Remembering Phil Vasyli

Some of you may be aware that last week Australian podiatrist Phil Vasyli was found stabbed to death in his home in the Bahamas.

About ten years ago, Dr. Vasyli asked to come and meet Lowell Weil Sr., DPM, FACFAS, and I. I had no idea who Phil Vasyli was. At the time, I was very involved with an online business (www.ourdoctorstore.com ) and we sold quite a bit of Orthaheel arch supports and sandals. Phil was the founder of Orthaheel. The dinner was on a Monday night and I had to find a babysitter because my wife worked late. I was not too thrilled about the whole thing. At the most, I was hopeful to get some better pricing and more selection on Orthaheel products.

Then I met Phil Vasyli.

He came to our office wearing jeans and a sports coat. He had rugged good looks and a big personality with a quintessential Australian accent. His equally attractive wife accompanied him but dressed more businesslike. She had a great personality as well but paled next Phil. 

After touring our office, we sat down in our conference room to talk. He started many sentences with “guys” with a certain Australian emphasis on the U. “Guys, this is the greatest podiatry office I have ever seen,” he said. “I am so excited to meet you both. Lowell Sr., I have followed your career!”

It went on and on. Once we finally got him to stop, we decided to go to the restaurant to continue our conversation. 

Phil and his wife wanted a typical Chicago steakhouse so we went to Gibsons. Typically at Gibsons, the waiter brings a tray with all of the enormous steak and lobster options. I remember Phil saying “Wow! Look at that!” with each description of the steaks. Later, after a few bites of his steak, Phil said, “This is the best steak I have ever had!” The wine we drank was one of a close friend who is a wine maker. After hearing the story, of course, Phil said, “This is one of the best wines I have ever had!”

While waiting for our food, Phil told us his story … and it was worth hearing.

Phil grew up in Australia in a community where surfing was very popular. He was fond of making surfboards while a youngster. Podiatry was just an emerging specialty in Australia when he attended podiatry school. He became enamored with biomechanics and created a very successful practice that was based on biomechanics and orthotics. He recounted that he was “busy as hell.” One problem he encountered was that he had to send his cast impressions to the United States to have the orthotics made. The process of sending them overseas took a lot of time to get the orthotics back for his patients and was costly. He realized he could start making orthotics himself, utilizing the skills and technology that he had employed as a surfboard maker. He found his patients preferred the devices he was making himself at a lower cost in comparison to the ones he was ordering from the U.S. companies.

After doing this successfully for a while, Phil decided to try and make refurbished devices for the mass market. He recognized that the mass-produced devices lacked biomechanical philosophies and were basically cheap. Phil went about creating and producing superior over-the-counter devices that were based on true biomechanical principles. His idea worked and turned into a successful company known as Orthaheel. After his initial success, he sold devices to Scholl worldwide and the devices were marketed under the Scholl brand around the world except in the U.S. He eventually brought the Orthaheel brand into the U.S.

Phil continued to expand his product line and developed some of the most comfortable sandals and flip-flops with unusually good arch support. He created an advisory board with some of the most well-known biomechanical experts in the U.S. and worldwide. He developed foot type- and condition-specific prefabricated devices that redefined OTC devices.

During that dinner in Chicago, he stated he wanted to work with us to create a “Weil device.” His next stop after Chicago was to meet with the very famous, Andrew Weil, MD, whose website at the time was one of the most popular of its type online. His idea was to put together the Weils. After meeting with Dr. Andrew Weil and his team, they made it clear that they weren’t working with anyone else. Phil correctly decided to stick with Andrew and developed one of his most successful lines of shoes and sandals that he branded Weil. 

Over the years, we maintained a nice relationship, mostly over the Internet or telephone, always saying we would do something together one day. Phil was famous for sending emails with the only written words, “Listen to attached and get back to me.” Phil was the only person I knew who did not send written emails but sent voice attachments to emails. I am not sure if it was laziness or a desire for the communication to be more personal by hearing his voice, but every voice mail started out with the distinctive “Guys …” Often voice mails weren’t the only thing attached to his emails as there were also links to picture galleries showing his family together in some wonderful place on Earth.

Orthaheel eventually morphed into Vionic and Phil brought in high-level business people to run the company. Phil, however, was never far from the conception and design of new products. Every time he talked about products, arch supports, shoes or sandals, Phil always discussed how they helped patients and their specific problems. He always said he was not a salesman but if you made good products that help people, they will sell themselves. He was committed to the people he was destined to serve.

The last time I saw Phil was on Friday, Jan. 23, 2015 at the Foot and Ankle Business Innovations event in Chicago. Phil was there as part of the Vionic team that was helping physicians create retail shoe stores in their practices to improve patient care and increase revenue. Phil stood on stage in front of 150 people and had them captivated. “Guys, I am so excited to be here!” He recounted the story about his path that I had heard several times and never got old. Phil talked about how much he loved the profession. He talked about helping people. He never once talked about selling anything. After that presentation, I had many people tell me how inspirational he was and how they had always wanted to meet him. 

Phil and I hugged and said our goodbyes, and that we would see each other again soon.

Two weeks ago, Lowell Sr. and I got an email with a voice mail attachment from Phil. “Guys … it sounds like Lowell Sr. is recovering well from his surgery. I am in the Bahamas but on my way to San Francisco next week for a board meeting.  Let us find a chance to talk by phone and try to move forward on a project together.” Those were the last words I will ever hear from Phil Vasyli.

Phil Vasyli always had a positive energy that was infectious. Despite his enormous success, he never came across any other way than humble and appreciative. He touched the lives of so many people, patients, consumers, physicians, friends and family. I feel very lucky that I was able to know Phil Vasyli.

Phil, you will be missed.