Millions of people start their own businesses every year. The stories behind why people have become their own boss are as varied as the people who have started those businesses. Some, like the two people who started Get Real Health, have overcome challenges to get to where they are. Unwilling to allow their challenges to define them, they pushed on past the hurdles they encountered in order to reach business success.
“When you are in the fourth grade and are told you are dumb and will never amount to much, it can crush you and have a long-lasting impact,” explains Robin Wiener, co-owner of Get Real Health. “But when you have a mom who gets to the bottom of what the problem truly is, you can go on to soar, and that’s just what I did.”
Wiener’s mother pressed on until she found out that it was dyslexia that her child had. Unwilling to allow it to hold her back for her whole life, Wiener entered into a free program offered by the college and learned how to rise above her learning disorder. She has since gone on to help found a successful health IT company that has experienced a rapid 43% CAGR over the last 3 years and and recently participated in a high-level discussion at the White House on how health IT can grow as a U.S. export.
Her work ethic is matched by one of her partners, Jason Harmon, who has also overcome his own challenges on his way to business success. Harmon dreamed of being a pilot while he was growing up. He earned his private pilot certification while in high school, and had every intention of joining the Air Force to serve his country. Unfortunately, a diagnosis of Type I diabetes prevented him from entering the military, but it didn’t hold him back from flying or success.
Today, Harmon is not only the Chief Technology Officer for Get Real Health, but he is also an avid pilot and is working to help change legislation regarding insulin-dependent diabetic piloting commercial aircraft. Harmon will be piloting Diabetes Formation Flight UA 2013, which will go from Frederick, Maryland to Oshkosh, Wisconsin on July 29, 2013.
“We all have challenges that we must face, some that we create and some that we have no control over,” explains Harmon. “But we have a choice to make. We are either going to let our challenges rule our lives and hold us back, or we can overcome those challenges and go on to succeed and do the things we love. I’ll take the latter.”
Get Real Health is a company that specializes in creating technology-based care management tools for healthcare organizations, powered by their award-winning software product called InstantPHR™, which stands for Instant Personal Health Record. This patient engagement platform helps patients and their healthcare providers improve clinical outcomes and manage chronic disease by empowering patients to have more control over their care, enabling increased collaboration between patients and providers, and offering personalized medical information and education to patients.
For more information about InstantPHR™ or Get Real Health, visit the site at http://www.getrealhealth.com.