We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Abby Britt. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Abby below.
Abby, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
Throughout my life, I’ve been quite risk-averse. I’ve occasionally stepped out of my comfort zone, like when I order a mocha latte instead of my usual caramel macchiato, but generally, I lean towards less risky options. I chose Physical Therapy as a career because I love helping with people’s recovery and it seemed like a stable path for me.
Designing a new clothing concept was never on my radar. I do not have a degree in design, marketing, or an MBA. However, when I started to notice myself struggling to find good core awareness and strength, this was my motivation to start the clothing line. I recognize how important core strength is and wanted to raise awareness throughout our days. And what is on us all day long, our attire! Other than having a PT follow us around all day to help correct our posture, I thought, “let’s put our clothes to work”. The title of entrepreneur was unfamiliar to me until recently, and it’s a role I’m learning to embrace and refine.
Previously, I’ve always been part of a team, with fellow PTs, PTAs, or volleyball teammates in college. Starting this clothing line has been a solitary journey, often feeling isolated. I yearn for the day when I can assemble a team to help my brand, CUE, flourish. For now, it’s a solo venture, which is a significant leap for someone who thrives on routine and rarely strays from it. The title of entrepreneur was unfamiliar to me until recently, but it’s a role I’m proud of and working to stay focused on daily goals and promotion of the importance of core strength.
Abby, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Abby Britt. I am a licensed Physical Therapist with over 23 years experience. I have worked in outpatient settings, sports rehab and currently work in home care to provide services to individuals who desire to stay independent and safe in their homes. My decision to go into PT was a relatively easy one because I enjoy being active, and appreciate how the human body moves, heals and functions. I love being able to provide expertise with pain control and proper spinal alignment for the person to move with improved ability.
My love for sports performance has lead me to play and coach volleyball. I find it rewarding to help players perfect their game and work through trials and tribulations that high school sports provide. During the years of coaching and having two daughters who are student athletes, I began to recognize significant spinal injuries in young athletes. They would suffer from vertebral fractures which are unusual in nature to youths. I also began to notice the lack of core awareness and poor posture some of these athletes were developing. Dependence on devices like cell phones, tablets and poor sitting may be a significant contributor to these postures and potential injuries.
I have spent many years educating my patients on the importance of core strength, awareness and proper posture. The problem I saw with my athletes experiencing spinal injuries began my journey of creating a clothing line focused on improved core strength, awareness and posture. I believe the human body is not meant to remain in a seated position for long periods of time, nor is it accustomed to forward head or flexed trunk which we can develop when working at a desk or on our devices. I know education needs to be provided on how to off-set these mechanics. However, sometimes we just need a little reminder, which is what CUE Apparel is designed to do. CUE provides the gentle tactile cue at your abdomen, shoulder area and low back to tighten the core structures for improved spinal alignment, athletic performance and reduced pain. This clothing line will change the way we think about clothes and movement performance. Why shouldn’t we utilize our clothes in a functional manner as well as style? The key to CUE are the CueLines. These are internal tacky surfaces that provide a tug on your skin when you move throughout the day. The CueLines help our body sense this cue and relay the signal to our brain that we need to tighten our core muscles and pull the shoulders back. Along with creating this sensation from the CueLines, we use our own muscles to pull us into proper alignment, which in time creates improved core strength, posture and potentially less pain.
If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?
Yes, I would choose to be a Physical Therapist again. For me, PT is completely rewarding. I like to say that people are like a puzzle and the rewarding part of PT is that we get to figure out the missing piece to put them back together for a whole, complete functioning person. That is what I love about PT, to empower people to move more efficiently with less pain and improved performance.
I believe I am an entrepreneur at heart and if I had things to do again, I would have added an emphasis on business or marketing to help improve these parts of my current life’s work. I am excited on how CUE Apparel will be able to help people learn to engage their core and improve their posture through the active work of the CueLines integrated in the clothing. CUE’s potential to make an impact on people is yet to be seen, but my work as a PT has allowed for a core awareness clothing concept that is new to market, just waiting to be tested. It not only has potential to be impactful to people who are looking to resolve postural issues, but may be the key to improved athletic performance, aiding in recovery using compression and isometric exercises, such as assisting those people suffering from POTS syndrome, and helping with improved pain.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
Training and knowledge is key for a Physical Therapist. The human body is amazing, but everyone is slightly different. Not all solutions for one person fits with another person. Sometimes that knowledge needs to be adjusted to fit for a different person or problem. For instance, I was working with a patient who came to me following her knee replacement. Her knee was swollen, painful and tight, as all post-op Total Knee Arthroplasty’s. However, this was going to prove to be very different from typical total knees. 6 weeks post-op we are struggling to get her knee past 90 degrees of flexion and we are not a 0 degrees of extension. She is still walking with her walker because she does not have full terminal knee extension and her knee is still very painful. She was so faithful with her exercise program and her diligence on her range of motion, but we were not making a difference in her function. Despite our best efforts, her surgeon suggested a knee manipulation to break up the scar tissue and gain the range of motion she was missing. Once she was out of surgery, she had daily PT to work on stretching and keeping the knee from scaring too hard. Again, she was diligent on her exercises and stretching, but at 6 months post-op she was still as tight as before and walking with a cane. She was functional and adapted to the lack of mobility in the knee and she was then discharged from PT as we achieved all that we could at that point.
Amazingly, one year later, she came back for PT following a total knee replacement on the other knee. I was absolutely amazed by her. The previous knee that was so stubborn, did not move and was painful and stuck, now measured at 120 degrees of flexion and 0 deg of extension, which is the goal of knee mobility. Other than her new knee replacement that was sore and swollen, she had completely gained all function in the previous knee. For this patient, her body produced increased scar tissue. She needed time to allow her body to heal and gain those patterns of mobility through the scar tissue. I know that if we didn’t work so hard to gain that motion, she would not have gained it back, but it took time for her. She made an amazing recovery and was so happy with her progress. This patient taught me, that despite what I anatomically and physiologically knew, she needed more time to heal. She was not a typical TKA, yet she made a full recovery and taught me that sometimes we don’t always fit the molds we think are true. Sometimes, we need time, patience and perseverance to reach our full potential. This is what I see for CUE Apparel. Being a new concept in clothing, it needs time and education for people to experience the full potential it can provide to people.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cueyourlife.com
- Instagram: #cueyourlife
- Facebook: CUE
- Linkedin: Abby Britt
