The Diagnosis that Fuels Purpose and Legacy

WEBVTT

1
00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:09.000
There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

2
00:00:09.400 --> 00:00:12.640
and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

3
00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:18.839
Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortes. In our program,

4
00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:23.719
we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

5
00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:28.879
personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five. It's working

6
00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:35.000
on Purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortes. I'm your host,

7
00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:37.880
Elise Cortes, joining you from Dallas, which is home base for me.

8
00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:41.679
This program is all about helping people
more meaningfully and productively connect with their

9
00:00:41.719 --> 00:00:45.079
work and equipping leaders to do the
same for their employees. In terms of

10
00:00:45.079 --> 00:00:48.600
cultivating meaning and purpose in the workplace, I bring on guests to have a

11
00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:52.759
particular perspective or experience that I think
contributes to or expands this conversation, and

12
00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:55.920
as a management consultant and social scientist, I draw on the meeting and work

13
00:00:55.920 --> 00:00:59.240
and identity research I've been doing over
the last fifteen years, as well as

14
00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:03.920
from my own consult speaking and developing
experience work across the globe. Last week,

15
00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:06.719
if you missed the show Alive,
you can always catch it recorded podcast

16
00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:08.959
we were on the air with Kate
White, the New York Times bestselling author

17
00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:14.599
of twelve murder Mysteries and thrillers and
several popular career books, including the Gutsy

18
00:01:14.680 --> 00:01:19.000
Girl Handbook Their Manifesto for Success.
She is the previous editor in chief of

19
00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:23.079
Cosopolitan magazine as well. We talked
about several of the success tips in her

20
00:01:23.079 --> 00:01:26.159
book and how she has used them
in her own career making her way what

21
00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:30.239
was then very much a man's world
then as a leader. With us this

22
00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:33.239
week is Gwen Rich. She is
a wife, mother of four, an

23
00:01:33.239 --> 00:01:37.959
accredited image stylist, small business owner, philanthropist, and Wall Street Journal best

24
00:01:37.959 --> 00:01:42.359
selling author of Stop Complaining, Make
Your Own Luck. After eight years and

25
00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:49.120
eight misdiagnoses, Gwenn was ultimately diagnosed
with incurable metastatic breast cancer in twenty twelve.

26
00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:52.359
Struggling to decide what to do with
the time she had left, she

27
00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:57.400
launched the Gwynn Marie Collection Pursues with
a Purpose in twenty fourteen. Gwinn continues

28
00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:00.040
to fulfill her mission of helping others. Her legacy to go is the development

29
00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:05.079
of an online teaching community called The
Rich Solution. Today we'll talk about the

30
00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:07.000
history of brisk cancer, what women
can do to prevent it, and hear

31
00:02:07.039 --> 00:02:12.319
about these amazing initiatives she's pouring herself
into despite her diagnosis. She knows us

32
00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:15.919
today from Chicago, Illinois. Gwen, welcome to Working on Purpose. It's

33
00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:20.680
amazing to have you here. Thank
you. Oh, I'm so excited to

34
00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:23.120
be here, and thank you for
giving me the opportunity to be here with

35
00:02:23.159 --> 00:02:27.039
you and your viewers. Oh my
gosh, you know it's it's You're so

36
00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:30.479
welcome. And I from the moment
that we met, I was just so

37
00:02:30.120 --> 00:02:35.120
honored and really moved by who you
are, Gwen, as a person and

38
00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:38.639
what you're up to in life.
And to that end, I do want

39
00:02:38.680 --> 00:02:42.759
to start this conversation by crediting the
woman who did bring us together, and

40
00:02:42.759 --> 00:02:46.240
that's hend to Samaran. She's a
dear friend of mine and you caught wind

41
00:02:46.280 --> 00:02:49.080
of her and your and your story, and if you want to say more

42
00:02:49.080 --> 00:02:53.319
about that, that's great, But
if you would start by sharing the story

43
00:02:53.400 --> 00:03:00.039
of discovering your own cancer, if
you will, Yeah, it was a

44
00:03:00.120 --> 00:03:04.080
long road. I was misdiagnosed for
eight years, So I'm not going to

45
00:03:04.120 --> 00:03:07.000
go over that because it takes a
long time, but it got to the

46
00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:12.000
point where after the eighth doctor,
someone recommended I actually go see a different

47
00:03:12.039 --> 00:03:15.439
type of a doctor, a neurosurgeons, in which I did so. That

48
00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:21.159
was the ninth doctor who had a
total different perspective. This doctor ordered an

49
00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:23.719
MRI for me, which none of
the other doctors would order a new one.

50
00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:27.560
I had one done in two thousand
and four, which they were all

51
00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:34.000
privy to. And of course this
new MRI that was done in twenty twelve

52
00:03:35.159 --> 00:03:38.800
showed the lytic lesions all down in
my mind that all the other doctors had

53
00:03:38.840 --> 00:03:45.520
missed over the eight years, as
well as the mammograms had missed. So

54
00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:47.919
I know that sums it up very
shortly. It was a very long,

55
00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:53.639
painful eight years, but I certainly
was relieved. I was actually blessed when

56
00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:58.599
I got the diagnosis. I don't
know if anyone who's listening has ever had

57
00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:02.800
some type of a simple an or
chronic pain and then the doctors can't figure

58
00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:05.199
out what it is, and that's
what happened to me for eight years,

59
00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:10.560
and so they really thought I thought
I was crazy. No one believed me,

60
00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:15.879
so finally, when I got the
diagnosis November six, twenty twelve.

61
00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:19.600
I was actually relieved and blessed that
finally I had something, I knew what

62
00:04:19.639 --> 00:04:25.759
it was and we could move forward
from there. You are so strong.

63
00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:30.040
When so strong, I want to
also say a little bit about our coming

64
00:04:30.120 --> 00:04:33.600
from Henda, because I'm wondering how
it was that you cross paths with her.

65
00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:38.199
SOHNDO got cancer, breast cancer in
he I think it was her early

66
00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:41.680
forties, and then she got clear
of it, and then she went off

67
00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:44.920
immediately and had a heart attack.
So she said, by both breast cancer

68
00:04:44.920 --> 00:04:46.920
and a heart attack and like a
short amount of time. And what does

69
00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:49.839
she do is she trots herself down
to Austin, Texas and gets a bill

70
00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:55.480
passed called Hinda's Law, and that
law is designed to be able to help

71
00:04:55.480 --> 00:05:00.600
alert women that just just mimography is
not the only way to be able to

72
00:05:00.600 --> 00:05:03.199
detect that there might be a presence
of tumors, especially if you have dense

73
00:05:03.240 --> 00:05:06.839
bress tissue. And I really applaud
that she was able to do that.

74
00:05:06.920 --> 00:05:12.199
She's now actually working to create that
effort on a national basis. How did

75
00:05:12.279 --> 00:05:15.279
you cross pass with Henda? Yeah, I was very fortunate, and I

76
00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:19.839
say very lucky so when I was
first diagnosed, I did what a lot

77
00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:24.680
of people do and I went on
the internet, which I didn't. I

78
00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:28.120
don't do that anymore. And it
was shortly thereafter that I stopped doing it

79
00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:31.079
because that it becomes too overwhelming.
But I was fortunate enough that going through

80
00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:35.439
the Internet, I found out about
Henda and Henda's law and I thought,

81
00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:41.480
this was the most amazing woman.
And when I was thinking about what I

82
00:05:41.560 --> 00:05:44.079
was going to do with the rest
of the time I have left, because

83
00:05:44.120 --> 00:05:48.040
I was my cancer diagnosis is incurable, and I thought, well, gosh,

84
00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:49.959
you know, at that time,
I think there was only twenty some

85
00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:53.480
states, and I thought, you
know what, Illinois is not one of

86
00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:55.399
them. That's what I'm going to
do. And I thought, you know,

87
00:05:55.480 --> 00:05:59.560
I can't do that. I hate
politics. It's too negative. I

88
00:05:59.639 --> 00:06:02.519
needing that's going to be positive is
something that I'm passionate about. I would

89
00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:05.360
have been passionate about that, but
it just too much negativity, too much

90
00:06:05.399 --> 00:06:11.199
stress, and so I just thought, I want to meet this woman one

91
00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:14.519
day, and it just so happens. We do some my husband and I

92
00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:20.439
do some philanthropic work in Dallas,
and they were having their networking meeting the

93
00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:24.639
next morning, and I was asked
if I wanted to go as a business

94
00:06:24.680 --> 00:06:30.639
woman to promote my business, the
gwen Ree Collection, and she asked me

95
00:06:30.680 --> 00:06:32.000
if I know who Henda was,
And I said, you've got to be

96
00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:35.160
kidding me. You're not talking about
Henda with Hendo's Law, are you.

97
00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:39.519
And she said yes, and she
said, well you can meet her and

98
00:06:39.560 --> 00:06:42.639
I went, oh, my gosh, So that was someone who I wanted

99
00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:46.000
to meet and did get the pleasure
of meeting her, and it was It's

100
00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:49.920
been wonderful ever since. So we
stay connected as much as we can with

101
00:06:49.959 --> 00:06:54.680
both of our busy lives. Well, and you're both up to some really

102
00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:57.079
powerful things. And I want to
talk more about what you're up to here

103
00:06:57.120 --> 00:06:59.720
a little bit later, but before
we get into that going, I really

104
00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:04.360
want to help our listeners understand just
this share at academic epidemic issue related to

105
00:07:04.519 --> 00:07:10.319
breast cancer for women across the globe. Can you just give us some stats

106
00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:13.360
about how many women might be dealing
with it, or have dealt with it,

107
00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:16.560
or maybe have we've lost sure?
Absolutely, yeah, I think it's

108
00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:21.480
important to put in context. So
breast cancer is the most common cancer in

109
00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:29.240
women worldwide, it's the second most
common cancer overall, and it's the leading

110
00:07:29.399 --> 00:07:33.959
cause of cancer death in the less
developed countries. And it's the second leading

111
00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:40.519
cause of cancer death in American women, which is exceeded only by lung cancer.

112
00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:46.519
So breast cancer is the most frequently
diagnosed cancer among women of one hundred

113
00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:49.879
and forty excuse me, in one
hundred and forty of one hundred and eighty

114
00:07:49.879 --> 00:07:56.199
four countries. So globally, breast
cancer now represents one in four of all

115
00:07:56.319 --> 00:08:03.000
cancers in women. So to bring
it more here, in the United States,

116
00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:09.600
in twenty seventeen, we had sixty
over sixty three thousand that were diagnosed.

117
00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:13.839
They were in pseudo cases, and
that means that the cancer stayed in

118
00:08:13.879 --> 00:08:18.079
its place. And we also the
same year had over two hundred and fifty

119
00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:22.560
thousand invasive cases, and that's where
the cancer moves from the primary site to

120
00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:31.439
somewhere else, whether that's an organ
or bones, and us we had in

121
00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:35.879
twenty seventeen over forty thousand, and
that's just in the year twenty seventeen.

122
00:08:37.480 --> 00:08:41.480
So it affects a lot of people. That is a lot of numbers.

123
00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:45.200
That's a lot I want, I
don't I didn't know any of those numbers,

124
00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:46.879
and but I wanted I knew they
were big. I just but I

125
00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:50.600
thought it was important for us to
start by talking about just the sheer size

126
00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:56.360
of this issue, this problem.
And when I think about breast cancer,

127
00:08:56.399 --> 00:08:58.840
you know, I remember when my
grandmother was alive. She's been gone for

128
00:08:58.039 --> 00:09:01.759
years, but you know, I
don't remember us ever talking about anything like

129
00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:05.080
that when she was around. So
I think it would also be interesting to

130
00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:09.639
understand what's the history behind breast cancer. Where did this disease come from?

131
00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:13.399
And how long are we really known
about it? Yeah, and that's a

132
00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:18.000
good question because I think most people. I've never talked about history with other

133
00:09:18.039 --> 00:09:22.840
people, not even my doctors,
so most people it's not a general conversation.

134
00:09:24.360 --> 00:09:28.519
So the first humans that knew about
breast cancer was a long time ago,

135
00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:33.519
and that dates back to three thousand
to twenty five hundred BCE. The

136
00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:39.600
first radical mass sectomy was done in
eighteen eighty two, So then we jump

137
00:09:39.720 --> 00:09:43.720
all the way to eighteen ninety five
and that's when the first X ray was

138
00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:50.440
taken. Nineteen thirty seven, radiation
therapy was used in addition to surgery,

139
00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:56.120
and then we jump all the way
to nineteen seventy eight, and that's when

140
00:09:56.120 --> 00:10:00.639
the first drug, tomoxifen, was
approved by the FDA FD and this is

141
00:10:00.679 --> 00:10:03.000
still used today. This is the
first drug. It's usually the first course

142
00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:09.000
of treatment, depending on what type
of breast cancer you have that they start

143
00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:13.000
off with. That's what I used. Only lasted about six months for me.

144
00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:18.240
In nineteen eighty five, they discovered
the early stage breast cancer and those

145
00:10:18.279 --> 00:10:24.360
that were treated with a lumpectomy and
radiation had similar survival rates to the women

146
00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:31.120
who were treated only with the mass
sectomy, so that's interesting. Jumped to

147
00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:35.440
nineteen ninety five and we get into
the scientists found the clone the tumor suppressor

148
00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:39.600
for the BRACA one and two gene, which is very important. We'll talk

149
00:10:39.639 --> 00:10:48.159
about the mutation later. On nineteen
ninety six, FDA approves ibrands, which

150
00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:52.799
is a drug I went on.
This is considered a chemo drug and this

151
00:10:52.840 --> 00:10:58.159
is only for certain types of cancer
and it helps to stop the tumor growth.

152
00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:05.159
Let's see nineteen ninety eight we have
tamoxifen decreases the risks of breast cancer

153
00:11:05.960 --> 00:11:11.440
for the women who are at risk
by fifty percent, so that's a big

154
00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:16.440
number. We also have in two
thousand and six another drug, relaxefin,

155
00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:20.320
so it reduces breast cancer risk for
the post menopausal women. There are a

156
00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:26.600
lot of factors when you have breast
cancer and if your postmenopausal or menopausal can

157
00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:31.840
depend on what drugs you can take. So we know that breast cancer is

158
00:11:31.879 --> 00:11:37.720
becoming a much more personalized as the
doctors learn more about this disease. So

159
00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:41.960
we see the disease with subtypes that
have different patterns and ways of acting on

160
00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:48.559
the body. So it has the
ability to isolate specific genes and clarify breast

161
00:11:48.600 --> 00:11:54.000
cancer and in the beginning, so
you could have a more tailored treatment option,

162
00:11:56.279 --> 00:12:01.799
which is really important. It's really
helping with the care of patients with

163
00:12:01.879 --> 00:12:05.120
their treatment. Hopefully they don't have
to go through, you know, treatments

164
00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:09.919
that don't work and cause a lot
of side effects. So we've really come

165
00:12:09.960 --> 00:12:13.440
a long way with that. Definitely
come a long way since Hing Greece.

166
00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:18.279
We know a lot more about breast
cancer forms and how to treat it.

167
00:12:18.679 --> 00:12:22.279
And I think what is more important
is that early detection and treatment is considered

168
00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:28.440
the best line of defense against breast
cancer. So I know we're going to

169
00:12:28.440 --> 00:12:31.600
talk about some of that stuff later
on. Yes. So one of the

170
00:12:31.639 --> 00:12:35.240
things is just most recently, when
I think about how we're some of the

171
00:12:35.240 --> 00:12:41.600
things we're doing to try to arm
ourselves with this here. So mimography versus

172
00:12:41.639 --> 00:12:45.720
three D imaging, what's the difference
there, right, And that's a great

173
00:12:45.799 --> 00:12:50.399
question. So one of Okay,
what I didn't mention about my diagnosis,

174
00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:56.840
I mentioned that eight mammograms missed my
cancer. That means eight radiologists missed it

175
00:12:56.879 --> 00:13:01.639
too, And that's because I have
dense breast tissue and my doctors did not

176
00:13:01.799 --> 00:13:05.799
inform me of that. And so
when a woman has dense breast issue,

177
00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:09.159
she is at a higher risk for
breast cancer. And one of the drawbacks

178
00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:13.440
with a mammogram is that it cannot
see the tumor. You have to think

179
00:13:13.480 --> 00:13:20.360
about the back of the film of
a mammogram is white, a tumor is

180
00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:24.720
white, So it's like looking for
a snowball in a snowstorm. So,

181
00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:28.320
just like myself, there are many
women who go misdiagnosed if they have a

182
00:13:28.360 --> 00:13:33.159
mammogram because you cannot see the tumor. And so now and thanks to Henda's

183
00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:37.679
law, it's I think in thirty
five states now. But we have better

184
00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:41.360
imagings. So you can have a
whole breast ultrasound, you can have three

185
00:13:41.480 --> 00:13:46.240
D mamography, you can have light
therapy, many different options so a woman

186
00:13:46.279 --> 00:13:50.159
doesn't have to feel like a mammogram
is the only thing. In fact,

187
00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:54.120
if you have dense breast tissue,
I would recommend that everyone go into your

188
00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:58.559
doctor and you demand one of the
three D options because a mimography is just

189
00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:01.399
not going to do it for you. You know, Gwen, that's so

190
00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:03.679
important that I want to add on
to what you just said there, because

191
00:14:03.720 --> 00:14:07.600
when I talked in the beginning about
Handa Samarn and her Handa's Law, the

192
00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:11.440
importance of that significance of that is
just exactly what's happened to you and what

193
00:14:11.559 --> 00:14:15.320
happened to her, and that was
that she went going through her memograms for

194
00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:18.080
all those years and getting the clear
signal coming out of them, but never

195
00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:22.200
being told that she had dense press
tissues, so that she never knew to

196
00:14:22.200 --> 00:14:26.600
ask for other options. And so
what Handas law does is it actually says

197
00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:28.720
to women, look, you know
there are some women, many women have

198
00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:33.399
dense prist tissue and it looks like
you do in this in some cases in

199
00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:37.399
which case you should look at other
options to evaluate your your your you know,

200
00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:41.519
whatever concerns that you might have or
potential risks. That is the value

201
00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:43.960
of Handa's law of being able to
declare that to women that they either have

202
00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:48.919
dense priss tissue and need to look
for other ways to look for ways to

203
00:14:48.919 --> 00:14:52.360
see if they've got any tumors,
or that is even present in and of

204
00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:54.279
itself, because most of us women
didn't know that before she came to the

205
00:14:54.279 --> 00:15:00.799
table with that correct. Yeah,
it's so important. Such a fan of

206
00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:03.159
what she's doing and a fact,
as I said, I know she's out

207
00:15:03.159 --> 00:15:07.159
there still evangelizing and listeners. You
know, both Gwen and need help on

208
00:15:07.159 --> 00:15:11.080
this issue. So if you're interested
and want to lend a hand, we

209
00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:15.960
need more feet and more hands.
So just there's ways to find both Gwen

210
00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:20.399
and I. So, Gwen,
anything else, I mean, I really

211
00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:24.480
appreciated that the historical perspective that you
just gave us. I had no idea

212
00:15:24.600 --> 00:15:28.799
that we had this inkling way back
to three thousand BC. Anything else that

213
00:15:28.840 --> 00:15:33.799
we need to understand about the history
of breast cancer. Yeah, I think

214
00:15:33.799 --> 00:15:41.519
there's something that's really important So cancer
is caused by changes to our molecular structures

215
00:15:41.559 --> 00:15:46.279
in the body called genes. Okay, so these changes are known as mutations

216
00:15:46.840 --> 00:15:54.039
abnormalties, and they could be caused
by randomly things like outside influences like pollution,

217
00:15:54.240 --> 00:16:00.480
smoking, sun exposure, because they
could be inherited through your family line

218
00:16:00.519 --> 00:16:04.919
as well. But not everyone is
born with a gene mutation will develop this

219
00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:11.840
cancer. So inherited gene mutations may
be passed from either parent and may increase

220
00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:15.399
the risk in both men and women. I said men too, and the

221
00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:22.440
risk from inherited gene mutation varies greatly
depending on the abnormality and other factors.

222
00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:26.080
But I think what people need to
know is that just like we all have

223
00:16:26.200 --> 00:16:30.320
cancer genes in our body and whether
they're turned on or not is the question

224
00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:34.279
on or off the BROCA one and
two gene, which is the mutation for

225
00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:41.240
breast cancer. So not everyone has
that about twelve percent of women in the

226
00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:45.320
general population will develop cancer due to
the brocogene. But what they need to

227
00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:52.279
know, so many women they're frozen
by the knowledge that someone in their family

228
00:16:52.360 --> 00:16:56.720
or maybe they have the brocogene,
so they automatically feel that they're going to

229
00:16:56.759 --> 00:16:59.840
get it. They're just doomed.
And they may have the mentality that I'm

230
00:16:59.879 --> 00:17:03.600
not going to do anything about it
because I'm automatically going to get cancer.

231
00:17:03.639 --> 00:17:06.960
But I'll get into it a little
bit later. There's so much that you

232
00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:11.039
can do. Even if you have
the gene, does not mean you are

233
00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:15.839
going to get the disease, which
I think is really important to note.

234
00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:23.000
There are risk factors develop to develop
breast cancer, something like drinking alcohol.

235
00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:26.880
I don't think women realize that if
they drink alcohol, they increase the risk

236
00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:30.400
for breast cancer. I'll hold on
hold that thought. If you hold that

237
00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:33.000
thought, if you woulden, I
want to talk more about how to actually

238
00:17:33.079 --> 00:17:36.680
prevent cancer. There might be some
of those things in that bucket as well.

239
00:17:36.839 --> 00:17:40.079
But let's grab our first break here
real quick. I'm your host.

240
00:17:40.599 --> 00:17:42.079
I'm your host, Alice Cortes.
We went on the air with gwyn Rich.

241
00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:45.359
She is a wife, mother of
four, and a credited image stylist,

242
00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:49.200
small business owner, philanthropist, and
Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Stop

243
00:17:49.240 --> 00:17:52.960
Complaining, Make Your Own Luck.
She joins us today from Chicago, Illinois.

244
00:17:53.079 --> 00:17:56.839
We've been talking a bit about her
own diagnosis with breast cancer and the

245
00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:00.119
history of this particular disease. The
rik we're going to get into some of

246
00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:03.759
the ways we can prevent this cancer. Stay with us, We'll be right

247
00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:08.000
back. Alice Cortes is a speaker
and engagement and development catalyst. She designs

248
00:18:08.039 --> 00:18:14.440
and delivers professional development, leadership and
engagement workshops and can bring her expertise to

249
00:18:14.519 --> 00:18:18.519
your organization. She will help ignite
meaningful development within your workforce that will increase

250
00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:23.359
employee engagement, performance and retention.
To learn more or to invite Elise to

251
00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:30.039
speak to your organization, please visit
her at www dot Elise Coortes dot com.

252
00:18:30.119 --> 00:18:33.559
She would welcome the opportunity to help
get your employees working on purpose.

253
00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:45.759
This is working on Purpose with Elise
Cortes. To reach our program today,

254
00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:52.000
send an email to a lease Alise
at Elisecortes dot com. Now back to

255
00:18:52.200 --> 00:18:56.319
working on purpose if you're just joining
us, My guest is gwenn Rich.

256
00:18:56.599 --> 00:19:02.640
After eight years an eight misdiagnoses,
Quinn was ultimately diagnosed with incurable ministatic breast

257
00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:06.559
cancer in twenty twelve. Struggling to
decide what to do with the time she

258
00:19:06.599 --> 00:19:10.240
had left, she launched the Gwynn
Marie Collection pursues with a purpose. In

259
00:19:10.279 --> 00:19:14.960
twenty fourteen, Gwinn continues to fill
her emission on helping others. Her legacy

260
00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:18.799
on the go is the development of
an online teach community called The Rich Solution.

261
00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:22.799
We've been talking a bit about how
the history of breast cancer came to

262
00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:26.440
be in her own situation. Now
let's get into some of those ways that

263
00:19:26.440 --> 00:19:29.319
you started talking about before the breakbout, maybe prevent some of that cancer.

264
00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:33.319
And you started talking about alcohol intake. Maybe take pick up from where you

265
00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:37.279
left up there, if you would
go in sure. So we do know

266
00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:41.799
that breast cancer damages to sell DNA, that's something we do know. What

267
00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:45.960
we do not know exactly unless you
have the Brocka gene what causes cancer.

268
00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:52.079
There are risk factors, and some
of them that they do know, as

269
00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:57.079
I mentioned, is drinking alcohol that
can increase your risk of getting cancer as

270
00:19:57.119 --> 00:20:00.799
well as it being in the family. Those are two that we know of,

271
00:20:02.279 --> 00:20:04.480
and then of course there's many other
risk factors that they're really not sure

272
00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:10.319
if it has you know, if
they can pinpoint any one thing, what

273
00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:14.319
I think is really cool. I
get really excited. This is from all

274
00:20:14.359 --> 00:20:18.359
the research I've done, even before
I was diagnosed that we know about epigentics.

275
00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:22.000
Okay, So this is a really
new and exciting field in science and

276
00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:27.319
it studies the human behavior and how
it canfect gene expression. This goes back

277
00:20:27.319 --> 00:20:32.160
to those who are worried about having
cancer. Maybe they have the brockagene in

278
00:20:32.200 --> 00:20:36.519
their family, or maybe they know
they have the brockagene the mutation. So

279
00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:40.880
we're talking about gene expression. So
we can't change which genes we inherit from

280
00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:45.680
our parents. We can, though, through our behavior, change whether or

281
00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:48.039
not those genes are turned off and
on. And I think this is so

282
00:20:48.279 --> 00:20:52.519
cool. So you have to remember
that a faulty gene that you've inherited can

283
00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:57.839
only hurt you if it's turned on. So there was a recent study and

284
00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:03.400
it was about this study of a
spiritual practice, and it showed that meditating

285
00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:11.799
for a very short period of time
significantly changed gene expression in a healthy promoting

286
00:21:11.880 --> 00:21:15.119
way. So this is so cool. So in other words, something like

287
00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:21.960
spiritual practice meditation which I'll talk about
later, can actually turn healthy genes on

288
00:21:22.200 --> 00:21:26.559
and the healthy ones turned off.
So this is a really great discovery for

289
00:21:27.079 --> 00:21:32.680
cancer patients. Are those who are
interested in reducing their risks of a cancer

290
00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:40.000
diagnosed or even a reoccurrence. So
as I want to get into patients or

291
00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:45.880
someone who is just wants to reduce
their risks, can focus on certain behaviors

292
00:21:47.079 --> 00:21:51.480
like your diet, spiritual practice,
exercise, and so much more so that

293
00:21:51.559 --> 00:21:56.839
we can keep those genes turned off. And this you can also do with

294
00:21:56.039 --> 00:22:03.759
chronic diseases auto immune symptoms as well. And we know that literally most everybody

295
00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:07.799
in our society is not only dealing
with cancer or someone who has cancer,

296
00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:12.240
but our health we're having failing health, We're living longer with the quality of

297
00:22:12.279 --> 00:22:18.920
life is worse. So I think
this is a really neat something that I

298
00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:22.880
just found recently, and it just
gives me hope, and I think it

299
00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:26.359
would give others hope as well to
know that it's an empowerment that we can

300
00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:33.000
do so much to reduce the risks
of us getting cancer. Does that make

301
00:22:33.079 --> 00:22:37.119
sense? It does, and it
is incredibly empowering and encouraging. Gwen,

302
00:22:37.240 --> 00:22:38.480
I thank you so much for sharing
that. And of course I have a

303
00:22:38.519 --> 00:22:41.920
burning question to somebody who does like
to have a glass of wine at the

304
00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:45.920
end of the day. How does
alcohol work to increase the risk of cancer.

305
00:22:47.319 --> 00:22:52.279
What's going on with the alcohol.
I don't really know that specifically.

306
00:22:52.519 --> 00:22:56.200
I know that if you have cancer, I know that the sugar in it,

307
00:22:56.279 --> 00:23:00.119
which turns into glucose is actually with
the care answer feeds off of.

308
00:23:00.519 --> 00:23:06.720
But I'm really not sure of the
science behind it before you're diagnosed, I

309
00:23:06.759 --> 00:23:10.680
don't know. Okay, it's okay, no, just fascinating, very very

310
00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:14.839
you gave us some really amazing information. And you know what I also really

311
00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:18.480
appreciate too, is to your point
earlier about people getting maybe they find out

312
00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:19.519
they have the brockogen and they're like, well, what's the point I just

313
00:23:19.559 --> 00:23:23.319
give up? I surrender. Yet
when you consider there is so much that's

314
00:23:23.319 --> 00:23:29.440
within their control to be able to
impact their risk of getting cancer or it's

315
00:23:29.480 --> 00:23:33.680
spreading or getting worse, I'm finding
it very encouraging. Yeah. Yeah,

316
00:23:33.720 --> 00:23:37.759
I mean, I'm I have three
pillars to my business. It's empowerment,

317
00:23:37.799 --> 00:23:42.799
community and faith. And empowerment to
me is so big when we when I

318
00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:45.240
talk to you about some of the
other things you can to me, I

319
00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:49.519
look at that and it just gets
me so excited because it's you've got to

320
00:23:49.559 --> 00:23:53.920
put in the work. Okay,
but there is a lot that you can

321
00:23:53.960 --> 00:23:59.640
do. We don't have to take
a diagnosis as an accept it as fate,

322
00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:04.680
even cancer diagnosis. Okay, So
I want people when they hear that.

323
00:24:04.839 --> 00:24:11.359
So even whether you're given an autoimmune
disease, whether you have a cardovascular

324
00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:15.240
disease type two or three diabetes,
cancer, you don't have to accept it

325
00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:19.200
as fate. There's so much that
you can do to improve your quality of

326
00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:25.960
health. And I think that's just
really encouraging and hopeful. I mean,

327
00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:29.279
sometimes that's all people have is hope. I know there's been times where that's

328
00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:34.400
all I had. So hope is
medicine for me. Well, so you

329
00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:37.359
said empowerment. Where were the other
two pillars of your business? Oh?

330
00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:41.079
Spirituality? Faith? Okay, community
and faith. Would you say a little

331
00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:44.079
bit more about those other two.
I know we're going to say more about

332
00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:47.079
what you're up to later, but
just briefly touch on those if you would.

333
00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:52.880
Sure. So, Community, I
think people need to know community is

334
00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:59.599
really important. Every person needs to
have a community in all the different areas

335
00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:03.400
of your life life so that when
you are faced with something, when you

336
00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:07.200
have a problem, when your problem
gets so big, you do have someone

337
00:25:07.240 --> 00:25:11.640
there other people to help you get
it, get through it. I mean

338
00:25:11.720 --> 00:25:17.119
it can go beyond you know,
espouse, a loved one, siblings,

339
00:25:18.200 --> 00:25:22.319
friends we're talking about. These can
be acquaintances, These could be someone you

340
00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:27.559
work with. You need need to
build those communities in all the different areas.

341
00:25:27.880 --> 00:25:33.039
Again, it's really important. So
much about what we do these today

342
00:25:33.559 --> 00:25:38.960
is we go online to find out
all the information and we can even connect

343
00:25:40.039 --> 00:25:45.759
with people. But what we're finding
is that what we've it really is disconnecting

344
00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:51.799
all of us from each other,
all the social media. So I would

345
00:25:51.880 --> 00:25:56.000
encourage people. There are times when
that's good. You can go online and

346
00:25:56.039 --> 00:25:59.880
you can find all the different forms
and all the different subjects. But when

347
00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:04.039
once you do that, then go
offline to then connect with people in your

348
00:26:04.039 --> 00:26:08.000
community so that you have it there
if you need it. I'll give you

349
00:26:08.039 --> 00:26:14.240
an example. So I was diagnosed. A month later, I broke my

350
00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:18.880
neck a very short condensed version.
So I broke my neck and it was

351
00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:22.359
due to the fact I fell down
some stairs because of my cancer was so

352
00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:29.359
bad in my bones, so had
the infusion. So they replaced a bone

353
00:26:29.400 --> 00:26:33.000
in my neck. And when I
got home, I mean, I have

354
00:26:33.079 --> 00:26:36.039
to take care of myself and all
that didn't even think about meals. So

355
00:26:36.039 --> 00:26:40.799
I had a husband and four kids, and we put it out there on

356
00:26:40.839 --> 00:26:48.000
something called meal train, and within
one day, my community filled two months

357
00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:52.000
worth of meals that people in my
community would bring to me and my family.

358
00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:55.599
These are people. Some of them
were friends, good friends, some

359
00:26:55.640 --> 00:26:59.440
of them were acquaintances. Some of
them I didn't even really know. And

360
00:26:59.480 --> 00:27:04.079
that's because we didn't realize it.
But we had been building communities in these

361
00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:07.480
different areas, and then it was
there for us when we were going through

362
00:27:07.799 --> 00:27:14.240
our challenges and problems. So it's
really important. Quinn, you are just

363
00:27:14.440 --> 00:27:18.519
amazing. You fell down a flighty
stairs and broke your neck on top of

364
00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:22.240
all of this, Yeah, but
that it was something where if you fell,

365
00:27:22.319 --> 00:27:23.960
slipped and fell, you'd be like, oh gosh, well that hurt

366
00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:27.000
a little bit. Maybe I'd get
a bruise, But unfortunately, because my

367
00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:32.200
bones were so damaged, I ended
up breaking it. So you know,

368
00:27:32.440 --> 00:27:37.160
that's what comes along with the disease. I got it. Okay, Well,

369
00:27:37.240 --> 00:27:40.000
would you say, for our listeners, I want to make sure that

370
00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:41.920
I don't attempt a way to describe
this because I want to make sure that's

371
00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:47.079
right. So you got diagnosed when
and I think you told me when we

372
00:27:47.119 --> 00:27:52.440
first spoke that you're beyond when they
expected you to live. Is that right,

373
00:27:52.240 --> 00:28:00.000
right? Yes? So I actually
it's on a MRI in two thousand

374
00:28:00.200 --> 00:28:03.519
and four, the cancer, but
none of the doctors saw it until twenty

375
00:28:03.640 --> 00:28:08.559
twelve. Twenty twelve, November six
is when I actually got the diagnosis and

376
00:28:08.599 --> 00:28:11.119
it was in my bones, when
in two thousand and four it was in

377
00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:15.880
my bones as well, So technically
I've had it for fourteen years. I've

378
00:28:15.880 --> 00:28:22.160
known about it for just over five
Someone who has my type and stage cancer,

379
00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:26.079
the stats are only one out of
four will actually make it to the

380
00:28:26.119 --> 00:28:30.720
five year mark. So even if
you go to when I got diagnosed,

381
00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:36.240
that five year mark was in November. So I've definitely lived beyond my expiration.

382
00:28:37.319 --> 00:28:41.680
I definitely have a few friends who
were diagnosed with my type in stage

383
00:28:41.720 --> 00:28:45.240
cancer and they didn't make it past
a year year and a half since their

384
00:28:45.279 --> 00:28:48.839
diagnosis. So I've done all these
things. When I talk about empowerment,

385
00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:52.920
and I talk about that gene expression
and there's so much that you can do,

386
00:28:53.559 --> 00:28:56.240
well, that's what I did from
the first day that I left my

387
00:28:56.319 --> 00:29:00.839
doctor's office, even though my doctors, even today oncologists roll all their eyes

388
00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:06.400
at what I do, I don't
care because until you're given an incurable diagnosis,

389
00:29:06.599 --> 00:29:11.000
you have no idea what you are
will and will not do. Because

390
00:29:11.079 --> 00:29:14.039
I want to be here to make
a difference. I want to see my

391
00:29:14.200 --> 00:29:19.160
kids go through life cycle events that
most people take for granted. And so

392
00:29:21.079 --> 00:29:23.960
yeah, oh my gosh, Gwinn, it's so amazing to have you on

393
00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:26.880
the show and get you to be
able to share with the listeners across the

394
00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:32.160
globe this really important message and it
is empowering, and I love what you're

395
00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:34.599
up to and what you stand for. I totally saw you as somebody who

396
00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:37.680
is absolutely working on purpose, and
again that's why I wanted to have you

397
00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:41.599
in the show for that reason as
well, and just appreciate everything that you're

398
00:29:41.640 --> 00:29:45.519
sharing and who you are. Thank
you, Thank you. I'm excited to

399
00:29:45.559 --> 00:29:48.640
be here because this I do feel
like I am. If you hear my

400
00:29:48.839 --> 00:29:52.279
story, you know, how could
they not find the cancer right eight Mammo

401
00:29:52.279 --> 00:29:57.480
grant I's eight doctors, eight idiologists, and nobody found it. It wasn't

402
00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:02.319
meant to happen. And that's when
I get into the faith which is my

403
00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:07.559
third pillar. I've had a number
of things that have happened through with my

404
00:30:07.640 --> 00:30:11.079
family, with health crisis with two
of my children. I've made a pack

405
00:30:11.160 --> 00:30:17.039
with God, and I really believe
that I am doing exactly what I'm supposed

406
00:30:17.039 --> 00:30:22.599
to be doing, helping others through
my experience. So I'm very comfortable and

407
00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:26.440
at peace with that. And it
certainly shows, Gwen, It certainly shows,

408
00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:30.000
and it's just incredible. It is
incredibly inspiring and empowering. And I

409
00:30:30.039 --> 00:30:34.400
do see that in my research of
looking at how people experience meaning and their

410
00:30:34.400 --> 00:30:37.960
work in relation to their identity or
sense of self. One of the modes

411
00:30:37.960 --> 00:30:41.279
that I found is living my purpose. And I think that's what you're doing.

412
00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:45.440
You're living your purpose, right.
Yeah. And I have to say

413
00:30:45.480 --> 00:30:51.559
that before I was diagnosed, I
struggled with that. I had the ideal

414
00:30:51.640 --> 00:30:55.640
job. I was a certified image
consultant, so I helped women from head

415
00:30:55.640 --> 00:30:59.200
to toe look their best every day
and build a fabulous functional wardrobe. I

416
00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:02.799
love doing that, loved helping women. I did, you know, philanthropic

417
00:31:02.880 --> 00:31:06.920
work I have, like I said, a husband for kids. There was

418
00:31:07.000 --> 00:31:10.480
nothing wrong with my life, but
something was missing. And then it turned

419
00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:17.839
took definitely some events and then of
course me getting cancer to finding this purpose

420
00:31:18.079 --> 00:31:25.559
and feeling the most meaningful and purposeful
ever in my life. I really appreciate

421
00:31:25.599 --> 00:31:27.119
that. In fact, a few
weeks on this show, I had Steve

422
00:31:27.160 --> 00:31:32.440
Gavatorta on, and he wrote a
book that addresses the power and gift of

423
00:31:32.519 --> 00:31:37.559
adversity, and he says that embracing
adversity is really what allows us to become

424
00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:41.960
the person we're meant to become.
And it seems I guess certainly true for

425
00:31:42.039 --> 00:31:47.000
you. Yes, And you know
you mentioned before you thought I was strong.

426
00:31:47.720 --> 00:31:51.759
I certainly from this experience realized that
I'm a lot stronger than I thought.

427
00:31:52.240 --> 00:31:56.119
But going back to some health challenges
with a couple of my kids,

428
00:31:56.480 --> 00:32:00.000
you know, you wonder why those
things happen, and we'll never know why,

429
00:32:00.200 --> 00:32:04.319
but I know it made me stronger. And I did all this research.

430
00:32:04.359 --> 00:32:07.359
I've found all this stuff, so
then all of a sudden I got

431
00:32:07.359 --> 00:32:10.720
cancer, and it helped me be
right there at that place to know where

432
00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:15.799
to go and what to do and
be much more comfortable with it. So

433
00:32:15.079 --> 00:32:21.319
I agree with your other guest host, Yeah, I really do makes a

434
00:32:21.359 --> 00:32:25.640
big difference. Indeed, indeed,
Well, is there anything else you want

435
00:32:25.680 --> 00:32:30.119
to say about how women can prevent
cancer before we take our next break?

436
00:32:31.160 --> 00:32:35.319
How much time before the break?
I got three hours go for it and

437
00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:37.839
I have just there you go.
I do have a lot to say,

438
00:32:38.240 --> 00:32:43.599
so women can do so much,
Okay. One of the first things that

439
00:32:43.640 --> 00:32:46.000
I know no one's going to want
to hear about it. But it's changing

440
00:32:46.039 --> 00:32:53.799
your diet, okay, exercise,
sleep patterns, reducing your stress, environmental

441
00:32:53.839 --> 00:32:59.240
toxins, your gut health, the
importance of communities, which I just talked

442
00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:04.480
to you about faith, which is
different than finding a religion or being religious,

443
00:33:04.920 --> 00:33:09.440
meditation which I'll talk about, and
then having purpose in life. But

444
00:33:09.640 --> 00:33:14.480
diet is the first thing. It's
the biggest needle mover. So whether you

445
00:33:14.519 --> 00:33:17.119
have cancer or not, you want
to reduce your risks, you need to

446
00:33:17.160 --> 00:33:22.160
go to a whole food based diet, a plant based diet. We've got

447
00:33:22.240 --> 00:33:24.640
to get away from the processed food. You've got to get away from the

448
00:33:24.680 --> 00:33:31.000
process refined sugar and refined carbohydrates.
This can it. You know, food

449
00:33:31.119 --> 00:33:38.480
is medicine and it can dramatically change
your body, your immune system to actually

450
00:33:38.519 --> 00:33:44.519
function the way it's supposed to.
Exercise. You can reduce your risks for

451
00:33:45.160 --> 00:33:49.519
cancer by thirty two percent just by
exercising. And I'm not talking you don't

452
00:33:49.519 --> 00:33:53.359
have to go run marathons. It's
getting your body moving, start do something.

453
00:33:53.359 --> 00:33:58.079
There's just so much evidence about how
exercise is just so good for your

454
00:33:58.119 --> 00:34:00.759
body, so good for your brain. How they say, even you know,

455
00:34:00.799 --> 00:34:07.559
with these neurodegenitive diseases like demensia and
Alzheimer's, if you exercise you can

456
00:34:07.640 --> 00:34:13.440
reduce your chances of getting those two
significantly. We didn't know that so many

457
00:34:13.559 --> 00:34:16.000
years ago. And so they're saying
right now, if you lived eighty five,

458
00:34:16.360 --> 00:34:21.760
fifty percent of us are going to
have either dementia or Alzheimer's. That's

459
00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:25.280
pretty sad, so right now,
empowerment. You know that if you can

460
00:34:25.320 --> 00:34:30.239
start exercising, you change your diet, you start making some lifestyle changes,

461
00:34:30.519 --> 00:34:35.199
you can reduce that. And we're
talking. My philosophy and I talk about

462
00:34:35.239 --> 00:34:38.360
in my book is about small actions. I'm definitely not of the belief that

463
00:34:38.400 --> 00:34:43.960
you need to take big actions to
get rid of big problems. It's about

464
00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:49.599
taking small actions, and over a
long period of time, incremental changes can

465
00:34:49.679 --> 00:34:53.559
have enormously positive results that is what
I've done over the last five years.

466
00:34:53.719 --> 00:34:58.320
I've all these things that I talk
about, I talk to talk and walk

467
00:34:58.360 --> 00:35:04.159
the talk. I've all done this
talk about supplements. Supplements to me are

468
00:35:04.679 --> 00:35:08.960
not optional. We need supplements because
we're not getting all the nutrients we need

469
00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:14.679
from our soil. We're not getting
the nutrients because our produce is picked two

470
00:35:14.760 --> 00:35:19.440
weeks at least earlier than it's ripe, and the time of transportation time it

471
00:35:19.480 --> 00:35:22.239
takes us to get to us,
so we're losing so much of a percentage

472
00:35:22.280 --> 00:35:28.440
of that nutrition. If you take
an orange and what your grandparents the nutrition

473
00:35:28.559 --> 00:35:34.320
they get, we're getting about forty
percent of that. Most every person has

474
00:35:34.360 --> 00:35:38.400
some type of nutrient deficiency, and
of course if you look at the standard

475
00:35:38.400 --> 00:35:44.480
American Western diet, we're not getting
what we need to thrive and survive.

476
00:35:45.199 --> 00:35:50.519
Wow, that's a lot to contemplate, and clearly you are a living,

477
00:35:50.559 --> 00:35:53.800
breathing example of why this is a
good idea. Let's grab our next final

478
00:35:53.840 --> 00:35:57.840
break here at Gwen and we'll come
back. I'm Alice Cortez, your host,

479
00:35:57.880 --> 00:36:00.800
who've been on the air with Gwyn
Rich. She's a wife mother for

480
00:36:00.880 --> 00:36:05.719
an accredited image stylist small business owner, philanthropist, and Wall Street Journal bestselling

481
00:36:05.719 --> 00:36:08.599
author of Stop Complaining, Make Your
Own Luck. She joins today from Chicago,

482
00:36:08.639 --> 00:36:13.679
Illinois. We've been talking about various
ways that men and women can prevent

483
00:36:13.760 --> 00:36:15.360
cancer. After the break, we'll
hear maybe a bit more about that,

484
00:36:15.559 --> 00:36:20.800
and also what she's doing to create
a living legacy for herself and for anyone

485
00:36:20.800 --> 00:36:22.719
else that need here to listen,
Stay with us, We'll be right back.

486
00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:28.719
Alis Cortes is a speaker and engagement
and development catalyst. She designs and

487
00:36:28.760 --> 00:36:34.239
delivers professional development, leadership and engagement
workshops and can bring her expertise to your

488
00:36:34.400 --> 00:36:38.760
organization. She will help ignite meaningful
development within your workforce that will increase employee

489
00:36:38.800 --> 00:36:44.239
engagement, performance and retention. To
learn more or to invite Elise to speak

490
00:36:44.280 --> 00:36:49.800
to your organization, please visit her
at www dot Elisecortes dot com. She

491
00:36:49.920 --> 00:37:00.039
would welcome the opportunity to help get
your employees working on purpose. This is

492
00:37:00.159 --> 00:37:06.000
working on Purpose with Elise Cortes.
To reach our program today, send an

493
00:37:06.039 --> 00:37:13.199
email to a lease Alise at a
Leasecortes dot com. Now back to working

494
00:37:13.280 --> 00:37:16.360
on purpose. If you're just tuning
in, My guest is Gwen Rich.

495
00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:22.199
After eight years and eight misdiagnoses,
Gwenn was ultimately diagnosed with incurable metastatic breast

496
00:37:22.199 --> 00:37:25.639
cancer in twenty twelve. Struggling to
decide with what to do with the time

497
00:37:25.719 --> 00:37:30.119
she had left, she launched the
Gwen Marie Collection Persons with a Purpose in

498
00:37:30.119 --> 00:37:34.679
twenty fourteen. Gwen continues to fulfill
her mission of helping others. Her legacy

499
00:37:34.760 --> 00:37:37.639
on the Go is the development of
an online teaching community called The Rich Solution

500
00:37:37.920 --> 00:37:40.880
with Him more about that just a
moment. I'm your host, Alise Cortes.

501
00:37:42.559 --> 00:37:44.719
So on the break, you and
I were quickly chatting that there's at

502
00:37:44.760 --> 00:37:46.519
least one more thing that you want
to share while we have just limited time

503
00:37:46.639 --> 00:37:51.920
left about preventing cancer, and that's
meditation. Gwen, what did you want

504
00:37:51.920 --> 00:37:53.679
to share about that? Thank you
for letting me talk about that. So

505
00:37:53.760 --> 00:37:58.960
in addition to diet being the first
thing you need you should do, it's

506
00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:04.239
the biggest needle mold. At the
same time, meditation, as I talked

507
00:38:04.280 --> 00:38:07.320
earlier, remember how that gene expression
you can turn it on or off.

508
00:38:07.599 --> 00:38:12.559
So meditation, they're finding, has
so much to do with brain health.

509
00:38:12.800 --> 00:38:16.199
You can reduce your stress, which
we need to do. I don't think

510
00:38:16.239 --> 00:38:22.960
that we talk enough about gratitude.
Practicing gratitude can really shift your perspective.

511
00:38:22.159 --> 00:38:25.440
And if you're going to do something
like making changes in your diet, which

512
00:38:25.480 --> 00:38:29.920
may seem simple, but they're not
easy, because if they're easy, everybody

513
00:38:29.960 --> 00:38:35.280
would do it, you're going to
need to shift or reframe away the way

514
00:38:35.320 --> 00:38:38.400
you think about a lot of things
because you're changing your habits. So meditation

515
00:38:38.840 --> 00:38:45.480
really can make your life concretely better. People don't understand that, scientifically proven.

516
00:38:45.559 --> 00:38:49.159
It's a life hack. So it
can lead to better mental health,

517
00:38:49.199 --> 00:38:53.239
physical health, more energy, and
less pain. So people underestimate meditation.

518
00:38:53.400 --> 00:38:58.760
So I think people really need to
take a look into that. Thank you.

519
00:38:58.800 --> 00:39:00.920
I know I've done a little bit
of that recently on myself, and

520
00:39:00.960 --> 00:39:04.079
I have noticed an amazing difference,
And now that I understand the health benefits,

521
00:39:04.280 --> 00:39:06.119
I think I want to make that
more of a practice. Thank you

522
00:39:06.199 --> 00:39:12.239
very much, Quinn. I'm convinced. Thank you. Thanks for a thing

523
00:39:12.280 --> 00:39:14.840
to your list. Yeah, right
exactly. I think I could work that

524
00:39:14.920 --> 00:39:19.679
in. Okay, Well, as
we mentioned before, I mean, there's

525
00:39:19.719 --> 00:39:22.639
so much of who you are is
just in complete online with this show and

526
00:39:22.679 --> 00:39:27.800
what I'm trying to do for listeners
across the globe and you know, standing

527
00:39:27.840 --> 00:39:30.320
for passion and working on purpose.
I want to learn more about this Gwynn

528
00:39:30.320 --> 00:39:36.880
Marie collection Purpose Pursons with a purpose
that is just brilliant. Tell us more

529
00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:40.239
about this. Yeah, so that
was something that it took me six months

530
00:39:40.280 --> 00:39:43.679
to figure out what I was going
to do with my life. And it

531
00:39:43.719 --> 00:39:46.760
came back to those who had heard
about my diagnosis all said, well,

532
00:39:46.760 --> 00:39:51.079
you know, go back and do
something you're passionate about. So when I

533
00:39:51.320 --> 00:39:53.760
you know, I stopped work and
everything and what came to me was sewing.

534
00:39:54.079 --> 00:39:57.599
And sewing, of course I hadn't
done in a long time because life

535
00:39:57.639 --> 00:40:00.079
gets in the way, and so
I tried a handbag. This was a

536
00:40:00.199 --> 00:40:05.400
leather handbag. I had done toats
before, but not a handbag, and

537
00:40:05.480 --> 00:40:07.599
I really liked it. When I
was finished with it, and it happened

538
00:40:07.599 --> 00:40:10.599
to be around the end of August, and I thought, you know what,

539
00:40:10.639 --> 00:40:14.760
I'm going to make handbags for the
women in my family for the holidays.

540
00:40:14.760 --> 00:40:16.119
I have enough time I could do
this. And so when I started

541
00:40:16.159 --> 00:40:21.239
thinking about my mom and how wonderful
she is and I love her, and

542
00:40:21.360 --> 00:40:25.760
you know what she's a cancer survivor
as well, and about the functionality of

543
00:40:25.800 --> 00:40:30.519
the purse and how special it needs
to be. That's when the light bulb

544
00:40:30.599 --> 00:40:34.400
went off and I thought, this
is what I was meant to do,

545
00:40:34.960 --> 00:40:38.840
is to make handbags for women to
raise money for breast cancer research. But

546
00:40:39.039 --> 00:40:44.559
more than that, it was to
help the cancer community. It was to

547
00:40:44.760 --> 00:40:50.320
connect and comfort the cancer community,
because I know I felt alone and I

548
00:40:50.440 --> 00:40:54.679
knew others do too, and so
what better not way to have handbags where

549
00:40:54.840 --> 00:41:00.840
if you are diagnosed with cancer,
your friend can support the by buying you

550
00:41:00.920 --> 00:41:05.639
a handbag and you know that they
care about you from this gift, or

551
00:41:05.679 --> 00:41:09.280
maybe your friends carried as a symbol
to support you and the cause. So

552
00:41:10.360 --> 00:41:14.639
and then, of course to raise
money for breast cancer research was really important

553
00:41:14.679 --> 00:41:19.440
because we haven't found a cure yet. My kids came up with the name

554
00:41:19.480 --> 00:41:22.960
Gwen Marie, and I think it
was a year and a half or so

555
00:41:23.119 --> 00:41:29.840
later we launched the Gwen Marie Collection
Pursues with a purpose. So you know,

556
00:41:29.880 --> 00:41:31.599
when I got my diagnosis, I
could have acted in two ways.

557
00:41:31.639 --> 00:41:36.920
I could have been in the victim
mode. It's really not in my playbook,

558
00:41:37.320 --> 00:41:39.760
but I took a stand, I
figured out how to live to my

559
00:41:39.880 --> 00:41:45.480
best ability, and I chose the
latter. So I'm so glad I did

560
00:41:45.519 --> 00:41:49.320
because it did give me that purpose
to get up every day. My passion

561
00:41:50.280 --> 00:41:53.440
allowed me to feel good about getting
up every day because prior to that,

562
00:41:53.760 --> 00:41:58.880
I really didn't feel like I had
anything to get up for. You are

563
00:41:59.000 --> 00:42:01.960
truly a living, walking, breathing
billboard for what I keep saying, live

564
00:42:02.039 --> 00:42:07.440
with passion, work on purpose in
every way, Gwen, It's amazing and

565
00:42:07.599 --> 00:42:12.719
so beautiful and so empowering. And
I love the idea of these purses.

566
00:42:12.760 --> 00:42:15.960
And in fact, let me describe
this really quick. Where can our listeners

567
00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:17.639
find out about them? Is that
on the rich solution dot com website or

568
00:42:17.639 --> 00:42:22.960
someplace else? Correct? The two
places still The Gwen Marie collection is still

569
00:42:22.039 --> 00:42:27.119
up, but they can find everything
at the rich solution dot com. Okay,

570
00:42:27.360 --> 00:42:30.000
okay, great, Well, And
I do know you say you told

571
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:32.639
me before and this is also on
your website that you donate all of your

572
00:42:32.639 --> 00:42:38.159
proceeds from those purses to the University
of Chicago Medicine for cancer Research. Why

573
00:42:38.280 --> 00:42:45.800
this institution? Yeah, that's a
great question, because I did look at

574
00:42:45.920 --> 00:42:51.920
a number of organizations that did research, and the University of Chicago Medicine was

575
00:42:51.920 --> 00:42:53.519
one of the ones that I came
in. They had a power presentation.

576
00:42:54.000 --> 00:43:00.400
Doctor Fleming and doctor Cosen actually talked
about my type stage of cancer, and

577
00:43:01.599 --> 00:43:05.239
it was like a no brainer.
I was like, Okay, these guys

578
00:43:05.280 --> 00:43:07.920
are local, they are a research
hospital. This is where the funds are

579
00:43:07.920 --> 00:43:13.280
going to go to. Another point
that's really important to anybody who's going through

580
00:43:13.360 --> 00:43:16.880
cancer is that you need to be
at a place that you're comfortable with and

581
00:43:16.880 --> 00:43:22.039
you need to love your doctor,
and so a teaching hospital is I would

582
00:43:22.039 --> 00:43:28.039
recommend that before any other hospital.
My doctor, doctor Fleming, is a

583
00:43:28.119 --> 00:43:31.719
researcher with oncology and then spends a
couple of days out of her week seeing

584
00:43:31.880 --> 00:43:38.880
patients like myself, and she is
two years ahead of other oncologists as far

585
00:43:38.880 --> 00:43:44.440
as what's coming down the pike.
And when you're in my situation or you

586
00:43:44.519 --> 00:43:47.320
know, you're not an easy case, you need someone like that that's going

587
00:43:47.360 --> 00:43:51.440
to give you the care that you
need and not make mistakes. So it's

588
00:43:51.519 --> 00:43:54.599
very important. Yeah, that was
such a great way to be able to

589
00:43:54.599 --> 00:44:01.039
clarify why you're giving to this particular
university and what's what's around that as well?

590
00:44:01.079 --> 00:44:04.519
For our listeners. That was great, Thank you for that. Sure,

591
00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:07.960
we're getting close, running out of
time here, and before we go,

592
00:44:07.039 --> 00:44:12.239
I really have to hear about this
legacy on the go online teaching community

593
00:44:12.280 --> 00:44:15.119
that you're up to. So what's
the community all about? What can how

594
00:44:15.119 --> 00:44:21.320
can help it? Can get involved? How can you get involved? Well,

595
00:44:21.360 --> 00:44:24.079
you can go to my website because
that's where I have lots of content.

596
00:44:24.480 --> 00:44:28.639
I have a form that you can
fill out. It's about having a

597
00:44:28.679 --> 00:44:31.960
consult about legacy on the go.
You can read my book. We talk

598
00:44:32.039 --> 00:44:36.800
about legacy on the go in the
book a lot. Excuse me, we

599
00:44:36.840 --> 00:44:40.239
write about that. Excuse me.
It is, you know, a major

600
00:44:40.360 --> 00:44:45.760
theme to what I do and in
the book because you know what when I

601
00:44:45.840 --> 00:44:50.119
when I first was diagnosed, I
did a webinar to help reduce the risks

602
00:44:50.199 --> 00:44:54.079
of cancer for women so they could
feel empowerment. But I still got to

603
00:44:54.159 --> 00:44:59.639
a point where I had all this
knowledge and I knew I needed to do

604
00:44:59.760 --> 00:45:04.320
more. I knew my goal was
bigger than myself, but I wasn't going

605
00:45:04.400 --> 00:45:08.000
to let that stop me. And
so I'm in the process of coming up

606
00:45:08.000 --> 00:45:12.920
with the program to help people figure
out what their legacy on the go is.

607
00:45:12.960 --> 00:45:15.760
But in the meantime they can go
to our site, they can purchase

608
00:45:15.760 --> 00:45:20.440
a book, stop complaining, make
your own luck. I also have more

609
00:45:20.519 --> 00:45:25.599
content. It's all about content at
thepaatreon dot com. I'm just looking to

610
00:45:25.639 --> 00:45:30.199
help people as much as i can. The other thing is I have right

611
00:45:30.360 --> 00:45:37.320
weekly Facebook live or regular videos that's
on mental minutia. So we talked about

612
00:45:37.519 --> 00:45:42.679
mental attitude is so important and also
eliminating toxins. So it's all about helping

613
00:45:42.719 --> 00:45:45.960
you and your lifestyle again to reduce
the risks of cancer or even if you

614
00:45:46.000 --> 00:45:53.199
have cancer, how you can improve
your quality of life as well as go

615
00:45:53.239 --> 00:45:59.519
and remission or slow down your cancer. And someone like my case, this

616
00:45:59.559 --> 00:46:02.480
is amazing and Gwynn, so I
think I know the answer to this question

617
00:46:02.480 --> 00:46:06.599
that I want to ask you next, but maybe say in about a minute

618
00:46:06.719 --> 00:46:10.760
or so, what is the legacy
you're working hard to leave behind? Well,

619
00:46:12.320 --> 00:46:15.800
I want people to be inspired my
story. I hope it doesn't take

620
00:46:16.519 --> 00:46:22.360
a tragedy or problem to take action. I want people to take action.

621
00:46:22.519 --> 00:46:24.119
That's the most important thing. You
may not know what you want to do,

622
00:46:24.239 --> 00:46:29.079
just take action. And it will
lead you down the road to where

623
00:46:29.119 --> 00:46:32.480
you're supposed to be. And that
my story can be inspiring. Use my

624
00:46:32.760 --> 00:46:37.840
story, my system, the five
percent solution, which is taking the small

625
00:46:37.960 --> 00:46:45.840
actions and over time the incremental changes
will have an enormous effect positive you'll get

626
00:46:45.880 --> 00:46:49.840
positive results in your life. So
I want other people to know that they

627
00:46:49.880 --> 00:46:52.679
can turn their worst into their best. I mean, if we look at

628
00:46:52.679 --> 00:46:57.719
a lot of the organizations, a
lot of things that are founded, it

629
00:46:58.199 --> 00:47:01.679
has come out of a need or
it's out of a problem. And so

630
00:47:02.199 --> 00:47:07.360
we all have problems, some bigger
than others. And so to not rule

631
00:47:07.440 --> 00:47:13.320
that out, you know, find
the blessings in your problems. I think

632
00:47:13.360 --> 00:47:19.280
it's really important. We need to
keep imagining and creating, which gives us

633
00:47:19.320 --> 00:47:22.960
a sense of purpose. So if
you lack those things, there's definitely a

634
00:47:23.000 --> 00:47:29.039
pervasive sense of emptiness that becomes the
default. So the great seduction later on

635
00:47:29.079 --> 00:47:32.079
in life is that many of us
feel, excuse me, fill the vacuum

636
00:47:32.119 --> 00:47:37.159
with false friends. I'm sure we
have many people we know like this and

637
00:47:37.199 --> 00:47:44.159
they fill it with material things.
Medication could be legal and otherwise, where

638
00:47:44.360 --> 00:47:47.760
if you can find that passion,
whether it's for a person, a business,

639
00:47:47.760 --> 00:47:53.360
a cause, or a situation.
Having those strong emotions towards something outside

640
00:47:53.400 --> 00:47:59.519
yourself really fuels life purpose, perfect
way to finish when sorry to cut you

641
00:47:59.559 --> 00:48:02.000
off. That is a beautiful way
to close. Thank you so much for

642
00:48:02.039 --> 00:48:06.000
that, and thank you for coming
on the air and sharing your beautiful spirit,

643
00:48:06.360 --> 00:48:09.000
soul and person with us. Thank
you so much, Thank you for

644
00:48:09.039 --> 00:48:13.960
having me look forward to talking with
you again. You are so welcome.

645
00:48:14.119 --> 00:48:16.760
If you want to learn more about
Gwen Rich, her Purses with Purpose for

646
00:48:16.800 --> 00:48:21.280
Purpose, or her The Rich Solution
Legacy on the go online teach community,

647
00:48:21.320 --> 00:48:23.519
go to the rich Solution dot com. Next week, we'll be on the

648
00:48:23.519 --> 00:48:28.880
air with author Farhana Kazi, who
is a women's empowerment and terrorism expert.

649
00:48:29.000 --> 00:48:31.679
We'll be talking about her own journey
towards self empowerment, work as a terrorism

650
00:48:31.719 --> 00:48:36.599
expert, and her new book called
Invisible Martyrs Inside the Secret World of Female

651
00:48:36.639 --> 00:48:38.800
Islamic Radicals. See you there.
I remember that work is at least a

652
00:48:38.840 --> 00:48:44.440
third of our life, So let's
work on purpose. We hope you've enjoyed

653
00:48:44.440 --> 00:48:49.159
this week's program. Be sure to
tune in to Working on Purpose featuring your

654
00:48:49.159 --> 00:48:53.880
host Alis Cortes each week on the
Voice America Empowerment Channel. This week,

655
00:48:54.119 --> 00:49:16.960
find your life's purpose at work sh