After a body and life altering sledding accident in Switzerland, Surgeons, Doctors, and Physical Therapists from Zürich's Swiss Olympic Medical Center agreed Georgette would face a lifetime of Pain Management and Orthotic Aids. Drawing on her knowledge from growing up Barefooting the rocky cliffs and tidepools of Southern California's and Mexico's coastlines, her Apache Roots, and updated findings in Sports Science, Georgette made a medically unimaginable recovery – without residual pain and orthotics. She's now using these protocols to help others realize their full mobility potentials, and has opened PediPower, a Concept Foot Center in Zürich, Switzerland including Foot Therapy, Education, and multi-brand Barefoot Shoes.
Georgette Dutoit, Restorative Foot Therapist
Please tell us more about yourself.
Growing up, I was considered an introverted child and preferred to be alone with a book rather than running with the cool kids. I was interested in things that made sense, always seeking the truth and asking questions until I could understand why.
This sometimes caused problems, especially at Catholic Catechism and with Authority figures – but that only flamed my fire to find the bottom line. I guess you could say I wasn’t afraid of a challenge and went after definitive answers like a tireless archaeologist digging for tangible proof.
Also, having Synesthesia altered the way I processed information and contributed to my need to understand what was going on around me deeply.
What got you started as a Restorative Foot Therapist?
I was raised on the rocky coastlines and tidepools of the San Pedro Peninsula in California and Mexico’s Punta Banda Peninsula. Going barefoot over these challenging Pacific shorelines provided a rich sensory feedback playground for my soles. As a result, my feet developed strong and smart, never causing me to think twice about them.
Fast forward 39 years later, when I moved to Zürich and shortly after suffered a sledding accident that threatened my physical and mental state. This situation opened my eyes to the limitations of current Western medical options for foot and lower leg rehabilitation and inspired me to go back to the roots of my past experiences to develop alternatives beyond these limiting protocols.
Who are your Role Models, and how do they inspire you?
The people who inspire me are what my husband calls “Doers”. Those who think things are possible and find ways to do them. In school, learning about Galileo - how his factual findings were initially hidden to keep control over the masses. This was my introduction to how unchecked institutions can cause great harm. And although they tried to stop him, Galileo just kept on finding ways to do it until it was done.
And in my lifetime, the women; I remember as a young adult watching Martha Stewart elevate everyday homemaking skills, turning them into a multi-level business empire. I first noticed Stewart on a TV Commercial where she was cutting up Credit Cards and reusing them for tiling her swimming pool – doing this with casual confidence, like it was completely okay to do. Stewart did something to those valuable little plastic cards that seemed profane at the time, and that was another eye-opener: another doer and a challenger of the status quo.
And much earlier than Martha was Mattel’s iconic Barbie, who did and had everything she wanted, with no man, woman, or institution stopping her. Barbie demonstrated every possibility – outside of being a wife and mother – of what a woman could do with an effortless smile and ease. These two iconic figures were impressive role models – smart women who defied the female expectations of their time with grace and confidence. They were Doers and led me to believe a girl could do anything if she simply wanted to.
What drives you to be your best?
The people I work with and push me to be my best. My Partner-Husband, Co-Workers, Clients, and Customers all make me want to do things right. If I can keep those I surround myself with engaged, happy, and coming back for more, I feel like I’m doing well. I aspire to inspire them by giving them what they need to succeed. Because when they succeed, that means I’m moving forward, too.
What are the influences on your approach to foot therapy?
My work is influenced by my Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache roots, as well as modern findings in Science and Biomechanics.
The Apache were the last to surrender to the US Government. One of the things that made them so difficult to catch was their strong and adapted feet in harsh surroundings. They were faster than their adversaries not only because they knew the terrain more intimately but also because they could move faster barefoot or in their indigenous shoes versus the heavy and cumbersome shoes of their enemies.
When I decided to study to become a Foot Therapist, I discovered the power of traditional Pedobarography – essentially making and reading footprints to recognize movement patterns. I was immediately drawn to this. It felt like second nature to me, and I saw it as a tool to hone my therapy approach. This fail-proof method shows the basic mechanics of what’s working or not in the feet and gives a concrete place to start with rehabilitation. I was taught this by an airplane mechanic, now a renowned running coach. He applied his knowledge of mechanics to the feet and hit an approach to making his runners winners. You can’t argue with the mechanics of the feet, and with updated Scientific studies to back it up, footprint reading became a strong part of my Foot Rehabilitation method.
Understanding this also helped to explain why the Apache were so stealthy on their feet compared to their Cowboy counterparts.
The Business
What is your business name, and how do you help your Clients?
The business name is PediPower. In our Concept Foot Center, we help people get out of foot pain and into their optimal mobility. We show them how to naturally restore their foundation and put them into the best-fitting functional shoes for their feet and lifestyles.
What is your Motto?
We actually have two mottos that work together like feet:
Knowledge is Power and Be your own Superhero
How did you come to create PediPower?
Lack of anything like it. According to my research, there was no physical place for people to go for natural Foot Therapy options and educational advice about their feet, correct consulting on barefoot shoes, and especially to try on these shoes to find the best fit for their foot shape and lifestyle. I saw the void for all this, so I created it myself.
What specific goals or vision do you aim to achieve?
I’d like to change the way we regard our feet, improve options to recover our feet, and especially set new standards for shoe shopping. I’d like to see the people who work in brick-and-mortar locations be specifically educated about healthy functional feet and shoe fit and work as consultants instead of salespeople. This alone would make huge changes in our physical well-being and reduce common debilitating foot pains.
What kind of audience do you target your business towards?
Our Target Audience is people who want healthy and pain-free feet. People who have gone through the solutions provided by the medical system but have not been able to find the long-term relief they need, people who are following their intuitions about their feet, and people who don’t have foot problems and want to preserve this status for themselves.
What services or products does PediPower offer?
Our Brick-C-Mortar Concept Foot Center includes a Multi-Brand Barefoot Shoe Shop where you can get a basic Foot Analysis, try some foot restoration tools, try on a variety of Barefoot Shoes, and receive consultation on finding the best fitting Barefoot Shoes for your foot shape and lifestyle. We also have foot-shaped socks, flexible insole options, and a Learning Library of books to peruse while you’re visiting us.
Our in-shop Studio offers by appointment; Restorative Functional Foot Therapy and Functional Foot Massage, Toega Group Fitness classes, Educational courses for Consumers, and Credential courses for Professionals.
What are the criteria for a client to work with you?
For a Client to work with me, they have to be willing to put in the effort to practice what they learn and upgrade their footwear. I can’t accept Clients who want a quick fix and won’t consider how their shoes affect their foundation. It would be a bad use of time and money.
Is there a common challenge that your customers face?
A common challenge that new Customers and Clients face is overcoming their ideas of what a shoe is and what it can do to them long term. Once they can understand the difference between function and form, it becomes easier to start making the necessary changes to gain stronger and pain-free feet.
How are you helping them to face this challenge?
We help our customers and clients face their foot and shoe challenges with enlightening education and the right counselling to find what’s best for their feet and lifestyle.
Knowledge is Power, and once they have that knowledge, they can Become their own Superhero.
What sets PediPower apart from the current approach to Foot Care?
We’re offering options and education that the Medical and Insurance systems do not.
We are offering a return to optimal foot strength and function, not methods that keep you weak and dependent and don’t work long-term.
How does PediPower differentiate itself from its competitors?
We don’t have Salespeople in our Shop. All our Staff are educated and trained Foot and Shoe Consultants who are passionate about guiding people correctly into the best shoe choices for their level and lifestyle and understand how powerful this knowledge is.
They’re also required to contribute to the PediPower Foot Therapy Approach by participating as Instructors or Therapy Support. Our shop manager is also our studio’s functional foot masseuse, and on the floor, we have certified Toega instructors who teach Toega Group Fitness Classes.
What are the current goals for your business?
The current goal for the business is two-fold: One is to be able to expand our Shoe offers into targeted Departments – such as Business, Leisure, Formal, Hiking, Running, and other sports specifics like Soccer, Biking, Rowing, Climbing, etc. I’d like to offer all styles and brands of Foot Shaped footwear so that our customers and clients have the ultimate options to find what’s best for them. But to achieve that, their first need is to be producers making these products with the capabilities of being our business partners. I dream of this tipping point and do believe it’s coming.
The second is to get the Foot Therapy approach into institutional medical learning so that it becomes standard to offer it as an option and is supported by the insurance systems.
Could you share some success stories from your clients?
Often, our Therapy Clients will return for Shoe Shopping and tell us how we’ve changed their lives for the better; that they’ve been able to get out of chronic pain, or get back to their sports, or hike with their partners, play with their kids, or simply walk their pet again without pain filled limitations. They return with renewed confidence and tell us stories of how they’ve wowed their Doctors and Physical Therapists with previously thought unachievable results.
It never gets old to hear these stories. It’s absolutely why I created PediPower – to give people viable long-term options to feel stronger in their feet and give them the confidence to go farther into their happiness.
For readers inspired by this conversation and eager to start their journey, what first steps would you recommend?
I’d tell readers to take the next steps to go to our Website and have a look at the Workbook on the homepage.
This gives basic information in an easy-to-understand format and provokes questions about what your feet and shoes should be doing for you. From there, you can start to understand how to ask the right questions about your foot concerns, and then search for a Therapist in your area who can help you update your approach to caring for your feet.
Read more from Georgette Dutoit
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