A Plot Twist I Never Saw Coming

This isn’t the episode I expected to record. It’s not the topic I had planned. But here we are—and in true Next ChaptHER fashion, I’m showing up and sharing it with you.

Just days before my 48th birthday, I got a phone call that changed everything.

In this episode, I’m opening up about this unexpected chapter, why you haven’t heard a new podcast in a few weeks, and how I’m navigating this plot twist in real time—both personally and as a coach.

I share: ✅ What’s been paused (and what hasn’t) ✅ Why using my voice has become my lifeline ✅ How two podcast guests turned friends created a walking challenge in my honor ✅ How I’m choosing to keep showing up—one step at a time

If you’re navigating your own plot twist right now, I hope this episode reminds you: You don’t have to be brave every single day. You don’t have to perform strength for anyone else. You always have a choice.

💬 I’d love to walk this chapter with you: 👉 Follow my raw, unfiltered journey on Substack: These Girls Are For Fighting 👉 Join the Fight Club Walking Challenge: Sign up here 👉 Listen to the Fight Song Playlist on Apple Music or Spotify 

Thank you for being part of my Fight Club. Thank you for walking beside me. And thank you for sticking around as I figure out this new chapter—one moment, one choice, one step at a time.

❤️ If this episode resonated, share it with a friend or tag me @fullyinformedlifecoaching so more women know they’re not alone.

👉 Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the next chapter podcast.
No shortcuts, no cheat sheets, no abridged versions, just the real deal, honest conversations, expert insights, and practical strategies to help you take the lead in your next chapter.
I'm Andrea Hecht, certified life coach, mom and midlife navigator.

(00:21):
Here to help you find your roadmap back to Joy, the journey of you so you can stop waiting for some day and start living now.
Because midlife isn't the end of your story.
It's your time to take center stage.
Let's go.
Your next chapter starts now.
Welcome back to another episode of the Next Chapter podcast.

(00:45):
I know I haven't been recording regular episodes I want to share with you today a plot twist that I didn't see coming and the reason why I haven't been in the recording studio lately.
So this really wasn't the episode I thought I'd be recording today.
It wasn't the topic that I had planned.
It wasn't even the chapter that I really expected to even be living.

(01:07):
But here we are, and of course, in true next chapter fashion, I wanna make sure that I'm showing up.
I wanna make sure that I'm continuing to turn my pages and want to make sure that I'm sharing openly and honestly with you just as I have.
And so, just a few days before my 48th birthday on March 28th, 2025 a day, I will always remember.

(01:31):
I got a phone call that changed everything.
I had birthday plans.
I'm a huge birthday person.
I had a massage booked a boxing class, booked dinner with my family, and I still kept those plans because in that moment I still really wanted to reclaim and to do something that I enjoyed.

(01:51):
I still wanted to celebrate, and I still wanted it to feel like me.
But yes.
On March 28th, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Even now, saying those words out loud, it just feels so surreal.
I've written them several times.
I started sharing them.
Immediately.
I created a substack called the Next Chapter.

(02:13):
These girls are for fighting, but speaking them actually, it really lands differently.
And again, this diagnosis wasn't part of my plan.
It wasn't anything that I was ever expecting to write, I don't think any of us are.
it wasn't a chapter I was preparing for and it looks like the book was ripped from my hands, basically like mid sentence and a brand new story was thrown in front of me and then suddenly everything paused.

(02:42):
My circle group that I was planning to launch.
The next group, I had to pause it, the live next chapter, connect events that I was so excited to host at this really cute boutique in the next town over.
It was paused and now my calendar was cleared.
It was replaced by all these different doctors appointments, scans, second opinions and decisions that I never thought I'd actually have to.

(03:08):
Make, but really, even though when some plans have paused, I haven't stopped showing up.
I just can't, that's what fuels me.
So I'm still showing up for my current circle.
I'm still seeing my current clients and for the women already walking alongside me right now, um, I feel the support that's what fuels me.

(03:34):
My coaching practice, holding space for others, having real conversations.
That's what my lifeline is right now too.
That's what I want to share with you today we don't always get to choose what happens to, we don't get to choose the diagnosis, the timing of it, the actual disruption.
But we always have a choice.

(03:55):
I always share this.
This is something that I've emphasized in my practice for a very long time.
We do get to choose.
We get to choose where we keep showing up.
We get to choose what we hold onto.
We get to choose what continues to let us fuel us.
Sometimes the very thing that you think you have to pause, it turns out to be the thing that actually keeps you going.

(04:17):
And when life throws a plot, twist this big.
Like breast cancer, some kind of diagnosis, illness, whatever it is, you can freeze, you can fight, you can totally fall apart.
You can ride the emotions.
Honestly, I'm probably doing all depending on the day.
But for me, I found my outlets.

(04:39):
I've been writing, I've been sharing the raw, unfiltered journey on my substack, and using my voice has always been my internal jet fuel.
It's really how I process things.
It is how I've stayed connected.
It's how I remind myself I'm not alone.
I've been coloring, I've been walking.
I've been letting the emotions move through me one moment at a time.

(05:00):
Speaking of walking these two women that I've actually never met in real life, Jody and Bonnie, they were on my podcast separately as.
Guests so you can check out their episodes and learn more about them and their journeys.
But they started a walking challenge in my honor for the month of May they've really become dear friends and I truly appreciate what they're doing this movement which they created for me, this Fight club has grown into something bigger than I ever really imagined.

(05:31):
And.
If you wanna follow along, if you wanna walk with me, if you want to be a part of this journey, you can, and you can follow this on the next chapter.
Substack it's called, these Girls Are For Fighting.
I'll make sure to link this in the show notes along with how to join the Walking Challenge, I even created a fight song playlist that has over eight hours of music with different people sharing their current fight songs, and you can listen to it on.

(06:05):
Apple and Spotify.
This is just the first episode sharing this new chapter that I was forced to write.
I don't know how long it will last, and eventually I'll be bringing more of my reflections here, going deeper into what I shared in Substack.

(06:26):
I'll share what it looks like to embrace a chapter like this, both personally and as a coach.
Walking through this in real time, I'm all about sharing everything as it unfolds.
I will have guest episodes returning deeper conversations will return, but really for now the launch of my next chapter.

(06:47):
Uh, circle group.
The next one has paused.
The live and virtual next chapter Connect events are paused because I've got a different fight in front of me.
I'm focused on healing.
I'm focused on figuring out my treatment plan in the next few weeks, I'm planning for the biggest after party ever when this fight is behind me.

(07:08):
I'm trying to show up.
I'm trying to show up for the women who are already in my circle, for my clients who continue to inspire me every day, I'm trying to show up for myself because this is my way of taking up space, using my voice, and reminding myself that I'm still me.
This diagnosis, it is a part of me.
It will shape how I move forward in the future, but it will 100% never define me.

(07:35):
I wanna speak, especially to the women listening right now, the ones who are navigating your own plot twists.
You don't have to be brave every single day.
You don't have to have it all figured out.
You don't have to perform strength for anyone else, but you do have a choice.
The choice in how you show up, a choice in what? You let fuel you on a daily basis, a choice in what you hold onto and what you let go of.

(08:04):
And today.
So I'm choosing to share.
I'm choosing to let you in on this messy middle of my fight you're now an honorary member of my flight club, so thank you so much for being here.
Thank you so much for continuing to listen to my podcast.
Thank you for sticking with me, even when I needed to take a pause for a few weeks on delivering episodes for you.

(08:28):
And again, thanks for walking beside me.
I'll be back soon, I promise. 97 00:08:35,963.333 --> 00:08:36,923.333 Love this episode. 98 00:08:37,73.333 --> 00:08:39,953.333 Make sure to subscribe so you never miss what's next. 99 00:08:40,463.333 --> 00:08:44,903.333 If today's conversation resonated, please leave a [e-mail] 100 00:08:45,173.333 --> 00:08:46,253.333 slash the next chapter. 101 00:08:46,253.333 --> 00:08:49,103.333 Her It helps more women find their roadmap back to Joy. 102 00:08:49,463.333 --> 00:08:52,493.333 Ready for more support, visit fully informed life.com 103 00:08:52,493.333 --> 00:08:53,993.333 to learn how we can work together. 104 00:08:54,203.333 --> 00:08:56,513.333 Until next time, keep writing your next chapter.