"On a day-to-day basis ... when I'm talking to my team, or to anybody who might be struggling with something, I always guide them to ask themselves, 'What is the right thing to do.' If you ask yourself that, you will always find the answer." 

A mere few days after losing her only son, Hayes, to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), Kyra Oliver made it her mission to help prevent other parents from experiencing the same pain that comes with losing a child. Thanks to the Hayes Hitzeman Foundation and the "This Side Up" campaign, both founded by Kyra, parents are being educated on the prevention of SIDS throughout Richmond, the state of Virginia and beyond. 

Remind us a little of how the Hayes Hitzeman Foundation began.

On June 11, 2002, I received a phone call from the babysitter … that my son was not breathing. And so she instructed me to go to the hospital … So meanwhile I'm trying to stay calm. And after a short time later, which seemed like forever, I asked if I could go be with him; they were working on him, trying to revive him. I held his hands and tried to talk to him, but it was to no avail. He was pronounced dead and the reason was because of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), which is when there really is no obvious evidence of any cause that can be found. 

You launched the "This Side Up" campaign in Mach 2006. Could you to tell us some of your goals for the campaign? 

It started when I had these little T-shirts that I started giving out and everyone just loved them. This is where the idea came from, but we're actually doing onesies.  SIDS is such a sensitive subject, when you think about losing your child, and a baby at that, so most people want to avoid that conversation altogether. The name "This Side Up" came about because the rate [of SIDS-related deaths] has reduced by about 42 percent since the "Back to Sleep" campaign (which was launched around '92 or '94, I believe). So it's a similar concept and the beauty of this idea is that people are learning about what [SIDS] means and learning things they should know to prevent SIDS. It's a great awareness approach in a very cheerful way, if you will. So I decided to kind of revitalize the campaign by creating a new and more interesting logo … and to provide more tips of things you should know on the back. In effort to help take the campaign national, I'm always looking for the right celebrity spokesperson, so I'm always keeping my eyes peeled for that. We do have a few people we're trying to connect with, but I can't mention their names. 

Are the T-shirts something you designed on your own? 

Interestingly enough, there have been, throughout the country, these T-shirts that say "This Side Up While Sleeping" but … there was no patent or trademark on it. It was just like someone thought of it and put it together, but there was no campaign behind it at all. But the frustrating part about it, and why I felt we needed to grasp it and revitalize it, is that the sizes of these T-shirts were for ages 12 to 24 months. Well, the highest rate of SIDS is actually at four months and so we felt these parents needed to know about SIDS more immediately. We're actually distributing newborn sizes and up to six months. 

How has the response been since the campaign has started? 

It's been overwhelmingly positive. We have talked to so many hospitals and organizations and every single one of them thinks it's a good idea. The general public has, again, shown an overwhelming response. When people see these garments, a smile comes to their face, you know they say "oh how cute" and then they want to buy them. So, it's been amazing; the biggest issues that we run up against is, of course, funding. The hospitals, on average, are birthing about three to four thousand babies a year. So trying to find the funding is very important and takes a little more effort and time. We've even talked about selling them in gift shops at hospitals. 

How many hospitals are now distributing these onesies? 

We started in VCU Health System and CJW Medical Center here in Richmond. I think we're in more than 20 hospitals and a few other health organizations throughout Virginia. Within that 20 there is also a partnership with Governor Tim Kaine's "Smart Beginnings Initiative," that partners us up with Ukrop's' "Dress Express" and Pampers, [that allows us] to put the onesies in new parent kits. 

What are some of the next steps for the "This Side Up" campaign? 

There's a lot going on and one on the biggest things for me right now is to find a full-time executive director! I am the executive director right now and, while I love it, and will always be working on the foundation, we have built such a strong core to this, and we're growing so rapidly, that I could only imagine the growth if we could put even more attention to it.  We have built this entire organization and campaign on volunteers, so it's very impressive, and I'm quite proud of that. But I want it to grow more. I want to take it across the entire state of Virginia, I want to take this national and I want for it to go global.  

Does it surprise you on how much the foundation has accomplished in only just over two years? 

Yes! When I first started this, my mind wasn't quite there. I had just lost my child and so I wasn't really quite sure what was going on. I knew I felt very strongly about the fact that education about SIDS was very weak, that was very obvious. I would go to a parenting or birthing class of some sort and it was barely mentioned. I just cannot believe how much it's grown.  Tears come to my eyes when I hear others talk about how passionate they are about this organization that I started. I have had a lot of support through family and friends and so I do represent all of those people. I'm amazed at how Tim Kaine has embraced this; I'm amazed at the Ukrop's team. And then to receive these phone calls from other states, and hear their passion about our program; it makes me very proud. 

As you said, SIDS is a very sensitive subject and, for you, your son would be about six years old now. So working with this organization that deals with something that is extremely personal to you, every day, how difficult is that for you? 

It's hard. I think that the foundation has actually been very therapeutic for me. I don’t quite know how I have had the strength to talk about it openly … a lot of people choose to really sweep it under the rug. I, somehow, have been blessed with the strength to share my story in hopes that it helps other people.  

Now, the Foundation isn't the only thing you do. You also do public relations-type work with Oliver Creative and CRT Tanaka. How do you juggle your professional life with advancing the foundation? 

It is difficult, but the nice thing is that Oliver Creative very much made part of our mission to be about children and helping children in our community, so it fit right into that. And we've actually helped a lot of other organizations related to children as well -- the March of Dimes, the Children's Museum, the Commonwealth Parenting Center -- and so it was a perfect fit in merging with CRT/Tanaka because they have a similar culture. So I do have a lot of support and in fact CRT/Tanaka has donated an office for the Foundation to use at this time, but having two day jobs is tough, which is why we're looking for an executive director. I'm obviously passionate about both, but I think we as adults should recognize when it's time to ask for help, so we can do a great job. 

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start their own foundation? 

Good volunteers! That would be number one -- great volunteers. Look for people who are passionate, who genuinely care about what your organization is. A good board of directors that is passionate is another thing; and making sure you clearly understand your mission statement and continually revisit that. Because, over time, people can tend to forget what it's all about, so it's very important to stay focused and help your organization to stay focused. And lastly, recognize when you need help. 

Your company won the fist Hugh Joyce Entrepreneurial Spirit Award in 2006 and the Stevie Award for Community Development in 2007. What were those two experiences like? 

Winning the Hugh Joyce Entrepreneurial Spirit Award was truly amazing. Hugh Joyce was known as quite an entrepreneur in our community so it was definitely an honor to receive that award. In addition to that, the other folks that were presented with awards that evening, like the Junior Achievement Awards, are truly some of the most amazing people in our community. It was quite surreal. I was so honored and a little shy about it at the same time. And the same thing with the Stevie Award, that's a national award and to be standing on stage accepting such an award, I just felt that I was honoring my son on both of those occasions. 

Your company, Oliver Creative, merged with CRT in December of 2007. Was that a tough decision? And how is everything working out? 

It was a tough decision, I loved Oliver Creative and I loved having a creative boutique and we were just growing very rapidly. When asked by CRT/Tanaka if I would be interested in merging, I said, "sure, absolutely, let's talk about it."  We did for awhile and I found that I was in a win-win situation. If I decided to keep Oliver Creative, we were doing so well and I had such an amazing team, I knew we would have continued success. And with CRT/Tanaka, they are an amazing group of people. I think where it became the obvious choice is that their culture just really made it a great fit.  

What is your favorite part of Richmond? 

Oh my gosh, what a great question. I have to say when I run (I'm big into running, I've become quite serious about it in the past eight months), one of the runs I do with a group of friends is down to Pony Pasture and around that area. And I have to say that every time I'm running through there, I think about how beautiful it is and how lucky that I am that I can just be freely running and have such great views. I run in the early morning when the sun is coming up and it's just amazing. 

How do you spend off from work, being that you do have two jobs? 

You know, I'm very thirsty for knowledge, and so my time off often encompasses reading. I usually have a few books going at one time and I also have gotten into reading a lot of different blogs and will soon be starting my own blog. So I'm doing that, I run a lot as I mentioned, pretty much every day. I'm also training for the upcoming marathon. I very much enjoy good food and cooking. I have to say I'm a pretty doggone good cook. I go to restaurants and really pay attention to how they put things together and then I'll go home and recreate it in my own way. But I don't bake! 

What's your biggest achievement? 

I really think that would have to be giving birth to my son, Hayes. 

What was your last good read? 

I'm kind of in the midst of so many different books right now, but I did just read "The Martha Rules" by Martha Stewart. It's just kind of a reminder of good ethics in business, which may be ironic to some people to read this by Martha Stewart. But she openly talks about her visit in jail, and she truly does address some of the very basics in terms of how to do good business on a day-to-day basis. Another I'm checking out right now is "Letters to Sam," by Daniel Gottlieb. It's by a grandfather who is writing all these letters to his grandson and it's just a very pleasant read. 

What is your favorite spot in Richmond? 

I have a few I have to tell you about. One is a restaurant -- Julep's. And the other is that I have a friend who has a place in Church Hill with a deck on the roof. And I really love sitting on that roof and dining up there because you have an entire view of the city. It's actually beautiful and quite peaceful. 

What is your motto? 

I always have so many, but one that I'm working with right now, and really focusing on, is, "love what you do and become an expert in it." On a day-to-day basis though, when I'm talking to my team or to anybody who might be struggling with something, I always guide them to ask themselves, "what is the right thing to do." If you ask yourself that, you will always find the answer. That's probably how I live every single day. 

Richmond is ________. 

The first thing that comes to my mind is "an embracing community."