Who We Are
Allow me introduce ourselves. We are husband and wife team – Dan West and Trish Watson. Back in October 2012, we met, started dating, fell in love, bought a house, got engaged and eventually got married exactly three years after our first date.
We were both working in corporate jobs and enjoying the life that we were starting to build together. The only thing missing was that we were looking to do more to make a positive impact. To help others in need. We had both participated in various local and international charities but we wanted to do more. That’s when a bunch of different things that had happened in the past, came together and inspired us to follow our dream. Things like a car accident, two cancer diagnoses, some cards, three little mice, a bell, a tv commercial, and a book given to me by a work colleague.
Why did we start this company?
Why did we start this company? To answer that question, we have to go back to the year 1991. After a relatively minor car accident, I suddenly found myself diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. A type ofblood cancer. Weird, right? How on earth does a car accident result in a cancer diagnosis? I won’t go into the details of that here (if you’re interested, you can read it here). Suffice it to say that six months and 40 radiation treatments later, I finally heard the words that every cancer patient longs to hear – "Congratulations. Your cancer is in remission."
During those six months, I was very fortunate to have the love and support from my family, friends and an entire community. Those same people actually sent me cards in the mail. Not e-cards - remember this was before the age of the internet - but real cards with envelopes. The ones where people go to a store, buy them, write a note and then go to the post office to mail them. At the time, I didn’t know anyone who had cancer, let alone anyone my own age. I felt like there was no one I could talk to that would understand what I was going through. But I had those cards. And on those days when I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired, I would take them out, read them and immediately begin to feel better. They were my source of hope and inspiration.
Those cards came in handy thirteen years later. In 2004, I met a man who would become one of my best friends. One year after we met, he ended up getting diagnosed with a different type of blood cancer – leukemia. On the day of his diagnosis, I remember sitting in my apartment, alone, feeling helpless and thinking about all the unpleasant things that were about to become a reality for him. That’s when I suddenly remembered my cards. I immediately jumped out of my chair, plucked my little pile of cards out of my nightstand and sat down in the middle of my living room. With tears streaming down my face, I was once again flooded with a sense of hope. I resolved right then and there to do everything I could to help him survive his battle with cancer.
Like all cancer journeys, my friend’s ride was filled with incredible highs and unbelievable lows. Issues and unpleasant side effects were constant and finding hope was a challenge at times. I’ll never forget one particularly exhausting day when the doctor suggested a new drug to combat one of the many problems that arose during his treatment. When we asked the doctor if he thought it would work, he just gave a crooked little smile and said, “Well….it worked on three little mice in my lab.” We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It wasn’t exactly the sort of hope one wants to hear from their doctor but we were desperate.
Hope came in other forms. Like the cowbell at the nurses’ station that was rung every time someone finished their final chemo treatment. My friend never got to ring that bell simply because his cancer is one of the stubborn variety and refuses to go into complete remission. All these years later, daily chemotherapy continues to be his reality.
Over the years, I’ve participated in several local bike rides to raise money and inspire hope in cancer patients and their families. As the years passed, I felt like I needed to do more. Fast forward to 2015. Dan and I were watching tv when a commercial for the lottery came on. That’s when Dan turned to me and asked, “What would you do if we won the $50 million dollars?” Without blinking an eye, I said I would love to give back to the cancer community that saved both my life and the life of my best friend. That’s when he asked me two simple questions – “Why do you need $50 million dollars to do that? Why can’t we build a business to support that goal?” To be honest, that hadn’t occurred to me but I was definitely interested. We just needed to figure out how that would work. Right around that time a colleague gave me a book about business written by Simon Sinek called “Start With Why”. It changed our lives because it helped Dan and I understand that we could follow our dream and build a business where we could help inspire hope for cancer patients and their families around the world; while at the same time, donate a healthy portion of profits to support the cancer research community.
The cards that inspired so much hope in me all those years ago still occupy the same spot in my nightstand. With our website, we’re leveraging 21st century technology to go beyond those cards and inspire an even stronger sense of hope for cancer patients and their family and friends. Give people a platform to share their story and create connections with other people affected by cancer. Pay it forward, so to speak. And when you see someone on the street wearing the same pendant, you’ll know you’re not alone in your fight against cancer. Maybe you’ll even walk up to them and start a conversation because you just never know who you’ll inspire or where your next source of hope and inspiration will come from.
Goodbye Goal
Ultimately, we would love to hear that a cure for cancer has been discovered. That’s when we will celebrate knowing that we met our "goodbye goal" - where we happily close our business because we know that every cancer patient will get their chance to ring their bell, and know what it’s like to celebrate their cancer remission.
