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THE
BACKGROUND
Feel
Your Boobies® was founded in 2004 after our Founder,
Leigh Hurst, was diagnosed with breast cancer at the
age of 33. She found her lump simply by “feeling her
boobies”, not through a formal self-breast exam.
What originally started as a few fun t-shirts she
designed to remind her friends to “feel their
boobies”. She quickly realized that her mission was
much larger than tshirts alone. Since that
realization, the Feel Your Boobies Foundation’s “Are
You Doing It?” Reminder Campaign has become an
international media campaign that focuses 100% on
using unexpected & unconventional methods to spread
this life saving message to young women.
Why use unexpected and unconventional methods? Well,
based on Leigh’s experience, many young women tune
out traditional messages about breast cancer because
they don’t believe they are at risk or the messages
are too clinical. Here at Boobies Central, we know
that research shows that simply “feeling your
boobies” (aka “breast awareness) is just as
effective at identifying lumps or other breast
changes as the traditional step-by-step process of
“breast self-exams”. And that’s exactly why we’re
here -- to give you “a friendly reminder when you
least expect it”. So get feeling girls, and remind a
friend to do the same. |
HOW
WE'RE REMINDING THE WORLD
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THE
MISSION
We
have one mission and one message, and we have since
2004. Over the past few years, provocative breast
cancer slogans have become more popular…and while
we’re all about a good chuckle, we’d like to make
sure our supporters know that we’re more than a
funny slogan. Feel Your Boobies is a call to action
that reminds you about a habit that can increase
your chances of early detection and potentially save
your life. Our mission is to use unconventional and
unexpected methods to remind young women to “feel
their boobies” and give them simple ways to remind
their friends to do the same.
Why are we so dedicated to this one specific
mission? For women who are pre-mammogram age (under
40), “feeling your boobies” is one of the primary
ways to get to know your body and detect changes in
your breasts. Even as you get older, this habit can
help in making sure you identify a change in your
breast as soon as it occurs and bring it to your
doctor’s attention. Should the change be breast
cancer, early detection is the primary way to
increase your chances of surviving this disease.
Can this simple reminder actually make a difference?
Absolutely! Our campaign has resulted many young
women letting us know it’s the reason they felt
their breasts for the first time. While simple in
its meaning, our message focuses on creating
behavior change, and that makes our campaign more
than just a funny slogan. Feel Your Boobies is
saving lives.
Click here to read our testimonials.
ABOUT THE FOUNDER
Like
so many young women diagnosed with breast cancer,
Leigh’s breast cancer diagnosis seemed to come from
out of nowhere. Having been an avid runner &
triathlete and having no family history of the
disease, the words “breast cancer” rarely even
crossed her mind. But after feeling a lump in her
breast that was undetected by doctors and finding
out two years later that this lump in fact was
cancer (Stage 1), Leigh realized that truly anyone
is at risk of developing breast cancer and that
being in touch with your body can help ensure an
early diagnosis and possibly save your life. She
also wondered why, as a health conscious person, she
had not thought more about breast cancer and came to
the conclusion that the messages that are out there
simply don’t get through to young women. From this
basic idea, Feel Your Boobies was born.
Having spent her career focused on consulting in the
area of learning theory, media strategy and behavior
change, Leigh was familiar with honing messages to
match her audience. She holds a Bachelors Degree in
Communications from Ithaca College and went on to
earn two Master’s Degrees (Florida State &
Northwestern University) in the areas of Learning
Sciences & Simulation Technologies. She worked for
Accenture doing business consulting in the area of
eLearning, and helped several small companies create
and launch their eLearning product lines. This
background helped her create a campaign that is not
only spreading this lifesaving message to an
underserved audience, it’s actually saving lives.
To read more about Leigh’s story or to inquire about
speaking engagements, visit
SaySomethingBig.com.
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THE
ORIGINAL T-SHIRT
THAT STARTED IT ALL
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