Company serves market well

Bright colors give women fighting cancer a boost

By Tim Engstrom - Fort Myers News Press - May 6, 2008

Faced with battling breast cancer and enduring chemotherapy, Kelly Henderson needed a little help to keep a smile on her face to reassure her two young sons.

Henderson, of Fort Myers, found one reason to smile in the bright, color-coordinated bandannas her aunt created to replace the hot, itchy wig she had bought when her hair started to fall out.

"I think women are going to try to coordinate their clothing, with or without hair," Henderson said. "It made me feel better. My nurses said, 'You just sparkle when you come in.' I just thought, 'I have to do this for other women.'"

In March, Henderson launched iwearitwell.com, with her aunt, Peggy Hoban of Orlando, and her best friend, Sylvia Kelly of Fort Myers.

The company sells color-coordinated shirts, earrings and bandannas by phone and over the Internet. Shirts sell for $25 to $28 and ensembles sell for about $50. The colors include lavender, iris and raspberry.

"I want women to know that you can dress bright and cheerful and you can draw attention to yourself even when you have cancer," Henderson said.

Henderson's oncologist, Dr. William Harwin, said he likes the idea.

"I think it is a great idea and we have been very supportive of it," Harwin said. "No woman really likes to wear a wig, especially in Florida in the summer, but when she was diagnosed, all I could offer her were places where she could buy a wig."

Henderson was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2006, had a lumpectomy and began seven weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. "Going through that process was earth-shattering," she said. "It's just so overwhelming, but I had to keep going."

She was committed to staying upbeat for her family, including her husband, Craig Pisaris-Henderson, and sons, Chase, now 9, and Chance, now 4. "I didn't want them seeing me lying around being sick," she said.

She said her family and her business partners were her biggest supporters. The company's Internet marketing got some help from Henderson's husband, the founder of FindWhat.com and the former chief executive of its successor, MIVA. "He says he just tweaked a few things, but I know he has done a lot," Henderson said.

The company has filled more than 100 orders in just two months, including some from Europe.

The marketing efforts got a boost recently when Chico's FAS, the Fort Myers-based clothing chain, put a link to iwearitwell.com from the White House/Black Market Web site.

Henderson said she is committed to returning a portion of the company's online sales to cancer research efforts. Even though she is now cancer-free, Henderson must have tests every six months to make sure she stays that way.

"I'll go every month if I have to, just as long as they keep telling me I am free and clear," Henderson said.

Please visit www.iwearitwell.com for more information.