Don't Be Afraid To Ask For Help!

And more advice from Chaitenya Razdan, Founder & CEO of Care + Wear. A trusted brand in the Healthwear space, having reached millions of patients and clinicians on their mission to bridge fashion and function for a more human healthcare experience. What started as a personal mission to create a better PICC Line Cover for a friend going through chemotherapy has become a platform to reimagine how the world looks at and feels about healthcare through creating clothing and accessories that will make your day just a little bit easier and more comfortable.

Startup Idea

Eleven years ago, I had loved ones diagnosed with cancer. They were told to wear socks on their arms. I saw people wearing socks on their arms and thought, "Wow, this stinks. There's got to be something better." I began collaborating with nurses and doctors from Johns Hopkins and the University of Virginia to attempt to recreate the sock. While I was doing that, I took a step back and realized that whenever you go to the hospital, everything has always been focused on function, not on how it looks or how it makes you feel. I knew I wanted to build a brand in the healthcare space.

I wanted to bring the right people into the room to design and develop our products. That morphed into our three-pronged approach to product development and design. We work closely with nurses and doctors to ensure that our products are medically superior to those on the market. Secondly, we are working closely with the end user to ensure that the person wearing the product actually wants to wear it. Lastly, we incorporate a fashion and design approach to bring in the latest trends, technologies, and designs. Today, we sell both B2B and DTC and partner with over 80 hospital systems nationwide. Additionally, our products are available on our website, Amazon, and at retailers nationwide.

We started on the patient side. We actually didn't go on the clinician side until the pandemic in 2020. The feedback I've been getting from everyone when we started is that you do such a good job. Can you do the same thing for us? And the biggest piece of feedback we heard was that normally scrubs are either really ugly or super tight.

No one had designed scrubs specifically for individuals who are on their feet for 12 to 18 hours a day. And I think that was the biggest piece of feedback we heard was, "Hey, we wish that this had been designed for us who are on our feet all the time." We partnered with Josie Natori to design the scrubs because she's known for comfort. Her loungewear has been one of the world's best sellers for the last 50 years.

We have badge loops so you can leave your badges, and you can clip your walkie-talkie to it. We put all the pockets in the right spot for the right people. We were trying to be more thoughtful and, most importantly, create fabric and color designs that people are looking for.

1. Don't be afraid to ask for help!

In the early days, it was often a one-man show, and so being able to go out and ask people for help was essential. Today, we've had amazing partnerships with brands like Oscar de la Renta. We taught a class at Parsons School of Design. It was all because I met people and asked them for help.

I cold-emailed Morty Singer, who sits on the board of Parsons, and then he introduced me to Kay Unger, a legendary designer. Kay is a cancer survivor and an incredible human being. She said that we could partner together at Parsons and be involved in a class. And that class ultimately evolved into our patient gown, which is designed to help people feel more human in the hospital.

2. Be okay with not knowing the answer!

Too many people think I have to figure this out. I have to find the answer. For us, it's been to act as quickly as possible and learn from your mistakes. That's super important.

I still remember in the early days, we created our pickline cover. It was black, we're so excited. We started with Hopkins and the VA. They get in touch with me, saying, "Hey, the black is peeling on the bandage." We never had that problem. I even ran the Baltimore Marathon in our cover. It was not a fast run. So, it was on for a very long period of time. I said, "Guys, we haven't experienced this problem. We don't know why the black is peeling, but we want to work on this with you and figure it out." We eventually realized that we had been washing the garment before it was manufactured.

We learned that if you washed it a second time, that didn't happen. We were transparent with the nurses that we didn't know why this was happening. Instead of them being like, "We're never going to work with you. We're never going to use you." They took the opposite approach, wanting to help figure out what's wrong with this and why. That joint teamwork was super important.

3. Do something to get your mind off your business every once in a while!

I ran the Baltimore marathon. I run very slowly five days a week up and down the Westside Highway, and it's a good way to reset and take my mind off work. Now, I've become a nerd, and I run to How I Built This, and I really love it. It is a good opportunity to take your mind off business for a little while. And honestly, you get some of your best ideas when you're doing that. And so, don't be afraid to find a distraction and take care of yourself for sure.

4 Making it as a Solo Founder

I started the company. I brought two people on board as co-founders. I'm now the only one left, so I'm back to being a solo founder. More importantly, I've hired amazing people to lead our executive team and all that. When I started, I enjoyed doing things with other people, and that motivates me. It holds me accountable, etc. And so, I wanted to find other people who could be helpful. We had one who had been in the fashion industry before. And so, she helped us design tech packs and similar items, which I had no idea what they were. And I'm forever grateful for that. And then we had another who had been in sales and fashion, who again just understood that side of the world. I've learned that whether you're a solo founder or not, it matters, but not a lot. What does matter is having a sounding board and being able to turn to others for help.