Press Articles
Media Links
Marcia Cross and daughter Eden in our 'Celia' UV Skinz
July 28, 2008
People Magazine
Physical Culture | Gear Test, Rash Guards for Surfers
July 24, 2008
New York Times
Kid-friendly,
mom-happy, beach togs rock
June 9, 2008
delawareonline.com
Kid-friendly
beach wear
June 9, 2008
The Denver Post
Thanks
for tankini
June 5, 20008
indystar.com
Tankinis
and rash guards rock with comfort, protection for kids
June 4, 2008
The Seattle Times
The
not too tiny tankini
May 29, 2008
The MetroWest Daily News
Woman Turns Loss into a Cause
May 27, 2005
The Union Democrat (Sonora, CA)
Sunburn
Now, Skin Cancer Later?
May 25, 2008
www.momlogic.com
Cute,
cool and covered: Kids’ swimwear protects against sun’s harmful
rays
May 21, 2008
Chicago Tribune
Summer’s
Almost Here: Don’t Forget Your Sunscreen and Your UV Skinz Swim Shirts!
May 15, 2008
www.myjunkhead.com
Protect
the skin you’re in from the sun’s ultraviolet rays
May 14, 2008
The Hamilton Spectator
Know
How to Safeguard Skin from Cancer Threat
May 13, 2008
Dayton Daily News
May:
Beach Ready Beauty
May 2008
InStyle
Clothing line helps protect from the sun’s rays
April 22, 2008
The Union Democrat (Sonora, CA)
Local Press
Sonora Union Democrat
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Made in the Mother Lode:
Clothing line helps protect from
the sun’s rays
For entrepreneur Rhonda Sparks, the legacy of her late husband — who
died of skin cancer at age 32 — is a product designed to help thousands
of others avoid the same fate.
The Sonora woman in mid-2005 launched UV Skinz, a clothing business specializing
in shirts, shorts, hats and other sun-time swim wear made of specially-treated
fabric that she said provides 98 percent protection from harmful sun rays.
The business in its first year sold more than 3,400 children’s shirts.
About 25,000 were sold the next year. Sparks predicts that about 50,000 shirts
and other sun protection wear for adults, children and babies will be sold,
mostly in the United States and Canada, this year.
The concept for the business dates to 2000, four years after husband Darren
Farwell had been diagnosed with melanoma, a deadly skin cancer, Sparks said.
This made them acutely aware of the sun-related health risks. Then, while vacationing
in Hawaii, they had trouble finding adequate sun protection for their three
young sons.
So they discussed the notion of creating a line of clothing kids could swim
in that would also protect them from sun burns and even secured an Internet
address, www.uvskinz.com.
Farwell died Sept. 14, 2001. Sparks said she, in turn, devoted the next two
years to her sons and her other ongoing business, Sparks Communications, an
audio conferencing service for business customers, before returning to the UV
Skinz concept. Despite her already ample business experience, she recalled,
launching a line of specialty clothing was new territory for her.
“It was a lot of trial and error,” she said and laughed. But
Sparks credited fellow members of a Silicon Valley-based entrepreneurial group
in which she participates with providing valuable pointers. Plenty of Internet
research also provided invaluable, she added, and was how she found a man in
Australia who put her in touch with a Chinese factory that now makes UV Skinz
products.
Sparks and the clothing company’s three employees market the clothing — ranging
in price from $24 to $48 — on line and at various clothing trade shows.
The growing company in now planning its 2009 line, which will include beach
cover-ups for women, beach pants and one piece outfits for babies.
Since May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month, as designated by the American Skin
Cancer Society, Sparks said that her company is also giving any customer who
buys an item from the Web site a free UV Skinz swim shirt.
About this “Made in the Mother Lode” business:
What product, unique service or program do you make or sell?
UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor) protective swim shirts for babies, kids
and adults.
How did you come up with the idea for this:
I lost my 32-year-old husband to skin cancer. We would bring rash guards
(swimwear designed for surfers) home from Hawaii as souvenirs and realized how
hard this product is to find. We combined that with our concern to get kids
covered with demand and started UV Skinz.
How did you actually make it ready to sell or market?
We did two years of research to find out what consumers wanted in a swim
shirt, then came up with a great design and found a manufacturer.
What were your challenges and how did you overcome them?
Running a business with three small boys. Being met with such enthusiasm
for our product by so many market segments but not having the budget to pursue
them all. We had to channel our efforts and remember that our main mission was
to “get kids covered” all over the nation.
If you knew then what you knew now, would you still have gone through
the process?
Absolutely. At the end of the day, it’s about protecting our children.
We promote safe, healthy living under the sun. What better business is there
to be in than that!
Where is your product sold?
Online and several dozen retain locations throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Locally at SNAC (Sierra Nevada Adventure Company in Sonora and Arnold) The Pinecrest
General Store, Mountain Sage in Groveland, American Sports Acro Sports and Gym
near Standard and The Club in East Sonora.
How important is the Internet in building your business?
Vital. Our Web site is one of the most important marketing tools we have,
both to promote our products and to educate consumers about the dangers of the
sun.
Any advice for someone with an idea for a new product or service?
Follow your passion and the success will come.
To what or whom do you credit your success?
Always being told by those most influential in my life that I can do anything
I set my mind to in combination with pure self motivation to make a difference
in the world.
Sonora Union Democrat
Friday, May 27, 2005
Woman turns loss into a cause
By ALISHA WYMAN
Rhonda Sparks-Farwell didn't realize her husband would die from what started
as a seemingly harmless mole.
When he told her he had skin cancer, she assumed doctors could just remove
the blemish.
After they did, the family went about their lives as they did before.
"We were just so ignorant to the causes of skin cancer and how deadly
it can be," said Sparks-Farwell, a Sonora resident.
Then melanoma reappeared as a lump on his neck.
At age 32, Darren Farwell died of the cancer.
Since then, Sparks-Farwell has turned the tragedy into a cause.
She started a nonprofit organization, the DLF Foundation, in honor of her
late husband and holds a yearly fund-raiser called "Slide for the Cure" at
Dodge Ridge.
Now, she's taking the cause a step further.
Recently, she began a business called UV Skinz with the help of two other
people, making children's shirts that protect their skin from UV rays.
The nylon and Lycra shirts - long-sleeved or short-sleeved - have the same
feel as a swim suit, but are made of a fabric that provides an Ultraviolet
Protection Factor of 50 - or 98 percent protection from the sun.
Cotton or non-treated clothing doesn't offer the same protection — especially
when wet, Sparks-Farwell said.
Her shirts come in a variety of colors, including camouflage, hot pink and
tie-dye. She plans to sell the long-sleeved ones for $23 and the short-sleeved
shirts for $20.
A drawing that her son, Seth, did at school of a sun with a spiral in the
center has become part of the company's logo.
Sparks-Farwell first had the idea after buying for her three boys shirts
in Hawaii that surfers wear to protect themselves from rash. At the time, the
shirts weren't marketed as sun protection.
"It was just a way for my kids to not be slathered in sun screen every
three to four hours," she said.
When they returned, people asked about the shirts and how to get them, but
Sparks-Farwell discovered they were difficult to find.
She began researching, attempting to find a way to produce them as sun blockers.
Her research ultimately led her to a man with a factory in China.
He makes the shirts for sale in Australia — a market more conscientious
of sunburn's consequences, Sparks-Farwell said.
The Australian Radiation Laboratory tests the the shirt fabric to make sure
it indeed has a high sun-protection factor.
Now that her business is up and running, Sparks-Farwell hopes to make the
shirts readily available to more people.
Her own sons already sport her product when swimming or playing in the sun.
"My boys feel naked without them," she said. "It's just part
of their bodies."
Children have been her first focus because kids under age 15 who get sunburned
have double the chance of developing skin cancer as an adult, Sparks-Farwell
said.
She is ordering, however, a shipment of UV Skins for adults and babies as
well.
She's spoken with area vendors such as Sierra Nevada Adventure Company, based
in Arnold and Sonora, and Sonora Sports and Fitness about carrying them. They
will also eventually be for sale online.
The business is in addition to Sparks Communications, a conference calling
service Sparks-Farwell has run for nine and a half years.
UV Skinz has provided a new experience for her as she goes from a service-oriented
business to one based on product sales. She's also learning marketing and public
relations, as opposed the word-of-mouth method she's relied on in the past.
The marketing director of her company, Tim McCaffrey, has been helping her
with several facets of the new business. They are also joined by Renee Sedoo,
who's husband died of cancer as well.
Although UV skins is a business venture, the goal for Sparks- Farwell is
not necessarily to make money.
"It's horrible loosing my husband, and I would like it if I could stop
that from happening to another family," she said.