Raising Elite Competitors

From Ironman to Cancer Survivor: Why Mental Toughness Matters Beyond the Game

• Coach Bre • Season 2 • Episode 266

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What does it really mean to be tough when life throws something your training could never prepare you for?

In this episode, Coach Bre sits down with Kelly Vo, Co-Founder of The Pink Ribbon Army and Ironman athlete turned cancer survivor, to talk about how the mental strength built in sport can transform how we face life’s hardest battles.

Kelly shares her powerful story of moving from competition to recovery and how mindset tools like visualization, self-talk, and focus helped her navigate chemotherapy and healing. Together, she and Coach Bre explore the deeper side of resilience, the kind that’s rooted in vulnerability, community, and purpose.

You’ll learn:
💪 What true mental toughness looks like beyond the game
🧠 How to use mindset strategies to stay grounded through uncertainty
🎀 Why vulnerability and connection are key to lasting resilience
🌸 The inspiration behind The Pink Ribbon Army and its mission of hope

Whether you’re an athlete, a mom, or someone walking through your own challenge, Kelly’s story will remind you that your strength isn’t measured by medals or times, it’s measured by how you rise, again and again.

Come hang out with Kelly and join her movement on Instagram @thepinkribbonarmy, or learn more at www.pinkribbonarmy.com.

Episode Highlights: 

[00:02:41] Kelly joins the conversation, sharing how her diagnosis at age 40 led her to create the Pink Ribbon Army. As a lifelong athlete and “super aunt,” she reflects on how community and purpose helped her turn a difficult experience into a movement for good.

[00:11:27] Kelly emphasizes that breast cancer doesn’t discriminate. She shares how many friends admitted they hadn’t yet scheduled mammograms—and encourages every listener to get checked. Early detection, she stresses, can make the difference between a manageable journey and a life-threatening one.

[00:15:08] Kelly debunks the myths around mammograms, assuring listeners they’re quick, manageable, and nothing to fear. She shares that healthcare providers perform them every day and encourages women to prioritize their peace of mind.

[00:24:04] She shares how she reframed her cancer journey as her most important “Ironman.” Each stage—surgery, chemotherapy, recovery—became her version of the swim, bike, and run. Her mindset: stay steady, stay focused, finish strong.

[00:23:25] Kelly discusses how the mental tools she developed through sport helped her handle uncertainty, fear of recurrence, and moments of exhaustion. “It’s the same muscle,” she says—training the mind to stay calm and keep moving forward.

[00:30:40] Kelly dives into her daily practices for positivity, including using a five-minute gratitude journal, reframing tough moments, and staying thankful for even the smallest blessings.

[00:36:00] Kelly gives an update on The Pink Ribbon Army’s annual October event featuring a golf tournament, 5K, and after-party that raises funds for women undergoing treatment.

[00:40:23] Kelly closes with a heartfelt reminder for listeners to get their screenings, trust their intuition, and face fears early—because early detection saves lives.

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Thank you in advance for joining us on our mission and leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.

Welcome back to the Raising Elite Competitors podcast. Today's episode is a special one. If you are a mom. Between the ages of 30 to 50 listen up, you're gonna get some reminders about the importance of getting your annual breast cancer screening. Which we all need reminders about that, right? But more importantly, you get to hear from Kelly Vo. She is a breast cancer survivor and the founder of an organization called The Pink Ribbon Army, a nonprofit that supports women who are going through breast cancer here in the local Seattle Tacoma area. So the elite competitor is. A sponsor for the Pink Ribbon Army because we care so much about the mission of, Kelly and her team and what they're doing locally to make sure that women who are going through breast cancer have the resources that they need to get their treatments while also not having to sacrifice all the other responsibilities of their life. So you get to hear a little bit about Kelly's story, which is not only inspiring, but also educational for all of us who need to make sure that we are on top of it, because there are people who are depending on us. So you'll hear about all of that. And also how mental toughness and mental training really helped Kelly in her battle of breast cancer. She was a former athlete. She sent Ironman competitions and obviously has developed a mental fortitude because of those things and how that ultimately prepared her for the battle of her life, which is also a great reminder for us. As we're raising girl athletes who are in sports, that this goes well beyond the sport. Now, before you get to hear from Kelly, which I know you're gonna love, I do wanna give a quick shout out to a mom in our community. This mom is, she actually recently participated in one of our free trainings. For sports moms called the dos and the don'ts of Strengthening Your Athlete's Mental Game, and she left us a Google Review. I'm so pumped about this. So her name is Elaine. She said, we're just starting your journey. But even just from the intro Zoom session, I've learned so much to help my daughter with her confidence. I used one technique that I heard Coach Brie talk about when my daughter was having a really rough week of self-doubt and the next day she came home, the happiest and most confident I have seen her all season. Elaine, I'm pumped for you. And to be honest, that free Zoom training. Is chockfull of nuggets that will help you with your daughter, her daughter's confidence, her mental game, how to respond to her when she's having, a rough day or a rough match, and just gives you really simple strategies that you can start implementing immediately. So if you haven't already checked out that free training, go to train her game.com. You can register for your date and time. We also do some fun giveaways on the training, and it is just it's a really great way for you to make sure that you are armed with some strategies to help your daughter with the most important part of her game. Her mindset. All right. I'm excited for you to listen to this episode with Kelly. I know you're gonna enjoy listening to her. As much as I loved sitting down and interviewing her, enjoy Welcome Kelly to the Raising Elite competitors. Well, welcome back. I should say. Yes. Thank you for having me back. It's great to be back with the elite competitor. Yeah, at the time of recording, we're at the tail end of October, which is nationally known obviously as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And that's why I'm excited to have this conversation because Kelly has an amazing story, just about her. Battle with breast cancer and how that has led to some wonderful things for, for your local community and, the Pink Ribbon rv, which is the organization that you founded that helps other people locally. So we're gonna dive into all of that and why we're having this conversation. Well, one key, reason is that if you're listening, you're likely. A woman between the ages of 30 to 50, which is exactly who we need to talk about, and, spread some awareness and some education, for you. So Kelly, will you please just introduce yourself, shares a little bit about like your story, your battle, your fight, and pink ribbon RV too. Yeah, absolutely. So yes, happy Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It's so nice that we have a month, but I like to remind people that breast cancer happens all year long, so whereas there's so much awareness this month, you can get your mammograms any month and any day. So, please do that if you can't squeeze it in in October. My name is Kelly Vo. I am a breast cancer, survivor, thriver. I am an Ironman athlete. I work in digital advertising, so I have a full-time job as well. And I like to describe myself as a super aunt. So my, both my sister and my brother have four kids. My sister-in-law has three. And then we have a lot of close friends who their kids are also. They call us aunt and uncle as well. So, trying to make it to all their, their games and all their fun activities and things like that, and just be very present. So I've been a lifelong athlete, since I was, you know, a. Four or five swimming lessons when I was, you know, three or whatever it was. But, my main sports were team sports, so soccer was my main sport, basketball. And then once I became, you know, got through college and became an adult team, sports are harder to, harder to find a community. So, randomly a friend. I had challenged me to like, I'm doing a half iron, man, you should do it. This is right up your alley. I thought it sounded crazy. Mm-hmm. But at the time, everybody around me, all of my best friends and sister and sister-in-law happened to be pregnant at the same time. So this is about 15 years ago. I can mark that because they're all 15 now. Okay. Um, and I thought like, okay, well yeah, I need my own thing, so I'll go for it. So. I went for it, I trained and then it started to bother me that, that I, I did a half Ironman instead of a full and had to keep correcting people. Like, oh no, I didn't do an Iron Man. I did a half Ironman. So I decided I may as well correct that in general and just do one so. I got bit buddy, the triathlon bug as they say, and it just kind of became a lifestyle. So I've been doing triathlon, Ironman and half Ironman distance for the past 15 years. It is my lifestyle and I love it so much. I did have to take a break when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021. It was May of 2021. I was. 40 years old and going for my first annual mammogram, that's when you're supposed to go right when you're 40. In no way did I think this regular every day. You know, people do this every day. Go get your mammograms. I didn't think it would come back with anything except for, okay, good job on getting what you're supposed to do. Done. We'll see you next year kind of thing. You know, I've been going and getting my like annual female visits, right? So I'm used to this. It always turns out fine, whatever. But it was very, it was immediate right in the appointment. They were like, we need you. We need to take a second look. We need to do a different test. And, once they did that, the doctor came in and said, you know, we're 95% sure this is not good news. But the good news is this is not a brick wall. This is a very long journey with a door at the end. And I mean, my head was spinning and I was thinking like, what, what are you, whatcha saying to me right now? Very soon after that, it was officially diagnosed as, breast cancer. Thankfully it was stage one. Mm-hmm. That's why I'm also thinking, oh, great stage. Oh, okay, this is horrible. But stage one, they just, it's just like surgery and you're done. Right. And you just move on. No big deal. Like it never happened. But that is not true. It, they treat the entire body because the entire body is connected. And. There are times where you can get away with just a surgery or just a one thing. But the way that my cancer cells had formed and what they were beating off of and et cetera, with all these tests, I had the full boat. It was the full boat of, you know, big surgery, chemo, possible radiation. I did get to skip that because I chose a bigger surgery. And then reconstruction and all of, you know. Everything that comes along with all of those things. Wow. Yeah, so the journey was about a year long from start to, from like diagnosis to, unfinished recovering from the last thing. And then I was declared cancer free, which is, you know, music to my ears is an understatement. But it was just a very long journey. So to be able. To hear those words, was, you know, it's like an out of body experience to get to hear that, after hearing the diagnosis that nobody wants to hear, through that kind of. Journey. It was, there was a lot of time in waiting rooms at doctor's offices. There's a lot of doctor's appointments for various things. It kind of takes over your life a bit. And I sat there, you know, and I see who else is in the waiting room. And I definitely see a difference between myself and other people in terms of support. And there are times where you can, you know, support in general, but. Part of that support can be financial resources. And it's almost like you can tell I don't wanna judge a book by its cover, but. Sometimes you can tell when somebody is not, does not have the resources they need to, you know that. Or the same as myself or another person sitting next to me and I told my husband like, I wanna do something. This can't be just something terrible that happened to me, that happened to us. This has to have happened for a reason and I'm not willing. To sit here and wait around for a reason. Mm-hmm. Let's just make one, let's make this into something good. Yes. Mm-hmm. I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. I'm just also very impatient. So you don't wanna wait around, you gotta create that. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Mm-hmm. So, that is what sparked the idea to start a nonprofit. We, named it Pink Ribbon Army. Pink Ribbon obviously, because that is a symbol of breast cancer, is definitely something that I had to embrace and it took me a minute. I did not associate myself with that symbol. But putting the word army behind it is a word of strength. It's a word of community. It's a word of togetherness. Mm-hmm. And that is what the meaning behind it is people coming together like an army to support those, whose pink ribbon has entered their life and, has essentially marked them with a pink ribbon, right? So, yeah. Like myself, so we decided to create a nonprofit called Pink Ribbon Army. And all of the proceeds that we raise, all the funds that we raise, go to help breast cancer patients that need financial and, help and additional resources in order to focus on their treatment. Wow. Yeah. Amazing. Long intro. No, no, that, that was great. I think, I know it can sound, it sounds like so neat and tidy, you know, like I was diagnosed, I went through, kids are free and I started on Yeah. But I know that the, yeah, there's a lot in the middle of all of that and some things that were popping up in my head when you said like. 40. You were like the picture of hell. If you're doing Iron Man competitions, you are so healthy. Like, it honestly reminds myself, I'm like, almost, and I would have never, you know, like, you, like everything just comes back normal. I wouldn't expect it to be anything different. And so I hope that stands out to the moms that are listening that like, yeah, no, this is important and we've gotta make sure that, yeah. You were on top of it, so Absolutely. Yeah, I had a lot of, and I'm not trying to say like I'm, I'm better than Anybo or most or whatever, but I had so many people close to me. E even, and not close to me, say, oh my God, if it can happen to you, it could happen to anyone because you're the fittest person I know. And I'm like, thank you. That's a nice compliment. At the same time, I know, I mean, all I do is work out. All I do is eat healthy. I go to all of those preventative appointments. I'm very proactive about my health and, you know, I change things when I learn that been discovered, not good for you, like, you know, plastics or whatever. So to think that, that could happen to somebody who lives that kind of a lifestyle, was a big wake up call for a lot of people around me. And you've got other people that are. You know, and for me I was like, yeah, let me be the example. Yeah. Just go, go make sure, that you are checking things out. Because the one thing I want to leave with people, oh, sorry. I'll go back. The one, the other thing I was gonna say is people around me that were older than 40 mm-hmm. I had never had a mammogram. Yeah. That was a wake up call too. Just go do it. You know, whether, whatever the reason is you haven't yet, just go do that. And one thing that I, like to leave with people no matter if it's breast cancer. And mammograms for preventative or anything else, not finding out about it will not make it go away, right? Mm-hmm. It doesn't fix itself, it doesn't cure itself. It's not like the common cold, and I'm just gonna. Work out through it and keep going and it'll just resolve on its own. Yes. A cold. Great. Yeah. Uh, Cancers, if you have a weird cough that lasts for way too long, you know, anything, it's not going to resolve because you're afraid of the answer and why go get the answer sooner. Maybe it's nothing and that's great. Maybe it's something, but if you catch it. Early. Early, you will have far less of a journey than you will have if you catch it later. Yeah, and I speak from that experience of, I thought it would be so simple because it was stage one and it wasn't, however. Even stage one B or stage two, just one step further, six months longer of a wait. They said to me four to six months, and it could have been a different story. It would've been exponential. Amounts more of treatment. I mean, we're talking months, you know, guaranteed radiation for weeks and weeks, like it would be a lot. So I urge everybody, like if you even think have an inkling that something's wrong or. It's time for that preventative checkup. Just go do it, you know, and check it off your list until the next year, knowing can save you so much heartache and all the things that come along with that. Yeah. Okay. That is the motivation that, that's all I needed to hear. Yeah, yeah. No, we have people depending on us, like you know, we owe it to ourselves obviously, but also. People who depend on us as well in our lives. And, you know, everyone listening is a mom and we've got kids and Yeah. Yeah. We just, we gotta, I almost say not, not that this is maybe the same, but I'm like, when I get my dentist appointments and my checkups and this, I'm like, it almost is like a little, like, you know, I'm going to, to the spa, right? Like. Yeah. I'm like, at this point in my life with young kids, I'm like hitting my dentist appointment and my like, checkups is like, yeah, wow, lovely. So lovely. Yes, yes, exactly. Yeah, it's a little, it's a little break for yourself. And I, I know we talk about self-care, it's quite like the buzz word, buzz phrase. But It can mean the spa, it can mean like, I just need to go for a walk and listen to my favorite podcast. Mm-hmm. But it also, it has to include doing those preventative things. Mm-hmm. That keep us healthy so that we can be there for our kids. Whether, you know you are a mom, like everyone listening here, or you are a super aunt like me, and I want to be there. I've been there since these kids were born. If I'm not there, they're asking, why are you not there? You know? So we all need to make sure we're there for those that depend on us in our lives. So the self-care piece is important. Because then, you know, you have that peace of mind that things are, okay, I've done this, I've checked it off. Believe me, if your kids could understand why you needed to go have this appointment mm-hmm. They would want you to go, they would want you to go and make sure that mom is okay. And I will say about mammograms, there's been a lot of, oh, they're painful and this kind of thing. They're not, it's not that kind of pain. Like I would much rather have a mammogram than say, a root canal or like a filling, you know, it's uncomfortable, but it's not painful. And also, I mean, I'm quite like, you know, I don't know. I'm a little bit conservative, so I'm like, what? They're gonna see all this or whatever. It's in. These women do it every day. These nurses do it every day, all the time. They see everything. Do not worry. Who cares? Just go in there and get it done. They will give you a gold star for just getting there and getting it done, and you will most likely walk out with like a, you know. Yay. Everything looks good. Yeah. And then you can rest easy. But yes, it's part of self, care. Mm-hmm. To make sure that you don't have to, you know, go any further with that and you just get a clean bill of health. Yeah. Okay. That's a great,'cause I haven't had one yet, so, um, yeah, I assume it's coming.'cause you said 40 is like when you're supposed to have your Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, it seems like. It, it's all insured. Like, okay. They, it seems like they keep saying you could wait, you could go later, but check with your insurance. You know, I don't know. But, insurance covers it and I do know. You can go at any age. Mm-hmm. If you want, like they can't deny you, like, no, you're 35 and so we're not gonna give you a mammogram. It just, it's dependent on whether your insurance covers it or not. I do know that there's some factor with insurances that if you have any kind of risk factor in your family, whether it's genetic or just a close family member has, you know, like if you have. A risk factor like that, then it should be covered earlier than 40. So just check. But regardless, if you are not yet 40 or even far from 40, and you feel something that is wrong, or you're just worried and you need peace of mind, just go get it. It's worth every penny. Just go get it. And if it's something that's a financial barrier mm-hmm. You just tell them that, and there are people that can help, like there are funds available and things like that. So just make the call and tell them what you need and, get what you need done. I mean, they're in the business of preventing breast cancer as well, so, yeah. Yeah. That's great. Yeah. Okay. Well, the, one of the several reasons that I wanted you to come on the podcast was first for, for that, like, I think we all need to hear that, just that reminder and inspiration from your story. Also, you know, we're in the business of mental toughness and mindset and you know how that applies to girls in their sport. But yes, we always say to parents like. Yes, of course we're giving girls these skills so that they can show up and compete and be confident, but more important to us is how they transfer them to the rest of their life. And so I am curious for you, and also being an athlete yourself and growing up playing sports. Just talk about like what mental toughness means for you and was there any of that, like how did your mindset impact your journey and your, you know, your fight and your battle? Yeah, I mean, I think mental toughness is, I mean, I think that is everything. I think that that really separates. You know, the women from the girls, if you know that old saying, like the men from the boys. Mm-hmm. But we're really not talking about men and boys here. Um, it really separates those superstar athletes, from, the elite, right? You can have all the skills and all the endurance, the speed, the strength, all of those things. But if you are not mentally tough, you are one injury, one bad play, one mistake. Hello, we're human. We're all gonna make mistakes in whatever sport. Professionals do it all the time, right? Mm-hmm. You are one of any of those things and a million other things away from just a total. Meltdown. Yeah. You have to have that mental component in order to. Reach that, you know, like that pinnacle level, right? And okay, if you don't have the speed and all the, all the other things too, like maybe you don't, but you still have that mental, fortitude and grit and sometimes that makes up for a lack of, you know. Raw talent or you know, totally speed, strength, all those things, when I got into, and so those are the things that, you know, I don't know how I got mentally tough. I think it was my parents saying, you can do whatever you wanna do, and all of that. We didn't have a program like Daily Competitor when I was a kid. But, you know, I played soccer, I played basketball, and I just have that. Like support from my parents and also, just that I just wanna win. I wanna, I wanna win, I wanna compete, you know, and then also I had my mom saying, if you ever talk smack, I will bench you. You know? So I had to maintain that, like, good sportsmanship or my mom would bench me, you know. Sent me in the stands by her. It never happened. Never happened. I believed her. Yeah. I believed, I believed that she, she would do it. So, but, uh, it's when I got into endurance sport that it really kicked up a notch, because that is really the fourth sport in. Triathlon, it's swim, bike, run. And then mental, like mental, your mental game. There's none of it. If you put it all together and at the end of the race you cross the finish line, like that is really fun. Really fun. It is like Christmas day, your birthday, everything wrapped into one. It is a celebration. It's great, to get to that finish line. It's a very long day, whether you're doing a half Ironman or a full, and you have to learn to push through those low moments because they're guaranteed to come. You are never gonna have a race where nothing ever hurts and nothing is ever going wrong, and the wind is going your direction and you know, like there's always gonna be something. And you have to learn how to push through. I think that is where, I learned that is the training is the leading up to race day because that is also very long. Learning all of that, like I really want this end goal. So I am not going to let any of these outside factors beat me, right? Or keep me from competing, or reaching that finish line, that I just learned over doing this sport constantly. Then when I was diagnosed, and I, I mean, first I was like, I'm working out through the whole thing. I'm gonna work out through the whole thing. I am, you know, very stubborn. This is not gonna take triathlon away from me and all of that. Then there's things about like your immunity and different things, and I'm like, okay, okay. I'm not gonna be that person that's like, look at me, I'm. Going through chemo and doing a triathlon, like there's a time and a place for that. I understand when people do that. I decided to save all of my energy for getting through the chemo and all of these things because it is really, really difficult. So I reduced, I did what I could. I walked, I went on long walks, you know, things like that. I kept my body moving. Mm-hmm. But I turned the cancer treatment journey into my Ironman. So the first, my, my kind of journey went big surgery, chemotherapy, reconstructive surgery, and then a second reconstructive surgery. Okay. And I treated those things as swim, bike, and run. And then like. Another one. I really looked at those things. I broke it all down into, you know, kind of the, this is the most important race of my entire life. Maybe this is the reason I got into triathlon. Maybe this has served me in this way. And I took all that mental fortitude I had built through endurance sport and applied it here. And there are days that are, oh my gosh, so difficult. Like, you're just so sick or muscle spasms everywhere because of, like different drugs that you've had to be on to get through the chemo or whatever it is. You know, post-surgery pain, not being able to move, having to figure out how to wash your hair when you can't move your arms. Like, yeah, just different, you know, all sorts of different mm-hmm. Things. My hair thinning, um mm-hmm. I did something called cold caps to try to keep my hair, on, on my head. It worked, but it, it definitely got really thin, but even doing that took a lot of endurance. It's painful. You know, and you have to keep going and it, it goes on forever. So that's how I kind of treated it. I, I took it as like, this whole treatment is going to be like. An Ironman for me, but way more important than any race could ever be. And I think that's important. Like we play sport. Not everybody's gonna become a professional athlete. These are the best years of our lives. You should make the most out of them. Mm-hmm. But they teach us things like sport teaches us a lot of life lessons. One of which. Is mental fortitude and that can be applied to whatever happens in your life. Mm-hmm. Life is definitely not always a cakewalk. There are career bumps in the road. There are health bumps in the road, family bumps in the road, you know, moves across the country or the world or whatever. And. If you can apply your mental strength that you've learned through sport to those things that you will inevitably come upon in life or that you're going through right now, that your kids will go through later, it will serve you tenfold. Mm-hmm. Right. Like I could have never imagined that I would need to use my mental strength for anything outside of triathlon. Mm-hmm. But here I am, you know, like that is what I use to get through. Cancer treatment, and it is what I still use today to get through the daily reminder. I mean, I think about it daily, like, could there be a recurrence? Yes, that's a possibility for me, it's a low chance, but it's there. It's in the back of my mind. I have to have the mental fortitude to get through those thoughts and push those thoughts away if it's not based on something tangible. Yeah. It's just a worry. I have to be able to push those worries to the side, get on with my day and move forward. And it could be applied to anything, right? Like I'm sitting in traffic, super annoying. How are we gonna deal with this? You know? It could be being laid off, job searching a difficult time with your boss, so on and so forth. And all these kids that you guys are coaching, they're gonna need it through college, right? Mm-hmm. Or through school right now. Like you've got a hard test, it's a hard semester, whatever it is. You know, life is great, but it's a roller coaster, which makes it interesting. It makes those low moments, much easier if you've got that mental strength to get through it. Yeah. Yeah. So well said. Like, we're preparing, you know, these skills, right? And that's why we love sports, right? Is that Yes, can develop this as long as they have the skills and the sport to be able to do it. And then it goes well beyond that. I'm curious, just like was there anything specific that helped you? I mean the things that we teach our athletes things around. Like mindfulness being in the present moment. Yeah. Um, We teach them breath work techniques, visualization, also having like mantras and affirmations, that kind of ground them during the tough moments in like the ups and the downs, like. To name just a few, a few skills. Was there anything like specific? Oh, journaling, you know, evidence journal, gratitude journals, like things like that? Yeah. Was there anything specific that helped you, and maybe it was like something related to mindset or like a practice or a habit that you had? I feel like I even saw a screenshot, like my sister actually, is battling cancer right now and I believe Christina sent me a screenshot of some sort of like. Note jar. I don't know. Was that, was that you? No, I don't think it was, but I love that idea. It was like a, maybe it was somebody else in our circle, but like, you know, a good thing that happened today and just like stacking up those wins. Anyways, anything that I don't know particularly useful for you? Yeah, yeah. There were a few things and I don't know if I had like a. One thing I did all the way through except, you know, it was different things for different moments, right? Yeah. But, or moments, times, weeks. Yeah. But one thing that I did do. Actually one thing that every single doctor told me, and it was so odd because it's not one of those things, it's not a medical thing that mm-hmm. You think would come out of a doctor's mouth. And it wasn't just one, it was all of them. And I got a second opinion and a third. So I saw the whole team of doctors at three different. Hospitals, right. And their cancer institutes in their, in their hospitals. Mm-hmm. The one thing they all said was, stay positive. A positive attitude will take you so far. A positive attitude will bring you through this. You need to keep a positive attitude. I didn't ask until after the fact, like, why did people say that? Like, why was that? And they told me that, or, you know, the, the team I ended up going with, I did ask after she told me. It's because it really does impact your physical health to have a positive mindset. And you can just see it, you can see it in the waiting room. You can see it when somebody walks into our, you know, the, the doctor's office. So. That was the after part, or I just had to trust'em, like, yeah, it will help you. I didn't find out the why until later. But it's all about mental strength and it will bring you through if you stay positive once you go negative. It's very hard. If you stay there, it's very hard to get yourself dug out of that. Yeah. So it's not that we'll never feel negative, but it's about how fast we come out of it. Mm-hmm. Um, Is the stay positive part. So I did, I believed them and I was like, okay, I gotta stay positive. Yeah. There were definitely hard moments, but I reminded myself like, what is good in this moment? And when I can't move my arms and all these things, like, I'm so thankful to have somebody to help me with that. I'm so thankful I get to sit here and watch movies. Like, who doesn't wanna do that? Gets old after a while, but, right. You know? There was a lot of like mental gratitude, just staying positive. I'm gonna get through this. I'm really tough. I can do this. It's, I'm so thankful it's not worse. You know, like all of those things. And then I actually do have this little five minute a day gratitude journal where it gives you kind of prompts, because sometimes it's hard to think like, do I just write down the things? That I'm thankful for, you know, and it gives, it's the same thing, but it's giving it to you in a different, like different thought patterns. Mm-hmm. Um, And I didn't fill it out every day just here and there, but that was like a written process of which lands different mentally when you write things down. For me, if I write it, it sticks in my memory forever. Like as long. I mean, that's how I studied for tests in college. Right. Like if I wrote it down. And then reread my notes over and over. I'd remember it if you write it. So it just, it's a different mechanism. And so I would write yes, like what I'm thankful for in this little gratitude book, which was very, very helpful. And then, you know, I'm not a person that generally love to like, take help from people. You know? I'm independent, I'm strong, I can do it, but I took the help. You know, like I was so thankful to have, my husband there he was the one like washing my hair and you gotta laugh at it because he has no idea how to do that, you know? Yeah. Um, and for those, you know, him, he's bald, so he really has no idea how to do that. Literal, like literally. But you know, like those sweet and special moments that come out of, such a tough time. I just was constantly reminding myself. I am very lucky. I'm very blessed to have, you know, people and support around me. So that's what gets me through, I think anytime, like tough in sport for me. Even now, like in Ironman.'cause I am back to it. I have, I've, yeah, I got back to it a few years ago and, you know, I'm racing again, training and all of that. I think about the support on the sidelines, like who's. There. Danny is always there and a lot of times I'll have family there, my mom or you know, friends or whatever, and I think about them like when it gets really hard. I think about them pushing me on the sidelines and there's a huge support network of people that are watching and following, you know, digitally. So like in a big group text or on the Ironman app. And I think about them looking and seeing, and I know they're pushing me. I know if when it gets hard mentally in my mind, I can look at them and they'll say, keep going. You've got this. You know, and so I think about that a lot. I thought about people when I was sitting in the chemo infusion chair. What would these people that can't be there in person, what would they say? You know? And you just kind of repeat their mantras for me to myself. Yeah. Okay. That's really powerful. Yeah. Kind of a sense of not being alone, right? Yeah. Like you're never alone when you're on the court, you know, or the field or whatever. You're not alone. You have your team, but you also have that support in the stands, you know, being the athlete. And then if you're the parent of the athlete, you have support too. Like other parents, your athlete's looking at you for that support. You might be an athlete yourself and you know how that feels to have that support around. So yeah, that just never alone feeling, even if you're like a strong, independent woman. Mm-hmm. Like that's great. We all need support. Nobody wants to be alone. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Okay. Well, Kelly, this is inspiring, but also like a great, a great reminder, on many fronts for screenings, but also, how important. Building mental skills in our, in our athletes is so that they can face the bigger things outside of their sport too. Like clearly their sport isn't the hardest thing that they're ever gonna experience in their life. It might feel like it in the moment, but Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Um, Absolutely. Yeah. I do wanna touch really quick though on, the Pink Women rrb and you just had a really successful event. Can you? Yes. I don't know, just speak about that. It's really exciting, like. How that benefited the community and then how people can get involved even across the nation. Yeah, absolutely. So yes, the, the Pink Ribbon Army, since it is, it supports breast cancer, not supports breast cancer, you know what I mean? Like it supports, it supports the cause of breast cancer awareness and, curing and supporting people that are fighting it. Every October we do a huge event. In honor of breast cancer awareness month, we hold a golf tournament and a 5K on the same day. And then all golfers and runner's walkers come together afterwards to, at a big kind of after party. And we used to have an auction. Now we do, this year we did a huge raffle for some awesome prizes, food drink merriment, and then, some amazing, you know. Stories from, breast cancer survivors, fighters, you know, people currently going through, and raise money. And, there is a component, a virtual 5K component where you can sign up for the virtual 5K, do it the same day. We'll send you all the swag, you get your family and friends together or yourself, and go for a 5K. Take pictures. Enjoy the day and like just post it or send it to us. Uhhuh, we'll post it for you. That's how it gets, you know, anybody involved. You don't have to be here local, in the Seattle Tacoma area. All the funds go to breast cancer fighters that need financial resources. We work with an organization that is plugged into all of the hospitals here in the, Seattle area. And they literally, so. They have the mechanism in place to hand out the funds. So we didn't have to do that part. We could, we were willing to do it, but it's already set up for us. So we raise the funds, we hand them over and they literally give out grants to women and men. 15% of breast cancer diagnoses are for men. It can happen to men. It's just a low percentage. But just wanna throw that out there too. Mm-hmm. Um. But yes, it's grants. It's actual just physical cash money. Usually in like the form of a, a Visa gift card or something like that, but mm-hmm it pays for rent, groceries, kids', Christmas presents, birthday presents, school supplies, things that people can otherwise not afford if they have to pay for. All that comes with treatment. Even if you have insurance, it's very expensive, so it can. Knock somebody out completely financially, and a lot of times what moms will do is forego treatment to be there for their kids, to put a roof over their head. Obviously childcare, Christmas birthday, gifts to be there, right? But what we want people to be able to do is get that treatment so you can be there for your kids later. We will take care of the financial burden of all of those necessities of life, or at least help with that. So what? Patients can go and just get their treatment and that's what they're focused on. They're not focusing on how they're gonna afford groceries that week. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, that is so important and so impactful. So yeah, I love that you turned your journey into a mission to help other people. So, we will link the information. I know your big event just wrapped up, but I assume there's other ways to help support and, oh, yeah, yeah we do this big event once a year, and there's not a single. Full-time employee on our team. We all have full-time jobs, so it's all volunteer side hustle work. So we do this one big event in October. It takes us the whole year to plan it. Mm-hmm. But we do take donations. All year long. Anytime you can place donations directly through our website. It goes directly to our, like fund raising, you know, software. And then the funds transfer over to, the benefactors, these people that are going through breast cancer treatment need a little extra help. Another way you can help is we need sponsors. We need sponsors for our big event every year. And there's some benefits in it for you. But if you have a small business or your work somewhere that. You know, does charitable giving, we would love to hear from you. We're always looking for, sponsors to help support our mission, and we literally cannot do it without our sponsors. They support greatly. Yes. Okay. That's great too. We are a proud sponsor. Yes, I know. I was like, can I say that? Yes. Yeah. Unique Competitor is our biggest sponsor and has been since. The first year we started this in 2021, so we're five years in. We have raised over$250,000 so far. Wow. And, the elite competitor has been there from day one as our lead sponsor. So we cannot be more grateful to the elite competitor for supporting us and the mission to help. People fighting breast cancer be able to focus on this lifesaving treatment. So yeah. Thank you so much. Yes, we are happy. Happy to do it. So, all right, Kelly, appreciate it. Well, thank you so much for sharing just so vulnerably and generously for our community. So I know that you continue to inspire and educate. So. Thank you so much. Thank you. I appreciate it so much and I appreciate the opportunity to, to come on and kind of tell my story and share. And truly the reason that I do it is to remind people and make that awareness known. Like get those mammograms. Mm-hmm. And if it's something else, go get checked out. You wanna find it sooner than later? Yeah. You know, it benefits you in every single way. And I know it's scary if something happens, but you can do it. You can do it. So it's worth finding out so that you can tackle it sooner than later. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Perfect way to wrap it up. Yeah, go get those mammograms. Alright. Thank you so much.

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Coach Bre Smedley

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