A LOOK AT KARA

At the age of 26 years, two months after her "Mema" passed away after a long battle with breast cancer, Kara did a self breast exam in the shower. When she found a suspicious lump in her armpit area, she went to her doctor and was told she was “too young to worry.” She pushed for them to have 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.

After facing a double mastectomy, eight rounds of chemotherapy, four weeks of radiation, fertility treatments, a year of Herceptin treatments and 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.

It was a pair of mini pink boxing gloves given to her by her best friend's mom, Meg O'Hanlon, another breast cancer survivor, that always reminded her to stay strong and never give up.

A family friend was diagnosed a few years after Kara finished treatment. Kara knew she needed to send on her strength. So Kara packed up her boxing gloves along with some lipstick and beauty accessories and the first Pretty Package was sent.

Kara and her team of two at Fighting Pretty headquarters in Portland have started many new programs, received thousands of product donations from top cosmetic brands and most significantly have sent over 8,000 Pretty Packages to women battling all types of cancer, all over the world.

Kara and Fighting Pretty have been recognized by Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie on the Today Show, Kara has been featured as an "empowered woman who empowers women" by Gap Body, and was the Ulta Beauty survivor featured in the 2018 October campaign. Kara is on the board of the American Cancer Society and works full time as the Marketing Manager at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute.

Kara has just reached her tenth year as a cancer survivor and lives healthy and happily in Portland, Oregon with her dog (and Fighting Pretty mascot) Archie.