About Lilly

I’m Lilly Martin, OTD, OTR/L, founder and occupational therapist of Best Day Ever Therapy. I created this practice to provide thoughtful, individualized occupational therapy for children and adults in the community I grew up in and have always called home.

As an owner-operated practice, I have the opportunity to work directly with each of my clients and their families throughout their care. I provide occupational therapy evaluations and individualized intervention, along with caregiver education and collaboration with other providers when appropriate. My goal is to provide care that is personal and relationship-driven while remaining grounded in skilled, evidence-based occupational therapy.

My connection to occupational therapy started long before I ever considered becoming an OT myself. I experienced a stroke at birth and grew up receiving therapy, while also spending much of my childhood as a patient at St. Jude.

Because of those experiences, I have had the unique opportunity to understand therapy from both sides. I know how important it is to have a provider who sees you as a person first — someone with goals, interests, relationships, and a life outside of a diagnosis.

Growing up surrounded by incredible healthcare professionals ultimately inspired me to become one myself. Those experiences continue to shape the way I connect with my clients and the kind of therapist I strive to be.

I was drawn to occupational therapy because it looks beyond a diagnosis and asks a much more practical question: What does this person need or want to be able to do in their everyday life?

For a child, that may mean learning to get dressed independently, participating in a family meal, developing the skills needed for school, regulating their body, or simply being able to play. For an adult, it may mean regaining function after an injury or surgery, returning to work, managing daily routines independently, or getting back to activities that are important to them.

That focus on the whole person is what made me choose occupational therapy, and it continues to guide the way I practice today.

I earned my Doctor of Occupational Therapy from Belmont University in 2025 after receiving my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Mississippi in 2022. I am a licensed occupational therapist in the state of Florida (OT26442).

My education and clinical experience have allowed me to work with children and adults across outpatient, inpatient rehabilitation, and community-based settings. My pediatric experience includes evaluation and treatment addressing activities of daily living, feeding, fine motor and visual-motor skills, handwriting, sensory processing, emotional regulation, and school participation. I have worked with children with a wide range of diagnoses and developmental needs, including autism, Down syndrome, developmental delays, and sensory processing differences.

My experience across the lifespan has also included developing and leading programming for children and adults with disabilities, working in adult inpatient rehabilitation, and completing doctoral-level work focused on expanding the role of occupational therapy within an emerging area of practice. Long before becoming an occupational therapist, I also spent many years working with children, including children and adults with special needs.

Together, these experiences have given me a broad foundation in development, rehabilitation, functional independence, and individualized care that I bring to my work at Best Day Ever Therapy.

I grew up in Grayton Beach, attended Seaside Neighborhood School, and graduated from South Walton High School in 2018. After college at Ole Miss, graduate school at Belmont, and beginning my career in Nashville, I knew I ultimately wanted to bring what I had learned back home.

This community has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up here, worked in local restaurants and businesses, and have watched the area change while still always feeling like home.

Opening Best Day Ever Therapy in Santa Rosa Beach gives me the opportunity to build my practice in the same community that helped shape me. Being able to come home and provide occupational therapy to children, adults, and families along 30A makes this practice especially meaningful to me.

Best Day Ever is more than the name of my practice — it reflects the way I have learned to look at life.

Growing up as a survivor and spending so much of my childhood in and out of therapy and medical appointments gave me an appreciation for the ordinary days. I learned early that some of the moments we take for granted can mean everything when you have had to work for them.

That perspective is also what I love about occupational therapy. Our work is centered around the things that make up a life: getting dressed in the morning, sharing a meal with your family, playing with friends, going to school or work, caring for yourself, returning to something you love, and becoming more independent along the way.

Not every day will actually be the best day ever. But I believe there is something worth celebrating in being able to participate more fully in your own life. Best Day Ever Therapy was created to help make more of those everyday moments possible.

Outside of work, I’m happiest spending time with the people I love. After several years in Nashville, I recently moved back home with my fiancé, and we are getting married in May 2027.

You can usually find me doing Pilates, walking, spending time at the beach, traveling, reading, or with friends and family. I love being back in the place where I grew up and getting to build both my life and my practice here.