Warriors for Breast Cancer Survivors

Gail H. Crouch

After the diagnosis, this new company helps women feel normal again.

(Editor’s Note: This is the first of an occasional series profiling new or expanding small businesses in South Carolina.)

Sherry Shipp Norris and Kim Zeise Neel are co-owners of Alala, located at 1225 Laurel St., Suite 103, in Columbia, S.C. 29201. They can be reached at 803-545-4373, or for more information, visit www.alala.info. Gail Shurling is Associate Director of Client Services for the Center for Manufacturing and Technology (CMAT) at the University of South Carolina. She can be reached by phone at 803-777-5954 or by e-mail at shurling@engr.sc.edu.

Women have a one-in-seven chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer in this country, and the diagnosis can be overwhelming. After learning of her condition, the woman gets caught up in a whirlwind of sterile settings and unfamiliar jargon.

With that in mind, Alala was formed to offer women an oasis where they could escape to meditate and digest the future. Alala helps women normalize their physical appearance, which in turn enables them to be active, informed participants in their recovery.

Alala was formed to offer women an oasis where they could escape to meditate and digest the future.

Alala (pronounced a-lay’-la) is “the female spirit of the war cry” in Greek mythology. Sherry Shipp Norris and Kim Zeise Neel are the brains behind Alala. “We are declaring war on traditional sales and services,” the two say. Neel’s own diagnosis of breast cancer in 2005 and her experiences navigating the waters of products and services for breast cancer patients brought the two friends and active Girl Scout leaders together to talk about a dream business that would incorporate all of the services to meet women’s needs in one location. A seven-year small business veteran, Norris has parlayed her business administration training into yet another business venture, Alala, LLC. Her preparation included training to become a certified fitter for post-surgical breast prosthetics, compression garments, and cranial prosthetics.

Neel, too, had worked in the corporate world—21 years at Pirelli Cable and 4 years in insurance—before venturing into her own small business. She, too, became certified as a fitter for post-surgical garments and prosthetics to go along with her graduate business studies and experience.

Besides being a Girl Scout volunteer, Neel had previously served as a Team Captain for the First Ladies Walk—Steps Against Cancer and Relay for Life. She couldn’t know at the time that the research money raised would someday benefit her.

Norris and Neel received their training to become prosthetic fitters in the fall of 2005. In February of 2006, Alala was incorporated and admitted into the University of South Carolina Technology Incubator, which supports small business by providing business and technical consulting, administrative assistance, lab access, conference rooms, and service provider networks.

The two women had learned about services available to start their business after they met Gail Shurling at a small business convention. Shurling is Associate Director of Client Services for the Center for Manufacturing and Technology (CMAT) at the University of South Carolina and also oversees the USC BusinessLINK Web site. Her job is to help businesses find support and services and link the expertise of the university faculty and staff with the needs of new and growing businesses.

“Working with Alala has been rewarding. Alala’s owners bring a wonderful new and innovative service here in the Midlands,” says Shurling. Shurling, who routinely works with companies at the USC Technology Incubator, coordinated the services of marketing and human resources graduate students from the Moore School of Business to assist the new company.

We had attempted to work with several organizations on our brochure and marketing materials, but found CMAT (The Center for Manufacturing and Technology) most willing to help us.

Our mission at Alala is to focus on women suffering from female challenges in a way that will offer them privacy, confidence, and self-respect by empowering each client to build her self-confidence after initial diagnosis by offering educational resources, support, and supplies for all women’s cancer/ health issues.

Alala’s catch phrase is “A Unique Boutique for Today’s Surviving Woman.” Women who are experiencing breast cancer deal with challenges beyond the medical treatment of their illness. Changes in their appearance can have a profound effect on their self-image. Alala is “unique” because it addresses the whole woman—not just her physical needs.

Alala caters to women who have experienced:

• Mastectomy/lumpectomy

• Hair loss

• Radiation therapy

• Chemotherapy

• Lymphedema

In addition to multiple visits to doctors’ offices and hospitals for treatment, women have to cope with finding an array of services with different merchants to meet their post-treatment or post-surgical needs. Alala endeavors to be a “one-stop” shop to meet these needs. Services include:

• Breast prosthetics

• Mastectomy bras—lingerie, everyday, and sports

• Swimsuits

• Bras for hard-to-fit sizes

• Post-surgical camisoles

• Custom wigs—synthetic and human hair in all colors and styles

• Head coverings—scarves, hats, turbans, caps

• Lymphedema compression garments

• Sleeves and pumps

• Belisse compressure comfort bras

• Custom-blended sprays and healing lotions for radiated skin (works for sunburn, too)

• Sun-protective clothing

• Libido enhancement

• Jewelry and gifts with ribbon logo

In addition to these products and services, Norris and Neel offer “I’m Healthy and Sexy” seminars and sponsor a speakers bureau for various other topics with the help of a 15-member Board of Resources.

The bottom line, say Norris and Neel, is “We want women to feel comfortable and confident as they make more informed decisions on their recovery products and services.”

Alala is "unique" because it addresses the whole woman—not just her physical needs.

A program of USC BusinessLINK, The Center for Manufacturing and Technology (CMAT) promotes economic development across the state by helping small South Carolina technology-based manufacturers gain a higher level of competitiveness. CMAT, housed at the Moore School of Business, accomplishes this by providing valuable technological, workplace, and business solutions, as well as consultation and training. Utilizing the expertise of faculty, students, staff, and university facilities enables CMAT to help these businesses expand operational effectiveness at a cost savings. One company utilizing our marketing students is Alala. – Gail Shurling, Associate Director, CMAT

Why did you contact CMAT for assistance? We had attempted to work with several organizations on our brochure and marketing materials, but found CMAT most willing to help us. We have an awesome graphic artist working with us, but she is in Virginia, and sometimes you just need to sit down with someone face-to-face to convey your design ideas. CMAT offered us that face-to-face meeting. We had a lot of needs without a great amount of funds. We needed all kinds of marketing assistance without the money to get our name out there.

What did CMAT do for you? CMAT helped Alala design and print our Grand Opening invitations. CMAT also worked with us to polish our logo, brochure, mailers, and business cards.

Can you describe your experiences with CMAT? Everyone we have worked with at CMAT has been very professional and positive. Shurling is someone who enjoys what she does, and it really shows. It is noted and especially appreciated since we are in the customer service business ourselves.

Would you use CMAT again? In a heartbeat. Actually we are working with them now on additional marketing materials.

What are the economic impacts you received thus far and anticipate in the near future due to CMAT’s help? Thus far we have been rewarded with considerable savings on our marketing with the help and support of CMAT. The response to our invitations has been positive, and we look forward to many more projects together. A lot of the work we have done would not have been possible without CMAT’s help because they were so quick to complete our requests. ¨