40 years ago
I started selling RV’s in Sacramento. I knew nothing about selling or RV’s. I learned and did pretty well at it. Commuting from Lodi 5 days a week was a pain in the neck. I did it for 3 years. In my last year I did something to my foot and ended up hobbling around on crutches. I had a vacation coming and took a plane to Cape Cod for a week and did a lot of driving but not much walking.
When you’re on crutches your arm pits begin to ache too lol. One day I was hobbling around the Cape Cod Mall and there was a lady running a booth in the middle of the Mall. We got to talking and she asked me what I did to my foot. I told her I pulled some kind of tendon really badly and couldn’t put my foot on the ground.
She asked me if I was willing to try something. Well, I couldn’t run away so I reluctantly agreed. She did some kind of measurement of my arches and then proceeded to place some kind of arch support in my shoes. Now mind you I had been through a bunch of stores in California trying one arch support after another with no luck at all. A doctor also made me an orthotic from a mold that was as hard as a rock which was even worse, in fact it irritated my problem even more.
The lady got them in my shoes and asked me to stand up. I was hesitant bracing for a shooting pain. I stood up and I had no pain at all. I was in shock. I was on these crutches for about 2 months now with no improvement and now I’m standing with no pain in that foot. To quote a 60’s expression, I was “blown away”.
I asked her what kind of orthotic is this? She told me it was invented in 1948 and was exclusive to the company she worked for. She asked me to walk around a bit and see how it felt. I did and there was no pain. I bought that orthotic.
On the way home on the plane, I got to thinking. I wonder how many other people have the same problem as me. Somewhere up in the clouds on a plane I decided I needed to know more about this. I contacted the company when I got home to see if I could become a distributor. It was granted.
I flew to Canada and got training and also learned how to make orthotics as well. I learned a bunch of stuff I never knew, like the feet control the ankles, knees, hip, back and neck. Someone can be walking around with a knee problem caused by the feet being out of alignment.
So that’s how I ended up with my own business for the last 37 years. I’ve fit many thousands of people over time. I’ve been all over California at different trade shows, events and fairs fitting people and really had a lot of fun doing it. I don’t do many shows these days, but I have a business online now where I can send people a kit to measure their arches and fit them that way.
Check out the website at http://www.ebaystores.com/Fab-Feet-40
Give me your comments, thoughts, likes or dislikes. I’m still learning lol. So that’s my story. Now I’m going to get off the computer and take a walk lol.
So that’s my story. Now I’m going to get off the computer and take a walk lol.