My interest in shoes began at the start of my career as a track athlete.  As early as high school I suffered from various running injuries: plantar fasciitis, shin-splints, knee pain and even lower back pain.  I consulted multiple medical professionals and was  diagnosed with a slight leg-length discrepancy (one leg shorter) so I was fitted with a heel-lift in one shoe and recommended to change-out my running shoes more frequently.  Even though I did what the doctors recommended, I was frustrated with the thought that my body, somehow became broken and I would need a device to correct it the rest of my life.

After high-school, I went on to compete for Purdue in the Big-Ten Conference (see my bio).  Again, I suffered from various running injuries so I consulted some of the best sports medicine doctors, chiropractors, and orthopedists.  They saw injuries like mine all the time.  In fact, nearly every member of the Purdue track team suffered at least one sidelining injury every single year.  The injury rate of such a high-caliber track team was unexplainable.   During my senior year, over half of the 100 person team was treated for either a back problem or a pulled hamstring.  It was as if the injuries were as contagious as the Common Cold.  The injuries didn't make sense.  These were talented athletes, with talented coaches, backed by the best Big-Ten sports medicine doctors.  Not to mention, they had access to an endless supply of top of the line running shoes.

Since we competed in different events we didn't train the same, or have the same body types; but one thing that we all had in common was that we wore the very best running shoes and changed them out frequently.  There may not be a good answer for the high rate of injuries but unfortunately it wasn't until after college that I found my answer.

After both college and my track career ended I was fed up with running so I was pleased to be able to hang up my running shoes for awhile.  Nonetheless, before long, I was itching to get back into running.  But I hadn't worn my running shoes in months and hated the fact that I had to abandon my flip-flops and re-equip my feet before going out for a run.  I thought I needed cushioning and support if I wanted to stay injury-free. 

I started to do a little research and found that my favorite shoes at the time, Sanuks, were considered "minimalist shoes."  To my amazement, I found there was a whole community of runners that were running long, hard distances in such minimalist shoes.  This idea defied everything that I knew about running shoes up until that point.  I thought, 'how could their bodies withstand the pounding of running on pavement without any cushioning?'   Although I was still in doubt I decided to give it a try.  I began to run in my Sanuks.  Within the first few hundred yards I noticed I wasn't falling into any of my bad running habits.  They let me naturally run upright, landing with my feet directly underneath me as opposed to out in front.  As with nearly all runners, I had a bad tendency of landing on my heels.  But my Sanuks simply wouldn't let me because my heels would let me know immediately.

Also, my strides were shorter and "springier".  I was propelling forward with thrust coming from my calves and achilles tendon.  The incredible thing was that no one had to coach me, it just came naturally with minimalist shoes instead of running shoes

That night and the next day my lower calves were incredibility sore, but it made sense.  For the first time I had done an entire run the way the human body was meant to run.  My calves had simply been underdeveloped my entire life.  I came to the realization that even with all my strength training throughout my entire track career, I had never developed my calves and achilles up to the level that they were meant to be.  They were my weakest link.  At that point, I became a believer in minimalist footwear.  This brand new idea of what's healthy for the foot had me excited.  After getting out of running shoes for good, and building strength in a minimalist shoe, the next step was to start running totally barefoot.  I amazed myself in how easy the transition was.  My whole life I had thought barefoot tribal people were somehow superhuman to be able to live without shoes.  And here I was, able to run for miles on pavement in my raw feet.  I couldn't believe it; all I had to do was just give it a try.  I began wanting more of this barefoot experience.  So I got myself a pair of Vibram FiveFingers, which ended up becoming my rugged trail and all-adventure shoe.  Once I saw the powers of the natural foot working, I came to the sad reality that the weakness of my lower legs and feet had held me back my entire track career; proving that the source of my many running injuries was in fact the very equipment that was supposed to prevent injuries, my running shoes.

My discovery that most of today's shoes are overbuilt, lead me to  do more exploration on the matter and begin dreaming about starting a shoe company.  I began to take steps toward my dream.  I did the next obvious thing, and got a job at not one, but two shoe stores: a comfort shoe store and a specialty running store.  At the comfort shoe store I learned to fit based on podiatrists' prescriptions and my own diagnoses, and at the running store I learned to analyze gait and fit runners and walkers with the proper shoe to match their stride.  After, fitting thousands of feet through my year and a half at the shoe stores, I learned customers believe (along with the salespeople) there is a perfect shoe out there that is suited just for them that will correct all their problems.  Customers like to believe that the shoe is doing the work that fits their individual issues, so shoe companies have fabricated an entire system for customizing shoes.  The truth is not that complicated.  What I discovered is that the fit or shape of the shoe must match the customers foot shape, and that there are very few shoes out there that make this the priority.  I saw there is an enormous void for shoes that fit the natural shape of the human foot.  Instead there is a multitude of shoes are shaped like a torpedo and only fit the torpedo shaped feet (almost no one)!  Next time you shop for a shoe, step on top of it and see if the outline of your toes match the outline of the shoe.

Armed with my knowledge of feet and my experience in natural running and walking, I set out to make a shoe for a need that no one has ever satisfied.  I called it "the shoe that has been missing from humankind."