What happens when life throws more at you than you feel ready for—but your business still needs you to show up?

That’s exactly what Marisa Corcoran, founder of The Copy Confidence Society, had to figure out when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and faced the painful loss of a long-time friendship—all while running her business.

In this Deeply Rested conversation, Marisa opens up about how these life-altering moments forced her to reimagine her work, rethink what truly matters, and lean into support in ways she never had before.

Here’s what we explore in this conversation:

✨How Marisa kept her business going while navigating cancer and personal loss (16:26)

✨The systems and structures that allowed her to step back when she needed to (21:43)

✨Why we have to let go of the “superwoman” mentality and let others in (25:48)

✨The unexpected power of honesty and vulnerability in business (30:25)

✨How grief can shape a more sustainable, aligned way of working (43:19)

Marisa’s story is a powerful reminder that business isn’t just about strategy—it’s about building something that supports you through every season of life.

If you’ve ever wondered how to build a business that holds you through the ups and downs, this conversation is for you. 

To watch the video of this conversation, check it out on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qYA_LSK4gwA 

Connect with Marisa Corcoran

50+ Scroll-Stopping Subject Lines: https://marisacorcoran.com/subjectlines/

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[00:00:26] There are these profound experiences in our lives that demand our full attention, but somehow we're expected to keep our businesses moving forward while we tend to our grief and sorrow and physical. I really want to hear more of these conversations. So, I invited my friend, Marisa Corcoran, to talk about the journey she's been on for the past few years, going through literally all of the above.

[00:01:23] Whatever you're going through in your life right now, I want you to know that I care about all parts of you, not just the professional parts. Whatever challenges, struggles, or grief you're experiencing right now. I really hope that you hear some of your experiences reflected in this conversation and I hope that it feels like a balm for your soul.

[00:01:52] Welcome to Deeply Rested, the podcast that helps people doing good work in the world take incredibly good care of themselves. I'm your host, retired therapist and disillusioned business coach, Meagan Megenson. I'm on a mission to help people like you unlearn the rules that keep you trapped in self doubt so that you can recover from burnout and finally become deeply rested.

[00:02:40] Maegan: Hi, Marisa,

[00:02:44] Maegan: I'm so glad you're here. I am genuinely so looking forward to this conversation. And I also just want you to know that this podcast wouldn't be real without you. So I just want to take a moment just to, like, share my gratitude with you. Marisa helped me and my team create the Rest in Success code back in, 2020?

[00:03:13] Marisa: That is wild in there.

[00:03:18] Maegan: And we did the first season of the Rest and Success Code. You helped us create it and get it off the ground and I think, and at the time I remember telling you I know you're doing the summit thing. I kind of want to start a podcast, but it feels like a really big commitment.

[00:03:48] I was like, yeah, I'm kind of done with this. I just want this to be all the time.And so there was a readiness to transition from the summit into the podcast, and I just really am grateful for the role you played in helping me bring this forward.

[00:04:21] Like me, we just finished our ninth season of my summit, the Copy Chat. I have said, I'm going to do 10 and then after 10, I've said, I came, I saw, I conquered. After 10, I think of the Copy Chat, I have a little bit of an idea of its next life, or you decide like you Oh, this is a great way to, I really do love this.

[00:04:49] Maegan: It's, yeah, You're welcome And it, really is what brings me the most joy in this,small business journey is how it's all about the evolution, like the evolution of our ideas and our offerings, but also the evolution of our relationships, with the people that we connect with. I'm just loving the evolution of our relationship and feels like having you on the show and stepping into this conversation feels to me like an evolution in our relationship and I'm really happy about that.

[00:05:25] Maegan: And we're going to have a super fun conversation today about some really heavy topics. We're going to talk about cancer and loss and grief, and I think the through line is going to be that business keeps going even when life is really hard. And how do we do that, right? Like, how do we ride the waves of our sorrow and our challenges while also keeping one foot in our missions and our visions and the businesses and the communities that we're creating? I know you have really gone through it the last couple of years. Oh, I'm looking forward to sort of dropping into this conversation and seeing where it takes us.

[00:06:09] Marisa: I'm ready, Meagan only because it's you. I'm like, if this is Meagan, yeah, I can do it if it's Maegan.

[00:06:18] Let's drop in and then I'm going to ask you a question to get us going. Marisa, tell me about the day you were diagnosed with breast cancer.

[00:06:49] then he said, Oh, you feel this? And I was like,no, I didn't, you know, so he's kind of talking about, he's like, mm, it feels like a cyst because it was kind of painful. He said, you know, oh, you're 37. You should go for a mammogram and then they could aspirate it. Just go for one.

[00:07:23] And I'm like, okay, I'm getting off, I'm getting ready to leave. And they're like, well, but actually, we see something on your right breast.

[00:07:30] Marisa: And I was, I was like, oh, okay. And they're like, oh, it's normally never can, I'll never forget. 98 percent of the time, it's not cancerous, but we like to check it first.

[00:07:50] Maegan: Mm hmm.

[00:08:07] And so yeah, there I was at 37, and I had breast cancer. At first I just was in shock, I could barely move. I remember calling my husband, he was at the gym,and I said, you need to come home, I have breast cancer. It just was, and I think the biggest thing for me was how I was going to tell my mother.

[00:08:51] So I think I must have known my father I don't really remember him at all but when I see like little kids and I see how they interact with their parents i'm like I must have known himI do remember one of my first memories of being told that, you know, this person was here, and now they're not here. And it was because of this word that had kind of been lingering over our family so to now have to call my mom and tell her that I had cancer.

[00:09:26] Maegan: Right.

[00:09:44] Maegan: It feels so heavy, like this phone call just burdened you with this 2, 000 pound package. And you're just sitting there holding it and I really just am struck by there's nothing to do. Like I'm just holding this weight, but there's no action to take. I'm just sitting in the reality that this is happening to me now.

[00:10:29] Marisa: So I remember going to my therapy appointment, I think it was the next day, like that Tuesday or that Wednesday. And I remember sitting down and saying, okay, so where would you like to start first? Like I broke up with my best friend, you know, I have this huge thing that happened on Sunday and on Monday I found out I had breast cancer.

[00:10:54] Marisa: To me, the breakup was as equal as breast cancer. And that was wild.

[00:11:02] Marisa: That night I went to bed just like we, I mean, cried all the things and then I woke up I barely slept. I remember going for my morning walk. I had barely slept.

[00:11:12] Marisa: And within a couple of hours, it was, okay, now you have breast cancer. And then wild to navigate such a critical time in my life without this person.

[00:11:29] Marisa: I'm so, we don't talk about it.

[00:11:32] Marisa: We don't talk about it at all. So I want to, it's massive. So yes, I'm so sorry, Meagan.

[00:11:42] It's like such a terrible, heart wrenching grief that really needs to happen to help you move into the next chapter of your journey. So let's circle back to that because I agree we don't talk about it nearly enough, but we won't abandon your cancer. Is that okay?

[00:12:21] Marisa: This is so funny. The business is going well, in 2021, we had shifted the Copy Confident Society from a higher ticket program to a course that had gone swimmingly, and we were making as much money, and it was way less on me. Things were going well. We had come off of a really great season of the Copy Chat, we had just come off of a successful winter launch. And, the business was doing well, you know, so much so, we were getting ready to go on this vacation to the beach and then we weren't coming back to Atlanta for a while. We were going to go up to Syracuse and spend time with our families, basically till about Thanksgiving.

[00:13:21] I lost one of my best friends to suicide and two months after that, my grandfather died, who was my only father figure, right? As I just said, my father died of cancer when he was two. So when 2021 ended, I was like, look at me. I made it through. Look at me.

[00:14:11] Maegan: So I thought when 2022 came, I'm like, all right, I know how to do this and then, you know, the hits just kind of kept on coming, but the business was going well during this time. Oh, there's so, so many directions we could go right now. I'm just going to, let me just like a stream of consciousness like what is coming up for me. I think there's a really interesting conversation to have that I don't actually want to have right now, because it doesn't feel like the most important conversation, but a really interesting conversation about how we need to structure our businesses so that our businesses can help us through these storms in our life.

[00:15:18] It really is an initiation into a fire where everything is burned away, and we are just left with the things that really matter the most. I want to talk about that because I think you have so much to say about it, but I do think that there is an important conversation underneath that, maybe we can touch on it as we go along, about how can we structure our businesses so that when those initiations come and those seasons of our life arrive, cause we don't get to choose.

[00:16:11] So before we talk more about the personal stuff, is there anything you want to say about, in hindsight, what you had set up effectively that helped your business? Soar? Succeed? During this really chaotic time in your personal life?

[00:16:41] I couldn't do it. I had two surgeries. There was just no way. So we came up with this idea that members of the community would interview each other. I didn't even tell anybody why. I just said, I have this idea and I'd like you to interview each other. I take myself out of it

[00:17:17] but members of the community interview each other, which has actually been really strong for us because people get to hear these honest conversations, and I'm taken out of it. So I get to just listen to them when they get posted and then I listen and I send a little thank you card to both, so something like that, that I was able to take myself out of.

[00:18:09] It's called a master class and people are going to come and buy you know and like giving them a crash course into it. Because I was the sole financial provider for my family. My business is not a hobby so I had to figure that out and I think this is why it's important to have layers of support. So having my therapist, number one, having my business coach, being able to set up the scenarios based on what the doctor told me. So we were like, okay, option number one is go on with the launch as planned. Option number two is we postpone. Like we had all these things going into that so when I went in for the conversation, I could let my health lead the way, not the business lead the way.

[00:19:02] So we decided to move this to later. I could have figured out how to have the conversation. We needed to let my health lead the way. And I think having those layers of support was massive for me. And then looking at the things where we could take me out of the equation that we still do to this day.

[00:19:30] Maegan: How many people did you have on your team at the time?

[00:19:50] Maegan: I really love this sort of tiered reflection that you're doing, right? There's the support Marisa as the business owner is receiving? There's therapy, there's the personal support. There's the business coach, right? The kind of person who's looking at your organization from an outside lens. So she's able to bring this perspective and reminder,that this is all workable.

[00:20:31] Then behind the scenes, you did have a team of people you could delegate to who were helping, keep the gears turning,which is incredible. I know about you that you're so good at delegating and creating systems and trusting people to do their jobs. It's such a gift that you have.

[00:21:01] Marisa: That's it, right there.

[00:21:16] You've told yourself that you need to be the person doing all of this, but what part of you is saying that?

[00:21:33] I can really collaborate with the people around me in a way that makes everything better.Everything got better.

[00:21:52] Maegan: Yeah.

[00:22:11] Maegan: And it helps people not just rely on getting my stamp of approval, because if I'm trying to help people be better writers and creators for their business, this is ultimately what's right for them.

[00:22:35] Maegan: Yeah, I really appreciate that distinction between, the way I'm understanding it, the distinction between I need to remove myself versus where can I call in more collaboration?

[00:22:54] Maegan: Like, that story is still about you, right? You need to remove yourself. It's like, wait, no, it's not actually about me. This is what you were learning. It's about the richness of weaving more people into the tapestry. Let's let the students interview each other. What do we learn? What do we discover?

[00:23:32] Marisa: Which is at the core of who I am so it's interesting that we were making our way to society being more like this, because that's what I preach, and I think we even showcase that more now,for sure.

[00:24:19] Marisa: For sure.

[00:25:02] It's like a secret gift of all the darkness. Yeah, it definitely was. Last question about business for now. I love hearing your process and your reflections, and I know that there are people listening to this conversation right now who are true solopreneurs, and they're not hearing themselves in the business that you're describing, right? They don't have a team, maybe they're more service oriented,so they really do have to show up to do the work.

[00:25:48] Marisa: I would say during that time for people, when you're going through something like that, there were some people, you know, again, I wasn't out there sharing it with my email list. I waited a few months before I wrote that email to my email list. I didn't write to my email list till that winter, or till like around Christmas time,but there were certain people where I had to tell them what was happening in order to take stuff off my plate.

[00:26:29] And I understand you have yours. So here's our options. And I was basically giving people just like Dallas and I had gone through and said, okay, option one is we keep it the way it is. Option two is we move it. You know, I was kind of going through and doing that for people.

[00:26:54] And so here's what I've been thinking, and I'd love to chat more about which one works best for you. So scenario number one, scenario number two, I felt like that was really helpful for me with our summit clients, and I also think when things are good, being able to look at your own client load and saying, and I guess sometimes you don't know that until it happens to you. Now I can look and say, okay, if something was to happen, could I do this?

[00:27:31] Or let's look at the boundaries you have in place with your clients. Are there some things that while things are good, you could strengthen, a really great friend and colleague of mine. We just had drinks a few weeks ago, Meg.

[00:27:51] So when motherhood kind of came hard for her, you know, having twins, it was like, she kind of already had that in place, I believe, or maybe she put it in place, but either way, it's like, when things are good, taking an opportunity to say, okay, what could I just do for myself a bit more.

[00:28:23] Maegan: Yeah, so many gems here that I just want to pull out and reflect back. This conversation is reminding me of something I know is true, but often forgotten in my body. It’s true until I'm forced to confront it, which is that things are always more flexible than we think they are. Always, right?

[00:29:08] My clients won't adapt to another way of doing things. I can't sell my services in a different way. This is the only way I can do it. This is the only way I can market my services and we get so stuck and mired in the rules that we've created for our businesses,that when things get hard, we then experience all this self imposed suffering because we just are holding on so rigidly to the belief that it can't change.

[00:29:41] Marisa: They really, they really can. And I always say people are always wanting to support you or be there. And people, you know, the right people will understand,

[00:30:25] Maegan: I think I think everything you're sharing is such a beautiful example of what that looks like in practice. So that advice. applies no matter how big your business is.

[00:30:54] But this vulnerability and authenticity of showing up and saying, here's what's happening for me right now, and here's how you can support me, and here's how I need your help... Thinking creatively about how we work around. whatever the challenge or limitation you're facing is. So I love this invitation to be honest, to be vulnerable, and then to give options.

[00:31:35] Marisa: Yeah.

[00:31:51] Four steps. Great, I love it. Can we talk more about friendship loss?

[00:31:58] Maegan: expand on your statement earlier, that the pain of the friendship loss was just as intense as the pain of a cancer diagnosis.

[00:32:20] And so when you lose someone like that, you feel like you lose a part of your own history. I lost someone who knew my grandparents. Do you know what I mean? I lost somebody who is a part of the history of the sharing of the stories. That branch of those memories that this person holds is gone now.

[00:33:05] And that painfulness of having to be okay with that in some way and move forward, you know, and I'm always somebody who is, oh my gosh, how could I be better? How could I have done this better? And I've definitely had. things in my life or other breakups where I'm like, oh gosh, I should have handled that differently.

[00:33:40] Maegan: Yes, I so resonate with everything you're saying. It's making me think about the concept of ambiguous grief. It's like a therapy thing.

[00:34:17] Where it's like the grief is so real and alive in our bodies, but there's this ambiguity about it, where like people don't really know how to talk to you about it and there aren't the same traditions and rituals for mourning as there are with death. I was first introduced to this concept of ambiguous grief as a sex therapist. I was doing medical sex therapy and I was actually working with a lot of clients who were going through breast cancer, cervical cancer, and were having these surgeries and procedures where they were losing parts of their bodies.

[00:35:17] We start to feel so isolated and so alone. And I think friendship loss firmly lands for me in that ambiguous grief category where it is such a profound friendship loss. Everything you just said, I'm not even going to try to mirror it back; it was so perfect, right? You're losing a part of yourself.

[00:35:57] Marisa: Oh my gosh. So much. And then to be going through cancer, it was wild.

[00:36:30] Marisa: I think permanent is a really great word, like a permanent way, you know? Yeah, and then your lives go on, because the person is alive.

[00:36:47] Maegan: It was really difficult. At the same time, to be navigating this other thing that was happening, I feel really lucky because I got to keep my breasts, which I feel extremely lucky. I always thank them. Like every morning in the shower, we have a moment together.

[00:37:17] Maegan: Yeah.

[00:37:22] Maegan: It's like the things we take for granted, but even like what just happened just now, where it's like you wanted to share this thing that you're grieving, but then immediately we're like, okay, but I don't want to compare it to insert someone who has it worse and I feel like that's part of the grief trap, right?It's that, especially with these ambiguous losses, that we're so hesitant to put it out there. For example, I lost my dog of 15 years a little over a month ago. It's the biggest loss of my life to date. I have learned that there are people I can share it with, and be met in a way that feels helpful, and then there's everybody else, you know, everyone else where I'm not met in a way that feels helpful and connecting. It leaves us navigating the world where we're always testing the waters, right?

[00:38:46] And then there's this moment of is this person going to get it? Am I going to be witnessed in my grief?

[00:39:01] Hey, you don't have to respond back. So I would say Meg about cancer, and there's so many people about cancer. So I can't just say that. So many people were very much hey, you don't have to respond back, but I'm here for you and all that. But to bring you back to the friendship, you know, there was something in my, I hate to say ex best friend.

[00:39:37] Maegan: Wow. What

[00:39:57] Maegan: Yeah, and having that just witnessed and seen by other people. Having someone say, like, I see that you're going through this, and I care about you, and how are you doing is such a gift. You said, I think you might've said this before we started recording that through all of the ups and downs of the last few years, your business has been this grounding rod for you. It's like the thing that you keep coming back to. Can you just say a little bit more about that?

[00:40:47] And the business is the greatest gift because, You know, it was also innate in who I am. You know, I was a theater kid, I was an actor before I had my business. So that sense of being on stage, I've always found to be quite a comforting place.

[00:41:30] Maegan: I think we're all like that.

[00:41:43] So being able to hop on zoom and answer the questions, and all that, was healing for me. It was recharging me. Whereas maybe someone who's more of an introvert needs that solo time. I always joke. I say, I don't need to be alone ever.

[00:42:02] Maegan: Yes, and it's, Well, just taking a step back. I feel the same way about my business, that there are moments, like really dark, when I'm in the darkest of my dark moments, where I can't find motivation for anything, right? Like, when I'm really just surrendering to the sorrow, it's like, I just am here in this now, and I can't even imagine what I'm going to do tomorrow.

[00:43:09] Like the business is separate from that, and she's there and she's waiting for me. And I get to step in there and be met by her. I'm calling my business a “her” now.

[00:43:35] We had to come back cause I had appointments, but I remember Eric saying, I think we should still go. Cause we're just sitting around waiting to find out what the next step is.

[00:44:07] And so just going and doing and having those pockets to grieve, and then like you said, knowing we could return. So again, I think it also goes back to just having the layers of support. Cause I think that was definitely him to say, okay, yeah, no, we're still going to go together. We're just going to kind of breathe through this and even when I was recovering because it was clear. It was happening. And that's another thing. I mean, this is a copy lesson, but because I had so much copy I'd written, we just repurposed so much stuff.

[00:44:53] Maegan: I love that. I think that's like the biggest lesson in all of this: let your business be this entity that takes care of you, and let it be your healthiest relationship, right? It's like this relationship that, if we're personifying your business, that says, hey, you need to go to the beach.

[00:45:29] Like the waves keep coming in different ways and different flavors forever, which means our business has to be able to hold space for the grief and the transformations always. There's a fluidity about everything we're talking about that I just want to hold on to and embrace and really celebrate, that the magic of having a small business is that we can ride those waves, and everybody can be taken care of.

[00:46:18] Marisa: Yes, I am. You know, I'm good. I'm cancer free. I have my next scans in, you know, when you're diagnosed as young as I am every six months, someone's like poking and prodding at you, but I don't mind. So my next scans are in April and then again, kind of in the summer. And yeah,I'm good. I have a health coach that I work with who specifically works with people after cancer that has really, really helped me on this journey. Her name is Dionne. And, yeah, I'm good, you know, thanking my breasts every day, and I don't miss anything, you know? Going for my annual, just trying to be as proactive as I can.

[00:47:01] Marisa: That's a good question, Meagan. I’m going to answer this really honestly. Not that I have... I've answered everything you said to me, honestly, but I'm going to be just like really real. I, Ooh,I'm in a season of figuring out friendships in my life.

[00:47:15] Marisa: It has made me different. And this is weird because I was the girl that, you know, I mean, when you were raised by a single parent, my mom, like a community raised me and so I watched my mom have... Her friends were the core of her life. And so I grew up in that same way, like my friends were the core of my life. But things have shifted, and I'm trying to figure out what that means now for me.

[00:47:44] And I also am always looking inward. It's not just oh, this happened to me and so I don't trust anybody. It's no, what was my role in this?

[00:48:17] Maegan: Yeah.

[00:48:20] Maegan: I really appreciate everything that you're saying. I really feel the same in my own way. I'm just like so deeply resonating with all of it and I'll just add on, too, that I think it's okay. It's like we're learning who we are, right? We're learning that like, oh, the way I showed up in relationships prior to this moment in my life looked like this.

[00:49:02] I think it has to be a slow process. It has to be a thoughtful process because that's change, right? That's evolution. That's really just being with yourself in this new way, and not just jumping into relationships because we feel like we have to, or that, that was the way we used to do it. So I hear your cautiousness and I really celebrate it.

[00:49:48] Marisa: For sure.

[00:50:01] Marisa: Yeah well, we've mentioned the Copy Confidence Society a few times and just, um, Hey, you know, I have got to repurpose those emails and all of that stuff, so that's what we help people do. We help you craft what we call your uncopyable message and the personality filled copy that dazzles for things like your websites, your emails, your social media, all of that inside of our signature program, the Copy Confidence Society, which we've now helped close to a thousand business owners

[00:50:40] And so that's kind of what we do inside of the company. But our main thing really is the Copy Confidence Society.

[00:50:49] Marisa: Yeah.

[00:50:50] Marisa: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Well, at the time of this recording, we're about to enter into our 13th launch of the Copy Confident Society. If we're around the launch opening, you can always come to our masterclass, which kind of helps you. Even if you don't decide to join the Copy Confident Society, we really try to make sure that you walk away feeling like a stronger writer for your business.

[00:51:30] Maegan: Amazing. Highly recommend being on Marisa's email list. Your newsletters are such a delight to read and, just the perfect blend of, stories about your life, and little helpful nuggets that always make me go, oh yeah. Oh, great reminder. Great tip.

[00:52:15] Maegan: And I knew what my journey was going to be. I actually wrote about it on the winter solstice of 2022.I love it. I remember getting that email, and just being really touched and inspired.

[00:52:55] Marisa: That's funny.

[00:53:07] Marisa: Thank you. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode of Deeply Rested. If you enjoyed this conversation, I would love to invite you to join the Deeply Rested weekly newsletter. You can sign up at deeplyrested. com slash newsletter. I hope to meet you in my inbox very soon.