The Women’s Business Center is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The Women’s Business Center is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

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Client Success Story: ACE Orthopedic Services, LLC

Client Success Story: ACE Orthopedic Services, LLC

Founder: Angela Evans Hudgens, CO, CPED
Certified Orthotist, Certified Pedorthist
www.AceOrtho.net

About ACE Orthopedic Services

ACE Orthopedic Services, LLC is a mobile orthopedic bracing provider offering evaluations, measurements, and casting for custom or pre-fabricated braces and pedorthic solutions. Angela’s most in-demand products include back braces (TLSOs and LSOs) and knee braces, especially for worker’s compensation patients. She also offers custom orthotics, as well as diabetic and custom shoes.

Angela built her business around two promises: exceptional personal care and more affordable pricing than most competitors. With over 30 years of clinical experience serving trauma, surgical, injury, and developmental delay patients, she brings deep expertise—and a genuinely compassionate presence—to every client she serves.

A Commitment to Care

While ACE primarily serves adults, Angela lights up when she talks about working with pediatric patients. She loves fitting gait-training braces that provide support, stability, and confidence—often resulting in immediate, joyful progress. Each child she helps reaffirms why she chose this path.

A Business Born from Profound Loss and Courage

Angela launched her business in February 2023 after enduring great personal hardship. She lost her oldest son, Anthony Louis Christopher Evans, to senseless gun violence while he was at work. He was 38 years old and the father of her two cherished grandchildren, Ariah Christina Evans and Alexander Carrington Evans.

To honor him, she named her business ACE Orthopedic Services—a tribute woven into the very foundation of her work.

Around the same time, Angela also lost her position as an orthotist and pedorthist due to pandemic-related cuts. As the last practitioner hired, she was the first let go. In a field with very few African American women, she faced both personal grief and professional uncertainty.

But she refused to give up.
Instead, she rebuilt.

She launched her own business with determination, faith, and a vision to be a positive example in her community.

A Career Rooted in Purpose

Helping people has always been Angela’s calling. With decades of clinical experience across a wide range of patient needs, her favorite part of the work remains the same: being able to help someone move better, feel better, and live with greater confidence.

Her long-term goal is to grow ACE Orthopedic Services into a thriving business—one that can carry her into retirement and someday become a family legacy.

Partnering with MCE & the Women’s Business Center

Angela speaks passionately about the impact of MCE and the Women’s Business Center on her entrepreneurial journey. She shares openly that business ownership, while rewarding, is far more challenging than working for someone else. It requires:

  • Dedication
  • Patience
  • Resilience
  • Financial resources
  • Faith
  • A strong support system

Through her work with MCE and the WBC, Angela gained knowledge, confidence, and the practical tools needed to build a sustainable business. As a solopreneur, she wears every hat—from operations to marketing to financial planning—and continues to develop new skills and strategies to grow her company.

“The journey has been rewarding,” she says. “I’ve learned to stretch!”

A Recent Win: Pitch Competition Success

Angela recently earned 3rd place in a Pitch Competition sponsored by Adriene Somerville, MCE, and the Women’s Business Center. Her winnings helped her purchase essential equipment and marketing materials—investments that will support her next stage of growth.

She credits these organizations with teaching her concrete, relevant business practices and providing resources that every startup needs.

Words of Wisdom for Future Entrepreneurs

Angela’s advice for anyone thinking about entrepreneurship is simple and powerful:

“Don’t give up. It’s never too late to pursue your dreams.”

Her faith is the anchor that keeps her moving forward:

“I am a woman of faith—and with God, all things are possible. DREAM BIG!”

Connect with ACE Orthopedic Services

To learn more or contact Angela, please visit:
www.AceOrtho.net