Shownotes
Welcome to a heartwarming and inspiring episode of Boomer Banter, where we dive into the remarkable journey of Sally Dunbar, a true force of nature.
Sally, a real estate agent from Sacramento, has not only conquered the challenges of her career but also faced life-threatening struggles, including a battle with breast cancer. After her recovery, she decided to join the Susan G. Komen three-day walk, initially just to get fit. Little did she know that this would spark something monumental in her life.
Her epiphany during the walk led her to set an audacious goal of raising $100,000 for breast cancer awareness and research. This conversation takes us through her journey of empowerment, illustrating that belief is the first step to achieving the seemingly impossible. Sally's story is one of resilience, community, and the power of setting big goals.
If you’ve ever thought about what you can achieve, this episode will inspire you to dream bigger and push your limits. Get ready to be moved by her journey and the incredible impact of the Komen walks, where every step counts towards making a difference.
Takeaways:
- Setting big, hairy, audacious goals can help you achieve what seems impossible.
- Believing in yourself is key to overcoming challenges and achieving your goals.
- Joining a team can provide support and motivation to accomplish your fundraising objectives.
- Every small step adds up; just start with what you can do and build from there.
- Sally's journey shows that personal struggles can lead to empowering others and making a difference.
- Having fun while working towards a cause can make the journey enjoyable and fulfilling.
Links:
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcripts
Welcome to the hey Boomer Podcast, the live show that inspires boomers to recognize their own strengths and relevance through thought provoking conversations with extraordinary guests.
Speaker A:My name is Wendy Greene and I am your host of hey Boomer.
Speaker A:All right, well, I am very excited about today's episode of hey Boomer and just wanted to ask you guys a question.
Speaker A:Have you ever thought about setting a goal?
Speaker A:Something that I would call a big, hairy, audacious goal?
Speaker A:And then have you ever thought, well, I don't know if I can reach that goal.
Speaker A:You know, like something like, maybe I'll go to an Ivy League college, or maybe I will buy a Jaguar or maybe I'll do something crazy like start a Facebook live like hey Boomer.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker A:And then you say to yourself, what am I thinking?
Speaker A:Like, I can't do that.
Speaker A:Well, guess what?
Speaker A:Your belief is the reason that you are telling yourself you can't do that.
Speaker A:Because you can.
Speaker A:So today I'm going to be talking to Sally Dunbar.
Speaker A:Sally is a real estate agent in Sacramento, California, and she's been working in real estate for about 40 years.
Speaker A: ng breast cancer in the early: Speaker A:But something happened to her on that first walk.
Speaker A:She had this epiphany.
Speaker A:And she decided after that first walk that she could do so much more than just get in shape.
Speaker A:So she decided to start a team.
Speaker A: And in: Speaker A:Imagine that.
Speaker A:And Sally is going to tell us the story of how they not only reached that goal, but exceeded that, and then where she went from there.
Speaker A:So this, this conversation with Sally today is going to show you that if you believe you can, you can find a way.
Speaker A:Every week, I am privileged to talk to guests about important, timely, and inspiring topics.
Speaker A:There's a lot of research that goes into each week's conversation.
Speaker A:Let me bring Sally back on.
Speaker A:Well, she wasn't on before.
Speaker A:Hi, Sally.
Speaker B:Hi.
Speaker A:Good to see you.
Speaker A:And thank you so much for joining us on hey Boomer today.
Speaker B:Well, that was a great introduction.
Speaker B:You actually brought tears to my eyes, I have to say.
Speaker A:Okay, well, we're just starting, so we may have more.
Speaker B:I have Kleenex, so I'm okay.
Speaker A:Okay, good.
Speaker A:Well, so when you registered for your first Coleman walk, you just were going to get in shape, which is a good thing, right?
Speaker A:We all.
Speaker A:20 miles is a long walk, so.
Speaker A:But you had this epiphany can you tell us more about what happened on that walk?
Speaker B:Yeah, just short background.
Speaker B: Had Breast Cancer: Speaker B:And I just had things happen with business where people quit reaching out to me, I think because they thought I was sick.
Speaker B:We gotta leave her alone.
Speaker B:Don't want to stress her.
Speaker B:And I'm like, I gotta make a house payment.
Speaker B:So I decided just to ignore the whole breast cancer thing.
Speaker B:And I would talk about it if you asked me, but I'm not going to bring it up.
Speaker B:I'm not going to be the poster child, let me tell you.
Speaker B:So a girlfriend asked me to start walking with her just for exercise.
Speaker B:We did.
Speaker B:Then Becky asked me to do the Komen three day walk with her.
Speaker B:And I had never heard of it.
Speaker B:And here I was, a breast cancer survivor.
Speaker B:I'm sure many of you out there have never heard of it, but she said, yeah, you walk 20 miles a day.
Speaker B:Like, I can't do that.
Speaker B:Oh, you do it three days in a row.
Speaker B:Yeah, no, I can't do that.
Speaker B:And you raise $2,300.
Speaker B:No, I was not interested.
Speaker B:But I googled, I saw a video and these were like normal looking people who were doing this.
Speaker B:So I signed up, we did the full on training.
Speaker B:We actually got to where we could walk 20 miles a day.
Speaker B:Shocked the heck out of me.
Speaker B:But it's, it's doable.
Speaker B:We go to the walk and I don't know what I was expecting, but it was like Mardi Gras party.
Speaker B:I mean, cops are on this, on the side directing traffic, wearing bras outside their uniforms, wearing pink wigs.
Speaker B:I mean, it is a Mardi Gras party.
Speaker B:It was fun.
Speaker B:The whole thing was just amazing.
Speaker B:It was fun.
Speaker B:It was in San Francisco and when we got to the closing ceremony, this was where the epiphany happened.
Speaker B:I mean, I heard a lot of stories along the way that were so moving.
Speaker B:We get to the closing ceremony and they let you as a survivor if you choose.
Speaker B:You don't have to do this if you don't want to be outed, but you wear a different colored shirt at the closing ceremony.
Speaker B:And we all walked in hand in hand in rows, right?
Speaker B:And the rest of the walkers were there and they do what they call the Coman one shoe salute, where the walkers all take off, one tennis shoe, one walking shoe, and they hold it high in the air.
Speaker B:They salute you and they're clapping and they're cheering and I'm like sobbing.
Speaker B:I had no idea this was gonna happen.
Speaker B:And the first thing that happened Was I looked to the gal whose hand I'm holding, and on my right, she's like a puppy.
Speaker B:She's like 20 or 20.
Speaker B:She's just young.
Speaker B:And she had white blonde eyelashes.
Speaker B:For some reason, I really remember her eyelashes.
Speaker B:She just was young.
Speaker B:And I looked at her, and I just said, you are too young to be here as a survivor.
Speaker B:As if I had to remind her of that.
Speaker B:And that really struck me.
Speaker B:I didn't realize you could get breast cancer so young.
Speaker B:I just didn't know.
Speaker B:Then that one shoe salute happened, and I just got that they were not.
Speaker B:They didn't know me.
Speaker B:They didn't know Sally Dunbar.
Speaker B:They were not cheering me.
Speaker B:They were cheering each of us as a face of survival in the hope that if their mother or their daughter or they or their husband.
Speaker B:Men.
Speaker B:Get breast cancer, too, that if one of their loved ones gets that diagnosis, it's not necessarily a death sentence.
Speaker B:And I just got that.
Speaker B:I mean, that was like.
Speaker B:And that's when I came back, and Becky Lund, who's my friend that got me doing the first one.
Speaker B:She and I signed up.
Speaker B:We went well.
Speaker B:The next one I did was with my mother on her 90th birthday.
Speaker B:So for those of you out there who think, I can't do that, I'm 52.
Speaker B:I'm too old.
Speaker B:Yeah, my mom would put you to shame.
Speaker B:She did the walk on her 90th birthday up in Seattle, limping the whole way.
Speaker B:But she did it.
Speaker B:She didn't do 20 miles, but she did five miles the first day and four miles the second day.
Speaker B:I mean, incredible.
Speaker B:Anyway, I did a couple more, and then I just got that I can do more.
Speaker B:I mean, my first year, I just put it out there kind of casually, and I raised $7,000.
Speaker B:You only need to raise 2,300 to do the walk.
Speaker B:I raised 7,000.
Speaker B:And it was like, that was easy.
Speaker B:So I just realized there's so much need.
Speaker B:And we could talk all day about what Komen does and why Komen and the need for money, but I hit.
Speaker B:How did they say it?
Speaker B:I hitched my star to that wagon, or I hitched my wagon to that star or whatever it is.
Speaker B:I drank the Kool Aid and just knew that I wanted to do more.
Speaker B:So I did just what you said, actually.
Speaker B:I sat at the computer, and when I registered myself, you have to declare your goal, and it could be 2,300.
Speaker B:And I thought, you know, you can do more.
Speaker B:So I typed in 25,000.
Speaker B:And I thought, you know, I did seven without even trying, that's, that's kind of a wuss goal.
Speaker B:I could do that.
Speaker B:So I typed in 50 and I thought that's pretty high.
Speaker B:But you know, if I started a team, if I got people to help me, I bet I could do this.
Speaker B:And I wanted to have new money.
Speaker B:I wanted it to be new walkers, not like, I'll get my other Coleman friends to come do this.
Speaker B:So I tell you, this voice just came from out of the blue and it said, no giant achievement has ever been accomplished without a big ass goal that is just unreachable.
Speaker B:So I typed in $100,000.
Speaker B:I hit return before I had a chance to think about it, and bam, I was committed.
Speaker B:So that was, that was how it got started.
Speaker A:So this was your first year forming a team.
Speaker A:You set a goal of $100,000?
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:I went from one to yeah.
Speaker A:Well, tell me how you did that.
Speaker B:Okay, so I will, I'm going to say to all of you out there, I personally, I have two reasons why I wanted to do this podcast.
Speaker B:One is, I will not lie.
Speaker B:I want you to join my team.
Speaker B:If you don't want to join team Donate, we will have a link at the end.
Speaker B:But for those of you who you know that's not in your cards, I hope that I can motivate you to believe that you, first of all, you can do something big ass.
Speaker B:But get, find your own charity and figure out you really can do more for them.
Speaker B:So I'm going to talk about how I did this in a way that I hope will be helpful for you in case you want to do this for leukemia or whatever, Boy Scouts, I don't know, whatever.
Speaker B:So I had the goal, 100,000.
Speaker B:It's like, geez, minis, how am I going to do this?
Speaker B:So I figured, you know, I'm not going to myself raise $100,000.
Speaker B:But I wanted to have new walkers, new money to coman.
Speaker B:So I just did the math.
Speaker B: If I need: Speaker B:I figured I needed to have 35 walkers who actually do their, their fundraising because everybody ends up raising more than 23.
Speaker B:It's just the way it works.
Speaker B:So then I thought, okay, I got attrition.
Speaker B:So I came up with a goal of I need 45 walkers.
Speaker B:45 walkers.
Speaker B:Do I even know 45 people?
Speaker B:I'm fortunately, I'm in a big real estate company, Lion Real Estate.
Speaker B:Have to give a plug.
Speaker B:I started asking my friends, well, Becky Lund, my one who got me started, if she hadn't signed up, I'd have been really mad.
Speaker B:Kareen signed up.
Speaker B:I see she's on the call.
Speaker B:Patty Yakutan signed up.
Speaker B:Patty got her sister Judy.
Speaker B:Who?
Speaker B:Judy was pretty influential out at UC Davis as a big shot out there.
Speaker B:She got some of her friends, clients started showing up.
Speaker B:I just started putting it out there.
Speaker B:I put a link in my Facebook signature, my email signature, I started posting on Facebook and the team started to grow.
Speaker A:Yeah, but like you said in the beginning when you thought about 20 miles a day, I mean, how many people were you talking to that were saying like, there is no way I can do 20 miles a day.
Speaker B:So here's the deal about that.
Speaker B:What I have learned is that everybody, I had all three considerations, but everybody has one of three or maybe two of three considerations.
Speaker B:I can't walk that far.
Speaker B:Yeah, you're right.
Speaker B:You get up right now.
Speaker B:If I go out right now, I can't walk 20 miles.
Speaker B:But you just inch by inch, you start with three miles, that's one hour.
Speaker B:Most of us with a little practice can get out there and walk up for an hour or slowly, you can walk for an hour.
Speaker B:And then there's a six month training period where every Saturday and Sunday we had training walks or we have training walks scheduled.
Speaker B:And you show up Saturday, I tell you where to show up, what time to show up, wear good shoes, bring water.
Speaker B:We're going to walk for an hour.
Speaker B:Well, we do that for a couple months and then you start slowly increasing.
Speaker B:Instead of three on Saturday, three on Sunday, we go four and three then five and three, then five and four.
Speaker B:It's a very slow, gradual.
Speaker B:And honestly, if you just show up, you can do it.
Speaker B:So I can't walk that far.
Speaker B:And Trust me, my 90 year old mother, remember her?
Speaker B:The second is I can't raise that much.
Speaker B:None of us think we can raise that much.
Speaker B:But if you take a look at some of the average looking people that you see in the Coleman videos, they're not special, they're just people.
Speaker B:And they're doing this.
Speaker B:How are they doing this?
Speaker B:There's.
Speaker B:If you want to do it, there's ways and we help.
Speaker B:I mean, I'm not going to do your fundraising, but I have a hundred ideas for how you can do your own fundraising and we support you.
Speaker B:The third is I don't have time.
Speaker B:Well, I won't even give you the list of things that I do and I still have big time.
Speaker B:Nobody thinks they have time.
Speaker B:Give up my Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Speaker B:I know I can't do that.
Speaker B:One of those three are what everybody has.
Speaker B:And honestly, if you just trust that there is a way, but you just don't know what it is.
Speaker B:We know what it is, and we will help you.
Speaker B:We will support you.
Speaker B:And the moral of the story is just say yes.
Speaker B:You don't know how to do this.
Speaker B:You're afraid.
Speaker B:We're all afraid.
Speaker B:But just say yes.
Speaker B:And I'm telling you, you can do this.
Speaker A:Sally, you mentioned the how fun it is.
Speaker A:May I show your video of your team?
Speaker A:Let me show that now because I think people will really enjoy that.
Speaker B:Our team name is hands up for hooters.
Speaker B:Here's our team logo.
Speaker B:We're a cute little hoodie owl.
Speaker B:You'll see some.
Speaker B:We have hands up headbands.
Speaker B:You're going to see in the headband.
Speaker B:Here we go.
Speaker A:Yay.
Speaker A:We are a team based in Sacramento, walking and fundraising for komen.
Speaker A:We come from all over the U.S. three days.
Speaker A:Three days, 60 miles.
Speaker B:There's Becky right there.
Speaker B:She's got me started defeating breast cancer.
Speaker B:Gallon.
Speaker A:You can do this.
Speaker B:This is like lifechanging.
Speaker A:Do you know you never realize that.
Speaker B:You can do this.
Speaker B:And when you walk 20 miles, it's so empowering.
Speaker B:And you realize that you have so much power over everything in your life and so you can conquer the world.
Speaker B:If you're thinking about joining the team, say yes to the challenge.
Speaker B:Don't get bogged in the details.
Speaker B:We'll work them all out for you.
Speaker B:That's what team's all about.
Speaker A:Walking is hard, but not as hard as chemo.
Speaker A:The three day is not about 60 miles.
Speaker A:It's about friends.
Speaker A:It's about family and finishing the job.
Speaker A:It's about honoring our angels and discovering you are bigger than you think.
Speaker A:Please come out and walk.
Speaker A:You've got to join us for hands.
Speaker B:Up for hitters in support of indie breast cancer.
Speaker B:It's not about the hills.
Speaker A:It's about the journey and the pink bubble and togetherness.
Speaker B:We will beat this.
Speaker A:Three days every November COMAN Three days in San Diego.
Speaker A:20 miles.
Speaker A:Three days.
Speaker A:We are friends, family, and we are hands up for Hooters team.
Speaker A:Together we can go farther than you imagined.
Speaker A:Register donate or [email protected] all right.
Speaker A:What a great video.
Speaker A:Thank you for sharing that with us.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Thank you for playing it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So actually, there's a question that's come in from Mike that kind of leads me into what my next question was.
Speaker A:Mike asks, how many years have you been doing this and what's the Total amount that you've raised.
Speaker A: I want you to talk about like: Speaker A:So just kind of add all that together in one question.
Speaker B:So we did our first year.
Speaker B:I set a goal of 100,000 and we hit 148,000 our first year.
Speaker B:I mean from zero, well from 2,300 to 148,000.
Speaker B:There is the power of setting a goal and breaking it down.
Speaker B:The next year we had 230 walkers that registered for your team.
Speaker B:No, no, no.
Speaker B:130 walkers and we made 230,000.
Speaker B:That was phenomenal.
Speaker B:So now we've, we.
Speaker B:Last year was our fifth year.
Speaker B:This year is our sixth year.
Speaker B:Our goal.
Speaker B:We so far have raised over 800,000 as a team.
Speaker B:800,000.
Speaker B:And most, I got to just say most of our walkers were new because I don't want, you know, I'm not just dragging money into our team.
Speaker B:I want new money.
Speaker B:So we this year realized or last year we realized that this year we can hit another 200,000 this year and it'll be our million dollar year.
Speaker B:Million dollar cumulative lifetime.
Speaker B:And then our friend Coleman stepped into the COVID stepped into the picture and kind of, you know, knocked the wind out of our sails.
Speaker B:They've.
Speaker B:Coleman has had to postpone the four walks this year.
Speaker B: an Diego and bring, you know,: Speaker B:So they've been postponed to next year.
Speaker B:But we will, we actually made this year if we, you know, if we could get, continue to fundraise, we could reach our million.
Speaker B:But next year we will hit our million dollar year.
Speaker B:And I am honored to be doing this.
Speaker B:I am so proud of my hooter family.
Speaker B:That and it isn't me raising all this money, it's each other.
Speaker B:Like right now we have 70 walkers on our team.
Speaker B:Each of those 70 walkers is out there hustling, asking their friends.
Speaker A:And Sally, I saw on your website that you have, you're going to have walks in Chicago and Dallas I think also.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So Susan g. Komen has four cities that they host the three day walk in.
Speaker B:And each walk is a three day walk, 20 miles a day.
Speaker B:They're the same format.
Speaker B:So I do have the dates right here.
Speaker B:Thank you for asking.
Speaker B:The first walk next year will be in Boston.
Speaker A:Boston.
Speaker B:I actually walked that last year.
Speaker B:What a beautiful city.
Speaker B:You get to see these cities.
Speaker B:It's cool.
Speaker B:So it's in August 20th.
Speaker B:August 20th.
Speaker B:Then Chicago.
Speaker B:Chicago this would be the first time they've come back to Chicago in many years.
Speaker B:They used to have a walk there.
Speaker B:So that'll be in October, October 1st.
Speaker B:Then Dallas is November 5th then.
Speaker B:And we will have team walking in each of those walks.
Speaker B:But maybe only two or three or four, five or six or seven.
Speaker B:Just small.
Speaker B:Our big push.
Speaker B:The big hands up for Hooters Mardi Gras party happens in San Diego.
Speaker B: And that will be: Speaker B:So we fly in on Thursday.
Speaker B:Most of us are from the Sacramento area, but honestly, we have a Canadian on our team.
Speaker B:We have team members from all over the United States.
Speaker B:So we will fly in Thursday, gather, you know, have a drink, just kind of get ready for the day.
Speaker B:And then you walk pretty much all day.
Speaker B:Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
Speaker B:You know, I could talk more about that format, but it's.
Speaker B:But that's when it is.
Speaker B:And it's fabulous.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker A:Well, you were written up in a book called Women who Rise, and no wonder.
Speaker A:Tell me about how you.
Speaker A:How they found you to be part of this book and tell us a little bit about the book.
Speaker B:So here it is.
Speaker B:Women who.
Speaker B:I'm getting it without the glare.
Speaker B:I don't know if I can do that.
Speaker B:Women who Rise.
Speaker B:There it is.
Speaker B:This is Kate Butler.
Speaker B:Kate Butler Books has put together a couple of books.
Speaker B:Women who empower, Women who Motivate, Women who blah, blah.
Speaker B:This is, I think, her fifth or sixth book, which is a compilation of stories from 30 different women.
Speaker B:So in this one, Women who Rise.
Speaker B:And there was kind of two parts to it.
Speaker B:One is women who have risen above some personal challenge or women who have caused a group to rise.
Speaker B:Hello.
Speaker B:So I was, you know, one of my friends had been in the book previously, and she was like, you need to be in this book.
Speaker B:You need to be featured in there.
Speaker B:So I didn't write the book.
Speaker B:I wrote one chapter all along with 29 other women.
Speaker B:But the book, I will say if you just Google, it's on Amazon.
Speaker B:Women, Women who Rise.
Speaker B:And then put my name in.
Speaker B:Or you may get a book from, you know, with somebody else's picture on it or whatever, but it's easy to find.
Speaker B:It's 14.99 on Amazon and $5 from every of my book sales goes to Komen.
Speaker B:But the women, they're so inspiring.
Speaker B:There's a woman who talks about rising from her son's suicide.
Speaker B:There is another gal who really is inspiring to me, who was raised in a fundamentalist cult.
Speaker B:And she now has a business where she helps you create a brand for your business.
Speaker B:She had to figure out her own personal brand in life.
Speaker B:Like, you know, you're raised from a cult.
Speaker B:You break away.
Speaker B:You know, a woman who had to overcome the death of her father as a pilot, and she felt as a little girl's the way we do things, that she could have saved him had she been in that airplane and kind of had to overcome that, you know, that trauma.
Speaker B:So completely different stories.
Speaker B:Everybody's got their own thing that they're going to write about, but it's a very empowering book.
Speaker B:And right now, with the pandemic and with many of us just feeling it's a very inspiring time to have.
Speaker B:This book is about the team, about building the team and the impact on the individual walkers from just saying yes.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And your story in that book is great.
Speaker A:It is a very inspiring book.
Speaker A:So if you all need some inspiration, that would be good to get Women who Rise and then put Sally's name, Sally Dunbar, so that your contribution goes to the Susan G. Komen.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So let's talk about Susan G. Komen.
Speaker A:What do they do with the money that's raised?
Speaker B:Okay, so I. I have to say, first, the organization came about.
Speaker B:I'm not going to do a huge long history, but it came about.
Speaker B:Little Susie got breast cancer, and her sister Nancy was devastated.
Speaker B:And when she died, sister Nancy said to sister Susie, I ain't giving up until I've done something, because this sucks.
Speaker B:And she ended up.
Speaker B:This was like, back in.
Speaker B:I don't know, I think 82, I want to say, or 79 or something.
Speaker B:She started the Susan G. Komen, you know, Susie.
Speaker B:Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Speaker B:And to date, I don't know the exact number, so don't quote me on this, but They've raised over $3.2 billion for breast cancer issues.
Speaker B:They are.
Speaker B:And this is why.
Speaker B:Well, that's one of the reasons why I.
Speaker B:What is it?
Speaker B:Hooked my wagon to this star.
Speaker B:They are the largest contributor to breast cancer issues in the world.
Speaker B:In the world next to the U.S. government.
Speaker B:You know, you let that sink in.
Speaker B:It's like, okay, what have.
Speaker B: What have you done since: Speaker B: I haven't done anything since: Speaker B:So what they do of all their money, 25% of it goes to research.
Speaker B:Just pure, you know, Stanford University, Johns Hopkins, Sloan Kettering, uc, all the.
Speaker B:Whatever you.
Speaker B:Whoever's studying breast cancer, they apply for research grants, and they have a huge team that evaluates these Grants, and they get research grants.
Speaker B:The rest of it goes to a myriad of other things.
Speaker B:Patient support, patient navigation, they're doing.
Speaker B:I won't have the right words for this, but some kind of like a genome type, cellular level database that breast cancer doctors can tap into to try to figure.
Speaker B:They're really focusing this year a whole lot on women of color.
Speaker B:I mean, black women have a higher percentage of getting breast cancer than anyone.
Speaker B:And yet there is not as much participation just in the Coleman walks.
Speaker B:You'll see, it's like, we need more black women on these walks.
Speaker B:So they are really pushing to get women of color more engaged in the.
Speaker B:I don't know, in just the whole process.
Speaker B:So their money, it goes to many things.
Speaker B:The part that just really connects for me is the research.
Speaker B:And it's because when I went through my breast cancer treatment, and every single woman and man who's gone through their breast cancer treatment has hopefully seen this, the doctors don't just go, well, you're blonde, let's try this today.
Speaker B:No, they don't just pull their treatment out of a hat.
Speaker B:They base it on the research of the hopefully, gazillions of women who have come before us who were in clinical trials, in research studies, and based on the facts and statistics of your specific situation.
Speaker B:So my feeling, I have two thoughts on that.
Speaker B:One is if I get breast cancer again, if I may repeat breast cancer patient, and I am 69 years old and I am this and I'm that and I, blah, blah, blah, I want them to have the research on somebody who's just like me to tell them, how am I going to increase my odds of survival?
Speaker B:That's personal, but almost more personal.
Speaker B:I now have three little grandkids.
Speaker B:And when my first little guy was born, he's now three.
Speaker B:And I just.
Speaker B:I just kind of looked at him and I realized, odds are he may have a husband, but odds are he's gonna have a wife.
Speaker B:Odds are she has not been born yet.
Speaker B:He already lost his other grandmother to breast cancer.
Speaker B:This grandmother has had breast cancer.
Speaker B:I just realized that I can do something to affect his life, his future that will affect his wife's future.
Speaker B:She's not even born yet.
Speaker B:And I can do something today that will make his life and her life better.
Speaker B:And it's like, okay, I can read him stories.
Speaker B:I do that.
Speaker B:I can save money for his college.
Speaker B:Well, his parents are doing that.
Speaker B:There's all these things I can do as a grandma.
Speaker B:But you know what I can do that truly will affect him?
Speaker B:His Life forever.
Speaker B:It's empowering my team.
Speaker B:It's empowering my team through what we're doing.
Speaker B:For Susan Komen.
Speaker B:That's kind of why I have been very involved with the I'm on the Three Day Advisory Board where they have a couple of walkers from each of the cities who we meet once a month on Zoom to think of better ways to make the three Day walk better.
Speaker B:I, last year was invited and I went back to Washington D.C. to an advocacy summit.
Speaker B:And that was so powerful.
Speaker B:And if I can.
Speaker B:Okay, here's something else that Komen does.
Speaker B:They advocate for women, they advocate for health.
Speaker B:So we were there and I spent three days, two and a half, whatever, three days.
Speaker B:And they trained us because I didn't know how to.
Speaker B:What do you do with advocacy?
Speaker B:They had four asks, four things that we were going to go talk to the senators and legislators about.
Speaker B:Two of them.
Speaker B:I can't remember what they are, but one of them was pushing for increased funding for the nih, which is the National Institute of Health.
Speaker B:That's not just breast cancer.
Speaker B:That's not even just cancer.
Speaker B:That is health.
Speaker B:So their Coleman is spending some of our fundraising dollars to advocate to Congress about why you need to fund for, you know, for more National Institute of Health.
Speaker B:The other thing that really struck me, I has too much detail, I suppose, but it's drug parity, which I'm like, well, really, what's that?
Speaker B:And it's how cancer patients, in any sick person who needs drugs, there's a big disparity between getting infusions, you know, getting chemo versus how you're going to pay if you take a pill.
Speaker B:I had no idea.
Speaker B:So they're advocating for those two big things that are not even specific to breast cancer.
Speaker B:They're specific to sickness.
Speaker B:And so there's another thing that they do and very, very impressive.
Speaker B:I was, I was blown away.
Speaker B:I was just really blown away.
Speaker A:Sally, it's obvious that you are so passionate about this and what you're doing.
Speaker A:Thinking back to when you did your first walk to where you are now.
Speaker A:How has this whole journey changed you?
Speaker B:It.
Speaker B:I will tell you that every, that I, along with every member of my team will tell you that they have been changed in profound ways and unexpected ways from health to probably one of the biggest is that each one of us is so much bigger than we ever thought, so much more powerful.
Speaker B:Six, seven years ago, if you would have suggested to me, hey, I think you can raise a million dollars for something, I would have said, I don't think so I'm too small.
Speaker B:I just.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:I wouldn't know how to do that.
Speaker B:I don't think I can do it.
Speaker B:Well, I'm freaking powerful.
Speaker B:Look what I did, and I did it with all the efforts.
Speaker B:You know, it's not just me.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:You know, I did this with these people.
Speaker B:All I did was empower them.
Speaker B:So I think a huge way it's changed me is it's taught me that I am powerful.
Speaker B:I am way bigger than I thought.
Speaker B:And every member of my team, if I could read to you the letters that they've written to me, that is a common thread.
Speaker B:I will never again say, no.
Speaker B:I will never again say, oh, no, I can't do that.
Speaker B:I. I have.
Speaker B:I hope you don't mind if I segue into this, because I got to talk about some of my teammates and some of what's happened with them.
Speaker B:I actually wrote.
Speaker B:I don't know where it is now.
Speaker B:I had all these things.
Speaker B:I was going to make sure I told you, but I wrote a list of the illnesses on our team.
Speaker B:No, I have it right here.
Speaker B:I got to do this because you will not believe all these illnesses we have asthma, arthritis, diabetes, peripheral neuropathy, torn meniscus, which is where your knees go.
Speaker B:Screwed up hip, knee replacements.
Speaker B:Hip, knee, kneed replacements, irritable bowel syndrome, lung damage, bipolar, migraines, pacemaker, Crohn's disease, fibromyalgia, being 90 and pass out unaccountably and need to have a service dog with you at all times.
Speaker B:Some of our team members have all of these, but all of these conditions are on our team.
Speaker B:And every one of these people said, oh, no, I can't do that.
Speaker B:Are you kidding?
Speaker B:I have a service dog.
Speaker B:Oh, no, I can't do that.
Speaker B:I might have diarrhea.
Speaker B:I mean, whatever, you know, I've got a torn meniscus.
Speaker B:So here's one gal, I asked her, turns out her, this is Joan, and her daughter was in stage four breast cancer.
Speaker B:I talked to her, and Joan said, there's no way I can do that.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:I mean, I have a torn meniscus.
Speaker B:I don't want to have surgery.
Speaker B:And I said, well, Joan, can you walk at all right now?
Speaker B:She says, yeah, we walk about three miles a day.
Speaker B:Said, if you can walk three miles a day, just start and just every day, just increase a little bit and see what happens.
Speaker B:Talk to your doctor, but see what happens.
Speaker B:So she says, okay.
Speaker B:She completed all 20 miles, all three days in a row, and was a blubbering, sobbing mess at the end.
Speaker B:Couldn't believe she did this.
Speaker B:And also felt her daughter with her the whole way.
Speaker B:And her daughter ended up passing out or passing from breast cancer.
Speaker B:We did lose her.
Speaker B:We have.
Speaker B:I won't say her name because I don't know if I should out her because I think she's on this video.
Speaker B:But we have a walker who, when she joined, said, you know, I've got diabetes, I got peripheral neuropathy, and I have a pacemaker.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:She's.
Speaker B:She's like the poster child.
Speaker B:And it's like, just start walking.
Speaker B:Can you do three miles?
Speaker B:Yeah, I think I can do three miles.
Speaker B:Okay, so just.
Speaker B:Just keep showing up.
Speaker B:So she did.
Speaker B:She kept showing up.
Speaker B:And what is phenomenal is after I'm not certain how long, but a few months or whatever, she goes to the doctor, had.
Speaker B:It.
Speaker B:Had.
Speaker B:Had a pacemaker and a pacemaker.
Speaker B:It's because your heart's going to stop, right?
Speaker B:So the pacemaker keeps your heart stopping.
Speaker B:After she started walking, her doctor, you know, they go in and they read whatever they read, your pacemaker.
Speaker B:She had.
Speaker B:Had no episodes since she started walking on her pacemaker.
Speaker B:She now, okay, started walking, started getting in better shape.
Speaker B:She's off her diabetes medicine.
Speaker B:I didn't even know that was possible.
Speaker B:Yeah, just getting in better shape.
Speaker B:And fibromyalgia means you can't feel your feet.
Speaker B:This was not a comfortable, you know, endeavor for her.
Speaker B:We have poor Kathy.
Speaker B:I always tell her story, and she.
Speaker B:She's probably sick of me broadcasting all over, everywhere.
Speaker B:But another one of our walkers who has lung disease from having gotten a virus in Texas or so.
Speaker B:I hate to slam Texas, but I think that's where she got it.
Speaker B:She has like 45% lung capacity and is always hacking and coughing, and if she gets a cold, it turns into pneumonia.
Speaker B:And then she's in the hospital, and it's like.
Speaker B:She's like, sally, I don't know if I can do this.
Speaker B:I said, well, just.
Speaker B:Just try.
Speaker B:Just start.
Speaker B:She could walk 20 minutes when she started.
Speaker B:She worked her way up to three miles.
Speaker B:And then she just kept showing up.
Speaker B:I was with her when we had gotten up to five miles.
Speaker B:We were here in Fair Oaks.
Speaker B:We were coming up from a riverwalk, coming up this hill at the end, and she.
Speaker B:We get to the top of the hill, and I'm yakking away.
Speaker B:She turns to me and she says, sally, that is the first time I have walked up that hill without having to stop and gasp.
Speaker B:For air.
Speaker A:So you're giving people the gift of the team, the gift of health, helping Pullman.
Speaker A:I mean, there's so many wonderful things that you have fun.
Speaker B:We have so much fun.
Speaker A:You too.
Speaker A:So a couple of questions that have come in that I think our good final area.
Speaker A:Doris, who has been completely inspired by you as a survivor herself, says, what are two to three primary ways walkers raise money?
Speaker A:And then Susie asked, how would someone join the team?
Speaker A:So I'm going to questions.
Speaker A:Okay, now, so I'm going to show that.
Speaker B:Go to Hands up for hooters.com Hands up for hooters.com Woohoo.
Speaker B:Right there.
Speaker B:You will get an email from me telling you what the next step is.
Speaker B:If you can't remember.
Speaker B:Hands up for hooters.com if you go to, you know, just Google Susan G. Coleman three day.
Speaker B:It's actually the three day.org but just Google that and sign up for a team and pick our team.
Speaker B:Hands up for hooters dot com.
Speaker B:You don't have to be on a team.
Speaker B:You can walk alone.
Speaker B:But why, why would you, I mean, be on a team?
Speaker B:What was.
Speaker B:Oh, so the raising.
Speaker B:The money.
Speaker B:To raise money is to ask.
Speaker B:Nobody wants to ask.
Speaker B:But here's the rub.
Speaker B:It's not the rub.
Speaker B:Here's the deal.
Speaker B:Every one of you out there knows somebody who has had breast cancer and it may be you.
Speaker B:We all have been touched somehow in our sphere, in our circle, in our orbit with someone with breast cancer.
Speaker B:You'd be shocked how many people, when I talk to them, that's what they tell me.
Speaker B:People want to do the right thing.
Speaker B:They want to contribute.
Speaker B:And people want to contribute to Komen.
Speaker B:They are willing.
Speaker B:If you just give them the outlet.
Speaker B:You'd be shocked at the people who go, oh, I always donate to them.
Speaker B:Or thank you for asking me.
Speaker B:I will tell people that for a $50 or more donation, I will dedicate a mile to their angel or their survivor.
Speaker B:I've got people every year going, when?
Speaker B:When are you going to walk for my cousin Susie?
Speaker B:When?
Speaker B:When's this going to happen?
Speaker B:So asking, sending out handwritten letters, sending out an email, however you want to do it on a team.
Speaker B:One of the things that we do is we have social events.
Speaker B:So we've had bunco.
Speaker B:You know, somebody will host a bunko party and we all pay $20 to come to the bunko party.
Speaker B:And there's.
Speaker B:If you get 30 people, there' dollars right there.
Speaker B:You know, paint and wine parties, just martini parties.
Speaker B:Anything that you can get People to pay to come.
Speaker B:We do those things.
Speaker B:So I actually have a list, literally, of a hundred different ideas, but it's not hard.
Speaker B:If you will just put it out there.
Speaker B:And we have lots of suggestions.
Speaker B:I hope that answers it.
Speaker B:Hands up for hooters dot com.
Speaker B:That's how you.
Speaker A:Hands up for Hooters.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So, Sally, I always like to ask my guests at the end, what are one or two takeaways that you would like to leave the audience with?
Speaker A:I mean, there's so many.
Speaker A:So I'm.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Trying to limit you to one or two.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:I think on a broader point, have faith that you can do whatever you set your mind to.
Speaker B:The hardest part is setting the goal.
Speaker B:The hardest part is just saying, I want to raise $100,000.
Speaker B:That's the hard part.
Speaker B:Then you just break it down.
Speaker B:Well, how many does it take to do that?
Speaker B:What's a list of ways I could do it?
Speaker B:What are going to be my difficulties?
Speaker B:How can I overcome those?
Speaker B:You just break it down.
Speaker B:And I would say that that is the biggest.
Speaker B:The second is you are so much bigger than you give yourself credit for.
Speaker B:You truly are.
Speaker B:And a team like ours, okay, Our team can help you discover that.
Speaker B:You know, we are here to support you and to help you discover that.
Speaker B:And it's like, yes, we all have fear, but have fear and do it anyway.
Speaker B:Just do it anyway.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:I love that you are so much bigger than you give yourself credit for.
Speaker A:And that is such an important takeaway.
Speaker A:So thank you, Sally.
Speaker A:And you're.
Speaker A:What a great storyteller.
Speaker A:Thank you so much for being on the hey Boomer show today.
Speaker A:You've had wonderful comments.
Speaker A:I hope you'll get to go back and look at them.
Speaker A:But you have inspired a lot of people today, so thank you for that.
Speaker A:Also, I wanted to tell you about my guest for next week, and her name is Lauren Brophy.
Speaker A:And Lauren used to work on Wall Street.
Speaker A:She had, like this ridiculously high pressure job and super successful.
Speaker A:And she and her partner decided they wanted to start thinking about their retirement.
Speaker A:So they bought an old house in upstate New York and started renovating it as a bed and breakfast.
Speaker A:Well, there was another building on that property that they decided to turn into what they called the candy apple shop.
Speaker A:They now have two.
Speaker A:And so it's a such a fun.
Speaker A:Another inspiring story of going from Wall street to candy apples.
Speaker A:And you know how that journey has unfolded.
Speaker A:So it's another one of those.
Speaker A:If you can envision it, you can do it.
Speaker A:Let's see.
Speaker A:When I am not doing this broadcasting, I am a relevant retirement coach.
Speaker A:I am intimately in involved with how important feeling relevant is.
Speaker A:And so I have put together a course and coaching for people that are looking to maybe slow down, maybe not slow down, but what does that look like once they're doing something else and how to make that feel important and relevant and meaningful.
Speaker A:And that's what we are about here on hey Boomer is making our lives mean something and you certainly have shown us that today.
Speaker A:Sally, thank you.
Speaker A:So CS Lewis reminded us that you are never too old to set another goal or dream another dream.
Speaker A:So thank you all for joining us today.
Speaker A:Let's continue to meet weekly.
Speaker A:Click on the send me an email and I will let you know when the next call it and the next show is.
Speaker A:And I am so grateful for all of you.
Speaker A:My name is Wendy Green with Sally Dunbar and this has been hey Boomer.
