Behind the Zeens

WHO ARE WE AND WHY DID WE INVENT THE ZEEN?
An invention designed to restore joy

Hall-of Fame Inventor Garrett Brown revolutionized the craft of filmmaking and broadcasting. Then his own aging parents revealed how abruptly the joy of movement could be taken from someone you love. Here’s the story of how Garrett and partners invented and developed the first Zeen prototypes - to help people challenged by age, injury and disease, recover the joys of daily living.

The Zeen Product Team
Garrett Brown
Co-Founder, Board Member

Garrett holds over 100 patents for a variety of inventions, most famously the Steadicam, which revolutionized filmmaking with a never-before-seen intimacy in shots. His filmography includes over 100 movies such as Rocky, The Shining and Return of the Jedi. Other inventions have allowed viewers to dive into the water alongside Olympic divers, fly across the field during NFL football games and watch Olympic swimmers compete from underwater, as well as helping factory workers operate heavy tools safely and effortlessly, as if in zeroG.

The Zeen was born when Garrett’s father developed mobility issues and had to choose between a walker or a wheelchair. Determined that this “antiquated technology” built to allow only slow, effortful movement not be the only choice for those who wanted more from life, Garrett assembled a team of world-class inventors to help him define a new mobility solution. One that would restore autonomy and freedom – and help recapture some of the joy of living.

Rick Sherak
CEO

Rick has over 30 years experience in the medical diagnostic industry as a commercial and product development executive. He became CEO of Exokinetics in March 2024 to lead the company into its next expansion phase of market awareness and revenue growth.
Throughout his career, Rick has been a passionate and proven commercial leader building, training, and unifying teams to deliver on aggressive revenue goals for Fortune 500 and early-stage medical diagnostics companies. After serving as an Air Force officer, he began his medical diagnostic career with Abbott Laboratories based outside of Chicago. Recruited by Ventana Medical Systems in Tucson, Rick spent over 15 years as a commercial leader growing the company until it was purchased by Roche Diagnostics. Leveraging his broad leadership, product development, and medical domain experience, Rick has worked with start-up clinical oncology companies, where he built several world-class sales, marketing, and customer service divisions to launch new products and drive revenue growth. He has also helped early-stage companies bring their novel diagnostic technology ideas to market assisted by third-party design and development engineering firms.
Rick has a passion for bringing innovative technologies to market for underserved communities and for building and growing best in class organizations.

Ryan Meers
COO

Our COO and first hire, Ryan Meers, is responsible for the overall performance of the company and the systems that support it, including engineering, manufacturing, and new product development. He has been instrumental in growing the team and leading efforts to bring the Zeen to market.

Trained in both Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Design, Ryan brings a wealth of engineering experiences to the team. He has helped to develop a diverse range of products from beer keg hoists and milk crates, to an infant incubator and other Class III medical devices. Ryan has engineered and overseen fabrication for every Zeen prototype, and has helped it evolve into a device that can truly have an impact on others’ lives - one that makes mobility easy – and even fun – for those who have lost the joy of movement.

Dillon Jenkins
Director of Manufacturing

Responsible for all aspects of the manufacturing
process, Dillon has a background in Production Management, specifically in
manufacturing facilities that manufacture products that improve the lives of
others. He has been trained in Lean, Continuous Improvement practices and
principles by multiple Fortune 500 companies. Dillon has also received training
and education from both the DVIRC and Drexel University, currently sporting a
Yellow Belt in Six Sigma. Dillon worked with the Management and Production Teams
at the tail end of the prototype process, focusing on process control, design
for manufacturability and scalability to ensure that Exokinetics could build
high quality, repeatable Zeens with minimal defects and high efficiency. Using
lean best practices, continuous improvement tools, six sigma techniques and
past experiences, Dillon led the Team from an empty warehouse space to a US
manufacturing facility ripe for low mix, scalable, high volume production of
the Zeen product.

Julie Kiselica
Corporate Sales Director

Julie joined Exokinetics in August 2024.  Her role was developed to work with the VA, Federal Government, DOD service members and their families. Julie enlisted in the US Army and proudly served our country for 8 years.  She utilized her GI Bill to further her education and graduated with honors from Rutgers University with a BS in Business Administration and Leadership.  She has worked in various industries and most recently was the Program Manager for multiple contract awards for a North Carolina based body armor manufacturer for the US Army, US Marine Corp, the Navy, The Department of Homeland Security, and various other federal organizations. 

Julie is passionate about Exokinetics’ life-changing product, the Zeen, as it has a personal connection for her family. Her son was born with Cerebral Palsy and utilized a variety durable medical equipment.

In May of 2024, she found the Zeen for her son and was elated that it did not require any costly home or vehicle modifications. The Zeen fits easily into most sedans with little effort, negating the need for a power wheelchair or Adaptive Mini Van.

Julie is thrilled to have joined the Zeen family, and she is dedicated to assist others in the joy of movement!

Daniel Lefebvre
Lead Sales Technical Engineer

Daniel Lefebvre has been part of the Exokinetics team as Staff Mechanical Engineer since March 2019. He has seen and has worked on every iteration of the Zeen since we began our focus on the current lightweight folding Zeen. Daniel is also a valued part the marketing rollout for the Zeen, fitting and training potential “Zeeners” and acclimating them to this novel and exciting device. 

Petra Rose, DPT
Clinical Education & Training Lead

Petra Rose, Exokinetics own Doctor of Physical Therapy, created the Zeen User Testing Labs early in the Zeen’s development to ensure early prototypes incorporated insights from real-world physical therapy usage of the product. Petra has designed, recruited and run nearly 100 Zeen user tests ranging from fall-risk tests to multi-month in-home ethnographic studies of how mobility-challenged people use the Zeen in real life. She has designed the safety and training curriculum for the Zeen and has been pivotal in directing the engineering team to create a safe, stable, useful product that can truly change the day-to-day lives of its users.

Petra’s expertise comes from over 18 years experience as a physical therapist in hospital settings treating orthopedic, trauma, neurology, burn and wound care patients as well as clinical staff training for Medtronic and extended one-on-one in-home physical therapy for patients with a range of mobility issues.

Jordan Ambrose
Internal Sales Specialist

Jordan is key part of the Sales and Customer Service team at Exokinetics with a specialty in conducting detailed Zeen demonstrations and user training. He leads virtual and in-person sessions to help qualify potential Zeen users and train existing customers on all the amazing features the Zeen offers. In addition, Jordan is highly involved with our internal sales efforts and nationwide distribution team. Jordan has a formal education in both exercise science and physical therapy, which supports his efforts to ensure customers are comfortable, well informed, and have the best possible experience with their Zeen.

Michelle Sands
Customer Care Specialist

As a critical role for Exokinetics, Michelle is responsible for many aspects of our customer’s experience. Her friendly and caring personality combined with more than 20 years of professional experience managing business operations, customer service, sales and human resources is the perfect harmony for this important position. Michelle is a certified medical technician and has an extensive background in patient care. Her organizational skills and attention to detail ensures that every Zeen customer, whether a current user or considering a purchase, is treated professionally with care, patience, understanding and authentic personal attention.

Ian Shackleford
Internal Sales Specialist

As an integral part of the Exokinetics team, Ian
focuses on delivering personalized support and training for Zeen users. He
conducts both virtual and in-person sessions, helping potential customers
explore how the Zeen can meet their mobility needs and providing comprehensive
training to current and new users. In addition to sales and customer service,
Ian collaborates with the nationwide distribution team to enhance the user
experience and engages with customers over social media. His experience in direct
patient care and customer service helps to provide potential customers with
pleasant and useful conversations, and he enjoys making a difference in
people’s lives. With an educational background in Biobehavioral health and
human development, his goal is to ensure every Zeen user feels empowered,
confident, and safe in using this innovative device.

Bill Page
Production Technician

Bill has extensive manufacturing experience with tight tolerance assemblies. He is the primary builder of the Zeen and the lead trainer on subassemblies. Bill assists with all functions in Production.

Sebastian Gentzsch
Production Operator

Sebastian has experience in shipping and receiving, with a focus on quality control and inventory management. He helps maintain inventory accuracy in Production and he builds high quality Zeen subassemblies.

Exokinetics: Building Products to Restore Joy

Exokinetics was founded by Garrett Brown and Chris Fawcett to help restore the joy of self-propelled mobility to those whose physical challenges restrict their lives. The company is built upon the belief that age, injury or illness should not mean an end to autonomy, independence and dignity. The right technology can supplement a person’s natural movements and fill the gaps caused by declining capabilities—rather than force the user to conform to a product’s limitations.