Shannon Miller Talks 10 Years to Build 90 Sec & Salto | Ep 465

Shannon Miller Talks 10 Years to Build 90 Sec & Salto | Ep 465

Ninety seconds on a balance beam can look like effortless perfection. Shannon Miller pulls back the curtain and shows what it really costs: ten years of 40-hour training weeks, the mental battle to stay steady under pressure, and the support of coaches, parents, and teammates who help carry the load behind the scenes.

We also go to the moment her Olympic dream nearly ended. Ten weeks before Olympic Trials, Shannon breaks and dislocates her elbow and faces the terrifying thought that her career might be over. She shares the mindset shifts that helped her return, how focusing on her weaknesses made her stronger, and why the mental side of sport often matters more than raw talent. From there, we talk about life after gymnastics, education, and building a second act with real staying power.

Then the conversation turns deeply human. Shannon opens up about being diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer, the side effects that linger long after chemo, and the complicated decision to speak publicly while being a private person. That journey leads to Salto Health, a platform built around a simple idea: cancer patients and caregivers need help with the everyday non-medical realities like skincare, hydration, hair loss, nausea, neuropathy, comfort, and logistics. Salto Health uses a curated support registry so loved ones can stop guessing and start helping in ways that actually matter.

If you care about Olympic training, mental toughness, cancer survivorship, caregiving, and practical support tools, this conversation delivers. Subscribe for more stories like this, share the episode with someone who needs it, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.

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Chapter Markers

0:00 Welcome And Guest Introduction

5:14 The Real Work Behind Medals

9:59 Injury Ten Weeks Before Trials

14:12 Mental Toughness And Failure Skills

22:12 School After Gymnastics And Law

24:53 Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis And Aftermath

27:03 Why Salto Health Exists

34:12 Caregivers Need Support Too

36:52 Going Public With A Private Fight

48:08 Legacy And Closing Links

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Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes 0:02

Hi everyone, it's Justin here, Voices for Voices. Thank you so much for joining us on this episode of the show. Whether you're watching, whether you're listening, whether you're here in the United States or across over 100 countries, 1100 cities worldwide, we are grateful to have you with us, especially for this episode. It is a treat for me, and I know it is uh a treat for you. Uh so we're gonna start out um by uh sharing our guest's uh bio uh so we can learn a little bit more about her if uh if you you're unfamiliar with uh who Shannon Miller is. Uh so we're gonna just go top the bottom. I'll be quoting uh the the bio, and then we're just gonna have a conversation about all of her experiences or triumphs, uh hitting some valleys, and then you know coming out uh on top where she is today, being uh the the the great advocate and being a uh real uh yes uh role model. So uh we'll get started here. So uh again, I will be quoting uh the bio that uh her team sent over. So here we go. Uh Shannon Miller competed in two Olympic Games, earning seven Olympic medals, which were two gold, two silver, and three bronze. She's the only female athlete to be inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame twice. Uh, first as an individual in 2006, and then second in 2008 uh with the team. Uh Shannon has won an astounding 59 international and 49 national competition medals, and over half of these have been gold. Remarkable. She is the first U.S. gymnast to win back-to-back all-around titles with a total of nine world medals in her tally of five medals to silver, three bronze at the 1992 Olympics was the most medals won by a US athlete in any sport. At the 1996 Games, she led the magnificent seven to the US women's first ever team gold. And for the first time for any American gymnast, she captured gold on the balance beam. And we'll toggle to a picture as she's speaking. Uh, she has a great photo of her on the the balance beam performing. Uh, so you'll get to see that. After retiring from Olympic competition, Shannon received her undergraduate degrees in marketing and entrepreneurship from the uh from the university, excuse me, University of Houston, and she also earned her law degree from Boston College. Just remarkable. Shannon remains a part of the Olympics and gymnastics communities as an analyst and a commentator. And in January of 2011, Shannon was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer. She had the baseball-sized tumor removed successfully and followed up with an aggressive chemotherapy regimen. Shannon is currently cancer free and continues to be a strong advocate for early detection, awareness, research, and survivorship. Shannon is the founder and CEO of Salto Health, which connects cancer survivors with the products and services often needed during the cancer journey, enabling survivors to easily share those needs through personalized gift registries, helping loved ones to provide meaningful, timely, and personalized support. Shannon is a mother of two, a cancer survivor, author, and sports analyst, but she'll be forever remembered for her focus, determination, and as the leader of the Magnificent Seven. Wow, so many uh accomplishments, Shannon. Thank you so much for joining us on the show.

Speaker 2 5:11

Thank you so much for having me on today.

The Real Work Behind Medals

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes 5:14

Absolutely. Uh why don't we get started on uh at the beginning of the bio talking a lot about uh performing, performing at a at a at a high level, uh just to give people uh an idea of what that looks like because as we just had the uh the the winter uh Olympics, time goes by so fast uh as far as the performance that uh sometimes maybe people can get lost and how much preparation goes into going into wanting to be an Olympian, wanting to get better, uh just to give people an idea that if if they're looking at wanting to follow in your path of how much hard work and time that it it takes just to get to the point to have you know those couple minutes.

Speaker 2 6:17

Absolutely. Well, you know, and I think every sport is a little different, especially with regard to age ranges. Age ranges and when you need to start a certain sport um with gymnastics. Obviously, it's it's a younger person sport, although it's been great in recent years and in really the last decade. Um, athletes have proven that it isn't just for teenagers, you can do gymnastics at a high level up in through your 20s. So that's fantastic. But um, during my time at 19, I was considered over the hill, washed up, you know, make room for the young ones coming along. But if you if you think about it, and to your point, a lot of times we see that gold medal moment. We see that that 30 seconds or 90 seconds for me. My gold medal balance beam routine was all of 90 seconds long. And yet that 90 seconds was built over 10 years from the time I started in this sport at five years old, but really when I started competing at nine and was training 40 hours a week from the age of nine all the way through that next 10 years, uh, year-round. And so um, I loved it. Uh, you couldn't get me out of the gym. I wanted to be there. And I was so excited to really just learn new skills. I loved the challenge of learning something new or trying to perfect something. And during that time, 10.0, 10.0, it was a perfect 10. That was your top score. And so I loved going in the gym or into competition and challenging myself to get as close to that 10.0 as I possibly could. And so that's what drove me more so than than medals or titles. But when you put in all of that work and when you love what you do, um, it doesn't make it easy. The path has its ups and downs, but it does make it worthwhile. And so when I look back at my career, um the medals are beautiful and they're wonderful, but we're they really are just symbols of all of that hard work that I put in, but also the hard work by so many others, my coaches, uh, the support of my parents, the trainers that patched me up, got me back out on the floor, uh, even my teachers who helped me stay up with my education along with chasing that Olympic dream. They're so much involved in that 90 second moment.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes 8:48

Yeah, I was uh lucky to be able to uh talk to uh Aksana Bayul um last year, and she was talking about kind of her her journey uh with uh with figure skating and how she she had mentioned it that you know there's two sides of a gold medal or any medal, and one is what the public sees, and then one is like you just mentioned the uh the hard work, all the determination, all the people, the support to to get you there. So I think that's uh the important uh uh as well. How did it feel once you learned that you were gonna make it or that you had qualified for the uh your first Olympic Games? Was there uh like how did that like do you remember that moment, like where you were at after your performance, and then you found out and then it kind of started to um go, oh my gosh, like I'm gonna be in the Olympics.

Injury Ten Weeks Before Trials

Speaker 2 9:59

Well, I will tell you, I remember that very, very clearly because that year, so I had competed in 1991 at the world championship in Indianapolis, and that was my first world championship. And and for me, I was never one of those kids at five years old that was like, I'm gonna be an Olympic gold medalist. I had never even seen the Olympics at that point. I didn't even know what it was, I didn't know what gymnastics was. For me, for me, it was really just this culmination. It was okay, can I make it to the state competition? And then after that, it's regionals and nationals, and then you're on the national team. And and then I made it to world championships. And then it was that year, 1991, that I thought, wow, I mean, the next step really is the Olympics, and maybe I can make it. And I was training so hard, and I was I was just so ready to go and so excited. And then 10 weeks prior to the Olympic trials that summer, I came off of the uneven bars during a workout, and I I just messed up and I landed badly, and I ended up breaking and dislocating my left elbow. That one moment. It was just that that one moment where just everything fell apart. And at first I didn't even really think about it at that much. But by the time I was at the hospital and they were telling me what was going on, and I was rushed into surgery that night to put a screw in to hold both the bone together. It was at that point, it was that realization of I may have just had not only an Olympic ending moment, but a career ending moment. And I remember my coach meeting me at uh the door of the hospital the next day. They were wheeling me out. I was gonna go home and rest from the anesthesia. He met me at the door along with my parents. They were there and he looked down at me and he could have said a lot of things. He could have said, I'm so sorry. You know, these things happen at sports, and you know, you take some time and and get better, and then we'll see where we are. He he could have said a lot of, he didn't say any of that. He looked me straight in the eye and he said, Well, looks like we have some work to do. I'll see you in the gym tomorrow. And it was the exact thing that I needed to hear. I needed to hear that someone believed it was still possible. And that helped me believe in myself. And and I did. I was back in the next in the gym the next day. I couldn't do much. I was basically stretching and waiting for my arm to heal. And then when the the splint came off, I had to work on straightening it. It was, it was a difficult, challenging recovery, both physically and I think mentally as well, because here I am in the gym each day, watching everyone else get better and train routines, and no athlete wants to be on the sidelines. And yet I know looking back that that time forced me to work on conditioning. So, really conditioning and stretching, those were the only things I could do without my arm. And those were also my weakest points. I wasn't the strongest athlete. I wasn't the most flexible athlete. And so having that time where I had to focus on my weakest areas, it really made me a stronger, more well-rounded athlete than ever before. And I was so hungry. Man, I wanted to show I could still do it. And 10 weeks later, I went into the Olympic trials, which was 100% of my score to see whether I could make the team. And I ended up winning the Olympic trials that year, solidifying my spot on my first Olympic team in 1992, uh, which was over in Barcelona. And it was a lot, I didn't have a lot of time to really think about it. It was just this mad dash to get better and get ready and make the team. And then all of a sudden, we're over in France doing our training camp right before the Olympics. It was just a whirlwind, but it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

Mental Toughness And Failure Skills

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes 14:12

Oh, so awesome. Um, and so not only did you uh get the opportunity to compete individually, but you got the chance to compete as as a team. Can you maybe just talk a little bit on uh obviously as an individual, it's you know you individually and the team, it's it's it's it's it's other uh athletes uh as well, you know, to make up that that magnificent seven. Um how was was there extra pressure that you were feeling from the media, or you were just going through your uh your your routines, your practices, as well as the the other ladies as as well.

Speaker 2 15:06

What is interesting, gymnastics is both a team sport, but it's also very much an individual sport. We're not out there as a team like basketball or volleyball, where we're kind of all out there together, um, you know, passing to each other and all those things. So for gymnastics, um, Barcelona was interesting. There wasn't a lot of media pressure in that one. We hadn't ever really made the podium. So for us, it was just going out there and doing the very best that we could, and uh, and to be able to earn bronze in Barcelona in 1992 was might as well have been gold at that point because we were on the podium and we were so excited. And it really was the stepping stone to grasping that gold medal four years later in 1996. And so in 1996, we went in, and I would say there was, it felt like there was more pressure. Now, I think we um had the benefit of not having social media or really even the internet or any of that to deal with. So we could kind of just, you know, unless you were reading the newspaper, you weren't really focused on what other people were saying. Um, but sometimes you'd be asked in interviews about, oh, you got to get that gold. And so I think there was a little added pressure, but I think for the most part, we just focus on what we're doing on our routines. And I always feel like in in sport and in life, when your team goals, whether you're in an office situation or a family situation or uh gymnastics at the gold medal uh, you know, match, when your goals align, your individual goals align with the team goal goals, then that's the magic point. And then that's where I always felt like, okay, my job is to go out and to get as close to a perfect end on every single event as possible, because not only does that help the team get the biggest score, but it also helps me in, you know, qualifying for the next event or winning a medal. And so for our uh our focus, it's go out, do the very best routine you possibly can on every single event, and then let the chips fall where they may.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes 17:16

Excellent. Um how about the mental side? Um, as you mentioned with your your injury uh may have and say helped you mentally get stronger because your your coach is like, okay, I'll see you see you tomorrow, and and you're kind of wondering, you know, coming out of surgery and uh you know, am I gonna be able to you know get to that that level I need to get to? Can you talk a little about the the mental side? Not only on that, that specific example, but just in in general, because you are, as you said, uh you know, working 10 10 years to get to a point to make it potentially to the Olympics. So there's a lot of time in the gym, but then there's a lot of time in your head too, I would assume.

Speaker 2 18:16

You know, I think um any athlete, any elite athlete is going to tell you that the mental side of sport is so incredibly important and oftentimes even more than the physical aspect. Because, you know, we've all seen the athletes that they're so talented. I can tell you clearly, I was not the most talented athlete, even in my local gym in Oklahoma. There are so many talented athletes, but you have to kind of have the whole package. And the mental side can be um sometimes the most difficult because you do live in your head a lot. And and for me, I think because I was very shy growing up, um, I did kind of live in my own head, in my own bubble. And I think that was an asset in some ways. Um, it probably hindered me in other ways, but it was an asset in some ways in that I was able to block out the crowd and let them in when I needed it. So if I needed the adrenaline at the end of the hard floor team last pass, and I'm just I'm winded and I my legs are gonna give out, but I hear the crowd roaring, they might not even be clapping for me. But in my mind, I can turn that around and go, okay, all right, they're giving me the energy left to go. Or if I'm on balance beam and there's a lot going on, I was very easily able to kind of block out everything going on around me because I kind of lived in that space. But there's more to it than just handling audience and nerves and um in that portion of it when you're out there on the floor. It's also being able to switch gears, being able to fall and fail, and then being able to pick yourself up and take that next forward step. And I think that portion of it was hard learned for me. Um, I used to, when I was younger, I would fall apart. I would be crying. Why can't I get that skill? And it and it was never that I was injured or hurt. It was, it just drove me crazy that other other athletes would get these skills so quickly. And what why can't I do it? I can do it up here, but why can't I do it? And my coach really worked with me, both my coaches, for years to help me understand that it is a waste of time and effort and energy to um kind of have that, those feelings and and all of that, and just get back up and try again. Because what else, you know, you might fall again, but that's okay. Every time you fall, every time you fail, you learn something. And so I think with that attitude, um going into a zillion competitions, it helped me kind of see that step forward a lot easier. And then I think the other thing that helped me was really just kind of having that support system and being um kind of my my parents focused on making sure I was fairly well-rounded growing up. I went to public school, um, I had to do my chores at home, and and then I also went to the gym. But I had to have family time, I had to have normal things going on in my life because they were very, very specific that gymnastics is not life. And yes, we want to support you, and that Olympic thing sounds great, but did you get your homework done? How you know, how are your grades? Because that your education is your future. Gymnastics is going to come and go no matter whether you win a gold medal or not. Education is what's going to carry you through life. And so I think with that, I could step on the floor at any competition and understand that this is this is not a life thing. This is meant to be sport. It's meant to be fun. And yes, I, you know, the team competition for me was the hardest because other People are relying on you. You want to step forward and you want to do your best, but also understanding that things are going to happen and you're just not going to be, you know, you're not going to get a 10-0 on everything, and that's okay.

School After Gymnastics And Law

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes 22:12

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's a good, good transition into uh after retiring from uh Olympic competition, that you you did earn your undergraduate uh degrees in marketing and entrepreneurship uh from the University of Houston and your law degree from Boston College. I think that definitely underscores that well-roundedness that you know the Olympics, uh gymnastics is gonna come and go, but then what happens you know after that? Um can you can you just explain what gave you the drive after retiring from Olympic competition to uh to say, hey, I wanna, I'm gonna I wanna go to school.

Speaker 2 23:03

Well, I think you know part of it is I never stopped going to school. And I think that's what allowed me to kind of continue on because I was still um I started taking college courses while I was training for the 96 games. And so after 96, I kind of kept going. I went part-time as we toured the toured the nation um uh with you know our um our our entire team, and that was a lot of fun, but I kept taking classes, and so then when I finished and retired, I was able to finish uh my marketing degree. I stayed two extra years for the entrepreneurship degree. And at the end of the entrepreneurship um program, I felt like I didn't know as much about business law as I really thought I should. And I was already signing contracts and endorsements and all these things. And you hear of all of these, you know, horrific things that happen to athletes. And so I thought, well, I'll I'll take the LSAT and if someone lets me into law school, I'll go and it's meant to be. And so I ended up to go to um to Boston College for for law school and from there really focused on opening my first company, which was focused on women's health and wellness. And that kind of led into me launching that company in 2009. And six months after I launched that, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. And that has that that last the last 15 years of dealing with um, well, I launched in 2010, I should say. In 2011, I was I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and that kind of launched me into 15 years of immersing myself in the cancer community and now launching my second company, which is Salto Health. So it's I feel like everything happens for a reason. And again, it's just you know, the falls, the failures, the mistakes, the the challenges that happen. You just kind of find that next forward step.

Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis And Aftermath

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes 24:53

Yeah, and um my my dad a couple of years ago uh was diagnosed with the aggressive uh small cell uh cancer and it spread, and it he was already at stage four by the time he they they found it. He went to all his uh wellness visits over the years and he's in his 70s and kind of caught us all off guard. And uh unfortunately he he had passed, but as some uh uh someone who is a family member of somebody who had cancer uh with salto health. I I I wasn't sure exactly what it was about when uh your team sent it over, so I wanted to to to look into it, and obviously it's in your bio, but I wanted to look more into it, and and I think that it is uh salto health is uh an awesome resource for those family members, those individuals going through treatment. You know, what do I do? What do I need? There's so many things that I learned just as a son, uh of uh of a person going through cancer treatment, no matter what stage it's at. There's you know little things that like we continue to continue to to live, and we want to focus as much time on the individual and helping them get as well as as possible. But as a family, as individuals, um as you going through your your treatment, is that what gave you is that what gave you the idea of you know, I I want to do something more and and give give back uh and uh with salto health, or how did that come about after your first company?

Why Salto Health Exists

Speaker 2 27:03

I'm sorry to hear um what you went through and what what so many families go through. And and and you're right, it's really kind of how salto health and salto, just for people out there, the name Salto is actually a gymnastics term. It's a somersault. And it's kind of the feeling I felt when I was diagnosed. And when you hear the words it's cancer, your life is turned upside down. And so I thought it kind of feels like a somersault where you're just turned upside down. But um, I created Salto Health really because I spent the last 15 years immersed in the cancer community, talking with survivors and caregivers and nurse navigators, oncologists, nonprofits, associations. I mean, everyone involved with the whole spectrum. And I had gone from kind of both sides. My mother was initially diagnosed in 2008 with a different type of cancer than mine. And it was the first time that I had ever known anyone close to me that had been diagnosed with cancer. And it was a new world and a new vocabulary. And I didn't know how to help. And it's so difficult because that's what I hear the most from loved ones and coworkers and neighbors. How do I help? What do I do? And then from survivors talking to so many thousands around the country over the years, I heard them reflect those same things that I was feeling. What do I need? You know, the non-medical items, the things where when you go home from your appointment and you've got to live daily life, what what are those things that can help? And I started to get a few tips and tricks along the way from different folks that were already survivors and they could help me out with skincare and and you know, how to wear a wig and all of these things. And so last summer I really started putting this company together and saying, you know what? I'm at a point where I want to answer those questions. I want people, I want survivors to understand their non-medical needs and be able to easily access them. And I want loved ones and neighbors and caregivers and co-workers to understand how they can help. Because one of the worst things that you hear is those patients that a loved one comes or a neighbor comes over and says, Let me know how I can help, and then walks away. And for the survivor who's already dealing with the mental, physical, logistical, financial, emotional load, they they don't have the wherewithal to find one more thing to have you do to help them. You know, it's it's like an extra thing. And so instead, a lot of times survivors will just say, oh no, I'm fine, and then suffer in silence. And so Salto Health is really a platform at saltohealth.com. It's a platform, a really a tool where you can go on. Survivors and caregivers can uh put together a gift registry. It's really a support registry. But if you think of it as a baby registry or a wedding registry, this is a registry specifically for cancer survivors that has curated products for things like chatherapy treatments and radiation treatment. And these are non-medical items. So you want to think of um skincare, um, hair loss uh issues and concerns, the comfort products that you need, nutrition, hydration, nausea, uh, neuropathy, you know, all of those things that you're dealing with, even outside of the hospital walls. And so Salto Health was built to supplement all of those things and really provide that connection between what do I need and how can I help? And so it's as simple as sharing your registry, sharing that link with uh with people to help them to give meaningful gifts. Um, you know, I after talking with so many survivors over the years, a lot of times you hear things like, okay, but I love the flowers, but I I really the smell is irritating me because I'm in, you know, I'm nauseous and and oh, what if the if the flowers die, I don't have the energy to take care of them and then I feel bad. So being able to purchase items off a list that's specifically for a certain cancer survivor's treatment plan and journey is so incredibly beneficial. And so, as a as a loved one, as as someone who wants to help, you know that your help is not only welcome, but also very meaningful in the treatment process.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes 31:52

Yeah. Yeah, and I I definitely want to recommend uh salticalhealth.com uh for anyone out there or who may know of some somebody who's going through uh the cancer process. Uh it is it's really uh uh amazing to like you said, have a registry like for you know a baby or marriage registry. Here's the registry of things that we don't really think of. I mean, I even remember we had my dad at our our house and uh we're like we need to eat breakfast or we need to eat like little things to take for granted. Uh and oh wow, like not only do we need to focus on the the individual that is uh is going going through the the process, but uh the family members uh as well. And and it's not not to be selfish, it's just for us to be strong enough so we can help in the best way we can.

Speaker 2 33:07

And that is so important, and that is something that we stress because the the resources on Salto Health aren't just the the products and services, but but they are the articles and the blogs about things just like that. As a caregiver, you're taking on so much in addition to all the things you already do, you know, whether it's you know your work or the kids or everything else, you're taking on so much. If if the caregiver doesn't take care of themself, then that's no help to anyone. And so we also really want to embrace the family, embrace the caregiver because man, that's that's who's on the front line. That's who's getting to appointments and writing things down. And you've got to make time for yourself along the way. You've got to eat, you've got to get outside and get some fresh air and get some exercise, all of those things that are so important. So we want to also um include the caregiver and make sure that they understand what they can do, not only to help the survivor, but to make sure they're staying on track with their own health and wellness.

Caregivers Need Support Too

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes 34:12

Yeah, and then I'm uh I'm thinking so I'm started Voices for Voices after my mental health diagnoses, uh major depression, acute anxiety, all the all the acronyms, ADHD since 2017. And in my 30s, I I wasn't dealing with things, I was just letting things build up, build up, build up, and then all of a sudden it was like I need help. And after uh I was released from the hospital, my therapist mentioned, hey, do you wanna uh you've already put you know a pamphlet together for uh teaching about marketing and in your courses, but what about like your mental health, mental illness journey up until now of you know growing up and up until current day? And I was I was fearful because I uh I didn't know what I wanted to do, and and I didn't know what I wanted to share, because as as you know, once now, once you share something, it can be found by just about anybody across the world. Um and anyway, so I I I decided to to go ahead to do it without a ghostwriter, use my name. Um and my own in-laws, I they knew I was in the hospital for like five days, and and we we you know kind of work worked around the truth a little bit of why I was in hospital. Um and I look at those those five days as my worst five days, but then like my best, because then I was able to gather my team around me instead of just me trying to take care of things myself. Um and it has been so it it's made me feel a little bit lighter, I guess, to like okay, as long as I'm doing what the professionals are are telling me, and all this really to uh circle back to uh salto health and you you being public about your your journey that you're in in the limelight and you probably had decisions like do I share share my journey or don't I before you even got to got the salto. Can you just talk about how you'd made that decision to walk people kind

Going Public With A Private Fight

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes 36:52

of through? Um and I mean that's what really caught me uh from a social media side, learning more about you uh aside from just the Olympics and and uh and the gymnastics and and being uh a fighter and and that.

Speaker 2 37:16

Yes, it's it's hard. I I would say while I've I've kind of grown up in public, I'm a very private person. So I always laugh that you know, there's the the idea that I would go around the country talking about my ovaries was not exactly in my life plan. But um I was I was diagnosed um after surgery January 13th of 2011. And after that, I went through a pretty aggressive chemotherapy regimen. And it was during that portion, um, right before chemo started, that I kind of had to start making a decision about was I going to let people know or was I gonna you know try to keep it quiet? And um, I spoke to a couple close people about it and and felt like I have this wonderful platform built through years in gymnastics. Um, but my platform was also my you know, company I launched was devoted to women's health. How can I not speak up and and create awareness and do something that that I can do with this platform? And so I thought, well, I I just I have to do it. And so I I did um start talking about my journey. But what it's done really is it's allowed me to reach out to others in in such a wonderful, wonderful way. I have learned so much from so many. And I hope that I've I've brought some hope and help to others and and if nothing else, created some awareness about signs and symptoms and you know early detection and getting to those regular doctor's appointments and all of these things that that that could potentially help someone catch it early or even save a life. And and that's what I guess I hoped um would be kind of the best case scenario. I never imagined I would be able to kind of take it a step further. You know, every day you think, well, I can't cure cancer. Like, what am I gonna do? How can I even help people that are in this issue? And I've tried to work with so many different nonprofits and help them uh bring a voice to the great work that they're doing. And and that's been great. But again, I just last summer it was like I just I gotta take it a step further and take all of this information and and all of these relationships formed and say, okay, now how do we put these groups together? Again, how do we put the what do I need and how can I help? And how can we bridge that gap, fill that gap so that people are getting what they need when they need it, and loved ones feel really great about helping in a meaningful way. And and so I love Solito Health for that. But I will say it was um, it came with its challenges as far as talking about my journey, especially initially on after I finished chemo. Um, I was still, I had really severe side effects with nausea and neuropathy and uh fatigue for almost a year where I just felt like, am I ever, am I ever going to feel normal? Am I ever gonna feel like myself again? Am I ever gonna have energy again? Um, you know, am I ever going to be able to run and play with my son who was um 16 months old when I when I was diagnosed? It was um, you know, those moments I would go and I would speak to a group and I might speak for 30 or 45 minutes, and then I would go back to my hotel room and I would sleep for like 12 to 14 hours because it took so much out of me. And I think, you know, many years later, I'm I'm able to kind of keep it a little bit at arm's length, but not so much that I forget what not only I went through, what my mother went through, what my father-in-law, who was going through stage four colon cancer at the same time that I was diagnosed, what individuals go through on a daily basis. And a lot of times we think of kind of the big picture when we look back, but for me, it's so important to remember what happens in the morning, what happens in the afternoon, what happens in the evening, what happens on a daily basis when people are having to try to live life, but also battle cancer and try to keep everything intact. And so that's what I always want to keep at the heart of things and know that um we we're not gonna be able to answer everything. Um, we're we're not gonna be able to cure everything. But what we can do is provide that extra layer of support, support for survivors and caregivers, support even for nonprofits, associations, hospitals, care centers, so that they're not dealing with so much of the non-medical, uh, how do I get a wig? How do I get this? The the daily stuff. How do we provide that support, that arm, so that those areas can do what they do best, and then we can help support in these other non-medical areas that that happen outside the hospital walls. Um, so it's cancer is just hard. It's hard every day and for everyone. And people handle it very differently. I've met survivors that I love, and I wish I could have could have been that way where they they are able to find the humor in losing their hair and they are gung-ho, let's go. I'm a survivor, I'm a thriver, not just a survivor. And I love that attitude. And I think I I wish I had known some of those people during my my recovery. But there's also people like my mother who don't want to talk about it. They they kind of want to kind of get it done and then just not deal with it. And there's no wrong way to deal with a cancer journey. It's really whatever feels right for you. And then we just want to add that layer that that help be part of that circle of support to get you what you need.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes 43:32

Awesome. Yeah, thank you for for what what what you're doing. It's uh it's so so needed. Uh and and we'll be sure to share long after we absolutely share and drop the episode. Um and and and that because it's it is, it's so it's so important and you don't realize until you're going through it some of the things. That just become that they're so small on an average person that become like, oh my gosh, like you said, the skincare, all all these areas, it's like I don't want to leave my loved one at home. So how do I get it?

Speaker 2 44:21

How do I even just go up the block to a Walgreens or C or somewhere to well and getting food and getting to appointments if you're in a rural area, just just the gas to get from from A to B to make your appointments?

Speaker 1 44:37

Yeah.

Speaker 2 44:38

It's it's so important, like every little part of that. I I had um just a quick story. I was talking to um I was talking to a company owner um about some of the different you know products and different things, and and he was sharing um they they do kind of the vacuum seal, like the um the tumblers. And he said, you know, we we really didn't have that much to do with cancer awareness until I started getting letters and he was getting letters from women from all over that were talking about the tumbler. And when you think about it, it's like, oh, well, but do they really need a like a cup? Like that doesn't seem like an exciting, um nice gift to get someone who is just diagnosed with cancer. But what people don't often understand, especially if you haven't been through it, is that tumbler, that tumbler is a lifeline. That tumbler is what holds the water or the drink, the hydration that you need to be able to stay on your cancer treatments. And I know that very vividly. I was five days in and so behind the curve on hydration that um I was put back in the hospital. So I know intimately how important that tumbler is and how that important that water is um to staying on your treatments and staying hydrated and kind of helping with the nausea and all of these other things. And so that cup, that tumbler isn't just, oh, that's a cute tumbler. It is a lifeline. It's what you carry with you all day, it's what you have to stare at as you're sitting in a chair for infusions, it's what you have with you at night. It is the thing that keeps you going in many, in many ways. And so when you look at different products, you might think, oh, well, what's this gonna do or what's that gonna do? Every product has a very specific meaning for what someone is going through. And I think that's what um that's really helpful is um when people don't know what to give, it's because they they haven't had to. I didn't know what to get my mother. Now, when she got diagnosed a second time, then I knew how to help her because I had been through it, but you don't know what you don't know. And so um it's really important, I think, also to understand. And for anyone listening out there, it doesn't have to be things. You don't have to spend money to help a survivor um going and spending some time just sitting. You don't even have to talk, you don't have to have any answers, just sitting, holding their hand, um, maybe maybe bringing over a small snack and eating with them, or taking them for a walk, or maybe just bringing over a game so that they just can stop thinking about cancer for a little while. All of those things are are so meaningful.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes 47:20

Yeah, I yeah, just think thinking uh yeah, just about with my dad and it you talk about the tumbler, and it those things are just it, they're they're so important, and it's not that we don't have a cupboard full of, but to have have one, you know, specific where it's recognizable to the uh the person that's gone through their treatment, so they know okay, it it's pink or it's blue, or it's this size, or there's a handle, or uh or you think of the loved one that that purchased it for you, and you know every time you look at that cup that someone was thinking about you. Oh

Legacy And Closing Links

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes 48:08

yeah. Uh so I would like to close out or getting close to time, unfortunately, and we really do appreciate you spending so much time with us today. Your legacy what if if some if someone 30, 40, 50 years from now remember Shannon Miller, what what would be maybe some of the the the things that you would want to be remembered by and people go okay, yeah. I know not it's a it's a hard it's a hard question to answer because it it's a little bit morbid, but uh I I think uh the the the fact that we've been talking so much about the cancer treatment and going through it that then we look back and look look at your your your gymnastics and the Olympics and the medals and all these things and I I I guess I I'm just curious on what what you would uh you would like people to remember about Shannon Miller.

Speaker 2 49:30

That's a hard one. I think maybe uh yeah, I I would want people to remember me as a hard worker because I think my work ethic is something that's helped me in every everything that I've done. Um it's who I am. But I also hope that people remember me as someone who wanted to help others and and make others happy. And I think just you know, as a middle child, I'm kind of the peacemaker, anyways. But I love that when people talk about the 1996 Olympics. The gold medals are great, but what I love is that people still to this day, almost 30 years later, talk about where they were, what they were doing, and who they were with, and they always have the biggest smile. We got to do that. We got to make people smile, and they're still doing it 30 years later. I love that. I hope that um Salto and the work that I'm doing in the Cancer community, I hope that brings some comfort, some help, some hope, some awareness to others. Um, I hope that uh in some way it will make people smile when a gift is given or received, that that it makes people feel good. So I I hope those might be some of the lasting impressions, maybe.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes 50:58

Yeah. No, and I I I I I I love the fact you said, you know, helping people. I mean, at the core, you know, we're human beings, and and so like you know, we we have those those choices that's some have an easier time doing it and some don't. Uh, but just helping people, like you said, it doesn't have to be the you have to purchase something, it's just sitting with the the the person that might be going through the the the the cancer treatment and care. I remember my dad, that's that's pretty much our our whole life. We would sit and watch a ball game and we might say six or seven words for watching, you know, a two-hour game or something. And but like it was just the fact that we were in the same room and we just had that comfort and and uh towards the end of his life, that's what he was saying. He goes, you know, you know, we we haven't you know, we weren't weren't always you know people that had to talk and and uh and share uh you know just you know being here mate means a lot. Um and and he goes, you know, I I know you love me. And I said, Yeah, I do. And um he kind of I guess in my mind I didn't I didn't know what what to expect uh as far as because we didn't talk a whole lot, so I didn't I I was like, okay, I I have to make sure that I tell them I love them because I mean I I do and did and still do, um, but I didn't tell them a whole lot. And so once we got the diagnosis, I was like, okay, so that was one thing that I knew I wanted to at least share with him uh to him so he knew, even though he already knew, just to kind of hear it, and then here he is telling me, I'm sorry how I was uh I I mean I was a decent baseball player, I didn't go to the college or anything, but just throughout my younger years, I was somewhat successful, and and uh he he goes, you know, I'm sorry for you know giving you a hard time so much when you're playing ball. I'm like, here's somebody's like got less than a year, and and he's telling me that he he was sorry. I said, Don't worry about like that's the don't like it's it that's not the important part. The important part is that we're together as a family, and um and so that was one thing I'd always wondered up until that that time hearing friends and and other stories of you know uh you know whether there's things like pent up in their mind that they're like I have to share this, and and so he felt he needed to share that. And uh, I mean, I'm glad he he he did, but I was like, it it doesn't matter, like just sitting here with you and uh being able to have uh the the work that I do and be able to do it remotely so I could spend as much time at their their house and especially the last two weeks. Um I I remember uh the the the week he passed on a Friday. I hadn't been to my house in a couple weeks, and and I was talking to the hospice nurse. I just said, I'm gonna just run home, not physically run home, but uh run home to the house and just grab a shower and and then I'll be back. And and the hospice nurse took me aside and said, uh, you know, let if you can do that, like it's I'm not telling you not to, but before you do that, before you go, go ahead and tell your dad that it's okay to go, like that if he passes when I'm gone, that it's okay. And I had already started get we started getting the the signs, uh, what was going on, and I was just like, oh heck no, I'm not I'm not leaving now. Like when and that was on a Wednesday and on Friday you passed, and uh after he went through some of the formalities and everything, uh she took me aside again and and and said that uh I'm glad you stayed, and that's why I took you uh uh aside and said, you know, not to you you can't go, but let him know. And I'm like, and I'm bad at not say like relationships. I I I guess in the way of like growing up, it was like, okay, you're you know, you're dating, and then it's like, oh, I'm gonna dump this person or that. But like when it gets like to be like old, it's like um I I I I I don't know that I could have I mean I would have been able to live with myself somehow, somehow. But if I would have left, then then that would have been the timing past. That was my biggest regret with my grandparents. And granted, I was in high school and playing sports when they passed, but I didn't I didn't get a chance to just you know give them that you know one last hug and one last I I love you, and then I was like, oh no, like this is my this is my dad. I like I I can I can wait a a day or two. And uh again, the other thing it's like you're just caring for the person, so it's like, yeah, you want to get a shower, you want to get it cleaned up, but you also want to be there and yeah, just hold their hand. And uh he his name is Patrick, and it was uh March 1st of 24 that he passed, and and so the the board books that we read are children. There was one about St. Patrick's Day, and so I would read that to him, and here I am his son, and I'm reading you know a children's book, and that I'll never uh you know never forget that. And um anyways, I've I've been just going on it, it just brings so bad that brings back so many memories, the salto health can be such an important player in in that in that treatment because it it really is. There are so many things that even for me with with my mental illnesses, my my medication, making sure that if I'm staying at my parents' house, it's only a half hour away, it's not far. Uh, but if I'm spending you know two weeks there, and I maybe I run out, so I gotta get changed the pharmacy or just little little things. Uh so thank you so much for what you have done and what you are doing. Um it really it's it's people like you that uh are are helping uh helping so many so many people and and like you said, you may meet them, you may not, uh but you you you have the you have the tools and the resources and it's uh so I just want to say thank you for for what you have and what you are doing. It's it it's uh it it's big. It and as big as you know the the the Olympics and the the medals and and and and that because you know it doesn't get any closer to you know life and being a human.

Speaker 2 59:26

I appreciate that, thank you.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes 59:28

Absolutely. Is there anything we we didn't cover that you wanted to share?

Speaker 2 59:36

Um I don't excuse me. I don't think so.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes 59:43

Okay. Well Shannon Miller, thank you so much for joining us on the show. Uh for our viewers, our listeners, Shannon Miller.com, uh saltohealth.com, that will get you what where you where you need to to be and and please share uh those uh share those links as as well because you just never never know who may be in in need of help and support and and and maybe you don't need it at this point, but maybe in a year from now, uh you and your family may uh you know, unfortunately, you know, go through uh a situation and may need need some of these resources. And and Shannon, I can't thank you enough for for spending the time with us. It's been it's been a blessing, and we're really grateful to to have you with us and talk about a wide variety of subjects and uh the biggest being just being a human being and how can we help our fellow humans.

Speaker 2 1:00:54

Uh thank you so much for having me on.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes 1:00:57

Absolutely. And for our viewers and listeners, uh, we have over 460 episodes in our catalog. Feel free to check those out. Uh you can watch, you can listen, and we want to thank our guests so much, Shannon Miller, for joining us on this episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. And until next time, let's try to celebrate everybody's voice and be a voice for ourselves and those that are in need. So we'll see you next time. Bye bye.