Meet Lisa Crites

We recently connected with Lisa Crites and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Lisa with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
Definitely, my father. He was a consistent worker and provider for our family. He’s nearly 85 years old and still is at his farm in Missouri, on a daily basis, working on various growing, building, and/or farming related projects.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Lisa F. Crites is the award-winning inventor of The SHOWER SHIRT®, the first and only patented (US Patent No. 8,516,613), water-resistant garment to protect chest surgery patients while showering. Her patented invention, awarded for ‘design’ and ‘method of use,’ was created following her breast cancer diagnosis and bi-lateral mastectomy surgery. Reduced to showering in a plastic trash bag to keep her surgical drain sites dry (to decrease the chances of a water-borne illness), she was frustrated by the thought of future mastectomy patients being required to do the same; subsequently, she designed, engineered, and now distributes The SHOWER SHIRT® to post-mastectomy and general chest surgery patients all over the world.

A Class 1 Medical Device, the garment is available at more than 1,000 mastectomy boutiques nationwide, and a myriad of domestic and international e-commerce sites such as AMAZON, Walmart, ETSY, Health Products for You, and Pink Lotus. The product is exported to patients in Canada, England, Ireland, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Austria, Dubai, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, India, Turkey, South Africa, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and the Seychelles.

Lisa was a 2015 InnovateHER winner for her work and innovation in creating The SHOWER SHIRT®, an initiative to award inventors who create products to enrich the lives of women. The National InnovateHER series, sponsored by the SBA, Washington Post, and Microsoft, led her to travel as a guest of the US State Department to present at WE-APEC in Singapore. Lisa also received a 2015 Patient Innovation award from the University of Portugal, School of Business & Economics, and requested by Dubai ruler, King Sheik Mohammad, to present at the World Government Summit – Edge of Government exhibit in the United Arab Emirates. Additional international honors include a request from the London Science Museum to host The SHOWER SHIRT® for the museums Science Innovation Exhibit, which expands across 78 locations in Europe, where Lisa and The SHOWER SHIRT® are represented as one of the first Patient Innovation award series recipients.

Lisa has been featured in FORBES Magazine, the Huffington Post and Readers Digest; FOX News, CBS, NBC, CNN, and Lifetime TV’s, ‘The Balancing Act,’ discussing her invention and the legislative filing of the ‘Post Mastectomy Infection Reduction Act,’ sponsored by United States Congressman Bill Posey (R-FL) and Congressman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL).

A Health/Medical broadcast journalist, print columnist, corporate healthcare consultant, media strategist, guest speaker and obvious entrepreneur, Lisa has more than 30 years of experience in the field of health/medical journalism, corporate communications, news issue management and media relations. Lisa was the original Health/Medical television anchor/reporter for Central Florida News 13 (CNN-affiliate) in Orlando; her background in television also includes anchoring at America’s Health Network (now Discovery Health); reporting for ‘Success Central Florida’ on WKMG Local 6, also in Orlando, and feature reporter for the Travel Channel. Lisa consults with Gannett News Service as a broadcast media coach and works for both CNTV and NADA-TV as a medical television correspondent.

Lisa travels often for speaking engagements across the country and internationally discussing The SHOWER SHIRT® and her ongoing initiatives to support breast cancer survivors and related programs. Lisa frequently guest lectures at colleges and universities across the United States discussing ‘Social Entrepreneurship’ and the focus of multiple academic thesis on the topic.

Lisa’s philanthropic work includes being a member of the Cocoa Village Playhouse Board of Director’s, Digital Arts for Autism Board of Directors, Space Coast Early Steps, and an Emeritus of Driven By Heart, a national breast cancer support group. Lisa has volunteered for the Central Florida Second Harvest Food Bank and Central Florida Homeless Coalition for the past 30 years. Lisa earned her Bachelor of Science (BS) in Journalism from Murray State University, Murray Ky; and her Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master’s in Digital Marketing and eCommerce (MS) from the University of Barcelona, European School of Business, Barcelona, Spain.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Understanding that resilience is key. Quitting is easy, but moving forward is where you often fail, but often learn the most.

The acronym: FEAR; False Emotions Appearing Real: A term I often remind myself when an overwhelming amount of concern and fear come over me.

It’s more difficult to bring a product to market which has never resisted before, versus a product which exists, and then updated, and/or changed. This was a lesson learned for me when bringing The SHOWER SHIRT(R) to market. It was a product which had never existed before, so I knew attaining the patent was going to be difficult, while also brining it to market. I not only had to introduce the product to the market, but then teach on what it was to be used for since it had not ever existed in the past. Remember, breast cancer/chest surgery patients used trash bags before The SHOWER SHIRT was invented.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
My parents made me work during my summer college breaks. From lifeguarding at the local public pool, to being expected to work and help my mom around the house, to interning at the local radio station during my summer break since I was studying journalism. 

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