We recently connected with Jamie Shultz and have shared our conversation below.
Jamie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’re complete cheeseballs and so we love asking folks to share the most heartwarming moment from their career – do you have a touching moment you can share with us?
One of the most meaningful moments happened while I was still a patient sitting in an infusion chair myself. After years of struggling with port access and trying everything imaginable to keep numbing cream in place, I created Port Protect to solve a problem I lived with every month.
When the first real product finally arrived, I brought it to my infusion center. The nurses who had cared for me throughout my journey gathered around to see it. Some of them cried as they held it and told me how many patients they believed it would help. Sitting there in the same infusion chair where the idea was born, hearing that from the people who had witnessed my struggles firsthand, was incredibly emotional. It was the moment I realized Port Protect was no longer just something to help me. It had the potential to help countless other patients too.
Jamie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Jamie Shultz, and I am the founder and inventor of Port Protect, a patient-designed medical device created to improve the experience of chest port access.
Port Protect was born from my own journey as a patient. For more than seven years, I relied on a chest port for treatments related to multiple chronic illnesses. While many people focus on the treatment itself, one of the most stressful parts for me was preparing for port access. I struggled to keep numbing cream in place, dealt with adhesive allergies, and often found myself using makeshift solutions that were messy, uncomfortable, and unreliable.
After years of experiencing these challenges firsthand, I realized there had to be a better way. That simple idea eventually became Port Protect: a single-use adhesive cover designed to help keep topical numbing cream securely in place before port access. While it is a simple product, it solves a very real problem that thousands of patients face every day.
What makes Port Protect different is that it was created by a patient, for patients. Every detail was designed from lived experience and refined through conversations with nurses, caregivers, and other patients. I understand the anxiety that can come with treatment days because I lived it myself.
Today, Port Protect serves patients of all ages, including children and adults undergoing chemotherapy, infusions, and other treatments requiring chest port access. Beyond the product itself, our mission is to improve the patient experience and raise awareness about the small challenges that can have a big impact on quality of life during treatment.
What I am most proud of is not the patent or the product itself, but the stories we hear from patients and families who tell us that Port Protect made treatment days a little easier. Whether it helps reduce anxiety for a child before a port access or gives a patient one less thing to worry about during a difficult season, those moments remind us why we started.
Our long-term goal is simple: we hope to see Port Protect available through hospitals, infusion centers, and healthcare systems so that patients do not have to pay out of pocket for a solution that improves their care experience. We are still a small company, but every patient, nurse, caregiver, and healthcare partner who shares our mission helps move us one step closer to that goal.
At the heart of everything we do is a belief that innovation does not always have to be complex. Sometimes the best ideas come from patients who simply want to make life a little easier for the next person walking the same path.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
The most effective strategy for growing our clientele has been simple: being genuine.
As a patient-founded company, we have never approached growth by trying to be the loudest voice in the room. Instead, we focus on being honest about who we are, why we created Port Protect, and the problem we are trying to solve. Patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals can tell when your intentions are genuine.
We believe in showing up as ourselves, listening to feedback, and putting patients first. Many of our strongest relationships have come from authentic conversations rather than traditional sales tactics. When people see that you truly care and are committed to helping others, trust naturally follows.
In healthcare especially, trust is everything. Being honest, staying true to your mission, and always acting with good intentions has been far more valuable than any marketing strategy we’ve tried.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One lesson I’ve had to unlearn is that caring more isn’t always the same thing as helping more.
As the founder of a patient-focused company, I get incredibly attached to the people we serve. I cry over customer messages. I think about patients long after our conversations end. When someone shares a diagnosis, a setback, or the loss of a loved one, it stays with me.
In the beginning, I felt responsible for carrying every story and helping everyone in every way I could. Over time, I learned that while empathy is one of my greatest strengths, it can also be emotionally overwhelming if I don’t set boundaries.
It’s especially challenging because we’re not selling a trendy product or something people simply want. Most people discover Port Protect during one of the hardest seasons of their lives. There is nothing easy about marketing to patients who are facing cancer, chronic illness, or long-term treatment. Some days it feels uncomfortable to even call it marketing because what I really want is for people to feel seen, supported, and a little less alone.
I’ve had to learn that I don’t have to personally carry every burden to make a difference. Sometimes helping means creating a solution, sharing a story, raising awareness, and trusting that those small acts can have a meaningful impact. I still cry. I still get attached. But I’ve learned that caring deeply is not a weakness. It’s the reason Port Protect exists in the first place.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.port-protect.com
- Instagram: @portprotect
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1UP5SPn3hv/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8scL9NG/
