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Kelly Twichel is CEO of Access Trax, a social impact startup focused on empowering people of all physical abilities to access outdoor terrain. Her product, the Access Trax, is a modular patented portable pathway system for those who use mobility devices to conveniently access recreation outdoors on demand. 

Kelly grew up in Santee and graduated from San Diego State University with a  degree in biology. Originally pursuing to be a doctor, Kelly said she wanted to have a more direct impact on patients’ lives, so she took a break post-grad to discover what she would genuinely enjoy. 

Finding an interest in occupational therapy with a focus on patient healing and recovery, Kelly attended the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences for grad school. One of her group projects was to create assistive technology to help people with disabilities, which is where she first thought of creating a portable pathway for adaptive surfers. She said the surfers’ reactions to her first prototype gave her the confidence that this invention was more than a simple assignment, and could help people across the world. 

Kelly was able to successfully win funding opportunities in business competitions. Additionally, the University of St. Augustine became a patron and supporter, and gave funding as well. Kelly worked with manufacturing prototypes and tested it out with real people at surfing championships to see if this could be a viable product to take to market. After different designs and tests, she was able to create a successful product that eventually developed into helping a diverse set of buyers, like adaptive athletes, adaptive sports organization, government entities, and families, who need mobility assistance. 

Listen in to Kelly Twichel share her entrepreneurial journey in creating assistive technology that improves accessibility for everyone, and how Access Trax is changing the game for users of mobility devices for the better.

Kelly’s favorite local tacos:

Estrada’s Mexican Food in Santee

D’ Sotos Taco Shop in La Mesa

 

Connect with Kelly:

LinkedIn

 

Learn more about Access Trax: 

Website: https://accesstraxsd.com/ 

Facebook: @accesstrax 

Twitter: @AccessTrax

LinkedIn

 

Thanks to our partners at Cox Business & Cox Edge for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.