Today we’d like to introduce you to Rob Owens.
Rob, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I began my journey with Lasso when we were Better Walk Crutches as the Executive Assistant to the CEO. I wore many hats that included human resources, supply chain logistics, manufacturing, and vendor relations… just to name a few. From my work directly with the CEO, I was responsible for everything from rebranding our office, scheduling, travel, personal errands, and more. There were times where I felt like I was on an episode of Diddy’s “Making the Band.” lol
Prior to my work with Lasso Gear, I was at Atlanta Public Schools. I began my work in a high school in an underserved community southwest of the city. I was a part-time hourly employee. I was on the frontlines. I worked at the front desk and was the first point of contact for anyone entering the building. Oh, the stories I could tell. Fast forward, I earned a position at their central office as an HR professional working closely with the Chief of Human Resources and then working as the Executive Assistant managing two departments that worked very closely with the Superintendent. I share this to provide some context of my experience that allowed me to grow from my initial role with Better Walk Crutches to the COO and a Co-Founder of Lasso Gear.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Our goal was always to create our own path, so it has been a bumpy ride. Our CEO, Partha Unnava, developed a crutch that reduced underarm force by over 50%. It was the first patented innovation of its kind for that product offering. Think about this, underarm crutches have foundationally been the same for over 5000 years. It was time for a new standard of care. On our way to becoming one of the country’s industry-leading medical device companies, so we thought, we decided to pivot. We quickly realized that the work was doing was noble in nature, but it was not natural. It did not allow for us to be front-facing to our customers or us to make a cultural impact. It made us a reactive company and we knew that pivoting to a proactive performance apparel brand would be the way.
Think about this, on our way to being a $1 million ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) startup, we decided that the legacy we would be known for meant more than money. We started over from scratch with a completely different product offering in a completely different sector with half of our employees. We bet on ourselves and rebuilt. We had an idea, some provisional patents, and a vision to change the way that the world perceived healthcare and how we would be a part of that change.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Lasso Gear Story. Tell us more about your work.
A large part of my work consists of overseeing supply chain management which includes production, packaging, warehousing, purchasing, performance measurement, logistics, etc. I would say that I’m known more for my soft skills. I’m easy to get along with and even-keeled.
Here at Lasso Gear, the goal with our socks and our future products is to give you greater confidence in every step. Because the more confident you are, the more things you can do, challenging yourself to break new boundaries, and experience true freedom through movement. That is what sets us apart from others.
When we develop products, we not only work with the top physical therapists and physicians in the world, but our efforts are led by our internal team of biomedical engineers. We identify movement problems in prevention, performance and recovery that exist for everyday people and we try to focus on solving the big problems that can have an impact on the most people. We look for gaps in current solutions and focus on how everyday people interact with these products.
Do you feel like our city is a good place for businesses like yours? If someone was just starting out, would you recommend them starting out here? If not, what can our city do to improve?
Atlanta is an opportune city to start a business like ours or any other. Atlanta has a great entrepreneurial culture. There are thousands of startup firms and even more angel investors. The city is also the host of many networking events, hackathons, and award ceremonies for high potential companies. Another thing that makes Atlanta a great place for business are the 70+ colleges and universities that are overflowing with professional talent. Additionally, the city has nearly 20 Fortune 500 companies, that are full of top-level executives that could be a great addition to your company’s board of directors, advisory board, etc.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lassogear.com
- Phone: 213-474-8399
- Email: contact@lassogear.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lassogear/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LassoGear/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lassogear/
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/lassogear/
Suggest a story: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
