This week we're speaking to Sam Jackman, the co-founder of We Wear Boost.
We Wear Boost are breaking the taboo of losing a breast to cancer, promoting female empowerment with an affordable and colourful external prosthesis. They are disrupting a product category which has been dominated by the heavy, flesh coloured, 'chicken cutlet' for decades.
Creating a brighter, more accessible, and inclusive solution and revolutionising this delicate space to empower women and help them feel beautiful. No. More. Beige.
We'll be discussing everything from Sam's personal story/background behind the business, working three jobs, funding raising (over £100k!!), patents and what's next for the company.
This is our first remotely recorded podcast so be kind with the audio quality reviews (turns out Cornwall Wi-Fi is not the best), we'll get there!
As always, keep in touch and up to date with GLORIAH progress:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hellogloriah/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/hellogloriah
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/hellogloriah
Youtube - https://youtu.be/fG3bKTuWXCI
This week we're speaking to Sam Jackman, the co-founder of We Wear Boost.
We Wear Boost are breaking the taboo of losing a breast to cancer, promoting female empowerment with an affordable and colourful external prosthesis. They are disrupting a product category which has been dominated by the heavy, flesh coloured, 'chicken cutlet' for decades.
Creating a brighter, more accessible, and inclusive solution and revolutionising this delicate space to empower women and help them feel beautiful. No. More. Beige.
We'll be discussing everything from Sam's personal story/background behind the business, working three jobs, funding raising (over £100k!!), patents and what's next for the company.
This is our first remotely recorded podcast so be kind with the audio quality reviews (turns out Cornwall Wi-Fi is not the best), we'll get there!
As always, keep in touch and up to date with GLORIAH progress:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hellogloriah/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/hellogloriah
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/hellogloriah
Youtube - https://youtu.be/fG3bKTuWXCI
Jessica 0:10
Hi, welcome to episode three to Jessica here flying solo aim I just wanted to do a little bit of an intro. This week we are speaking to Sam Jackman. Sam founded or co founded, we were Boost, which is our Cornwell based innovation. Totally disrupting and redesigning the breast prosthesis market. Sam just secured over 100,000 permanent funding so it's so exciting such a great time to speak to her. There really tear that up the industry at the moment in tartan, flesh colored chicken fellas and specifically designed dynamic implants for women, non binary, anybody who, who kind of needs them or wants them to wear under the clothing, haven't undergone bear surgery, but still looking to feel really confident and sexy. So we were talking all things fundraising. So I'm working two jobs trying to get away with repeating as well as Sam's personal a an intimate story of a business. So we're super excited. We hope you love it. And as always, please give us a little like, and five stars and subscribe as you can.
Jessica Speaker 1:20
Okay, so welcome to video six tips. I guess we should like start with you. Maybe just introducing yourself what you do. Just a bit.
Sam Speaker 1:28
Yeah. Okay. I'm Pham Jackman. I'm the co founder. And director sometimes people say I'm the CEO of boost innovations. I don't tend to say CEO because I find it like a bit weird. But I run. I run based innovations limited. And we are a company based in Cornwall, and we make boobs mostly for women who've had breast cancer or for people who want to create shape and contour under their clothing.
Isla Speaker 1:58
Amazing. How did you first get set in the first place what brought you to start making boobs.
Sam Speaker 2:06
And so these, this is a standard kind of breast prosthesis that you might get if you've had breast cancer surgery. So 17 years ago, my mom had breast cancer treatment, and she had one of her breasts removed. And she's quite larger breasts, it so she was left with one. And she had the other one taken off as part of her breast cancer treatment. And she was given one of these processes, which is they really, they're getting their own way they do a job. But actually she was as she was getting better. And she regained her health and everything was going really well with her recovery. She was sort of running around after my son who was a toddler and she was like just going all over the place. And she found that these were just really hot and heavy and sweaty. And then she moved around. And it kind of would flop away from her her body. Even if it was in a pocket of bra, it can be floppy, and it just be really heavy. And then she gets a bit all sweaty underneath. And I'll take she's just one she just was like, I'm not gonna wear that anymore. That's just ridiculous. So I used to go on the internet and I try and find different things for her and I ordered loads of different things for her to see if we can find something that works better. And then amazing will come and they will pretty much the same or they will kind of look very similar. They might be slightly lighter. Or, you know, or like a teddy bear fluffy would, but that's too nice. And then it would end up like over here on her shoulder and she blows up. My peeps me. Um, so it was like, it's kind of like nothing in between there was nothing in between of what she really wanted. And then one day she said to me, why does it even have to look like that anyway? And that was the key thing that got me thinking because before is that our she's just moaning about it. It's all great. And she just moaning. But actually the day she said, why does it even have to look like that? I don't, I'm not trying to replace the flesh that I've lost. I just want something to stop my clothes twiddling about and I just want something to give me shape under my face because my clothes don't fit properly. Yes, she's right. And she was right. And she said, you know that nobody is beige, you know, know, everybody's skin tone vary so much and so differently. Like, why? Why did they bother to do it like that, but I didn't really understand why they did it like that. And I started to think about it. And then I went to work one day, and I bumped into a colleague of mine at the time, and we were talking about it and I said, you know, you know, have you ever thought about this thing? And she's like, No, and then we just started thinking about it. And in the end, we founded booths together and started to explore it and we came up with a different design solution. And we now make breast forms here in Cornwall, and they look like this. So it's open struck to light this area, we do not do them in anything remotely skin colored, because we just don't think it has to be, we just don't, you're not replacing the BB loss, you're just putting something in your browser to give you a bit of shape and do clothing. It's not heavy, it's, it's usually between 50 and 75% Lighter than one of these in the equivalent size. It's airy, it's you can wash them really easily, you could wear them in the swimming pool. And what we really like about it is that you could, you can just match it to your to your underwear, it matches your mood, or it's not necessarily medical, we want this to be something that people choose to wear. And don't get reminded all the time of some, you know, shitty cancer journey that they had to get. Yeah, you know, it's really difficult. Cancer is the most disempowering thing, particularly that you can go through like any cancer treatments really hard and lots of stuff is done to you. And we just wanted to find a way that we could give choice and self expression and a little bit of joy or positivity after breast cancer. So we can do things like this morning. And this is a glittery boob. Can you see that? Teal with glitter in it. So we can do glittery beads. And we can do colorful, and we can do we can do subtle, you know, subtle Pinky colors as well. But we want to just make something that has different connotations for the people that choose to buy this kind of product.
Jessica Speaker 6:38
Yes, just for people who are listening, maybe only on podcast, when Sam was holding up what a baby used to look like. It's basically like a horrendous, like, flashy, you can barely check and fill it. Yeah, like nobodies boobs. Like, it's not really investment to what you have. And the alternative isn't really aesthetic, beautifully designed, lightweight, kind of it'll dynamic looking mode, which even just in a practical sense, I was thinking as you were saying to do with the weight, packing it like so you're going on holiday or you're traveling with hand luggage like that fit so much more easily, discreetly emptier into your hotel and stuff.
Sam Speaker 7:11
Yeah, it doesn't show up as a liquid in the airport scanners either. So it should be more subtle. If you go through the thing for that. Yeah, we haven't we've had an invitation once to try it out. But we've never got around to it. But we were gonna have a go at doing that at some point is putting them through in different security checks and see how they come up. But sometimes these gets picked up as liquid. And the silicone gel prosthesis the stuff inside can be identified as liquid, in which case, it has been known and women have told us that they'd had to pull it out in the middle of an airport, you know, show showed the airport security? And that's obviously not. Yeah, it's not really ideal is it? But we've always I mean, one of the things without because it is, it is a pretty pattern on the outside is open structured, it's not a replication of the body part it is it is a an accessory, a shape that you would hope people would choose where they feel like they had that choice that they don't feel like it's a necessity, but they they've been choosing, they can choose what color they want. And they can choose what finish their work. And they can choose how how it looks. Then, if you are going swimming, or you're going to the gym, and you took it out to go and have your shower, and it was just on the side and in a public change. Nobody would really be be curious, very people wouldn't really necessarily know exactly what it was or why you might have it. And it just helps you to I think it helps to bring your confidence back a little bit or women have told us they feel more confident wearing this product because it's less medicalized. And it's not like saying, Oh, hey, I've progressed at this or everybody look at this. Yeah, it's much more subtle than that, because of the different type of product.
Sam Speaker 8:59
And I think that that's so clever, isn't it?
Jessica Speaker 9:02
Yeah. And I think that's also I guess what we see when a lot of when women have a medical dimension to a kind of sexualized or intimate area, and a man designs it, it tends to be very functional, even down to you know, like lubricants for older women QA daily, it's just like blue medically, like it's not there's nothing nice and luxurious about it. And you really address that problem. So well.
Sam Speaker 9:25
Yeah. And when we were starting out, I have to say when we were starting out, we didn't have any prototypes. And we used to find it really difficult to communicate to people the kind of paradigm shift the step change that we were proposing with our products, and we knew what we wanted in our heads. But we didn't have money. We didn't have invested. We didn't have any prototypes to go with. So we had to try and explain this to people. So we do presentations, and we'd show people things and whatever. And in the end it was so hard to explain. So I said look, we need to think about a different type of product that has had that paradigm shift has already shown that a product is personal for women can be redesigned in this kind of way that we're we are doing with the breathable. And we decided to talk about sex toys for women. Because actually that's something that people may like. So when I'm when I'm Simon particularly when they answer this brand started to redesign, so sex toys, the kitchen be beige Willie shaped things that look a bit look a bit like a wheelie, but aren't necessarily a Willie. And you know, kind of beige fleshy kind of weird way. And women don't buy exactly what I mean. But if you look at the Sunless range, and then purple, and you've got glitter, and you've got really shapely and beautiful things that if it was just sometimes if it was in your drawer, then people wouldn't necessarily know what it was for, it's just that really funky looking thing is not a fake Willy. That's not what a woman would want. So we actually did use that on occasion, not all the time, obviously. But on occasion, as an analogy for this kind of design, step change we want it to produce. And we know it's not the same thing. And it really isn't, it's very different things. Because you're wearing this product for obviously, for different reasons that you're using the product differently. But it is an intimate product for women that really need it to have its design assumptions challenged. And that's what we want it to do. And actually we did we did say, look, the only thing we could think of that also had this kind of massive shift in how design thinking has reinvented it. Is that kind of the sex toy market where actually the way it looks and and the prettiness and the design a bit in the desirability and all those things have been really carefully thought out. And yes, this is very different, quite obviously, it's very different. But actually, that helped us to explain our ambition to make that design change.
Jessica Speaker 12:05
Because you mentioned like when you when you first started, like you're in that almost like chicken and egg flip phase where you have the idea, and you want to get funding to take it forward, but you don't have the prototype to get the funding. So just be like and Jason to chat about how you managed to get because I think that's where a lot of startups get stuck in this very, very early stage where you don't have the money to get the money in a weird way.
Sam Speaker 12:28
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It's really, really hard. It's really tricky in those early days. And we utilized an accelerator program through the design capsule in London, and we were very lucky enough to get placed on that program. But you do have to apply. And you have to put yourself out there. And I think you need to be great to emphasize the ambition for your product, and the market needs. So if you know your market and you've got a solid evidence base, it's almost it's okay not to have the actual product prototype or not to have that that that quite yet. Because there might be ways that you can still secure funding. So when I'm talking to people about funding, I've learned over the years that what what really matters is your narrative, your strong narrative and de risking your narrative for your funders. So if you don't have the product prototype, you need to make sure that you're looking for those early stage accelerator programs. And there are a few, I mean, there's not massive, but there are a few and look at what the funders are after and see if what you want to do aligns with their objectives. And if you can find that kind of starting point, then then you're on to a winner. I mean, otherwise, it is really difficult. And we have done all sorts of different ways of funding it. But a lot of the time over the last couple of years. The company has just been funded by me he's there for grant funding. And this was before the product was launched. Or just working my ass off in other job sites enough money to put some money in a cage. So the ideal thing and yeah, I think that's mostly mostly how you you kind of have to do it at times. I mean, we did have it federated to begin with sort of the initial ideas but that didn't get anywhere near the route to market that we needed to achieve it just pushed this a little bit so yeah, it is really hard work.
Jessica Speaker 14:33
You got it you got it. You always want to want to want it enough, don't you and like believe in the fact that what you're doing is like going to change something for the women that are out there like the target that you're trying to meet.
Isla Speaker 14:45
Yes, because I think push also have the passion with your mom and stuff that's really you can see like the passion that comes comes through and you within that and and I remember when we were chatting earlier in the week, you said that you've literally been working like three jobs at some point just to keep it going which was me Isn't
Sam Speaker 15:02
that a lot of bands, particularly when I was I was working, I had the salary job for three days a week, and I was doing freelance stuff on top of it. And then I was running booths as well, preparing to get that investment. We didn't, we didn't really get capital investment, we secured our investment deal in January 2022. And just bear in mind that we registered our company in April 2018. So it's taking a long time to get capital to get the company to a level where investors could invest, but also to secure all those expenses to secure the intellectual property to make sure that we all are patents are in and they are, as our product is a patented product. And to to follow all of those procedures. And it was just me, we didn't employ anybody, we just had subcontractors here and there when I was able to afford people. And that was it. Until January, when I was lucky enough to get some investment from the British design fund. And we've been able to I'm now a staff member of my own company, I'm can have a little bit of a salary. Yeah. I have. Yeah, and I have two part time employees. And Chris, who's been with us from the beginning, and is the kind of engineering brains behind this. So he's been with us as a subcontractor from the very beginning, because he, he made this for us and, and sort of how to design it and really took what we had in mind and brought it into a manufacturing product, which is just amazing. And now he's, he's now on a salary with me. So that's really great to have him here. It's seeing as he's been there from the beginning, really, and, and done so much to get the product set and running. And then we've got a new team member called Murray, who's going to be full time, hopefully, when she's graduated over this summer, and she's part time at the moment with us. So it's nice to be growing in the right direction. But it's taken a hell of a long time. And it does, and you have to expect that I think,
Isla Speaker 17:03
yeah, that's I think it's a really important Well, for us as well, like, it's important thing that we have to remember, because I sure you felt exactly the same way, when you first started, and you had this whole idea and these inspirations and everything, and you're just like, I just want it to happen. Like, no, like my ideas great. Like the women need it. No, like, how long is this gonna take? Like, yeah, I can leave.
Sam Speaker 17:24
I think the patterns, the patterns were the hardest, because you can't, we knew that the product worked. We did some user testing, we knew what we knew it was really cool. We knew it would be amazing. But we couldn't we I mean, it took about a year to year and a half to get the patents approved. And you can't sell it before that you can't get it out there before that. So you're just in limbo, waiting for the intellectual property stuff to come through. And all that time it's costing you money, you know. So those those are the more difficult, the difficult stages, it takes a really long time to get things sorted. But you need to do that you need to invest that time, right? My tip is to, to really think about your intellectual property and your branding and your brand awareness, and protecting your brand and your innovation. Because as soon as it's out there, it's fair game, you need to make sure you have a team, a legal team around you a financial team that you can rely on if and when you'll need them, because you will as soon as it goes out there. So it's worth investing in taking that time, I wouldn't, I wouldn't feel like I could have rushed it, it wouldn't have happened any quicker.
Jessica Speaker 18:33
And she just did what I was just gonna say for anybody who, because we'll have like a people who understand Putin's IP and people who don't sort of does a super high level. If you could just sum up like why appeasement is so important just for anybody who's listening who might be thinking, why, like, why do I need that.
Sam Speaker 18:48
So most people probably wouldn't need the peyten. To be fair, most people wouldn't. It has to be a really significantly new invention, and ours is. So it was able to secure a patient. And you do need design registrations and all the trademarks, and other stuff that goes along with running a business. But mostly it's to keep your brand and integrity and to protect your innovation. And then what makes you unique, because we were we have been the first in the world that we know of to create this kind of product. And we wanted to make sure that we can retain that as our unique selling point. So a pattern means that anybody else in the UK selling anything similar will be infringing our pattern and legal action can be taken against them. So we're the only people that can make these sort of sell them unless we give we supply them to other people and we get permission to supply them. So we We also manufacture these ourselves when they're not made in China or anything because we have a really eco conscious kind of ethos. So we're trying to make sure that there's a low waste process and all that kind of stuff. So having the passes was really important to us because we want To retain that integrity of what we were doing, and, and that was that was vital. So that's why that's why the patents might matter, do get legal advice from whoever you're working with, they will be able to help you. And if you need some support, I would recommend that you always businesses and startups to speak to your local universities. Because if you're working on something really cool and really interesting, universities are always keen to supply researchers or to put some effort into that potentially where it might be patentable, or there might be some intellectual property they can support with or share with. And that makes it that can make a big difference. There might be ways that they can help you with an innovation, even if it's just with a bit of advice.
Isla Speaker 20:46
Yeah, that's massive. That's definitely massive. Did you beforehand, Sam, what did you do before you like did all this like Where? Where did you start?
Sam Speaker 20:57
What do you mean, for January this year, for January this year? I wish. I wish. I worked in museums and heritage. So yeah, completely different sideways in education. I was a teacher for a long time. And I worked in education for a bit. And then from education, I went to work in museums and heritage. And I was working in some museums in the southwest, to lead on their engagement with young people in their career development pathways and stuff like that. And so I worked in those kinds of settings. And that's where I was when we started to set a boost. And I started to sort of work on it in my spare time in the evening. And then obviously, during the pandemic. And I was, I was my job title was The creative business advisor for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. And I was actually working instead of just the museum, I was in programs working with all the museums around Cornwall and sort of going around and seeing them and supporting them. And in the pandemic, I was able to do all of that remotely, which was really good. And that was a part time position. And then the other two days a week, I was doing freelance work as a freelance working arts and heritage really. So clients who are asking me to support them to write a Heritage Lottery application or an Arts Council England application or to support them in their fundraising strategy, or how to run their organization. Better than I was, I was working on that. But yeah, I did not ever leave school and thinks I'm gonna start a business. I have not done an MBA, and I have no business qualifications whatsoever. But
Isla think it just goes to show for us who you are, like, both in like different fields as well, like, how it is possible to be able to, like move into something completely different, like university doesn't define you, or anything like that, like that is quite, I think, an important message that I'm sure you stand behind as well. That we found. Yeah,
Sam Speaker 22:59
absolutely. Absolutely. I think what is more important is you know, your business and you need to know it. I mean, you won't get funding if you don't write your your strong narrative, you need to know your needs to be really secure, that you know what you're doing. And that takes a little bit of guts and a little bit of determination and a little bit of being able, how much am I allowed to swear on this podcast, I
Jessica Speaker 23:26
don't know, if you've listened to any of the ones beforehand, Sam, but we have like, we go all over. So
Sam Speaker 23:35
just take a little bit of bullshit occasionally, you know, you have to like, sometimes you have to make it really big you like, just put yourself out there. Because if you really believe in your thing, then you you sometimes have to do that. And I think it's it's not about your qualifications or your background, it's just your personality. And I think that's the most important thing, I You're gonna thrive like when it gets really hard. And there's, when I lost my job the best. It's whenever when it's really hard when there's a really big problem that I need to solve when it's really, and then I like putting it on the arm to kick that off, I could do that. I will find a way to make that work. And then that's when I feel the feel at my best when there's pressure and when there's stuff going on. And I just need to pull it out of the bag because I'm just that kind of person. I just really like that I thrive on that I like to challenge I like to like I should say I knew where it comes from that in me. I know where it comes from. And I do want me to tell you a little bit of a personal story about what happened to me when I was in
Isla Speaker 24:46
that alright. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
Sam Speaker 24:49
And say when when I was a teenager when I was 17 and I was trying to do my levels and I really wanted to go to university because nobody in my family has ever been to university before and To I was diagnosed with a health condition and it's called adult onset still's disease. And I was registered as a disabled person. And I couldn't walk and I was, had to use walking aids and need social services came to the house and put all these things like, sort of thing for old people in the house so that I could actually move about the house. That because I couldn't, I was a bit it was really bad. So almost. So what it is, is an autoimmune disease that your body attacks itself. Now I still have that I still have that condition. But mostly I've learned to manage it by and it's, it's not in remission remission now, but it has been in and out of remission. And it's never been as bad as it was, when I was first diagnosed when I was when I was 1718. So I had this, I had this diagnosis. And I used to go to appointments, like with social services, or with you know, medical assessments with those people. And they used to send you usually you'd be a medical professional, they were usually men, older men, and they used to sit there, and and they're very knowledgeable and very wonderful people, I'm very, very kind you don't claim to be, but they used to sit there and say, You're never going to be able to work, you mean, you're never going to be able to wait, you're disabled, you're a disabled person, you've got this health condition for your life, and you're never going to be able to work. And you're never you won't, you won't have to go to university, when you plan you will need at least two or three years. And you won't have to go to university and I was desperate, I really wanted to go, you weren't going to take your place, you have to tell them your face, it's going to be two or three years, you're not well enough to do this, you're not well enough to do that you weren't going to do this, remember, and that's what I used to hear from these people from these medical professionals. That's what they used to say, a lot to me as a 1718 year old girl. And every time they said those things, my mum would be either in the room, and sometimes she stands right behind their head. Like she'd walk around the room as if she's just she's got math behind her heads and she'd go
Sam Speaker 27:15
Oh, holy cow, we flew out of the rain, but my mom would go bullshit. You don't need to do that. And that was great. Because then for me when I'm when I'm working, and I'm doing something that I love, and I'm running this business, and every time it's a little bit of a contusion because after all, it's painful all that time you said, you went back to work and you're a disabled person, and you won't, you won't, you won't. And my man who was there all the time going there listen to That's a load of rubbish you do whatever you want to do, it doesn't matter, you just do what you want to do anyway. And so I think there's some times when I'm working really hard, or when it feels really exciting, or there's a lot of pressure, I actually enjoy it because it makes me feel like I'm very unlikely I can overcome things. Because I feel like I can't, because I have been. And I liked that. And I like that feeling. And when I've succeeded or even if I failed a bit, but I've got through it somehow by the skin of my teeth, something's happened, and I've got through it. At the end of it, I'm just like, Yes, I feel really good that I just enjoy that experience. Because the whole experience of working and running my own business was something that I was always basically told no meaning you'll never you'll never be up well enough to do any of these things.
Isla Speaker 28:40
Yeah, so that that drive is like as far as you can't like bring from anywhere like that comes from, like being with those experiences, I suppose that like brings us on to well, your experience when it comes to like obviously created salad, which is just for women. And I suppose that that cuts that like half of the population as they would like to say, and I suppose the first thing I'm just
Sam Speaker 29:11
gonna say that actually sometimes we we do, really we do really support transgender customers if they do want to our product. And we also occasionally get requests from people who are drag artists. So I can't say that we like to say that you know, we like to gender our products specifically we don't like to gender our beliefs, just in case because if you want to shake hands you okay, then then that's up to you. That's great. We're very rapid.
Jessica 29:51
That's what I guess that's also nice that they can be so personalized because it literally can be from anyone and everyone. It's such a great ethos behind the business. Also your mom sends like, yeah, women?