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Hard times, bad breaks, illness, and heartache suck!  (Sorry to be so crude, but there isn’t a more appropriate word, in my opinion.)  I’m not sure I’ll ever quite understand the bad things that happen to us.   As I get older, I realize the times that I have, literally & figuratively survived, have made me who I am.  More importantly, the journey through the tough times has given me character, compassion, strength, perseverance, hope and a grateful heart! 

Recently, I had the opportunity to serve as a Breakout Session Host at the PA Women’s Conference. 

My role was to introduce the Speakers, Tory Johnson & Sallie Krawcheck, women who have overcome personal struggles to become the powerful force they are today. 

In addition, I was asked to share the “Cliff Notes” version of my personal story.  I shared my struggle with the vocal cord polyps that ended my opera career, the inability to have children and my battle with breast cancer.  But, I also shared the good news…I reinvented myself within the entertainment industry that I love; God gave me a beautiful daughter through adoption; and I am healthy and cancer-free! 

In the 5 short minutes, I did not get to share the “how” of how I went from point A to point B, just that I got there. Following the session, surprisingly, a few women came to share and ask questions about each of my struggles and I was able to share the “how”. I was honored and blessed to be a drop in the growth of these women who are struggling (or had struggled) with the very same things.

The quote on my Nancy Hornback QVC Facebook page is, “I am a breast cancer survivor.  I’m not unique. We’re all survivors of something!”  What’s your something?  How did you survive?  How has it changed you?  What did you learn?  Are you sharing what you learned?  Let me tell you, I love men a whole lot and am so grateful for them, but, Girls, we need each other!!  We need to mentor and be mentored by other women throughout our lives in marriage, business, motherhood, grandmotherhood, single motherhood, death of a loved one, illness, friendship, dating and beyond!

I hope you will see the bad things in your life as blessings for growth.  If you can work past the darkness (and you will), you will come into a whole new day.  Isn’t that day worth fighting for?  Know you are not the only one who has ever gone through what you’re going through, and you won’t be the last. Also know that a sister, a friend, a co-worker may need your story to help them through their struggle!

I can definitely tell you my experience at the PA Women’s Conference and QVC’s partnership with the event has changed me and has only wet my whistle!

Sending you love….Nancy