We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nancy Davidson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nancy below.

Nancy, appreciate you joining us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

I graduated from college and launched myself into a marketing career. I thought that’s what I wanted. However, I was spending a lot of my time volunteering at nonprofit organizations. I had worked my way into a corporate marketing job at Transamerica, and thought I was on the right trajectory. That all changed in a moment. Transamerica laid off 1,100 employees in one day. I was one of those. I wasn’t sure what my career held now.

Shortly after the layoff, I was offered a job raising funds for a small school serving special needs students. A month into my tenure, the Executive Director retired and I was offered her job. I became the Executive Director during a time of financial instability, and learned “by the seat of my pants” how to run a nonprofit organization and make it thrive. I loved it, and made it my mission to take on nonprofit organizations that were small and help them grow to the next level. I’ve never regretted it!

Nancy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a Southern California girl who worked in corporate America for a number of years before transitioning to nonprofit work. I love what I do and would never go back to the corporate side of things! After a number of years at a special needs school, I went to work as the Executive Director of CASA Los Angeles, which provides volunteer advocates for children in foster care. When my children reached middle school, I started my own nonprofit consulting firm so I could attend sports events and be more present. After they went to college (whew!) I decided to go back to a nonprofit. I met the founder of The Foundation for Living Beauty, and that was it. I love my job! We provide free wellness and support services to more than 1,400 women with cancer.

During the pandemic, we had to pivot from in person to virtual programs. During that time, we intentionally, and also unintentionally (!), became a national organization. We now serve women from 48 states and two countries. I’m so proud that my amazing team of five women shepherded us through the pandemic. We are now a hybrid organization, hosting overnight and day retreats in person and still holding zoom classes for women from across the country or those who are immuno-compromised. If you are a woman with cancer, we can help make a transformational difference in your life.

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

I think a time when we showed real resilience was at the beginning of the pandemic. I told my staff to go home for two weeks. That turned into months and then years. We still work remotely, and have created a rhythm within the organization that works for us. We grew significantly during that time as well, serving 300 additional women over the course of the pandemic. Everything changed. Many organizations struggled. We flourished, and it’s because we never gave up. Not for a minute. We knew that these women needed us more now than ever. I’m so proud of my team for meeting the challenge and moving forward without a moment’s hesitation.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

The simple rule I follow for managing a team is that we ARE a team. I’m a member of the team just like everyone else. We all have our jobs, but they overlap significantly, and we are always there to pick up the pieces for each other. Working with women with cancer is hard. Not everyone makes it through. And we become attached. During the pandemic, I implemented wellness days, days that team members could take off when things got too hard. Not vacation, not sick/personal, but a day to regroup and provide self care. We also try to do team gatherings, like lunch or dinner, a massage or facial or other wellness experience.

Work/life balance and self-care are very important too. It’s easy to get overly involved in a work project when your computer is on your dining table. Stepping away and achieving balance are critical to morale and preventing burnout.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.livingbeauty.org
• Instagram: livingbeautyorg
• Facebook: The Foundation for Living Beauty
• Linkedin: The Foundation for Living Beauty