How GVL Starts Helped LaShonn Edmunds Build CAIRS

By: Melissa Charles

LaShonn Edmunds never planned to be involved in the complex world of healthcare systems. Her plan was to sell shoes. 

Diagnosed with lymphedema, a condition that made ordinary shoes painful to wear, LaShonn designed her own. She launched her business, CAIRS Shoes, expecting to be involved more in a fashion-health mix rather than healthcare. Instead, her customers kept asking her if she took insurance. 

She listened to her customers and set off to find some answers. LaShonn’s business transformed from a retail idea into a medical device company. She went through FDA approval, a yearlong Medicare and Medicaid credentialing process and GVL Starts, one of the Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s core programs. 

GVL Starts Creates a New Direction 

LaShonn joined GVL Starts thinking of her product as a shoe for those who suffered with lymphedema. She was originally looking for support on how to get her shoes in retail stores and how to manufacture her product.  

“I was just a person that wanted some cute shoes because my feet hurt,” LaShonn said. 

Going through GVL Starts gave her a new perspective, reshaping how LaShonn saw her own product, and her business grew from there. 

She recounted two moments that transformed how she saw her own work. First, Intellectual Property attorneys helped her to understand that she had created a valuable asset.  

“Them breaking it down like that in layman’s terms was extremely important,” LaShonn said. “We undervalue ourselves so much. I believe that GVL Starts really shed that light. That was an eye opener.” 

Second, a conversation with South Carolina Research Authority staff reframed her shoes entirely. They told her that because her product solved a medical problem, she actually had a medical device. LaShonn hadn’t considered her shoes as being in the healthcare realm at all before that conversation. She changed direction, prioritizing learning about medical devices instead of retail.  

LaShonn gained a wider network after becoming involved with GVL Starts. She developed relationships with fellow founders that continue today, including collaborations that later expanded her ability to serve patients in rural areas. 

Her Difficult Year 

LaShonn’s first year in business was met with customers who asked her if she took insurance. In year two, LaShonn pursued Medicare and Medicaid credentialing, working through the process on her own. 

The timing worked perfectly, as a bill passed that year to help lymphedema patients get medical supplies covered. LaShonn hoped her shoes would qualify, but the bill excluded shoes from Medicare coverage. 

Instead of giving up, she pivoted. LaShonn began selling diabetic shoes to serve her customers in a different way. She looked for providers who could accommodate some of her lymphedema patients in addition to diabetic patients.  

Demand outpaced her capacity soon after. Around two and a half years into the business, LaShonn had to pause her pipeline and hire her first team members just to keep up. 

At this point in time, LaShonn took a pause to build systems and processes and train her team instead of chasing more patients. She created an automation system for insurance verification, documentation, and records management to help her scale without losing quality of care. 

The credentialing milestones followed. LaShonn became Medicare accredited earlier this year, then a Medicaid credential followed shortly after. She now holds managed care contracts with BlueCross BlueShield, Humana and UnitedHealthcare. 

LaShonn turned a Medicare requirement into another way to better serve her customers. The office she opened to meet Medicare’s rules now serves patients who once needed home visits. Then, she enrolled in a Medicaid transportation benefit that now brings those patients to her.  

Still Growing 

LaShonn’s business has grown well beyond South Carolina. Patients now reach her from Oregon, Texas, Nebraska, Maryland, and Virginia, in addition to all areas of South Carolina. 

That growth hasn’t pulled her away from the programs that shaped her. LaShonn regularly recruits other founders into GVL Starts when she meets entrepreneurs who are struggling to get started. She sees it as part of the deal: the community helped her, so she helps the community back. 

LaShonn started with a personal health problem and no experience in shoes, medical devices or healthcare. Today, she runs a Medicare and Medicaid credentialed company with contracts across three major insurers. She plans to continue helping others in the future. For LaShonn, she started this business because people needed a product that solved a medical problem without sacrificing how they felt in it.  

“Seeing people who are in pain like I was before I invented my shoes, that keeps me motivated,” LaShonn said. “I’m passionate about the calling, and because of that, it keeps me going.”