Joanne Litz can’t remember a time when she didn’t have atopic dermatitis and wasn’t struggling to find an effective treatment.

Now 62 years old, the Philadelphia native was first diagnosed with the condition, a type of eczema, as a 3-year-old, when her mother took her to a dermatologist because Litz had developed rashes all over her body. That dermatologist prescribed coal tar, which her mother had to apply all over Litz’s body in the evening.

The messy, sticky treatment, which she kept on overnight, made it hard for her to sleep.

“That’s kind of where it started,” she recalls.

Litz has battled eczema symptoms, including rashes and itchy skin, intermittently ever since. Still, through it all, she hasn’t let it impact her creative spirit: She and her husband, Dennis Wolk, have run a clothing company called Steel Pony since 1992, including a brick-and-mortar store in Philadelphia’s Fabric District since 2015.

She is the main designer of their clothing collections, and her husband designs handbags. The duo uses only eco-friendly processes, fabrics, and dyes, and everything is sewn locally.

“So we’re very artsy-craftsy. I like everything creative,” Litz says.

Read the rest HERE