Jamie Hoffpauir is a breast cancer survivor, and she is not a fan of pink ribbons.
“You get diagnosed, and it’s like, okay, now I’m expected to wear pink,” said the 48-year-old personal trainer and fitness instructor who was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer 14 years ago. “I was a co-founder of the Pink Ribbon Girls (an organization providing breast cancer support services) back in 2001, and I got out of the whole thing in 2002 because it was so depressing.”
Hoffpauir has spent her entire career in the health and fitness industry, and she owns her own fitness center, Train with Pauir, in Newport. However, after her diagnosis, she watched as her cancer began to make her feel out of place at the gym.
“I was always known as a good trainer and instructor," she said. "Then, suddenly, I was just known as the trainer who had cancer.”
Hoffpauir’s refusal to be defined by her diagnosis led her to launch her own line of athletic clothing last fall. Pauir Athletic Apparel sells fitness tops made especially for women who want to look and feel good while working out even if their mobility has been affected by breast cancer treatment. The workout tops include a front zipper so that wearers don’t have to raise their arms over their heads, flat seams for sensitive skin and places to insert prosthetics for women who have had mastectomies.
The idea came after Hoffpauir’s surgeries and radiation led to scarring and tight muscles, which gave her a drastically decreased range of motion. She struggled to put on standard athletic wear and was unimpressed with the look of products targeted at breast cancer patients and survivors. She quickly grew frustrated with her lack of options.
“I felt angry," she told me. "Not only do I have to go through this, but I also have to wear stupid clothes.”
Looking back on her experience, Hoffpauir wanted to help make things easier for other women, so she created a Kickstarter campaign last November with the goal of raising $15,000 to start her own athletic clothing line. She raised $17,000 in 30 days.
“I waited until after Breast Cancer Awareness Month on purpose,” she said. “I wanted to stand out and not blend in with every ribbon-whatever.”
Her online business went live in March, and she also sells through Shopify and Facebook. Current offerings are the Pauir workout top and the Pauir wrap, which can be used as a head cover or a headband.
The next step for Hoffpauir is looking for opportunities to boost sales. She has been visiting local oncologists, and she wants to connect with small businesses and women’s centers like the one at St. Elizabeth Medical Center.
“I don’t think I’m all that great at sales,” Hoffpauir said. “My target audience is the very group of people who scare me to death. I know I need to dive into the cancer community.”
As many as 300,000 women receive breast cancer diagnoses each year, and despite her hesitancy to engage with the mainstream breast cancer awareness movement, Hoffpauir is very vocal about the importance of exercise during treatment.
“There’s no ifs, and or buts. You need to work out to improve your chances of survival,” she said.
Recently, Hoffpauir found a way to use her passion for fitness to rejoin the local community in which she once felt uncomfortable — she reconnected with Pink Ribbon Girls and is training a group of women for the Queen Bee half marathon.
“I was too freaked out (back in 2002) about my own stuff to really be of any help,” she said. “But I love being in the workout world and giving back in that way. I can be involved in a way that’s comfortable for me.”
Throughout her treatment, Hoffpauir’s oncologist, Dr. Robert Cody of Christ Hopital Physicians, urged her to put her fitness background to use within the cancer community, continually asking how she planned to give back.
“I saw him last week,” Hoffpauir said. “And I said, 'Hey, you know how you told me to do something? Well, this is what I did.'”