In 2023, Tayla Cannon relocated from Australia to the U.S. for a new job in an unfamiliar city, seeking a fresh start without existing family or friends. As someone who experienced chronic back pain, she initially pursued a career in physiotherapy, believing it would allow her to positively impact others’ lives. However, the conventional physiotherapy approach did not resonate with her.
Her career path then led her to interventional cardiology, where she became further disillusioned with the physical rehabilitation model, describing it as “localized, reactive, and volume-based.”
Concurrently, Cannon began sharing her insights online as a content creator, focusing on “proactive” and “holistic” methods for pain relief. This endeavor quickly gained significant traction.
She now boasts over 130,000 followers on Instagram and established Athletic Rebuild, a company offering rehab and performance coaching for athletes. Additionally, she is preparing to launch Rebuildr early next year, a HIPAA-compliant mentorship application designed to assist rehab professionals in managing their online businesses.
Cannon stated that her initial intention was not to build a business, but rather to share her knowledge online and encourage a reevaluation of traditional care models.
Her work attracted the attention of Slow Ventures, which recently announced a $1.1 million seed investment. Cannon is among the initial creators to receive funding from Slow Ventures’ $60 million Creator Fund, which supports content creators and influencers making an impact online.
Cannon explained that when she began sharing her thoughts on social media in 2024 and subsequently decided to make it her profession, there was no predefined strategy, roadmap, or business model. She attributes her success to maintaining authenticity and sharing genuine, unfiltered perspectives, a common factor among successful content creators.
However, expanding a brand through social media presents its own challenges. The rapid growth of her online presence, and consequently her brand, required her to quickly grasp business logic, consumer understanding, and content strategy to engage new audiences. She noted that these skills are not typically taught in healthcare, where professionals are trained to help people, not to build brands.
A pivotal moment occurred when Cannon recognized she was a bottleneck to her own business. She realized she could not continue scaling an operation solely dependent on her efforts and needed to build something capable of growing independently, leading her to hire staff to assist with her projects.
Her strategy also evolved from merely discussing the shortcomings of the rehab world to actively developing solutions. Rebuildr aims to represent a “complete shift from localized reactive care to a proactive, holistic mode,” according to Cannon, by integrating consumer solutions, clinicians, education, and the necessary software for scalable delivery.
Cannon was introduced to the Slow Ventures team through a friend at one of the firm’s events in Austin. She initially had no intention of seeking capital or even preparing a pitch deck. Nevertheless, she connected with Megan Lightcap, an investor at Slow Ventures, and discussed her vision for Rebuildr.
Cannon mentioned that the conversation was inspiring, and Slow Ventures has helped her envision an even grander version of Rebuildr than she had initially conceived.
While other personal trainer software options exist, such as TrainHeroic, Trainerize, and Everfit, Cannon hopes Rebuildr will fundamentally transform the rehabilitation industry.
Her goal is to make high-quality rehabilitation globally accessible, free from limitations imposed by geography, insurance, or restrictive 30-minute appointments.
