From Brain Surgery to Breakthrough: How Kenny Perkins Built the First E-Bike Helmet for Kids

“You have to be a certain kind of crazy to be a founder, especially in physical products.” Most people want to build something. Kenny Perkins actually did. After nearly dying in a car accident his senior year, Kenny clawed his way into the design world; starting at Fossil, shifting to helmets, and eventually co-founding Osmo, the first kids’ helmet to meet the e-bike safety standard. In this episode of Why Design, Kenny shares the journey from rebuilding a Mustang with his dad at 15 to building Impact Lab, a startup studio funding its own consumer brand, Osmo, by designing life-saving protection for others. Don’t just listen. Go beyond the podcast. Join the Why Design community → teamkodu.com/events What You’ll Learn 👇 💥 How a near-death experience reshaped his entire outlook on work 🚲 The overlooked safety gap for kids in the e-bike revolution 🛠️ Why physical product founders need grit, guts, and patience 📐 How Osmo designed with parents and kids, not just for them 📈 The smart way Kenny self-funded a startup without outside capital  Memorable Quotes 💬 “I saw a dad wearing a helmet I designed… and two kids wearing ones I also designed but not for e-bikes. That stuck with me.” 💬 “We didn’t just design for families. We designed with them.” 💬 “This changed my relationship with work entirely.” Resources & Links 🌍 Connect with Kenny Perkins on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennethjperkinsdesign/ 🛡️ Explore Osmo Helmets: https://www.ozmohelmets.com/ 🏢 Learn more about impctLAB https://www.impctlab.com/  🎥 Watch full episodes on YouTube → http://www.youtube.com/@whydesignpod 📸 Follow on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/whydesignxkodu/ 🎵 TikTok → @_whydesign 👥 Join the Why Design community → teamkodu.com/events 🔗 Follow Chris Whyte on LinkedIn → https://linkedin.com/in/mrchriswhyte 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube & Amazon → www.whydesign.club  👉 Keep the conversation going. Join the Why Design community → teamkodu.com/events 📲 Subscribe on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube so you never miss an episode.  👥 If this resonated, share it with a friend or colleague navigating their own founder or design journey. About Kodu Why Design is produced by Kodu, a recruitment partner to ambitious hardware brands, design consultancies, and product start-ups. We help founders and teams hire top talent across industrial design, mechanical engineering, and product leadership. 🔗 Learn more → teamkodu.com