wegg® showcase: Ashley S. H. Moy, CEO, Cast21

When he got older, he became a pommel horse gymnast and broke bones from the hips up. When the two of us were talking about areas of healthcare and medicine that were ripe for innovation, we started talking about casts and braces because he knows so much about the pains and pitfalls as a patient. We decided to create something better for him, when he, of course, would need another one.

We tested our idea by entering collegiate business competitions and doing well. That’s how we realized that we didn’t just make a product that was great for our cofounder when he needed another cast or brace, but there were also many other people in the ecosystem who were eager to have this solution. We had over a thousand people reach out to us, both on the doctor/healthcare side and on the patient side, trying to get the product. That’s how we knew we had created something special.

We didn’t know what we didn’t know when we first started exporting. We weren’t sure how to trust partners that were so far away and who we hadn’t met in person. We actually started going commercial with Cast21 in 2020, which was during the pandemic. No one was meeting people in person. To compound some of the complexities, sometimes we didn’t share the same first language. Thankfully, we worked with a lot of different resources that state and federal agencies set up for us. We participated in matchmaking programs, had local experts on calls with us to make sure we were asking the right questions, or that we were picking up on the cultural body language, and provided additional cultural context. We also received assistance with background checks as well. There were a lot of learnings, of course, but it’s been a wonderful experience overall.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Please ask for help. There are many people willing to lend a hand and want to see you be successful. There are lots of opportunities to form partnerships and lift each other up. That’s what we’re all here to do.