Arthur Lih, Inventor and CEO of LifeVac | CEOs You Should Know

Arthur Lih, Inventor and CEO of LifeVac | CEOs You Should Know

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, everyone, This is Steve Dallison and welcome to this
week's edition of CEOs. You should know I am thrilled
to be joined by Arthur, the inventor in CEO of
Life Back. Arthur, thanks for coming in today.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Well, thank you, man, I really appreciate it. When I
met you, I felt that energy. I was like, heck, yeah, man,
it's just fun.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Love to hear that, and right back at you. I
was really excited to have you join the podcast today.
So let's jump into it. Why don't you start off
by telling us a little bit about your background and
really what led you to creating Life Back.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
Well, you know, it's funny in the CEO side.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
My first life, I built a company with me and
my partner to other people built it up, and in
forty seven I had sold it and I was retiring.
I heard about a tragedy of seven year old my
daughter was seven, that choked to death. And you know,
it's funny how life takes you on a path. The
education from building a transportation company gave me some confidence

(00:53):
that I could take on this challenge. But the first
challenge was inventing something that would work.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
Yeah, that's awesome. So obviously different transition. Right as you
mentioned you went from transportation to medical was what was
the transition? Like, I'm sure that there was a lot
of logistics behind it, kind of starting up in a
medical device industry.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
It's I think it's hard to comprehend it. You know,
if you had to pick something to invent a medical
product from your garage, would probably not be on the
list of easy things to do, you know, just lack
of any experience, any knowledge. Now I had the heart
and soul, and I had the experience of taking something
from nothing and building it. But it was a whole

(01:37):
new world. Yeah, but you know it was a different
it was a different need, and it wasn't a living
It was a passion.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
It was a mission. You know, if you have.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Your children, you know you think about holding one of
them and they expire in your hands. So when you
get that kind of vision, that kind of understanding of
the significance that the challenges don't matter to me, it
never mattered. I pretty much thought it was going to
be impossible. I pretty much thought I was going to fail,

(02:07):
but didn't matter. How to do it.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
It's awesome. We touched on this a little bit, but
I know that the idea behind it was really born
out of a very personal and tragic inspiration. Can you
share a little bit about that moment and how it
motivated you to create Life Act?

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Well, I think it goes back to, you know, my
last year in college, I fell asleep at the wheel
and the car went off the road and my two
best friends died and I was in ICU for two
weeks and for twenty years, I wanted to end my life.
I just but it's an odd thing. My understanding of

(02:46):
the pain that was created to their families, who I
kid so much about, more beautiful people, and they had
they had to survive. I couldn't do that to my mother.
So I stayed alive because of the pain it would
put through to my mother. My life came back when
my daughter was born and I really started to feel
like I had a life again.

Speaker 3 (03:07):
There was hope.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
And so when seven years when she was seven, I
heard of a seven year old that died, all that
pain and flashback of twenty years or one that just
ticked my head in front of the express train came
back and I said, I will not survive that. And
I have a responsibility as her father, So it's twofold, right.
I don't want the pain, but my job is the

(03:29):
only thing I got to do is make sure she's okay.
So and then when I had it and now I
could save her, it was a brief moment of good,
I can go about my life.

Speaker 3 (03:40):
She's safe.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
And then that the pain of the families of my friends,
and I said, how could I be the only one?
How could I be the one that I can save
my daughter? Your daughter died too bad? And that combine
with what we first talked about about being impossible taking
my Unael's device from your garage, those were the devil
on my shoulder, saying you're going to get crushed. But

(04:04):
the pain, the true o pinin understanding having it happen
was greater. Doesn't matter what it takes, I gotta do it.
If I cannot have people feel what I've felt, to
know what I know, to one to end your life
for twenty years, to wake up every day and say,
damn it, I was really hoping I didn't have to

(04:25):
wake up today. And now you know, twenty five hundred
parents play with their child instead of visiting them at
the cemetery or you know, taking their own lives.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah for sure. Well, thank you for sharing me. Yeah
for sure, thank you for sharing that. Another very personal
story to share. But on that positive side, obviously you
were able to create something from that inspiration that, to
your point, has really helped thousands of individuals.

Speaker 3 (04:52):
He said.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
It is hard to share it, and for twenty thirty years,
I haven't really shared it much, but I think it's
important and people know two things that you can make it,
you know, hang in there.

Speaker 3 (05:06):
You know.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Look I went from if I had ended my life,
who knows right and would have heard everyone around me?
And if you hang in there long enough, miracle is
going to happen. Right, that pain led to all these
people being saved.

Speaker 3 (05:21):
Yep, So I come more.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
I will share that story when necessary and try and
take the pain turn it into hope that people hearing
it who may be in that position. Hang in there, Yeah,
And I only can tell you what I know. I
would never be a projector, and so you should do this.
I don't know what makes you tick. That's what I did,
That's what happened for me.

Speaker 1 (05:46):
It's your first experience hanging.

Speaker 3 (05:48):
There long enough to let the miracle app for.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
Sure, and it's a great story to be able to
share speaking of saving a lot of individuals. Right Life
Act has really become that game changer when it comes
to emergency airwave clearance. What were some of the biggest challenges.
I know we talked about obviously building it out from
the garage, entering a new industry that you never worked
with before, But what were some of the biggest challenges

(06:11):
when you first introduced it to the market.

Speaker 2 (06:13):
Well, it's pretty simple. It's kind of a funny story too,
so now I get it. We did testing on mannequins
and cadavers, and we have publications on it. But there's
a leap of faith time because I cannot ethically or
legally choke someone and pull it.

Speaker 3 (06:29):
Out, so I would.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
I remember going to fire department and two that stick
out is Chief McGuire and Freeport and Chief Sprado and Brentwood,
and they said, you know, that's great. He said, you know,
how does it work? I said, I think it's gonna
They're like what, And I'm.

Speaker 3 (06:47):
Like, I don't know what to tell you. It's cart
and horse then.

Speaker 2 (06:49):
And both of them, in their own way, maguire said,
it's another tool and toolbox and Sprato said it's another
club in the bag. We're courageous enough to say I
think it'll work too, and if someone's going to die,
I'll pretty much try anything.

Speaker 3 (07:04):
There.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
Simplicity of it helped, and they gave me more hope
than you know.

Speaker 3 (07:09):
We made it from two fire departments. But the.

Speaker 2 (07:14):
Challenge was getting something out there in the medical world
with life and death on the line, where you can't
prove it works. So how do you get the first
person to do it? How do you get it? How
do you get the data of saving lives if no
one will put it in because it hasn't saved the life. Yeah,
and you know, we had learning all about the FDA

(07:34):
and making sure we were compliant and everything. These were
all ridiculous challenges that are usually done by one hundred
billion dollar companies. The guy came in, he said, who
was in the first board meeting when you came up
with the design. Now he's expecting to hear you know,
our medical director or entity. I'm like, well, that would
be me and my seven year old daughter. He's looked

(07:57):
at me like what, I'm like, I don't know. I'm
not going to lie to you that I being honest yet,
so there were numerous, but I guess the cart and
the horse thing. How do you get something out there
in a life and depth situation when you can't prove
it in a life and death situation.

Speaker 1 (08:12):
Yeah, but those two guys gave you that confidence though, Well.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
It gave me the hope that there were enough courageous
and intelligent people.

Speaker 3 (08:18):
Thank God. It's simple.

Speaker 2 (08:19):
It's physics, yep. So it's not physiology. I'm not altering DNA.
I'm not doing any of those things. It's physics. If
you pull on something that's stuck at twenty at two hundred,
it's gonna move. And there were enough break people that said,
I agree, it's going to work.

Speaker 3 (08:36):
I'll do it.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
It's great. So being something brand new right to the
medical field, how did you really help build that awareness
and gain credibility about life back in the early stages?

Speaker 2 (08:48):
Basically doing everything humanly possible. I went on every Little Pockets,
every TV in the basement show. I spoke at every convention,
every MS Paulsy meaning I could get into. I tortured
people in this industry and put me on, knocked on

(09:08):
every door, went every fire department, every yell that care,
wrote endlessly it's it's I think if you put my
writing it would fill this room, you know, just either
a medical journals or or or please or paragraphs or stories.

(09:28):
But it was everything, any everything and anything I could do,
travel all over country, travel all over the world. I
mean you it was saying, you know, thanks for having me.
I know, like you kidd me, we could save a life.

Speaker 1 (09:40):
Talk absolutely and fast forward today you've saved thousands of lives,
right yeah, and I know that that probably is a
really amazing feeling. Fast forwarding from when you heard about
the tragedy around that seven year old and today, can
you share with us on a personal level, like what
is the impact of what your guys, what you guys
are doing every single day really mean to you.

Speaker 3 (10:01):
It's the paint we you know.

Speaker 2 (10:02):
When we had our first save the miracle was it
was done by a woman named Jackie, and I felt
the guy had said to me that you know your perseverances.
He was saying, you got to keep going because next
day a kid died in school. But it was that
little bit of pat they say, you know, I'm with
you and staying there. And I was just talking to

(10:24):
someone who saved the five year old this morning, we
just talked to a daughters four yep and he had
found a little piece of plastic. She was CPR trained,
she did all the protocols and he was blue and
I'm reading it and it saved him. And she said,
thank God for your product, thank you for making it.
And every day I take that accident and I say,

(10:46):
she didn't have to have that.

Speaker 3 (10:48):
And in our facility we.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
Have a whole saves and we have the pictures of
thirty five hundred people on the wall.

Speaker 3 (10:55):
We had to raise the roof, and.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
When I go in there, I sit there and say, okay,
all these people are still whole, you know, the parents,
the grandparents, the friends, the kids are friends at school,
and all those people around these people are okay yeah,
And that's pretty powerful reason to keep going.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
It's the true testament of the work you're doing, your
team's doing. And I can't wait to visit the hall.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
Yeah you got to see it. It's it's you know what.

Speaker 2 (11:26):
At this point, especially since we raised the ceiling, it
has a very cathedral feeling, you know, because you think
about it. Sadly, most walls are remembrance, right, and they
hit me one day I think Brian told me, he
said it. But the our wall is four minutes from
being remembrance right that same institution, thirty five hundred pictures

(11:50):
four minutes later it's in memory of But since we
were there, it's a joyful moment. That room is full
of joy. These people are alive. We're not celebrating them
or or memorialize on them in.

Speaker 1 (12:08):
The future that they have ahead of them.

Speaker 2 (12:09):
And as it got bigger and bigger, it's really a
powerful thing. Like you know, we were out riding and we
did the giant Redwood, you know, and you want a
spiritual God moment, right these giant woods, it's a cathedral
and that's our cathedral.

Speaker 1 (12:23):
That's awesome. Congrats on thanks. I know you guys have
gained global recognition. What's next? What are some of your
future aspirations for the company.

Speaker 2 (12:31):
Well, I'm so blessed that finally, but I say with
that with gratitude. The American Red Cross put out a
statement that should protocol. It's a recommendation that if protocol
fails and air we claims device should be used or
and this is most important, if it can't be used,
you mean it cannot be done. Passion exists and we

(12:54):
c J. Douglas Colonel is going to help us our veterans.
You're in a wheelchair, you have nothing our special needs you.
You're in a school and you have a scoliosis space
or a cast or or you're in a wheelchair. There's
no way to save you prior to us, my lady violation.
The poster is nice kids standing and getting rescued. We

(13:15):
have a chance now. The Red Cross has acknowledged that
not everyone can be saved with current protocol. So my
a game, my hope is that we now can save everyone.
It really irks me that we have people that need
our help right they don't want it, they need it,

(13:37):
and we have an obligation to understand and to help them.
And we're getting there and now it's our chance getting
every school. There's bill pending today passes.

Speaker 3 (13:49):
It'll be required.

Speaker 2 (13:52):
To end the mission, to end the mission to stop
choking deaths. I want in my lifetime to re about it,
choking death because it never happens. Yep, it's a big
news story because someone choked, Because sixteen people are going
to die today and it will not be on the news.
One hundred kids have died in school since I started.
It's not the news. Nine kids died last year in school.

(14:14):
It's not in the news. I wanted to be in
the news because it never happens.

Speaker 1 (14:18):
Yep, it's a great, great hope for the future.

Speaker 3 (14:21):
Yeah, man, I'm going to do it. Doesn't matter.

Speaker 2 (14:23):
I mean, if I don't, someone will pick the flag up.
I'm getting old.

Speaker 1 (14:27):
Speaking of the future, I'm sure that you guys are
improving the product, product developments, innovation. Can you share anything
that you're particularly excited about?

Speaker 3 (14:37):
You know what's funny.

Speaker 2 (14:38):
We put a lot of effort into the product, and
I think in my book it's the title of his perfection,
It's close. I really I have no desire to come
up with anything else. I don't have any desire to
change it because it works and it's simple. And the
reason it works and simple is from the beginning I
knew I'd be scared. So it's a sink pong to

(14:59):
just push it to on a pull it and thank
God that has been the intuitive nature and the simplicity
to save life every time in a very panic situation.
But I really have no desire to do anything else.
I want to finish my mission. I want to I
want to save a million lives. When they, you know,
throw dirt on me and if I'm not down, I'm

(15:21):
going to call my way out, They're gonna have to
hit me with the shovel because we have a chance
to do something really significant. No one has ever done this.
No one's ever cured a leading cause of death, no
one has ever changed these statistics, and there hasn't been
an innovation choking in sixty years. Yeah so, and no

(15:43):
one's ever given people with disability a chance. So I'm
good with finishing this one point.

Speaker 1 (15:52):
Simplicity is key, right, because you are in a panic
in that moment, and making the products so easy to
use is I'm sure even a bigger factor in saving
all the lives.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
I took that as a sociologists by nature, mostly played
hockey and chase girls but in college. But the key
to me when I was doing it one of my
first incarnations was it got too complicated. I said, I
was worried about me. I said, I will screw it
up and I made it yep. So I tossed it
out and I said, I got to come up with simple, intuitive,

(16:24):
dummy proof. Just pushing pulls. Many times you have to
go crazy. You'll get lucky. If you don't study your
train and practice a little, you'll get lucky. It'll come
out one. It always has.

Speaker 1 (16:34):
Absolutely all the positive that's going on. I'm sure that
along the way there could also be some hurdles. Can
you share with us some of the hurdles in the
industry or some of the challenges that you guys might
be facing right now?

Speaker 2 (16:46):
Well, the challenges have been in short, our society has
changed quite a bit. We were very afraid of the
right thing for legal purposes. I cannot tell you when
I first started, I said, sixty kids that died in school,
I sent them an email saying I'll give you one
for free. You don't want that to happen again. Fifty

(17:07):
nine ignored it. One called us and said, we're in litigation.
Don't talk to us the battle of moral meaning you know, we.

Speaker 3 (17:18):
Don't think we're allowed to use it. Now you think
about what you're saying.

Speaker 2 (17:21):
My school is going to let this kid die because
we are afraid of litigation. And it's been hard. I
almost punched two people. But to sit there and listen
to that, and so you would let a kid die
because you're afraid of getting in trouble. But you would
not believe how much of a hurdle that is. We're

(17:42):
not in every school.

Speaker 3 (17:43):
Why not? Was nine kids died last year?

Speaker 2 (17:47):
But it's amazing and I've learned a lot about our
change in our cultures.

Speaker 3 (17:52):
You know that.

Speaker 2 (17:54):
When someone says that to me, I'm like, what is
wrong with you? Even if I was going to get
in trouble it was a kid and you said I
save them, You're gonna kill me, I'd say kill me.
I'm gonna save the kid. I had good sixty years.
He deserves it. But to hear that it has been
so brutal. Thank god the Red Cross came along. We
can blame them because everyone would say that's not the

(18:16):
right crowd. And I say, well, that doesn't mean you
let the kid die.

Speaker 3 (18:20):
You saved the kids.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
You do everything possible right.

Speaker 3 (18:23):
But that's what you would think is a normal human being.
And so many hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of we're
not allowed.

Speaker 2 (18:31):
Okay, you're not allowed to save a kid, but it's
all wrong by law. You're supposed to supposed to do
anything reasonable. There's no rules or laws that say you
can't do this or that it's all bs, but our
brains have become so scared scared, oh saw, who cares?

Speaker 3 (18:52):
But the really frustrating part is backwards.

Speaker 2 (18:55):
You're supposed to save a life, you get in trouble
when they die, not for trying to save them. I
think I get a little emotional about this man. And
luckily I didn't punch the two people. If they were guys,
I would have punched definitely. One was it Uh, It
was in Washington. It was a It was a conference

(19:17):
and I had a safety and they had both said, well,
we have no idea how to save someone in a
choking emergency. And I was sitting next to the head
of school disability of time. I said, there you go,
right there. She says, yeah, you know, you should call
the eight hundred line. I said, I'm sitting next to
you and you just heard them. That would have been
a punch in the face, but it was a woman

(19:39):
can't punch.

Speaker 1 (19:40):
That makes sense. So for anyone tuning in right now
that might have an idea like you did, right they
might want to create a new invention, or they might
see something that they want to course correct and they're
standing in their garage right now. What is the advice
you would give them.

Speaker 2 (19:56):
Well, sadly, the first thing I would say, obviously you
got research on my sure it doesn't exist. I would say,
you're gonna your patent is probably going to be worthless.
You need to be prepared for getting knocked off and
not succeeding. I think if it's something of moral significance,
you know you do it anyway.

Speaker 1 (20:17):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (20:17):
But I would tell people be careful because if you
think you're going to get a patent and that's going
to protect you, you're wrong and we'll knock it off,
put it in Amazon, put you out of business. So
if particularly if it's relatively inexpensive, so I would say,
you know, you've got to go for it, but just

(20:40):
have that in the back of your head that eventually
it's going to get taken over and stolen.

Speaker 1 (20:44):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (20:45):
Sad Yeah, Well, the best way I can see is
trademarks and copyrights, but it doesn't matter. Look, we're FDA
proved registered and we work with the FDA. So my
device is being knocked off and it's illegal.

Speaker 3 (21:03):
It's federally illegal.

Speaker 2 (21:05):
So if you make this cup and it's a better cup,
as soon as you hit a decent sales number, they
will copy it. Done that patent mine's illegal to do
and it's all over. So it's a cautionary tale. I'm
not saying don't do it. I'm saying, if I had
to give you one piece of advice, don't be lulled

(21:27):
into your patent.

Speaker 3 (21:28):
It's going to protect you. Don't care sip the Amazon
and wipe you out.

Speaker 1 (21:32):
Real advice, much needed, sad, But that's the case. Anyone's
tuning in and they want to purchase the Life Act
product or they want to be involved in the mission
and help gain awareness. What should be the call to action?

Speaker 2 (21:46):
Just go to lifeback dot net and you know you
can purchase it, and you know I or Maerki make
your own choice. If you have a child, I would
say I would highly recommend it, live alone, have a disability,
or your elderly. Those are the ones I really would
You know, young and them go for it and you're
probably gonna be all right. But those are the ones
where for others you probably should consider having it. It's

(22:09):
life fact dot that there's information, there's contact for him too.

Speaker 3 (22:13):
You know you want to help or.

Speaker 2 (22:15):
You have the capability to institute it. Tell us what
we can do this.

Speaker 1 (22:21):
It's great. I myself am a dad. I have two
at home. I have one at home and I carry
one in the diaper bags with us at all times.

Speaker 2 (22:27):
You would not believe saves we've gotten from the diaper
bag of other people. Bring it out of a park,
how at a restaurant. We had a save at SeaWorld
that I love, Lady to have it inner diaper bag.
Person with a disability choked. Everyone stood there, no one
knew what to do. The mom who carried for her
little child saved the person with disability. And we have

(22:50):
hundreds of good, smartan saves.

Speaker 1 (22:53):
It's awesome. Well, thank you for sharing your story with us.
Before we wrap up, I know we touched on this
a little bit earlier, but I'd love to just and
on a on a high note years from now, what
do you want life act in yourself to be remembered
for him? What do you guys want your mission to
be that you accomplished?

Speaker 2 (23:09):
I think not me, I think it would the story
would be great. I was thinking about this. You know,
you don't know Henry Ford. You don't know these people, right,
it's a name. I would like the story of that
guy who did this started as garage and changed the world.

Speaker 3 (23:26):
You can too. So it's not me.

Speaker 2 (23:30):
I'm dirt and dust. Whatever the story connected to what
it did. Meaning my kids say, because some crazy guy
went his garage and changed the world, right, I'm gone.
Who kids, That's what I want. That's what I'd love
to see, for us to persevere, to get future innovation,

(23:50):
future cards, future change, make a difference.

Speaker 3 (23:53):
Not me. Maybe a statute with a pigeon.

Speaker 2 (23:55):
I always thought it'd be fun if he was like,
you know, we made it, so he landed and pooped
on me. But that's not me. It's the mission. It's
the statement that you can change the world. You can
do it. You can do it right from your garage.
And now I know I did it. Yep, and that's
what you need to know.

Speaker 1 (24:13):
That's awesome. Well, Arthur, thank you so much for coming
in today, for sharing your story. It definitely is a
story of inspiration and you guys are doing amazing work.
So thank you for everything that you and the entire
Life Act.

Speaker 3 (24:23):
Is doing well.

Speaker 2 (24:24):
You and your team here have been so good to
us and I greatly appreciate it. We have a chart
of how medias save lives. I look forward to you
guys climbing it because we will get a message that
says I heard about our heart and I save my
kid and me and you are going to have a
handshake and a little cry and say that's the important media.

Speaker 1 (24:43):
Yeah, well I'm looking forward to that.

Speaker 3 (24:44):
Leto.

Speaker 1 (24:45):
We're honored to be able to get this very important
message out there and work with you guys for many
more years to come. Thank you guys for tuning in.
Please tune in next week for next week's edition of CEOs.
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