We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Taylor Moreland. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Taylor below.
Taylor, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
We are Taylor and Ally Moreland, parents of Brody. In 2018 we developed a new mobility device for babies, toddlers and children who have difficulty moving their legs. We call it The Frog.
Our son, Brody, was born in 2017. He was born with a spinal cord defect known as spina bifida. He underwent multiple surgeries over the first year of his life.
Brody’s doctors and neurosurgeons did a great job, but his level of defect, coupled with newly discovered spinal cord atrophy, meant that he would have very little to no movement or control of his lower body starting below his chest. This meant Brody would not be able to sit unsupported, crawl, or be mobile in any way on his own. After this realization, Brody’s mobility became a top priority for us.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
With the help and encouragement of Brody’s tremendous physical therapist, Gerti Motovalli, and many late nights of designing, we created the first Frog. This was a truly life changing time for Brody.
Before The Frog, Brody was stuck on the floor wherever we put him, and he had a very hard time playing with most of his toys. After he started using The Frog, he was able to roam around the house, chase the cat, play with toys and do everything that any crawling baby could do.
His cognitive development exploded over this period. For the first time at the age of 15 months he was able to truly explore his world.
In 2019 we created Frog Mobility, to begin building The Frog and getting them to the families and children who needed them at low or no cost. As parents of a child with special needs we fully recognized the expenses parents of medically complex children face, and we didn’t and still don’t want finances to ever be a reason a child can’t be mobile.
Soon after starting this venture we also developed a new toddler sized wheelchair that we call the GoBro, for Go Brody!
The GoBro was designed to be very light weight, adjustable, and with a tall backrest. All things that Brody needed, and things that many other children needed too.
The GoBro has quickly become one of the world’s most popular toddler wheelchairs.
Our mission is to Get Kiddos Moving.
To do this we need to continue to build more and more Frogs and GoBros, provide them to families at low or no cost, and work hard to create new mobility devices. We have sent hundreds of mobility devices to children all over the world, and with your help we can send hundreds more. And change the lives of children around the world.
In 2022 we officially became the Frog Foundation, a non profit. We are excited to see what the future holds for the Frog Foundation and continue to get more kiddos moving!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
For us we were presented with a need, every parent wants the absolute best for their child. This need was our driver and motivation. Along with a great determination, reaching out to people who could help us was extremely important. Brody’s PT encouraged us to think outside the box and members from our church provided us with resources to begin designing the frog with CAD software. Lastly research. No one knows everything about anything, but there are a lot of resources available to help you learn. If you don’t know how to do something research, watch youtube videos, read articles, and listen to podcasts. When I began this journey I didn’t have CAD software, own a CNC machine or a 3D printer. But I do now and thanks to the interned and helpful friends we are able to utilize these things to help us make GoBro’s and Frogs for kids in need.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
Our biggest challenge is finding the kiddos who can utilize the Frog and GoBro and being sure they are aware that our products exist. We rely heavily on social media to spread the word of the Frog and GoBro, but it is so hard to be sure everyone who needs these devices know how to receive them. Social Media and Physical Therapists are our main outlets for outreach, but we know there are still kiddos in need.
Contact Info:
- Website: Thefrogfoundation.org
- Instagram: frogmobilityllc
