This day marks nearly a year since Ali Gilmore's 18th and final chemo cycle and she is celebrating with a nice, cold and frothy one in a mug of her own making.
Today, Ali is a thriving cancer survivor who is also a published author, a sports photographer who's most exciting assignment to date was capturing David Beckham’s last game at the 2012 MLS Cup Final and now she's ringing in the new year as a virtual gift shop owner, offering inspiring gifts for cancer patients, survivors and caregivers worldwide.
“The book was my way of thumbing my nose at cancer while inspiring people to better prepare themselves to fight. The 'Show No Fear Gear' is meant to inspire as well as being a bit of a F.U. to the fear mongers", said Ali.
She came up with the idea while visiting her "BFF" back home in Seattle, over the Thanksgiving Holiday. Ali was frustrated by a series of articles and comments she'd come across that seemed to undermine the growing hope for late stage cancer survival.
"We were in the middle of a heart-to-heart on the subject when Ali spat out 'Sometimes I wish I had a big sign across my chest that says "I kicked cancer's ass, who's next..."' explained Michelle. "In that moment a spark hit and we knew we were onto something." The two spent the rest of the day designing prints and researching vendors.
After reading several reviews praising them for their print/product quality and customer satisfaction, it was decided to go with Colorado based Printfection for the store setup and operations. Using Plugins designed by Gavin Smith of Melbourne based Teeplates.com allowed them to bypass the need for any CSS skills for customization and integrate the store with the existing website.
Ali cherry picked each item in the shop: over-sized tea mugs, sporting water bottles, organic cotton tees for kids, ultra soft grownup hoodies and more, “Hydration, comfort and quality are the mantra here”, but she says her favorite item by far is the frosted beer mug. “I had so much fun photographing these, the way the light runs through them, how sturdy they are and the feeling I get every time I hoist the mug up to my lips and read 'I kicked cancer’s ass' is just brilliant." She goes on to say "With so many beer-centric cities in the US alone: Seattle, Portland, Chicago, San Diego, Denver, New York and Boston to name just a few, it would've been remiss not to carry them."
Find out more at: https://www.theccardandme.com/shop