We had the good fortune of connecting with Brianna Shortt and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brianna, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Starting Chronic Pain Hope was ultimately inspired by my own personal experience with chronic pain. When I had chronic pain I struggled with our healthcare system and finding answers to my pain. I discovered that there are anywhere from 60-120 million people in the United States that live every day with chronic pain. Yet our doctors, nurses, physical therapists, and other healthcare professionals are severely under-educated and undertrained in strategies for effectively reducing pain. I’m the type of person who loves to learn and research, especially topics in medicine. Before I had started experiencing chronic pain, I had gone through nursing school and discovered that I had a passion for learning and helping others. Nursing school taught me almost nothing about chronic pain, so I took it upon myself to become as educated as possible on chronic pain and to share this education with others.
I decided to start interviewing experts in chronic pain and people who had recovered from chronic pain. I joined the International Association for the Study of Chronic Pain. I began studying books on chronic pain, listening to podcasts, and reading medical journals. Everything that I have learned about chronic pain can be found on www.chronicpainhope.com. Right now, Chronic Pain Hope is an educational resource that is meant to guide patients toward freedom from pain. In the future, it will be so much more than that, but I don’t want to give any spoilers away just yet.

What should our readers know about your business?
Chronic Pain Hope is still a fairly new business. We have a lot of amazing resources in place right now, but we are still growing and creating more resources. Our resources are educational and designed to provide a source of hope for those who have given up on being able to decrease their chronic pain. Our information comes from peer-reviewed journals, experts in chronic pain, and the stories of those who have recovered from their pain. The site is constantly being updated with new and exciting information. Unlike other organizations that focus on chronic pain reduction, we strongly support the idea of using the biopsychosocial method to decrease pain. Other organizations take a purely biomedical approach. With a biopsychosocial approach, you are encouraged to treat your pain through a combination of strategies such as medications, physical therapy, pain reprocessing therapy, stress reduction, dealing with past traumas, as well as alternative methods such as acupuncture, yoga, and working with a chiropractor. Any method of treatment that we suggest has been supported by a certain amount of peer-reviewed research.
I hope that anyone who explores www.chronicpainhope.com will feel more confident in being able to reduce their pain and know what treatments and approaches will work best for them. Here at Chronic Pain Hope, we believe that all people should be provided with all the education and resources necessary to significantly reduce their pain. We believe in setting a new and improved standard for the way people with chronic pain are treated.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Whenever I have friends in town, I love to give them the best time possible. One of my favorite places to go to is the Long Beach Aquarium, but that is because I am a huge animal lover. One of my favorite activities is rock climbing so I’ll take them to Long Beach Rising for a while. Riding a duffy boat during sunset while drinking wine and eating from a charcuterie board is always a good time. As far as food places, I’m usually torn between Saint & Second on 2nd Street and Ellie’s on Orange Ave. You can’t go wrong with either of those places. At the end of the day, I’m always down for doing a beach bonfire in Huntington Beach.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d love to give a shoutout to my parents who completely supported me throughout the toughest days of my chronic pain journey. Especially my dad who encouraged me to create Chronic Pain Hope. I’d also like to thank my business partner, Drew. He has believed in me from the moment I pitched my business idea for Chronic Pain Hope.

Website: www.chronicpainhope.com

Instagram: chronic.pain.hope

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