Meet ELIZABETH SEARCY | Co-Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with ELIZABETH SEARCY and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi ELIZABETH, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
More than 15 years ago, co-founder, Cindy Trice, was treated for advanced cervical cancer. During her treatment in the hospital, she was given a pair of pajamas. Suddenly, she felt “normal” vs that of a patient; however, the pajamas lacked adequate access for medical care (i.e., having to twist and turn her pajamas for nurses and doctors to put in her PICCs and ports). From this experience, she promised herself to develop a pair of “pajamas” that were pretty, comfortable, and functional to avoid the terrible experience she had on top of the experience she was having with this horrific disease. She told herself “no woman should have to go through what I just went through.”

Fast forward to 2019. Cindy and her childhood best friend (me) serendipitously meet two other women with design and manufacturing experience to create our first products designed for women going through treatment for cancer – a hospital gown and pajamas, socks, and scarf. KickIt (www.kickitpajamas.com) launched in December 2020 with the mission of stylishly dressing women for battle with clothing that is fiercely stylish, insanely comfortable, and extremely functional.

So, how does our business help the community? First, we define our community as women going through treatment for cancer. Next, the universal hospital gown has not been reinvented in more than 100 years! That is 100 years of women (and men) suffering through the negative psychological impact of wearing a hospital gown. What do we mean by psychological impact? There is evidence that when patients wear their own clothing, not the hospital gown, it improves their mental wellbeing, eliminating the stigma of being a patient. Checkout the supporting research here – https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bjhp.12416. What you wear during treatment matters. Look good, feel better turns out to be a true adage.

There’s more. It’s known that doctors want to release patients from hospitals and treatments centers as quickly as possible to avoid the risk of infection. That’s good. However, there is little to no support or direction on what women can wear during their recovery to maximize comfort and have functionality to hold drains and other necessary medical devices, relegating women to hold drains with safety pins to their bras and many more primitive solutions. This is where we come in.

We’ve launched products that women can wear in and outside the home during recovery, e.g., capes, cardigans, and our ambition is to create an entire collection so women have something to wear from hospitalization to the end of recovery to make them feel “normal” – something we’ve heard from cancer patients over and over again…we are almost there.

Finally, we are giving back to our community to help kick cancer off the planet. Every year, we donate money to cancer-related organizations and provide free products to organizations. Organizations we have supported include Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Colorectal Cancer Society, Cervivor – to name a few.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Here’s the official short paragraph that describes our business.

About KickIt

Inspired by the co-founders’ experience with cancer, KickIt Pajamas launched in December 2020 with a mission to stylishly dress women for their battle with cancer and other diseases. Their clothing ranges from hospital to end-of-recovery wear and includes accessories, such as socks and scarves. Their clothing is designed to be fiercely stylish, insanely comfortable, and extremely functional, empowering women to maintain a sense of normalcy and confidence throughout their entire recovery journey. KickIt will be the first company to provide a full line of clothing needed for a woman’s treatment journey, Their products are bought by patients or friends/family, filling the gap of “what do I buy, or do, for someone who has just been diagnosed with cancer?” Their products can be bought on Etsy, Amazon, and their website. They aim to help kick cancer off the planet by donating a portion of proceeds to support access to care for women.

What sets us apart from the others is the style, comfort, and quality of our products. Consistently, we receive feedback from customers about the softness of our products and what a difference our product has made during their treatment journey. You can check out our reviews on our Etsy and Amazon stores.

We got where we are today through radical collaboration, transparent communication, mutual trust, and openness. There is never nothing that ever goes unsaid and we respect one another’s opinions. Further, we have a complementary skills – manufacturing and operations, design, business, and innovation.

There are definitely challenges, e.g., how do we get the gift giver’s and patient’s attention to know there are better clothing and gift options out there for women experiencing cancer. For example, what do you give a friend who has just told you that she has cancer? However, we are constantly evaluating and tweaking our messaging, advertising channels, and more to make sure customers know we exist.

The lesson we’ve learned along the way is that we won’t get it perfect every time; that it is okay to try something and fail. It doesn’t mean we are failures, it just means that what we tried didn’t quite hit the mark.

I want the world to know that it is time for disruption in what women wear in the hospital and during their cancer recovery journey. For too long, women have withstood the indignity of hospital gowns and safety pins to hold drains post-mastectomy. Further, it is time for the medical community to direct women to resources that maximize comfort during their recovery. We need to think more holistically about a women’s treatment journey, which includes what they wear. There are options for what women and we happen to have what they need (stated humbly). 🙂

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If a friend came in town, here’s what we would do:

Friday night dinner: The Optimist
Saturday morning: Walk Chastain Park and grab breakfast at The Chastain
Saturday afternoon: Go to a Braves games if they are playing, or go to Scott’s Antique Market if their visit hits the right weekend, or go boutique hopping.
Saturday evening: Go to Westside Motor Lounge to eat, drink, and play games in their big courtyard.
Sunday am: Hike the Palisade Trails
Sunday lunch: Send off lunch at Souper Jenny

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to dedicate this shoutout to Cindy and Anna – two of the four of KickIt founders. Cindy who took her experience with advanced cervical cancer and turned her lemons and lemonade, and Anna, a loving, dedicated daughter who took care of her parents who died six months apart from cancer.

Website: https://www.kickitpajamas.com

Instagram: kickitpajamas

Linkedin: KickIt Pajamas

Facebook: KIckIt Pajamas

Youtube: KickItPajamas

Image Credits
Jimmy White, Robin Henson