Charlotte de Brabant, How She Overcame A Life-Changing Diagnosis

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You are listening to Food for Thoughtwith Billy and Jenny, brought to you
by the Box Center. For morethan fifteen years, this dining duo has
been eating their way through New England, mixing it up with top chefs,
jumping behind the line of the hottestrestaurants, and giving you the inside scoop
on where to wine, dine andspend your time. So get ready,
it's Food for Thought giving you somethingto chew on. Welcome into Food for

(00:23):
Thought, brought to you by theBox Center. I am very excited for
this week's show. I have aguest who's a new friend of mine.
I haven't known her for that long, but I can tell you that she's
one of the most inspiring women I'vehad the pleasure of meeting. I was
actually introduced to her by my husband, and it turns out we have a
number of mutual friends who have whohave also shared in the love of this

(00:50):
particular woman. So Charlotte de Brebantis here with us this week, and
she's a trailblazer in her industry.Her industry shall talk a little bit more
about, but she has a veryworldly view of so many things. One
of the things we're going to bereally focused on is what happened to her
a couple of years ago when shehad a really really hard diagnosis, and

(01:11):
instead of succumbing to that diagnosis,she instead pivoted and has become an inspiration
to so many. I don't wantto tell too much about all of what
we're going to be talking about,because there is so much. But first
give us a little background of yourprofession, sort of what you know,
what is your work about, andwhat is the work that you do that
had you be named thirty under thirty. Well, Jenny, thank you firstly

(01:34):
so much for having me. I'mso thrilled, and this opportunity is just
it's very, very meaningful to meto be here on today's show with you
and exactly I grew up in Switzerland, and how small is this world?
Even though I'm from Switzerland, I'vespent the majority of my life down in
Europe and then also part of mylife in Asia, coming to Boston and

(01:57):
then connecting over so many mutual connections. It's just mind blowing, and this
shows me how truly small this worldis. So I have, actually,
i would say, have become aglobal citizen from a quite early age.
Onwards started to go to a boardingschool, international school in Switzerland where we

(02:17):
had fifty five nationalities. Wow,So you can imagine from a very young
age onwards, I was very muchexposed to languages, to different cultures.
And just because I was in Switzerland, I also in parallel joined the Girls
Scouts back then and became a mountainclimber, a mountaineer guide, serving on

(02:42):
various expeditions. And these weekly expeditionsthough they taught me from a young age
onwards a lot of perseverance, resistance, the whole terminology of resilience, decision
making, and I would say,taking risks, taking chances, and that's
how I at the end also endedup here in Boston and beautiful Boston.

(03:07):
So I love that so much.And I think there is something about,
you know, this idea of beinga global citizen, but the idea of
being exposed to so much from sucha young age. Your mind was open.
I mean, you were able tosee oftentimes were able to only see
what's in front of us, butbecause of your exposure, you were able
to see so much. And Ialso say, as a fan of the

(03:27):
outdoors and as a fan of justsort of being connected to nature. That's
one of the greatest places to beable to sort of see the expansiveness of
the world that we live in.And so it's no surprise to me that
you think of that chapter of beingoutdoors as the one that really taught you
so much of that of that resiliencealongside with the school and it prepared me

(03:50):
for life. Yeah, because youknow, after school, many are overwhelmed,
how do I continue a structured life? How does college go for me?
What do I want to do inmy life? What do I want
to be? So that's why onecomponent I kept loyal to myself. I
began running and you'll have marathons aroundthe world after graduation. And actually this

(04:15):
practice it helped me just to proveto myself that I still have that stammin
now from school and I haven't forgottenhow to fight. You have certainly not
forgotten how to fight. We'll talka lot more about that. But you
so you continued to travel, youknow, throughout your life, throughout college
and obviously running, which is suchan interesting way to see so many different

(04:35):
cities and countries. But then moveon to the chapter that was sort of
when your professional career began absolutely so. After college, I then pursued a
career in the field of negotiations supplychain procurement, and I think now many
have a smile on their face becausesupply chain procurement pre COVID people didn't really

(04:58):
know what it was all about.Now COVID taught us how important it is
to secure a supply chain. SoI always explain my job. During the
week I secure good deals for mycompany, and then during the weekend,
I just go shopping and negotiate formyself. That's a very important skill.
So did you study this, like, how did this become How did this

(05:19):
become your role? I have neverplanned to go into supply chain management or
procurement. I knew that during theweekends, when being on the food market
and negotiating your vegetables, I neverminded to ask for a discount, but
I would have never thought that thiswould then end up being my profession.

(05:40):
I come, you know, froma highly academic background, my family being
medical doctors and you know, academiaprofessors and urology and oncology and guynecology,
and then me being the first onein the family to actually work in industry
and being a full time negotiator.Yeah. Well, I think what's so

(06:01):
interesting about that idea of the artof negotiation is it really doesn't matter what
industry you're in. These are skillsthat are transferable no matter what, no
matter how old you are, nomatter where you live, no matter what
your belief system is. This issomething that comes in handy and because you
have become a master at it,you've been able to help so many others

(06:24):
learn about the sort of different techniques. I could not agree more with you.
You know, over my career nowit's been eighteen years. Wow,
time flies. I've lived now inthree different continents, worked across five different
industries, so from automotive, pharmaceutical, medical devices, consumer goods, and

(06:45):
tech. Over the all these industries, I realized it you can just don't
be shy to ask for a discount. Oh my gosh. Well, I
think that's that's the most interesting isthe fact that you've been in so many
of these different industries, but thecommonality is how to get the best value
for what you're looking for and howdo you communicate that. I mean,

(07:06):
communication is some of the most importantthings that we work with, no matter
what or where we're doing it.So Charlotte. This is a little bit
of a background on you. Butwhat's so interesting is the pivot that we'll
talk about coming up, which hasto do with your health and has to
do with the ways that you haveagain been helping others find some ease when

(07:26):
things get difficult. We're going totake a break. We'll be back with
Charlotte in just a minute. You'relistening to Food for Thought brought to you
by the Box Center and Salem WaterfrontHotel and Sweet Welcome back to Food for
Thought brought to you by the BoxCenter, Charlotte. We've got a little
bit of your history as a globalcitizen, as someone who's experienced so much
of the entire world, which hasmade for such a rich and passionate life,

(07:49):
which is very clear how much passionthat you have. So a career
and negotiation not something that everyone cansay that they're a master in. You
talked about the different industries that you'vebeen involved with over your career. Let's
just pick one so you can giveus an idea of what that looks like.
Let's say automotive. For two reasons. First, I'm gonna say our

(08:11):
partner in this television program is ErnieBach of the Box Center, who I
know is one of those mutual friendsthat you and I have, and he
of course is a long time generationallyconnected to the automotive industry. So let's
go into that area and talk aboutwhat your role was and how you were
helping folks and and how it connectedto do with people like Ernie Bach.
Yeah. Absolutely, Especially automotive isdefinitely a big, big passion of mine,

(08:35):
and I'm so blessed that I gotto start my career in this industry,
and especially this industry with so manypotentials and opportunities out there. So
I was actually head of the wholeprocurement for the motorsports sector. So now
specializing at one particular chapter of mycareer, let's take Porsche Motorsport and that
we had the hope comeback of PorscheMotorsports back in twenty seventeen, and that's

(09:01):
where I set up my own procurementteam. Let the whole global negotiations for
all the World Endurance Cup races.So for example, Lemma for the ones
who know the twenty four hour raceand that negotiation guys, we had to
build a hotel just for one particularweekend to host our VIPs and then I
had to negotiate all the race drivers, Mark Webber and our dear make Dreamy.

(09:26):
So I have to say, yes, that negotiation, what's fun.
It's fine, but probably the worstbecause I walked in my pen fell down
and he is dream as we imagine, he is a pre mic dreamy and
their voice and the aura. Soso I would say I had very good
negotiations because I speak so many languagesand it helped me with my negotiations to

(09:52):
be able to culturally adapt. Butwhen I had Macdreamy, I just gave
him one of us for yeah,what we all very smart woman you are.
It's like all of the things thatyou'd train for, all of the
things that you knew so well,all of a sudden went right out the
window and there he was Macdreamy.Okay, so this what an amazing experience.
So that's just one example of oneevent where you were bringing so many

(10:16):
things together and helping create a memorableexperience. Absolutely, But otherwise, apart
from events, of course, Idid a lot of nitty greedy cost cutting
and processes for industries, restructuring globalit or energy processes. And actually that's
the reason I was nominated and Iwon as the first European in the history

(10:37):
the thirty under thirty award for thebest negotiation at that time from a European
but having such global impact. Andthat was my negotiation looking after nine hundred
and eighty different plants and offices globally. And I would say that stepping Stone
very much inspired me to actually think, hmm, maybe I'm now going to

(10:58):
turn my career into my passion.And everyone thought, well, Charlotte,
just do your job. You startednine, you finish it at five.
And I said, no, weneed to transform the way procurement, the
profession is being seen. And that'swhy from a young age onwards, I
then already launched my own YouTube channel. I began writing a few books on

(11:20):
the field of negotiations, and backthen I thought, let's make that topic
truly sexy and out there, andI started speaking on a variety of different
conferences events up to eighty different conferencesa year on these topics of negotiations of
the future, how to be asuccessful negotiator, bundling. You know,

(11:43):
they're a variety of different approaches,how you can be doing some of them,
like tell us to some of thoseapproaches. Tell us some of those
techniques. I mean, if we'relooking a little bit at the broader scope
right now, but talk about someof the things that you shared in a
number of your different various speaking eventsat university that you know, ted X
you were a part of. Tellus about some of those techniques. Yeah,

(12:03):
with pleasure. So if you areworking in industry, especially automotive,
and I work at that time forthe VW Group. VW Group they own
twelve different automotive brands. You haveBughetti, Bentley, say at Skoda,
Scania, Porsche, and you nameit the Hopalette. But then to be

(12:24):
a successful negotiator, you reach outto every single brand and you collect volume
by volte. By having a lotof volume bundling, you can get better
prices. So instead of me justasking for five petro tanks for Bugatti,
I would say, hey, Ineed five million petro tanks. So you
can imagine usually what most of theautomotive procurement folks know that whatever is behind

(12:50):
the customer's eye, that's where youcan bundle. So a Bugatti petro tank
or a Skoda Petro tank or othercomponents, wires, filters, whatever,
in any MRO spare parts. That'swhere you can bundle certain elements and get
better prices. Wow. I meanyou can just tell just by the way
that you talk. I mean,your your energy is infectious. You have.

(13:13):
It's like I would be the kindof person that will listen to you
talk and say whatever Charlotte says,goes. That's what happens whenever Charlotte says
goes. So I want to moveon because your professional experience really shaped your
personal experience. And this is specificallyas it relates to your health. So
why don't you share with us youknow what happened less than a couple of
years ago. Absolutely so. Becauseof all my passion and perseverance in my

(13:39):
career, I wanted to bring mycareer more to the public, and I
was very career focused. And Igot this great opportunity to go to Boston
and become a global leader to inspireand motivate other teams and especially our talents
of the future. And that's whatI burned for. But six weeks after

(14:00):
I relocated to Massachusetts, I gotthe diagnosis of my life. I had.
I got a diagnosis for breast cancer. And it was not just any
breast cancer. It's actually it's onlythe second reported case in medical history that
that what I'm going through. It. I have to say, I've been

(14:22):
in chemotherapy since nineteen months, withthe age of thirty five, undergoing such
inter intense treatment, and it justturned my life upside down. I was
so worried about pursuing my career whileundergoing chemotherapy, and I really thought that
my life and my dreams might beover. And I remember talking to my

(14:46):
partner, you know, having ayoung family and discussing what next, how
do we continue having my family inanother continent, just trying to navigate between
the health cure system of the US. So I have to say these months,
these weeks were definitely I have nowords to describe describe it. It

(15:11):
just turned the life upside down.I can't imagine, right, you're you're
here, you are in a differentcountry. Here you are, you know,
with with at the pinnacle of theplace that you want to be from
your career and in some ways kindof being brought down to your knees to
saying what do I do in thismoment? And I'm sure there was the
natural feeling of despair and the naturalfeeling of how can I possibly continue?

(15:33):
But you did, and not onlyare you continuing, but you have are
thriving. So talk about that momentof being able to sort of take a
look around, stand up and decide, I have the tenacity inside of me
and I'm going to continue. Well, you see, I think I think
we go through different phases when whenit really hits you, and it doesn't

(15:54):
matter what challenge you have. Everybodyin our life has a rock seck to
carry, everyone has a rock stackof challenges. And then when it really
hits you, the first time youthink, nah, this cannot be me.
They have definitely gotten a wrong patient. They must be mistaken. I've
never had I've never smoked or turnedvery little alcohol. I've never really done

(16:15):
anything unhealthy. I've been a mountaineer, guide running marathons, you know so,
and no one in my whole familyhistory ever got that diagnosis. So
when it hits you, you firstdon't believe. You become very angry,
you have grief, but you don'thave time to think because you immediately start
the chemotherapy. So it was reallyafter six months of my intense chemotherapy,

(16:40):
we then discovered thirty one additional cancernotes in the body. So that was
the moment we realized, oh mygosh, so we have stage three inflammatory
breast cancer. All the lymph notes, more areas were infected. And I
was just in my thoughts thinking isthis chemo not working for me? So
these sessions and I would say,that's something that helped me. It was

(17:03):
my network in Boston, but itwas my incredible medical staff with and said
Charlotte, go out to other countries, to other hospitals, and let's find
what do others do. What aredifferent schools of thoughts? And that's incredible.
Well, I think that comes tothat. That also speaks to this
idea that your whole life was aboutnot looking at a at a minor piece.

(17:26):
It was looking at the whole picture, the bird's eye view. How
do we put people together? Sowith such an awful diagnosis, and where
some would say this would be thesentence, you were able to say,
oh, no, no, no, this is not the sentence. We
are going to bring in experts fromall over the place to be able to
figure out how I'm going to havethe best outcome. We're going to take

(17:47):
a break and we'll be back withCharlotte. In just a minute, you're
listening to Food for Thought brought toyou by the Box Center and sale and
Waterfront Hotel in sweets. Welcome backto Food for Thought brought to you by
the Box Center. So, Charlotte, we've just heard a little bit of
the most challenging time in your life. You were brought to a place where
you heard that there was many cancernodes. There was this very rare breast

(18:11):
cancer. You were in a newcountry and certainly, as we mentioned,
feeling some despair. But you didn'tstop. You used your eyes and your
and your mind and your and yournegotiating capabilities, and you created a team
to move forward with. So tellus a little bit more. I have
to say it was my cpo atPoiche who inspired me, who called me

(18:36):
up after ten years and said,Charlotte, and now this is your negotiation
and you will now negotiate for yourself. You will advocate for yourself. What
are you going to do? SoI set up my negotiation team, my
group of medical doctors. I wentout and beyond looked at different hospitals in
different states. I went I lookedat hospitals in different countries, and I

(19:00):
gathered knowledge because ultimately you have toadvocate for yourself. But I would say
the three elements that helped me togrow was to have knowledge, gather knowledge,
have your network, don't be afraidto ask, and then be part
of the decision making. I thinksomething that can everyone can think about in

(19:23):
so many different areas, but certainlyin the world of health and so.
And in that process you also havebeen able to advocate for folks as it
relates to what they eat and whatthey consume. I want to spend a
lot more time talking about that.But what was the point when you realize
that there wasn't enough education around nourishmentwhen people are going through things like chemo.

(19:48):
Well, I kept on asking differentschools of thoughts, and everyone had
their own philosophy. But there isno guideline on nourishment. So of course
I cannot say I'm a nourishment expertor nutrition is now, but I do.
I am an ambassador for the AmericanCancer Society. I have partnered with

(20:08):
them, I will be speaking atthe upcoming events for them this year.
And I can say now, becauseknowledge is king and knowledge is my best
friend, I have gathered enough knowledgeto give others advice and others guidance on
all the information that they may need. Well, that pillar of knowledge that

(20:29):
you mentioned off the top, whenwhen you are in a place of needing
something for yourself, you do whateveryou can define it, and the most
beautiful part is what you've found foryourself you're now sharing with others. We're
going to take a break and we'regoing to talk about how you can connect
with Charlotte and how you can learnsome of the things that she's figured out
over this challenging time. You're listeningto Food for Thought brought to you by

(20:52):
the Box Center and Sale and WaterfrontHotel and sweets. It's no doubt everyone
is listening to this show right nowfeel as inspired as I am. I
just wish that everyone was able tobe in the room with Charlotte right now,
as Ashley and I are here atthe radio studio. But I think
one of the great things about Charlotteis she's had this incredible history of mastering

(21:14):
negotiation and then when it was broughtto the place of her health, she
had to start doing it for herself. And in that plan, she has
now created something that people can followalong to help their journeys feel stronger and
a little bit more capable. Sowe all know that when you're undergoing treatments
like chemo and a variety of others, this has a major impact on your

(21:36):
health, and it has a majorimpact on how you're able to eat and
what you're able to do from aday to day basis. And Charlotte,
you've found a number of different thingsthat have worked for you to combat some
of the challenges that take place whenyou're getting various cancer treatments. So tell
us a little bit about the nutritioncomponent and what you've learned as a part

(21:57):
of this journey. Absolute, Imean for the ones undergoing cancer treatment.
Of course, every cancer journey iscompletely individual, and who am I to
then give others direct advice? ButI can definitely give you a little bit
of my toolbox, my tips andtricks, my guidance that helped me and

(22:18):
not only me, but I didread a lot of academic papers. I
tried to consume a lot of knowledgethat I can now at least advocate and
I can now at least give guidance. And while going through cancer treatment,
you are faced with a variety oftopics, which foods to avoid, how
to overcome this new word of chemofatigue, how to go about having this

(22:42):
chemo brain, and how can wehelp our skins stay healthy so many get
breakouts, also our vision health,hair growth there, and most importantly nausea.
So I think these are the maintopics I would like to just elaborate
on and just give a little bitof my tips and tricks to help others.

(23:06):
And yeah, I love so yeah, So talk about the chemo fatigue,
talk about the chemo brain. Giveus a little bit of an idea
of what that feels like from yourpersonal experience and from obviously the conversations that
you've had with others. And thenwhat are some specific things that you've done
to sort of help minimize that.Absolutely, well, I would say let's
start with while you are in chemoand chemo that word made. It has

(23:27):
different meanings for everyone. Some havea chemotherapy of just forty five minutes,
or it may just be weekly,maybe every three weeks or two weeks whatever.
My chemotherapy lasted for eleven hours everyweek or every two weeks. So
while I was in chemotherapy and itreally developed, these tips developed over the

(23:48):
time because it's already been eighteen monthsand I have nine months left of my
chemotherapy. So while I was inchemotherapy, I felt that while I was
eating during getting my key, Ifelt better and I felt that the side
effects were getting less. So asfunny enough, while getting my chemotherapy,
I started ordering sweet green salads,just something that kept me nibbling for a

(24:12):
long time, and I felt thatwhile I was eating. I have to
say, maybe whatever it may havecaused, maybe it was my COGNI my
mental health, which made me feelbetter afterwards. But altogether the side effects
I felt it it was it wasdecreasing. My side effects were primarily a

(24:33):
lot of nausea after chemotherapy. Sofor nausea I was I had a little
bit of Also some tricks that whilegetting chemo, I made sure that I
was drinking a lot. I wasdrinking a lot of water, and I
was going through phases sometimes I wasgetting bored of water. Then I started
drinking a lot of cold herbal tea. Then I started drinking a lot of

(24:56):
coconut juice two boxes while getting mychemotherapy. So these are tips that I
can say they helped me to decreasemy side effects. But then while getting
these side effects like nausea, Istarted drinking a lot of ginger tea,
anything with ginger, fresh ginger,boiling ginger just in water and letting it

(25:18):
cool down, or mint, anythingroom temperature so not too cold, not
too hot. That helped me withmy nausea a lot. But drinking,
staying hydrated constantly, especially for thenext day after chemotherapy, I was literally
just drinking the whole day. Andotherwise in terms of food, I was

(25:41):
eating a lot of white rice,a lot of dry bread, white bread,
toast, and also a lot ofchicken. My dad was making a
joke last year and saying, I'mgoing to grow wings by the end of
my cheatment. I started eating onebox of chicken during lunch, one box
of chicken during dinner. Wow,I mean that's a lot of chicken.

(26:04):
First of all, I love yourdad, and I love that Throughout all
of this, there's so much humorthat comes into play, because I think
that's also a big part of themedicine that you know that is able to
give you that energy. What wouldyou say when you you know you're saying
drink, drink, drink, nourish, nourish, nourish hydrate. Were there
moments where you felt like you couldn'tand then what would you say to yourself

(26:25):
that enabled you to continue to doit? So, as I mentioned,
in my first six months of chemotherapy, we realized that I was getting more
cancer notes than I started up with. So we were increasing my dose.
We were going I was I starteda treatment for six months for cancer four
stage four patients, and these sixmonths were very very hard and very very

(26:49):
tough. So these these moments,it was forty five minutes after getting the
treatment that I could not walk,I could not get up, and I
could not expose. And what wouldyou say to yourself? What would you
say to yourself to kind of moveyourself forward, head up, chin up,
ice forward and physically put your headup. Oh my gosh, So

(27:12):
not only internally but physically, youcould tell yourself that you could do it.
Gosh, Charlotte, I can't evenimagine. We're going to take a
break and we'll be back in justone minute. You're listening to Food for
Thought, brought to you by theBox Center and Sale in Waterfront Hotel and
sweets. I'm going to say thethings that you just said in order to
make sure that I remember that whenthings feel hard, they're not really that

(27:33):
hard, and we can put ourhead up, and we can put our
chin up, and we can continueto walk and move forward. It's incredibly
inspiring, Charlotte, although that you'resharing with us today. Let's get into
some of the specific foods. LikeI know, there are some specific foods
to avoid, some specific foods toenhance. I love this idea of make
sure you nourish both from food andwater. Wall you're getting treatment to be

(27:57):
able to help sustain you, youknow, as you move forward, But
what are some others to pay attentionto? Absolutely so, while I always
had this very little gap after mychemotherapy before the side effects would really kick
in and knock me off for twodays, I made sure that I ate
then as well. Any moment youhave where you don't feel these incredible side

(28:19):
effects, I made sure I ate, and even if it was a pizza
or whatever I felt. So youhave to listen to your body what it
is that you're craving for, becauseyou're punishing your body already so much,
so at least you can do somethingfor your soul. And while listening to
your body then, of course it'simportant to have a balanced diet. Though,

(28:42):
so I was saying about the chicken, about the turkey I was eating.
I started eating a balanced diet bymaking sure I get fresh food a
lot of nourishment into my system.But I also started to take more supplements
to help the body. I startedincreasing my vitamin CI. Do does I

(29:03):
started to It depends, of course, on the treatment that you're on.
You always need to make sure thatwhatever supplements you take that it does not
coincide with the medicine. So makesure you do speak with your oncologists on
the supplements that you would like totake. But there were side effects like
taste changes. After my first chemo, I was not able to eat any

(29:23):
beef or any fish for a verylong time, and being in Massachusetts,
I got my lobstero and biding intothat lobster ole it felt like biding into
titanium, and I thought, ohmy gosh, I think it's off.
So I had to throw away thatfresh Maine lobstero and that was actually the
sign that I thought, Okay,maybe now it's kicking in. So I

(29:45):
started to observe these taste changes.I started to get mouth source. So
I was very agile on what Iwas eating, not promoting anymore any acid
in the mouth, and then alot of this chemo fatigue. So that's
I mean, in order to overcomechemo fatigue, I can recommend chicken,
banana, nuts, whole grains.These were elements that helped me going.

(30:10):
Of course, always hydrating, butespecially you know, I kept working well
being on treatment. I did nottake one day off. I kept working
full time, and I'm so fortunatethat my employer let me work while sitting
on that chemo chair. I hadconferences with my CIO and we were leading
one of the largest cost cutting procurementnegotiation exercises in the company's history. So

(30:36):
you know, I kept working,and I was so scared that this chemo
brain would ruin my work, soI started writing down every sentence. I
started recording because I was having thischemo brain, I would have forgotten things
that were told to me two minutesago. And I kept on recording meetings,
taking a lot of notes and justmaking sure that I don't I'm not

(30:57):
that cancer girl at work, buta normal employer. Otherwise. There's a
lot of a lot of hesitation whenit comes to health hair health, and
people are very scared to lose theirhair. I did not shave my head.
They were telling me, why don'tyou cut your hair short or no.
I'm a woman and I wanted tokeep my long hair and I was

(31:19):
adamant to keep it for as longas I can. Until one day we
were having three baskets at home fullof hair that fell out overnight. So
it was so in order to getto stay and now especially with hairy growth,
to stay healthy with your hair,I can recommend it a lot of
salmon. You know, it's veryrich for o make a three in the

(31:41):
fatty acids. A lot of eggswhich are high with protein, biotine.
Spinach, of course it's so goodfor your blood count as well because chemo
brings your blood count down. Soa lot of spinach, not seeds.
These were food items that I goto on a very frequent basis, not
daily. Otherwise, the whole foodfor your vision, because chemo also has

(32:06):
an leave some traces in terms ofyour vision. I started seeing blurry for
some time, so I started eatingextra amount of carrots or a lot of
salads. Also, as I mentionedbefore, the salmon, the fish,
and the eggs, and then othershave very big skin problems. During chemo,
we get acne, we get alot of skin irritation, and so

(32:30):
did I. And I just thought, oh my gosh, now I'm a
woman with no hair with acne onmy face, and I'm just getting more
and more unattractive. I was feelingpity for myself. But I said,
no, I will not start withthis pettiness. What can I do about
it? So I started eating alot of avocado, which is very healthy

(32:52):
for vitamin E and vitamin C,a lot of walnuts, tomatoes, berries.
So actually as a fun in fact, I did not enjoy berries before
cancer, but I read that berries, blueberries are so healthy for your skin
and for your chemo brain, thewhole cognitive function. It has a lot

(33:12):
of antioxidants blueberries and it improves thebrain function drastically. And this is such
a low hanging fruit. You seeblueberries here everywhere, and I have to
say, in Europe it's not thatcommon to have blueberries everywhere. So that
is a very low hanging fruit.And berries have now become a big,
big part of my daily diet.Berries. I can highly recommend the blueberries

(33:37):
also turmeric. Now, do becareful. It leaves a yellow fingers.
Fingers will be very yellow, yourclothes will be very yellow. All such
a huge anti inflammatory it is,and that's why that's when I did put
on my glove gloves and I startedto incorporate turmeric into my soups. It's

(33:58):
so incredible, Charlotte. I youknow you and I've talked a little bit
about this. I study airaveda,which is a form of feeling in India,
and this idea that we are whatwe eat, you know, and
we are what we digest. Andso there's so much that's happening to your
body, undergoing so much treatment,and if you were eating things that were
not going to fuel you regardless ofyour health, it was going to make

(34:21):
things a little bit more precarious foryou. And what you were able to
do is you were able to fuelyourself despite being at a less than advantageous
state. And so I'm sure thatthat's given you the actual fuel to be
able to continue. So can youtell me a little bit about where you
are now in the journey? Absolutely? So, I have to say I'm

(34:42):
in daily chemotherapy. Nothing has changed. We are looking at very innovative treatments
right now how to pursue We arelooking at even changing my genetics with innovative
medications, and believe it or not, these medications aren't even approved in Europe.
So I'm so blessed to be herein Boston. Everything in life happens
for a reason. Let yourself beguided. I ended up in Boston for

(35:06):
whatever reason to get the treatment ofmy life, and now I have nine
months left of my treatment and weare currently looking at options how to continue
and whether there are any trials Ican join, or whether there is any
progress for the cancer vaccine that everybody'stalking about. So there is some exciting
research and literature coming out in termsof cancer research, and that's the reason

(35:32):
I've actually joined the American Cancer Societyto be part of this movement, to
give my share and to be inspiredto inspire. And I'm out there to
help others who are struggling, whoare trying to combine work and cancer treatment,
who are struggling in life with theirown heavy backpack how to navigate.

(35:55):
So this opportunity with the American CancerSociety helping me to now bring just promote
my knowledge out there, and I'mgoing to be launching a column with them
for the next year. It willcome out on a monthly basis, the
Charlotte Column, or we will stilldecide on a fancy name and it will

(36:19):
come out in their newsletter. Socancer dot org. That's how you can
find a lot of good research.And please do not hesitate to otherwise get
in touch with me. I wouldlove for people to get in touch with
you, and we're going to givethat information in just a minute. But
I know that you have an eventcoming up in Boston for the American Cancer
Society that you're going to be akey part of this coming August. Absolutely,

(36:39):
my wish is to be a speakerout there to give my knowledge and
it is my passion. So mywork is my work and it will continue.
My thought leadership will continue. I'venow written another book. It is
on breast cancer. I'll send youthe brochure. And now I'm even writing

(37:01):
an academic already COO with my owncollegey team at the hospital to get the
patient perspective out there. You,Charlotte, are so inspiring. I mean,
I can only imagine how many timesyou may have thought I can't do
this. Right now, I'm notable to continue right now, but yet
you do, and so I youknow, being a part of the American

(37:22):
Cancer Society, there's no question thatthey want you. They want Charlotte's column
because when people have the possibility ofturning one way, you're helping them remember
they can keep on continuing, theycan keep on going, and that there
are really legitimate things that they cando to help secure more health. We're
going to take a break, andwe're going to do our last break when
we come back in just a minute. You're listening to Food for Thought,

(37:43):
brought to you by the Box Centerand Salem Waterfront Hotel and Sweets. Charlotte.
You've given so many helpful, specificthings that people can do when they're
going through cancer treatment. But Ithink the most interesting part about this is
this extends well beyond cancer and cango to any other areas of health issue.
But really any areas of issue,right, I mean, this is

(38:06):
a universal truth. Just like westarted this conversation talking about your negotiation skill,
that is a universal thing that peoplecan manage to do no matter where
they are, no matter what theirlife looks like. Give us a little
bit more of an idea of whatsome of the things are that you tell
people from advice and where people canfind you, because I know you have

(38:27):
beautiful videos or everything from fitness tofood to everything in between. Absolutely,
and definitely check out my YouTube channelfor that, because I've also posted a
variety of videos going through my cancertreatment, but also a lot in terms
of mindfulness, a lot of leadership, career advice talents, and I would
say most importantly, this is yournegotiation. Whatever challenge you're going through,

(38:51):
you will win this negotiation and youwill make a plan how to win it
by getting knowledge, by getting yournetwork out there and knowing what are the
disc decisions that you need to makefor yourself. But then now I'm in
these crossroads, how do I continue? I've managed to get through this part
of the journey so far, I'vemanaged to keep my career in parallel on

(39:12):
board, which is awesome, Andnow how do I continue. We need
to understand where we've been, wherewe are now, and where we are
heading, and that is currently whatI'm working on. I'm trying to understand
what are my next goals in termsof my family, professional life, in
terms of my vision right now,my journey and all that I've given all
the tips and guidance, but trustme, it has been the hardest journey

(39:36):
of my life, and especially lastyear as a young woman with the age
of thirty five going through a misectomy. Afterwards and now in the morning shower
is looking at your own body andseeing that line and seeing the other breast
and your body's just not equal.Every day you're reminded of this journey.
And I've started to compart to menalizewhen I'm very tired, very sad,

(39:58):
or when i don't and when Ijust feel angry, I think to myself,
Okay, now, Charlotte, howangry should you really be? Let's
put this anger to the side.Let's focus on what it this that you
have influence on right now and whatmakes me happy and what makes me happy
is to give back, and that'swhy I've joined organizations, I've done a

(40:19):
lot of podcasts, I've set upmy own podcast channel, YouTube, writing
articles and being the thought leader andwho knows what other things will come out
in the future. But let yourselfbe let and this is a journey.
You are learning from this, whateverchallenge you're going through, this, you're
learning from this. And now thinkhow do you continue? How are you

(40:40):
going to make this negotiation not onlywin for yourself but long lasting. I'm
thinking of how you ended up herein Boston, and it was such a
random thing that you were here,obviously a place that has such incredible cutting
edge healthcare, but we had noidea that this was going to be your
journey. And I'm thinking of beinga Bostonian who feels very lucky to have

(41:02):
had you enter my life by circumstance. And I'm thinking about how many people
say the exact same thing about you, because you have such a vibrant warmth
and energy that is just so attractingin so many different ways. And I

(41:22):
am so grateful to be able tohave spent this hour with you to hear
about your journey. I very muchappreciate you sharing the hard and the otherwise.
I want to make sure that peoplecan connect with you. So what's
the best way for folks to findyou, Charlotte? So I have my
YouTube channel, also my website shotat to brabin dot com, and I
am on most of the social mediasexcept tiktook I'm not there either. So

(41:47):
Charlotte, thank you so much.I look forward to more conversation moving forward.
Thank you for being so brave,for being so strong, and for
being such a trailblazer. More offood for thought coming up next week.
Thanks so much to the Box Center, and thanks so much to Charlotte.
We'll see you next time.