We recently connected with Stephanie Villavicencio and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Stephanie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
My best friend Nadine was diagnosed with Stage 3 Triple Negative Breast Cancer at the age of 31 during the height of the pandemic. When I first found out I made a promise to myself that I would do whatever I could to help her. So, for the next few months, I was brainstorming ideas of how I could help fundraise for her. I took my time coming up with a phrase because I wanted it to be catchy. I’ll never forget the moment when my light bulb went off. I was driving home from the grocery story. The sun was setting behind the mountains and I thought to myself, “Tits Deep”.
The term ‘tits deep’ is commonly used in the ski/snowboard world to describe a chest deep powder day. It’s essentially every skier/boarders dream. My best friend Nadine and I were snowboard instructors in Aspen, we were powder day buddies (the saying goes, no friends on a pow day), and overall did everything in the mountains together. It couldn’t be a more fitting phrase. So, without telling anyone, I messaged my friend Kelly who’s an artist, and asked if she could help create a design for me. Once I received the graphic I ordered 250 stickers and started selling them for $5 out of my snowboard jacket. That sticker helped us raise over $11k in less than two months.
I couldn’t believe the amount of support we were receiving. People from all over the world were buying stickers. People that had no connection to me and Nadine were willing to support us. And that’s when it dawned on me that I started something that could help affect more young women seeking breast cancer treatment. So here we are today advocating, educating, providing outreach, and fundraising for young women.
I think what gets me the most excited is that people really want to be a part of this. I’ve met incredible women’s health physicians, medical experts, survivors, previvors, caregivers, and young women who get inspired to join our mission. And it’s a great conversation starter.
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
I got into this line of work by accident. I didn’t wake up one day and think, I’m going to start Tits Deep for Breast Cancer. It all started because I wanted to help my friend going through breast cancer treatment. And as another friend put it, “it mini-exploded.”
Our mission is to advocate, educate, provide outreach, and fundraise for young women seeking breast cancer treatment. What I love about Tits Deep is that we’ve found a way to bring together our love of the outdoors with uncomfortable topics – talking about tits. People really resonate with us and genuinely want to learn more. It’s an effective way to help educate young women and encourage them to become their own best advocates. Young women are amongst the highest mortality rate once diagnosed and because we’re told we don’t need to worry about getting mammograms until we’re 40, odds are against us when one of us gets diagnosed, because most young women are diagnosed at a later stage of breast cancer. Tits Deep wants to change that.
What sets us apart from others is that most breast cancer awareness organizations and initiatives are started by survivors. I myself am not a survivor or previvor. I’m a girl who lost her mom to breast cancer at the age of two. And then my best friend got diagnosed. I had to do something about it.
I am most proud of the community I’ve created. I’m proud that I discovered a way to be proactive within this space. My whole life I’ve felt distant from the breast cancer community and now here I am standing up for a cause that’s affected me for most of my life.
I want our community to know that Tits Deep is my purpose in life. And I will do whatever I can to fight for women’s breast health in order to see progress in the way we are treated.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I never ever thought that Nadine would pass away. She was cleared of cancer after undergoing a double mastectomy in March of 2021. Things were looking up for her. Then in December, she was in and out of the ER complaining of pain. By late January she was told her cancer was back and had spread. Stage 4. Words really cannot express the emotions I was feeling. How could medical centers with such high reputations miss her cancer? Why would they dismiss her and tell her that she had a torn ligament in her hip? One of the first signs of cancer spreading is… in the hip.
By March 2022 Nadine was gone. She was 33 years old. It all happened so quickly. During the last few months of her life rather than shutting down, I continued to show up for Tits Deep. I organized an all-day Ski fundraiser for her and was able to raise a few thousand dollars. As much as I wanted to crawl into a dark hole, I never once thought of running away from Tits Deep. And even still, I wish I could’ve done more for my friend.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Though I am no marketing guru, the Tits Deep for Breast Cancer Instagram page (@titsdeepforbreastcancer) gets a lot of traction. We don’t have a ton of followers, but those who find us and give us a follow are very engaged. A lot of our support comes from our page. Women learn about our events and sign up. People can stay up to date on our merchandise drops and can easily purchase from our link in bio. It’s a space where we can run campaigns on women’s health and where we can connect with other women within the space. I’ve met countless women who are either founders, medical professionals, previvors, or survivors who have either collaborated with us, joined our ambassador team, or who I’ve been able to provide outreach. It’s my favorite platform to form connections. My recent favorite story is this – @coloradobreasthhealth and I have been following each other for months now, but we’ve never met let alone spoken on the phone. And the week before our 2 Year Anniversary Party, Dr. Griffith messages me letting me know she’s trying to figure out her accommodation to drive to Aspen from Denver to attend. Lo and behold, she left straight from the OR in her scrubs and arrived to our celebration, in her scrubs. I was so giddy. She even stayed at my house. I now consider her a friend.
My advice for running your social media page is to engage with your audience. Reply to comments. Reply to your DM’s and make your followers feel seen. Tag other businesses in the space and don’t be afraid to message a business that you think might be a good fit for collaborating with.
Contact Info:
- Website: Titsdeepforbreastcancer.com
- Instagram: @titsdeepforbreastcancer
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TitsDeepForBreastCancer
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRPQ7rcFJQONdezFaWiueFg
Image Credits
Photo 1: Nikki Hausherr Photo 2: Kiley Rae