IAM2934 – Founder Runs an Extensive Breast Cancer Solutions Store

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Transcription:

Efrat Roman 00:00
If I found the unmet need and then I found the solution to it. So I’m probably the biggest expert in this, in this little thing, not, you know, in the space, in the world, but in this little thing. And to hold to this knowledge and to this understanding. And whenever you feel that you’re losing your focus, Or losing your self-esteem or losing your comfort. Just go to the unmet need and go to the solution.

Gresham Harkless 01:08
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I Am CEO Podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today, Efrat Roman of Easy Bra. Efrat, it’s awesome to have you on the show.

Efrat Roman 01:16
It’s awesome to be here. Thank you for inviting me.

Gresham Harkless 01:19
Yeah, no problem. Pleasure is definitely all mine. And what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Efrat so you can hear about all the awesome things that she’s doing. And Efrat is a breast cancer survivor, the founder and CEO of Easy Bra, the first and only sterile disposable and feminine post-op bra. Efrat is an entrepreneur and inventor, an expert for the wellbeing of women dealing with breast cancer, the founder of curediva.com, the first ever and most extensive online breast cancer solution store, awarded as one of 20 of the 20 most influential moms by Family Circle Magazine, a single mother of 2, and a published writer and author. Efrat, are you ready to speak to the I Am CEO community?

Efrat Roman 01:59
Yes. And I’m so embarrassed for, from all the things you’ve said, but okay, let’s do that.

Gresham Harkless 02:05
Exactly. I’m embarrassed to see you doing so many awesome things. I’m like, I got to get to work now and catch up with Efrat. So I wanted to kick everything off here a little bit more from the closer to the beginning. I wanted to hear how you got started, your CEO story, what led you to get started with your business.

Efrat Roman 02:18
So actually, as I think it’s quite clear from my biography that I never thought I’m going to become an entrepreneur, a CEO, a businesswoman. I was an artist, you know, waking every morning looking for muse and, uh, never ever, uh, it occurred to my mind that I’m going to become this, uh, serial entrepreneur. But then 11 years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. And although I come from a family of, uh, BRCA gene carriers. So my mother had the gene and, and breast cancer, and so did my grandmother and all of her sisters. So I thought that I am the most prepared, uh, person that can be for getting this kind of diagnosis. But then I, so I knew what were the, the tests I had to take and what doctors should I speak to, and I knew a lot of what it would bring into my life. But then I realized that although there are 1 out of 8, uh, women in the world will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and although there’s a whole month, uh, in the year that is dedicated to breast cancer awareness, and, and there is so much awareness and knowledge and everything, and yet when it came to the 1 out of 8, once I was diagnosed, I realized that there was, there were so many unmet needs for someone once she was diagnosed. And, you know, when you see something broken, you gotta get it fixed.

Gresham Harkless 03:58
No? Yeah, absolutely. That’s the entrepreneurial in you because I think a lot of times you see that something isn’t being done and a lot of people will sit on the sidelines and say, hey, somebody should create this. I think somebody should create something better where the entrepreneur kind of Uh, rolls up his or her sleeves and says, okay, let’s get to work and let’s create something.

Efrat Roman 04:15
I guess this is the essence of being an entrepreneur, you know, like, but it’s broken. Why not fix it?

Gresham Harkless 04:22
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I definitely, you know, appreciate you for doing that. And I know there’s a lot of people that are going through a very difficult time that aren’t prepared at all, or maybe are that 1 in 8 and had no idea. So could you take us through exactly like what you’re doing, the different kind of, um, platforms you have that help out? these women that are going through, um, kind of the breast cancer process?

Efrat Roman 04:41
Sure. So I’ll start with Easy Bra. That is the current, uh, startup that I’m, uh, um, managing and, and running. So, um, it’s kind of really, I don’t, you know, I don’t really get it, but there are 30 million breast procedures that are being performed annually worldwide. So we’re talking about The millions of women that are diagnosed with breast cancer, but we, we are also talking about many others that choose to have a cosmetic surgery to enlarge their breasts, to lift it, to lift it or whatever. Now we are living in a world that is obsessed with breasts and everybody’s, you know, pushing women towards having breast procedures. But really unbelievably. There is no standard of care for addressing for the breast post-op. So I’m just going to give an example to how weird it is. If you went to an ophthalmologist today, okay, it doesn’t matter if you had an infection or you had to go through any kind of a surgery or procedure or whatever. If you need your eye to be covered with some kind of dressing, every ophthalmologist will have the same round dressing that was designed to meet your eye socket.

Gresham Harkless 05:59
shape, right?

Efrat Roman 06:00
When it comes to women’s breasts, okay, there are 20,000, uh, uh, shapes of bras. But when it comes to breast surgeries, women are covered with a layer over a layer of improvisations, gauze, tape, pads, uh, reusable bras that get stained, elastic straps, band, uh, ACE bands. Um, laces, nylon, uh, wrapping, wrap, uh, um, wrapping nylon. It’s like, it’s unbelievable. The creativity on one hand that the medical, uh, teams would, uh, invent to solve all the, those, uh, requirements that arise with those surgeries. And yet when I woke up covered like this and I looked at myself, I was like, I, Can’t believe that there’s no dressing, which is a bra, which is disposable. It seems so obvious. So I was searching to buy it. I never thought I invented something because it seemed so clear that it exists for hundreds of years now. While searching and not finding and keeping on searching and not finding, I was like, could it be that I’m the first person on earth that thought about this solution. So I asked for a patent search and when they didn’t find it as well, I was like, okay, I guess, you know, it’s mine to do it.

Gresham Harkless 07:30
Absolutely. Yeah, it makes so much sense. And it’s kind of like, I was thinking about like Henry Ford, where a lot of times he says, if, uh, he has this quote where if everybody, if I listened to what everybody wanted, they, they would ask me to build a faster horse, but really what they wanted was the car. So it’s kind of like, Yes, let’s get more creative with all the different things that we can use to kind of create this post-op. When in reality, you’re looking for a car, you’re not looking for the best horse. You’re looking for something.

Efrat Roman 07:55
Exactly. Exactly. So EasyBra is the sports car of the breast surgery arena.

Gresham Harkless 08:04
I love it. I love it. And then I wanted to hear a little bit more about kind of your other side, the Cure Diva. Could you take us through that as well?

Efrat Roman 08:10
Yes. So I’m not involved in Cure Diva anymore, but Or yeah, but when I finished my treatment and one of the things that people don’t get when, you know, we are thinking about this breast cancer journey is that, you know, it seems like, okay, you dive into this pool, you swim, and then you get out at the end of treatment if you’re lucky enough to survive it. But what is not clear out there and what seems to be a very, very, very challenging Um, part of this journey is that once a woman is being diagnosed, first, the, the different phases, each one of them has its own, its own huge list of, uh, needs and requirements that it arises. And, you know, it’s clear when we are thinking about cancer, we all think, okay, you’re going to lose your hair because you’re going to undergo chemotherapy. But for example, so I knew I was going to lose my hair, so I, you know, I got a very fancy wig in advance. Mm-hmm. But then the first night I had my hair shaved before the surgery and I went to sleep, so I couldn’t wear my wig. And I went to sleep and I woke up with this horrible migraine. And, uh, it happened again the next night and the next night, and it took me 3 3 to 4 days to realize that my head was freezing at night. So there was nowhere, no one to tell me, listen, one of the biggest challenges coming with losing your hair to cancer is that you need something very soft to cover your hair, your head during your night’s sleep. And then again, you know, about so many other things. And, and for instance, you know, and, and So there were all those products that I never even thought, you know, existed. And if they existed, I never knew that I’d need them.

Gresham Harkless 10:12
Right.

Efrat Roman 10:13
It comes from, you know, special bras and, and special cosmetics and, and a lot of, a lot of solutions that are great for this phase, but you just had to, I had to waste days after days for, you know, searching for those solutions. And usually when I found the solution, it was already too late because I was already shifting to the next treatment phase with its own challenges. So it didn’t seem realistic to me that there was no website that was divided by the different phases of treatment. that would offer me all those products that are out there and I need them so I can get them in advance and be ready and reduce the, the stress of, but I’m going through something and I don’t have what I need. So is, uh, uh, sorry, Cura Diva was actually, um, a shop that was divided by the different phases and offered the, the, the specific products for each phase, but it was clear to me that if I’m talking about losing my hair, so yes, there’s the challenge of what do I do at night? And there’s a challenge of do I wear a wig or just, you know, uh, all kinds of scarves and so on. But then I really wanted to talk to someone that her kids were my kids’ age to discuss If, you know, when friends of the kids are arriving for a playdate, should I be wearing my wig although I am at home? So it really, you know, it, it seemed like such an important tool to have during this time that, again, if I saw something broken, I had to fix it.

Gresham Harkless 12:13
Yeah, absolutely. That, that makes so much sense. And it kind of sounds like you probably had a holistic idea of like what was available and I can definitely see how easy Bra came about from that aspect too, is definitely seeing something. If you find something, you can add it to the store, but if it’s not, then you go about creating it yourself. So, um, I wanted to ask you, and you might’ve already touched on this, for what I call your secret sauce, and it could be for Easy Bra or you as a person, what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

Efrat Roman 12:38
Well, I, I, first I want to say that I don’t recommend it to others, but having cancer before becoming an entrepreneur. Gives you great perspective.

Gresham Harkless 12:48
Yeah.

Efrat Roman 12:51
You know, you don’t have money, you have to raise money. Your investors are not that happy with you. It’s okay compared to cancer.

Gresham Harkless 13:00
I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what’s something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Efrat Roman 13:09
Singing in the bathroom. Really loud.

Gresham Harkless 13:15
What does that do for you?

Efrat Roman 13:17
I think that’s one of the best ways to, to take your stress and, you know, create some like good energies and good vibes out of it. And, and to, you know, to use your voice to, um, to really take this energy and, and empower yourself instead of letting it eat you from the inside.

Gresham Harkless 13:42
It, uh, but now I would ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. So this could be like a word of wisdom or a piece of advice, or if you can hop into a time What would you tell your younger business self?

Efrat Roman 13:51
Firstly, I think that I’d tell myself that if I found a solution and I know, you know, if, if I found the unmet need and then I found the solution to it, so I’m probably the biggest expert in this, in this little thing, not, you know, in the space, in the world. But in this little thing and to hold to this knowledge and to this understanding. And whenever you feel that you’re losing your focus or losing your self-esteem or losing your comfort, just go to the unmet need and go to the solution.

Gresham Harkless 14:39
Um, now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we’re hoping to have different cornerstones. CEOs on this show. So, Efrat, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Efrat Roman 14:48
Being the person who looks from the highest point and from the lowest point and still seeing the whole picture.

Gresham Harkless 14:59
You’re very, very welcome. I appreciate that definition. I appreciate your time even more. Wanted to pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there’s anything additional you want to let our readers and listeners know. And then, of course, how best they can get ahold of you and find out all the awesome things you’re working on?

Efrat Roman 15:14
So, uh, they can find me everywhere. LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, I’m everywhere. And my email is efrat@easybra.net, which is not that complicated as well. And I’m always happy to hear and answer questions. And it might take me some time. I’m a busy CEO, but I’m always returning, uh, to people’s, um, reaching out to me. And, um, and the only thing that I always want to add, especially when we have female listeners, but it is also relevant for male, get your breasts checked.

Gresham Harkless 15:54
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Uh, awareness is key and detection is key. Early detection, uh, is definitely—

Efrat Roman 16:01
I’m the proof. I am the proof that early detection saves lives. So, absolutely. Yeah.

Gresham Harkless 16:06
So make sure you do get checked out. Thank you. I appreciate you. And thank you so much for that reminder. We will also have all the links and information in the show notes below so that everybody can follow up with you and hear, you know, all the awesome things you’re doing, connect with you everywhere as well too. But thank you so much again, Efrat, and I hope you have a fantastic day. Thank you.