Women supporting Women
08 June 21Women supporting women is definitely a theme running through everything we are doing at Skarlette. It's exciting and empowering to be meeting and working with so many wonderful women and charities, be they individuals or organisations. Here are some really inspirational words from Codilia Gapare - Founder of the C-lash...
Codilia is a fellow Boobee for the charity Prevent Breast Cancer and we are looking forward to a collaboration to help women find the support, information and products they need much more easily. This is women supporting women! 
Now menopause is something suffered by many women the world over, and finally the conversations have started to happen about how we can deal with the symptoms of this; documentaries have been aired, books have been written and social media groups now exist so women supporting women is evident here. I had a chat with Emma Guy on her Facebook group "Menogodmum" about my journey - Emma is a fellow breast cancer survivor and Prevent Breast Cancer Ambassador and also the author of the book "The Wisdoms of the Menopausal Godmother".
Sadly, cancer of many varieties is something suffered by too many people the world over, full stop. Although breast cancer is the most common cancer in females, there are many other types of cancer that the charity Look Good Feel Better help to support women through - I myself was lucky enough to benefit from the invaluable support they offer when I was going through my treatment. Another fine example of women supporting women was a really exciting conversation we've had with LGFB - they can help the women they reach by offering information and support to help boost body confidence by including Skarlette® in their work.
Women need to be supported and informed when making choices about breast cancer surgery. Their surgeon may talk to them about reconstruction, their breast care nurse may talk to them about wearing prosthetics, and their specialist bra fitter will be that person to ensure they receive the right prosthetics for their post-surgical lingerie and their individual shape. But who's talking to women about the option of remaining flat? We want this option added into the conversation. It was lovely meeting with Monica Harrington for that very reason. Monica has been fitting lingerie for women after surgery for many years and is a specialist in this field.
We sent Monica our Skarlettes for her expert opinion - another fine example of women supporting women, and we're very grateful for her review and interest in our brand. Our lingerie for women living flat after breast cancer is the first of its kind that she has seen and it's wonderful that she intends to inform those women that need it, about our lingerie.
The photographs you see on the website have been taken by a friend I met when I worked in the research nursing job where I also met Kate. Yes, a medical photographer, not lingerie photographer! But hasn't she done an amazing job? Sarah Devaney has a busy life, a pressured job and has her own health to look after, but she has devoted many an hour as a friend to provide us with the professional images we have of Skarlette, and soon we'll have so much more. All these women supporting women should make us very proud of the people we are.
Going right back to the start though, had Kate not supported me in my quest to design lingerie specifically for women having undergone a double mastectomy who don't have reconstruction or wear prosthetics, then the Skarlette would never have been a thing. Without a second thought, Kate jumped on board having had no experience of designing or making lingerie, and she produced the most beautiful Skarlette, we just had to take this further to support more women.
Not forgetting two women who enabled our dream right from the start. Margo Cornish, a champion charity fundraiser who sits on the Board for Maggie's, volunteers for the Make A Wish charity and is a Patron for the Prevent Breast Cancer charity, to name but a few. I had the pleasure of meeting Margo as a member of the Boobee campaign. Margo became a friend and supported 2 women trying to find their way in the world of business and this led to many other women who did just the same to help us on our way.
It was through the Boobee campaign, launched by Margo with Prevent Breast Cancer, that I met Michelle Eagleton. Michelle has been a broadcast journalist for nearly 20 years, working in TV and radio and she has interviewed a number of high-profile celebrities including Sir David Attenborough, Cher, Gary Barlow and Cate Blanchett. How lucky is she that she now gets to interview Kate and I! Now seriously, aside from facilitating some media interviews to help women find out about Skarlette, Michelle also lectures in PR & Journalism at the University of Salford and her class of Masters students based their work on the launch of our new business - priceless support for us. Social media marketing content is an insatiable beast! Her latest show "Live in the Hive" has invited us to chat about where it all began, we're flattered.
Last, but definitely not least, the team at Prevent Breast Cancer, led by Nikki Baraclough, Executive Director of PBC, have supported us and communicated with the wider team of the Nightingale Centre, as to why we exist and what we are all about. If we can share the work of the charity, empower and educate the next generation about breast health, and donate a proportion of our profits to help their cause, we will be very happy.
Of course we have many men, including our families, who have supported us all the way. The women mentioned here have all played their part in bringing Skarlette the success of today, and we just want to say Thank You for supporting us!
Follow us at