I first noticed it
in San Francisco.
I was maybe in my early twenties, on a leisure trip with my parents. We had been walking for a couple of hours and I had to sit down. My lower back was aching. I had no idea why. I just noticed it happened when I walked for a while. I filed it away and forgot about it.
Fast forward to 2003. I am 37. My current business partner Chris was a personal trainer at 24 Hour Fitness. He was training me — and he wanted me to run for cardio. I had actually run one marathon in my life, at 27, and my knees had hurt then too. So I told Chris: I cannot. My knees hurt when I do that.
He said: I know what to do. You need to go see my physical therapist friend.
I told him I did not think that would help. I was already 37 — I probably needed new knees. Chris insisted. So he took me.
"Stop whining about your knees. It is your feet. Now stand up."
The physical therapist was kind. After spending exactly one minute looking at my knees — she started looking at my feet.
I told her that was not going to do anything. It was my knees.
She kept making small talk while she formed some plastic material around my feet. I kept telling her it was my knees. She looked up and said those words I will never forget.
I stood up.
Instantly — the pressure in my knees was gone. And after a few minutes, I noticed something else. That ache in my lower back. The one from San Francisco. The one I had carried for years without understanding it.
It was gone too.
I asked her: how did you know?
She said: in 95% of cases it is the feet. They are the only connection to the ground — and they have to do the alignment for your whole body from there.
"They all got it wrong. Most people believe it is the arch — fallen arches. But it is not. What your foot needs is not support. It needs geometry. It needs to be given back what flat surfaces took away."
I was fascinated. I told her I had tried insoles before and they never worked. Her answer was simple: they all got it wrong. Most podiatrists, physical therapists, even doctors believe it is the arch. But you do not want to restrict the arch — it has a purpose. It is part of how we walk on two legs. What your foot needs is geometry. The ability to navigate through the full sequence of motion it takes to take a single step. And that is the same for everyone.
I said: you should start a shoe company. So everyone has this choice.
She smiled.
Another six years passed.
Then one day I noticed something about Chris's son Christian. He was six years old — and he mostly wanted to sit down. I watched how he walked and I thought: oh MY.
I asked him quietly if his lower back hurt.
He was embarrassed. Said no at first. I told him that if it did, it did not mean anything was wrong with him.
He admitted it did. So much that he wanted to sit down after school instead of running around outside.
Another visit to the physical therapist. Christian got his inserts. He did not really want to wear them — they were clunky. But even at six years old, the benefit outweighed the clunk.
Two weeks later I asked him: how was school?
He said: great. I was number one.
I said congratulations — but number one in what?
"Running the track. I always used to be number three. But now I can outrun everyone."
This year Christian is turning 21. He got himself into college playing lacrosse.
Chris spent years after that perfecting the clunky insert. We learned along the way that it is not really an insert at all. It is landing gear. Because the process of walking starts with the heel landing on the ground and ends with the toe pushing off — and everything in between is a sequence your body already knows how to do.
Flat surfaces just destroy that ability. Your foot cannot navigate a surface that never changes.
Landing gear gives it back. The geometry guides your foot through the sequence — whether it needs a lot of guidance or a little. It is universal. One solution. Your own body will tell you instantly — the same way it tells you instantly when there is a pebble in your shoe.
Chris even makes the landing gear from the same materials as anti-fatigue mats. They last about a year.
Eighteen cents a day. We think that is a fair price for what your body was always supposed to have.
We did all of this because we wanted everyone to have the same opportunity we were lucky enough to stumble into. At a cost that did not require a prescription or a specialist or an insurance form.
Don't make it a secret.
If you have felt what we felt — that moment when your body finally got what it was always supposed to have — you already know something most people around you do not know yet. Your coworker who takes her shoes off the moment she gets home. Your father who stopped hiking. Your friend who says his knees are just getting old.
They are not getting old. The ground is getting to them. The same way it got to me in San Francisco. The same way it was getting to a six year old boy who just wanted to sit down after school.
Flat ground gave us roads and cities and a standard of living our ancestors could not have imagined. We are not going back to walking on rocks. But now — for the first time — we do not have to let it take its toll on our bodies either.
We hope you will kindly consider letting all the people you care about have the same knowledge — so they can make their own decision. Thank you.
We answer when you call.
Every person on our team has used the product. They know the story. They know the science. And they know that when someone calls confused or skeptical or in pain, that conversation matters.
If you have a question — about fit, about what to expect, about whether this is right for you — call us. A real person will answer.