Meet Dr. Jo Shattuck | Athlete, Coach, Neuroscientist, Female Founder, Patent Holder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Jo Shattuck and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Jo, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My thought process was more about solving a problem than ‘starting’ a business. In my former career as a professional athlete and coach, I spent a lot of time teaching another human to move in a certain way, and I realized there had to be a better way to do it. Words, verbal cues and images or video did help the student understand what they were doing, and/or what they should be doing, but those tools didn’t help the actually make or feel the change.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
In my first career, I played racquetball for 25 years. I stayed a top -10 world-ranked athlete for 10 years, and peaked at #6. I traveled the world, signed autographs, and met incredible people. It was a wonderful experience -but like other non-mainstream sports, it didn’t pay well. In fact for a few years, I lived in the camper (without electricity) for a couple of years when I was just starting to compete on the pro tour. But those ‘sacrifices didn’t seem like sacrifices when you are in them, because you were chasing a dream. My story and PantherTec brand reflect those who lay awake at night thinking “how can I get better at my craft?” Then they go after it the next day. “If that’s you, we get you” whether its sport, rehab, life or leadership. I would train 8a to 12p then work 12p to 8p as full time as a research assistant at CU Anschutz.

In my late forties -nearing the end of my competitive career, I knew I needed to prepare for life after sport, so I began a master’s degree in Sports Science. I would train 8a to 12p then work 12p to 8p as full-time as a research assistant at CU Anschutz.

Was it easy? Ha no! Later I attended undergraduate night classes to boost my 20 year GPA to prepare to get into a PhD program. I failed miserably on my first GRE ( Graduate Record Exam), so after I came back from the exam, I immediately signed for the next quarter’s exam. but I think a short attention span for disappointment has immense value. I don’t do this on purpose, but my goals seem to only get bigger, “Mission Creep’, they call it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Back to our house! Living in Evergreen in our community of friends is amazing. From seeing elk, moose, foxes, to hearing mountain lions, and seeing bears. It’s a truly remarkable place to live. Gotta go by the Lariat Brewing Co in Evergreen, for a pulled pork sandwich and Lariat Lemonade on a hot summer day, or hang with the locals at Cactus Jacks, and sit by the creek from the lake.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There so many actually… some of them may not even realize the influence they have had from years ago.

Sarah Warhaftig who was the very first person to test the very first KAT device. It was a small taped up cardboard box with wires coming out, and 9v battery and a blinky light based on a sonar data (sound wave). I made it from a KIDS electronic kit. We tried it at a local recreation center in Aurora in 2011. Sarah is part of our team still, and is like family.

Benzi Kluger, who offered my a job in research when I had no experience, and no qualifitcation, but only an irrational interest in neuroscience. He helped shape my thinking in human performance, research holistic view of humans.

Ron Hruska, who owned and ran Postural Restoration Institute, sat down with me when I was a graduate student in Lincoln, Nebraska. I showed him another more advanced, still duct-taped version of the latest KAT device, and he said at the time “This is the future, right here…” He was speaking about its potential impact on rehabilitation.

Coach Winterton – my first racquetball coach, Erika and Adam with Manilla Athletics (Colorado firm) who saw the value a teaching tool like this could bring to sport.

The WiST organization, Women in Sport Tech provided a 2 month full time Fellow (Aspen Chatterdon) for us in the Panthertec Lab this past summer. WiST is an organization dedicated to opening opportunities for women to become involved in sport tech all over the world.

There are countless others!

Website: https://panthertec.net/

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Twitter: @panthertecKAT

Facebook: @panthertecKAT

Image Credits
Mike Boatman