Solo Ep 2: The Cancer Call: 3 Steps to Find Your Footing After Diagnosis

When your phone rings and you hear the words “it’s malignant,” your world stops. Your body reacts before your brain can — fear, anger, disbelief, numbness — all of it hits at once.

In this deeply personal episode, Joelle Kaufman shares the exact moment she heard those words on a Zoom call, the wave of emotions that followed, and the three steps that helped her find her footing when everything felt out of control.

This isn’t about toxic positivity or “staying strong.” It’s about learning how to breathe, ground, and begin again — even in the hardest moment of your life.

💡 You’ll Learn:

  • The first three things to do after hearing “it’s cancer”
  • How to anchor yourself in the present when fear takes over
  • Why you don’t have to face this alone — and how to take your first safe step forward

You didn’t choose this timing. But you can choose how you meet it — with clarity, control, and hope.

🎙️ Hosted by Joelle Kaufman — founder of Kicking Cancer’s Ass, your guide to reclaiming your power, even with cancer in the room.

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Joelle K

Joelle K

I'm a 54 year old former CMO/CRO and generational breast cancer survivor. My early cancer experiences shaped my personal and professional philosophy to continuously cultivate an approach that adjusts to whatever curveball shows up. And we know, curveballs are constant, especially in midlife with aging parents, maturing kids (if you have kids), and opportunities to focus on new goals for our next 50 years. I have a book being released in January - Crushing the Cancer Curveball, A Veteran's Guide for the Newly Diagnosed. While no one wants cancer, 1 in 2 Americans and 1 in 4 people worldwide will face cancer in their lifetimes. There's an alternative narrative to the terror, anger and fear that accompanies a diagnosis - a narrative that spawns compassion, confidence, and even joy. I'd love to talk about it with you and your audience.

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