Giveback

Comfort Beanie is not just an awesome company that sells beanies, they also Give Back to cancer clinics and hospitals around the US. Here is a bit of the backstory as to how that came about:

Jami designed Comfort Beanie out of necessity. As she was going through chemo treatments for her Triple Negative Invasive Ductile Carcinoma (aka: breast cancer), she lost all of her hair from the medications. As she navigated how to remain herself during this tumultuous time, one of her main struggles was with fashion. There were many new things to deal with in the realm of function and fashion.

Before diagnosis, Jami rocked a purple mohawk or pompadour hairstyle. It became her signature and everyone knew her by that statement hair. Within three weeks of starting treatment, Jami lost all of that awesome hair and it was replaced with a shiny round bald head. It was then that she started looking for some fun and fashionable accessories to adorn that head.

She first started with ball caps, but they were uncomfortable to say the least. That little metal knob at the top of the cap would rub her sensitive head and cause headaches. Also, the hats just didn’t look the same as they did before. It was difficult to find one that actually fit and looked cute with no hair coming out of the bottom of the cap. It just wasn’t working.

Next, Jami tried scarves. They worked…kind of. There were a few adorable looks using scarves that Jami found. However, when scarves are tied on a bald head, they tend to slip around. Since Jami didn’t have any hair, she couldn’t use hair pins or bobby pins to secure them like she was used to.

Wigs were another option that Jami tried, but for a whole new list of reasons, wigs were not an everyday answer. First of all, decent wigs are extremely expensive, and when you are already dealing with increased medical expenses, buying an expensive wig is just not a great option. Wigs are also rather uncomfortable; itchy, hot, irritating, and difficult to properly fit. For these reasons, Jami only chose to wear wigs on rare occasions.

After all these options were tried, the last resort were beanies. But “beanies” is a huge category with several options. At first, Jami ordered a few off Amazon and was also given some Amazon beanies. While overall, they were the best option yet, they still weren’t quite perfect. These beanies were cheaply made. The seams were exposed which would cause irritation against a tender and bald scalp. The fabrics were very cheap as well. Many of the fabrics were super thin and just not soft at all. Then when the beanies were washed, they started to pill with little fuzzy balls of fabric rising to the surface causing further irritation. The third issue with these beanies was that it was difficult to find cute patterns and good colors. Remember-fashion and style are important to Jami.

After all the Amazon beanies were tried and didn’t quite fit the bill, Jami looked at Etsy. There were not many options there, but she did find a cute one in a red and white polka-dot pattern that would be perfect for her style. She happily paid the price which was a bit more than the Amazon ones, but she knew it was hand-made here in America and was happy to pay it for a good quality product. When it arrived, and she wore it, she found that it wasn’t just right either. It had elastic at the back which became very bothersome to that still tender head. She wondered if she would ever find just the right beanie.

At that point, Jami decided to fix this problem herself and started doing a bit of research. This is what she knew she wanted:

A comfortable hat or beanie
Soft, good quality fabrics
Cute fabric patterns
Fun vibrant colors
Hidden or pocketed seams to reduce irritation
Natural fabric stretch instead of using elastic

After a few trips to fabric stores, and several hours watching different YouTube DIY videos, Jami went to work designing what she viewed as the perfect beanie for a sensitive bald head. It took many failed attempts, but she finally pieced together different parts from several different designs, creating the perfect comfortable fit! And that is when she became hyperfocused on the project, and next thing she knew, she had an entire drawer full of these cute and comfortable beanies!

As she wore the Chemo Hats to the clinic, and just around town, many people started asking where she got them. As she would explain that she could never find a beanie she liked so she created her own, they were disappointed. They wanted the same thing she wanted: a beanie that was soft, comfortable and cute. They would then ask if she would be willing to make Chemo Hats and sell them. At first, being deep in the throws of chemo herself, Jami declined. However, when she started feeling better, her entrepreneurial spirit was sparked.

Knowing that God had given her a great answer to her own problem, she then began to wonder what the future should be for these cute and comfortable beanies. Was it a business where she would sell the beanies? Or perhaps a non-profit that would donate them to clinics and other cancer patients. After much prayer and consideration, Jami woke up one day and felt she had a clear answer; it could be BOTH! And that is when Comfort Beanie Chemo Hats started on the path that we see today.

Comfort Beanies Chemo Hats can be purchased on this website and at several different hospitals and retail establishments. But when you purchase a Comfort Beanie Chemo Hats, you are also helping to sponsor a gift of a beanie to a cancer patient dealing with hair loss. Just like a popular shoe company that has a slogan of “Buy One, Give One”, Comfort Beanie Chemo Hats is doing business on the same model of using the profit from the sales of the beanies to fund a Give Back of beanies to cancer clinics so that many others have the comfort of our beanies.