Hi! My name is Kathy Carandang, and I’m a Certified Pedorthist. I’m like a pharmacist for your feet. I would like to share with you how I became a C-Ped.
In 2002, I fell into a position with a local pedorthic shoe store since I had impressed the owner with my knowledge about foot biomechanics and the appropriate use of corrective footwear, based upon my personal experience. At that point, I’d worn custom orthotics for over 20 years. A year later, to my amazement, the pedorthist who fit me for my first orthotics, Jack Tovey, walked into the store and soon began working beside me as my mentor. With his guidance, I received a hands-on education based on decades of experience – not just textbook material. I learned more from Jack Tovey than I ever did from any of the pedorthic manuals I ever opened. Practical application and experience have always proven to be my best teacher. Jack is still my friend and mentor today.
When I began working back in high school, I remember my first job as a waitress. I came home after my first 6-hour shift, complaining my feet hurt so badly, I could hardly walk. It didn’t seem to matter what kind of shoes I bought, my feet would hurt.
By the time I was 20, I had a job as a cashier at a local grocery store. Let me tell you, standing is harder than walking when your feet hurt. I went to a local shoe store a friend had recommended, and my future mentor, Jack Tovey, sold me the ugliest shoes I had ever owned. But he fixed up the inside of those shoes with a custom orthotic, and even though they were ugly, they didn’t hurt my feet. Ugly or not, I was in love with those shoes!
I spent the next 20 years in the hairdressing industry. After Cosmetology School, I landed a job with a reputable salon and soon learned that if I wanted to be the best at what I do I needed to open my own salon. Hence, Complete Concept Personal Care Studio was born in 1983. This was one of Indy’s first full-service salons offering an array of services for men, women and children. I soon found myself married and pregnant with our first child. Years later after receiving the news that I was pregnant with our third child, I was torn between work and raising our family. I decided to sell the salon and become a stay-at-home mom. This was by far the best decision ever. I wouldn’t trade those years for anything. Our children are now grown, college educated, and are on their way to their own rewarding careers. Now I look forward to the time when grandchildren will become the news of the day. Family is everything.
In 2008, when the sad news came that the shoe store I was working for would be closing its doors, I took the opportunity to open a door for myself; and I created WalkEZstore.com and the ezWalker® orthotic products – once again an entrepreneur. I choose to help people with their foot pain through the Internet, because I can reach a larger audience. Education is the key to success with foot pain. This is why I make sure WalkEZstore.com is chock-full of helpful information you can apply to your everyday life.
I know from being in the hairdressing and fashion industry, my own personal experience, and customer feedback, nobody wants to wear ugly shoes. Unfortunately, most orthotics don’t fit into cute shoes. However, the ezWalker® Performance Custom Orthotic works in ALL types of shoes, even fashionable high heels and dance shoes. It’s ultra-thin design makes it extremely versatile. No longer do your shoes have to be ugly to feel good.
What makes my ezWalker® Performance Custom Orthotics work differently from all other orthotics is the casting method I created and use to make the orthotics. I use a biomechanical impression process that allows your foot to determine what it wants for your individualized arch height, and will control pronation just enough to guide your feet to a better biomechanical gait with every step of the way. And now that I’ve been fabricating ezWalker® Custom Orthotics for over 6 years, I can honestly say the success rate is phenomenal. I’m documenting foot improvement in as little as 6 months to a year. Why even my own feet have never been healthier! With my ezWalker® Custom Orthotics in your shoes, you’ll simply walk your way to better health, I guarantee it!
Conditions, like bunions and bunionettes, metatarsalgia, Morton’s Neuroma, and pressure calluses, can all be a result of improper biomechanics of the foot. The proactive use of the ezWalker® Performance Custom Orthotic will help to guard against these problems if they don’t already exist and can help to relieve pain if they do.
When someone asks me how I got into this line of work, I usually say, “God prepares you and puts you places you need to be, even when you don’t know you need to be there.” I’m here!