Lacuna Loft’s Origin Story: Speaker Series Program Announcement!

lacuna loft origin story

A few months ago we launched our newest program here at Lacuna Loft, the Speaker Series!  Our fourth Speaker Series Talk will launch on Tuesday, November 14th!  Starting on that day, you’ll be able to watch Mallory talk about Lacuna Loft’s Origin Story.  While the talk won’t be live, we’d love for you to submit your questions!  After reading a little abstract on the talk, fill out the short form at the bottom of this post with all of your questions!  Submit as many as you want and Mallory will do her best to answer them at the end of her talk!

Just recently, someone sent me an email with the question, “How can I do what you do?” and it got me thinking.  What is Lacuna Loft?  What do we do?  Where did we start?  And, how did we get there?  I’m asked questions all the time about starting a nonprofit, what being a woman CEO is like, where Lacuna Loft’s name comes from, and more.  Well!  We’re talking about all of that and more during this upcoming speaker series talk!

Psst…want to submit a topic for a future Speaker Series?  You can do so here!

Speaker Series Talk: The Sum of Survival – Jenn

surviving young adult cancer

Our 3rd Speaker Series talk is live!  Check out Jenn’s talk on The Sum of Survival in the video below!

Chatting with Jenn was a real treat.  A few minutes after we stopped recording the talk she said, “I survived up until now and if that changes tomorrow, I’ll deal.”  Such an insightful remark from someone who has been through so much.

What does it mean to survive? To me it’s living life to the fullest while you’re here on this planet. Some people feel like the term survivor doesn’t apply once their cancer came back – I disagree. Every day you get up – no matter how hard – you survive. It’s another day to make memories, say I love you or sleep in. Being a survivor carries a HUGE burden. Once you’ve gone through cancer people think you should be farting rainbows. Wrong! We have good days and bad just like anyone else … and snarled traffic, a bad hair day, and rude people still set us off. I do feel uncomfortable saying the term survivor sometimes because of all these misconceptions, I’m no superhero, I’m no braver than anyone else in my situation – the simple truth of the matter is that I’ve survived all that life has thrown at me so far … and that’s good enough.

Psst…want to submit a topic for a future Speaker Series?  You can do so here!

The Sum of Survival: Speaker Series Program Announcement!

surviving young adult cancer

A few months ago we launched our newest program here at Lacuna Loft, the Speaker Series!  Our third Speaker Series Talk will launch on Wednesday, October 4th!  Starting on that day, you’ll be able to watch Jenn talk about The Sum of Survival.  While the talk won’t be live, we’d love for you to submit your questions!  After reading a little abstract on the talk, fill out the short form at the bottom of this post with all of your questions!  Submit as many as you want and Jenn will do her best to answer them at the end of her talk!

What does it mean to survive? To me it’s living life to the fullest while you’re here on this planet. Some people feel like the term survivor doesn’t apply once their cancer came back – I disagree. Every day you get up – no matter how hard – you survive. It’s another day to make memories, say I love you or sleep in. Being a survivor carries a HUGE burden. Once you’ve gone through cancer people think you should be farting rainbows. Wrong! We have good days and bad just like anyone else … and snarled traffic, a bad hair day, and rude people still set us off. I do feel uncomfortable saying the term survivor sometimes because of all these misconceptions, I’m no superhero, I’m no braver than anyone else in my situation – the simple truth of the matter is that I’ve survived all that life has thrown at me so far … and that’s good enough.

Psst…want to submit a topic for a future Speaker Series?  You can do so here!

Program Partnership with Hot for Hope – Support Group for Kids Whose Parent Has Cancer

child support group

Lacuna Loft is excited to announce that we are partnering with Hot for Hope to bring a support group to the kiddos of our young adult cancer survivors.  If you are a young adult cancer survivor and you have a child between the ages of 8 and 17, they can attend an online support group with other kids who understand what they are going through!  The groups will be moderated by a registered nurse, Jenny Yessaian.

These support groups will happen monthly, with the first one starting on Thursday, October 12th.  If your child is between the ages of 8 and 12, they can attend the online support group from 5-5:30 pm PT / 7-7:30 pm CT and if your child is between the ages of 13 and 17, they can attend the online support group from 5:30-6 pm PT / 7:30-8 pm CT.  Each support group will take part via video chat and Lacuna Loft will email you with details before the group starts.

These groups help to support the social and emotional development of children coping with a parent with cancer. Each group will meet on a monthly basis for 30 minutes in length.

Speaker Series Talk: Learning To Live Life Post Cancer – Kim

living life after cancer

Our 2nd Speaker Series talk is live!  Check out Kim’s talk on Learning To Live Life Post Cancer in the video below!

It was really fun chatting with Kim about her role caregiving as a young adult after her sister’s cancer diagnosis. You’ll find great tips on learning to live life post cancer as a caregiver and much more!

To hear that my sister had cancer was an indescribable feeling. For me, the only thing harder than hearing those words, was learning to live life while going through it. The second hardest has been learning to live life post-cancer. As all consuming as cancer was and is, a tremendous power was gained when I chose to take back some control during one of the most uncontrollable situations that I will probably ever face. In doing so, I have gained a unique perspective that I hope will help others to do the same.

Psst…want to submit a topic for a future Speaker Series?  You can do so here!

Learning To Live Life Post Cancer: Speaker Series Program Announcement!

living life after cancer

Last month we launched our newest program here at Lacuna Loft, the Speaker Series!  Our second Speaker Series Talk will launch on Wednesday, September 6th!  Starting on that day, you’ll be able to watch Kim talk about Learning to Live Life Post Cancer.  While the talk won’t be live, we’d love for you to submit your questions!  After reading a little abstract on the talk, fill out the short form at the bottom of this post with all of your questions!  Submit as many as you want and Kim will do her best to answer them at the end of her talk!

To hear that my sister had cancer was an indescribable feeling. For me, the only thing harder than hearing those words, was learning to live life while going through it. The second hardest has been learning to live life post-cancer. As all consuming as cancer was and is, a tremendous power was gained when I chose to take back some control during one of the most uncontrollable situations that I will probably ever face. In doing so, I have gained a unique perspective that I hope will help others to do the same.

Psst…want to submit a topic for a future Speaker Series?  You can do so here!

Speaker Series Talk: Finding Purpose – Anjali

young adult cancer speaker

Our very first Speaker Series talk is live!  Check out Anjali’s talk on Finding Purpose in the video below!

I had a great time chatting with Anjali about her passion project and how it arose after a very purposeful search.  You’ll find tips on going about your own search for purpose and lots more.

After experiencing young adult cancer, as a survivor or a caregiver, many of us have experienced feeling lost in the Now What? feeling.  After the treatments end, or if there isn’t an end, redefining how to move forward is different for everyone.  What seems to be universal, is needing to develop a new normal because that old one just doesn’t fit quite like it used to!  Anjali went out, in a very systematic fashion, to redefine what purpose meant for her.  Are you searching for purpose again?  Are you trying to find your way after young adult cancer in a world that seems a little different than before?  Then check out this talk!

Finding Purpose: Speaker Series Program Announcement!

young adult cancer speaker

A few days ago we announced our newest program here at Lacuna Loft, Speaker Series!  Now I’m super excited to announce that our first Speaker Series Talk will launch on Wednesday, August 2nd!  Starting on that day, you’ll be able to watch Anjali talk about Finding Purpose!  While the talk won’t be live, we’d love for you to submit your questions!  After reading a little abstract on the talk, fill out the short form at the bottom of this post with all of your questions!  Submit as many as you want and Anjali will do her best to answer them at the end of her talk!

After experiencing young adult cancer, as a survivor or a caregiver, many of us have experienced feeling lost in the Now What? feeling.  After the treatments end, or if there isn’t an end, redefining how to move forward is different for everyone.  What seems to be universal, is needing to develop a new normal because that old one just doesn’t fit quite like it used to!  Anjali went out, in a very systematic fashion, to redefine what purpose meant for her.  Are you searching for purpose again?  Are you trying to find your way after young adult cancer in a world that seems a little different than before?  Then check out this talk!

In June 2016, Anjali set out on a mission to find more meaning in her work. She set a personal mission to meet 365 people in a year to see where the journey would lead her. The secret hope was that by June 2017, she would be doing work that meant something to her, with a team of amazing people, and a great boss. In this speaker series, Anjali shares the ideas, feelings, and framework she used to get from confusion to a passion.

Announcing Our New Speaker Series Program

young adult cancer speakers

I am so happy to announce today that we’ve launched our Speaker Series!  You’ll hear monthly from various speakers, always with young adult cancer in mind.  We’ll hear personal stories, we’ll hear about searching for purpose, genetic testing and hereditary cancers, about how legislation affects the young adult cancer community and about how you can use your voice to change the world, and more.

How will it work?  We’ll announce a Speaker Series Talk ahead of time and allow you all to submit questions to the speaker.  Then the talk will go live at 5 AM on the scheduled date.  You’ll be able to watch the talk whenever you’d like and hear your questions answered on the topic at hand.  Together we’ll learn and grow and hear answers to those tough questions.

Stay tuned later this week for our first Speaker Series Talk announcement!

If you have an idea for a talk that you’d like to hear or you’d like to give, fill out the form below!