Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Laura Holmes Haddad. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Laura, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

I hope my work, both speaking and writing, encourages others to share their story in a meaningful way. People are yearning for the truth, to hear an authentic voice. It is terrifying to speak up, to reveal your soul, to be vulnerable. It took a clock ticking over my head and the chance that I wouldn’t live to see 40 for me to say things out loud. Only after I started doing that did I see how many people cannot or will not. And if I have a legacy it would be this: telling the world about your struggle, your obstacles–particularly in the health care space–is the only way things will change for others. One voice can, and will, make a difference.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a writer and speaker. (I’m also a mom, wife, sister, and daughter.)

In my “before cancer” life I wrote about food; I was a cookbook editor, author, and ghost writer. I tasted everything, traveled, had two kids. But when I was 37 I was diagnosed with Stage IV inflammatory breast cancer, a rare and aggressive form of the disease. My entire existence was upended with one word. After years of treatments and surgeries I remain cancer free.

Getting through cancer–the emotional, physical, and financial aspects–took more of me than I could have ever imagined. It required a family, a community, and everything in between to stay focused on survival. It was also the one thing that revealed both my inner strength and the huge hole in the world of cancer care, and I decided to use my voice to make change. I started writing about the cancer experience very few people see, and try to nudge the medical systems, health insurance companies, and pharmaceutical companies to see the patient behind the medical chart. I also wanted to help prepare patients for the cancer road trip; it’s more a road trip than a journey.

My first step was to write a book: This is Cancer: Everything You Need to Know, from the Waiting Room to the Bedroom. My source of comfort has always been books so it was natural for me to create a book with every tip and resource I could find. That was followed by a new career path: speaking engagements. I started with groups of ten people to over 1,500, talking about everything from the patient experience in clinical drug trials and financial toxicity to parenting while getting chemotherapy. It has become a passion of mine to connect with an audience and leave them with both factual information and a bit of truth about cancer they might not have heard before. I want to make them laugh, cry, and learn all at the same time. From everything I’ve been through I know this one thing: only laughter can cut through the darkness.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Just when I thought I had learned everything there was about resilience (over two years of chemotherapy, radiation, two surgeries) I discovered I had yet one more. I was feeling confident and excited about my book proposal, encouraged by my literary agent and certain that it was a slam-dunk to tell people about cancer. And since I had worked in book publishing and had contacts at some of the big houses I was feeling good.

But what I didn’t realize was how many don’t want to hear about the “c” word, how people would rather turn away and plug their ears and hum “la la la.” As we sent my book proposal out, the rejection emails started coming. I was stunned, distraught, speechless. I had had rejections before but this felt personal in a new way. And I’ll never forget my sister calling me and saying one sentence: “All it takes is one.” I nodded and told her yes, yes, and hung up the phone and cried.
But it was a lesson I needed. It only takes one yes to change the course of your life. In my case, the one yes came and along with it the perfect editor and publishing house for my project. I thought cancer has cured me of fear, but it turned out I had to learn once again to be confident in my work and stay steady in the belief that the right editor would come along to get my work out into the world. Every single time I hear someone who has read my book and reached out to me I am grateful and humbled that I could get my voice out there and hopefully help someone, whether it is a patient, a caregiver, a physician, a nurse, or anyone in the world of the Big C.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

My creative journey in both the writing and speaking capacity depends so much on improvisation and the ability to move past the “stuck point.” I wish I had known about improv classes much sooner in my adult life. I took a few classes in person before the Covid shutdown and they changed my life in so many ways. From embracing change and using “Yes, and” as both a personal and professional outlook, the “improv” approach has made my life so much richer.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lauraholmeshaddad.com
• Instagram: HolmesHaddad