We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alexandra O’Brien-Roualdes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Alexandra thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I came up with the idea for The Chemo Club during the hardest chapter of my life. My mom was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, and suddenly, our world flipped upside down. I went from living a normal life to living in hospitals, infusion rooms, and late-night Google searches, trying to make sense of how to help her.

What shocked me was how cold and isolating cancer care felt. Everything was clinical, sterile, and focused only on the medical side of things. Meanwhile, my mom and our whole family, were craving connection, guidance, and hope. We wanted to know what to eat, how to protect her body from all the chemicals, how to handle the emotional rollercoaster, and honestly… how to make any of this feel even a little bit human.

That gap lit a fire in me. I started sharing small tips and clean living swaps to make her treatment days easier. Everything from non-toxic beauty to nourishing meals to mindset tools that helped us get through the dark days. And people started responding, saying: “No one told me this. I needed this.”

That’s when The Chemo Club was born: a digital space that bridges the gap between medical care and real-life support. We make cancer care human, empowering, and modern, offering the resources and community I desperately wished we had when my mom was first diagnosed.

I knew it was a worthwhile endeavor because I wasn’t just building a business, I was solving a problem I had lived. Cancer doesn’t just affect the body; it takes over your entire life. The Chemo Club gives patients and caregivers a way to reclaim a little control, dignity, and even beauty in the midst of the hardest fight of their lives.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Alexandra O’Brien-Roualdes, the Founder of The Chemo Club, and my journey into this work began the day I received a phone call and heard the words no family ever wants to hear: “It’s stage 4 colon cancer.” My mom’s diagnosis changed everything in an instant. Suddenly, life became a whirlwind of hospital visits, infusion schedules, and sleepless nights spent researching anything that might make her life even a little easier. In those early days, I realized that while cancer care treated the disease, it often forgot about the human behind it.

That experience showed me a huge gap in the cancer world: the emotional, lifestyle, and human side of care was completely missing. Everything was clinical, sterile, and focused only on the disease. But cancer affects your entire life: your body, your mind, your relationships, and your sense of self. Patients and their families need more than medication: they need guidance, community, and hope.

That’s why I created The Chemo Club, a modern cancer support platform that provides:

– Digital guides on clean living, nutrition, and mental health during treatment

– Lifestyle resources like product swaps, self-care routines, and day-to-day hacks that make cancer more manageable

– Community and storytelling, through in person events, our podcast, newsletter, and digital content that reminds patients and caregivers they’re not alone

We bridge the gap between hospital care and real life, making cancer care human, empowering, and modern.

What sets us apart is that this is personal. I’m not a distant organization. I’ve lived this as a daughter and caregiver. I know the moments that break you, and I know the tiny things that can make a hard day feel survivable. I’ve turned that lived experience into a brand that honors dignity, hope, and clean living in the face of cancer.

What I’m most proud of is turning pain into purpose. Every time someone tells me, “Your guide helped me feel less scared,” or “I wish I had this when I was first diagnosed,” I know The Chemo Club is doing what it was meant to do.

If there’s one thing I want readers to know, it’s this: Cancer doesn’t get to take away your sense of self. The Chemo Club exists to give patients and caregivers the tools, knowledge, and emotional support to reclaim it day by day, treatment by treatment.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

When I first started The Chemo Club on social media, I didn’t have a strategy, I had a story. I was sharing the raw, unfiltered reality of my mom’s stage 4 colon cancer diagnosis and everything that came with it: the infusion days, the product swaps I was testing, the clean recipes I was making in my kitchen at midnight, and the emotional rollercoaster of being a caregiver.

I think what resonated was honesty and humanity. I wasn’t trying to “create content”; I was talking to people who were living the same nightmare and saying, “Here’s what’s helping me and my mom, maybe it can help you too.” Every DM I got from someone saying “No one told me this” or “I needed to hear this today” showed me I was building a real community, not just chasing numbers.

As the community started to grow, I realized I didn’t want it to be just my voice. I wanted to share the stories of other chemo patients and caregivers, too. I wanted them to share the tips, tricks, and hacks they discovered: from what makes infusion days more comfortable to the small rituals that helped them cope so that no one ever had to feel like they were navigating this experience alone. That’s when The Chemo Club shifted from being about my story to being a collective of stories, and that’s when our audience really started to connect.

My biggest advice for anyone starting to build on social media is this:

– Lead with value and realness: Give people something they can use, feel, or relate to.

– Don’t obsess over the algorithm: Obsess over the human on the other side of the screen.

– Start before you feel ready: Your imperfect, authentic content will reach people faster than a polished post that never goes live.

Social media is crowded, but truth cuts through the noise. When your message comes from lived experience and real heart, the right audience will find you and they’ll stay.

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

Funding The Chemo Club was as grassroots as it gets. When I started, I didn’t have investors or a big budget. I had a mission and my laptop. The first “capital” came straight from my own savings and a lot of late nights teaching myself how to design guides, record podcasts, and build a website without outsourcing a thing.

In the beginning, my focus wasn’t on raising money. It was on proving the concept and building trust. I poured my energy into creating digital guides, resources, and community content that were so needed, people would naturally share them. Every dollar I spent was intentional, going toward software, branding, and small-scale product testing instead of flashy marketing.

I also leaned on creativity instead of cash. I partnered with patients, caregivers, and wellness experts who were excited to share their stories and expertise because they believed in the mission. Those collaborations became our first “currency,” helping us grow a loyal audience before any real funding was on the table.

My advice for anyone in the early stages: start small, validate your idea, and let your mission be louder than your wallet. Investors and bigger opportunities come much easier once you’ve proven there’s a real community or market that cares about what you’re building.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.chemoclub.com
• Instagram: @thechemoclub