Our Story

They say, “See the problem. Find the solution.” That is exactly how Comfort Beanie Chemo Hats was born.

Jami Sullins, the creator of Comfort Beanie Chemo Hats, received the call that nobody wants to receive on March 19, 2024. That call was from her primary care doctor, and she was calling with the results of the biopsy that had been performed the week before. The biopsy had been preceded with Jami feeling a lump in her left breast, which then led to a diagnostic mammogram and an immediate ultrasound. It had all happened very fast and there was definitely a sense of urgency with all the testing, so Jami wasn’t surprised when she heard the words, “Jami, you have breast cancer.”

The days and weeks immediately after that call were a whirlwind of choosing doctors, more testing, and working with doctors for a treatment plan to kill the cancer.

Triple Negative Invasive Ductile Carcinoma. Let’s break it down.
Carcinoma=another fancy word for Cancer
Ductile=the cancer had started forming in the milk ducts of the breast
Invasive=the cancer had burst beyond the walls of the milk ducts and were beginning to spread throughout the breast
Triple Negative=there are three main hormones that feed breast cancer growth. When the marker types were tested they were all negative. This makes it difficult for treatment because since the doctors don’t know what is feeding the cancer, it is guess as to what will kill it. Therefore, they usually throw everything in their arsenal to kill it.

It was decided that Jami would receive two different chemotherapy regimens which would mean 16 different chemotherapy treatments. Not all chemos will cause hair to fall out, but with the drugs that were recommended, it was inevitable for her.
Jami received chemotherapy treatments over the span of April to October 2024. During that time, she experienced some of the well known side effects: nausea, constipation, diarrhea, skin dryness, mouth sores, extreme exhaustion, and complete hair loss. Notice that word “complete.” Not just the hair on her head, but also eyebrows, eyelashes, and the silver lining was loss of leg hair.

Prior to treatment, Jami was known to be quite the fashionista! Not in the Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive style, but in a quirky, fun, sassy, and often sparkly style. Jami’s signature style was a collection of bright and bold colors mixed with leopard print, racing checks, and other vibrant prints. She was anything but basic or plain.

As Jami’s hair fell out, she began looking for headwear options, and tried them all. Ball caps would hurt. That little metal button on the top would sit on the tender scalp and cause irritation. At one point, she even tried to remedy that problem by taping a cotton ball to the inside of the cap, but that caused the hat to bump up and fit awkwardly. Scarves were fun, but often slipped around and were not a good option for all-day wear. Wigs were a whole new list of issues; they were hot, itchy, uncomfortable, and overall, just not “her.” The only thing left to try were beanies.

After ordering several different styles from online vendors on Etsy and Amazon, Jami discovered that not one single beanie was perfect.
She found a few animal print beanies, but they weren’t the cute prints. More than a fun pop of a vibrant print, they screamed “the little old lady that only wears animal prints.” Jami struggled to find prints that would vibe with her style.
Many of the beanies ordered had exposed seams on the inside of the headwrap. While this would not be an issue for someone with hair on their scalp, a scalp that has lost hair due to chemo treatment is very sensitive and gets irritated easily. That is exactly what happened when she would wear these beanies with exposed seams. They would usually end up pulled off and tossed in her purse after wearing it for just a few hours. The search continued.
Jami thought she had finally found the answer with a beanie she found on Etsy. It was an adorable Rosie the Riveter red and white polka dot beanie that appeared to be extremely well made and hand-sewn with care. But it still wasn’t perfect. The beanie had elastic in the back which helped the beanie to stay on, but also caused irritation at the back of the head. So she kept looking.
All she found was cheap fabrics, more exposed seams, and ugly patterns on these Chemo Hats. She then decided that she would have to create something herself.

Sewing was not something new to Jami. In fact, her first job outside of babysitting was working at Hancock Fabrics. With a grandmother and mom that both sewed, she had been taught, at a young age, the basics of a sewing machine. She began full sewing projects in middle school, and her skills grew throughout high school while working at the fabric store.
When her kids were young, Jami would create their Halloween costumes every year, refusing to buy the cheap ones at the store. Then Jami continued to sew and create from time to time so that she could sell items to raise money for mission trips to Haiti, Honduras, and Israel.
Step number one was finding the perfect fabrics. Jami was insistent that they needed to be soft, have good stretch, and overall be cute prints and vibrant wearable colors for the Chemo Hats.
The next challenge was finding a pattern and fit. After many different YouTube tutorials trying several different styles, measurements, and creations, Jami finally took the best parts of several patterns and created what she found to be the most comfortable and fashionable beanie style. She had finally created what she had hoped to have found in her search; a beanie that was stylish and comfortable!

Being a bit obsessive and hyper-focused, Jami began sewing more beanies than any one person could wear. She had a full collection of those vibrant colors and fun prints that she had always included in her wardrobe. And as she wore them, other people started asking her where she got them. As she explained that she struggled to find what she wanted to wear and she had finally taken the problem head on with her own creation, they asked if she would sew some for them.

Being a believer in the goodness of God, Jami wasn’t sure if He was placing a business in front of her or perhaps a non-profit or charity. She continued to talk to God about it and pray for clarity. Then one day, it became clear; this could be both! And the dream of Comfort Beanie Chemo Hats was born. Comfort Beanie Chemo Hats would be both a retail provider where these beanies would be sold, but also a charity where beanies would be donated to cancer clinics to provide comfort and style to others battling this awful disease.