Still I Rise Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Hi everyone! We hope you have some fun summer plans!  As we prepare for Season 5, with over 55 new interviews lined up, we wanted to let you know we are taking a small break over the summer until mid August, where we will start releasing all of the new interviews.   If you are new to this channel, please scroll through our past interviews and listen to the amazing interviews!  Wit...

Send us Fan Mail Today’s guest is Dr. Scott Sullivan, a world-renowned reconstructive microsurgeon at the Center for Restorative Breast Surgery and one of the leading experts in DIEP flap breast reconstruction and microsurgical breast reconstruction after mastectomy. Dr. Sullivan has helped advance and refine the groundbreaking DIEP flap procedure, a highly specialized form of breast reconstructio...

Send us Fan Mail Today’s guest is someone whose life reminds us that healing comes in many forms. When Ida Senerchia-Zecco was just 40 years old, she found herself standing at the intersection of loss, exhaustion, single motherhood, divorce, and a breast cancer diagnosis. Having already lost her own mother to breast cancer, she was faced with difficult decisions and a future filled with uncertaint...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the Still I Rise Podcast , where we share stories of resilience, hope, and the strength of the human spirit. Today, I'm honored to introduce Michelle Maloney and her story, The Fire and Faith: Living with Metastatic Cancer. Michelle has faced more than her share of loss and hardship throughout her life. After surviving breast cancer while pregnant with her son, she...

Send us Fan Mail Many of the women I interview enter the Story Crafting program believing they are there to address the pain and trauma of cancer. But it never fails—in those intimate small groups, another wave of emotions begins to surface. Stories of childhood wounds, broken relationships, abandonment, abuse, fear, grief, and years of buried pain quietly rise to the top. That’s what a cancer dia...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the Still I Rise podcast… where women turn pain into purpose and scars become stories of strength. Today’s guest is Rochelle Ives, a member of the Gloria Gemma SheROSE Class of 2025, and let me just say… Rochelle sparkles. When we did the SheROSE photo shoot and she placed that crown on her head, I honestly couldn’t tell which sparkled more—the crown or Rochelle herself...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the Still I Rise podcast… the place where stories heal, where scars become art, and where women rise again and again… no matter what life has tried to take from them. Today’s episode is a special Mother’s Day message. And whether you are a mother… missing your mother… longing to become a mother… or simply a woman who has spent her life nurturing everyone around you… thi...

Send us Fan Mail There are moments in life when everything changes with one phone call… one word… one sentence that splits your world in two. For Courtney Trombka, that moment came on July 4th, 2019, when she heard the words, “You have a rare type of leukemia.” At just thirty years old, with two young children depending on her, her life suddenly became a storm she never asked to sail through. But...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to Still I Rise … and to Day 4—our final day—of this 100th episode celebration. Over the last few days, we’ve been surrounded by the voices, the stories, and the people who have helped build this journey into what it is today. And today, we close out this special series with two women who represent both heart and history—two voices that remind us just how personal and...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to Still I Rise … and to Day 3 of our 100th episode celebration. Over the past two days, we’ve been honoring the voices and the people who have helped shape this journey—and today, we continue with two women who have been steady, powerful forces behind the scenes and beyond. One hundred episodes in, and what stands out most isn’t just what’s been created… but who has...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to Still I Rise … and to Day 2 of our 100th episode celebration. If you joined us yesterday, you know this isn’t just one episode—it’s a four-part series honoring the voices, the moments, and the people who have helped shape this journey. One hundred episodes in, and the stories just keep getting richer… the connections deeper… and the impact even more meaningful. Tod...

Send us Fan Mail “Welcome to Still I Rise … and today, this one feels different. This is our 100th episode. One hundred conversations. One hundred moments of truth, vulnerability, strength, and rising—again and again. This podcast has always been about connection… about the people who show up, who stay, and who lift each other when life gets heavy. So today, instead of telling one story… I wanted...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Still I Rise , Lisa sits down with Kati Cheek—an Allstate agency owner, breast cancer survivor, and a woman whose strength and generosity extend far beyond her profession. What began as a desperate search for affordable homeowners insurance in the midst of Louisiana’s insurance crisis turned into an unexpected and life-changing connection. Kati not only helped L...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the Still I Rise Podcast —where stories of resilience, healing, and the human spirit remind us that even in our darkest moments… we rise. Today’s episode is one you won’t forget. Our guest, Alexis Santoro, shares a journey she describes as living through years of wildfires—unexpected, relentless, and life-altering. From the unraveling of a marriage, to losing both of he...

Send us Fan Mail This episode… it hit hard. Because today, Rachel Giammolva shares something so deeply personal, so honest… that it’s going to make a lot of women feel seen. Rachel has lost over 100 pounds. By every standard, that’s a transformation the world celebrates. But what she reveals is something we don’t talk about enough… Her mind still sees someone she doesn’t love. Rachel has lived wit...

Send us Fan Mail Today’s story is called “A River Never Ceasing” by Helen Connors—and it is exactly that… a life that keeps moving, keeps flowing, no matter what it encounters. Helen is someone who doesn’t sit still for long. She moves forward, pushes through, gets things done. But as you’ll hear, when she allowed herself to slow down and tell her story out loud, something unexpected happened. The...

Send us Fan Mail When Kimberly Meyers-Turner sat down for this interview in September 2025, she believed she had survived breast cancer. After undergoing a double mastectomy and reconstruction, she was celebrating what she thought was the end of a long and difficult journey. Full of faith, hope, and gratitude, Kimberly shared her story believing the battle was behind her. But just months later, he...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when life slowly wears away your sense of worth—and then cancer delivers what feels like the final blow? In this powerful episode of the Still I Rise Podcast , Lisa sits down with Dina Buscher , who shares her deeply personal story of growing up in a loving Italian family, building a life rooted in strong values, and then slowly losing sight of her own worth through y...

Send us Fan Mail  What happens when you are just three months away from celebrating ten years cancer-free … and you hear the words no survivor ever wants to hear again: “You have cancer.” In this powerful episode of the Still I Rise Podcast , Lisa sits down with cancer survivor Jeannie Travalini , whose life was turned upside down when cancer returned just before her long-awaited 10-year milestone...

Send us Fan Mail In this powerful episode of Still I Rise , Alana Acereto shares her story, “The Darkness and the Light,” a deeply moving reflection on childhood trauma, generational healing, and her journey as a cancer survivor. For years, Alana sought healing through therapy, trying to untangle the chaos left by early trauma. She shares that participating in Story Crafting was the first process...

Send us Fan Mail Some journeys aren’t flat roads — they’re mountains. Mountains with loose rocks beneath your feet.  Mountains that make your heart race.  Mountains that force you to stop, breathe, and pray before taking the next step. Today’s guest, Maryann Fonseca, describes her life as climbing toward the highest peak — even though she’s afraid of heights. Along the way, she’s heard the echo of...

Send us Fan Mail In this powerful episode of Still I Rise , Maureen Fedge shares her remarkable story of surviving acute myeloid leukemia (AML) as a child — not once, but twice. Diagnosed at just twelve years old with an aggressive form of leukemia typically seen in adults, Maureen’s carefree childhood quickly shifted from Saturday mornings at City Park to hospital rooms, chemotherapy, and a life-...

Send us Fan Mail Life doesn’t come with a single ride. It comes with twists, drops, music, stillness — and sometimes, pure fear. When we meet Lauren Micciantuono, she describes her life like an amusement park. Some days are gentle and steady. Some days spin too fast to breathe. And some days feel like walking through a House of Horrors — dark, unpredictable, and heavy with the fear of what might c...

Send us Fan Mail In this empowering episode of Still I Rise , Crystal Walcott shares her journey through breast cancer , resilience, and the deliberate choice to reclaim joy. Diagnosed after her first mammogram, Crystal’s life shifted in an instant — from a celebration of family, faith, and milestones to navigating surgery, recovery, and life-altering change. Using the metaphor of a warrior carryi...

Send us Fan Mail In this deeply moving episode of Still I Rise , Allison Spampinato shares her story of living with metastatic breast cancer while carrying unimaginable grief, fear, and responsibility . Diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma , Allison fought through chemotherapy, immunotherapy, surgery, and radiation — only to face a devastating turn when the cancer spread to her brain shortly a...