Mj Callaway: I Survived Cancer and Here Is How I Did It
An Interview With Savio P. Clemente
Date your future self. Think of every medical appointment, from tests to chemo, as a date with your future self. Dress for the occasion. Every single visit, I dressed in my signature pencil skirt, button-down shirt, and heels. On the first chemo session, one of the nurses said, “Oh, you’ll be here for about seven hours, and you’ll want to be comfortable.” Smiling, I said, “This is my date with my future self.” It was a mindset builder and empowerment moment. Plus, I believe the staff took my questions and concerns more seriously.
Cancer is a horrible and terrifying disease. Yet millions of people have beaten the odds and beat cancer. Authority Magazine started a new series called “I Survived Cancer and Here Is How I Did It”. In this interview series, we are talking to cancer survivors to share their stories, in order to offer hope and provide strength to people who are being impacted by cancer today. As a part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mj Callaway, CSP, CVP.
Corporate trainer and motivational speaker Mj Callaway is an award-winning author of 11 books and founder of Bounce-Up™ University. Her sweet spots include creating changemakers, boosting resilience, and increasing productivity. As a two-time cancer warrior and domestic violence survivor, she’s known for shifting attitudes and producing results and you can find her at www.MjCallaway.com.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! We really appreciate the courage it takes to publicly share your story. Before we start, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your background and your childhood backstory?
I’m grateful to share, Savio. I was the oldest with three brothers and lived in several “all-boy” neighborhoods. I realized quickly if I wanted to play rather than sit the bench in the pick-up games, I needed to be as good or better than my brothers. It was a crucial lesson that followed me throughout my career as I worked in a number of male-dominated fields.
Before my freshman year in high school, we moved six times. My dad was way ahead of his time. He’d buy a fixer-upper, remodel it, and sell it. We would move to the next fixer upper. Each move meant making new friends again. I realized that being involved in sports and activities was the easiest way to make friends. My childhood paved the foundation for my successful corporate sales career that turned into my business.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Don’t bounce back, bounce-up! It’s one that I had created during the cancer journey. Bouncing back takes us back to where we were before adversity hit whereas bouncing up represents opportunity, and growth.
Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about surviving cancer. Do you feel comfortable sharing with us the story surrounding how you found out that you had cancer?
In the middle of moving, I felt an odd pulling under my left arm when I lifted a box. That’s when I felt the lump. A few weeks later, after several medical appointments and a biopsy, the results showed it was an aggressive breast cancer.
What was the scariest part of that event? What did you think was the worst thing that could happen to you?
There were so many thoughts that bounced around. My mom had been diagnosed two years previously and she was doing great. On the other end, my grandmother passed away from breast cancer when I was in sixth grade. Where would I fall? What would the treatment be? Would I be able to run my business and serve my clients? Worse yet, as a single woman and the force and face of the company, would I lose my business?
How did you react in the short term?
In the first few days, along with repeating Jeremiah 29:11 verse, I debated how I was going to tell my young adult kids I had a 20 percent chance of surviving over five years if chemo didn’t work and chemo had a 50–60 percent chance of working.
And I needed to figure out with whom I planned to share this life-altering news. I knew it would be a select few because I wanted to protect my positive mindset, the hope for my future, and didn’t want to hear all the cancer horror stories the way everyone wants to share the childbirth horror stories with a pregnant woman.
After the dust settled, what coping mechanisms did you use? What did you do to cope physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?
My coping mechanism is shifting into action — I mean full-throttle action from educating myself to incorporating alternative practices like acupuncture, aromatherapy, and meditation.
I refused to let cancer break me, destroy my determination, or steal my joy.
Cancer, chemo, and radiation come with an automatic negative connotation. I watched how these words impacted my kids’ body language and knew I had to flip-it, flip the script or the next 18 months would affect them and me mentally and emotionally.
Cancer, chemo, and radiation became the Pink Pumpkin, Magic Wand, and Buzz. After all, who doesn’t love Buzz Lightyear. By flipping these words, we could discuss the journey without the negative reaction.
Is there a particular person you are grateful towards who helped you learn to cope and heal? Can you share a story about that?
I am eternally grateful for my Power Team, my circle of support. My friend Toni became my medical appointment support. She had taken me to every Magic Wand (chemo) visit because I wasn’t allowed to drive after each one. My friend and burnout expert Laura Greco became my resource for alternative modalities. My daughter and daughter-in-law tag teamed for the six surgeries and after-surgery care. My Confluence mastermind group provided business resources and encouragement. And I had about 20 women who were my Prayer Divas. They were my Power Team, and I created this circle of support with extreme intention.
In my own cancer struggle, I sometimes used the idea of embodiment to help me cope. Let’s take a minute to look at cancer from an embodiment perspective. If your cancer had a message for you, what do you think it would want or say?
You were hand-selected to travel this journey as the conduit for inspiring others. You are given a significant role to lift others through their darkest days.
What did you learn about yourself from this very difficult experience?
The strength of my faith and self-efficacy became my foundation for hope. I realized the extend of how innovative and proactive I am to convert problems into solutions.
How has cancer shaped your worldview?
In addition to seeing goodness everywhere, I’m more attuned to visualizing a bigger picture and understanding that each step is like a wink toward a life of significance.
What has it taught you that you might never have considered before? Can you please explain with a story or example?
Cancer taught me to improvise and to create tactics to make the journey easier. It taught me that even in tough times, life could be good. We can bounce-up. Through this journey, I created a new brand for my business called Bounce-Up™. Bounce-Up represents a mindset and a way of life for me.
How have you used your experience to bring goodness to the world?
The radiologist’s receptionist asked me to speak at a Cancer Survivor’s Conference. After the conference, many of the attendees asked if I had a book. Their request jumpstarted my book Bounce-Up: Outpower Adversity, Boost Resilience, Rebound Higher. At the same time, I started a newsletter/blog called Bounce-Up Chronicles, offering tips, tools, and stories for a positive life and robust business. Let’s face it, what happens to us personally impacts us professionally and vice versa.
Recently, I started a brand new YouTube Channel called Breast Cancer TLC, sharing concrete tips to make the journey easier to navigate.
What are a few of the biggest misconceptions and myths out there about fighting cancer that you would like to dispel?
You don’t have control once you’re diagnosed with cancer. You do have control over what you can control. You can educate yourself, so you ask more questions to make the right decisions for you.
Through reading, I learned there were two port sizes. One was the size of a nickel, and the other was the size of a quarter. So when the surgeon stopped before the procedure, I requested the smaller size.
“Mj, that size is for smaller people,” the surgeon replied.
Half joking, I responded, “Are you saying I’m big? If I can get the smaller port, I want it.”
After the procedure, the surgeon shared he implanted the smaller port. He even had a misconception about the port sizes. Challenge status quo. Ask for what you want. Take control of what you can control.
Fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experiences and knowledge, what advice would you give to others who have recently been diagnosed with cancer? What are your “5 Things You Need To Beat Cancer? Please share a story or example for each.
- Make it personal. Medical teams see many people, and sometimes they get caught up in what they need to do. Once medical staff tried to move my original surgery date a week or more later. At the end of the calendar year and already hitting my deductible, moving that surgery would cause a big financial hit. I called and asked to speak directly to the surgeon. When I received the return call, I explained why I couldn’t have the surgery delayed and the mental and financial stress it would cause. The original surgery date remained. Be your advocate. Fight for “you” the way you would fight for your spouse, parent, or child.
- Mix integrative medicine with traditional. Consider acupuncture, massage, reiki, aromatherapy, meditation, and sound vibration therapy. Each one of these modalities offered an additional benefit that modern medicine did not. Aromatherapy, meditation, burning white sage and sound vibration therapy became daily practices. A few drops of peppermint oil rubbed between the palms of my hands, then inhaling the peppermint would help offset fatigue. When I felt stuck energy, I would burn white sage throughout my house to move the energy. Nightly meditation helped with sleepless nights, and sound vibration relaxed the mind and body.
- Tame or toss toxic people. Every single bit of your energy needs to be directed toward healing. If someone zaps your energy or tends to be pessimistic, then limit your time with them or remove them from your life. Protect your well-being from toxic people. For example, when I shared my test results were not good, a friend ignored my prognosis and said, “Well, I’m having a crummy month.” I knew maintaining this type of relationship would be detrimental to my energy and mindset.
- Improvise always. Though cancer brings change, it doesn’t mean you have to stop living life. Instead, improvise. When the intense chemo cocktail tanked my immune system, being in crowds during the winter flu season would not be good. However, my mind, body, and spirit still needed exercise, fresh air, and fun. Although the mall, gym, and other crowded public places were out of the question, I could visit our local Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. The gardens were beautiful, uplifting, and with seating throughout, I could rest when I needed. An annual membership made it affordable to visit two to three times a week.
- Date your future self. Think of every medical appointment, from tests to chemo, as a date with your future self. Dress for the occasion. Every single visit, I dressed in my signature pencil skirt, button-down shirt, and heels. On the first chemo session, one of the nurses said, “Oh, you’ll be here for about seven hours, and you’ll want to be comfortable.” Smiling, I said, “This is my date with my future self.” It was a mindset builder and empowerment moment. Plus, I believe the staff took my questions and concerns more seriously.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be?
It’s the Bounce-Up Movement, which I have visualized. It’s a national tour with a fully-wrapped camper van that travels to each state. During each state visit, I would provide strategic programs. These programs would inspire others to take control of what they could, offer hope during tough times, and give implementable tactics and tips to create a Bounce-Up life even when life causes life-altering setbacks. In addition to sharing my authentic and tried content, I would have guest speakers, too.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them. :-)
Jen Sincero, definitely. Jen is a badass — pun intended and an example of Bounce-Up. She’s had her share of setbacks, yet she doesn’t stay stuck looking in the rearview mirror or remain satisfied with the status quo. Instead, she takes life by the hand, and she bounces-up.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
My website www.MjCallaway.com offers free proactive resources. Then, there’s my book Bounce-Up: Outpower Adversity, Boost Resilience and REBOUND Higher book, and e-courses found on my website. Plus, readers can check out my new Breast Cancer TLC YouTube Channel.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Thank you, Savio for the opportunity, and wishing you a Bounce-Up™ life!
