Pumped By Pink Power
Samantha (Sam) Bernacky remembers well the day she was diagnosed with breast cancer in September, 2009. "First I cried really hard for about ten minutes," says Bernacky. "And then I told myself it was time to stop that and do something positive." Now in addition to her Bastrop based company, "Garments to Go", Bernacky is the co-owner of "Top This", Austin’s first and only newly-opened beauty, spa and resource center catering to cancer- fighting women and men from across the region.
"There is a real need for a one-stop place where anyone going through cancer treatment can find things like wigs, skin and hair care products and maybe a good massage," claims Bernacky. "I know there’s nothing like this in Austin, or maybe anywhere else right now." Top This (www.topthisaustin.com) has a stocked resource room, support groups, and information on everything from personal care to care givers." Future plans include health and beauty seminars in Austin and resources in Bastrop for assisting women try and buy the perfect wig.
With an abundance of energy and an infectious "anything’s possible"attitude, Bernacky’s first career in the fashion industry was as a West Coast based model who appeared in numerous films and commercials. Good looks were an important asset to the fomer Gucci model, and when the ravages of cancer treatments took hold, she fought back with her own plan to feel better by looking better. After six months of chemotherapy, three surgeries and 33 radiation treatments, Bernacky’s cancer is now in remission but her public fight against the disease has only just begun.
Bernacky’s Bastrop business, Garments to Go, a national provider of corporate apparel and uniforms, is currently awash in a sea of pink. Says Bernacky, "October is a month close to our hearts here because we help clients and customers locally and nationwide design custom shirts and items for their cancer fund-raisers. We do tons of tee shirts for big national fundraisers and then for local groups like the Bastrop sheriff’s department. It feels like we’re in all this together."
