Headache Hero began with a bright young Masters student Dr. Mark Connelly and his mentor and fellow inventor, Dr. Michael Rapoff in 2002. The goal was to develop a program to help children manage their headaches. After identifiying training methods and techniques, they received a $50,000 grant from Astra Zeneca and subsequently received another $500,000 from the National Institute of Health to develop and test this program.

The pilot studies were launched and results were compelling. Headahce Hero, a complement to a physicians care program, was 2.5 times more effective than standard medical care alone.

In 2006, Headache Hero was identified by Dennis Depenbusch who began seeking partners to market the product and found his first with the Lawrence Regional Technology Center, an affiliate of KTEC and the University of Kansas.

Along the way, LRTC enlisted the expert guidance of Michael Johnson, partner at Ingenium-Partners, a marketing consultant to the medical industry. The serendipitous nature of the developing business concept continued as Dr. Rapoff was introduced to Mr. Lirel Holt, CEO of U. Inc., an e-learning company and the current President of the Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program.