Mrs. Julie DeFruscio, President, Pump Wear Inc., P.O. Box 633, Latham, NY 12110. Website: Pump Wear Inc.; Phone Toll-Free: 1-866-470-PUMP.
Pump Wear Inc. offers specialty clothing, accessories, and several kinds of insulin pump cases for men, women, and children. Started in April of 2001 the company went “live” online in August 2001 with only six products. Today the company offers more than 750 items and continues to add more each month. Based in Latham, New York, Pump Wear Inc. is established as corporation and has three employees.
After graduating high school Julie DeFruscio was hired as a switchboard operator by GMAC. While working her way up to the position of accounting manager she attended college at night and online from 1978 to 2002.
In 1994 Julie earned a Bachelors degree in business from Empire State College. She was studying for a Masters degree when her third child was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Inspired by her young daughter, in April 2001, Julie started her own retail specialty clothing company, Pump Wear Inc.
Julie is married and has three children (Adam, Patrick, and Nikki) who have type 1 diabetes and serve as a constant inspiration for her. Her children help out in the office and her, husband, Mark, does dishes, laundry, cooks dinner, and anything else that needs to be done. When asked “How do you do it all?” Julie replies, “I don’t. I have a phenomenal support system.”
When Julie's youngest child, Nikki, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes she had no idea that her two sons would also be diagnosed two years later. When Nikki went on an insulin pump it hurt Julie to see her beautiful little girl walking around with an ugly, medical contraption strapped to her back. After crying for 3 days she began looking for pump wear for children.
Finding none, she gave a friend some of Nikki’s shirts to have pouches sewn into them. Being able to wear “normal” clothing made Nikki and her mom much happier. Julie then decided to create products for other children so that they could feel better, too.
Julie had no prior small business experience so when she began approaching manufacturers she met with a lot of resistance. When several manufacturers told her not to waste her time and effort because her idea would not succeed Julie’s response to the rejection was “Just try and tell a mom ‘no’ when their child is involved and all you want to do is make things better for them.” She dug her feet in, “I was going to come up with things to make other kids happy and would not let anyone convince me otherwise.”
Julie gives kids who have to wear a medical device 24 hours a day attractive and fun options to choose from.
Julie did not have a mentor to help her along the way but she did have a long-time friend, Dawn Juneau, who believed her ideas. They tackled challenges together to find solutions. Julie states, “We did everything three times because we had to do it wrong twice but when you make a mistake it is just one step closer to getting it done the right way.” Julie makes it a goal to learn something new every day.
Julie regularly holds brain-storming sessions that include her children. She takes to heart the ideas and suggestions of other insulin pump users when coming up with new product lines.
Like many women entrepreneurs, Julie works long hours and rarely takes a day off. She takes a Blackberry and cell phone whenever she’s on the go to stay on top of things. “No one is the wiser when I am returning calls or emails while sitting in the pediatrician’s office.”
But even with the long hours she feels her entire family benefits from having her around. While other families might fold under the financial and emotional strain of having three children with diabetes, the DeFruscio family pulled together to turn a hardship into a thriving business that provides a product they can all feel good about.
Julie is living the same diabetes life that her customers do so her business decisions come from personal experience steeped in compassion. Because she understands how isolating diabetes can be she started a new networking system for other parents of children with diabetes.
In April 2008, families attended a camp retreat where they met other families living with diabetes. Pump Wear Inc. organized this event, and along with its many wonderful sponsors, gave 14 families a totally free family retreat weekend. Pump Wear, Inc. plans to make the retreat an annual event.
Many women have wonderful ideas but are afraid to put them into action because they have bills to pay. But everything in life is a risk so you must also think about the rewards that come with building something you can call you own – being able to take care of my own family while making things better for others was worth the risk.
Don’t be discouraged by the negativity of others even when you make mistakes. Learning from mistakes just takes you one step closer to meeting your ultimate goal. There will always be people who will tell you all the things you cannot do. I would rather hear from those who can see the whole picture and will tell me what I can do. Surround yourself with people who see what see. Always believe in the positive side of things; the more optimistic we are the better things turn out.
