We were lucky to catch up with Kristina Coccoluto recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kristina , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

The most meaningful project I’ve had the honor of being part of was giving the keynote speech the night before I ran the 2023 Boston Marathon.

I stood on stage in front of 1,000 people—patients, pediatric patients and their families, fellow runners, their loved ones, and the very doctors helping to fight cancer every day. My speech was titled “Someday,” and in that moment, I felt the weight and beauty of what it means to unite a room through a shared mission and lived experience.

For years, I whispered to myself that someday I’d run the Boston Marathon. That word—someday—became a soft promise I carried in my heart. But when I was confronted with the reality of my own hereditary cancer risk, everything shifted. Suddenly, I understood that we don’t get endless tomorrows. We have one beautiful life, and I needed to stop whispering and start moving. Someday had to become now.

Standing on that stage, I spoke not just about running a marathon, but about reclaiming our power. I told the audience: Although there are no cars on the course tomorrow, we—the patients, the runners, every one of us—are the drivers of our own lives. It’s our responsibility to take those whispers of “someday” and put our lives in motion.

What made that night even more powerful was knowing that a team of 500 runners had collectively raised millions of dollars to support cancer research and treatment—so that someday, we’ll see a world without cancer.

That moment, that message, that marathon—it was never just about me. It was about all of us choosing to show up, to fight, to run, and to believe in the possibility of someday becoming now.

Kristina , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Kristina Coccoluto, and I am a speaker, writer, marathoner, and hereditary cancer advocate who turned personal tragedy into triumph. I became the first woman in the world to earn the Abbott World Marathon Majors Six Star Medal after undergoing both a complete hysterectomy and a double mastectomy. I help women navigate the messy middle of life with resilience, authenticity, and bold purpose—especially those facing health challenges, identity shifts, or the quiet ache of “someday” dreams they’ve put on hold.

My work was born from my own story. At 20, I was diagnosed with melanoma. At 25, I learned I carried the BRCA1 gene mutation, which drastically increased my risk of breast and ovarian cancer. I underwent a risk-reducing double mastectomy four days after my 30th birthday, and a complete hysterectomy at 36—a decision that catapulted me into surgical menopause while I was still raising three young kids. These weren’t just medical decisions; they were identity-altering moments. And for a while, I stayed silent.

But I realized that silence doesn’t protect anyone—it only isolates. So I started telling my story. I began writing, speaking, and showing up online to make sure no woman ever had to feel alone in the aftermath of a life-altering diagnosis or decision.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Absolutely. The mission driving my creative journey is to help women reclaim their stories—especially in the face of fear, diagnosis, or major life disruption—and to remind them that resilience doesn’t mean perfection. It means showing up fully, even when it’s hard.

After facing melanoma at 20, learning I carried the BRCA1 gene at 25, undergoing a double mastectomy at 30, and a complete hysterectomy at 36, I realized my deepest fear wasn’t dying young—it was not fully living. That clarity fuels everything I do.

My goal is to give women permission to take up space in their own lives, to stop waiting for “someday,” and to live with bold, beautiful urgency—right now. Whether I’m on stage, writing a memoir, speaking on a podcast, or crossing a marathon finish line, I carry that mission forward: to turn pain into purpose, and to prove that even in life’s hardest chapters, we can still rise—with it.

My creative journey is about making people feel seen, and reminding them that the life they dream about isn’t on the other side of their pain—it’s within their reach, even now.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One of the most profound lessons I’ve had to unlearn is that being strong means staying silent.

I grew up surrounded by women who faced unthinkable challenges—cancer, loss, trauma—but did so quietly, stoically. That silence was modeled as strength. So when I was diagnosed with melanoma at 20, and then learned I carried the BRCA1 mutation at 25, I followed suit. I didn’t want to be seen as dramatic or attention-seeking. I didn’t want to be a burden. I thought if I just kept moving—through the double mastectomy, the hysterectomy, the hot flashes, the identity loss, the fear—I’d be okay. I thought surviving was enough.

But over time, the silence became heavier than the diagnosis. It robbed me of connection. It kept me small. And I started to realize: strength isn’t silence—it’s voice. It’s telling the truth even when your voice shakes. It’s allowing others to witness your becoming. It’s saying, “This is hard. And I’m still here.”

That’s when everything changed.

I started writing. I started speaking. I started running marathons—not just for myself, but for others navigating the shadows of fear, grief, or medical trauma. I became the first woman in the world to earn the Abbott World Marathon Majors Six Star Medal after both a complete hysterectomy and a double mastectomy. But the real win wasn’t the medal. It was that I showed up—fully, loudly, and without apology.

The lesson I’ve unlearned is that my vulnerability makes me weak.
What I know now is this: My voice is my power. My truth is my offering. And my story is not a burden—it’s a bridge.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.kristinacoccoluto.com
• Instagram: @kristinacoccoluto
• Facebook: Kristina Coccoluto
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pjSX9vb7JFw