We had the good fortune of connecting with Maddy Pollack and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maddy, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I started my health coaching business after going through my own health struggles with cancer. I saw a huge gap in care after cancer treatment ends, especially for AYA (adolescent & young adult) cancer survivors. After active treatment for cancer end, it can be an extremely scary, anxiety inducing time as typically cancers are most likely to come back in the 1-2 years after treatment. And at the same time, we’re also expected to jump back into life with work, friends and spending time with family. But, in reality, everything is different after cancer.

I started my business to not only help my own body heal from treatment, but to also support other survivors in that transitional phase from patient to survivorship.

What should our readers know about your business?
In my business I’m most proud of turning a terrible situation of having cancer into my passion and life’s work. I truly never had a passion for anything before my diagnosis and it brought things into perspective for me, especially my health and how I treat my body. I’m grateful every single day that I get to help other women in a similar position that I have been in before – feeling out of control of your body & health, confused and overwhelmed with what first steps to take.

In addition to working with cancer survivors, I also work with women who want to balance their hormones naturally. This came from my own experience of finding out I have PCOS and had tons of hormonal imbalances, which were contributing to symptoms like daily headaches, fatigue, not being able to sleep, high anxiety, bloating and very irregular, painful periods.

As women, we’re not taught enough about our health & bodies and I’ve truly made it my mission to educate as many women as I can so that we can take back control of our health in a society that doesn’t celebrate women’s bodies.

Getting to where I am today in business has not been easy by any means, but it as been so rewarding. Starting and owning a business is very difficult, more difficult than I imagined, but it truly is worth it if you’re passionate about what you do and if you’re doing something for a bigger purpose.

It takes consistency, stepping out of your comfort zone even when you don’t want to and asking for support. I went full time in my business only a year ago and I have already learned SO much, but I also have a long way to go, which is now more exciting than scary to me like it was at the beginning.

My biggest lesson I’ve learned is to just keep going! Even when you feel like your work isn’t landing with people or not making a difference, I promise it is, just keep pushing yourself every day. Even if you impact one person’s life, that is incredible! Consistency is key.

Another lesson I’ve learned is that networking and finding community is crucial to success. You want to build connections with people in your same space. Find the people that you can lean on and collaborate with. Collaboration over competition – there’s enough room in this world for all of us, even if you’re doing the exact same thing. The key to connecting with your audience, clients, customers, etc.. is YOUR story and WHY you do what you do. Not just your services or products. People connect with people.

I want the world to know how incredible our female bodies are – these magical machines that literally produce human life and to stop being ashamed of your body. I want us to celebrate our bodies rather than constantly beating them down. I want everyone to understand that we have the choice to choose how we live, how we feel each day and what we prioritize in life.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Absolutely!
The Cancer Support Community played a huge role in my journey. I joined their AYA cancer support group right when I got diagnosed and it truly saved my life. They helped me feel less isolated and helped me to see what life could be life after cancer too. This organization is incredible and offers so many resources for the cancer community.

I’d also love to shoutout DoCancer.org. I’ve been working with them as one of their practitioners for the past 3 years and they do absolutely amazing work. They offer holistic health services completely free to cancer patients and survivors, including health coaching, breathwork, support groups, therapy and so many others.

Website: https://maddypollackhealth.com

Instagram: @maddypollack_health

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