An Interview With Justin Ip, The Founder & CEO At Kick Health

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Below is our recent interview with Justin Ip, Founder & CEO at Kick Health:

Q: Could you provide our readers with a brief introduction to Kick Health?

A: We’re on a mission to help top performers manage the physical symptoms of performance anxiety that hold them back during presentations, interviews, exams, and other high-pressure situations.

More than 75% of people say they’ve experienced glossophobia, the fear of public speaking. It’s the most common fear, and while people are familiar with toastmasters, there are other options available to help overcome this fear most people aren’t aware of.

Prescription beta-blocker medication is one of these options and one that’s been used by top performers for decades. A Royal College of Music in London study even showed that 92% of professional musicians found them to be the most effective treatment for performance anxiety symptoms.

We’ve partnered with leading experts from Stanford, Yale, and Harvard in psychiatry, medicine, and emotional fitness to create a personalized telemedicine service that offers easy access to beta-blocker prescriptions. We’ve also created in-depth guides, put together helpful blog posts, and spotlighted others’ stories to help people realize they aren’t alone in their feelings, and there is a solution that’s widely used, safe, and easy to obtain.

Our team of licensed, board-certified doctors work directly with our customers to create a tailored treatment plan that helps meet individual, personalized goals.

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Q: What is your backstory? How did your company come into being?

A: We all want to be the best version of ourselves during our biggest moments – whether that be on stage giving a speech, leading an important meeting, or taking a big test.

But I remember feeling so debilitated by nerves during some of my most important moments that I wasn’t able to show up as I wanted to. As a kid, I would pretend to be sick so I could get out of having to give a speech or do a class presentation. And those nerves followed me as I started to hit different stages throughout my life. I was getting in my own way more than anyone or anything else.

I knew that I wasn’t alone in being afraid of public speaking. And I knew there had to be something out there other performers turned to when they weren’t feeling confident themselves. I found a prescription-strength edge in beta-blockers for anxiety and want to make them more easily available to everyone to show up as their best selves in their biggest moments.

Q: What are beta-blockers? What are they used for?

A: Beta-blockers are a type of medication that can temporarily block the physical effects of the hormone adrenaline, often known as the “fight or flight response”. A surge of adrenaline is something many people experience when they have a fear of public speaking.

At Kick, we prescribe Propranolol, a type of beta-blocker medication that’s been shown to prevent shaky voice, racing heart rate, trembling hands, and other symptoms associated with the rush of adrenaline people can experience during performances.

There’s nothing new about using beta-blockers for performance anxiety; in fact, they’ve been around since the 1960s and have been used to tackle nervous symptoms for decades. They’ve long been a go-to option for speakers, musicians, and other professional performers. Unlike Xanax, the most widely prescribed anxiety medication, Propranolol isn’t a scheduled drug with the potential for abuse or dependence. It’s used as needed right before your high-stakes event and isn’t habit-forming.

Beta-blockers are a not-so-well-kept secret in performers’ circles. Katy Perry has noted she’s used them before performances in the past. Grammy-nominated Musician and author of Mozart in the Jungle Blair Tindall has also been vocal about how beta-blockers have benefited her career.

A large study by the Royal College of Music in 2015 even found 75% of surveyed musicians had used beta-blockers for anxiety at some point in their careers, and 92% of musicians said they were effective.

Outside of professional musicians, many doctors, speakers, and high-level executives rely on beta-blockers for big presentations or meetings. Former match.com CEO Jim Safka has even been quoted as saying they saved his career.

Q: How exactly does Kick work? Could you walk us through the process?

A: Kick operates as a prescription telemedicine service.

Customers start by visiting our site at www.gokick.com, where they’ll complete a brief, asynchronous telemedicine visit with one of our licensed, board-certified doctors. Once a prescription is approved, Kick’s pharmacy partners can mail orders directly to the customer’s door. Alternatively, customers can opt to pick up their prescriptions themselves from their favorite local pharmacy.

We wanted our medication to be discrete, so our orders include a custom fit-in-your-pocket, matchbox-sized container holding 24 tablets that can easily be carried in a pocket or purse.

Prices start at $49.

Q: What are your plans for the future?

A: Our biggest focus right now is to continue building our features to make the process for our customers more seamless than ever. We’ve received amazing feedback from our earliest customers, and our team is busy adding new features to make our service as helpful as possible to them.

We’re also focused on expanding our service to new states. When we launched a year ago, we were available in 13 states. We’ve been able to expand that out to 28 states and look forward to adding even more states to that list in the coming months.

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Q: How is Kick attempting to build a long-term relationship with consumers?

A: Our goal is to not only provide a discreet and convenient prescription experience. We also hope to open up the conversation around performance anxiety itself and join the conversation to destigmatize mental and emotional health.

As much as we are now taking responsibility for our physical health, Kick Health is helping individuals to take control of our mental health journey as well. Performance anxiety is something that everyone experiences at one point or another. Yet it’s something that’s almost never talked about openly.

We’re excited to be a part of the conversation to change that.