Growing up in a loving home, Lori Vanhapelto’s early experience in care and compassion has led to her forging strong bonds with her customers at Brand New You Mastectomy Boutique.

So it’s no surprise that when she endured her own health crisis, she found compassion coming back to her.

“Many of my clients, who have become good friends, were unbelievably supportive through my own journey with cancer,” Lori says.

That is the trait that has defined her 40-year career, which has included work as a pharmacy technician and home health-care customer service representative. As part of one of her jobs she was trained to fit surgical compression stockings and post-mastectomy products. A Certified Post Mastectomy fitter, she purchased Brand New You in 2004 and is the sole employee.

Based out of her own home, Lori provides discreet, personal one-on-one service to women who have gone through breast cancer. She also visits clients who are undergoing treatment and not able to leave their residence. All her services are by appointment.

“Wherever they are in their journey — whether it be a camisole that can be worn after surgery or a pocketed bra and prosthesis — I can accommodate their needs. Getting back to a normal life and looking and making my client feel ‘brand new’ again is my goal,” she explains.

She has also been working with a plastic surgeon whose clients require post-surgical compression garments.

“I am not driven by profits and bottom lines,” Lori states. “My success is based on satisfying each client during their cancer journey.

“My motivation comes from seeing a client’s smile, and sometimes tears, after I have fitted them with a prosthesis and bra.”

Lori herself has experienced the highs and lows that come with a devastating medical diagnosis. A tumour was discovered behind her right eye and she underwent 30 doses of radiation, to no avail. This spring, her right eye had to be removed. Six weeks after the procedure, she was fitted with a prosthetic.

As a testament to her commitment, Brand New You did not falter during her ordeal. “Throughout the course of my appointments, treatments and many trips to Toronto,” she says, “I did not stop running my business.”