Though Katina Davis has faced more than her fair share of struggles, she has kept one phrase at the forefront of her mind: Wear it Well.

That is the name of the nonprofit she founded in 2017, but it’s also been a driving principle of her life.

That no matter what she faces, she has leaned into the lessons taught by Paul in the Bible – to learn to be content no matter the circumstances. To wear it well.

Katina’s father was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2017. His treatment was short and brutal, and it changed everything for Katina. Now, she has an even greater passion for health and wellness, and for providing support for those undergoing cancer.

Katina’s Wear it Well journey started with her grandmother, who passed away in 2013 and instilled in her a strong sense of community service.

“She raised us to serve,” Katina says. “When we were small, if someone she knew faced a tragedy, we would be there with her cleaning or bringing groceries. She has been my inspiration for everything I’ve done.”

Katina’s mother also owned an assisted living facility, so Katina was very familiar with helping people who had life-altering diagnoses. She began to dream of ways to help people in those situations.

In 2014, Katina suffered a traumatic brain injury and began a long road to recovery. She dealt with vision difficulties, partial paralysis, speech problems nerve damage and more. Her doctors told her she should apply for disability and give up her hopes to return to work.

“Both of my girls were in college, and I knew I couldn’t accept that,” she says.

She went through two years of rehabilitation therapy. By the end of 2016, her self-esteem was blown.

“I had been in therapy for so long and wasn’t getting a lot better, and I was just praying that I could work again,” she says. Then, her sister reminded her of her dream to start a nonprofit.

She felt encouraged and began working on her plans. She returned home to Memphis but returned a few weeks later for a funeral. She slipped on wet grass and crushed her ankle, requiring more surgery and therapy.

“For the next few days I was so angry, asking God, ‘Why in the world does this keep happening to me?’” she says. “But then I knew – everything I’ve gone through is to prep and sustain me for what was coming next. How can I tell someone else to ‘wear it well,’ if I haven’t been there.”

During all the trials and recovery periods, somehow Katina finished graduate school. Then she got to work on learning how to start a nonprofit. She knew she wanted to start with makeovers.

“When someone has a traumatic life experience like a cancer diagnosis, sometimes they just need some attention, pampering and love to begin to feel like themselves again,” she said.

So, she created her own website, designed her own logo, and sought out stylists, makeup artists and videographers to make her first makeover happen. She was working on identifying her first makeover client, but felt led to serve as the first one herself. “I felt like I needed to be vulnerable and show what it would really mean to people like me who had been through so much,” she said.

She posted her makeover video, and her nonprofit was officially launched. Now, Wear it Well has many areas of focus – including makeovers, self-esteem and bullying classes for pre-teens and teenagers, a clothes closet for families in crisis, a youth empowerment program, a workforce readiness program and more. Every facet of it is volunteer driven and aims to support the whole family.

Katina and Wear it Well have been recognized in the community for advocacy for cancer patients. Katina and the Wear it Well family have participated in the Run for Your Buns Colon Cancer Awareness 5K in Tupelo, which benefits the NMMC Cancer Care Fund. Katina was honored with the 2023 Breast Cancer Advocate Award for her work with Wear it Well.