Meet Kathryn Dickson | Doctor of Nursing Practice, Founder of OliveUs Apparel

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

Hi Kathryn, what is the most important factor behind your success?

OliveUs is a medical apparel company inspired by the problems that my coworkers and I encounter day to day taking care of patients at the hospital. As both a cardiology nurse and emergency nurse practitioner, I found it astonishing that there weren’t more options to safely wear our stethoscopes. So I designed scrubs with a patent-pending feature that allows us to have our stethoscopes safely available when we need them.

The current normal is to wear our stethoscopes around our shoulders. There are 5 reasons we should not be doing that: it’s an infection risk and a choking hazard; it’s bad for proper body mechanics; the plastic tubing on the stethoscopes breaks down; and it gets caught on items/lost.

OliveUs not only has a medical design, but our scrubs are made with athletic-wear-inspired fabrics to ensure proper fit, antimicrobial components, comfort, and 4-way stretch. The fabric is custom and everything is made and produced in North America (besides the YKK zippers which are luggage-grade and top of the line). This brand is designed to solve an important problem that many healthcare workers encounter.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

I wanted to be a nurse since I was 6 years old. It was inherent in me when I received my first box of bandages and antiseptic cream. I lugged that thing around to every playground and classroom. Fast-forward to high school, I was volunteering at a local San Diego hospital, the same hospital I currently work as an RN and NP. My other hobby at that time was sewing and designing all my formalwear for high school parties and dances. I loved fashion but I thought it would just be a hobby due to my overshadowing love for medicine. During both undergraduate and graduate school, I fantasized about producing better scrubs for myself and my colleagues. I would stitch small things like loops or adjust pockets to make my work shift more manageable. I felt like a better provider when I had the proper tools more readily available when I needed them.

2019 was a tough year for me in my personal life as I was quickly progressing in my career as a new nurse practitioner in two emergency departments as well as continuing to clock hours as a nurse. I had always dreamed of making the workday easier for myself and my friends at work by producing innovative scrubs, and this was the perfect year to start. There were so many challenges along the way…but if medicine has taught me anything, it is to prioritize the challenges and complete tasks one at a time.

Currently, my scrubs are in the manufacturing phase. I have purchased all the fabrics, zippers, and other accessories needed to build the scrubs, and established a relationship with a wonderful manufacturing company. During this time, I have continued to build the brand and track ideas for innovative changes through research. I am hoping to launch the scrubs to the public by the end of 2021.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Great question! The perfect day for me looks like an early breakfast at the Piazza in Little Italy, wakesurfing in mission bay with my girlfriends, taking my dog Max to Del Mar dog beach while I eat Board N Brew, and then hanging out in Encinitas for a beer and brainstorming session with my friends in north county.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The Brink at USD! They have done a phenomenal job connecting me to companies in the San Diego area to ensure progression of this brand and dream. I also want to shoutout to my colleagues in the hospital for working hard to make sure our community is cared for during an extremely difficult time.

Website: foroliveus.com

Instagram: @forOliveUs

Facebook: OliveUs