When inspiration for Amy Neary's company, Share the Momentum, struck, it was a less-than-ideal time to start a company. The Rhode Island native had just been diagnosed with lung cancer in 2019. But in emails with her social worker at Dana Farber during treatment, a phrase in those notes kept repeating in her mind.
"I said facing cancer is like staring down a bear, that you have to make yourself bigger than it and stare it straight between the eyes," she said. "There was this pivotal moment when my social worker explained to me that it wasn't the cancer I was actually staring down, it was all of the fear, anxiety, worry and uncertainty I had to face. That everyone has a bear they have to stare down. That gave me pause to realize this idea could resonate with everyone. My story was about lung cancer, but everyone has a story."
With the help of some former coworkers, Neary developed an initial Stare Down the Bear logo in early 2020 and spent a lot of time brainstorming ideas and marketing strategies. Two years later, Neary would launch her company, Share the Momentum, on November 20. The startup sells branded t-shirts, hats and accessories.
But the journey to launching her company was not easy.
Neary has three children, and her husband, Christian, serves in the U.S. Army Reserve. In late 2021, she was nearly finished with her 28th round of chemo and was considered stable. But, she said, lung cancer can be sneaky. In June 2022, Neary felt something was off again, as she started having short-term memory loss and occasionally using the wrong words. Following a brain MRI in July, Neary was told that the cancer had moved to her brain — a nearly two-inch tumor and about 30 lesions.
'Badass bravery'
Neary recalls the exact moment she decided to return to the business idea: Laid up in a hospital bed at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston on July 24, two days after her craniotomy, Neary was getting ready to be discharged, and the nurse asked if she wanted to see her incision.
"I kind of waffled, but she thought I should have a picture of it to make sure it didn't get infected and see it heal. I wasn't sure what to expect and hadn't really thought about what it would look like, but what she showed me had me in complete disbelief," she said. "I had just learned about the tumors less than a week earlier, and everything following that had happened so quickly I didn't have time to process much. I looked at the incision, likely in a bit of shock, and the words 'I am a badass' just fell out of my mouth."
After being discharged, Neary couldn't stop looking at that image of her head and the words "badass bravery" repeated in her mind over and over again.
"I had this intense feeling that I needed to start the business I had first envisioned shortly after my diagnosis in 2019. I looked at my sister and told her the idea for a second logo and she loved it," she said. "Despite being very weak, frail and unable to feel much of the left side of my head, I thought about it much of the way home and that was the first thing I told my three children when I walked in the door. They were shocked when my first words were ‘I am a badass,’ as I generally don't talk like this, but were pretty excited when I told them we were going to start the business."
Even though she felt physically weak and was in a lot of pain, Neary said she felt empowered and began work to start Share the Momentum. When the idea first struck in 2020, Neary said she held back because it would mean stepping out of her comfort zone and sharing her story.
"I'm a pretty private person and you can't exactly start a global movement without being public," she said.
All in all, it's been a community affair, she said. Neary's friends and Hulafish Creative owners Jennifer Giardino and Jamie Sharp helped with the design of the logos. Another friend and neighbor, Georgia Shaban, is a business owner and has been by her side through the past four months giving her guidance. Neary also teamed up with local apparel company Impact in Cumberland to produce the merchandise.
The launch party for Share the Momentum was held at Ravenous Brewing and, Neary said, Reel Big Media in Cumberland helped bring my story to life through a video.
“Share the Momentum is a movement about shifting fear to courage and tapping into an inner strength you never knew you had to get through a tough battle or difficult challenge in life. It’s about focusing. You can't fight anything with a negative attitude. And that doesn't mean I don't have down days where I feel sad or discouraged. I just fight to get myself out of that space as quickly as I can,” she said. “If I can give one moment of encouragement, strength or inspiration to someone, I will have succeeded. Until then, I will continue to fight with gratitude.”
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