After 10 years of designing, testing and constructing her products, a local entrepreneur is ready to show her specific women's swimwear and athletic wear to the world. Uriel Fox is the owner and CEO of NEO'PROS. Her business offers high performance swim and athletic wear for mastectomy survivors, helping solve issues with the way traditional suits fit women after surgery.
Fox's mission to promote confidence and comfortability came from her own struggles. After getting diagnosed with breast cancer, Fox underwent a bilateral mastectomy, the surgical removal of both breasts to treat or prevent breast cancer.
Fox, who worked as a dental hygienist for 40 years before getting diagnosed, has always been a water sport enthusiast. She swam, surfed and sailed regularly. While Fox admits she grew up, "totally tomboyish," she comes from a family of seamstresses and tailors. From an early age, she would get her swimsuits tailored to better fit her, so she could stay comfortable and not have to keep adjusting her suit during her activities.
After her surgery, she became frustrated with the way swim tops were fitting her. After a mastectomy, some women choose to wear a breast prosthesis, which is an artificial breast shape that sits inside of a bra, while others may not. For women like Fox, who like to wear prosthetics, trying to wear them comfortably in a traditional swim top, or even a sports bra, is a challenge, she said.
Many standard swim tops come attached with small compartments on the inside. These compartments typically have an opening on the side of the top, near the armpit, and are meant to fit some form of lining or padding for extra coverage and support. In Fox's case, the small compartment was the only option for wearing prosthetics in the water.
The problem, according to Fox, is that prosthetics don't fit right with traditional swim top pockets. The prosthetic can easily pop out, move around, and is often visible. She was always having to adjust her top, or her prosthetic, to make sure everything was in place.
The main problem she and other women experienced from using prosthetics in traditional swim and athletic wear, she said, was a lack of confidence. She wanted to find a solution.
In thinking about how she was going to create a prosthetically formed garment, she decided that Neoprene, a type of synthetic rubber commonly used in wetsuits, known for its flexibility and durability, would work best.
She came up with the idea in 2014, shortly after her mastectomy, and has been fine-tuning the design ever since. She told her daughter, who was with her when she thought of the idea for the garments, that she would dedicate herself to creating this business, and gave herself 10 years to do it.
Her daughter, Jessica, passed away just a few years later. Since then, Fox has stuck to her word, working on her business and attempting to make the perfect solution for women like herself.
Her final design moved the opening of the traditional lining compartments to the bottom of the swim top, instead of the side, has tighter compartments to stop the prosthetic from moving around and has a band to help the prosthetics stay in place.
In talking to other women about her products, Fox has learned that her tops are also appealing to women who haven't had a mastectomy.
While a normal sports bra can sometimes do the trick, women who do activities such as horseback riding and rock climbing have shown interest in her athleticwear, noting that the snug construction would help prevent too much movement.
Fox's garments are nearly complete; she is in the process of tweaking her current prototype. Excited for the future, Fox has applied for ABC's popular business reality TV show, Shark Tank, and plans to continue getting the word out by attending women's events and showcasing her designs.
"NEO'PROS may help survivors manage the physical, mental and spiritual challenges of breast cancer," said Fox.
