Episode 15: Heather Schilling, Adjusting your Sails

Heather Schilling is a lifelong educator, with over three decades of teaching at the high school and collegiate levels. The greatest gift of teaching is the opportunity to empower others - empower them to realize that regardless of the situation, their mindset matters.

Heather loves to travel with her son and his fiancée as well as students. She is actively engaged in her community, serving on several professional boards and committees including the Community Foundation of Wabash County Scholarship committee. She and her ex-husband raised two amazing children, Elizabeth and Lucas (Indianapolis). Heather’s focus, however, changed in 2014 when her daughter was diagnosed with a stage two brain tumor. In 2019, Elizabeth developed a second tumor, a glioblastoma, and was diagnosed with a rare cancer of her spinal fluid. On December 21, 2021, Elizabeth died at home surrounded by the people and animals who loved her most.

Since Elizabeth’s death, Heather gathered family and Elizabeth’s best friends to create the Elizabeth Schilling Adjust Your Sails Foundation, INC., a non-profit focused on raising funds for brain tumor and brain cancer research. Based on Elizabeth’s mantra “She stood in the storm and when the wind did not blow her away, she adjusted her sails,” the foundation also works to empower others facing life’s most difficult challenges. You can find more info about the foundation here: https://www.adjustyoursailsinc.com/.

To honor Elizabeth and Brain Tumor Awareness month, in May, we will donate 50% of our substack subscriptions brought in that much to the foundation. You can subscribe at movingforwardwithmiaandjulia.substack.com.