Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Shehla Rooney. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Shehla, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Before I state what my mission is, I think I should provide a brief backstory. I have been a physical therapist (PT) for over 25 years now. My personal and professional mission has always been to provide the best care possible for my patients using my passion for knowledge to constantly strive to be better as a health professional. This personal mission is what led to the creation of a company, called GoKNEE.
As they say, ‘Necessity is the mother of Invention’. GoKNEE only came about because of a patient that was struggling after knee replacement surgery who was not responding to typical therapy treatments. His frustration and plea for help is what ultimately lead to the creation of a knee device. This knee device resulted in improvements that were able to offset the need for a 2nd surgery for this patient.
So back to your original question about my mission. GoKNEE’s mission is to provide the fastest, most effective, and convenient recovery after knee replacement surgery. As a PT, I have seen firsthand the impact of chronic knee pain with my patients and the sacrifices they make every day because of it. I know that the rehabilitation after knee replacement surgery is challenging and difficult and can be long. I have found a way to make it less painful and quicker and I want to help everyone out there who needs this surgery, which is my mission!
Shehla, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
As I mentioned I am a physical therapist. I have a passion for geriatrics which led me to obtaining my Board Certification in Geriatric Physical Therapy in 2016 through the American Physical Therapy Association. It was just in the last 5 years that I began to shift my focus on patients with chronic knee pain related to Osteoarthritis and more specifically knee replacement recovery. This shift occurred because of the patient I mentioned that was struggling after his surgery. This patient was healthy, active, motivated, and compliant with his post-surgical instructions and exercises, yet he was not progressing the way he should have. We realized there was a problem that needed a solution and GoKNEE was born.
So now my sole focus is on GoKNEE and spreading the word about what it is and what it can do and how it can help. There are insurance changes and reimbursement cuts happening as we speak that affect millions of Americans and their ability to access necessary services and so it is vital that they have access to necessary equipment and programs at home that can help them. GoKNEE does just that. It is a home knee recovery program created by physical therapists that consists of a patented knee device and online instructional videos that has been clinically proven to speed the recovery.
I have yet to meet an individual that does not want a faster, less painful recovery after this procedure. There are one million Americans going to have knee replacement surgery next year. I am so proud to have created something that could help so many, especially at a time in life where they should be enjoying the fruits of their lifelong labor. I know that when it comes time for me to retire, I want to be able to do the things I enjoy or try new things that I have always wanted to do. To think that GoKNEE could help someone accomplish that same goal, is our motivation and our mission.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Like many other companies that began in 2020, I believe we all had to pivot because of the pandemic. I quit my ‘day job’ in January 2020 to do GoKNEE full-time, because the clinical research supporting GoKNEE’s efficacy was published in November 2019. The plan was to educate PTs and orthopedic surgeons about GoKNEE because we knew that endorsements from health professionals would be key for individuals to use a new product on the market. I secured a Sales Force of 30+ reps in 24 States across the U.S. and had them trained and ready to market GoKNEE by March 2020. We all know what happened in March of 2020… a global pandemic happened.
This meant that knee replacement surgeries were cancelled and postponed across the country. It meant that sales reps were not permitted to make in-person visits or sales calls at surgery centers, hospitals, surgeon’s offices, and PT clinics. There was so much uncertainty and fear that no one was willing to even learn about a new product on the market, let alone discuss adopting it into their daily operations or recommending it to their patients. Many of the Sales Reps looked for other jobs. The remaining Sales Reps had no leads, and I had no sales. I wasn’t even able to do local grassroots marketing because of social-distancing mandates. I was at a standstill.
I would love to say that I was quick to pivot and realize that I could switch and focus on the end-user. Meaning I could market through social media to the individual who had their surgery cancelled or postponed who was still dealing with chronic knee pain. I wish I could say that I realized that GoKNEE’s knee program was an excellent ‘Prehab’ program that could help their knee pain and stiffness right now while waiting for their surgery to be scheduled. I would love to say that I offered the million Americans wanting/needing to have knee replacement surgery who now could not, a viable solution to managing their symptoms. But sadly, I did not.
It was a challenging and difficult time for GoKNEE and me! My only excuse is that I had been a PT for 23 years at that point and a business owner for a year. I had a lot of learning and growing up to do. However, lots of lessons were learned, that is for sure! I eventually pivoted, but it took almost a year.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I feel like my entire entrepreneurial journey can be described as resilient. It started with the pandemic taking a toll on the company, resulting in my business partners wanting to exit. The transition to a Solopreneur was difficult. I dealt with ‘imposter syndrome’ thinking that I could not run this business on my own. I started talking to other business owners, found some mentors, utilized free local resources, applied for internships, grants, SBA loans and read a bunch of books (audio books became a staple).
I believe my true resilience was showcased when it came to marketing of my product/business. I had no idea what marketing was or all that it entailed. I joined FaceBook in 2020 which was my first introduction to social media, so you can imagine how green I was. After going through numerous marketing firms and a huge learning curve, I learned the difference between grassroots marketing and content marketing. I learned about the value of SEO and what social media marketing was. I learned what was best for my ideal customer. I didn’t even realize that Sales and Marketing were not the same thing?! I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
Other examples of resilience were learning about QuickBooks and basic accounting because of an IRS fine, learning to have contracts with videographers, website builders and photographers to avoid issues with not receiving deliverables timely and dealing with patent infringements. I feel like I could go on. The point is, I think resilience is a requirement to be a business owner. I didn’t choose to be resilient; I chose to keep my business going which required me to constantly change, pivot, learn, recover from difficulties, be tough and grow. I look forward to what is yet to come.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thegoknee.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/thegoknee
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/thegoknee
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/shehla-rooney