SWINGRIP, for me, is a physical representation of my ability, to finally get out of my own way. Not just to play golf again but to realize my full potential in life.
I lost the ability to move the fingers, on my left hand due to an injury sustained in a car accident. Being as fiercely independent as I was, I rejected, often not too kindly, anyone’s offer of help. I spent decades hiding, what I viewed as, my deficiency, from everyone
The only way to truly hide it was to avoid anything that would highlight, that my hand was not fully functioning. I gave up golf, the only sport I had ever played and the thought of being in a relationship long enough for someone to want to hold my hand was a nightmare for me. I immersed myself in my career, and I moved, a lot, as a way to hide from living, where my deficiency might be noticed.
Over the last few years, some true friends have snuck their way into my world, which will not allow me to hide from living or shun their help. I, begrudgingly at times, allowed them in. Gradually I came to see my hand not as a deficiency but just as a difference. Some people have blue eyes, I have green eyes, and some people have two hands that fully function, I have one.
With this newfound freedom, I focused on getting, back into the game of golf. I could not find anything on the market that would allow me to hold a club in my left hand, so I designed one. Thanks to the extremely supportive ladies, in GolfAround, the women’s golf leagues I joined, I got over myself and started using it in public and Reclaimed My Game. Next came a renewed commitment to completing my MBA. A group project, allowed me to explore the market for my glove, not expecting that there would be one. We got an A on the project, we discovered there was a huge market of people with reduced grip strength, who were having difficulty with their golf game and I had a business plan.
Not being willing to admit that I had a deficiency, meant there was no chance I was going to apply for the disability tax credit. Now that I was embracing my difference, I thought what the heck and applied. I never in a million years thought that I would qualify. To my surprise I did and they went back and applied the credit for the past 10 years. Now I had a design, market research, a business plan and seed capital.
I conquered my fear and became a business owner, all because I dared to get out of my own way. Stay tuned here for updates on where this adventure takes us!
