Not long after I learned, if I didn’t move at rapid fire speed, I was only 90 days away from death myself. Diagnosis – stage IV throat and neck cancer. I was catapulted into treatment: surgery to implant a feeding tube into my stomach, exploratory surgery to see exactly where the source of the cancer was, and a treatment protocol that needed to commence asap. It was the beginning of the most challenging and profound time in my life. I lost the ability to eat for a very long time, to speak, and to drink even a sip of water for months. The only ability I had was vulnerability.

I choose to befriend my cancer and not battle it. I had open dialogue with it. I asked many questions and was open to the still small voice that taught me more lessons about life and about myself than I had learned in my first 50 years on the planet.

This is when I learned, among the many lessons learned, the important skill of turning challenges into doorways of transformation.My doctors warned me that post-operatively,
I may lose my singing voice for good. Well, 22 months post diagnosis, I sang the National Anthem before a sell-out crowd of 37,000 Boston Red Sox fans at Fenway Park.

From the very beginning, it has been an honor that my journey with cancer has touched many lives in positive ways. From public speaking to supporting people one-on-one across the country, I have become a real-life inspiration and mentor to many. I didn’t learn what I teach in a book or from sitting in front of a guru for years. I learned it by living it. I teach from a place of experiential knowledge.

It would be my great pleasure to mentor you in the L.I.F.E. Live In Full Expression program. There is a lot more to the story and so many lessons to share. I look forward to you joining us and sharing your story too.