I've always been a super active person, but unfortunately suffered many ankle sprains in my younger soccer-playing days. Because of my chronic foot pain, my podiatrist prescribed orthotics while I was in high school, and I was dependent upon them until my feet became so weak I started developing injuries. 

 

It started with plantar fasciitis, and I was desperate for relief. A friend told me about Katy Bowman’s book Simple Steps to Foot Pain Relief, and I ate it up. I’ve always leaned toward a more holistic lifestyle, so I instantly became a believer in what she had to say.

 

I started doing the exercises she recommends in her book, and I’ll never forget the feeling of my feet “waking up.”  (If you’ve already made the transition to barefoot, you know what I mean!) It was like all those years in restrictive shoes and orthotics numbed and deadened my feet, and doing the work of spreading my toes, struggling with toe yoga, and wringing my stiff feet out like a rag was bringing them back to life. 

 

For some reason, in the midst of my great foot awakening, I developed another injury - post tib tendonitis. I was so disheartened. 

 

I saw a few physical therapists (one of which did help relieve my symptoms with dry needling - yowza!), a podiatrist who gave me a cortisone shot (which actually helped bring quite a bit of relief), but there were no professionals in my community who believed in the ideology I had firmly adopted as the best way for true foot health and healing.

 

I was struggling along, not giving up hope on my dream to be able to live my life pain free in barefoot shoes, when another friend told me about Gait Happens. 

 

Finally! A group of foot doctors who get it.

 

I met with Dr. Jen Perez multiple times over zoom, and finally began making real progress. She provided me with just the right exercises for my condition and put me on a return-to-running protocol, which I was eventually able to complete pain-free.

 

Before my barefoot journey, I had resigned myself to never being able to run again. Now, I’m running, lifting, and jumping to my heart’s content!

 

Overall, it was a loooong journey (about two years from my first injury until I achieved full healing). It was frustrating, and hopeless at times. It was a very piecemeal and nonlinear path. But I made it! And I believe that you can, too.

 

This website is my dedication to you - to your feet, your health, your life. It's my privilege to join you in your barefoot journey - every step of the way!

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XO,

Kim