Our Story

CEO and Co-Founder Jennie Shulkin was a nationally ranked tennis and squash player and a student at the University of Pennsylvania when she suffered two head injuries within a year-and-a-half of each other. Soon after, she developed a complex chronic pain syndrome affecting multiple parts of her body. As best she could, Jennie continued living her life – pushing through Harvard Law School and building a career in law. All the while, she carried the burden of the agonizing, time-consuming, expensive, and both physically and emotionally painful journey of seeking pain relief. When each medication, intervention, and various other treatments failed, the treating providers shrugged, sent her away, and often told her she was "out of options." Adding to the frustration, many of the doctors, physical therapists, and psychologists Jennie consulted treated her chronic pain no differently from acute pain and were therefore ineffective. Additionally, most had little interest in or time to communicate with other providers working with Jennie. The result was fragmented care, inconsistent messaging, and contradicting plans of action.

‍Jennie wanted a better way. Joining forces with her father, she began creating a solution that she and others in pain needed but did not exist elsewhere: a comprehensive, team-based approach to care that is implemented by providers who really understand chronic pain. Jennie lives with pain every day. But she has learned to stop cure-seeking – to stop putting life on hold until a pill, procedure, or doctor brings about the magic fix – and has found more effective ways to interact with the pain and build a fulfilling life.

Co-Founder and Executive Chairman David Shulkin is a physician executive who has spent his career running major health systems, including Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City and Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey.  In 2015, President Obama asked him to serve as the US Department of Veterans Affairs' Undersecretary for Health, and in 2017, President Trump appointed him as Secretary of the VA. He is also Jennie's father. With about 60% of veterans suffering from chronic pain, he implemented a program called "Whole Health" in large part to address the White House agenda of reducing veterans' reliance on opioids. Three central aspects of the program are (1) a team-based approach to care, (2) peer support (largely through coaching), and (3) self-care (i.e., giving veterans the tools to take control of their own chronic condition rather than passively depending on a medical provider to fix them). The results of this program for chronic pain patients have been extraordinary and are the genesis for Override’s unique approach to pain management.