Photo courtesy of Ali Yang
My Heart Tug founder Ali Yang and son Paxton
When then 37-year-old Ali Yang was diagnosed with stage IV metastatic breast cancer in May 2018, she knew full well how painful the road ahead would be. The Twin Cities pharmacist and new mom had lost her own mother to cancer when she was 16—and she knew people with her disease have an average lifespan of just three years. “It stopped me in my tracks,” she says.
But she didn’t stand still for long. Her disease—and the battles of thousands of other cancer patients—inspired her to start her first-ever business, a comfort-wear brand called My Heart Tug, which donates 25 percent of profits to adults facing cancer.
The funds aren’t meant to cover treatment costs, lost wages, or even mortgages (there are plenty of successful organizations for that, like the Pinky Swear Foundation and the Angel Foundation), but to bring “light and joy” to patients’ lives, Yang says. “It could be as small as covering concert tickets to see their favorite band, or theme park admission tickets so they can go enjoy a day with their families.”
Currently, the brand sells baseball caps and slouchy beanies lined with soft, warm faux fur. “I lost my hair to chemo, and I wanted something comforting and warm,” says Yang, who is currently gearing up for another round of treatment. “From my experience and others, your skin can get sensitive from chemo. My priority was to have something really soft.” Yang is hoping to expand into sweatpants and other comfy-cozy clothes in the future.
Empathy and passion drive the brand, right down to its name. “Cancer affects a person in so many ways,” Yang says. Financially, mentally, emotionally, physically—and whenever I think about that, it tugs on my heartstrings. That's where the name came from. It tugs on my heartstrings, when I think about anyone else's situation, and when I reflect on my battle.”
Though it can be a challenge (to say the least) to run a business for the first time while also working part-time, raising a now 2-year-old, and going through rounds of chemo, Yang sees My Heart Tug as a happy distraction from the pain and uncertainty in her life.
“I think when you are passionate about something and have this desire to help others, whatever it may be, then you just put all doubts in the background and push forward,” she says. “I won't know where it's going to go unless I start.”
