Meet Han Pham | Creator of SCOPE

We had the good fortune of connecting with Han Pham and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Han, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Before I started my business, SCOPE, I was actually a pre-nursing student. I believe it was my third year in college when I finished all of my pre-requisites and was finally ready to apply to nursing school. Fast forward through the application process, I got into a BSN (Bachelor Science in Nursing) program in 2019! Unfortunately, COVID made an introduction a few months before the program was about to start.. Therefore, our program was deferred for a year which meant I had a year of no schooling. During this year, I got a job as a medical assistant at a Gastroenterology clinic working full time. This started my search for scrubs! To my surprise… they were quite expensive if you wanted the more stylish and trendy brands. Prices ranged from $80-100 a set which was absolutely unreal to me. How could a medical uniform for healthcare workers cost so much when the fabric and workmanship of these scrubs don’t seem to add up to that price? I ended up purchasing my scrubs from Amazon for around $30 a set, and sadly, they were extremely uncomfortable and ill-fitting. I dreaded going to work everyday because I was tired of feeling insecure and not performing at the best of my abilities. Therefore, that night, I went home and looked up on Google… “How to start a small clothing business.” From there, my research begun on how to find a manufacturer, how to start the process of designing and sampling, and how to create a brand. SCOPE launched on February 14, 2021, and has been doing great since!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I sell medical scrubs; It’s the uniform you see healthcare workers wear when you go to a clinic, hospital, or any medical setting. One of the things I take pride in about my products is that the fabric composition has NEVER been created or introduced to the scrubs market before. Typical scrub brands would do a mix of cotton, polyester, lycra, spandex, or nylon. I can guarantee you that if you bought three different scrubs from three different brands, you will find that mixture. SCOPE scrubs will not contain cotton, polyester, or lycra, because these are typical and it doesn’t make you stand out. SCOPE’s fabric blend only consists of two important components. Nylon, which is exceptionally strong and contributes to our scrubs’ durability, and spandex, which can stretch up to 500% and contributes to the elasticity but still remaining extremely soft. I wanted to make scrubs that resemble the feel of athletic apparel but still maintaining the functionality and design of scrubs. I also try my best to design it to be more modern and streetwear-like but still with that hint of professionalism. Scrubs should not be boxy and non-stylish because everyone deserves to feel good and confident, even if it’s at work/school.

It was not easy for me to make this decision of introducing a fabric blend that has never been done before. A lot of risks play in once you start to list them.. How would the public respond to it? Would this fabric blend hold up during 12hr shifts in the emergency department? Can this blend be washed repeatedly without deteriorating? Is this fabric blend too expensive? Am I charging enough to make up for the costs? Well, in order to see if the risk is worth taking, I had to assess it and convince myself that it will pay off. I can happily tell you that the risk was worth taking. SCOPE scrubs are being introduced to healthcare workers all over the United States. More people are hearing about the brand and giving it a try; Ultimately, they are loving the fabric and consider SCOPE their favorite pair of scrubs to wear everyday!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I grew up in San Jose, California, so every time I find myself wanting to go out on the weekends or even just happy hour during the weekdays, I would always go to Santana Row or Valleyfair! There are a ton of restaurants and bars around that area that are casual and fun. One of my favorites would be EMC because I love seafood and they have this dish called Uni Pasta, and it is so buttery and good! Yardhouse is also a fun restaurant/bar to go to because they have late night happy hours from 10-Close from Sunday – Wednesday and it’s definitely worth it. Santana Row also has a ton of stores to shop at, including Lululemon, Sephora, CB2, H&M, etc. If you want to go to a restaurant outside of Santana Row that offers drinks and food, I totally recommend Aqui’s! Their industrial swirls are so good and will get you having a good time very fast! They offer Mexican inspired cuisines but healthier version. It’s not authentic Mexican, so if you want authentic Mexican, San Jose is full of food trucks and restaurants that provide amazing tacos, tortas, sopes, etc, such as Spartan’s Tacos, Jalisco Taqueria, Araujo’s, etc.!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I definitely want to give a shoutout to my parents for supporting me through this journey. I know that sounds cliche, but let me go into detail as to why I need to thank them. I am Vietnamese American, so if you also grew up in an Asian household, I think you’ll be able to relate to this. Growing up, your parents’ American dream for you is to get an amazing education and somehow end up in the medical, law, or engineering field. My parents were extremely happy when I got into nursing school because it meant I was closer to becoming a nurse! Therefore, when I made that switch to wanting to become a business owner, it shocked them.. Of course it’s scary for any parent to let their child jump to a completely different field because how would they know if we would succeed? Well, I am extremely thankful that my parents gave me that chance and supported my decision to no longer work in the medical field, but chase my passion of making scrubs for healthcare workers instead! Funny, right? I’m no longer a healthcare worker but my job is to make scrubs for healthcare workers! Although my parents didn’t have much knowledge about the scrubs industry, they believed in me and knew that I’d be able to figure it out and learn on my own. Without their support and acknowledgement, I don’t know if I would’ve been able to do this. All I want to do is make them proud, and I sure hope that I am doing that.

Website: https://www.makeitscope.com/

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/makeitscope/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/makeitscope

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@makeitscope

Image Credits
Photographers: Miles Caliboso, Josh Rupisan