Female Entrepreneur Disrupting a $3 Billion Industry

The foot orthotic insoles market is currently a 3 Billion Dollar Industry that is heading to reach 3.5 Billion USD By 2020. Young, 31 year old entrepreneur, Laina Gossman has created a unique foot care solution that is turning heads and feet towards a new kind of support..

How can a small company break into an industry that has such big household names as Dr. Scholls to compete with? Simple answer. They have to work so well in taking the foot pain away that people can't help but share their excitement. This is what's happening! Before getting into the intricacies of this new design, let us first take note of the 2 kinds of orthotics out there. 1.Over the counter 2.Custom Made. Both Dr. Scholls and Soul Insole fit in the OTC (over the counter) category. It's important to know that not all OTC insoles are the same. Some are hard, some soft, some more aimed for flat feet, others for high arches..

Despite the pressure from specialists to invest upwards of $200 for custom formed plastic orthotics if a person is experiencing foot pain, recent studies show that the nonprescription over-the-counter orthotics can be as helpful (or nearly as helpful) as custom orthotics for certain conditions. For example, in a 2014 study in Musculoskeletal Care (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23801649), people with plantar heel pain who wore over-the-counter orthotics for eight weeks had the same reductions in pain and disability as the participants who wore custom orthotics..

Another example (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10229276), in a study of 236 patients to test the difference of Custom versus Pre-Fabricated inserts, it was determined that prefabricated inserts were more likely to produce improvements than a custom device. In fact, the prefabricated orthotic group out-performed all the other study participants.

.A study in Prosthetics and Orthotics International in 2015, concluded that using any of the three OTC insoles tested “would be beneficial for the treatment, or prevention, of musculoskeletal injuries such as plantar fasciitis.” Also, the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons endorses OTC inserts for heel pain (http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00172).

Even with the amount of money consumers often pay, there still seem to be a few common complaints with conventional orthotic inserts, both custom and OTC:

1. Rigid arch support is not easily adaptable and need a few days to get used to walking around in them. Also, rigid supports do not have impact absorption, which can be painful for the heel, especially if running or participating in higher impact activities.

2. Some orthotics can get fairly expensive with OTC orthotics ranging from $10-200 and custom fitted orthotics ranging from $90-600.

3. Some reports on durability are a concern. Since insoles are in direct contact with your feet all day, every day, they tend to wear down quickly and you may need to invest in another pair sooner rather than later.

4.Orthotics are bulky and crowd the shoes, causing the user to be forced into buying new shoes that are 1 size bigger to accommodate the orthotic insert. Only certain shoes will be able to fit an orthotic, which means that most dress shoes and sandals will not be available for the orthotic wearer..

Laina Gossman CEO Sole Insole Inc. Photo Credit: Ashley Graham of Brandesso

Laina Gossman, born and raised in San Diego, studied biomechanics and has been in the orthotics industry for 12 years. Through her time spent customizing shoes and carving custom insoles, she came up with a revolutionary design that combats all the common complaints with conventional orthotics. She branded the orthotics as the Soul Insole - Shoe Bubble and they are quickly rising to become the #1 plantar fasciitis over-the-counter orthotic. (we mean it! go to google, search term "best plantar fasciitis inserts").

How are they different?? Laina begins by asking, "Why would you want to copy a foot that has problems? By casting the foot or 3D Printing, that's exactly what you're doing". She believes that the foot needs to be guided to correct biomechanical alignment, softly. Rather than to provide cushioning under the heel and forefoot, which can take up a lot of space and crowd the shoes, Soul Insole's orthotics drop off before the forefoot and before the heel. This specific aspect of the design is meant to slightly suspend the 'ball of the foot' and heel, offloading pressure and redistributing that pressure more evenly across the foot. This helps relive pains associated with Morten's neuroma, heel spurs and plantar fasciitis.

The insole has medial, lateral and transverse arch support to keep the foot bones in proper alignment and prevent over-pronation. This helps those with flat feet, high arches, plantar fasciitis and arthritis. Also, keeping the feet in proper alignment can help the ankles, knees, hips and back into better alignment as well..

The Soul Insole can be placed into sandals, dress shoes and athletic shoes. You can move them from shoe to shoe and they are washable and re-usable. The medical-grade gel maintains it's shape and does not compress over time..

The insoles come in 3 sizes which get progressively longer, wider and thicker. They fit a wide range of shoe sizes and foot types. The flexible shape forms to the shoe and provides substantial, yet comfortable support....

Still don't believe how something so small can make such a huge difference? See the numerous reviews of customers who have been helped by this effective foot device.

https://soulinsole.com/customer-reviews/

https://www.facebook.com/pg/SoulInsoleFootbook/reviews/

To top it off, anyone can afford to have comfort and protection with the orthotic priced at only $29.99.

This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.