October 17, 2023 • 41 mins
Dr. Mailhiot welcomes Breast Cancer Survivor and Burlington County Resident Claudine Leone's powerhouse career in advocacy and influence public policy across New Jersey. Claudine was named on Senator Weinberg’s annual Women’s Power List as one of the most influential female lobbyists, journalists, and government officials. The Baroness discusses cancer diagnosis, cancer treatment, and cancer survivorship. Cancer impacts family, children, work, and relationships differently. Every woman’s cancer journey is unique. Claudine has a very empowering story. Listen in now.
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Episode Transcript
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Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (00:00):
Welcome to Rowan College and Burlington
counties Baroness Podcast. I'mDr. Brooke Mailhiot program
chair and assistant professor ofour entertainment technologies
department. I am the co-chair ofthe Women's Advocacy Group a
subcommittee of the President'sAdvisory Council on diversity,
equity and inclusion. Thismonthly series highlights women
(00:21):
in leadership while encouraginglisteners to build their skills,
connect with the community andvisualize the opportunities
available to women in variousprofessions. Tune in for a
female perspective on theBurlington County community. We
are here to listen to theseamazing women and if you want to
(00:41):
hear from women who lead andinspire this podcast is for you.
Welcome to our October podcastand boy, if I have an inspiring
woman to meet today, it is MissClaudine Leone. Oh my goodness.
Miss Leone is an attorney withover 25 years of experience and
(01:04):
legislative and regulatoryadvocacy work in government
affairs in Trenton, New Jersey.She began her career as a
contract lobbyist with thePrinceton public affairs group.
Trenton's largest lobbying firm,and recently is been inducted
into Senator Weinberg's annualwomen's powerless names of the
(01:24):
most influential femalelobbyists, journalist,
government officials, and anadvocate who influences public
policy across New Jersey. And ontop of all that, you're a breast
cancer survivor. Thank you forjoining us today.
Unknown (01:40):
Thank you for having me.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (01:41):
So that was a lot. Because I feel like every
time I see you, you are alwaysdoing 20 million things. You
wear so many hats. We've been inthe community together. I mean,
I've only been in the communityfor five years, you have been in
the Morristown community formany, many years. How many
years? Have you been here? 20years? Yes, yes. And, you know,
(02:05):
when we've been working in thecommunity together, you are a
female that I look up to, and tonow hear about your journey and
know more about your journey.I'm just so excited that you're
here today. You're You're apowerful woman, and I just want
to just share that. So thankyou.
Unknown (02:20):
Oh, thank you. I appreciate that.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (02:22):
Tell me about this powerhouse of a job.
You're an advocate. You'reworking in government affairs,
you're this powerful lobbyist.Tell me about like, your day to
day, what are you doing?
Unknown (02:39):
So when I graduated from law school, I really had an
affinity for legislative andregulatory work, I, I really did
think I was going to be in aboring desk job at the
Securities and ExchangeCommission. I mean, that really
was what excited me.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (02:55):
Well, that sounds fun, ya
Unknown (02:58):
know, so I did, I did touch base with that a little
bit, I did a couple ofinternships. And then I met a
lobbyist in Trenton didn't knowanything about that world. And I
invited him to do a speakingseries and ended up getting, you
know, familiar with what he didand picked his brain and
thought, Wow, this might reallybe my calling. I was fortunate
(03:21):
enough to be hired by thisgentleman. And that was the firm
you mentioned, and was trainedunder that, you know, incredible
company for years. And then Iwent out on my own and created
my own boutique lobbying firm,that was kind of coincided the
same time you start a family. SoI really took control of my
destiny and worked for myself.At the time, you know, we got
(03:45):
married and started having kids.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (03:47):
I mean, that's a big step for a female,
right? You're you're justgetting into your professional
life as a young woman, you'restarting a family, what What
made you do that leap? Because Ithink a lot of women in that age
and that timeframe of their lifewith their professions just
starting out, are very scared todo that. What made you take that
(04:08):
powerful jump,
Unknown (04:09):
it wasn't easy. You know, it was it was I had
something in between where I didgo work for a law firm for about
a year. And that made thetransition to going out on my
own a little bit of an easierchoice, because I saw what my
options were. And I knew whilewe can have it all, having
control of your own hours anddestined Satan's destiny and
(04:32):
your client load was importantto me at that time. And I really
could be frank, make the samemoney, or possibly more likely
more, doing it on my own. Andthat seems strange to everyone
if they think they can work fora company but you know, I can
choose whether I want six or 20clients and in times of my life,
(04:56):
you know, six worked and timesof my life 12 worked, and I come
back Once that and I can decideif I'm, you know, going to
actively pursue more clients ortake a chill.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (05:06):
So what is your specialty with your
clients? What is what is yourwheelhouse that you're doing,
Unknown (05:11):
I discovered quickly that my wheelhouse was working
with nonprofit associations.It's really a personality and
culture, strength. I've hadcorporate clients, I do very
well with corporate clients, butthat that volunteerism, the
people that run nonprofits andassociations, except for maybe
(05:32):
their executive director, it'sall volunteer base. And they're
very passionate about what theydo and what they're advocating
for. I ended up getting bychance, not by interest thrown
into the health care world. So Idid a lot of work with, you
know, pharmaceutical companies,I did a lot of work with
(05:52):
physician, actual specialspecialties, and insurance
related things. And I ended upreally focusing on the
healthcare provider world. So Irepresent Family Medicine,
internal medicine, emergencymedicine, and plastic surgeons.
Those are my healthcare clients.I do have other clients, which
(06:12):
are somewhat related to womenand children and health is I
represent the American CampAssociation, which is our summer
camps.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (06:22):
Where we're just coming off a summer camp.
So I mean, you know, is now likea busy season for you or is it
kind of died down now it now is
Unknown (06:30):
now is a relaxing time now all the camp directors have
spent their time you know,they're exhausted, they all take
the action, some point inSeptember, and then they come
back game bucks clusters inNovember, yeah, they're ready
for the next season. They'relike,
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (06:43):
we need to stop canoeing for a minute and
pull it together and then take abreak. And then what have been
some of your most challengingsituations that you've been put
in? And how did you overcomethem in this kind of space?
Because being a female, I thinkwould be maybe the number one
challenge. But,
Unknown (07:04):
you know, I would say that coming into Trenton in
1995. As a female lobbyist, wewere very far and few between,
we had a couple of our kind ofolder mentors at the time, that
there were some major powerhousewomen probably like three or
four of them, that ran campaignsfor Governor Whitman at the
(07:27):
time. And they started their ownlobbying firms. And you know,
they were just the ladies,right? Yeah. And that was it.
And then there was a bunch of uslittle, you know, just starting
out, we were in completeminority. I mean, yeah, like,
back then maybe there was like,10 of us out of an inch. You
know, yeah, of course, you know,hundreds of lobbyists. I had
(07:48):
great mentors in my first firm,they really encouraged and
nurtured us. You know, thepartners were all men at the
time. But I don't I think thatthey knew that we women can
Yeah, get it done. Yeah, sure.And I could see, even in that
firm, the the few women thatwere there we were, we were
(08:10):
there the longest, we stayed thelatest, and we just absorbed
like sponges. So, um, I thinkmost people think of lobbying,
as, you know, kind of the boysclub. And in that era,
definitely. And I mean, it wasdefinitely hard to break in. I
(08:30):
didn't golf, right. I didn't,I'm not a drinker. I'm not a
bark, I'm gonna go hang out bar,
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (08:35):
I am not a golfer either. My husband tries
I know, I just it's, I justcan't pick it up. As you know,
as much
Unknown (08:43):
as I know, it would have contributed and improved my
career. I just couldn't get intoit. But I never I personally,
never had a negative interactionwith any male legislators or
male colleagues in that world. Ido know that it happens. And
Senator Weinberg, who youmentioned, really has dug into
that, over the years and, youknow, has been advocating for
(09:07):
the women that work in Trentonand the administration.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (09:12):
And now you use this word mentors. And I
think, you know, that's, that'ssomething that a lot of our
students here at rcbc arelooking for. What would you say?
And what kind of advice wouldyou give a young woman that's
starting off trying to become alobbyist? You know, the
(09:33):
landscape has changed,obviously, what kind of what
kind of advice would you give ayoung woman right now trying to
get into this field?
Unknown (09:43):
So there's, there's a lot of us now. So there's a lot
of women and there'sparticularly a lot of younger
women. There's two parts tothat. I guess, Brooke, I was
trying to think I do have a lotof younger lobbyists that I work
with regularly. And we alwaystalk about trying to put
something together, where we'regoing I have a networking
dinner. Sure, or some officialway to put us all in the same
(10:05):
room. Because we don't all knoweach other. If we're not
working, I do a lot of healthcare. So I may not know the
environmental, right? Oh, femalestaff, there's
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (10:11):
so many different sub beauties and
categories of this. Yeah. So toput
Unknown (10:16):
all of us in, you know, some sort of opportunity to say,
hey, even if it's just acocktail hour, just invite over.
But I think from the ones thathave reached out to me, that's
what I would recommend. So Ihave two women who proactively
just said, I want you to mentorme, you know, like, talk to me.
(10:36):
How did you get here? My surepath? Yeah. How did you end up
opening your business? Like,yeah, how are you standing next
to these guys? You know, theythey feel your
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (10:44):
story is powerful. How do you want to
share? Yeah,
Unknown (10:47):
so I think it's be brave, be bold. Don't be afraid
to ask for help. Don't beafraid, even if it's a Not, not
a female mentor. I mean, there'sso many I had male mentors. And
I had, you know, at leastseveral female mentors, as I
started opening my business andkind of my different
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (11:07):
and what were their takeaways, the male
mentors? Are they providing youwere
Unknown (11:12):
providing more of the tactical? Like how to do the
job? Sure, right, where thefemale mentors might really know
what your balancing act might,you know, the challenges Oh of
your life? Sure. So I think thatI had the male mentorship in the
right timeframe of my life, Idon't think I would be as
successful as I am, but for thetraining I got from them. And
(11:36):
then later on dealing withwatching some of my more my
senior mentors, sell theirbusinesses move on retire, kind
of like looking at like, is thatgoing to be my path? Am I going
to do this another 20 years andthen sell my business off? Or am
I just, you know, going to, whatam I going to do? So I they're,
they're more practical? They'realways more understanding of the
(12:00):
bigger picture. I think.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (12:02):
So you're this powerhouse of a lobbyist.
You're, you're in Trenton,you're doing your thing.
Everything's good. Kids are intheir young 1011. And then,
around 2018. The ball drops, bigball. What happened in 2018?
Unknown (12:30):
So no, I wouldn't say just because I'm involved in
health care, but I'm a verydiligent person with my health
care. So I don't miss an annualphysical. I don't miss an annual
GYN appointment. I had my normalGYN appointment, got my script
to go get my mammography,normal, you know, just go go and
get it done. And I got a callthe next day that something was
(12:53):
off, and I had to go back. Andmy GYN who I've known for years,
had just gone through breastcancer herself. So she was
pretty, pretty frank with me atthat time and says, I don't
think this is going in the rightdirection. So you know, get
there soon. So I did, and itwas, and I always, I always tell
everyone, you know, when I firstwhen you're there getting your
(13:16):
second mammogram and your andyour ultrasound, I wasn't
nervous. I don't know if I wasin denial. But I was just like,
alright, if it is what it is. Igot it. Yeah, done. Right. Take
care of it. So radiologists thatcame in was an old guy. And he
says, Well, Miss, you have a youhave a mouse. And I said, was
(13:39):
that? Is that? always bad? Yeah,like any goes? It's never good.
Okay.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (13:48):
So that's, that's some news you want to
hear? Luckily, it wasn't likethe
Unknown (13:53):
best bedside manner but Right. Yeah. And then that was
it. I mean, I started the path.I mean, the path is,
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (13:59):
but lots of people don't know the path. What
How did you even know the path?Like what what? Like, what was
the I always ask this to people?What do you do? What do you do?
Because no one really knows,right? Like when you're put into
these positions, what is thepath? And then but now that it's
posed the path you're like, Whatdo I do? So what did you do when
you when you first heard thosewords? It's never good. What ran
(14:22):
through your mind?
Unknown (14:23):
So I never told anyone in my family that I was going
for a second, because I reallydidn't want to worry everyone.
And I think that's the firstthing women think of is like,
alright, I don't want to worrypeople around me unnecessarily.
And my parents are elderly. Myhusband, you know, can be
oblivious.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (14:37):
I think I think as women we try and
shelter that we try and holdthat in and you know, not share
we're nervous. We don't want toupset someone. We think we're in
the wrong. Nic a lot of peopledo that. Yeah.
Unknown (14:51):
Yeah. It's it's a protection. Yeah. So I came home
and I told my husband obviously,you know, and he he's an
optimist. He is an eternaloptimist, I call him oblivious,
because he's really that much ofan optimist. And he's like, I'm
sure it's fine. And that waslike his mantra for the entire,
my entire treatment, I'm sure,it'll be fine. I'm sure it'll be
(15:12):
fine. So that was how he handledit. So I, like I said, I'm very,
very fortunate to be surroundedby a universe of physicians
through my professional life. SoI picked up the phone and I
called the plastic surgeons thatI was close with that are on my
leadership of my my clientsboard. And most of them as you
(15:34):
know, aren't just doing tummytucks and breast enhancements
they do, you know, cancerreconstruction and breast
surgery. So they immediatelysaid, fax me everything, they
looked at my my scans, theylooked at everything, and they
told me essentially, you know,you need to consult with a
breast surgeon. And here'ssomeone, we recommend. Someone,
(15:54):
my family doctor recommended adifferent one in this area. So I
ended up getting threerecommendations from my network.
And then I went in and gotcalled consults and, and I
brought my best friend to one orbrought my husband to another,
and I brought my parents to athird. So I have three different
perspectives. You know, threedifferent support groups, you
(16:16):
know, supported, differently,supportive, different, yeah. And
then once you go to a breastsurgeon, you know, then it
triggers all of these scans, Idid it kind of backwards, I will
tell, I want the audience toknow, a lot of times, your scans
and everything are orderedbefore you see a breast surgeon.
(16:36):
But because my network was sohelpful, I was able to get in
with breast surgeons like almosttoo soon, right? So then I had a
share of all my all my stuffafter the fact. But yeah, you
then you go on a path. And yourpath is scans, scans, nine
scans, everything from brainscans to bone scans to full body
scans, they want to make sureit's nowhere else. And to
(16:59):
backtrack, my cancer was in myright breast, and also in my
lymph nodes. And that wasapparent from the mammogram, and
then the subsequent ultrasound,and then biopsy, obviously,
sure. So all that happens, rightin that first, you know, two
week period of time you'rethrown right in. I mean, there's
I suppose there's
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (17:19):
no time. Yeah, well, I mean, you want to
the quicker the better, I mean,is obviously the in the
timeliness. So what I love you,you keep we keep referring to
and I know a lot of a lot ofcancer patients refer to the
path and then they have thissupport system, and people that
they couldn't really do withoutand I love that you said like I
(17:41):
took three different people dothese three different things.
And every time I talk tosurvivors, they're like, I have
this network of these peoplethat supported me. Who were
those people? You know, becausea lot of people feel like they
can't talk about it. Like youwere saying you're you're trying
to hide it, you're not sure whoto speak to, who to talk to who
(18:02):
is that support system for you.
Unknown (18:05):
So I needed multiple supports. My family needed
different supports. So believeit or not, before I even cared
about myself, I blasted a textout to a network of my parents
friends show 11 year olds agegroup. Sure. And I said, ladies,
some stuffs going on, and I needI need your help. Yeah, he's 11
(18:27):
he's in every sport. He's doinga million things. I don't want
this to impact him. Do I haveyou? You know, you're you're
with me? Yeah. And every singleone of them was like, Oh, my
God, we gotcha. Gotcha. So they,you know, drove him when they
needed to be driven. They tookcare of his son, you know,
anytime we had to do thosesignup geniuses where they
needed to volunteer border, theydid it for us. Yeah. So there
(18:47):
was everybody that was there totake care of my payrolls, a
village, extra village, and youhave to ask, you know, you
really do I did it impulsively,I probably should over shared in
retrospect, like when I thinkabout it, but I was so scared of
what it would do to him and hisdaily life. And my older one was
(19:08):
17 at the time, that's adifferent that's a different
element. But yes, my initial wasthe supports for the 11 year
old. And then, you know, thefrank conversation with my
husband about like, what thismeant, and what I found, and I
don't know other strong womenmarry these men. He was not used
(19:29):
to seeing me need something, orI need
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (19:32):
his help. Well, you were this thing you
were this powerhouse femalerocking it and trend with all
these other right powerhouselike we were saying males and
the political realm and allthese things. It's like and then
to see you vulnerable and beneedy. He's never seen you in
that role. So now you're in thetime of need, it's like a
(19:54):
switch. And now it's sodifferent. So I totally
understand that.
Unknown (19:59):
That's a big Big jump. That's
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (20:00):
a big jump.
Unknown (20:01):
So he you know, we didn't know what we didn't know
yet. Right, you know, at thebeginning still on your path
right there. Yeah. And I gettingmy first treatment. Yeah,
exactly. And I just said, youknow, you're here and he's like,
of course, you know, but hedidn't know what that meant. He
didn't know what it meant him gointo a shop at Wegmans and
Costco and you know, doing Yeah,that,
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (20:20):
well, the things that you write I
understand, right.
Unknown (20:23):
And then my best friend, so I have one friend,
she's, she's your rock, she's myrock, she's she was born, I
don't know, I always do the mathwrong, like six weeks later,
earlier than me. We've beenfriends since childhood. She's
my sister. She was my absoluterock. And she, I could tell her
the bad stuff, I could tell herthe good stuff, I could, you
(20:43):
know, I could share everythingwith her. And I know she
wouldn't obsess over it andworry about it. And she knew the
next day was a new day. I can'tshare all that with other
people. My parents were amazing.But I couldn't share everything
going on with them. And it'sbecome a joke. I used to say,
they'd say How you feeling todayand be like, I'm fine. I'm fine.
(21:06):
And I didn't realize I wassaying I'm fine.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (21:08):
A lot. 99.9% of the time, fine.
Unknown (21:11):
Yes, fine. And my mom would say Stop saying that.
Because we know you're not fine.But they they were in a
different place. It's very hardto see your child, of course
going through that, of course.So yes, different different
jobs. You know, they were greatfor escapes, I can go to their
house and escape and you know,sit on the water and not be in
my space. My Lauren was mytalking pal. She's in New York,
(21:35):
so I didn't see her all thetime. And Ralph was my day to
day, you know, rock.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (21:41):
It's beautiful. You start on this
path. You have your scans, yougot your you're going for your
first treatment, and a lot ofwomen don't know what to expect.
What did you expect to thenpost? What you really went
through?
Unknown (22:00):
Yeah, so you see all the movies and you see people
sitting in the chair. I
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (22:03):
see one more Lifetime movie about this
right now. I know you're like,Yeah, or ER or Chicago. Hope
you're like enough. That wasfrom our back in our day area.
Unknown (22:13):
So I did end up picking this wonderful oncologist, Dr.
grano. She's with MD Anderson.And so my team there was just
amazing. So I, they educate Ithink when you ask enough
questions, and you're educated,that the fear goes away, and
(22:35):
there's always uncertainty,right. You don't know how you're
going to react when they putthat? You know, the needle
noisome? Yeah, yes, them. I hada port installed. So you know, I
had, I didn't have to get intomy veins every time. So I had
the port. My husband was with methe first time nobody else. He
brought his work laptop laptop,he tried to pretend like it was
(22:56):
just a normal doctor's visit. Welooked back at that and kind of
laugh. I brought my laptop, justso I can do some
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (23:02):
thinking you're doing work while you're
sitting there. I'm justguessing. Yeah, some work. Okay.
Unknown (23:06):
Um, and, you know, I did, actually I did, and it's
just very
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (23:12):
low. Everybody takes it differently.
Right? You're trying to make it
Unknown (23:15):
and make it normal? Yeah, yeah. And the nurses are
supportive. It really, you know,I think your experience is like,
educate yourself to the nthdegree, know what you're going
into, and then just deal with itwhen it when it happens. There's
this AC T is the first treatmentthat you typically get. And
that's the one where you loseyour hair. And they have I was
(23:36):
thinking it's called Red Death,a red devil, but that's one of
the AC t as a separate drunk.There's this one that goes up,
and it's this bright red. Andthey would say like, this is,
you know, this is the, this isthe hard one, right? And so
you're like, oh, that's the onethat's making me lose my hair,
or that's the one that's gonnamake me feel sick. And so that's
scary. That first, you know,first infusion. When you see
(24:00):
that go, oh, this is real. Like,this is real. This is happening.
And this is going to be my lifefor the next four months.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (24:08):
And in your story, you said that that didn't
work. And you had to move on toanother bigger decision. Yes.
Unknown (24:17):
So at the end of my four months, I got very sick.
And I handled chemo really well.So I mean, I wasn't, I wasn't, I
didn't have the typicalexperience where you feel like
you're throwing up and nauseousI really felt fine. But I got
hit somewhere early October.With that T of the AC T. And
six, maybe six weeks into that Igot very sick. They determined I
(24:41):
had an allergy allergic reactionto it. So I was in the hospital.
I was getting cultures. I was inthe hospital for days at a time
I had something calledpneumonitis I was neutropenic
which is when your blood catblood white blood cell count
goes down to like one or two.Look like how you know shuld
pale Yeah, sick um And, youknow, those times you have to go
(25:02):
into the emergency room, yourcancer patient emergency room,
it's not really the best placeto be when your white cell white
blood cell count is low. Yeah.So the various times like I had
my son take me one time I had myhusband take me another time,
and then you know, kind ofadmitted. So I had to jump right
back into surgery, right. Sonow, okay, this, they didn't
know, it hadn't shrunk it theway it was supposed to at that
(25:24):
point, but yes, then I have tomake a decision. Am I doing a
lumpectomy? Am I doing amastectomy, I had to get all my
lymph nodes removed. But Ireally, I, it's such a personal
personal choice. I've toldeveryone, even the first
consults I was with mygirlfriend, and I said, you
know, take them off, right? Takethem off, just get rid of them,
(25:47):
every everyone thinks they'regonna say that. I did. until it
was time to make the decision. Ieducated myself enough. And for
me, the the, the reduction andrecurrence of the cancer was not
so much different. For me, if Ihad a lumpectomy versus a
mastectomy, if it's going tolike significantly reduce your
(26:07):
recurrence, take them off, done.Mine wasn't that cut, cut and
dry because I had significantlymph node activity. So my
little cells are floating allover my body already. Right? So
I chose lumpectomy and the fullaxillary dissection of my lymph
nodes, which ended up beingpretty significant.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (26:28):
So one thing that I think that I love
that you're an advocate for isthat, you know, you've always
stressed that everybody'sjourney is different. And and
this is, every time I talk to asurvivor, everybody's story is
(26:48):
different. And I think that is,you know, shown here where
you're saying, everybody's gotto do what they got to do. It's
an it's a difficult decision, nomatter where you're at. Tell us
what happened. Post because Ithink a lot of people, it's
(27:08):
almost like, you have thisadrenaline rush of all the
decisions, right, right beforelike these bigger decisions. I
mean, that's a huge decision,especially as females and how
we're tied to our bodies andeverything like that, that what
was the post, like for somethinglike that
Unknown (27:26):
the post of the surgery or the cost of the treatment
post to the surgery and thesurgery, I think because it was
lumpectomy, I didn't have anykind of drastic, emotional
experience, right? I think whenyou have your breasts removed,
it's much different journey anda different experience. I was
not my breast was not unchanged,right. And I had dents, I had
(27:54):
basically a hole, right in dent,where the lump was removed, and
there was subsequentreconstruction that needed to
get that fixed. So I certainlywas not, I did not look the
same. And I think even with theaccelerate, you know, like the
lymph nodes and the surgerythere, you know, I couldn't lift
my arm for a while I had to gothrough therapy. So there's a
(28:17):
lot that, you know, goes intodifferent surgeries
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (28:20):
and post treatment, what was your thought
post treatment?
Unknown (28:24):
post treatment initially? was okay. I'll tell
you, it's a very oddobservation. I did share with my
oncologist. I kind of had alittle depression, after, not
before, not during, during Iwas, you know, plugging through
I did it all check the boxes,you know, kept, you know, chin
(28:45):
up, positive attitude, you know,mentored other people going
through breast cancer. Myoncologist asked me to talk to
some people about, you know,positive attitude. And when it
was all over, and I wasn'thaving chemo anymore, because I
had to have chemo second time. Icrashed, it was almost like I
was on this adrenaline rush. Iwas balancing work, I was still
working. I never missed a day Idid cancer. I did cancer, I did
(29:06):
cancer. I did, you know,lacrosse recruiting for my son,
I, you know, manage my 1112 yearold, I was running around, I
never really slow down and thenwhen that big chunk got taken
off my calendar, had a lot offree time. And it like hit me in
a weird, depressing way. Andthen I turned that into filling
(29:27):
that free time, not with moreclients, but with volunteerism.
And I got involved with thingsin my community I got involved
with rescue for dogs. And thenCOVID Yeah, I was doing all that
volunteerism really, duringCOVID.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (29:45):
So basically when this depression
hit, you are trying to fill allthe void.
Unknown (29:51):
Yeah, yeah, I wasn't depressed. I wasn't sick. Right.
I was I realized that like I hadjust been on such a high I'm so
productive. Like I wasproductive during cancer.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (30:04):
And I don't think I've ever heard anybody
say that. No, God bless you. So
Unknown (30:08):
there's their words help. Yeah, right on steroids.
up at three in the morninganswering emails, I guess
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (30:13):
you'd be the best person asked about work
life balance in a weird way, ina weird way. I feel strange just
making that connection, but Ifeel like but you are like a
gogogo. And I and I know thatyour volunteerism means a lot to
you. Do you want to share whatwhat are some of your places
that you support?
Unknown (30:34):
So I, I volunteered, I haven't done it in recent in
recent time, but I volunteeredwith match dog rescue, which is
a dog rescue in our in our area.I think the founder was
originally from Morristown, Idid that for several years, not
only fostering but also gettinginvolved with the matching up of
charities. So that was a lot offun. I got, of course, a rescue
(30:58):
through that point, you know,through that process to get to,
and probably the most rewardingof that experience was fostering
of a mom, a mom, puppy who, whohad puppies in my home, and we
kept her that was a foster fail.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (31:12):
I didn't give any of the policy couldn't
like our like
Unknown (31:15):
our her she was she was really quite, you know, when you
take care of a mom, who'sbirthing a baby and nursing and,
you know, that was that was agreat experience. And then, you
know, I decided to get involvedwith the community and I ran for
election for the Board ofEducation in Morristown, and I'm
on on the spend two years. Andthat's been a great experience.
(31:37):
I mean, that's kind of broughtme back to, you know, giving
back to the community thatsupported me. I think that even
getting elected, I think a lotof the people that I got to
know, I guess they got to knowme better through my cancer,
because I was probably a littlemore private, pre cancer and got
a little bit more sherry. Yeah,after cancer, so relationships
(32:01):
that I had gotten more nurtured,because I was willing to kind of
show my flaws and some of myweaknesses and, you know, should
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (32:10):
be public. And I think that's a beautiful
thing that you could share that.You've also shared that, you
know, you have had otherailments and how you feel that
they are connected to thesetreatments that you had for
cancer, do you? Can you share usthat story of now. Now you're
in, you know, how many years areyou now are from
Unknown (32:34):
cancer free as of 2019.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (32:37):
So congratulations.
Unknown (32:39):
Thank you. Yes, so I had hormone receptor positive
cancer, which means estrogendrives my cancer, so I have to
be on something called aromataseinhibitors. Some people are on
Tamoxifen. I'm on thesearomatase inhibitors. So there's
three options with that medicineand they just basically suppress
and suck out all the estrogen inyour body. Whatever's left
(33:02):
postmenopausal. So in theprocess of that things happen,
right? I mean, there's reactionsto that. And since cancer, I
have had probably five or sixsurgeries to fix, like bone,
ligament joints kind of things.I've had knee replacement. I've
had bilateral carpal tunnelsurgery, I've had trigger finger
(33:26):
surgery. I lose track, right. Imean, I had the reconstruction,
but that's unrelated to that. Ihave had scans since my scans my
original Sure. Where am Ioriginal scans. All I had was
breast cancer. Now all my scans,I have arthritis from my
shoulders to my feet. I've hadincidental findings. Oh,
(33:50):
originally, when I first gotscanned, I had a mass in my
brain. When I first gotdiagnosed with breast cancer. It
was just a meningioma meningiomathat many of us have, but it was
an incidental finding. And theimpact of an incidental finding
is you're tracking it for life.Right, right. So I have to get
my brain scan every year just tomake sure that meningioma is
doing the right thing. I havefound a mass on my lung. That's
(34:14):
very serious, because that'swhere breast cancer goes. Sure.
And bone brain and yeah, lung.So that was found because I, you
know, wasn't feeling myself. Ihad a, you know, cough for a
while, you know, all thesethings I didn't have they were
trying to diagnose me withasthma. I never had asthma
before, did a scan, find a masson my lung tracking that. So
(34:36):
it's been a journey of adifferent path, where
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (34:41):
it's like a secondary journey that You're
reliving all this all over now.
Unknown (34:45):
Yeah. And I think I went into the depression at some
point later, because cancer is abox you check off and you finish
it and it's done. Right? Yeah.And you think Alright, then I'm
done. And then I'm on thissurvivorship and you just hope
it does. and come back, crossingyour fingers, your fingers, do
everything you do eat well tryand you know, kind of, you know,
(35:05):
treat yourself well. But allthis other stuff, there's no
end. So you know, having a kneereplacement, I have to have my
left done. You don't have tohave my other one done soon.
Like, there's no end to this,like this has kept me from, you
know, walking across lacrossefields to see my son play this
is this is cost me quality oflife where the treatment of
(35:27):
cancer did not. Right.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (35:30):
So how are you getting up every day? What
what's getting making? Let's getnew through the day? Because I
think if it was any other femalewomen that I know, I mean, you
have it's like such a weight onyour shoulders. How do you? How
do you get up every day? Whatkeeps you going every day with
this?
Unknown (35:48):
Oh, gosh, well, I love my job. I love what I do. And I
have a great support system. Ithink, you know, working,
keeping busy, I had the benefitof working for myself through
treatment and post treatmentthat I can set my own schedule,
and I can have a funky morningif I want. I really can't, I
don't I'm not accountable toanyone at nine in the morning.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (36:08):
And to let women know that it's okay. It's
okay.
Unknown (36:11):
It's okay, have a bad day. I mean, I you know, I don't
put my bad days on other people,you know, like, but if I'm just
having a bad day where I'm justlike, my joints are killing me,
and I'm just not feeling great.I just start my day at 11. You
know, I start my hat that Ihave, I know I have that
privilege to do that having myown business. But I just you
know, you have to say that youhave to let people know, I just
don't feel 100% You know,sometimes I kind of just
(36:34):
absorbed into my bubble and Ibinge watch some shows, and it
just won't be as social, right?Because I know, my body hurts,
you know, but that's okay. Myson, I mean, I, you know, my 11
year old is now 16. You know, hedoesn't want to see me, you
know, laying in bed and youknow, nursing my joints, you
know, so that motivates me toget up and be active with him.
(36:57):
You know that? I think familyyou know, just I have my friend
ship, same friend Lauren, whocalls me every morning at eight
o'clock saying Good day. I'mlike, good day. Today.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (37:07):
I'm fine. I'm fine. What, what, as we wrap
up? What what can you share outof out of all this? First off?
It's a huge learning experience,right being like this, you know,
getting the diagnosis to thetreatment to the in and outs of
(37:27):
the medical professionals. Imean, of course, you had a
little bit of a connectionthere. Many people don't,
they're literally just flyingblind. You have the support
system, you you're you're tiedwith the community you're giving
back. I mean, I don't even knowI could go on for a 20 more
minutes of everything that youdo. What can you share with
(37:49):
other women that are goingthrough this journey? What would
you tell them
Unknown (37:53):
keep positive. I mean, it's very hard not to stay
positive. But I think a lot ofthe success I did have during my
treatment was because I had apositive outlook. And I don't
know how to I worked with otherbreast cancer patients at the
time, who were not. And theystruggled, they really struggled
every time they went forinfusion was a was a traumatic
(38:14):
experience. And your body justabsorbed that energy. You have
to you have to find somethingpositive going on. You have to
stay positive and you have totalk to people. And you have to
pick the right team. And youdon't know what the right team
is. Go with your gut. You know,I had three choices. I think
they all would have been fine.Yeah, right. But I had a
(38:35):
connection with one eye. And thereason I picked her was she
didn't rush me out of the room.She spent significant amount of
time with me, she answered allmy questions. She gave me her
phone number, she gave me heremail. I knew that was a person
that I was going to have forlife. And right now I could text
her right now and telling herI'm doing this and she'd be
like, Oh my God, when is itgoing to air out? Listen, you
(38:56):
know, so I found that support inmy treatment world. And I think
that's what people need to dostay positive, and surround
yourself with the right people.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (39:08):
Well, I think you have been such a
beautiful influence in thecommunity, to my journey. I
thank you for being here today.I want to, you know, remind
women what you said about thatevery woman's cancer journey is
unique. Everybody has their ownstory. Thank you for sharing
your story. Thank you for beinghere. While we were talking. I
(39:31):
write down all these positivewords. And I turn them into kind
of hashtags and I'm gonna readthem and then I want you to tell
me what your personal hashtagis. Okay, so these are just some
keywords that I've been writingdown through through our
discussion today. Advocatelobbyist, nonprofit cultural
mentors, networking, educated,fear goes away, normal attitude,
(39:58):
success. Enter. Gee, be brave,be bold, help support new day
team. Depression. Keep positive.What's your hashtag flooding?
Unknown (40:13):
Hashtag I'm fine.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (40:16):
I love it. Thank you so much for joining us
today where can people contactyou if they have questions or
they want to find out about anamazing lobbyist? Where are we
sending them?
Unknown (40:30):
So you can reach me at Claudine at nj gac.com. My
company's New Jersey GovernmentAffairs Council,
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (40:37):
thank you so much for joining us today.
Thank you. We will be back nextmonth with another powerful
woman on the Baron s Take care.Thanks.
Jason Varga (40:47):
You've been listening to the rcbc bareness
podcast which highlights womenin leadership while encouraging
listeners to build their skills,connect with the community and
visualize the opportunitiesavailable to women in various
professions. For moreinformation about this podcast
or other podcasts available onthe rcbc Podcast Network, visit
rcbc.edu/podcast And be sure tosubscribe to the rcbc bareness
(41:08):
podcast available on allstreaming platforms.
Welcome to Rowan College and Burlington
counties Baroness Podcast. I'mDr. Brooke Mailhiot program
chair and assistant professor ofour entertainment technologies
department. I am the co-chair ofthe Women's Advocacy Group a
subcommittee of the President'sAdvisory Council on diversity,
equity and inclusion. Thismonthly series highlights women
(00:21):
in leadership while encouraginglisteners to build their skills,
connect with the community andvisualize the opportunities
available to women in variousprofessions. Tune in for a
female perspective on theBurlington County community. We
are here to listen to theseamazing women and if you want to
(00:41):
hear from women who lead andinspire this podcast is for you.
Welcome to our October podcastand boy, if I have an inspiring
woman to meet today, it is MissClaudine Leone. Oh my goodness.
Miss Leone is an attorney withover 25 years of experience and
(01:04):
legislative and regulatoryadvocacy work in government
affairs in Trenton, New Jersey.She began her career as a
contract lobbyist with thePrinceton public affairs group.
Trenton's largest lobbying firm,and recently is been inducted
into Senator Weinberg's annualwomen's powerless names of the
(01:24):
most influential femalelobbyists, journalist,
government officials, and anadvocate who influences public
policy across New Jersey. And ontop of all that, you're a breast
cancer survivor. Thank you forjoining us today.
Unknown (01:40):
Thank you for having me.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (01:41):
So that was a lot. Because I feel like every
time I see you, you are alwaysdoing 20 million things. You
wear so many hats. We've been inthe community together. I mean,
I've only been in the communityfor five years, you have been in
the Morristown community formany, many years. How many
years? Have you been here? 20years? Yes, yes. And, you know,
(02:05):
when we've been working in thecommunity together, you are a
female that I look up to, and tonow hear about your journey and
know more about your journey.I'm just so excited that you're
here today. You're You're apowerful woman, and I just want
to just share that. So thankyou.
Unknown (02:20):
Oh, thank you. I appreciate that.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (02:22):
Tell me about this powerhouse of a job.
You're an advocate. You'reworking in government affairs,
you're this powerful lobbyist.Tell me about like, your day to
day, what are you doing?
Unknown (02:39):
So when I graduated from law school, I really had an
affinity for legislative andregulatory work, I, I really did
think I was going to be in aboring desk job at the
Securities and ExchangeCommission. I mean, that really
was what excited me.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (02:55):
Well, that sounds fun, ya
Unknown (02:58):
know, so I did, I did touch base with that a little
bit, I did a couple ofinternships. And then I met a
lobbyist in Trenton didn't knowanything about that world. And I
invited him to do a speakingseries and ended up getting, you
know, familiar with what he didand picked his brain and
thought, Wow, this might reallybe my calling. I was fortunate
(03:21):
enough to be hired by thisgentleman. And that was the firm
you mentioned, and was trainedunder that, you know, incredible
company for years. And then Iwent out on my own and created
my own boutique lobbying firm,that was kind of coincided the
same time you start a family. SoI really took control of my
destiny and worked for myself.At the time, you know, we got
(03:45):
married and started having kids.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (03:47):
I mean, that's a big step for a female,
right? You're you're justgetting into your professional
life as a young woman, you'restarting a family, what What
made you do that leap? Because Ithink a lot of women in that age
and that timeframe of their lifewith their professions just
starting out, are very scared todo that. What made you take that
(04:08):
powerful jump,
Unknown (04:09):
it wasn't easy. You know, it was it was I had
something in between where I didgo work for a law firm for about
a year. And that made thetransition to going out on my
own a little bit of an easierchoice, because I saw what my
options were. And I knew whilewe can have it all, having
control of your own hours anddestined Satan's destiny and
(04:32):
your client load was importantto me at that time. And I really
could be frank, make the samemoney, or possibly more likely
more, doing it on my own. Andthat seems strange to everyone
if they think they can work fora company but you know, I can
choose whether I want six or 20clients and in times of my life,
(04:56):
you know, six worked and timesof my life 12 worked, and I come
back Once that and I can decideif I'm, you know, going to
actively pursue more clients ortake a chill.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (05:06):
So what is your specialty with your
clients? What is what is yourwheelhouse that you're doing,
Unknown (05:11):
I discovered quickly that my wheelhouse was working
with nonprofit associations.It's really a personality and
culture, strength. I've hadcorporate clients, I do very
well with corporate clients, butthat that volunteerism, the
people that run nonprofits andassociations, except for maybe
(05:32):
their executive director, it'sall volunteer base. And they're
very passionate about what theydo and what they're advocating
for. I ended up getting bychance, not by interest thrown
into the health care world. So Idid a lot of work with, you
know, pharmaceutical companies,I did a lot of work with
(05:52):
physician, actual specialspecialties, and insurance
related things. And I ended upreally focusing on the
healthcare provider world. So Irepresent Family Medicine,
internal medicine, emergencymedicine, and plastic surgeons.
Those are my healthcare clients.I do have other clients, which
(06:12):
are somewhat related to womenand children and health is I
represent the American CampAssociation, which is our summer
camps.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (06:22):
Where we're just coming off a summer camp.
So I mean, you know, is now likea busy season for you or is it
kind of died down now it now is
Unknown (06:30):
now is a relaxing time now all the camp directors have
spent their time you know,they're exhausted, they all take
the action, some point inSeptember, and then they come
back game bucks clusters inNovember, yeah, they're ready
for the next season. They'relike,
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (06:43):
we need to stop canoeing for a minute and
pull it together and then take abreak. And then what have been
some of your most challengingsituations that you've been put
in? And how did you overcomethem in this kind of space?
Because being a female, I thinkwould be maybe the number one
challenge. But,
Unknown (07:04):
you know, I would say that coming into Trenton in
1995. As a female lobbyist, wewere very far and few between,
we had a couple of our kind ofolder mentors at the time, that
there were some major powerhousewomen probably like three or
four of them, that ran campaignsfor Governor Whitman at the
(07:27):
time. And they started their ownlobbying firms. And you know,
they were just the ladies,right? Yeah. And that was it.
And then there was a bunch of uslittle, you know, just starting
out, we were in completeminority. I mean, yeah, like,
back then maybe there was like,10 of us out of an inch. You
know, yeah, of course, you know,hundreds of lobbyists. I had
(07:48):
great mentors in my first firm,they really encouraged and
nurtured us. You know, thepartners were all men at the
time. But I don't I think thatthey knew that we women can
Yeah, get it done. Yeah, sure.And I could see, even in that
firm, the the few women thatwere there we were, we were
(08:10):
there the longest, we stayed thelatest, and we just absorbed
like sponges. So, um, I thinkmost people think of lobbying,
as, you know, kind of the boysclub. And in that era,
definitely. And I mean, it wasdefinitely hard to break in. I
(08:30):
didn't golf, right. I didn't,I'm not a drinker. I'm not a
bark, I'm gonna go hang out bar,
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (08:35):
I am not a golfer either. My husband tries
I know, I just it's, I justcan't pick it up. As you know,
as much
Unknown (08:43):
as I know, it would have contributed and improved my
career. I just couldn't get intoit. But I never I personally,
never had a negative interactionwith any male legislators or
male colleagues in that world. Ido know that it happens. And
Senator Weinberg, who youmentioned, really has dug into
that, over the years and, youknow, has been advocating for
(09:07):
the women that work in Trentonand the administration.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (09:12):
And now you use this word mentors. And I
think, you know, that's, that'ssomething that a lot of our
students here at rcbc arelooking for. What would you say?
And what kind of advice wouldyou give a young woman that's
starting off trying to become alobbyist? You know, the
(09:33):
landscape has changed,obviously, what kind of what
kind of advice would you give ayoung woman right now trying to
get into this field?
Unknown (09:43):
So there's, there's a lot of us now. So there's a lot
of women and there'sparticularly a lot of younger
women. There's two parts tothat. I guess, Brooke, I was
trying to think I do have a lotof younger lobbyists that I work
with regularly. And we alwaystalk about trying to put
something together, where we'regoing I have a networking
dinner. Sure, or some officialway to put us all in the same
(10:05):
room. Because we don't all knoweach other. If we're not
working, I do a lot of healthcare. So I may not know the
environmental, right? Oh, femalestaff, there's
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (10:11):
so many different sub beauties and
categories of this. Yeah. So toput
Unknown (10:16):
all of us in, you know, some sort of opportunity to say,
hey, even if it's just acocktail hour, just invite over.
But I think from the ones thathave reached out to me, that's
what I would recommend. So Ihave two women who proactively
just said, I want you to mentorme, you know, like, talk to me.
(10:36):
How did you get here? My surepath? Yeah. How did you end up
opening your business? Like,yeah, how are you standing next
to these guys? You know, theythey feel your
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (10:44):
story is powerful. How do you want to
share? Yeah,
Unknown (10:47):
so I think it's be brave, be bold. Don't be afraid
to ask for help. Don't beafraid, even if it's a Not, not
a female mentor. I mean, there'sso many I had male mentors. And
I had, you know, at leastseveral female mentors, as I
started opening my business andkind of my different
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (11:07):
and what were their takeaways, the male
mentors? Are they providing youwere
Unknown (11:12):
providing more of the tactical? Like how to do the
job? Sure, right, where thefemale mentors might really know
what your balancing act might,you know, the challenges Oh of
your life? Sure. So I think thatI had the male mentorship in the
right timeframe of my life, Idon't think I would be as
successful as I am, but for thetraining I got from them. And
(11:36):
then later on dealing withwatching some of my more my
senior mentors, sell theirbusinesses move on retire, kind
of like looking at like, is thatgoing to be my path? Am I going
to do this another 20 years andthen sell my business off? Or am
I just, you know, going to, whatam I going to do? So I they're,
they're more practical? They'realways more understanding of the
(12:00):
bigger picture. I think.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (12:02):
So you're this powerhouse of a lobbyist.
You're, you're in Trenton,you're doing your thing.
Everything's good. Kids are intheir young 1011. And then,
around 2018. The ball drops, bigball. What happened in 2018?
Unknown (12:30):
So no, I wouldn't say just because I'm involved in
health care, but I'm a verydiligent person with my health
care. So I don't miss an annualphysical. I don't miss an annual
GYN appointment. I had my normalGYN appointment, got my script
to go get my mammography,normal, you know, just go go and
get it done. And I got a callthe next day that something was
(12:53):
off, and I had to go back. Andmy GYN who I've known for years,
had just gone through breastcancer herself. So she was
pretty, pretty frank with me atthat time and says, I don't
think this is going in the rightdirection. So you know, get
there soon. So I did, and itwas, and I always, I always tell
everyone, you know, when I firstwhen you're there getting your
(13:16):
second mammogram and your andyour ultrasound, I wasn't
nervous. I don't know if I wasin denial. But I was just like,
alright, if it is what it is. Igot it. Yeah, done. Right. Take
care of it. So radiologists thatcame in was an old guy. And he
says, Well, Miss, you have a youhave a mouse. And I said, was
(13:39):
that? Is that? always bad? Yeah,like any goes? It's never good.
Okay.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (13:48):
So that's, that's some news you want to
hear? Luckily, it wasn't likethe
Unknown (13:53):
best bedside manner but Right. Yeah. And then that was
it. I mean, I started the path.I mean, the path is,
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (13:59):
but lots of people don't know the path. What
How did you even know the path?Like what what? Like, what was
the I always ask this to people?What do you do? What do you do?
Because no one really knows,right? Like when you're put into
these positions, what is thepath? And then but now that it's
posed the path you're like, Whatdo I do? So what did you do when
you when you first heard thosewords? It's never good. What ran
(14:22):
through your mind?
Unknown (14:23):
So I never told anyone in my family that I was going
for a second, because I reallydidn't want to worry everyone.
And I think that's the firstthing women think of is like,
alright, I don't want to worrypeople around me unnecessarily.
And my parents are elderly. Myhusband, you know, can be
oblivious.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (14:37):
I think I think as women we try and
shelter that we try and holdthat in and you know, not share
we're nervous. We don't want toupset someone. We think we're in
the wrong. Nic a lot of peopledo that. Yeah.
Unknown (14:51):
Yeah. It's it's a protection. Yeah. So I came home
and I told my husband obviously,you know, and he he's an
optimist. He is an eternaloptimist, I call him oblivious,
because he's really that much ofan optimist. And he's like, I'm
sure it's fine. And that waslike his mantra for the entire,
my entire treatment, I'm sure,it'll be fine. I'm sure it'll be
(15:12):
fine. So that was how he handledit. So I, like I said, I'm very,
very fortunate to be surroundedby a universe of physicians
through my professional life. SoI picked up the phone and I
called the plastic surgeons thatI was close with that are on my
leadership of my my clientsboard. And most of them as you
(15:34):
know, aren't just doing tummytucks and breast enhancements
they do, you know, cancerreconstruction and breast
surgery. So they immediatelysaid, fax me everything, they
looked at my my scans, theylooked at everything, and they
told me essentially, you know,you need to consult with a
breast surgeon. And here'ssomeone, we recommend. Someone,
(15:54):
my family doctor recommended adifferent one in this area. So I
ended up getting threerecommendations from my network.
And then I went in and gotcalled consults and, and I
brought my best friend to one orbrought my husband to another,
and I brought my parents to athird. So I have three different
perspectives. You know, threedifferent support groups, you
(16:16):
know, supported, differently,supportive, different, yeah. And
then once you go to a breastsurgeon, you know, then it
triggers all of these scans, Idid it kind of backwards, I will
tell, I want the audience toknow, a lot of times, your scans
and everything are orderedbefore you see a breast surgeon.
(16:36):
But because my network was sohelpful, I was able to get in
with breast surgeons like almosttoo soon, right? So then I had a
share of all my all my stuffafter the fact. But yeah, you
then you go on a path. And yourpath is scans, scans, nine
scans, everything from brainscans to bone scans to full body
scans, they want to make sureit's nowhere else. And to
(16:59):
backtrack, my cancer was in myright breast, and also in my
lymph nodes. And that wasapparent from the mammogram, and
then the subsequent ultrasound,and then biopsy, obviously,
sure. So all that happens, rightin that first, you know, two
week period of time you'rethrown right in. I mean, there's
I suppose there's
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (17:19):
no time. Yeah, well, I mean, you want to
the quicker the better, I mean,is obviously the in the
timeliness. So what I love you,you keep we keep referring to
and I know a lot of a lot ofcancer patients refer to the
path and then they have thissupport system, and people that
they couldn't really do withoutand I love that you said like I
(17:41):
took three different people dothese three different things.
And every time I talk tosurvivors, they're like, I have
this network of these peoplethat supported me. Who were
those people? You know, becausea lot of people feel like they
can't talk about it. Like youwere saying you're you're trying
to hide it, you're not sure whoto speak to, who to talk to who
(18:02):
is that support system for you.
Unknown (18:05):
So I needed multiple supports. My family needed
different supports. So believeit or not, before I even cared
about myself, I blasted a textout to a network of my parents
friends show 11 year olds agegroup. Sure. And I said, ladies,
some stuffs going on, and I needI need your help. Yeah, he's 11
(18:27):
he's in every sport. He's doinga million things. I don't want
this to impact him. Do I haveyou? You know, you're you're
with me? Yeah. And every singleone of them was like, Oh, my
God, we gotcha. Gotcha. So they,you know, drove him when they
needed to be driven. They tookcare of his son, you know,
anytime we had to do thosesignup geniuses where they
needed to volunteer border, theydid it for us. Yeah. So there
(18:47):
was everybody that was there totake care of my payrolls, a
village, extra village, and youhave to ask, you know, you
really do I did it impulsively,I probably should over shared in
retrospect, like when I thinkabout it, but I was so scared of
what it would do to him and hisdaily life. And my older one was
(19:08):
17 at the time, that's adifferent that's a different
element. But yes, my initial wasthe supports for the 11 year
old. And then, you know, thefrank conversation with my
husband about like, what thismeant, and what I found, and I
don't know other strong womenmarry these men. He was not used
(19:29):
to seeing me need something, orI need
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (19:32):
his help. Well, you were this thing you
were this powerhouse femalerocking it and trend with all
these other right powerhouselike we were saying males and
the political realm and allthese things. It's like and then
to see you vulnerable and beneedy. He's never seen you in
that role. So now you're in thetime of need, it's like a
(19:54):
switch. And now it's sodifferent. So I totally
understand that.
Unknown (19:59):
That's a big Big jump. That's
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (20:00):
a big jump.
Unknown (20:01):
So he you know, we didn't know what we didn't know
yet. Right, you know, at thebeginning still on your path
right there. Yeah. And I gettingmy first treatment. Yeah,
exactly. And I just said, youknow, you're here and he's like,
of course, you know, but hedidn't know what that meant. He
didn't know what it meant him gointo a shop at Wegmans and
Costco and you know, doing Yeah,that,
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (20:20):
well, the things that you write I
understand, right.
Unknown (20:23):
And then my best friend, so I have one friend,
she's, she's your rock, she's myrock, she's she was born, I
don't know, I always do the mathwrong, like six weeks later,
earlier than me. We've beenfriends since childhood. She's
my sister. She was my absoluterock. And she, I could tell her
the bad stuff, I could tell herthe good stuff, I could, you
(20:43):
know, I could share everythingwith her. And I know she
wouldn't obsess over it andworry about it. And she knew the
next day was a new day. I can'tshare all that with other
people. My parents were amazing.But I couldn't share everything
going on with them. And it'sbecome a joke. I used to say,
they'd say How you feeling todayand be like, I'm fine. I'm fine.
(21:06):
And I didn't realize I wassaying I'm fine.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (21:08):
A lot. 99.9% of the time, fine.
Unknown (21:11):
Yes, fine. And my mom would say Stop saying that.
Because we know you're not fine.But they they were in a
different place. It's very hardto see your child, of course
going through that, of course.So yes, different different
jobs. You know, they were greatfor escapes, I can go to their
house and escape and you know,sit on the water and not be in
my space. My Lauren was mytalking pal. She's in New York,
(21:35):
so I didn't see her all thetime. And Ralph was my day to
day, you know, rock.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (21:41):
It's beautiful. You start on this
path. You have your scans, yougot your you're going for your
first treatment, and a lot ofwomen don't know what to expect.
What did you expect to thenpost? What you really went
through?
Unknown (22:00):
Yeah, so you see all the movies and you see people
sitting in the chair. I
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (22:03):
see one more Lifetime movie about this
right now. I know you're like,Yeah, or ER or Chicago. Hope
you're like enough. That wasfrom our back in our day area.
Unknown (22:13):
So I did end up picking this wonderful oncologist, Dr.
grano. She's with MD Anderson.And so my team there was just
amazing. So I, they educate Ithink when you ask enough
questions, and you're educated,that the fear goes away, and
(22:35):
there's always uncertainty,right. You don't know how you're
going to react when they putthat? You know, the needle
noisome? Yeah, yes, them. I hada port installed. So you know, I
had, I didn't have to get intomy veins every time. So I had
the port. My husband was with methe first time nobody else. He
brought his work laptop laptop,he tried to pretend like it was
(22:56):
just a normal doctor's visit. Welooked back at that and kind of
laugh. I brought my laptop, justso I can do some
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (23:02):
thinking you're doing work while you're
sitting there. I'm justguessing. Yeah, some work. Okay.
Unknown (23:06):
Um, and, you know, I did, actually I did, and it's
just very
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (23:12):
low. Everybody takes it differently.
Right? You're trying to make it
Unknown (23:15):
and make it normal? Yeah, yeah. And the nurses are
supportive. It really, you know,I think your experience is like,
educate yourself to the nthdegree, know what you're going
into, and then just deal with itwhen it when it happens. There's
this AC T is the first treatmentthat you typically get. And
that's the one where you loseyour hair. And they have I was
(23:36):
thinking it's called Red Death,a red devil, but that's one of
the AC t as a separate drunk.There's this one that goes up,
and it's this bright red. Andthey would say like, this is,
you know, this is the, this isthe hard one, right? And so
you're like, oh, that's the onethat's making me lose my hair,
or that's the one that's gonnamake me feel sick. And so that's
scary. That first, you know,first infusion. When you see
(24:00):
that go, oh, this is real. Like,this is real. This is happening.
And this is going to be my lifefor the next four months.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (24:08):
And in your story, you said that that didn't
work. And you had to move on toanother bigger decision. Yes.
Unknown (24:17):
So at the end of my four months, I got very sick.
And I handled chemo really well.So I mean, I wasn't, I wasn't, I
didn't have the typicalexperience where you feel like
you're throwing up and nauseousI really felt fine. But I got
hit somewhere early October.With that T of the AC T. And
six, maybe six weeks into that Igot very sick. They determined I
(24:41):
had an allergy allergic reactionto it. So I was in the hospital.
I was getting cultures. I was inthe hospital for days at a time
I had something calledpneumonitis I was neutropenic
which is when your blood catblood white blood cell count
goes down to like one or two.Look like how you know shuld
pale Yeah, sick um And, youknow, those times you have to go
(25:02):
into the emergency room, yourcancer patient emergency room,
it's not really the best placeto be when your white cell white
blood cell count is low. Yeah.So the various times like I had
my son take me one time I had myhusband take me another time,
and then you know, kind ofadmitted. So I had to jump right
back into surgery, right. Sonow, okay, this, they didn't
know, it hadn't shrunk it theway it was supposed to at that
(25:24):
point, but yes, then I have tomake a decision. Am I doing a
lumpectomy? Am I doing amastectomy, I had to get all my
lymph nodes removed. But Ireally, I, it's such a personal
personal choice. I've toldeveryone, even the first
consults I was with mygirlfriend, and I said, you
know, take them off, right? Takethem off, just get rid of them,
(25:47):
every everyone thinks they'regonna say that. I did. until it
was time to make the decision. Ieducated myself enough. And for
me, the the, the reduction andrecurrence of the cancer was not
so much different. For me, if Ihad a lumpectomy versus a
mastectomy, if it's going tolike significantly reduce your
(26:07):
recurrence, take them off, done.Mine wasn't that cut, cut and
dry because I had significantlymph node activity. So my
little cells are floating allover my body already. Right? So
I chose lumpectomy and the fullaxillary dissection of my lymph
nodes, which ended up beingpretty significant.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (26:28):
So one thing that I think that I love
that you're an advocate for isthat, you know, you've always
stressed that everybody'sjourney is different. And and
this is, every time I talk to asurvivor, everybody's story is
(26:48):
different. And I think that is,you know, shown here where
you're saying, everybody's gotto do what they got to do. It's
an it's a difficult decision, nomatter where you're at. Tell us
what happened. Post because Ithink a lot of people, it's
(27:08):
almost like, you have thisadrenaline rush of all the
decisions, right, right beforelike these bigger decisions. I
mean, that's a huge decision,especially as females and how
we're tied to our bodies andeverything like that, that what
was the post, like for somethinglike that
Unknown (27:26):
the post of the surgery or the cost of the treatment
post to the surgery and thesurgery, I think because it was
lumpectomy, I didn't have anykind of drastic, emotional
experience, right? I think whenyou have your breasts removed,
it's much different journey anda different experience. I was
not my breast was not unchanged,right. And I had dents, I had
(27:54):
basically a hole, right in dent,where the lump was removed, and
there was subsequentreconstruction that needed to
get that fixed. So I certainlywas not, I did not look the
same. And I think even with theaccelerate, you know, like the
lymph nodes and the surgerythere, you know, I couldn't lift
my arm for a while I had to gothrough therapy. So there's a
(28:17):
lot that, you know, goes intodifferent surgeries
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (28:20):
and post treatment, what was your thought
post treatment?
Unknown (28:24):
post treatment initially? was okay. I'll tell
you, it's a very oddobservation. I did share with my
oncologist. I kind of had alittle depression, after, not
before, not during, during Iwas, you know, plugging through
I did it all check the boxes,you know, kept, you know, chin
(28:45):
up, positive attitude, you know,mentored other people going
through breast cancer. Myoncologist asked me to talk to
some people about, you know,positive attitude. And when it
was all over, and I wasn'thaving chemo anymore, because I
had to have chemo second time. Icrashed, it was almost like I
was on this adrenaline rush. Iwas balancing work, I was still
working. I never missed a day Idid cancer. I did cancer, I did
(29:06):
cancer. I did, you know,lacrosse recruiting for my son,
I, you know, manage my 1112 yearold, I was running around, I
never really slow down and thenwhen that big chunk got taken
off my calendar, had a lot offree time. And it like hit me in
a weird, depressing way. Andthen I turned that into filling
(29:27):
that free time, not with moreclients, but with volunteerism.
And I got involved with thingsin my community I got involved
with rescue for dogs. And thenCOVID Yeah, I was doing all that
volunteerism really, duringCOVID.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (29:45):
So basically when this depression
hit, you are trying to fill allthe void.
Unknown (29:51):
Yeah, yeah, I wasn't depressed. I wasn't sick. Right.
I was I realized that like I hadjust been on such a high I'm so
productive. Like I wasproductive during cancer.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (30:04):
And I don't think I've ever heard anybody
say that. No, God bless you. So
Unknown (30:08):
there's their words help. Yeah, right on steroids.
up at three in the morninganswering emails, I guess
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (30:13):
you'd be the best person asked about work
life balance in a weird way, ina weird way. I feel strange just
making that connection, but Ifeel like but you are like a
gogogo. And I and I know thatyour volunteerism means a lot to
you. Do you want to share whatwhat are some of your places
that you support?
Unknown (30:34):
So I, I volunteered, I haven't done it in recent in
recent time, but I volunteeredwith match dog rescue, which is
a dog rescue in our in our area.I think the founder was
originally from Morristown, Idid that for several years, not
only fostering but also gettinginvolved with the matching up of
charities. So that was a lot offun. I got, of course, a rescue
(30:58):
through that point, you know,through that process to get to,
and probably the most rewardingof that experience was fostering
of a mom, a mom, puppy who, whohad puppies in my home, and we
kept her that was a foster fail.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (31:12):
I didn't give any of the policy couldn't
like our like
Unknown (31:15):
our her she was she was really quite, you know, when you
take care of a mom, who'sbirthing a baby and nursing and,
you know, that was that was agreat experience. And then, you
know, I decided to get involvedwith the community and I ran for
election for the Board ofEducation in Morristown, and I'm
on on the spend two years. Andthat's been a great experience.
(31:37):
I mean, that's kind of broughtme back to, you know, giving
back to the community thatsupported me. I think that even
getting elected, I think a lotof the people that I got to
know, I guess they got to knowme better through my cancer,
because I was probably a littlemore private, pre cancer and got
a little bit more sherry. Yeah,after cancer, so relationships
(32:01):
that I had gotten more nurtured,because I was willing to kind of
show my flaws and some of myweaknesses and, you know, should
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (32:10):
be public. And I think that's a beautiful
thing that you could share that.You've also shared that, you
know, you have had otherailments and how you feel that
they are connected to thesetreatments that you had for
cancer, do you? Can you share usthat story of now. Now you're
in, you know, how many years areyou now are from
Unknown (32:34):
cancer free as of 2019.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (32:37):
So congratulations.
Unknown (32:39):
Thank you. Yes, so I had hormone receptor positive
cancer, which means estrogendrives my cancer, so I have to
be on something called aromataseinhibitors. Some people are on
Tamoxifen. I'm on thesearomatase inhibitors. So there's
three options with that medicineand they just basically suppress
and suck out all the estrogen inyour body. Whatever's left
(33:02):
postmenopausal. So in theprocess of that things happen,
right? I mean, there's reactionsto that. And since cancer, I
have had probably five or sixsurgeries to fix, like bone,
ligament joints kind of things.I've had knee replacement. I've
had bilateral carpal tunnelsurgery, I've had trigger finger
(33:26):
surgery. I lose track, right. Imean, I had the reconstruction,
but that's unrelated to that. Ihave had scans since my scans my
original Sure. Where am Ioriginal scans. All I had was
breast cancer. Now all my scans,I have arthritis from my
shoulders to my feet. I've hadincidental findings. Oh,
(33:50):
originally, when I first gotscanned, I had a mass in my
brain. When I first gotdiagnosed with breast cancer. It
was just a meningioma meningiomathat many of us have, but it was
an incidental finding. And theimpact of an incidental finding
is you're tracking it for life.Right, right. So I have to get
my brain scan every year just tomake sure that meningioma is
doing the right thing. I havefound a mass on my lung. That's
(34:14):
very serious, because that'swhere breast cancer goes. Sure.
And bone brain and yeah, lung.So that was found because I, you
know, wasn't feeling myself. Ihad a, you know, cough for a
while, you know, all thesethings I didn't have they were
trying to diagnose me withasthma. I never had asthma
before, did a scan, find a masson my lung tracking that. So
(34:36):
it's been a journey of adifferent path, where
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (34:41):
it's like a secondary journey that You're
reliving all this all over now.
Unknown (34:45):
Yeah. And I think I went into the depression at some
point later, because cancer is abox you check off and you finish
it and it's done. Right? Yeah.And you think Alright, then I'm
done. And then I'm on thissurvivorship and you just hope
it does. and come back, crossingyour fingers, your fingers, do
everything you do eat well tryand you know, kind of, you know,
(35:05):
treat yourself well. But allthis other stuff, there's no
end. So you know, having a kneereplacement, I have to have my
left done. You don't have tohave my other one done soon.
Like, there's no end to this,like this has kept me from, you
know, walking across lacrossefields to see my son play this
is this is cost me quality oflife where the treatment of
(35:27):
cancer did not. Right.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (35:30):
So how are you getting up every day? What
what's getting making? Let's getnew through the day? Because I
think if it was any other femalewomen that I know, I mean, you
have it's like such a weight onyour shoulders. How do you? How
do you get up every day? Whatkeeps you going every day with
this?
Unknown (35:48):
Oh, gosh, well, I love my job. I love what I do. And I
have a great support system. Ithink, you know, working,
keeping busy, I had the benefitof working for myself through
treatment and post treatmentthat I can set my own schedule,
and I can have a funky morningif I want. I really can't, I
don't I'm not accountable toanyone at nine in the morning.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (36:08):
And to let women know that it's okay. It's
okay.
Unknown (36:11):
It's okay, have a bad day. I mean, I you know, I don't
put my bad days on other people,you know, like, but if I'm just
having a bad day where I'm justlike, my joints are killing me,
and I'm just not feeling great.I just start my day at 11. You
know, I start my hat that Ihave, I know I have that
privilege to do that having myown business. But I just you
know, you have to say that youhave to let people know, I just
don't feel 100% You know,sometimes I kind of just
(36:34):
absorbed into my bubble and Ibinge watch some shows, and it
just won't be as social, right?Because I know, my body hurts,
you know, but that's okay. Myson, I mean, I, you know, my 11
year old is now 16. You know, hedoesn't want to see me, you
know, laying in bed and youknow, nursing my joints, you
know, so that motivates me toget up and be active with him.
(36:57):
You know that? I think familyyou know, just I have my friend
ship, same friend Lauren, whocalls me every morning at eight
o'clock saying Good day. I'mlike, good day. Today.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (37:07):
I'm fine. I'm fine. What, what, as we wrap
up? What what can you share outof out of all this? First off?
It's a huge learning experience,right being like this, you know,
getting the diagnosis to thetreatment to the in and outs of
(37:27):
the medical professionals. Imean, of course, you had a
little bit of a connectionthere. Many people don't,
they're literally just flyingblind. You have the support
system, you you're you're tiedwith the community you're giving
back. I mean, I don't even knowI could go on for a 20 more
minutes of everything that youdo. What can you share with
(37:49):
other women that are goingthrough this journey? What would
you tell them
Unknown (37:53):
keep positive. I mean, it's very hard not to stay
positive. But I think a lot ofthe success I did have during my
treatment was because I had apositive outlook. And I don't
know how to I worked with otherbreast cancer patients at the
time, who were not. And theystruggled, they really struggled
every time they went forinfusion was a was a traumatic
(38:14):
experience. And your body justabsorbed that energy. You have
to you have to find somethingpositive going on. You have to
stay positive and you have totalk to people. And you have to
pick the right team. And youdon't know what the right team
is. Go with your gut. You know,I had three choices. I think
they all would have been fine.Yeah, right. But I had a
(38:35):
connection with one eye. And thereason I picked her was she
didn't rush me out of the room.She spent significant amount of
time with me, she answered allmy questions. She gave me her
phone number, she gave me heremail. I knew that was a person
that I was going to have forlife. And right now I could text
her right now and telling herI'm doing this and she'd be
like, Oh my God, when is itgoing to air out? Listen, you
(38:56):
know, so I found that support inmy treatment world. And I think
that's what people need to dostay positive, and surround
yourself with the right people.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (39:08):
Well, I think you have been such a
beautiful influence in thecommunity, to my journey. I
thank you for being here today.I want to, you know, remind
women what you said about thatevery woman's cancer journey is
unique. Everybody has their ownstory. Thank you for sharing
your story. Thank you for beinghere. While we were talking. I
(39:31):
write down all these positivewords. And I turn them into kind
of hashtags and I'm gonna readthem and then I want you to tell
me what your personal hashtagis. Okay, so these are just some
keywords that I've been writingdown through through our
discussion today. Advocatelobbyist, nonprofit cultural
mentors, networking, educated,fear goes away, normal attitude,
(39:58):
success. Enter. Gee, be brave,be bold, help support new day
team. Depression. Keep positive.What's your hashtag flooding?
Unknown (40:13):
Hashtag I'm fine.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (40:16):
I love it. Thank you so much for joining us
today where can people contactyou if they have questions or
they want to find out about anamazing lobbyist? Where are we
sending them?
Unknown (40:30):
So you can reach me at Claudine at nj gac.com. My
company's New Jersey GovernmentAffairs Council,
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (40:37):
thank you so much for joining us today.
Thank you. We will be back nextmonth with another powerful
woman on the Baron s Take care.Thanks.
Jason Varga (40:47):
You've been listening to the rcbc bareness
podcast which highlights womenin leadership while encouraging
listeners to build their skills,connect with the community and
visualize the opportunitiesavailable to women in various
professions. For moreinformation about this podcast
or other podcasts available onthe rcbc Podcast Network, visit
rcbc.edu/podcast And be sure tosubscribe to the rcbc bareness
(41:08):
podcast available on allstreaming platforms.
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The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!