A perfect match: how bandages became inclusive, with Intisar Bashir & Dom Apollon - Episode 8

Made For Us

30-11-2023 • 30 mins

For many people of colour, wearing a plaster, or Band-Aid, that blends with their skin tone is a novel experience. While inclusive bandages are now widely available in countries like the UK and US, that's only happened in the last few years.

My two guests share their unique perspectives on this. Intisar Bashir is the co-founder and CEO of Browndages, one of the first companies to offer bandages in a range of skin tones, before giants like Johnson & Johnson seized on the opportunity. My other guest is Dom Apollon, whose 2019 tweet about the emotions he felt wearing a skin tone bandage for the first time went viral and inspired the UK supermarket chain Tesco to launch its own line of inclusive bandages.

In this episode we discuss:

  • How Browndages has responded to competition from larger players in the first aid care industry
  • What happened after Browndages’ appearance on 'Shark Tank'
  • Dom’s reflections on why his tweet resonated with people around the world

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Bios

Intisar Bashir and her husband Rashid Mahdi launched Browndages in 2018 after noticing that none of the bandages they purchased in stores matched the skin of anyone in their family. The couple live in Columbus, Ohio with their four children. Intisar comes from a family of entrepreneurs and has always aspired to follow in their footsteps.

Dominique (“Dom”) Apollon is a US-based racial and social equity professional and the founder of Apollon Research and Consulting. From 2008 to 2022, Dom led the Research Department at Race Forward, one of the largest racial justice organisations in the US. Dom lives in California, where he completed his PhD in Political Science at Stanford University.

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Learn more about Browndages

Website: www.browndages.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Browndages/

X: https://www.twitter.com/Browndages

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Learn more about Dom Apollon

Website: https://apollonresearchandconsulting.com/

X: https://twitter.com/ApollonTweets

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