As the youngest in his family, James Lin faced pressure to follow his father’s footsteps into the shoe business. Alas, Lin went to medical school to become a doctor. But when he was in his residency, Lin’s father passed away and the youngest son had a decision to make about his future. Lin opted to move back to Taiwan and stabilize the family business, which took about two years. When he returned to the U.S. to practice geriatric and internal medicine, Lin became involved in treating diabetic patients and soon found a way to combine his own career with his family business.
The experience from working with designers, manufacturers and marketers of shoes in his homeland led him to create Oasis Footwear, which makes a line of wellness shoes and inserts that help relieve the effects of diabetes, arthritis and other foot ailments. There are many diabetics who won’t wear special shoes because they’re not comfortable. Lin, who came to the U.S. in grade school and grew up in Northern New Jersey, feels he can help them.
Lin is busy as a practicing physician in Erie and vice president for senior services and adult living at Millcreek Health System, but much of his attention lately has been devoted to Oasis, which started in early 2008 and warehouses 10,000 shoes in its Erie facility. The company received $134,000 in funding from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern PA last fall, which helped Oasis hire independent salespeople and do some marketing at tradeshows.
Among the benefits the Oasis footwear provides is a lining that moderates the temperature inside the shoe and helps keep the patient’s skin dry, and a price point that’s within reach for most patients. The company is working on pressure-relieving orthotics that will utilize a comprehensive approach that could include partnering with other companies or healthcare providers to evaluate patients and their pressure spots and developing custom orthotics. Lin hopes to be able to manufacture the orthotics in Pennsylvania, and is expecting to hire warehouse staff to start doing drop shipping in late 2010.