Community, my life line
Those who know me well will know that Mind the Product has been both my work and my passion for over decade. It's an events and media business built on a core foundation of community. Groups of like minded people around the world meeting up regularly for professional learning and support. One of my earliest memories of working with that organisation was a first time attendee telling me she found the experience to be fundamentally: professional therapy!
Starting my journey with a brain tumour, I immediately let some of my closer colleagues and acquaintances over the years know what I was up against, as I mentioned in an earlier post. It went further than that though. I had a friend from an earlier iteration of my career who’s husband had been though something similar. In many ways, I’ve actually been luckier he was in his discovery, but Lisa wasted no time in letting me know she was available to talk me though any aspect I needed. Yeah, therapy is the right word - the ability to talk to someone who understood and able to offer some comfort. That was huge for me, along side friends like Shaun, Jamie and Brian. Between them, they offered up the perfect mix of support, emotional safety, and just the right amount of banter to lift the spirits. Those early days would have been so much darker without their light beaming in.
It reminded me of the power of community in the wider setting though. Another friend at this point connected me with an old friend of his now walking this path. We were a couple of months apart in diagnosis timing but otherwise, we were now brothers in arms. We’ve spoken regularly since, and the ability to share our darkest fears and how we’re handling various aspects of treatment has been good for us both. We inspire each other in different ways, and the power of that shouldn’t be underestimated in a battle like this.
That was the final nudge I needed - I reached out to Brains Trust, a charity that provides good information, funds research projects and more. They also have staff who run a peer support programme, people who’ve beaten this disease and are able to offer emotional support. They were able to connect me with Damon, who has beaten these tumours not once before, but twice. After a quick chat, it emerged he was in my town often enough with friends and his exec coaching clients. I was going through some of the hardest emotional processing at this point - handing back my driving license, losing independence, writing off a whole year for Radio & Chemo, wondering if I’d ever get any of my life back. Then Damon appears, drives to meet me, rocks up larger than life and the picture of health. I can’t overstate the impact of the short walk we took that day. Meeting someone on the flesh who’d beaten this became everything for me at that time. We’re still in touch regularly, and it transpires I actually know some of his regular corporate coaching clients, and they’ve been similarly inspired! If that sounds like a coach or speaker your firm needs, find him here.
Damon inspired me to new strength in this fight, and to take actions which have helped ward off many of the treatment side effects. More on that later, I’ll be doing a science write up soon. For now though, I have an ask: Brains Trust are a charity, and that comes with costs. Damon inspired me to stay as active as I good through this treatment, so I’m combining these things. I’m raising money for them and holding myself accountable here. Substack let’s me charge for these newsletters, but I choose not to. I’d rather share what I learn, in the hope that it helps others. Instead of paying me for these, hit that link and drop a contribution in that fundraiser. It’ll help them save lives, and keep my motivation going to stay active through this treatment. The radio fatigue has been the worst element so far, and as of today, I have just 7 sessions left on that ticket. The chemo runs longer, but with a recovery break there before it resumes too, so I’ve got a window for some real activity again.
Finally, for those who don’t know, I also kicked off a new startup last year. I’ve lived and breathed professional communities for over a decade now. Software tooling on that space remains so poor, so I’ve put together a talented team to go address this, and also been working with a wonderful writer to tell the story of that previous journey. For those in events and community, you might enjoy this read. For those who invest, I’ll offer you a rather unique pitch: I often hear “We like to back founders who can thrive in adversity”. My previous event business thrived through covid and we exited for a sector beating multiple. Next, I’m going to beat brain cancer. When my neuro team tell me I’m ready, if you’ve ever used those words, then I’ll be coming for your term sheets first. Updates will be here.