patients to move through a more streamlined pathway rather than navigating the unfamiliar and potentially confusing routes of a traditional hospital setting.

Pezzella describes the surgical center and the practice as a whole as a convenience for patients with emotional design as a consideration: warm, welcoming, not sterile or intimidating. 

As a business turning point, she mentioned a change in regulation in 2023 involving the requirement of a Certificate of Need process. That change, she said, opened the door financially and operationally to pursuing their surgical center. 

The surgical center was not built to just bring in revenue, but to reduce friction at a moment when patients already feel vulnerable. Pezzella said, “How women’s issues – especially incontinence and pelvic care – can feel embarrassing and difficult to discuss,” for her patients. With this in mind, her goals were to create a space where women felt open, safe, and comfortable. What many founders learn the hard way is that “health care experiences are not just clinical outcomes,” they are emotional ones too. When patients feel seen, heard, and understood, they’re more likely to return and refer potential patients. 

Her goal was to create a space where women could feel open, safe, and comfortable. As many founders learn, health care experiences are not just about clinical outcomes; they are emotional experiences as well. When patients feel seen, heard, and understood, they are more likely to return and refer others.

Her tagline reflects that belief: “Regain your confidence.”

For Pezzella, it is more than a slogan. It is a core value that extends across the services the practice provides, including hormone replacement therapy.

Hormone replacement therapy connects to urogynecology, according to Pezzella, because many patients she treats are navigating postmenopausal changes such as declining estrogen and progesterone. Both of which can contribute to hot flashes, night sweats, mood and sleep issues, and additional symptoms. She clarifies that hormone replacement therapy may improve certain symptoms but isn’t positioned as a “magic cure” for every incontinence issue. It’s all part of a toolkit – alongside other urogynecologic treatments. 

Pezzella’s story is a compilation of competence and compassion towards women’s health, scaled into an operational system. With Rueb as a partner in both the practice trajectory and the surgical expansion, the story becomes more than a solo-founder success story. It becomes an example of how leadership partnerships can help scale a mission-driven business without turning health care into something cold or transactional. 

Southern Urogynecology Wellness and Aesthetics didn’t simply open their practice doors in 2010. It has evolved into an ecosystem where women could access care with less friction, more comfort, and a renewed sense of confidence. 

To connect with Dr. Andrea Pezzella and Dr. Jessica Rueb with your urogynecologic care or to follow up with questions, visit the practice and complete a contact form for a team member to reach you. https://www.southurogyn.com/