Look Good Feel Better Shows Cancer Patients Their Beauty.
In this episode, “The Goodness Factor with Shelley Wade” shines the spotlight on “Look Good Feel Better,” which teaches beauty techniques to cancer patients to help them manage the appearance-related side effects of cancer treatment. Shelley’s guests–including Look Good Feel Better Foundation Executive Director Louanne Roark, makeup artist/volunteer Rudy Miles, and program participant/cancer survivor Suzanne Cormier–share with us the Look Good Feel Better experience from each of their unique perspectives.
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[Episode Transcript]
Hi, this is Shelley’s sister, Trina, and this is The Goodness Factor with Shelley Wade.
Welcome to The Goodness Factor. I’m Shelley Wade, radio personality, currently heard here on Audacy’s 94.7 The Block, New York City, where you’ll hear me playing your favorite throwbacks every weekday afternoon, 2 to 7 p.m. Other listeners may know me from where I got my radio start in my hometown of Houston at 97.9 The Box. Then there were the 12 years I was on air at the world famous Z100 New York, and other years where I was on air at 104.3 MyFM Los Angeles and Star 94.1 San Diego.
I am so excited to finally get The Goodness Factor out of my head and into your ears. I have been walking around with The Goodness Factor idea floating around my head for a good minute now, and I’m so excited to finally share it with you. Thank you so much for joining me for the first episode. So I was inspired to create The Goodness Factor for a number of reasons. First of all, I have to say that it saddens me how poorly some human beings treat other human beings. But I’m not one to constantly harp on negativity. I mean, if I want to see goodness, I’ve got to be it, right? When they say, be the change you want to see. So I want to use my platform for goodness. And this is one of the ways I’m doing it by creating The Goodness Factor podcast and sharing it with you. Another reason I was inspired to create The Goodness Factor is I noticed that my whole life, I’ve been inspired by people like Dr. King, like Oprah, like Mr. Rogers. They were always people that I absolutely adored. And it occurred to me that I loved them, all of them specifically because they were good people doing good things and putting goodness out into the universe. And so I said, you know, that’s what I’m attracted to and that’s what I want to put out there. We’ll be releasing new episodes every Tuesday, so be sure to subscribe to The Goodness Factor on the Audacy app or wherever you get your podcasts. So you won’t miss any of the new episodes and you’ll be immediately notified when a new episode drops.
So what’s The Goodness Factor all about? Well, as an antidote to the daily drum beat of bad, negative and sad news in our 24-hour news cycle, with The Goodness Factor with Shelley Wade, I want to constantly remind you that there are actually good people in this world doing good things. And in each episode, I’ll introduce you to some of them. I’ll be interviewing both celebs and regular people alike, shining the spotlight on the good deeds they’re doing. Each episode begins with The Goodness Report, where I’ll share inspiring stories the world over about goodness, kindness and compassion. Then I’ll interview and shine the spotlight on a person, a celeb or a regular person, who is actively doing good things to benefit others. I call them the do-gooders, and so it’ll be the do-gooder interview. Then each episode ends with the good word, words of inspiration, positivity and encouragement from yours truly. So without any further delay, let’s get episode one underway.
Today’s Goodness Report is about a five-year-old kid near Jacksonville, Florida, who kept calling 911 asking for a pepperoni pizza. Now, you know, you know that if you or I, the big grown adults, were to call 911 constantly asking for a pepperoni pizza, we would probably get in trouble, but not this adorable little kid. So some police officers swung by Domino’s and brought him a pepperoni pizza. Now, I don’t think that’s necessarily the message we want to send to this little five-year-old kid that if you keep calling 911, you will definitely get your pepperoni pizza. But I’ll give the police officers a pass on this one because it was pretty adorable. Yeah, they brought him his pepperoni pizza, and then they posted a photo on social media and joked that, quote, justice and a delicious meal had been served that day. End quote. Super adorable. And that’s your goodness report for the episode.
All right, let’s shine the spotlight on some do-gooders. Today, I’m introducing you to Look Good Feel Better. I became aware of Look Good Feel Better about a year ago when I hosted their Beauty Care’s Dream Ball here in New York City. I was instantly blown away by how amazing this program is. It’s a public service program that teaches beauty techniques to people with cancer to help them manage the appearance-related side effects of cancer treatment. The program includes lessons on skin and nail care, cosmetics, wigs and turbans, accessories and styling, helping people with cancer find some sense of normalcy in a life that is by no means normal. We’re going to talk to Look Good Feel Better Foundation executive director Louanne Roark, as well as Look Good Feel Better volunteer Rudy Miles, who in his normal day-to-day life is a New York Fashion Week makeup artist, inventor, educator, entrepreneur, beauty pro, licensed esthetician, an all-around amazing person. So we’re going to talk to him, as well as speaking of amazing people, Suzanne Cormier, who is a Look Good Feel Better program graduate and cancer survivor.
This is the Do Gooder interview.
Joining me now is Look Good Feel Better Foundation executive director Louanne Roark. And so the purpose of Look Good Feel Better, in your own words, what would you say?
Look Good Feel Better is really a program that is intended to help women, men, teens who are undergoing cancer treatment and having appearance side effects from treatment, which happened pretty frequently, to help them understand how they can manage and cope with those appearance side effects and to be able to sort of regain that sense of themselves so that when they look in the mirror, they’re not looking at someone unrecognizable to them, but that person that they’re used to, and to really infuse them with a sense of confidence and a sense of hope and the ability to move both through their treatment and beyond.
Because, you know, going through cancer is hard enough, and then when you’re going through the treatments, to lose that sense of confidence can make it worse. So you guys are doing a great service. When did Look Good Feel Better get its start?
Look Good Feel Better started in 1989, so we are celebrating 35 years this year, our 35th anniversary.
Happy Anniversary!
Thank you!
What are you doing special to celebrate?
Well, we are doing a lot of things this year. We are updating many things, our website, for example, our content, our branding, and we hosted our first global affiliate meeting in five years. About two weeks ago, we have 26 global affiliates who offer Look Good Feel Better workshops around the world. And we had not been able to get together because of COVID, unfortunately. So we hosted that this year as well.
I was so taken by the fact that you guys are the world over, because I thought it was just an organization here in the States. So you have memberships all over the world.
We do. You know, what was so interesting is that started very early after we launched Look Good Feel Better in the US. It originated here. And within a year, some of the global beauty industry, the beauty industry is behind the program, helps to fund it, and has helped us sort of grow and expand through the relationships across the globe through trade organizations in various countries. And I believe Australia was the second program to start. And it just sort of started to roll out from there. So over these 35 years, we now have 26 affiliates in addition to the US program. And that experience, I have to say, among patients is universal. We hear the same thing from a patient in Argentina that we hear from a patient in Germany, that we hear from a patient in North America or New Zealand.
Don’t move. More of the goodness factor is next.
And so I first became aware of Look Good Feel Better last year when my agent, Heather, shout out to Heather Cohen, reached out to me. And she says, Hey, there’s this great organization, Look Good Feel Better. And they are looking for someone to host their dream ball. I’m like, dream ball. And so she introduced me to you guys and you had me host the dream ball. And I was amazed. First of all, it was so beautiful. And the fact that so many organizations in the beauty industry came together and celebrate it, Look Good Feel Better and raised so much money. Do you have the final number? Can you think of it off the top of your head of how much they raised? You guys raised at the dream ball?
Yes, I do. I remember that number well. We raised $1.28 million last year. We were thrilled about it. It was the first time since COVID began where we had gotten back to that level set, I would say, in terms of our fundraising and the attendance was amazing. We filled the room and we’re spilling over on the edges.
Louanne, do you think that it was my influence that you guys were able to raise so much money?
Well, I will say, Shelley, I will give you some credit for that because I think you contributed to it. Because between you and Pat Tully, who was our auctioneer, you guys were a great team. You were an amazing team together.
He did an amazing job. And what an impact. Over a million dollars for cancer patients to help them feel good.
And listen, if anyone listening to The Goodness Factor podcast wants to donate, how can they donate?
The easiest way to donate would be to go to our website, which is lookgoodfeelbetter.org. And there’s a donate button right at the top of that homepage. And they just can click right through and choose whichever level of giving they would like to participate in. They could also, if they are within the beauty industry, they could participate in the Dream Ball. And they could also potentially volunteer. So there are lots of opportunities to give back.
So would you like the opportunity to shout out any of Look Good Feel Better sponsors because they contribute so much to the cause?
It’s hard to call just one out because there are so many. But I will say that we owe so much to the whole range of beauty industry companies that support us. And it’s all the brands that you would think about when you think about beauty products. They are all participating in this program, providing us financial support, providing us volunteers, providing us product donations that are put into kits that women use as tools in the class to learn. And I also will call out our health care partners, our hospital alliance partners who help us to deliver in-person programming in local cancer centers and treatment centers as well.
Is there anything that you want to add that I may not have asked you about?
What I would like to add is that this program, we’re told repeatedly from women who participate in it, this program is sometimes the turning point for people in their treatment because it’s a low moment often when they look in that mirror and they don’t recognize who’s looking back at them and they don’t know what to do. So we give them the tools and the confidence and the courage to take hold of that, control it and move on. So it’s often a very critical turning point and a real opportunity that they don’t always get to come together as a community with other people who are having exactly the same experience and be able to share and interact and hopefully create some friendships and some long term interaction and engagement together. I will also call out our volunteers. We have tremendous volunteers all over the country and they are extraordinary individuals who give of their time so freely and so generously. So we can’t forget our volunteers.
Louanne just expressed it, how very important Look Good Feel Better volunteers are. And one of those very important volunteers, Rudy Miles, is joining me now. How did you hear about Look Good Feel Better the first time?
So the interesting thing is, I used to work in corporate America for Aveda, which is a division of Estee Lauder.
Yeah, I mean, I love going, even passing by an Aveda store. Especially if you go in, it just smells so clean and fresh.
Yes, and one year, part of our bonusable objectives was that we had to do something community-oriented. And I was a makeup artist for the company, and I wanted to do, I don’t know where I heard about the foundation either. I think one of my coworkers’ sister had cancer. Somewhere I heard about the foundation, so I filled out the application to volunteer with the foundation. But at that time, I was not a licensed professional. So you can volunteer to set up the room or, you know, clean up after the workshops, but you can’t touch patients unless you’re a licensed professional cosmetologist or esthetician. At that time, I was not licensed, so I could not volunteer the way I wanted to. So I walked away. I was like, oh, well, forget that. You know, I can’t even do makeup. I’m a makeup artist. Not knowing the value of setting up the room or cleaning up afterwards. So even for cancer patients, sometimes they have neuropathy where they can’t open the packages for the makeup in the workshop. I could have opened the packages for them, but my mind wasn’t there. So I walked away. Fast forward, I don’t know, eight years, nine years later, I went back to school to get my esthetician’s license. And I was like, oh, I’m licensed now. I can go back to Look Good Feel Better.
And you remembered almost a decade later.
It had been on my mind that the license was the reason I couldn’t volunteer the way I wanted to. And it was something about helping cancer patients use makeup to cope with their appearance-related side effects that interest me. And I went back and they trained me and took me and I started volunteering.
Wow.
And, you know, just looking at you now, you’re like, I read about you, that you’re one of the most diverse makeup artists in the entire industry.
Well, that’s kind.
And then also you’re like a head makeup artist for New York Fashion Week. You have all of these huge jobs and responsibilities, but you still want to take your time. And you’re doing this out of the kindness of your heart. You’re not getting paid for it.
Absolutely not. Absolutely not.
You’re moved to do it, close to a decade now, you’ve been volunteering?
And the fun part is I started as just a general volunteer, where we used to do workshops in person, and some are still in person. So you would go to the location and you would have like 10, 8, whatever, participants in the room. So I started as a general volunteer. And then one of the program managers saw me and she said, you should be a trainer. And I was like, absolutely not. She said, no, really. Then they held a training in Chicago. And I became one of the three national trainers for the program. So I went from general volunteer to an area trainer and then to a national trainer for the program.
OK, so for people who aren’t familiar with the breakdown of how it works, it looked good, feel better, and you’re saying general volunteer. We don’t know what that means.
Yes.
So can you explain that?
Absolutely. So really, with a general volunteer, what you do is you have a region. So here I’m on the East Coast. So my region was New York, New Jersey. Most of the time I did workshops in New York. So I would do workshops only for the New York partners. And we would have in-person workshops for cancer patients. They were two hours long. You cover hair care, wigs, and then you cover makeup, skin care. Then you become a area trainer. So I would train other general trainers for the East Coast. So I would train other trainers who are also in New York and New Jersey how to do the workshops. When you’re a trainer, it’s time management, it’s facilitation, it’s understanding, reading the room. These are cancer patients, so sometimes someone can’t do a step or they don’t feel well. You have to really, it’s not like a class, it’s really their workshop. And then the national trainers, we train all the trainers in the nation for their regions how to train their trainers locally. So it’s three-tiered, yeah.
So you’re a national trainer now. I know you’ve volunteered with Look Good Feel Better for a decade now, close to a decade, and I feel like you have to do something celebratory to mark your 10th year with volunteering your time with Look Good Feel Better. You should think about doing something. I’m not talking about popping a bottle of champagne, but doing something even more amazing than you already do all the time.
I like that.
Ten is a nice round number. You should do something celebratory. Maybe even have a bigger class. I don’t know. Do some sort of, you know how people do fundraiser to raise funds? Absolutely. Maybe you could do that, but, you know, invite more estheticians and makeup artists.
I love that.
And hairstylists to, you know, join. You know, just something, you know, to, you know, just put more goodness out there.
You know what?
Yeah.
I could easily do that by partnering with some of the salons that I know and maybe hold an event in person and maybe partner with a brow company who could donate brow products so they could draw their brows in. And I know all these partners. Shelley, stop! I got chills!
This is The Goodness Factor. We want to keep on, you know, we want to shine the spotlight on people like you who are doing goodness, putting goodness out there. And we want to keep the ideas rolling as to how people can keep going with the goodness, you know? I’m excited now, you know, because I follow you on social, so I can’t wait to see. And your handle, your social handle is so groovy. Beauty by Rudy.
Yes.
It was like it was meant to be. Yes.
When I left my corporate job, I had quickly learned, someone said you have to brand yourself. I had no idea what that even meant, because even when the same person said to me, you know, you should leave your job and do your own thing, I was like, I can’t leave my corporate job. And this was like “before the 2008, you know, right after 2008 recession or whatever. And I was like, I can’t leave my corporate job. He was like, listen, you could do this on your own. You’re in New York, da da da. And like, I said, why can’t I do it on my own? So I started to think of names for myself. And I was like, you know, at work, they used to call me Rudy Miles.
Because you have a great smile too, by the way. I was complaining about my smile, but we’ll talk about that later.
And what I love is that, you know, I followed you on socials before I met you in person. And I watched some of your reels on Instagram and your smile just jumps out at you.
Thank you.
You know, it’s brightness and kindness that comes out of you.
I try to maintain that. This is part of the volunteerism. People say, I don’t like to use the word humbling, because that’s not really what it is, but it’s like connection. Like I need that connection to something bigger than myself. Because if I think about my industry, it’s really in general. I don’t want to offend any of my clients, but it’s kind of superficial. Like my beauty, what I do editorially, like when I do photo shoots or Fashion Week, you know, it’s really fantasies, glitz and glamour. Those models don’t care about the makeup because they’re getting a check and they’re going to wash it off. We’re there to work. But when you’re working with the cancer patients, that makeup is so meaningful because they really want to cover their redness from chemo. They really want to draw their eyebrows back on because they’ve lost their brows from treatment. So the makeup means so much more. So when I’m in that mode and able to use my craft that way, it just fills me up in a different way so that I can stay connected. When I was in corporate, they used to call me celebrity makeup artist. That was my whole bio because in corporate, they needed that so I could get connected to celebrities. But when I left corporate, I had to take a step back and say, but is that true? I have done some celebrities, but that’s not what I do day to day. Day to day, I am a makeup artist and I just want to work. o when I removed that moniker from myself, it gave me so much more freedom to just be a makeup artist and just share my craft wherever it is. That’s why you see in my work, I’m all over the place. Fashion week, product development, photoshoots, skincare, because I’m a licensed esthetician, classes, workshops.
I just like to work. I just like to work.
The Goodness Factor resumes after this.
And so let’s get back to it, because I can get off on so many sidebars. But the important thing is you remember where you left off, because you were saying they called you Rudy Miles.
Right.
So Rudy Miles. And then people are like, oh, that’s okay. And then I was like, what about Beauty by Rudy?
I see it has a ring to it.
I love the rhyming.
Right.
You can play with it. If I come up, my official hashtag is All the Rage with Shelley Wade, because it rhymes, right? People remember it.
That’s true. And people are like, no, Shelley, you smile a lot. I can’t see rage fitting you. And I’m like, no, there’s a different meaning to the phrase all the rage. It means what am I excited about right now? So it’s not the negative connotation. It’s the what everybody’s excited about. What am I excited about? So I love the rhyming because people will remember it. As soon as I read Beauty by Rudy, I remembered it.
Oh, wow, that’s awesome. And that’s how it came to be. So that’s who I am. Some people just call me that as part of my editorial name or my credits. And then that just built the platform for me to start thinking, like, now that I’m on my own, I could do whatever I want. There was a point when I finally left corporate and I had to go out to the salon to do a workshop, an event, rather. And I had my lunch break. And I went to lunch and I was having my lunch. And I was like, oh, I could have a glass of wine with lunch. Now, I’m on my, like, no one can say because we were working. It was like no drinking, doing work hours, da, da, da. I was like, I could have a glass of wine with lunch. Like, it was such a freeing thought, you know. But it opened up the door for me to really start creating products and created makeup artists’ face charts where you can chart your makeup looks. It just gave me the gateway to really, as the guy told me, build my brand so I could become known for who I am in the industry.
So Rudy, can you share, and I know again, you’ve done this volunteer work with Look Good Feel Better for so many years now. Do you have like maybe one or two experiences with a cancer patient where you made such a huge difference in their lives, where it touched your spirit that you wouldn’t mind sharing with us?
Oh my gosh, Shelley. I know it’s a lot of them, but…I will tell you, during training for the program, when they’re training us, they tell you it will be emotional. Like you’re going to see people who may be dying, and you can’t cry. Like they may want to tell their story, and you let people avoid…You have two hours. Like you don’t want to be disrespectful and say, oh, you know, we have to move on. But you do have to move on because you have two hours, and you want to be mindful of everyone’s time. So they say, you know, you can’t cry because, you know, it’s going to be emotional. And the first workshop, I will never forget, I finished. The ladies did not want to leave. Like they were like, hey, what about this? I said, oh, ladies, come on, go, go. You have things to do. I closed the door and just bawled. I just… Because when they came in, you know, you have to remember, ladies come in, they may have just come from treatment. So they may be weak, they’re quiet, you know, they’re kind of sort of participating. Then halfway through the room is lively and bubbly and festive, and you have interaction. And it’s like two hours, they get to remove themselves from that angst and that heaviness of cancer to do something else. And so that’s when I knew this was going to be good for me, that I can do this because I was able to shift the room just by engaging and make sure each participant had their own experience based on the steps that we do. You know, it’s not cookie cutter. Even though we’re teaching the same step, we make sure each person does it their own way. It’s not like when I’m teaching makeup artists, I’ll just say right and wrong. That’s what you don’t want in this workshop to give them the anxiety of like, am I doing it right? It’s not about that.
It’s about just play, do it, explore. So that was one where I cried at the end of it. The other one was this lady, I’ll never forget her. She was just cantankerous. She didn’t want to do anything. She hated it all. This isn’t my color. I don’t like this product. At one point, I come over. She had done a really great brow. I said, your brow looks great. She said, no, it doesn’t. This is terrible. I said, here, just take your eyeliner. Right here, in my heart. Just stab me. Just take me out. She laughed. She goes, stop it. Come on, you know you’re doing great. She goes, okay, I’ll do the other one. Then she played along. It’s not about me. It’s not personal. It’s about those participants and how can I get them to engage in their way in those two hours?
Yeah, a couple of things that stand out for me during our conversation is the fact that you said a few minutes ago that not only are you making these patients feel good about themselves after treatments, you know, the hair, the makeup and all of that, but also the community when they come in, you know, to a workshop. It’s community, which is why you say halfway through the workshop, everyone’s, you know, laughing and participating and there’s joy in the room because it’s community.
Absolutely.
And it’s, you know, like you said, taking their minds off of the cancer battle if just for a couple of hours.
It’s shared experience that I can’t contribute that part to their conversation, but even my naiveté, not understanding for some of these women, is their second or third time through cancer. And one time we had a mother-daughter going through breast cancer together.
Yes.
So it’s so impactful to see the hope in their eyes. In that workshop, they sometimes will share, I’m going to get through this. You know, no one really knows, but at least that’s attitudes. Apparently, it’s half of it. So just to know amongst each other, they can say, oh yeah, I had that treatment, and this is how I went through it. You know, exactly, support. And to always with a stranger. And who knows what happens afterwards, how many of them stay in contact, but it matters.
That’s beautiful.
It is.
And then, you know, it matters, and just, you know, want to say to you that what you do matters. I know you know that already, but you know, it needs to be said, what you do matters. It matters a lot, not only to, you know, look good, feel better, but also to the cancer patients. And, you know, just society as a whole, because, you know, just us sharing this story may inspire other people to get out there and do some more kind things and put more goodness out into the universe. It matters. What you do matters. And so I just want to say thank you.
So that makes me laugh, only because when I was a young person, I used to… You could adopt like a child in like Peru or whatever. That was like in my 20s, and you could send them money every month. I guess $18 or something. I don’t remember. So I had this kid that I had signed up for this charity, and I was doing it, and then my brother somehow saw my thing. He’s like, that’s a scam. You should be sending out your money. And I was like, no, it’s not. And then I stopped because I thought maybe it was. So years later, when I thought about it again, I was like, giving money is definitely value. So would Look Good Feel Better, the money makes it possible for us to get product and for us to get volunteers and spaces. So I’m not saying don’t donate, but for me, donating my time was more sustainable, was much more sustainable. So that’s why that came to be.
More of The Goodness Factor is just ahead.
Suzanne Cormier is a Look Good Feel Better program graduate and cancer survivor. She joins me now. Look Good Feel Better, we’ve spoken with Louanne, we’ve spoken with Rudy, and now I’m so happy to speak with Suzanne Cormier. You are a person who’s representing everyone who’s benefited from the great things they do at Look Good Feel Better. When you get the news that you are battling cancer, I mean, was that something that just took the breath out of you? What was that experience, if you don’t mind sharing with us?
Yeah, not at all. Yeah, I think that’s the perfect way of saying it, is taking the breath out of you. So I was initially diagnosed in 2016, and at the time I was 27 years old. I’d been married for six months at the time, starting that next chapter of my life, and really wasn’t ever anticipating news like that, let alone then. And at that age, I can still tell you exactly where I was standing when I got the phone call from the doctor. I was in the middle of the mall next to a bedding section at a JCPenney. And I could tell you exactly which tile in that JCPenney I was standing on. I could spot tell you where I was.
What did you do in that moment? I can’t imagine.
In that moment, I ended up just running out of the mall, get into my car, get into a place that I could feel it, I guess. And then I called my mom, and I went right to see my mom, and I knew she was right around the corner, and was able to see my mom right away. And that was a sense of that support that I needed in that moment, and always.
The person who loves you most in the world, of course. And so at which point during your journey, did you become aware of Look Good Feel Better?
So my diagnosis, one of the things that I didn’t know until I was in the moment of it all was how complex diagnoses these are, and how much testing and rigor and planning around treatment there is. So there’s several different types of breast cancer. The type I’ve been diagnosed with is called triple negative, and it is known as one of the most aggressive types of breast cancer. So treatment plans are determined very differently based on each individual and what they find. So for me, that resulted in biologic testing of the actual mass itself to make sure they understood the progression or what type it was to how to treat that. That testing can take upwards of a month to get all the results back.
While you’re waiting.
You’re waiting, not knowing how bad this is, hearing the word cancer and thinking obviously the worst. And so during that period of time, it’s all the ruminating thoughts and all of the self-exploration online, of course, which can be good, bad and indifferent and grasping at the things that can give you hope. So I ended up having a bilateral mastectomy, which is the surgical removal of both breasts. With that, something that I was not fully anticipating. And then I did six months of chemotherapy. With the chemotherapy, I met counselors at the chemo center. And that’s when I was introduced to Look Good Feel Better as programming that was available to me as a complimentary program, but something that also, it’s not just about the beauty side of things. It’s about reintroducing some normalcy.
Yeah. Going through all that, you were going through at that moment, just learning of it yourself and trying to figure things out. You can not feel like yourself. And so, it’s not like, as you just said, it’s not like, oh my God, I gotta look so gorgeous. You’re like, I just want to return to some sense of who I was before this. And so you were introduced to Look Good Feel Better as an option. Did you immediately decide to explore that option?
No, I didn’t. It was something that I was hesitant to explore because, one, I’ve always been somebody who I enjoyed makeup, so I didn’t necessarily see the value at first. But I also, it wasn’t necessarily in that moment my top priority. But then as I began to lose my eyelashes, my eyebrows, so not so much even my hair, but some of the defining features of your face, it really started to make me feel like I looked tired, looked sick. And I was somebody who chose not to wear a wig, not to wear a head covering and really embrace being bald. For me, it was my chapter. And in that moment, it was also a way to be able to have conversation with other young women of start that conversation of why was I in this condition or shape or appearance. Once I finally had the courage to say, you know, might as well try it. What do I have to lose? I was actually more disappointed in myself for not trying it sooner. It was just such a alleviating, supportive atmosphere. The room was in a small counseling room at the cancer center locally. There was maybe 10 other women there at the time when I participated. It was an in-person session that that facility was able to offer. The beauty of progression and technology since when I first participated is now we have virtual sessions with Look Good Feel Better. So continuing to grow, to adapt, to reach even more individuals affected, individuals that I was in that room with at all ages, different diagnoses, different stages, different experiences. Yet we all could bond over this fact that our skin was itchy from the chemotherapy, and maybe we didn’t know how to properly clean makeup brushes now to stay safe. And so even though we’ve done makeup before, you never had to do makeup before as a cancer patient. You never had to think how do I put eyelashes on if I don’t even have eyelashes? How do I draw eyebrows if they don’t exist?
There’s so much that we don’t consider because when I just heard you say cleaning your makeup brushes so that, you know, it’s safe for you, I never thought about that. You know, of course, you want to make sure that your makeup utensils are clean so that you don’t break out. But this literally could affect your health because, you know, you’re so vulnerable going through your treatments.
Absolutely. So it’s really looking at not only how can you do this in a way that’s low effort for you, but it’s going to keep you safe, you know, using disposable sponges or cotton swabs. Just focusing on some of the most simple and basic principles of wash your hands, wash them again, stay moisturized, keep your skin from cracking.
Don’t put things in an open wound. Simple, basic things that you need to be told that in that moment, because you’re on information overload at the point of treatment, that you need that supportive, kind, loving approach of one, you’re worthy of beauty no matter what you’re going through. And that beauty is within, but what allows you to feel that maybe it’s a coat of lipstick, maybe it’s Vaseline, because everybody’s a little different. Maybe it’s drawn on eyebrows. Maybe it’s not. You know, there’s one girl who drew on eyebrows with this bright blue eyeliner. She used the technique on how to draw on eyebrows, but they were blue. She goes, when could I do this otherwise? I’m like, you’re not wrong.
So expressing her form of creativity, you know, at the same time. So I imagine when you’re in the room with everyone from Look Good Feel Better, we’re at all of the participants, your fellow patients, the volunteers who are, you know, the makeup artists, the estheticians. It’s more than just about doing your makeup, but the human connection, you know, with not only the people who are basically being caretakers, teaching you how to care for yourself, but also with your fellow patients where you could, I imagine, feel somewhat alone going through your journey.
Definitely.
So camaraderie.
Yeah, it’s absolutely camaraderie would be the word I would use to define that. It’s this moment where realistically when you’re diagnosed, naturally the instinct of the people who care about you and are around you is one of concern, but it can also come off at times as pity. I don’t want pity. I want to be Suzanne. And when you’re in a room with other people who are going through it, that’s all you are to them is Suzanne. And you’re able to be seen as yourself, but understood for that layer of complexity that life has now added. And you don’t even have to talk about it.
Can you share with me your fondest moment with Look Good Feel Better?
Oh my goodness.
Because how long have you been involved with them now? Are you volunteering yourself?
I’m not volunteering currently through programming, but I do provide my support to the Foundation in many ways, raising awareness, sharing it with other individuals that I know as I meet them at doctor’s appointments, sharing techniques that I’ve learned. I think my fondest memory overall isn’t a singular memory, but it’s a feeling. And it’s just this feeling of hope that every time I interact with the staff and the volunteers, see the products, see the marketing and the campaigns across my social media. It gives me this hope that there’s understanding that when you’re going through big things, the little things matter too. And that there’s people who know not to lose sight of keeping the humanity in healthcare. Beauty isn’t vanity. Beauty is self-care. Self-care is a way that we take care of our mind, our body, our soul, and it’s critical to your health. My journey has been unique. Everybody who has cancer, it is. No one person is the same, but I’m now 36 years old. I’ve had a bilateral mastectomy. I’ve had at least 10 reconstructive surgeries due to either complications or biopsies that I had needed. I had a hysterectomy before I turned 30. Chemotherapy caused long-term deterioration to joints and muscles. It basically sped me right into menopause. So from 27, it was rapid onset menopause from that chemotherapy, just pressing pause on everything and putting you right into it. And so there’s been a lot of hormonal changes and bone density loss. I have neuropathy. Neuropathy is a nerve pain and nerve damage. I have arthritis. There’s been cardiovascular effects. There’s been kidney effects. For somebody in their mid-30s who continues to face this on a daily basis, you don’t see it. I have my hair again. So nobody thinks I’m sick.
To your point, no one thinks you’re sick. I’m looking at you right now and you look beautiful to me.
Thank you.
Your skin looks beautiful, your hair looks healthy, your eyes are gorgeous. And so, you know, I would never know that you’re battling this. And even when we first said hi to each other, you’re so pleasant and everyone from Look Good Feel Better, they speak so highly of you and how much light you bring to them whenever they interact with you. And so going through all the things that you’ve gone through, how do you remain upbeat and positive when I know that you have been through some battles and are still going through the battle?
I think the easiest way for me to face every day is knowing I have choices. And there’s things I can control and there’s things I can’t. And being kind and being grateful and appreciating the good that’s in this world, that goodness factor, right? Or the look good feel better. There’s a lot of good in this world, but it’s our job to find it. It’s not given to you. It’s not on a platter. It’s the little bird that trips by and sings a song and says hi. It’s that hot cup of coffee or a cup of tea and a little teacup that your nana gave you when you were 15 years old and you hold close because it makes you feel close to her. Those are the good things. And it’s our job to find those. And if we don’t choose to find those, then we’re not taking control of the things we can. So, you know, every day I say, what is in my power? And what I can’t, then I have to let that go knowing I did everything else that I can.
Suzanne, I so appreciate you taking the time to have this conversation with me and to share your story with me. The fact that you are sharing this story will bring the message of Look Good Feel Better to other people who need to hear your message.
So, Look Good Feel Better is just an incredible, incredible program. It gives you comfort. It gives you tools. It gives you self-care. And I can’t sing its praises enough. I’d encourage anybody who’s going through a cancer diagnosis, male or female, check out the website and see the programming that could be available to them. The beauty of it now is that, you know, that pandemic ended up making us have to pivot in some of our approach. And now there’s all of the virtual options for Look Good Feel Better. So definitely would recommend to individuals to go to lookgoodfeelbetter.org to check it out. And they’re more than welcome to reach out to me on LinkedIn if they see me. I’m Suzanne Cormier, and I’m happy to answer any questions I can.
Okay, I’m going to be sure to link with you on LinkedIn. And I am continuing to uplift you in prayer for your strength and for your continued resilience. I can tell you’re strong, you’re beautiful, and I’m continuing to uplift you. And I love one of the big takeaways I have from this conversation with you when you said, I don’t want pity, I want to be Suzanne. I thought that was beautiful.
I appreciate it. Those who are closest to me know me as a goofball and I’m silly and I’m a little carefree and I make silly faces and say silly things and I realize it doesn’t matter what other people think because it makes me smile. So I think, you know, once we get to that point where we can do the things that were most important to us and not what the world wants out of us, but what we need for our own lives, that it makes each day a little better.
And those are the do-gooders. Thanks to my friends at Look Good Feel Better for all you do for your program participants and all the goodness you’re putting out into the world, into the universe. Thanks to Louanne Roark, Rudy Miles and Suzanne Cormier for coming on to The Goodness Factor podcast and sharing with us your experiences and opening up to us. We really appreciate you.
And now it’s time for The Good word. Today’s good word comes to us courtesy of my mother.
I’m not sure where she got this quote from, but once she shared it with me, I never forgot it. And it’s probably my favorite quote because of how beautiful it is. And it’s made even more beautiful by the fact that my mom shared it with me. And now I’m sharing it with you…
Kindness is difficult to give away because it keeps coming back. Isn’t that so true? You keep putting goodness out there, it comes back to you. Kindness is difficult to give away because it keeps coming back.
And that wraps up episode one. Thank you so much for joining me. Be sure to subscribe to The Goodness Factor on the Audacy app or wherever you get your podcasts. Also follow us on Instagram at The Goodness Factor and on our Facebook page, The Goodness Factor with Shelley Wade. Be sure to like and follow so you don’t miss any of our posts. Also interact with us by liking, commenting and sharing our posts. And if you know of any people in organizations doing good things for their communities and their fellow humans and you want us to shine the spotlight on them, DM us on social media.
