Image Center Offers A Prescription For Caring | Former dental hygienist builds business to help cancer patients cope
Photo/Amanda Roberge
HEALTH MATTERS: Mary Aframe opened The Women's Image Center in Fitchburg in 2000. Since then the business, which supports breast cancer patients, has moved to Leominster and opened a location in Worcester.
Mary Aframe has made a successful business out of helping women feel confident and beautiful, though her boutique is not for everyone and clients are only loyal for the short-term.
She owns and operates The Women’s Image Center, which is a post-mastectomy boutique.
Aframe says she is honored to be even a fleeting part of women’s journeys, but is also genuinely delighted when they move on. That emotional concern and connection to her clients is the secret of her success.
“I have always seen my job as lessening their load,” she said. “Taking some of the burden out of the experience.”
One-On-One Space
The people who cross the threshold of The Women’s Image Center — with locations in Worcester and Leominster — may feel as though they are walking into an upscale lingerie shop or high-end salon. Each of the 1,800-square-foot offices — the Leominster location is part of the Erdman Way business park and the Worcester location is nestled in the Vernon Medical Center — is divided into smaller, more intimate spaces, with detailed decorating that diverts each client’s attention away from their illness.
“I wanted it to feel like they are coming to my house, or to a spa,” said Aframe. She has mimicked renowned Boston and Manhattan boutiques by storing her stock inside armoires and bureaus atop polished hardwood floors, and choosing calming colors on the walls with soothing art and décor.
As a certified mastectomy fitter — a distinction earned through the Board of Orthotics and Prosthetics — and a self-described “wigologist,” Aframe has made it her life’s work to help women shoulder the blow they face during cancer treatment or other times of transition and illness.
She assists clients with prosthetics, undergarments, swimsuits, camisoles and wigs — all of which she painstakingly shops around for so that she can carry the highest quality products on the market.
“A lot of people work with just one vendor, but I like to work with everyone,” she said, adding that she is committed to keeping a large and varied inventory. “I want women to have choices.”
Indeed, with more than 200 wigs in stock, there’s no shortage of options when you take a seat in the salon chair and let Aframe work her magic. And while insurance companies will generally cover the cost of one wig per year for chemotherapy patients — which is no small thing considering they can cost upwards of $250 — and special prosthetic articles of clothing like bras and camisoles are covered if they are prescribed by a doctor, Aframe makes it part of her job to take the stress out of the process.
“We work with the insurance companies, we do the talking and help keep the paperwork current,” she explains. “It’s one less thing for the woman to worry about — she needs to focus on getting well.”
It is important to Aframe that each woman feels with her what they might not during the other aspects of their treatment — that they are valuable individuals. Her policy is to give clients her full attention. There is no waiting room, and each appointment is one-on-one. So far, her model of personal care has worked: she relies exclusively on word of mouth and has developed a good rapport with oncologists and other specialists to keep the referrals coming.
She opened her first branch in Fitchburg in 2000 and held appointments, which were few and far between at first, while working around her full-time job as a dental hygienist.
Her clientele grew steadily over the course of the first five years, and by 2006, she had generated enough business to make the full-time switch and move to her current Leominster office.
She added the Worcester location last year, and finds herself now managing full bookings in both locations with a couple of part-time employees to help with office management.
“I had always wanted to work for myself,” she admits. “And I love what I do.”
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