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Making Shoes For All Abilities with Joseph DiFrancisco

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Episode Summary

Sometimes our clients need something to participate in their meaningful occupations, but there isn’t anything on the market to help them. Joseph DiFrancisco, MS, OT/L, faced this issue time and time again when trying to find shoes for his clients that they could put on by themselves and also could accommodate any type of adaptive device like an AFO. But his search always came up empty handed. So what did he do? He put on his OT entrepreneur hat and created his own line called Friendly Shoes. His mission? Making shoes that were accessible, supportive, comfortable, and also looked good too. Tune into the episode to hear more about his journey from therapist to entrepreneur and how his shoes are helping people with all abilities.

Show Notes

Joseph and Sarah discuss:

  • The why behind starting Friendly Shoes
  • Safety and aesthetics of adaptive shoes
  • The deeper meaning behind shoes
  • Sneakerheads
  • Why you can’t just go bigger to fit AFOs in shows
  • The OT brain in shoe development
  • Importance of making mistakes
  • Taking the first step to starting a business
  • Why Friendly?
  • Bringing occupational therapy to the forefront
  • Coupon Code for 25% off Friendly Shoes for Lyfers: OTRULES

Connect with Joseph:

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