James Calcagni - Beating Lymes Disease After 12 Year with Ancient Chinese Healing and Waterproof Prosthetic Legs

We all like to say we have a “calling” in our lives - but for James Calcagni, it’s the real deal.James is an entrepreneur, CEO, inventor, engineer and most importantly, a survivor. James contracted Lyme’s disease as a young child and suffered horrible complications from it for years that limited his life in many ways. This experience led him to Qigong, which we get to in the show, but it also gave him a unique perspective into a life of difficulty.Now, James uses this perspective and his expertise as an engineer to design prosthetic limbs that address every small problem an amputee may have to face.
In this episode we cover James’ backstory, his scrappy journey to starting his own company and how his work lines up with what he considers his duty in life. We also discuss his flagship “shower-proof” prosthetic, where the technology is headed and much more!
Episode Outline: 
(1:30) - Episode beginning, some context on how I met James(3:09) - LinkedIn game, how to optimize your activity and use LinkedIn properly(7:08) - James dives into what he’s working on right now, his background and how he ended up working on such a unique project(24:30) - James’ transition in college and one of his most severe Lyme’s disease experiences(29:10) - How James got a new lease on life, meeting Master Ho(34:11) - Does Western medicine prevent people from accessing other forms of treatment? More on Master Ho’s methods(40:24) - James’ apprenticeship in robotics and how he grew that base of knowledge (43:48) - The requirements for acupuncture that a lot of people don’t know about, James’ switch to Temple and mechanical engineering(47:42) - The power of meditation and Qigong, James opens up about his routine a little bit.(51:05) - Back to Temple, how COVID and James actually helped grow Master Ho’s Qigong class(56:02) - The rise of “Qigong Dude”(59:03) - How James discovered Omegle and found love on it(1:04:07) - “This time was kind of a changing transformation period for me”, how James’ curiosity pushed him to face unique challenges(1:07:38) - Engineers need to empathize with the people they’re helping and really understand the problems they face(1:10:47) - How one story changed James’ perspective and inspired him to create a “water park leg”, how his interviews w/ amputees shined a light on the biggest problems they deal with(1:21:23) - Why don’t bigger companies consider these small, specific problems that amputees deal with? How James approaches designing a prosthesis (1:27:07) - How James is making this whole project run, where he sees it going(1:30:38) - It’s about access to technology, James’ duty in life(1:37:38) - Managing life and business, how James started his business and how he’s currently growing it(1:43:35) - Being a “CEO” and starting a company from the ground up(1:47:50) - Episode wrap-up and where you can find James
Thank you for helping us become a top 10% podcast in the world! Previous Guests Include Rob Dyrdek, Samad Savage, Travis Chappell, Austin Belcak, Young Benny,