To celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD), we’re featuring some of the inspiring female innovators whom ATI2 have had the privilege to work with, whether they have shared their knowledge with our community, have spoken at our events or have been supported by our project.
These women are changing the world in their own unique way and improving it for the better. Here is our spotlight on women in innovation.
IWD SPOTLIGHT: Samantha Jackman
Founder of Boost Innovations
“International Women’s Day for us is about giving our customers a voice to share what they think about our products and share that woman to woman… We are also looking more internationally because we want to get our products to more women around the world. We want to empower more women, particularly more women of colour or women of different ethnic backgrounds, of different skin tones because the current market solutions tend to be quite western” – Samantha Jackman, Founder of Boost Innovations.
Meet Samantha Jackman, Founder of Boost Innovations, who built her beautiful breast-form business after her mum had a mastectomy as part of her breast cancer treatment. Listening to her mum’s experiences with existing breast forms on the market, which tended to be beige silicone gel and were hot, sweaty, uncomfortable, and unsuitable for an active lifestyle, she soon realised that other women felt the same. Thus, Boost was formed.
The Boost breast form is completely different to any other on the market. First and foremost, it doesn’t try to replicate the chicken fillet look of the past. It is more of a statement piece and its focus is on design, shape and comfort. As you will see, Samantha’s breast forms are available in bright, beautiful colours, such as raspberry pink and turquoise blue. They have even been known to make a bespoke, white glitter-infused version for a customer’s wedding day, which is one of her “proudest” achievements she says.
“We want to empower people beyond the traditional stereotype of what a breast prosthesis or a breast form might look like. And to move away from the skin tones or representations of people’s body parts to a more feel-good product where people are empowered to have something that makes them feel a little bit more awesome” says Samantha.
“It’s something they pick up in the morning and can give them a sense of joy rather than being a reminder of something terrible or something difficult that’s happened to you and it’s a different kind of relationship. So, we’ve been really building on that for International Women’s Day” she explains.
The Acceleration Through Innovation project helped to support Boost in the early development of their breast form, back when we first met in 2018. More recently, Samantha has been able to secure some external funding and investment from the British design Fund, allowing her, and a small team, to work full-time on her business, which has been “transformational” she says.
Now, with additional resources and investment, Boost is continuing to innovate and has a couple of other threads of innovation bubbling away in the background, including a crop top to comfortably hold their breast form and a 3D scanning digital platform to improve the accuracy of measuring and choosing the correct sizing for a breast prosthesis, as well as improving the experience for their customers
In recognition of her work, Samantha has recently been awarded one of the 10 Highly Commended spots in the Natwest and Telegraph 100 Female Entrepreneurs to Watch List. We look forward to continuing to follow her inspirational journey and commend all her achievements this International Women’s Day.
