our story

It was 16:51 on a cold Friday afternoon, and I was finishing up with my last patient during the last day of my clinical rotation. My classmates and I had previously just finished the didactic classroom portion of our degree program, and we began transitioning into getting hands on clinical experience in real-world healthcare settings. I had been dealing with a dull, achy pain in my low back for weeks ever since the beginning of the clinical rotations. Prior months of sitting down and cramming for quizzes and tests started to compound and take a toll on me. However, I did what many people do and chose to continue to ignore what my body was telling me by just suppressing the signals with over-the-counter aspirin and ibuprofen in hope of just making it through another day and thinking it will cure itself tomorrow.

As the patient right in front of me was performing the therapeutic training exercises I had instructed, I felt a shooting pain in my low back. It felt like someone snuck up behind me and twisted a sharp knife into my back that sent shockwaves running down my entire left leg. I initially winced a little bit, but luckily my patient was too busy concentrating on correcting his own pain to even notice me. Even though I felt like crumbling on the inside, I still had a duty to remain professional and finish the remaining nine minutes of the session. 

Not one to normally ask for help, I decided to call my older brother who had already obtained his physical therapist assistant license a few years earlier. I told him about my situation and his initial response and solution would end up changing my life forever.

“It’s your feet,” he calmly stated.

A look of confusion and slight annoyance washed over my face, and I uttered, “Did you not hear anything I just told you? I said the pain was in my low back.” 

“I know,” he said while maintaining his stance and demeanor.

“What does my feet have to do with anything? I’m really not in the mood or have the time to be playing games right now. It’s not funny.” That initial feeling of reluctance to ask for help started to surface again. My big brother was always tough on me when we were kids so why would I expect any sympathy now.

“Do you know how much padding and cushion are in the shoes you choose to wear every day? Do you know how compressed your toes are? Ideally in a perfect world, your toes should be spreading out like your fingers. You are standing and walking around all day in clinic and your posture is all jacked up. Don’t begin your investigation at where your body is showing symptoms, but rather, analyze the whole kinetic chain from the bottom up and address the root cause. Your entire foundation all starts at the feet and which footwear you choose to place your feet in. Imagine if I tied a rubber band around your fingers and forced them into a mitten for years. It would only be a matter of time before something gives and your body taps out. Feet dysfunction runs up the whole kinetic chain to your ankles, knees, hips, and low back. You are like a soft stack of cards built on sand waiting to collapse. You are weak.”

Those last. Three. Words. Penetrated right through my soul and lit the ember inside me. That initial desire to move away from pain and find a solution led me to the beginning of my barefoot journey.

From that day on, I put my younger brother ego aside. Instead of choosing to be defensive, coming up with excuses, and continuing to ignore the health and fitness advice from my more fit and experienced brother, I made a decision to be more openminded so that I could evolve into a better version of myself. My brother taught me we have two ears and one mouth for a reason. I went on to research more about feet function, toe spacers, and the importance of barefoot walking and training. What I had initially perceived as being a paralyzing burden, my low back pain ended up being a blessing in disguise that set in motion my wellness journey of taking back my life and no longer being a hostage to weakness and excuses.

Looking back, I realized that I had spent most of my childhood and adult working years rotating through shoes hunting for the ones with the most cushion. In my prior ways of thinking and throughout all the jobs I held that required me to stand a lot, I mistakenly believed that it was best for me to purchase shoes that felt like walking on clouds so it could support me throughout the day, and especially during a regular eight-hour job. Little did I know that this was actually just managing the symptoms. I needed to address the root problem of having weak feet in the first place, and the real solution was to strengthen my feet.

We have been conditioned to wear regular shoes our whole lives. A lot of our feet probably haven’t seen the light of day since before the internet arrived. Regular shoes give us a false sense of security in the fact that we think we are protecting our feet. But in reality, we are actually becoming weaker by stripping away our muscles’ ability to be utilized and depriving them of the opportunity to feel and become stronger. We need to start treating the muscles in our feet just like any other muscle in the human body. For a lot of people, if they wanted bigger glutes, they would make an intentional effort to gradually train them. If we don’t load the muscles properly, they will slowly atrophy. With anything in life, if you don’t use it, you lose it.

With years of combined working experience in the fitness and healthcare industries over the past decade, my brother and I have seen countless muscle imbalances and neglect leading to costly injuries and medical bills down the road. These pricey expenses not only cause stress on our financial health, but can significantly become a burden on our relationships and impact our mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

This is what led us to create T SLIDES.

We firmly believe that the path to becoming stronger and independent starts at the feet. For years, my brother and I have been obsessed with helping people reach their goals and transform their confidence, self-image, and self-respect through their health. We do not know everything. But we do know that a healthy body is the number one thing that a person should prioritize and invest in. It’s the only body we get. If we don’t have our health first and foremost, we won’t be able to serve others and be fulfilled.

With all the different body types we have seen over the years, we understand that everyone comes from different fitness levels and has different starting points. However, everyone could benefit from having a convenient and stylish tool to restore their posture and alignment. Function does not have to be sacrificed for fashion. Imagine if all this did was allow you to walk pain free again and get your daily exercise in. To be able to move and not call someone else to help. Walk on your own time. Walk on your own terms.

In addition to health, time is something we cherish and value greatly. Time cannot be replenished. Our products are the result of many past failures, painful experiences, testing, training, and time accumulated. We hope to save everyone time and costly medical bills down the road by encouraging and guiding the path to a life of walking and exercising.

At the end of the day, the ultimate goal is for everyone to have healthy feet and a healthy body so that they can be as independent as possible to carry out things that fulfills them and be able to serve their people and community.