The Power of Positivity & Community with The Pink Agenda's Samantha Golkin-Nigliazzo

“I didn’t slump over and start crying. I felt I had power,” says Samantha Golkin-Nigliazzo, an 11-year breast cancer survivor about receiving her diagnosis early thanks to vigilant screening and self-advocacy. More than a decade after her diagnosis, she now empowers others by serving as the vice president of The Pink Agenda and co-chair of the organization's Education Committee. The Pink Agenda is a nonprofit organization committed to raising money for breast cancer research and care, as well as awareness of the disease among young professionals. 

 

On this episode of Why Didn’t They Tell Us? Samantha speaks to host Leslie Randolph about the importance of positive thinking and reframing, the necessity for a supportive community, and how to serve as a compassionate caretaker when someone you love is facing a diagnosis. 

 

Samantha discusses the elements of what psychologist Martin Seligman called PERMA, the positive psychology acronym which lists the five elements of well-being and why she gravitates toward Jordyn Feingold’s adapted approach of REVAMP which encompasses relationships, engagement, vitality, accomplishment, meaning, and positive emotion. She explains the toll “scan-xiety” can have on those awaiting a result and why caretakers should take their cues, day-by-day, from those they love. 

 

Join today’s episode to hear Samantha’s message of hope and the power of positive thinking and community. 

 

Quotes

• “Breast cancer is terrible. Breast cancer sucks. There’s no other word for it, but knowing that you’re called back and called back, the anxiety, ‘Is it something? Is it nothing? It could be a calcification. It could be a cyst. It could be benign. It could be this; it could be that.’ That’s what dissuades people from being on top of their health and getting their screening.” (9:11 | Samantha Golkin-Nigliazzo)
• “I realized all those things that I had lived were things that have science-based research as to why they give you a life of elevated well-being, an elevated quality of life. I thought to myself, ‘Does that aid in risk? Does that aid in ultimate prognosis? The answer is, ‘Yes.’ ” (13:39 | Samantha Golkin-Nigliazzo)
• “One of the things that I love about having community, being around people who have shared experiences—especially in the breast cancer world—is that it gives you hope. It gives you this perspective that the people around you are living and thriving and doing good things with their lives.” (38:55 | Samantha Golkin-Nigliazzo)
• “There’s hope in community.” (40:00 | Samantha Golkin-Nigliazzo)

 

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