We caught up with the brilliant and insightful STELLA BUSTOS a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi STELLA, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
My mission is to help people who have chronic back and neck pain alleviate that pain while they are sitting, anywhere, anytime, by helping themselves realign their seated position, decompressing their spinal cord, and support the correct natural curvature of their neck posture.
In 1993, I had 2 car accidents that occurred within 2 weeks of each other, a T-bone smash and a rear-end crash. My lower spinal cord and my neck were badly affected. I was under treatment for 6 months after those accidents, and felt that while I was feeling better, I was not aware of the depth of the injuries. In 1994, we experienced the horrific Northridge earthquake, which left my 6 year-old daughter so traumatized that she could not be left alone at any time. I knew that I had to make a decision for her benefit, so I decided to move to a safer place that did not have earthquakes.
That year, I made a decision to leave Los Angeles, where I grew up, and move to San Antonio, Texas, where I was born in order to provide a safe environment for my daughter and to continue working in my industry. So in 1995, we moved to San Antonio.
A year later in 1996, I began to feel pain in my left arm, to the point that I could not lift a glass of tea. At the same time, whenever I got into my car to make sales calls, I would feel a stabbing pain in my lower right hip, so I decided to see a chiropractor to find out the source of the pain and reason for the loss of strength in my arm.
He asked me if I had recently been in a car accident or suffered a fall. Of course I had not, but I had had 2 car accidents in l993. Once I explained the injuries, he explained that those injuries had left me with my neck in a reverse “C” position and my S1 and S2 vertebrae were badly injured and inflamed which was causing the intense pain in my lower back. Having my neck out of position was pinching a nerve and that was why I did not have control in my left arm. He created a treatment plan that required me to see him 3 x per week for the next 6 months in order to reverse my neck and realign and treat the S1/S2 joints in my lower back.
After 2 months of treatment, I was still in pain and one day, as I got into my car at 8 in the morning and being greeted by the excruciating pain that I was about to suffer the whole day while driving, I said out loud, “God, how am I going to get through the day, if I’m already in pain?” It was at that moment that I looked over at the morning paper which I had just picked up from my yard, I reached for it and slipped it under my right leg and as if God had answered my prayer, the pain disappeared! I thought I was imagining the relief, so I took out the paper and rested my leg again, as if to start driving, and once again, the pain was there. So just to be sure I had felt relief, I put the paper back under my leg and once again, the pain was gone. It was a miracle. God had answered my question: “How am I going to get through the day? By lifting my leg with the paper.”
Of course I was incredulous, but enjoyed the day of no pain, by using my folded newspaper. I called my doctor and went to see him to have him explain how this small change made such a big difference. What he said was that I had changed the angle of my pelvis by raising my leg and in return the spaces between the small bones at the base of my spine, had been decompressed. And by decompressing my spine, I had felt relief.
This led me to invent a small pillow, shaped like a folded newspaper to use instead of the paper itself. After a few months, I changed and improved the design and made it more like a wedge. After meeting with the UTSA Small Business Development Center, I improved the design again to include a neck cutout and created 4 different sizes. I thought that if something so slight can help relieve pain in me, why couldn’t it help other people who suffer similar or more dramatic pain? It became my mission to create the Kneebak Pain Relief Solution Pillow and begin the process of manufacturing and selling it to other people like me.
STELLA, 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?
I was born in San Antonio, Texas but when I was 5 years old, my father moved our family to Los Angeles, California. Being that we had lived with my maternal grandparents in Texas, they only spoke Spanish, so as kids we only knew Spanish. Once we were in California, and entered kindergarten, I knew no English so it was quite a challenge to go to school everyday and not know what was going on but had to follow through.
By 3rd grade, I had learned English (somewhat) and felt that I was not speaking English well enough and felt embarrassed whenever I had to speak in front of the class. This led me to study harder and when I was in junior high and high school, English was my major. I felt a need to speak better and understand what I was being taught at a higher level. Maybe that is why I use big words today (as my friends always chide me about) and why it is important to make myself understood.
In junior and high school, I wanted to serve, so I joined student government and ran for offices like student body secretary, treasurer or Chancellor of the Exchequer (whatever that is) and usually I would win the election. I felt that if I was part of the student government, I would make friends with all the “smart kids” and would stay out of trouble.
When we moved to Los Angeles, we rented an apartment on the west side of downtown LA. This put us smack in the middle of the most ethnically integrated part of the city…there was no majority, only minorities. My school was made up of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Salvadoran, Honduran, Mexican-American, White, African-Americans, Samoan, I could go on, but suffice it to say, we were totally integrated. This made it easy to make friends, but there were always kids who were in gangs, Central LA is known as home to some of the largest gangs in the country. The kids who were in gangs sat next to me in English and math. The ate lunch with me in the cafeteria, they were just normal kids who were in a gang. Nice to a point, but in a gang, just the same. One day they asked me what gang I was going to join, and I responded that “my dad doesn’t allow me to join gangs.” That was not the answer they were waiting for but I explained that if I joined a gang, I would be dead meat the next day because my father would kill me. And that was true.
My dad forbade us to affiliate or run with any kids that were “bad kids.” He had a tight rope on all 4 of us and made us come home right after school. We were more afraid of breaking our dad’s rules than getting beat up by a gang member. So I guess because the kids felt sorry for me, they said I was off the hook and I didn’t have to join up, but they would still be my friends.
I was saved! I went through school knowing I was protected by my dad’s rules on one side and the gangs on the other. I could breathe. Once graduating high school in 1970, I went on to Los Angeles City College and after 2 years, transferred to UCLA, which made my dad really proud of me. (That was hard to do, since he didn’t have any confidence that I would graduate high school, even though I maintained a 3.8 GPA throughout.)
I had always wanted to be an interior designer and thought UCLA would be the university that would teach me this craft but little did I know that it only offered a Design Art major but not interior design. After 2 years of taking classes like history of architecture, weaving, shelter, landscape, fundamentals of design, etc., which enriched my overall appreciation of art, I had not yet attended one single class on interior design, unless you count custom yacht interiors.
In 1974, because my financial aid money did not come through in time to pay for my tuition I had to leave UCLA and go to work immediately to pay my rent. So having to make a life changing decision, I got a full time job as a bi-lingual executive secretary in one of LA’s largest immigration law firms, Popkin, Shamir and Greenberg, handling western hemisphere immigration cases. Little did they know, that by now, I had forgotten most of my Spanish and now could only muster up speaking “Spanglish” but enough to communicate with the clients that were from all over Mexico, Central America, and South America. Let me tell you, that I learned how to speak several different dialects of Spanish from the 80 clients that were now “my cases.”
Although I had wanted to be an interior designer, it seemed that life had other opportunities for me to experience. Finally after 10 years and many jobs including working for New York’s William Esty Company LA office, advertising, agency, promoting the “Datsun” name to the new moniker brand called “Nissan,” to working in Beverly Hills with the Jack Wrather Corporation, promoting the latest “Lassie Come Home” feature film and the Lone Ranger, to developing the first outdoor shopping mall in Beverly Hills, called The Rodeo Collection on Rodeo Drive, I returned to UCLA’s night school Certificate Program to study Interior Design and Public Relations. After 12 months I graduated with a certificate in Public Relations and decided to complete my studies in Interior Design at Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in downtown LA. I graduated from FIDM with an Associate’s Degree in 1989, one year after my daughter was born.
(Whew, I’m glad I got through that, I’m tired just writing about it!)
In 1984, while attending UCLA night school, I established a small. woman-owned business in Public Relations working with several non-profit and for-profit corporations that hired me to promote their causes and services, as an independent consultant. In 1989, after graduating from FIDM, I decided that I would specialize in lighting design and not interior design, as I realized that many interior designers had no idea how to light interior spaces. It was then that I talked my way into a position as Public Relations Director at Westwood Wholesale Electric, one of the largest electrical wholesale companies in L.A. The Lighting Group, a division of WWE, had an one lighting designer on staff who wanted an apprentice, to help run their showcase lighting lab. It was match made in heaven: I promoted the lab and helped WWE promote new business to their electrical supply house, while being trained in commercial lighting .
It was a challenge to do both lighting presentations and create public relations promotions for a wholesale electrical supplier but coming up with ideas to lure the electricians into the lighting lab for lunch and a manufacturer’s product presentation was easy. All I had to do was make flyers for the counters where the electricians would come place orders that said, “Want a quickie at noon?” and they came flying in like bees to honey!
My experience at the Lighting Group, learning how to light a space properly, technically and within federal codes and limitations, eventually led me to become a commercial lighting sales rep, so in l993 I joined the largest rep agency in SoCal, California Lighting Sales, and was trained by the 19 other salesmen, who were top agents in the country. 1993, I suffered the 2 car accidents, and after the 1994 earthquake, and working for CLS for 2 years, I made the decision to leave California for Texas.
In 1996, I was in San Antonio now, bought a home, situated my family in a new city and enjoying the hot weather, working in sales, getting in and out of my car, hauling heavy catalogs and lighting samples, I began to feel the pain creeping up in my back and neck and arm, and knew something was wrong.
I believe that if I had not had the sales job which required a lot of driving, getting in and of my car, forcing the repetitive motions and seated position for hours on end, I might not have irritated my old injuries. And if I had not suffered the pain I did, I would never have invented the Kneebak Pain Relief Solution Pillows. It was through pain that I was inspired to do something.
My design allows my Kneebak Pillow to be used in multiple positions: behind the neck, behind the low, mid and upper back, while sitting in a car or any type of vehicle, while in bed, while travelling (especially in an airplane) in a bus, train or truck, even at your desk in an office chair, or on the desk under your wrist to avoid carpal tunnel syndrome pain.
The Kneebak Pain Relief Solution Pillow offers a multitude of ways to help you help yourself. It has a unique shape unlike any other pillow on the market, It has multiple uses and can be carried while travelling, or while watching television. It is unique, lightweight, durable, washable and dryable without removing the cover, it retains its shape and lasts a minimum of 2 years, even with daily use.
The Kneebak Pain Relief Solution Pillow will change the way you feel while you sit, and offers you a way to alleviate your pain points (where only you know they are) by moving it around your body and sitting or leaning against it. It is a medical device that helps you decompress your muscles or flex your joints to help realign your spinal position, “crack” your back, “flex” your pelvic/hip joint, alleviates sciatic pain, providing comfort as a padding, it increases blood circulation, helps realign your neck and allows for isometric movement, all while you sit in a chair. It is one-of-a-kind, and currently has a patent pending, the logo design is copyrighted and the word “Kneebak” is trademarked in the United States.
Have you ever had to pivot?
While I was very excited about being accepted at UCLA, a true dream come true, for me and for my family, I was totally disappointed with myself when I had to leave. To me it was slap in my face, that I did not pursue the reasons for my financial aid being dropped or why it did not come through in time. I felt like a failure. It was almost as if my father’s premonition of me not being able to graduate (from high school) from such a prestigious university like UCLA, was coming true.
The notice that I was not getting tuition money to begin the fall quarter came just a month before school began, so there was no time to debate what had happened, I had to come up with rent money. My parents could not afford to help me financially, I was totally dependent on financial aid. I had to pivot and start looking for a job and fast! I couldn’t look back, and didn’t have time to dig into the reasons why–I had to keep going forward, keep living, not fail my father, move on and keep the dream that I could be a success alive. I never found out what happened.
I took the job as an immigration secretary and kept working different jobs until 1983 when I returned to UCLA Certificate Program, taking classes at night while continuing to work full time. In 1980, I was married, and was working for a downtown real estate developer. After working for him for 2 years, I was fired. It was the first time I was let go from a job, one that I loved and one that I was doing well at, and learning from, but one who’s VP decided he didn’t like my honest style, so I was let go.
Another punch to my ego. I never felt such shame and disappointment but I realized that I was not the problem, the VP was.
So I learned not to take it personally, but to look up and look ahead to see what else was on the horizon of my life. My husband was supportive and encouraging and helped me recover from the shock. And as it turned out,, I got a better job at the Rodeo Collection in Beverly Hills where I worked for 3 years.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
When I finally made the move to Texas, it was as if the doors to my past were opened and I walked into the perfect situation to raise my daughter in a safe city with no earthquakes. I rekindled my family relationships with my maternal grandmother who was now in her late 90’s and with my aunts and uncles and cousins, who were happy that I had returned to San Antonio. My Aunt Janie had a child care business in her home and she was always willing to take care of my daughter whenever work took me out of town.
The company that hired me was the largest commercial lighting agency in San Antonio and I was their first female salesperson. My employer was impressed with the fact that I was coming from LA, such a large city to a small town like SA, and wanted to exploit my talents and skills in sales. He gave me carte blanche to create relationships in the city with all architects, interior designers and electrical engineers. I was busy making friends and creating new business for the company. Throughout the 19 years I worked for the company, I was challenged on various levels, including sexual harassment, discrimination, and just outright “we don’t do it that way here in Texas” attitude. My personality and assertiveness was too much and too serious for the male hierarchy in the company and I found out soon that I was to tone it down.
This attitude infuriated me. I was from LA, I went to UCLA, I was taught that women had rights, equal rights to earn as much as men, but in Texas, those rights were “toned down” to suit the male ego and I had to comply. Why should I comply?? Why shouldn’t I fight back? Why? Because I was a single mother, raising a young daughter, who needed stability and care and a safe home. I had to swallow my pride, my bruised ego, my anger, and my desire to fight back because I needed to keep my job.
My daughter’s well being was more important than my being righteously right. And management knew that. And I so I had to keep my nose to the grinder and move on, move forward, look ahead and keep my eyes looking for new opportunities.
In 2010, when my daughter graduated from the University of the Incarnate Word, with a BA degree in Communication Arts, and moved to Beaumont, Texas to become a reporter, I knew that most of my job was almost done. I had seen her through her educational years, struggled to make sure she did well, supported her and now was seeing her leave home to start her own journey through life. Four years later when she was 23, “Taina Maya” was now the morning news anchor at KWTX in Waco, Texas and the youngest news anchor in Texas history, It was then that I knew my job was done and I could move on.
In 2014, I made the move to work for a competitor but after 18 months, I decided to go independent, open my own lighting design consulting business, Stellar Light LLC and develop the foundation for my own manufacturing company, Thera Pillows Company. This would be the continuation of creating the dream of owning my own small, minority, woman-owned business to develop my invention, The Kneebak Pain Relief Solution Pillow.
It was difficult to swallow my pride and keep moving forward in those years, but I knew I was not doing it for myself, but for my daughter. She was the gas in my engine that kept me going towards the goal of getting her catapulted into her future.
Being resilient, staying the course, keeping my eyes focused on the target, knowing I would eventually hit it, is what feeds me today. My drive was ignited long ago when I had to pivot and find a job quickly to support myself, learning not to rely on others but to believe I could provide for myself.. I have not stopped since then and I will not stop until The Kneebak Pain Relief Solution Pillow becomes a household word, like “Xerox” or “Kleenex.”
By the way, where’s your “Kneebak Pillow?” Don’t leave home without it, you’ll love how it sits with you!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kneebakpillow.com
- Instagram: Instagram/kneebakpillow
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/KneebakPainReliefSolutionPillows
- Linkedin: LinkedIn/Stella Bustos
- Twitter: twitter/@kneebakstella
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFL2AlnaWFQ