Kara Frazier was only 26 years old when she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. To encourage her to keep fighting, her friend’s mom gave her a pair of mini pink boxing gloves. Those gloves reminded Kara that she was strong and beautiful. Three...
Kara Frazier was only 26 years old when she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. To encourage her to keep fighting, her friend’s mom gave her a pair of mini pink boxing gloves. Those gloves reminded Kara that she was strong and beautiful. Three years later, Kara passed those gloves on to another woman fighting her battle with cancer, and that was the beginning of Fighting Pretty!
The mission of Fighting Pretty is to remind every woman how strong and beautiful she is, especially if she's battling cancer. At the heart of Fighting Pretty’s work is the “Pretty Package”, a care package containing a scarf, a lipstick, words of inspiration, and most importantly, a pair of mini pink boxing gloves.
Since 2013, Fighting Pretty has sent over 10,000 pretty packages to women battling cancer. Kara and her team’s work has lifted so many women during their darkest times by providing hope, support, encouragement, and something pretty.
About Kara
Fighting Pretty founder, Kara (Skaflestad) Frazier had just mourned the death of her Mema, who passed away after a long battle with breast cancer. Kara was in the shower when she performed her first self-breast exam and found a suspicious lump in her armpit area. In December of 2008, at just 26 years old, she went to her doctor and was told she was “too young to worry.” Kara pushed for a closer examination, only to find out that she did, in fact, have stage 3 breast cancer, which is considered to be an advanced and invasive stage of the disease.
Kara faced a double mastectomy, eight rounds of chemotherapy, four weeks of radiation, fertility treatments, a year of Herceptin treatments. This was followed by hormone therapy that would last for a total of 10 years. Kara realized she wanted to go through this ordeal by “Fighting Pretty”—with a smile on her face, lipstick on her lips, and strength in her heart.
Since becoming a 501 c(3) non-profit organization in 2013, Fighting Pretty moved from Kara's apartment in New York City to a headquarters in Portland, Oregon, with two part-time employees. In just a few years, Fighting Pretty has impacted over 10,000 women battling all types of cancer in 50 U.S. states and 16 countries globally. Plus, Fighting Pretty has received over $1 million worth of product donations from top cosmetic brands to send to women battling cancer.
Kara works full time as the Marketing Manager at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute and devotes her life to helping cancer patients through their fight. Kara now lives healthy and happily in Oregon with husband Ben, her new step-daughter Aubrey and dogs Archie and Zulu.
Connect with Kara
Website https://www.fightingpretty.org
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FightingPretty/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/fightingpretty