Welcome to this edition of Safety Goals Podcast, where we bring on Jay Kimmel who is an extremely well-respected Orthopedic Surgeon, as well as, the Co-Founder and CEO of Upswing Health. In this episode, we shed light on the world of orthopedics, proper injury care/management, along with what Upswing Health is doing to revolutionize the way people receive medical assessments and treatments using telemedicine.

The Covid-19 pandemic took the world by storm leaving many people questioning how they would receive medical care at a time when social interaction was extremely limited. Jay Kimmel and Upswing Health took this as a sign to take advantage of telemedicine, which allowed the company to help patients from the comfort of their own home. However, Jay’s long history in orthopedics has led him to gain a great understanding of athletes and how to best recover from injury. So, stay tuned to find out his helpful tips on the proper way to recover so any athlete can return to play in top form.

Audio Contents:

0:00 - Intro

1:00 - Jay Kimmel background and early career life

4:33 - What enticed Jay to choose Orthopedics and Family Medicine 

8:48 - Why returning to play too soon after an injury can be dangerous

13:27 - Sponsored Ad

14:07 - Importance of Athletic Trainers implementing research

16:38 - The relationship between Doctor and Athletic Trainers

18:20 - What is Upswing Health?

21:33 - The rise of Telehealth/Telemedicine

24:15 - Sponsored Ad

25:04 - Why Upswing Health became free during the pandemic

28:00 - The best course of action if your athlete gets hurt

33:40 - Jay’s outlook on healthcare in the United States

39:02 - Sponsored Ad

40:06 - Why in person doctor visits are still important 

44:00 - Important lessons Jay has learned in his career

46:44 - Jay’s hopes for the future of youth sports

56:05 - Outro

All music in this episode is courtesy of https://⁠www.bensound.com⁠/ 

Visit us at ⁠https://www.injurefree.com/⁠

Welcome to this edition of Safety Goals Podcast, where we dive deep into an important topic that deserves widespread attention. In this episode, we shed light on “The Jordan McNair Foundation: Fighting Heat Illness Awareness.” Join us as we explore the impactful work this foundation provides and the crucial mission it undertakes.

The Jordan McNair Foundation embarks on a journey, driven by the mission of raising awareness about heat-related illnesses. Established in memory of Jordan McNair, the foundation strives to honor his legacy by educating and informing others about the dangers of heat-related conditions. Through their dedicated efforts, the foundation aims to make a lasting impact, ensuring that no other lives are lost to preventable heat-related incidents. Join the Jordan McNair Foundation in their noble cause and help spread awareness to safeguard the well-being of athletes and individuals alike.

We sat down with Marty McNair who let us dive into his background, growing up in inner city Baltimore, becoming a father, losing his son, how he alongside his wife Tanya have pushed to bring awareness to heat related illness, and his hopes for the future of youth sports.

All music in this episode is courtesy of www.bensound.com

Visit us at https://www.injurefree.com/

On this episode of The Safety Goals Podcast, we speak with special guest, Megan Lukacs, of InjureFree. Since joining the InjureFree team in 2021, Megan has dealt with the data and analytical side of the business which allows for a greater understanding of how to assess and manage injuries. Her focus on improving youth sports comes from her passion for sports growing up but also her role as a mother. One of her biggest drivers is to hopefully create a safer playing environment for her child, through providing an increased understanding of how to keep athletes safe that is all evident by looking at the data. 

This episode will take us along Megan's journey, and just how her countless ER visits led her to join the health care market. We will also gain a much deeper understanding of how the data gained from injury tracking today can help build a brighter and safer future for tomorrow!

All music in this episode is courtesy of www.bensound.com

Visit us at https://www.injurefree.com/

A fellow Arizona State alumni joins us this week during the latest episode of The Safety Goals Podcast, as we speak with the CEO of Dissinger Reed Insurance Agency, Christian Reed. After beginning his career in sales Christian made the move to Dissinger Reed where he has now been for the last twenty years. In that time he has seen so much of the sports industry shaken up with new rules/regulations to make the games we all love, as safe as can be. 

In this episode we along with Christian dive deeper into the common troubles parents and athletic directors come across when looking to ensure athletes. We’ll take a trip down memory lane to explain how Christian ended up where he is now. Christian also offers up a very unique perspective on how the process of ensuring an individual/organization unfolds, along with his vision for what the future of youth sports should look like. 

All music in this episode is courtesy of www.bensound.com

Visit us at https://www.injurefree.com/

In this episode of The Safety Goals Podcast, we speak with a special guest, Chris Brown, of InjureFree. Joining the team as their Sales Director in 2015 he has been able to drive InjureFree, along with the rest of the team, to the top of the youth sports market. His focus on improving youth sports comes from his passion for sports but also his role as a father.

This episode will take us along Chris's journey, the many things he learned along the way, and how being a parent has shaped his outlook on what he hopes youth sports could one day look like. 

All music in this episode is courtesy of www.bensound.com

Visit us at https://www.injurefree.com/

In this episode of The Safety Goals Podcast, we have the honor of speaking with the CEO of U.S. Youth Soccer, Skip Gilbert. Skip has had quite a career up to this point and it didn’t come without following his passion for sports, specifically soccer. He grew up playing organized soccer in his home state of New York. Here he worked on his game which he pursued throughout college, and joined the US Olympic Development Team in the 1983 Korea Cup tournament held in South Korea. Skip even had a short stint in the National American Soccer League (NASL) before it was disbanded in 1984. 

With the goal of playing soccer professionally not formulating the way Skip had hoped he set his eyes on the sales and marketing side of sports. He worked at various news outlets, was the Chief Marketing Officer for USA Olympic Swimming in 1998, and managed the U.S. Open for tennis in 2012.

Each of these different roles have helped Skip in one way or another reach where he currently is today. Now he sits atop U.S. Youth Soccer as their CEO isn’t an easy task, so please enjoy our conversation to learn even more about what it takes to be CEO and how he has viewed his journey to get to this point.

All music in this episode is courtesy of www.bensound.com
Visit us at https://www.injurefree.com/

In this episode of The Safety Goals Podcast, we speak with yet another special guest, Jessie Hoeck, of InjureFree. Being a former athlete and collegiate gymnast for the University of Maryland, she has always had her foot in the world of sports. Since joining InjureFree in 2015, Jessie has vaulted herself to the top of their account management department as well as taking on the challenge of leading their product development team.

During her time at the University of Maryland, Jessie while involved in athletics, also had a passion for sports safety and injury management obtaining her Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology along with a minor in statistics. Also, with a background in coaching, Jessie feels that there are leadership qualities which she learned that are still applicable to the many duties she has at InjureFree.

This episode will take us along Jessie’s journey, the many things she has been able to take away from her time as both a collegiate level athlete and as someone working in the sports industry. 

All music in this episode is courtesy of www.bensound.com

Visit us at https://www.injurefree.com/

In this episode of The Safety Goals Podcast, we speak with a special guest, Cindy Chang, of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). Joining the league in April of 2022 as Chief Medical Officer (CMO), we look into her role and how things have developed in her first year at the helm. However, there is so much more to Cindy’s story, as she has broken barriers left and right throughout her fantastic career. 

From being the first female Head Team Physician at UC Berkeley for football, CMO for Team USA during the 2012 London Olympics, and Clinical Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, she makes an impact beyond just her peers. Cindy Chang is truly a role model in the world of sports. So we were excited to have a great conversation with her about sports health. 

This episode will take us along Cindy’s journey, the many things she learned along the way to the NWSL, and how the things she has learned still apply to everyday work situations. 

All music in this episode is courtesy of www.bensound.com

Visit us at https://www.injurefree.com/

Our first episode of The Safety Goals Podcast features a conversation between your two hosts (Justin Torres and Charlie Wund). We will take a deep dive into Charlie's history as the CEO of InjureFree, a technology service empowering child safety initiatives and risk management for youth sports organizations and schools.

His passion stems from his experiences as an NCAA athlete in the sports of football, lacrosse and rugby. He was an athletic administrator for over ten years at the youth sports, high school, and non-profit levels.

This episode we will go over what it takes to be the CEO and the man behind InjureFree, along with recounting the many roles he had which led up to where he's at today.

All music in this episode is courtesy of www.bensound.com

Visit us at https://www.injurefree.com/

We're your hosts Justin Torres and Charlie Wund and we'd like to welcome you to The Safety Goals Podcast.

The Safety Goals Podcast comes to you from the minds at InjureFree which provides a technology service empowering athlete safety
initiatives and risk management for organized sports. Our own company goals have always aligned with doing what is best for the athlete, so we felt it was important to connect and talk to others in the industry who share similar goals.

We will have tons of exciting and meaningful conversations with interesting guests. Each episode takes the listeners deeper into the world of athlete healthcare and the many layers that make it all come together. These industry figureheads are not going to want to be missed when we launch our podcast April 5, 2023. So please enjoy this short trailer, which will hopefully give you a taste of what to expect from us this season.

The music in this trailer is courtesy of bensound.com