A Winston-Salem entrepreneur has achieved a significant milestone in the journey of her product.
Three Strands Recovery Wear — known for creating the Resilience Bra — has launched a pilot test with surgeons at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, Novant Health's Novant Surgical Associates in Salisbury and Forsyth Plastic Surgery. The company has also begun a soft launch of the product on its website.
Inspired by her mother’s journey with breast cancer, Leah Wyrick founded the company in 2019 as an undergraduate at Wake Forest University.
The bra is adjustable to a patient’s ribcage and chest, has a pocket for drain tubing and will come in a variety of patterns and sizes.
Dr. Andy Schneider, chief of staff at Novant Health Medical Park Hospital, chief of plastic surgery for Novant and a surgeon with Forsyth Plastic Surgery, called the Resilience Bra is the “real deal.”
“In the post-surgery bra space, there are other companies, but Leah is trying to come up with something better,” he said. “We love participating with young folks who want to make our job better. Patients love participating because they’re living [in recovery] 24 hours a day.”
Feedback from patients and doctors
Designed to accommodate drainage tubes, the Resilience Bras will be tested with patients who've had breast reconstructive surgery or breast cosmetic surgery.
Schneider explained that patients typically have the tubes in for one-to-three weeks post-surgery and wear recovery bras for about a month post-surgery. He added that some patients will continue to wear it well beyond the typical period.
Wyrick expects to get feedback from patients in about two months.
She said that the willingness of local surgeons to help her with the pilot test speaks volumes.
“Here in Winston-Salem, the health systems taking part in this pilot just shows how much they truly care about their patients,” Wyrick said.
Creating a scalable company
Three Strands Recovery Wear has quietly begun selling the Resilience Bra online as part of its soft-launch phase. A limited number of bras are available for $68 in sizes medium, large, extra large or double-extra large.
Wyrick, who now works for her startup full time, said the soft launch coupled with the pilot test will allow the company to test the market with a finished product.
“The point of the pilot is to onboard hospitals so that we can gain credibility,” she said.
Wyrick is currently looking to fundraise approximately $50,000 to help with manufacturing costs. Three Strands Recovery Wear works with a factory in Jakarta, Indonesia, to produce the Resilience Bra.
Now that the Resilience Bra is in a soft-launch and pilot-test phase, Wyrick is not slowing down. She has begun to consider producing other recovery-wear garments that would be complementary to the bra, like pajamas and robes.
“We’ve noticed that not only is there a need for these bras, but there is a big gap in the recovery loungewear space. A lot of surgeries still have drains and aftercare where people need to innovate their own solutions,” Wyrick explained. “This is where we see Three Strands Recovery Wear deviating from a one-product company to a scalable company.”
