Erin Craven’s transition from a top-tier role in a Fortune 100 company to the helm of UROSPOT was inspired by her personal struggles with bladder issues and a desire to find an innovative solution. In her recent chat with CanadianSME Small Business Magazine, Erin highlighted UROSPOT’s rapid growth, emphasizing its unique, non-invasive approach to pelvic health that combines technology with education and health coaching. With 13 out of 22 planned locations already operational, UROSPOT is redefining pelvic care, emphasizing storytelling as a means to break societal taboos and empower individuals to seek the help they deserve.
After 22 years working in the healthcare industry, Erin combined her entrepreneurial drive, passion and empathetic leadership to build UROSPOT; a leading- edge company disrupting the way bladder leaks, urge issues, prolapse and sexual dysfunction are treated. With four kids, a husband she is crazy about, and a jam packed career, her challenges with bladder leaks and urgency were negatively impacting her freedom and confidence. She knew she wasn’t alone in facing these challenges. Simply put, Erin started UROSPOT to bring a modern approach to people who deserve a better quality of life. She shares her story and struggle to inspire others to have the courage to seek help and get results.
Transitioning from a high-profile role in a Fortune 100 company to establishing UROSPOT is a profound change. Can you walk us through the pivotal experiences that propelled you to embark on this entrepreneurial path?
I’ve always been a believer that what is meant for you will not miss you and what misses you was not meant for you. As a mother of four in my forties with a jam packed career, I found myself dealing with bladder leaks and urgency and frustrated that there were no
real solutions. I had worked in healthcare and innovation specifically for most of my career and as I was researching treatment options and dissatisfied with what I was finding, I discovered new advancements that were using energy to restore and grow muscle…specifically the pelvic floor muscles. The idea for the business came to me in that moment. I kept imagining a place that would address this huge gap in the marketplace. A place that would give women (and men) a dignified and new healthcare experience to treat pelvic health challenges in a modern way. After the kids went to bed my husband and I would build the business model, research the epidemiology of the disease and eventually we got to a place where it was clear that if we were going to try this I would have to leave my career and go all in. People thought I was crazy to leave for an unproven concept, but the truth was my soul had died in corporate America and I could no longer ignore this entrepreneurial itch I had to scratch
Considering bladder issues affect a significant portion of the population but aren’t frequently discussed openly, what challenges did you face when trying to break societal taboos and bring more awareness to this issue?
The challenge we happily accepted with UROSPOT is to make the taboo talkable. The dismissive nature of women’s healthcare has created this reality. Women have been raised to believe this is a normal part of being a woman. By bringing a loud and relatable voice to
this subject , we are helping people realize it is common to experience bladder issues, but it is not normal, and you deserve to be treated. When a woman realizes she is not alone, that the majority of women around her are experiencing the same thing and that there is a non-invasive way to solve this…that is true empowerment.
UROSPOT has seen impressive growth with 13 locations across Canada and several more on the horizon. What have been some of the key strategies you’ve employed to scale your business at such a pace, and how do you ensure consistent quality of care across all these locations?
We have 22 locations committed and in development with 13 of them already open. We’ve done this in under 4 years…and during the pandemic. The gift of the pandemic was time. We used that time to play offence and build our franchise company. Franchising has allowed us to create more female entrepreneurs which was an outcome we wanted to use this platform for. Women across the country were feeling the same way I was. Burnt out in their careers, tired of being in male dominated and inflexible work environments. They wanted to be their own boss and UROSPOT gave them the opportunity.
I built my career on brand, process and systems. We have applied all of this at UROSPOT and it ensures a consistent high end client experience no matter the location you visit. We vet our potential franchise partners for nearly a year before awarding a territory. This too helps us ensure only the highest quality partners are coming into our system.
You’ve been open about your personal challenges with bladder issues and how they impacted your freedom and confidence. How do you believe sharing personal stories can help break stigmas and inspire others to seek help?
Storytelling is a key part of our brand, and a way to break stigmas. When I studied the epidemiology of incontinence (leaks, urgency and frequency) I quickly realized that basically all women are struggling in silence with this. It became clear that by sharing my story it would help others to make the decision to seek help, and recognize they don’t deserve to live with this. At each location we have a large “Freedom Wall” where every person who graduates leaves their story for the next woman (or man). When people read our walls you see their shoulders come down. You see their energy change. They realize they aren’t alone.
UROSPOT combines modern technology, education, and health coaching to offer tailored care. Can you elaborate on how this holistic approach differentiates UROSPOT from other treatments and how it has been instrumental in its success?
UROSPOT is “pelvic health done differently”. Many people will try pelvic health physiotherapy but the research is clear that for moderate to severe symptoms it only has a success rate of 50%. A part of this is due to lack of compliance to the exercises prescribed to do at home. Another option is surgery; however, this is very invasive and unfortunately has a high failure rate.
Our care model involves world class education and health coaching from a physiotherapist and then we combine that with non-invasive technology that helps you get the results faster. Our clients remain fully clothed in every appointment which is a significant change from other care options. Nothing goes inside your body. No one is touching you. Instead, energy (delivered through a Health Canada and FDA approved chair) stimulates, restores, and strengthens the pelvic floor muscles. It also restores the neuro muscular connection between brain, bladder and pelvic floor. In clinical studies, 95% report a significant quality of life improvement and nearly 70% have completely eliminated or significantly reduced their use of pads. The energy delivered to the pelvic floor is the equivalent of doing 11,000 kegels in just 28 minutes. Key to our care model is the team of pelvic health experts. Each client is supported by a team of Registered Nurses, Pelvic Health Physiotherapists, and Physiotherapist Assistants. The relationships formed throughout a client’s personal journey with us are incredible and make UROSPOT a place healthcare professionals want to work.
