“The craziest thing about entrepreneurship is not knowing when your next opportunity will come or which one will ultimately lead to the next big thing,” says Dr. Emily Splichal. But when the young doctors’ opportunity knocked she confidently strutted through the open door – in sexy high heels, of course.

After appearing on the Today Show, Oprah Winfrey Show, The Doctors, Good Day NY, the Dr. Steve Show, and other national media outlets she turned her unique workout regimen into a sought-after international fitness brand.

Today, as a celebrity podiatrist, human movement specialist, author and creator of the Catwalk Confidence Program she’s teaching other women how to walk with confidence and “Make Everyday a Runway.”

“I’ve learned to take advantage of every single opportunity,” says Dr. Splichal. “You really do have to seize opportunities, because usually the one you don’t think will be big – lead to success.” This belief coupled with smart startup investments helped the young entrepreneur to stylishly-step into the forefront of women’s foot health, foot fitness and posture training.

Learn why her stilettos were meant for walking into every open door of opportunity and why you should spend your startup budget wisely.

How I Got Started

In 2008, I graduated from New York College of Podiatric Medicine in New York City and also became a certified fitness specialist. As a woman who loves high heels and felt the struggles and pains often associated with prolonged wear, I wanted to share my expertise in both Podiatry and Fitness.

After eight years in fitness, I developed my own training style and began to question the then current trends in fitness training.  I noticed a need for a workout that would re-educate women (and men) on proper posture and body alignment, improve balance and stability, and bring awareness to the way we carry ourselves and walk.

This led me to create my first DVD series in 2009 — “Catwalk Confidence & Stiletto Recovery.” Catwalk Confidence is a balance training, pilates-based workout designed to improve foot stability, core strength and shoulder alignment allowing women to walk stronger and taller in their high heels. While, Stiletto Recovery is my post-stiletto workout which uses stretches and recovery techniques to uniquely target body parts that get over-worked in high heels.

In 2009 & 2010, my Catwalk Confidence Workout was picked up by Town Sports International with classes in Boston, NYC, DC and Philadelphia. Through media outreach Catwalk Confidence Workout classes were also introduced in Bangkok and Paris.

With my continued desire for women to finally learn how to be pain-free in their favorite heels, I completed my book “Everyday Is Your Runway: A Shoe-Lover’s Guide to Healthy Feet & Legs”. The book was released end of 2011 with a book tour scheduled for Spring 2012.

Best Success Story

My best success story was being contacted by Oprah Winfrey to appear on her television show. In November of 2009 I appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show as a guest expert and taught women about proper posture in high heels and how to do the “stiletto strut”. I leveraged the experience into a spokeswoman role and later was featured on the hit TV series, “The Doctors” in June 2011.

The Oprah segment re-aired in March 2010 after such a great audience response and is still highlighted as one of her favorite segments!

Startup Challenges

I remember teaching my first Catwalk Confidence classes at dance spaces and studio rentals. I diligently spent all my free time pushing my classes on Meetup.com and other social websites. I would carry yoga mats and towels in a suitcase from studio to studio, slowly tweaking the class design until it was picked up exclusively at Town Sports International. I pitched my classes to their Marketing and PR department and my offering was in direct alignment with their media outreach goals.

Entrepreneurship Tips

Try to look at certain expenses as a necessary investment. My publicist played a critical role in my media exposure. Without that initial PR push I do not think I would be where I am today. I researched specialized boutique PR firms and invested every penny of my startup budget into PR efforts. It’s an investment that you may not see until a couple of years down the road, but the media exposure is invaluable.

Stay connected with Dr. Emily Splichal on Twitter and Facebook.

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