In a tiny Fort Myers warehouse, machines stitch together clothes that are meant to take negative thoughts apart.
"I found fashion to be a great outlet for fueling body positivity," Lauren Bean said.
Bean is a clothing designer and fashionista. Today, she wears confidence like her favorite sweatshirt embroidered with the motto, "Just keep swimming."
"That's a phrase that you can kind of adopt in life," Bean said.
But there was a time when that faith felt like a foreign fabric.
"I had body image issues as a young girl," Bean said. "I ended up seeking out inpatient treatment at my personal low. One of the things that really frightened me were the paper scrubs and pretty much just being exposed to staff and my peers when I feel so uncomfortable."
That's why, four years ago, in the midst of her own healing, Bean founded Unfinished Apparel . The brand donates clothes to hospitals around the world for patients to avoid the pain she once felt. The clothes give patients hope with their embroidered positive affirmations.
"It's your first time existing, give yourself some grace," Bean said. "This was my motto for last year." Bean laughed. "When a patient is admitted, they have a choice in color, size or design. They can wear that during their stay, along with some supplemental clothing."
The journey has been nothing short of rewarding.
"The few reviews we have gotten, or the testimonials are just amazing. The ones that come in, I'm just like, I'm going to spend the whole day in tears," Bean said.
It's become a movement of fabric, faith and feeling, because sometimes, the most unfinished things have the most heart.