Going Analog with Grip Aids: EaZyHold’s Low-Tech Assistive Technology

An Interview with Cierra Sterling, Community Manager at EaZyHold, on the Company’s History and the Value of Low-Tech AT

By Jacob Witt

Broad in its scope, the Assistive Technology Industry Association defines Assistive Technology (AT) as “any item, piece of equipment, software program, or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of persons with disabilities,” further clarifying that AT can, among other things, be either low-tech or high-tech. While the popular imagination surrounding AT may lean toward the technologically advanced and immediately noticeable, the electromechanical prosthetic limb or the mobility-assisting device, there exist just as many forms of AT that are quite mechanically and conceptually simple. EaZyHold’s patented, grip-aiding universal cuffs are one such example. 

EaZyHold is a Woman-owned small business dedicated to designing, manufacturing, and distributing innovative, adaptive living aids, particularly its signature product, the EaZyHold Silicone Universal Cuff. A piece of AT that reliably supplements the grip of people who may have lost limbs, sustained hand injuries, or experience a range of disabilities – such as Arthritis, Cerebral Palsy, Parkinson’s, ALS, Traumatic Brain Injury, and others – which could impair a person’s fine or gross motor skills, EaZyHold’s Universal Cuffs have found applications within Special Education, Pediatric Care, Occupational and Physical Therapy, and Assisted Living settings.

Based out of Calabasas, CA, EaZyHold’s story starts in 2014 when company founder Kerry Mellin, a 35-year-old Local 705 motion picture costume designer with arthritis, made a grip for a broom handle out of duct tape while preparing for a family get-together at her home. Later, Kerry would mention that innovation to her sisters, Merrily and Wendy, and even make a second makeshift grip aid, this time out of a silicone pot holder, during a discussion of their shared aspirations to someday start a business. She suggested that grip-aids could be the product they sold. “My aunt originally invented it for her arthritis,” Cierra Sterling, Community Manager at EaZyHold, said. “But we have found that there are so many different people with so many different conditions that can really benefit from EaZyHold, and everyone deserves dignity and comfort and independence, and so that's what we're trying to provide for people from all walks of life.”

From there, Kerry looked into previous patents for assistive devices whilst her sisters went to a Hollywood mask shop to source silicone and, also, learn how to mold, color, pour, and cure it. From this, Kerry learned that there had been no major advancements in assistive grip technology in 35 years, a situation EaZyHold’s website likens to a “leapfrogging” from the use of popsicle sticks and velcro for grip aids to mechanical arms, with nothing in between. “As far as why there haven't been advancements in 35 years for grip technology,” Sterling said. “I think that many people don't realize just how much a simple design can do for so many people. The reality is that if you can see a solution to a challenge that you are facing, odds are a lot of other people need it as well.”

Throughout the establishment of their company, Kerry Mellin and her sisters repeatedly encountered complications, likely because EaZyHold was a woman-owned small business. They had to establish a relationship with a silicone manufacturer under the name of one of the Mellin sisters’ husbands, Jeff, and faced repeated pressure to place one of their husbands’ names on the business account. Later, they deliberately chose a woman patent attorney for their company. 

“There's definitely an underlying current of not believing that you're credible unless there is a male involved somehow, which is sad, but I am hoping that that's changing over the years…When we were trying to get our design and utility patent, patent attorney after patent attorney could not see the relevance of our product and how it would be needed,” Sterling said. “And the common denominator there was that all these attorneys were men. So when my aunt Kerry went into Ventura County, she was looking for a female patent attorney, and they found one, and the minute that they sat down with her, she saw how it could have helped her dad, who had Parkinson's, and her daughter, who has a disability, and she was immediately happy to help us get it patented.” 

Ultimately, the Mellin sisters refused to include the name of one of their husbands on the paperwork as they opened a business account. Kerry is quoted on their website as saying, “Look, Husbands come and go, but sisters are forever.” 

With the Universal Cuff designed and patented, suppliers secured, and a business account opened, EaZyHold launched an active outreach campaign to bring its product to the attention of medical professionals and the general public. EaZyHold’s own website discusses the “ambushing” of doctors and therapists in hospital hallways to demonstrate prototypes, and an appearance at the Ventura County Flea Market to showcase the cuff on 100 different everyday items, both decisions that ultimately benefited EaZyHold as a company.

“The flea market was really important because all different kinds of people stopped by our booth at the flea market. We had nurses, doctors, teachers, students, therapists stop by, and it was just a great opportunity to introduce it to people in every area of life, and a news reporter even came by and did a great article in the local newspaper about us,” Sterling said. “And at that flea market, we also found our first teacher who wanted to test her our product with her six students with grip disabilities, and those students still use our product today, and we still have play dates with them, and we get to see them growing up and continuing to gain more and more independence, and it's a beautiful thing.”

A much more established company today, EaZyHold advocates for resolving the difficulties faced by small businesses like theirs. Sterling discusses funds, such as the $ 5,000 grant EaZyHold received from the International Trade Administration, which helped the company gain its footing. Sterling says, "We're currently in a climate where grants and funding are being taken away from women- and minority-owned small businesses," and cites the devaluation of nursing and occupational therapy degrees as two other major examples of that continued obstruction. "Marginalized communities are currently dealing with a lot and are having funding taken away,” Sterling said. “Disability organizations are struggling to get by, and these really real things and these important organizations are not being taken seriously and not given the resources that they need to help as many people as possible live their best lives, so we are just trying to keep on fighting for what's right, ultimately.”

Nonetheless, EaZyHold, as a small business, has gained recognition. EaZyHold is a member of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America, the premier professional organization dedicated to promoting the health and wellness of disabled people through technological solutions. EaZyHold has a Small Business Administration Woman-Owned Small Business certification. EaZyHold had a spot on Amazon’s 2019 list of the Top 6 Woman-Owned Small Businesses and has been featured in a range of news publications, including Us Weekly and the Huffington Post. 

Further, EaZyHold’s Silicone Universal Cuff has become a widely available product, for purchase not just on EaZyHold’s own e-commerce store, but also Lowe’s, Amazon, and through 35 global distributors. It is also being used in 20,000 schools, hospitals, and care facilities across the world, and featured in a university textbook focused on occupational therapy. 

This is all while being, again, a profoundly simple, low-tech piece of AT. Discussing the EaZyHold Universal Silicone Cuff, Cierra acknowledged the product’s simplicity. “EaZyHold is just a little handle you can put on anything. So, it's a strap with openings on either end, and it's made out of super high-quality, sensory-friendly, food-grade silicone that stretches and is super easy to clean and reuse,” Sterling said. “It can be used with all kinds of tools for daily living, such as eating utensils, toothbrushes, hair brushes, writing, and art tools…styluses for iPads or communication devices, toys, water bottles, sports equipment, musical instruments, and even canes or walker handles, and much more. So, it's a simple way to create more accessibility and independence across all areas of life for children and adults with limited hand strength or mobility, and our company was the first to create a hygienic, affordable, and super adaptable grip aid that can be used and reused in hospitals, schools, and care facilities.”

Nonetheless, EaZyHold’s products have had a profound impact, with Sterling hearing many memorable testimonials about how they have benefited those who needed grip-assist AT. “One particular testimonial that I really love that's kind of close to our hearts is a young girl named Tiana from Australia,” Sterling said. “She is a pediatric stroke survivor. So she had a stroke at age 10, and she had to relearn how to do almost everything, including playing the violin, which is something that she loves to do. So her father found us and adapted Tiana's violin bow with an EaZyHold so she could continue to play, and now she's a member of the Melbourne youth orchestra, and we get videos of her playing with her EaZyHold.”

A company dedicated to low-tech AT, EaZyHold does not just provide the Universal Silicone Cuff as its sole piece of low-tech AT but also the Strumling, a guitar pick holder for people who cannot otherwise grip a guitar pick, and carries the FUNctionalHand – an ergonomic grip assist designed by occupational and physical therapists Merry and Celine Skertich, which can hold objects vertically and horizontally and can be used in conjunction with EaZyHold’s grip-aids for optimal support – at their store. 

Discussing low-tech AT like that which is provided by EaZyHold, Sterling discussed it as “...a very simple solution to a complex problem that a lot of people have,” with high-tech AT, like robotic arms and prosthetics, being “amazing” and “incredible” but also expensive and inaccessible for those who truly need AT. “EaZyHold’s silicone design provides a sustainable, affordable alternative to that, and it enables access to life-changing technology around the world in places where otherwise it might be totally unavailable,” Sterling said. 

Discussing the media's and the public imagination's fixation on high-tech AT, Sterling described it as harmful. “I think it comes at the cost of dignity and comfort and true independence. For a lot of people, the high-tech stuff is incredible,”  Sterling said. “But it is super overrepresented, and that's why we've tried to get out to as many events and expos to really represent the more low-tech, simple solutions.”

Sterling described EaZyHold’s work as “...always to find new ways to improve what we're already doing, improve the feel of the product with higher quality silicone, and find new ways to help people do more stuff” and, later, described the company’s “ultimate dream” as having “...every classroom have a bucket of EaZyHolds in it, and just make it as accessible as possible around the world.” 

Building on that ambition to make EaZyHold’s products as widely accessible as possible, Sterling outlined steps the company had taken to expand access and invited readers to reach out if they were interested in trying them. “We do donate product to assistive technology centers and lending libraries, and even therapy clinics and schools. So if your local resources don't have EaZyHolds on hand, reach out to me, and I'll be sure to get them some samples. My email is community@EaZyHold.com, and we just want people to get a chance to be able to try them out before they buy them,” Sterling said.