Nicole Mikhael On Breast Cancer, Love, Surgery, Turning Recovery Into Business Success + More

Nicole Mikhael On Breast Cancer, Love, Surgery, Turning Recovery Into Business Success + More

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
What's up. It's way up with Angela Yee.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
And today we have an amazing special conversation with an
amazing special young woman, Nicole Michel.

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Thank you for joining us today.

Speaker 3 (00:13):
Thank you for having me. The honor is mine.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Now.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
You are an entrepreneur, but I feel like your entrepreneurial
spirit a lot of that came from things that you've
been through in your life and in particular, First we
want to talk about breast cancer because you were actually
diagnosed with breast cancer at a really young age.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
Yeah. I was diagnosed at twenty six, and I went
against the textbook, no doctor whatever, tell me like, hey,
you know you're twenty six, now do your self breast exam.
It was me just putting lotion on, too much lotion,
and I was like, where else can I rub myself?
So I rubbed my breast.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
It's fine to go ahead, you say, Okay, I rub
my titties.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
And I think that like if my hands weren't lubricated
from the lotion, I don't think that I would have
been able to feel the tumor underneath. And initially I
ran down to my mom and I was like, I
feel something. But when you're twenty six, it's like it's
probably just close to your period. You know, this happens,
your breast will form these little lumps, but it's nothing
to be worried about. And because I know in my

(01:15):
family history of my mom having breast cancer, I was
always like aware of my body, especially my breast, and
so I just trusted my gut and I was like,
let me just get this checked out just in case.
And like with my luck, it ended up being breast cancer.
But until I got my diagnosis, when when I originally
went in for the ultrasound, which is no different than

(01:37):
when you do like a ultrasound when you're pregnant, the
doctors told me, you know, the shape of it is
not suspicious, the size of it is really small, like
it's nothing to be concerned about. Cancer isn't an option
for you because you're.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Young, even though they knew about your family history.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
Okay, And so.

Speaker 3 (01:54):
I did the lump ectomy, which is just when they
remove the mass. And I'm not sure if you know,
but whether you remove a mass or a mole from
your body, you have to send it to pathology. That's
just like the law.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
Okay, I didn't know that.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
Yeah, so they have to send it out. And even
when the breast on colla just removed the mass, she
still gave me the green light, like, wow, the shape
of it isn't suspicious. I'm not worried. Cancer isn't an option.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
For you, okay, just because of your age.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
Because of my age, and that was cool with it.
I was like, all right, perfect, because my logic then was,
while this is still small and it's close enough to
the skin surface, I'd rather remove it now so it
doesn't continue to grow and then leave like a larger indentation.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
Right, because in your head, this wasn't anything serious, right,
it was just like a pimple, because they were making
it seem like it wasn't anything serious too, So you
felt pretty comfortable with that.

Speaker 3 (02:46):
No one was worried, there was no strength.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
Was your mother worried when you could knowing that she
had gone through.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
Because I was too young. And then a week later
I went in for my follow up appointment, which was
just to make sure that the incision was healing, and
it was. Everything was fine. But that day I knew
when the doctor came in that like if she had
blinked a couple more times, the tears would start coming
out of her eyes because her eyes were filled with water,
because she had to go back on her word and say, hey,

(03:13):
actually pathology came back as stage one breast cancer. And
in that moment, I would have thought I'd be like
dramatic and crying and over the top, but I kind
of was numb to it, and I was like, okay,
like what's the plan? Like what do I do next?
Like what what do I do? And so two weeks
later I went in for a double misectomy, and I

(03:34):
didn't have any time to think about it.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
Okay, I was going to ask you, did they recommend it?
Or was that something that you said, I'm going to
get a double misseectomy just to always on the side
of questions you.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
Had to do it. You had had breast cancer, okay.
And then like you know, at twenty six, all my
girlfriends and my friends are, you know, getting married and
getting engaged and on their second kid. And I'm over
here trying to figure out, Okay, what type.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
Of wait you said at twenty six your friends were
getting married and on I was second kid.

Speaker 3 (04:00):
Yeah, some of them were not my friend we were.
Our cards in our life were very very different. I'ay,
you're trying to figure out like do I use silicon
or saline? And what size do implants do I get?
So the cards that life handed me were very different
than my peers, so it was hard for me to
find support or have somebody relate to me or me
like even ask anybody questions of like how did you

(04:22):
feel when you had to decide, you know, are you
going to keep your nipple or are you going to
remove your nipple? And then like that was a whole
other conversation at twenty six that I didn't even know
if female could remove a nipple. I didn't know that
was a thing, because a double missectomy is essentially an amputation, right,
and usually when you see an amputee, it's like an arm,
a leg, something that's like visible. So when I had

(04:44):
to accept the fact that weight, so the cancer is
bad enough, but now I have to remove a nipple
and then there's like nipple reconstruction. I didn't know anything
about this. It was all new to me.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
And you know, truthfully, people like I, I, uh, there
was somebody who had an inverted nipple who I knew,
and that was something that really bothered her so much
as she just so I can't even imagine like saying, okay,
do you want to remove your nipple? As much as
people might think, oh, it's no big deal, this is
and that it is a big deal.

Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yeah, yeah, and especially like looking at your I mean
you saw looking at that I showed you before we
started recording, But like when I first saw myself like that,
that's when I had my breakdown. Like I never knew
a body, let alone my own, to look like this,
and my breasts were such a big part of my
look for so many years that to have to take

(05:30):
that away at such a young age was hard to accept.
But I knew that it was the best decision for
me to make because I wanted to be healthy and
alive obviously, And if I hadn't trusted my gut and
gone to the doctors and followed through with the double missectomy,
then I don't know what stage I would have been
if I got tested at the appropriate age that they
would say.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
Right, Nicole, I do want to commend you for really
advocating for yourself and being proactive, because most people are
in their twenties, let alone even my age, they're not
being really proactive about going to the doctor.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
I felt a lump.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
Well, even though everyone keeps telling me it's nothing, let
me go get it checked out. Okay, well I want
to send this, you know, to like all of those
things with so many people are reassuring you thinking about
your age, you were definitely proactive in making sure that
you took the steps that you needed to take.

Speaker 1 (06:19):
Just or on the side of question, right, I was.

Speaker 3 (06:22):
Like advocating for myself at one point. And even if
I had like called a breast center and said, hey,
I found a lump. I wanted to do a mammogram,
They're not going to give me that appointment because your
breasts are too dense at twenty six, So like that's
another miscuss. And even though that, yeah, people think that
a breast MRI is like I mean not a breast MRI.
BREASTMRI is great, but that a mammogram is the only
way to do a test. But there's breast ultrasound like

(06:46):
I talked about, that's super painless. It's no different than
when you're pregnant, the same jelly, same machine like easy Breezy,
and then a breast MRI with contrast is like the
most effective. But with mammograms, especially for younger women. It's
not affective because you're breasts are too dense and so
it won't pick up on it sometimes.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
Nicole, were you in a relationship during this time?

Speaker 3 (07:07):
So when I was going through this, I wasn't in
a relationship, and I was cool with it. When I
was going through this and sam my body changing, I
was like, you know what, I'm just going to be
single forever, like this is it. I don't want to
have that conversation with any man to be like, you know,
I have scars or I don't have a nipple and
I have nipple reconstruction in a tattoo. So I was

(07:29):
cool with being single. My business was booming, I was happy,
I was healthy. I wasn't looking or anything. And then
after I had my last surgery May twenty nineteen.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
How many surgeries did you have?

Speaker 3 (07:43):
I had seven in one year.

Speaker 1 (07:45):
Seven surgeries in one year.

Speaker 3 (07:46):
Yeah, because after my double misectomy, you know, when you
sign off at the doctor's and like the fine print,
you're like, it's not going to happen to me, and
infection is like I'm invincible. It's already bad enough, like
how much worse can I get? But when you're having
such a major surgery. I definitely got an infection and
that was a huge step back in my recovery. But

(08:08):
back to your original questions. So I did end up
meeting somebody unexpectedly, and I used to talk to his
mom for like a year and a half and tell
her like, I'm never dating anybody.

Speaker 2 (08:20):
Like I always this was somebody you knew his mom,
but not the son, not him, Okay, I love it.

Speaker 3 (08:26):
I didn't know the sign. I knew she had a son.
And then like the biggest plot twist is that like
we're next door neighbors.

Speaker 1 (08:32):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 3 (08:34):
And so then like when I did meet him, I
never had to have that conversation of like, hey, I
had cancer and you know whatever, because he had heard
about the girl next door who just beat cancer. But
I think he had like a vision of what I
would look like, because usually when people think of cancer,
they think of somebody bald and like no lashes or

(08:57):
brows or hair or anything so like, and I didn't
look sick, And I think that's like the biggest That's
why I want to have this conversation to kind of
reconstruct the stereotype of breast cancer because I feel like
it's considered an older woman's disease, and people think you're
supposed to look a certain way. But cancer doesn't discriminate
you can No one's invincible. It can happen to anyone.

(09:19):
And so I did end up dating her son and
he thank God, because he definitely served his purpose in
my life post cancer, and he definitely healed me in
a way that like nobody else could. Amazing. And then
there was like a couple situations where I would be
sus where like I wouldn't take off my top and

(09:42):
if I did, you know, the lights had to be
off or I would have my hair in front of
my chest. And it got to a point where like
I would lock the door taking a shower, like changing
my clothes, and it got to a point He's like,
why do you keep locking the door. And that's when
I had to like be honest with myself and like
be honest with him and tell him, like, this has

(10:05):
nothing to do with you. It's my own insecurity because
I'm having a hard time looking at myself in the
mirror and I shower with the lights off. I just
keep my iPhone flipped upside down with the light on,
and as long as I have a little bit of
light then like I can shower. And so when I
told him he couldn't have handled it any better, he

(10:27):
didn't care. He didn't wasn't phased by my scars, and
he's like, I love them, and he really that that
point in my recovery, like where I didn't finish reconstruction
on the nipple. He could have easily been like, this
is a little too much for me to look at, like,
you know, maybe keep the lights off for a little
bit or anything. But he he loved it. He loved it,

(10:47):
thank God, or else I would be in therapy for
a whole other reason.

Speaker 1 (10:50):
I bet a whole lot of guys watching this right
now we'd love it too.

Speaker 3 (10:53):
Yeah, yeah, they look good now. I definitely agree that.
Or I believe that man made is better than what
was God given. And like that's another thing too that
I deal with, with, Like, you know, why did you
get such big implants? And I'm like, if you saw
how big my natural boobs were, this is what makes
me feel like myself again. And also the fact that

(11:15):
you're even commenting on my body makes you a weirdo,
like off tops, like who are you to like ask
these questions and that's why I put in like a
lot of effort with the details like I showed you before,
like with the nails and the number eight and the
ribbon and make you made. I didn't make it, Okay,
someone made it. I find it with someone.

Speaker 1 (11:36):
Okay, Yeah, those are actually ties.

Speaker 3 (11:38):
They're ties. Yeah. One of my girlfriend's bow she came
through and I showed her a picture and she did
what she had to do and it worked out great.
Because I feel like, if we're going to have this
conversation about breast cancer and reconstruction, like as a listener,
like I want to see what your titties look like now,
because like.

Speaker 1 (11:53):
Yeah, people, yeah, well what is the difference now?

Speaker 2 (11:56):
We talked about this before we started the conversation air,
the difference between reconstruction and cosmetic And.

Speaker 3 (12:04):
So when you have an augmentation, they're opening you up
and popping in an implant. Done with reconstruction, you are
essentially getting amputated from the inside out. So I don't
have any breast tissue, it's just skin and implant. So
when you just have skin and implant, there's other things
that pop up where you'll have like indentation because there's
no more breast tissue. So then I had to do

(12:26):
This is gonna sound light bo because I'm not overweight,
but like I had to do light bo not because
I'm like, oh, let me lose some weight. It's because
I needed that fat to put fill in the empty pockets.
And then like even with the nipple, when they gave
me my first nipple, that nipple was gangster. It was
like in a cure shape. That nipple was not correct

(12:48):
at all.

Speaker 1 (12:49):
And so I can say, you're starting a gigster nipple.

Speaker 3 (12:51):
Maybe yeah, somebody out there has to have like a
nipple fetish or scars or whatever. But yeah, it took
a lot of surgery. And you know, every time I
talk to people who are going through because I shared
my story on social media, and when I tell you
that content that I thought would never leave my camera
role is on the internet for everyone to see.

Speaker 1 (13:15):
Does that feel empowering for you? Now?

Speaker 3 (13:17):
It does now, But like it's also scary to be
so vulnerable because like when I tell you, like drains
hanging out in me, like one implant up here, one
implant down. This was just like for my own art guy, But.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
I didn't you didn't think you would share that.

Speaker 3 (13:29):
No. And I remember my Instagram got hacked in May
and I uploaded a video on TikTok. I was like,
let me try TikTok. That's where like the cool kids
are on because I don't really know too much about TikTok.
And I posted a video that was eight years old.
All my content went with of my cancers eight years old.
I posted something that took like twenty seconds. It was

(13:50):
nurses week. I didn't even think about the post. It
was like whatever, let's just see what happens. In two days,
it hit five million views. And that's when it hit
me like, oh, there's a community of women that don't
have a voice and now found me and they can
relate to my fears of you know, what's dating like

(14:10):
after cancer? Or how do I tell a partner? Or
what am I going to look like? Am I gonna
be able to dress? I dress the same exact way.
I don't care. I'm not trying to like be all
covered up.

Speaker 1 (14:21):
And yeah, you turned a lot of hands.

Speaker 3 (14:23):
I oh my god.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
This guy right here came run in the room like okay,
she's here, not her putting you on. He did just
being honest I appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (14:33):
That means I appreciate it so much because I put
in so much effort and maybe a little bit too
much effort into every single.

Speaker 2 (14:41):
She appreciated respectfully with the respectful way.

Speaker 3 (14:44):
Yea, yeah, yeah, no, but at least someone noticed. You know,
it's not just for.

Speaker 1 (14:48):
Me, because you know what about sensation.

Speaker 3 (14:52):
Okay, so sensation I didn't have for a really long time,
and the doctors told me, like, you're not gonna your
nipples are going to get hard at all. And I
was like, okay, that's fine, Like I'm okay with that's
not that bad. But now my nipples get hard. The
fake one included okay, like whenever my nipple gets hard,
I'm not trying to cover myself. I'm like, you guys

(15:13):
look like that's great though.

Speaker 2 (15:17):
So another thing that we discussed was also how some people,
and like you said, a lot of times it's older women.
That's the vision that we have when we think about
women who are find out are diagnosed with breast cancer.
A lot of times it is older. So you've been
to support groups? No, oh no, no support groups.

Speaker 3 (15:34):
Okay, So I couldn't relate to the women in the
support groups okay, because like the concerns that I had,
they didn't care about. Like I'm married, I have grandkids
and kids. I'm like, oh, I'm not even there yet.
I don't my phone is dry, I don't even text
anybody like so, I didn't go to any support groups
just because I didn't feel like it was helpful for me.

Speaker 1 (15:53):
Do you feel like they judge like people judge you.

Speaker 3 (15:55):
Absolutely, yeah, one hundred percent. Whenever people hear that I
was the girl who had cancer, they're kind of thrown off.

Speaker 2 (16:03):
I feel like when I look at you, I find
it very empowering that you're sharing your story, that you
went through what you went through, but also that you,
like I said, were proactive and seeing what was wrong
and trying to make sure that even when everybody was
telling you nothing was wrong, you did your reconstruction. You
have no problem talking about it. It took you a
while to be able to post about it, but you
speak so freely on it that it just takes away

(16:25):
I think a lot of the stigma, but also something
that can reach all kinds of audiences of people who
are like, well, let.

Speaker 1 (16:30):
Me go ahead.

Speaker 2 (16:31):
I feel because some people might feel a lump and
just not do anything.

Speaker 3 (16:34):
Yeah, and like, if you're making your doctor's appointment, don't
just make it. Actually show up to your appointment, because
I know a lot of people like I made it,
and then I'm like, how did go I canceled? I'm like, well,
that doesn't do anything. Because God forbid, you do have
something early detection with any cancer, your diagnosis will be better,
your treatment plan might not be aggressive, like I dodged
chemo and radiation because I found my cancer so early.

Speaker 1 (16:57):
Is there a chance that it could return?

Speaker 3 (17:00):
Okay, so this is a technical question and I'm not
a medical.

Speaker 1 (17:02):
Propose okay now, but I don't know where they've told you.

Speaker 3 (17:04):
There's like a point zero one percent chance that it
could return. But I did it with the intention that,
like I'll be okay, Okay, prayers, yeah, prayers, but I
don't think so. I hope not. I get tested once
a year. So so far, I've been very proactive. Yeah,
I have to absolutely, And like even you know, usually

(17:25):
when you have breast cancer, they put you on tamoxifen
or remedics, which is like a medication that they give
you just to kill other cancer cells that could be
anywhere else in your body. And that medication is really strong,
like it would have put me into menopause at twenty six,
but because I caught it so early, I like worked
out a deal with my own collagists, and like, what

(17:46):
if you don't put me on this, Like I don't
want to be on this medication and he didn't and
I've been okay, thank god. So yeah, trusting your gut,
staying on top of the appointments, and just being proactive
makes a huge difference. And I know that, like you know,
this conversation is heavy, Like no one wants to talk
about cancer, and it doesn't matter what language you speak,

(18:06):
Anyone hears the word cancer and they get.

Speaker 2 (18:09):
But no matter what, we all know, somebody like there
is nobody I think in this world that doesn't know.

Speaker 1 (18:15):
Somebody that has been yet.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
Yeah, I mean family members, you know, for me even
really yeah, so I can't and every day I feel
like as I'm reading the news, somebody else is coming forward,
like you know, or sometimes people live with it in
silence and don't tell anyone and then we're like, what happened?

Speaker 1 (18:31):
And then you later find out?

Speaker 3 (18:32):
Yeah, And then like the more I've shared on social media,
I've gone so many messages from girls like I'm eighteen,
I'm twenty one, I'm twenty three, and I'm pregnant trying
to figure out what i want to do chema on
and I'm like, wow, I feel old saying I was
twenty six. And that's really sad because women are being
diagnosed younger. They just there's no platform, there's no support

(18:54):
group talking about younger women getting diagnosed. And now it's
like I did Big Boys interview last week and he
asked me. He's like, do you have a question like
why me? I was like, no, I can't question why me,
because if this is the cards that life was going
to hand me, then it is what it is. But
how did this happen so young? And now that there's
more people reaching out to me, I'm like, is it
the food? Is it environment? Like birth control, deodorant? Like

(19:18):
There's so many different factors that play into it that
I don't really know why women are getting diagnosed younger,
but they definitely are. And I'm so glad that I
shared my story because I thought I was the only
one and it turns out that, like I'm really not,
There's so many other women around the world that are
affected by this disease and.

Speaker 2 (19:37):
Who you're helping as well that are like okay, because
they probably all thought they were the only one at
a young age. Yeah, now tell me about the McHale battle.

Speaker 3 (19:46):
So, the McHale battle of the bottle.

Speaker 1 (19:48):
Yeah, they got the battle.

Speaker 3 (19:49):
I was the boy into family drama.

Speaker 1 (19:51):
Oh, I didn't know it was family drawing. Okay.

Speaker 3 (19:55):
So I think right before we started this you had
asked like if insurance had covered my surgery. But when
I was recovering from surgery and I realized the older
I get, the more I turn into my mom. It's
just kind of what it is.

Speaker 1 (20:08):
It's beautiful things.

Speaker 3 (20:09):
Yeah, And so while I was recovering, I started making
these little like succulent arrangements that I was planting inside
of crystals. And it was a complete hobby. It was
just like a thank you gift for anyone that would
come to the house, just to say like here, I
made this for you. And it was also keeping me
sane because I couldn't do anything like raise my arms
or you know, just simple tasks like pumping down on

(20:32):
a soap dispenser I couldn't do because I would hurt
my chest. Like how long a long time. I would say,
like a year, like raising my arms. I had to
wear like zip up jackets or something really oversized where
you wouldn't have to raise my arms.

Speaker 1 (20:47):
Because things we would never think about.

Speaker 3 (20:49):
Never think about, like I didn't know how much you
use your chest until you go do something and you're like,
wait a second, that doesn't feel right, or that that hurt.
And so I started making these arrangements and then some
when I'm this girl that I ended to become friends with, Jen,
she posted my crystals and I didn't even have a
name for the company. I didn't know how to ship these,

(21:11):
like this was a complete hobby, This was just for
like friends and family, and it ended up blowing up
and Chloe Kardashian had asked for crystals, and so I
dropped off like fourteen crystals for all of them, from
Chris to all her kids to her grandkids, like everybody
had a set of crystals. And I was so grateful

(21:33):
that they were even interested, as I was like, okay,
it must be you know, this might be cool. I've
gone used to looking at these, but they like them.
So I dropped them off to Chloe's and they didn't
think anything of it. I was like, well, I'm not
expecting her to post because I can't afford her like
the right pay that No, but the fact that they
even wanted my crystals was good enough for me. I
wasn't you know, I wasn't tripping on a post. And
then two weeks later, like the night before my surgery,

(21:57):
was Tuesday morning, the night before my surgery, she randomly
posted me and it was like a monochromatic tag, like
really small in the corner. But her fans are so
loyal that they found me. And in that twenty four
hours that I was up on her page, she completely
sold me out and answered all my prayers. She really
blessed me because, like, reconstructive surgeries are a lot more

(22:20):
expensive than augmentation, because, like I said, augmentation, you're just
popping an implant, but with reconstruction, you're actually reconstructing.

Speaker 1 (22:28):
And insurance does not cover that, does not cover it.
That's wild time.

Speaker 3 (22:32):
Now, I was considered elective and cosmetics, so they covered
the double missectomy. But then when Chloe posted me and
sold me out, I was like, God, bless her for life,
because she covered my surgery, the surgery before and the
surgery before so dang.

Speaker 1 (22:48):
And then after that you're like, well, this is a
real business.

Speaker 3 (22:50):
Yeah. I was like, that's a business. You know, I
have to switch things up a little bit. And then
I had that company until twenty twenty because once I
I couldn't import crystals from Brazil anymore.

Speaker 1 (23:03):
And so as you probably can.

Speaker 3 (23:05):
And then like it sucked because once they were like, yeah,
the pandemic and then Okay, the docks are open now,
but it's going to take like longer to get it
from Long Beach to my office because everything's backed up.
So I had to shut down that business. And then
this last year I was inspired by the pet therapy
I did from when I had breast cancer. That was

(23:27):
my favorite part of being in the hospitals when they
had all the animals come in.

Speaker 1 (23:31):
All right, so tell me about pet therapy for I
love pet therapy.

Speaker 3 (23:34):
So they'll have like it depends some places are really
fancy and will like spice it up a little bit
with like a miniature horse. I didn't have that type
of pet dog. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they're bougio there at
like UCLA does that. But the hospital that I was at,
they just had dogs.

Speaker 1 (23:49):
Which that was good enough.

Speaker 3 (23:50):
Yeah. It was more than enough for me because I
am a huge animal lover and not having my pets
with me, this was like a great substitution. But yeah,
they come to your room and they will put their
head on you. You just get to kick it with
the dogs. And so I've had every animal from horses, hamsters, dogs, cats, everything,
so I know how healing animals can be. And I've

(24:11):
also never had a disloyal pet. So I was like,
you know what, let me.

Speaker 1 (24:14):
Create something for I felt like a jab at somebody.

Speaker 3 (24:17):
Yeah, a lot of people. Actually it's not just one
person in particular, but I'm just joking. Maybe no, no, no,
I know it's okay, I got you. Yeah, okay, it's
okay if someone gets If you get it, you get it.
If you don't, you don't.

Speaker 1 (24:28):
But yeah, you think it's about you, It is okay.

Speaker 3 (24:31):
Honestly, if the shoe fits, you know. But yeah, So
then I created this crystal pet water bottle only because
I take my animals everywhere with me and not having
water or snacks is always like annoying, Like I'm tired
of going to like I'm not even going to say
the coffee shop, but a place to get a cup
and have them drink out of it. And so I

(24:52):
applied the crystals. A crystal you can put in the
refrigerator and keep it like an ice cube during that
warmer caesar season, so I'll keep your water chill. And
if you have like a puppy and you need like
treats on you all the time because you're training, there's
a snack jar that can pop right into the bowl,
so all your essentials are in one.

Speaker 1 (25:09):
Pets are like your child.

Speaker 3 (25:12):
Yeah, I mean people who have kids go out with
like a diaper bag. This is no different. And especially
when we had the fires in La I realized that
I made this as an accessory. But then I really
realized that it is a necessity if you're a pet owner,
and like the bottle is so universal. It's not just
for traditional household pets. If you have like a bird,
and you put bird feed in the snack jar and

(25:33):
you have your water, then like your bird or your
flock of chicken or whatever you have, they're good. If
you have a gerbil, put some gerbil food I don't
know what they eat, hellets.

Speaker 1 (25:42):
And we're in the Gerbis are too close to rest.

Speaker 3 (25:46):
Yeah, oh yeah, they are so yeah, I launched a
pet product just because I was inspired by the pet
therapy because I just love animals so much.

Speaker 2 (25:55):
I love what a go getter you are like when
it comes to everything, I would where did that come
from you?

Speaker 3 (26:02):
I would say maybe my family. I come from a
family of entrepreneurs. I only know one way and then
like my I mean, I'm at a Leastern So the
fact that like I didn't follow the traditional become a
lawyer or doctor, engineer or else, you're a failure. I
definitely am like the black sheep of the family. Everybody

(26:23):
else is you know, doctors and lawyers. I'm just not.

Speaker 1 (26:26):
But you're like the family celebrity in a way kind of.

Speaker 3 (26:30):
I don't know what they would say that about me,
but maybe okay, maybe I'm just I just live in
my own world and stay in my own lane. Yeah.
So what do you see for the future for yourself, Nicole,
Like professionally or personally both? Well, I hope to one
day meet someone.

Speaker 1 (26:48):
For people listening, what are you looking.

Speaker 3 (26:50):
For, someone that's consider it, because I feel like there's
a lot of inconsiderate people. Someone that's safe and like,
you know, will protect me emotionally, I don't need financial help,
like I can handle that on my own. But like
everything else, just be considerate, be nice, be kind.

Speaker 1 (27:09):
Don't you become a sugar mama either for anybody.

Speaker 3 (27:12):
I did do that firm and you did not did okay, okay,
lesson learning right, how you learn your lessons? Okay, okay,
So that's okay, it worked out. Okay.

Speaker 1 (27:20):
I can't wait to read this book?

Speaker 3 (27:22):
Which book yours?

Speaker 1 (27:23):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (27:23):
You think I'm going to write a book? Yes, okay,
well we'll talk about it.

Speaker 1 (27:27):
I feel like you are maybe is it something you've
thought about?

Speaker 3 (27:30):
Yeah, But I think i'd want to do some If
I did a book, I want to like include a
lot of pictures because I feel like, you know, when
people see me now, when they're like, okay, you know
double mistectomy is just like having a boob job, I'm.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
Like, no, no, no, no, I don't know what I had.

Speaker 3 (27:44):
To go through to get to this point. And I
looked botched for a very very long time. So I
feel like I don't know. Sometimes I'm like, should I
start an only fans to show people like what a
medical tattoo looks like and like scars and stuff?

Speaker 1 (27:59):
You would make a sense of money.

Speaker 3 (28:00):
I don't think I can do it. My soul won't
allow me.

Speaker 2 (28:03):
Yeah, if your family was mad about you, oh my god. No, Okay,
but a book would be amazing. And I think that
because I think your story is just incredible, and I
know there's a lot more to it that we're not
you know, I can't even like, there's so much I
can tell.

Speaker 3 (28:16):
Already peaking about a lot of other different topics.

Speaker 2 (28:19):
Yeah, is there something that you're like, Okay, you know,
because I know you talk about it a lot, and
it is such a huge part of you, Like we
can look at you and see that, right, But I
know there's more when it comes to everything that you
have going on. Even you know, even me hearing you
just talk about like the future and what it is
you're looking for, I could tell there's some things that
have happened relationship wise and family wise.

Speaker 1 (28:41):
I could feel it.

Speaker 3 (28:42):
Yeah, I think the last year was probably one of
the most transformative years, even more than cancer, Like cancer
had its own And that's the thing too, is like
whenever last year that was really hard, people would be like,
but you're so strong, you went through cancer. I'm like, yeah,
but that's completely different. When you go through cancer, everybody
around you is positive and uplifting and supportive, and doctors

(29:04):
will tell you, okay, we can give you this medication
to take the pain away. By six months, you'll be
able to raise your arms. There's like dates when it
comes to physical pain, but when you go through something
that's like emotionally painful, like last year, my parents went
through like a nasty divorce. We sold the house that
I spent twenty three years in, which meant now I'm

(29:27):
leaving my ex and two houses on the block and
two families and just experiencing a lot of loss. My
little Calabassis bubble got popped and I got thrown into
the real world, which is very different than what I
grew up knowing to be normal. And I think that
whether it's cancer or anything that you're going in life,

(29:49):
I think that half the battle is always mental. And
so I think that like people's mental health is really important, Yeah,
and showing up for people and being you know, dependable
and showing support because like you know, Big doesn't even
know this, but like a lot of times, and I
have a lot of conversations with him too, and he's
gone through a crazy rollercoaster with me over the last year,

(30:11):
and you know, some he takes the weight off of
my shoulders when he's like, you know it, just pull
up to the station tomorrow, and I know I'll have
a good day when I go to.

Speaker 1 (30:19):
The station, just because he's amazing.

Speaker 3 (30:21):
I love big. I know that if I go to
the station, I'm gonna laugh at least once. I know that,
like I'll be around good people and like at least
that day I'll be okay. But yeah, having to lose
my breasts was a lot easier than losing my family,
my relationship, my home, like everything that I've ever known
to be normal to get taken away was a lot

(30:44):
harder than what I went through with cancer. And I
know people might like cancel me for saying that.

Speaker 2 (30:49):
But now that's listen, nobody can cancel you for what
you went through and for your story of why you
are where you are and who you are today. Yeah
that's because honestly, if you ask me, like it's very
brave of you to even be able to have these conversations.
You feel like people just kind of when, like you said,
your bubble got burst, you feel like people just weren't

(31:11):
really there.

Speaker 3 (31:12):
For you, yes and no. I mean my sister is
my soldier. She stood right by me, Like I love
my sister and I would do anything for her and
my dad and my family obviously is so important to me.
So to see divorce the ugliest side of people like
that wasn't easy. But again, I like leaned on my
friends and I pulled through. But just to go off

(31:35):
to say that, like, you know, be kind to people.
You don't know where somebody's going going through, and like,
you know, when I would tell people like, oh, I'm
struggling right now, and they're like, can't believe it, which
is like a backwards compliment because they're so used to
me living a certain way with my family and being
raised a certain way. And I still always have my
nails done, so like it's hard for them to believe

(31:58):
the words that I'm saying because their eyes don't allow them.

Speaker 2 (32:01):
Because someone may look at you and judge you and
thinking that like oh, yeah, she's got X, Y and Z,
she's got this. They won't even know all the things
that you're currently going through, what you have gone through,
and like you said, mentally.

Speaker 3 (32:12):
Yeah, and it's like, you know, I know when people
look at me. I'm so misjudged. Like from the beginning,
people just assume I'm another girl from la with like
tits on a stick, just walking around. But it's like
there's a story that your eyes won't even be able
to tell you. So, like you can't judge anybody. There's

(32:33):
a lot more that meets the eye. And so when
people find out too that, like oh, you had cancer
or whatever, and I'm like, yeah, like what did you
expect me to look like? And when I would go
to City of Hope, unless I was bedridden, whenever I'd
go to all my appointments, I would be in full glam.
I did not care.

Speaker 1 (32:50):
I was like, I don't I actually love that for you.

Speaker 3 (32:53):
Yeah, I would go there full hair, full makeup, and
like it's important, especially when I would see other women
going through chemo treat man, like all they have is
like lips to put lipstick on to make themselves feel good,
because you know, people do lose their brows, their lashes
and their hair. So I did it for myself. And
every time I would go and it would be all

(33:14):
dulled up, they would think that my mom or my
dad were the patient. I'm like, nope, I got the
wristband on that. Why why are you so dressed up?
I was like, because if I can fake it and
make myself think that I'm okay, and I can present
myself to look a little bit decent than just constantly
be looking sick and feeling sick, then like, you know.

Speaker 1 (33:34):
How's your relationship with your ex? Now?

Speaker 3 (33:38):
I am cool with him, Okay, Yeah, there's no bad feelings.
I will always love him. He played a huge part
in my healing, and I mean we were together five
and a half years, so you know, I'll never not
love him, and he definitely served his purpose. And yeah,
we're all right.

Speaker 1 (33:56):
I feel like I'm looking forward to reading this book.

Speaker 3 (33:58):
I'll let you know when I start when I start
writing it.

Speaker 2 (34:01):
And I'm gonna stay updated with you to see how
things are going. But I appreciate you for coming and
being so.

Speaker 3 (34:06):
Thank you for being the first woman I'm speaking to.

Speaker 1 (34:08):
Yes, I can't believe that.

Speaker 3 (34:09):
Yeah, I've had a lot of talk with the boys.
I shouldn't call them boys. They're all very nice, gentlemen,
grown mature people, and even you know, this all started
with Big Boy on accident. He had me on his
show in twenty twenty and then twenty three I did
another interview with him, and then that's where AO kind
of connected the dots and he's like, you know, you

(34:31):
want to do something for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Speaker 2 (34:34):
And I just want to say behind the scenes, they
were like, you need to have her on. She is
absolutely amazing and she's got a great story to tell.
Oh my goodness, So behind the scenes, that's how people
are talking about.

Speaker 1 (34:45):
You behind your back.

Speaker 3 (34:46):
That's so sweet. Just so you know, it's very nice. Yeah, no,
shout out to Ayo because he planned this out. I
don't leave the house, but he has me moving like
state to state and catching flight after flight.

Speaker 1 (34:56):
Are you enjoying it?

Speaker 3 (34:57):
I am? It is fun. It is tiring, especially when
I'm like traveling with all these obviously overpacked because a
problem obviously, and so like you know, carrying around suitcases
is a little bit of a challenge. But it's been
fun and the feedback has been worth every single moment

(35:18):
where I'm like, oh, am, I saying too much, Like
should I not say this?

Speaker 1 (35:22):
But that's what we love about you.

Speaker 3 (35:23):
Yeah, I will talk about anything. There's nothing I won't.

Speaker 1 (35:27):
All right, next time, we'll have you on the podcast.

Speaker 3 (35:30):
You let me know, and yeah, I'm gonna have to
take my top off and like, you know, put your
logo over my nipple just so they can see what
scars look like and all that.

Speaker 1 (35:39):
But but anything charged.

Speaker 3 (35:41):
For that interview?

Speaker 1 (35:41):
Oh yeah, we got to put that. Yeah, I'll put
it Paton.

Speaker 3 (35:47):
Yeah, there you go.

Speaker 2 (35:48):
But I appreciate you and so we will definitely stay
in contact.

Speaker 1 (35:52):
Nicole macau. How can people find you if they want
to reach out book you? Perhaps?

Speaker 3 (35:56):
I guess just on social media. I'm Nicole mamca on
all platforms, so I guess slide in the DM not
that way. What do they want like my email address?

Speaker 2 (36:06):
No, that's fine, social media, that's fine. What about if
they do want to ask you about that too?

Speaker 1 (36:10):
No, okay, I'm not looking.

Speaker 3 (36:11):
I'm not trying when somebody Okay, I I know. I'm
good right now. Yeah, they might change in a couple months,
but for right now, I'm good.

Speaker 1 (36:21):
All right, perfect, But thank you, appreciate it, Thank you,