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From Patient to Pioneer:
Kim Haley’s Medebra Journey
Fifteen years ago, Kim Haley of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, woke up from a double mastectomy and immediately knew something had to change.
“I was disgusted,” she says, recalling how she found herself wrapped head to toe in bandages. “It was like being mummified.” When she voiced her frustration, her doctor told her, “Your mission is to design something better.” And so, she did.
From that moment, Kim — a construction industry veteran with zero experience in fashion or medical wear — began an extraordinary journey. She designed and patented the Medebra, a post-surgical garment that offers support, comfort and dignity to patients recovering from breast surgery and more. The bra is reimbursable at 80% of the cost by Medicare and private insurance — for as many bras as medically deemed for each patient.
“I didn’t even know how to sew a button,” Kim laughs. “I’m in construction.”
With the help of a mentor in Hialeah’s garment district and manufacturing partners in Colombia, she launched the Medebra from scratch. Early sales were humble — just $325 in the first month. Kim and her son, Shaun Findlan, hand-stuffed and shipped each product themselves.
Word spread quickly in the breast cancer survivor community, especially among dragon boat racers in Broward County. Hospitals began placing orders — not just for mastectomy patients, augmentations, breast lifts and reconstruction, but for a range of procedures: heart surgery, dialysis, biopsies, even chest ports for chemotherapy. The Medebra’s design proved both functional and inclusive, providing comfort regardless of gender. It also represented a cost savings to the facilities.
Today the Medebra is used by numerous hospitals nationwide and is beginning to reach international markets. Kim and Shaun still handle distribution themselves, committed to personally responding to each order within 24 hours, although they are looking into different distribution channels as they scale.
“We didn’t go with a distributor, and we think that’s a good thing for us,” she says. “We’ve worked very hard on this brand. It’s my baby.”
Kim is pushing for surgical centers to provide patients with a Medebra both during and after their hospital stay. “You’re in it 24/7, so you should have more than one,” she explains. But it’s not just about increasing her sales, it’s about improving the patient experience. Medebra is making a long overdue humanitarian change in patient care.
One hospital buyer put it best: “I don’t picture you as a vendor. I picture you as a patient advocate.” Kim agreed: “Yes, I am.”
For Kim, this is more than a product — it’s a purpose. And she credits her ability to grow Medebra in large part to the certification she obtained through the Women's Business Enterprise National Council. “I would never have been able to break into this industry without that WBENC certification,” she says. “It opened doors and gave us the credibility we needed.”
Whenever she hears about women being sent home wrapped in bandages, Kim is reminded of why she started. “How you send them home physically and mentally affects how they are going to heal,” she says. “This is truly a mission.”
Visit Kim's website
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