Beyond Pinktober
Picture it. Two years ago. A ‘Sisters in Psychedelics’ virtual book club reading a really light book, Trauma is Medicine, by Sarah Salter Kelly. Me. Propped up with pillows, wrapped in a fluffy pink dressing gown. Mid-divorce. Half dead, but dedicated. I was working full time in the mental health & psychedelic space – an absolute dream job for me – deep diving into start-up culture, trauma and healing. All the healing.
The book I had purchased directly from the author out of the back of her truck the year prior, which was sitting in a wet boggy canola field near Camrose, next to a large white ceremonial tent. There were no bras to mention at that event. The highlight of this bookclub, however, was a co-host – Marissa Galvin Kosolofski. With bright pink lips and overall stunning genetics, she commanded the Zoom call like an Fortune 500 exec, except completely trauma-informed and with total smash the patriarchy vibes.
I was mesmerized. A girl crush, for sure.
She was even better in person when I met her in real life lying on the floor of a yurt during my second psychedelic journey. A bond was truly formed, a WhatsApp channel created, and the rest as they say, was history. I remember telling her post-journey in our shared bunk that I also had a bra business side hustle, but looking at her micro-bralette we concluded there was not a lot I could offer her beautiful perky darlings.
Until another year later when we were both officially laid off of our psychedelic start-ups, and car trouble near Calgary pushed me to call on her for a lift and afternoon together, where she told me about this small tight hardening high up in her chest. A full work up of biopsies and ultrasounds were underway. The worry was there, in the corners of her eyes, in her tone and intonation, as we caught up and broke bread.
She quickly became a statistic representing the one in eight women in Canada who get diagnosed with breast cancer. Shocking and cruel news for a young fearless mom of two, my very own sister in psychedelics. And so it was. More cruel, aggressive and gruelling than I thought possible. Nine hours in the OR, reconstruction, drains, chemo, cooling caps, radiation, burns, physio, therapy, lymphedema, medically induced menopause – in less than a year.
Marissa and I joke now that the universe put us together so I could be her personal concierge breast cancer Bra Coach, and also so we could have our moment on the internet talking about medicine and boobs to anyone who would listen during this past October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It was also not a coincidence that I picked up this amazing line of medical compression bras by Prairie Wear, an ethical female led Canadian company, the year prior in my studio, and was in the midst of learning all things breast surgery, compression and lymphedema at that time.
Dark humour aside, Marissa shared with us her story and leaned in on how to support women during Breast Cancer (not with a casserole!). I supported her and she is supporting me. The magic of it all is not lost on us.
We are not done talking about ourselves either and have several other ideas up our sleeves to expand our co-collaboration beyond the month of Pinktober and the desire to sell bras (although we love talking about Prairie Wear, and if you have a friend going through breast cancer – send a Hugger Prima and SkiptheDishes card before you send flowers!). Our passion for women and healing got us here in the first place.
Fittings for medical compression bras can be done in the Bra Coach studio, in your home or at the bedside, always in collaboration with your medical team. For more information on the Prairie Wear offering click here or view or Instagram lives here.