We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Melissa Watson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Melissa below.
Alright, Melissa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
I am the owner of a successful custom Healthcare Scrub Brand called Nikao Scrub Solution. This is not where the story began. In 2018 I started my first business called Scrub Solutions. It was not successful at all. As I made the money, I spent the money. In June 2020, my whole life changed. I was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal cancer. I had cancer in my breast, lungs, kidneys, and liver. Although I was told what the diagnosis was; I did not fully understand what that meant. Ironically, not knowing how severe my condition was actually helped me keep my faith. I never had any health problems, so I was devastated after learning of my diagnosis. I had one treatment before leaving the hospital and my treatment plan started a month later.
The thought of losing my hair was the first thing that hit my mind. Everybody that knows me knows how much my hair means to me. That hurt me so bad because my hair was my strength. I combed my hair one last time and put it in a ponytail and kept it in a bonnet to avoid combing or looking at it because I knew my hair was going to fall out. After I had worn the bonnet for a few months, my sister came over and took the bonnet off and my hair was off of my scalp. She cut the strands that was still attached, and I immediately put the bonnet back on because I wasn’t ready to accept this new reality. I was completely heartbroken.
In August 2020, I started my treatment plan which consisted of 10 rounds of chemotherapy. My doctor told me that I would be on chemo for the rest of my life. Even with that in mind, at my eighth round, I decided I did not want chemo anymore. I was exhausted; it was becoming difficult for me to breathe, and I was afraid of that feeling. So, I told my doctor that I was stopping the treatment. My doctor responded by ordering a PET scan to determine whether or not stopping the treatment was a safe option. I really had no clue how severe my condition had progressed prior to my diagnosis and I did not know the prognosis of my life was not promising. I never asked my doctor any questions because I was not ready for the answers. Negative thoughts I did not keep. I went back to see my doctor on September 19, 2021, for the results and she opened my scan report, started crying, and I saw that she had written “A miracle!”.
She explained to me what that meant which was my body was cancer free. This is very uncommon for many others facing cancer at stage 4 and have spread to vital organs. It wasn’t until that day that I learned how severe my condition was. My faith got even stronger that day. Once God healed my body, my confidence got stronger, and I manifested my brand, Nikao. Nikao is a Greek word that means to overcome/prevail/be victorious. I wrote that word down in 2018 after listening to a Wednesday morning prayer and told myself that this would be the name of my scrub line. God gave me a vision and I started building Nikao Scrub Solutions. My brand is now connected to my life. Nikao is a stylish custom healthcare scrub brand that offers style, quality, and comfort for all professionals at an affordable price. I launched Nikao on March 5, 2022, and my world has changed for the better.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
The brand I provide is called NIKAO. NIKAO is a Greek word in the Bible that means to overcome/to prevail/to be victorious. My brand provides quality style and affordable pricing. This was an idea that came across my mind working at a hospital facility. We were getting ready for hospital week. We had no ideas. Something came into my head saying let’s bring a scrub vendor to the hospital for hospital week for a red light went off in my head,”You should sell scrubs”! In 2017 I started googling Scrub vendors I was not lucky. As I continue to search, I ran across one scrub brand that was going out of business. I talked them into selling me everything that was on sale and that’s how I got started in 2018. In 2022 of March I launched my brand NIKAO Scrub Solutions. It has been a good journey. I’ve learned that timing is everything when you’re building a brand you do not rush the process. When building a brand if your mind is on the money that’s called a hustle in my opinion. The thing that I’m most proud of was starting my brand, being creative, and consistent! Being a first time business owner you expect things to happen a certain way and when they don’t that’s a little discouraging.
What sets my brand apart from others is that it was built on the back of a single mother/stage four cancer survivor !No loans No help! I am a stage four cancer survivor my brand Stands with me. I am an Overcomer. I am a survivor and I did prevail, I am NIKAO!
Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.
How I found my manufacturing company was on Playhouse. I met someone that had their own manufacturing company in China. Very good consistent met with me flew out to meet with me. Customer service was top notch! I learned that working with manufacturing companies out of the country could be a big hassle when it’s time to reproduce for me Covid hit I could not reproduce my products from my main vendor because of Covid and I had no back up plan. From my experience, I would say try to have a vendor in the states and have a back up plan because you never know what may happen. Somethings are out of our control in business, especially dealing with men.!
Any fun sales or marketing stories?
Marketing is one of the hardest things if you’re not a creative person for me, I thought I wasn’t creative but one of my marketing pitches was going to a hospital one of the major hospitals in Houston and giving away my product but the deal was that whomever I decided to give us it to. They had to take off their current uniforms and put a NIKAO uniform set in order to get an NIKAO set for free. That goes back to me saying when you have a brand is not about the money it’s about getting your brand out.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nikaoscrubsolutions.com
- Instagram: Nikao Scrub Solutions
- Facebook: Nikao Scrub Solutions
- Linkedin: Nikao Scrub Solutions
Image Credits
Candice Easley Right Time Studio