Ten years ago, AnaOno founder Dana Donofree was living the life she’d always envisioned for herself. At 27, she was working as a designer for children’s accessory company Goldbug—a career she’d pursued since college. She was healthy and about to get married.
And then she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Among the stress, burdens, costs and trauma that come with the disease and its treatment was a loss no one told her about. After a bilateral mastectomy with implant reconstruction, she realized her body would never be the same. None of her old bras fit comfortably. Underwireless molded bras no longer fit, because after her mastectomy Donofree no longer had nipples. Bras with underwire caused her horrible pain. The only bras available to her didn’t feel young or sexy. They felt like “grandma bras.” This threw her into a depression.
“The bra is just a bra, but it helps aid in your confidence and your beauty and how you feel about your body,” Donofree says. “We want to empower feeling as beautiful as you possibly can at any moment of your life.”
“I just felt like I was catapulted into this world that was built for a much, much older and more mature woman,” Donofree says. “It’s hard to have a conversation about equity and inclusion, when businesses aren’t serving people without breasts in their lingerie departments.” She found herself trying to hide a sports bra under her professional clothes during client meetings.
Donofree decided she no longer wanted to live with this problem, and thus began AnaOno, a lingerie line for people who have had breast cancer or other breast surgeries. She spent three years developing, designing and funding AnaOno while juggling a full time job as VP for Development at Goldbug. She launched the company online in 2014 with 137 customers while working out of her Queen Village home.
“We were the first mastectomy bra sold on the internet,” Donofree says.
In 2017, the company raised a $600,000 venture capital seed round, allowing it to grow beyond Donofree’s Queen Village home and into its own space in Brewerytown. AnaOno—a play on Donofree’s name, without the “DD”—now employs seven people full time and has expanded to serve over 30,000 customers in nearly every country.
The company has been lauded by the FedEx Small Business Grant Contest, Intuit’s Small Business Big Game Contest, the Today Show and Forbes. And just last month, Donofree was named one of Inc.com’s most inspiring female founders for 2021.
For Donofree, the most inspiring female founder award spoke not only to her story of surviving breast cancer and creating a lingerie line for women who had been affected by the disease, but also to her experiences as a female founder, pitching her business to boardrooms of male executives when she raised her first round of capital in 2017, when The Philadelphia Citizen last spoke with her.
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She recalls struggling to get male investors to understand her business and going into boardrooms where she was the only woman when she went to pitch her ideas. Her experience raising that first round, is part of why she’s waited until this year to start fundraising again.
“I think being identified not just as a woman in business but really being recognized as a female-centered company and mission was really meaningful,” Donofree says. “I just feel so honored, especially as a woman leader. I want to inspire the next generation. I want the next generation to feel like they can accomplish anything and it doesn’t matter what their gender is.”
Though Donofree did not share exact sales figures, Inc. reported that the company is on track to hit $3 million in revenue this year—nearly double last year’s figures. This year, the business is entering its second fundraising round, with the goal of bringing in a million dollars by early next year. They’ve expanded to serve people who have had breast augmentations, reductions and gender affirming surgeries as well as breast cancer patients and survivors.
Feeling beautiful after surgery
Currently, there are more than 3.8 million women in the U.S. with a history of breast cancer. That number is expected to go up throughout 2021 as many women skipped breast cancer screenings during the pandemic. An estimated 281,550 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 49,290 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in 2021. Donofree hopes to one day be able to reach all of them.
“I think what is scarier today than yesterday is that breast cancer has officially surpassed lung cancer as the leading type of cancer,” Donofree says. “Covid didn’t cancel cancer. There were a lot of delayed screenings, there were a lot of delayed surgeries, there were a lot of challenges that the cancer community faced during these last 18 months.”
AnaOno’s bras are underwireless and incorporate four-way stretch, making it easy for wearers to move in them. They are made with gentle materials to avoid exacerbating any pain breast cancer patients may feel post-surgery.
Customers can shop by treatment type, body type or bra type. Some of the bras are front closure, making it easy for people to take them on and off after surgery. Others are designed to accommodate the detachable drain pouches many people need post-surgery. Bras are also available for people who haven’t had reconstruction and who choose to live flat-chested.
All AnaOno bras are named after patients and models who have been affected by breast cancer, like the company’s recently released Maggie Bra—meant to be worn flat—named after ballerina Maggie Kudirka, who was diagnosed with stage four metastatic breast cancer at age 23. The two women met about a month after Kudirka’s diagnosis in 2014, when Donofree reached out to offer her support.
Before her diagnosis, Kudirka was a ballerina with the New York City’s Joffrey Concert Group, but she had to put her career on hold as she underwent treatment. She’s lived with metastatic breast cancer for the last seven years, documenting her journey on the Instagram page @baldballerina. She has chosen to live flat throughout this time.
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Donofree was inspired by Kudrika’s journey with cancer and knew she wanted to design a bra for people who choose to live flat. She notes that even without breasts, a bra can help women feel sexy and it can help them regain their confidence in bodies that may bear scars from surgeries, especially when treatments may last for several years, as Kudrika’s have.
“The bra is just a bra, but it helps aid in your confidence and your beauty and how you feel about your body,” Donofree says. “We want to empower feeling as beautiful as you possibly can at any moment of your life.”
You can watch a sweet video of the two women celebrating the release of the Maggie bra earlier this month, dancing to Flo Rida’s “Low.” Kudrika wrote in the caption: Dana names her gorgeous bras in honor of breast cancer patients who inspire her and have an amazing story. I am excited to say her latest bra designed for women who have gone flat but anyone can wear it is named the Maggie!!!! I am honored to have a bra named after me. Dana and I had to celebrate with a dance showing you can be flat or have boobs you can rock the Maggie.
“Boob-inclusive lingerie”
AnaOno has partnered with several nonprofits to help support education about breast cancer and to give bras to people who need them. Through Pink Warrior Advocates, AnaOno gives away 25 bras per month to people who can’t afford them as part of a bra assistance program. So far, they have given away over 500 bras to those in need.
For each bra purchased in Donofree’s Natrelle Inspires line, one is given away to a breast cancer patient who was diagnosed within the last 12 months, resulting in over 300 donations. Donofree’s goal is to give away 1,000 bras through the line by the end of the year.
“I like to call it a boob-inclusive lingerie line,” Donofree says. “We’re not only just focused in on supporting our breast cancer community, but really celebrating, and supporting people with all different breast surgeries.”
In October, the business donated 10 percent of its net proceeds to Living Beyond Breast Cancer, a nonprofit that provides information and community support to people with breast cancer in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month.
“Our biggest impact is being able to support the community,” Donofree says. “Not everybody has the ability to buy everything it is they need.”
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The company has also taken steps to promote inclusivity and to recognize that not just women have breast cancer or breast surgeries. AnaOno’s site tries to use gender-inclusive language to recognize that it’s not just women with breast cancer who undergo breast augmentations, reductions and mastectomies. People who have breast surgeries for other reasons may still need and want bras that meet their needs.
“I like to call it a boob-inclusive lingerie line,” Donofree says. “We’re not only just focused in on supporting our breast cancer community, but really celebrating, and supporting people with all different breast surgeries.”
She plans to continue growing the business to reach more people and offer more products. The company’s second fundraising round, with the ambitious goal of raising a million dollars by early next year, will help increase their marketing efforts and help expand into products like swimwear.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” Donofree says. “I really am truly so passionate about what I do and I know I am so lucky to not only get to be here to do it but to also really service my community.”
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Header photo: Founder Dana Donofree | Courtesy of AnaOno