Still I Rise Podcast

Send us Fan Mail In this powerful episode of Still I Rise , Idun-Cara Byers shares a deeply moving story of resilience, caregiving, and healing after breast cancer . Diagnosed with Stage One Estrogen-Positive Invasive Lobular Carcinoma , Idun-Cara faced years of surgeries, body betrayal, and identity shifts — all while continuing to care for family, build a career, and live fully. From a childhood...

Send us Fan Mail Some moments in life change us quietly. Others crack us open completely. For Nicole Urbanek , that moment came at just thirty-three, when the life she knew split wide with a breast cancer diagnosis. It wasn’t just her body that changed — it was the way she understood loss, resilience, and who she truly was beneath it all. Nicole is a teacher, a storyteller, and someone who has kno...

Send us Fan Mail Some stories are not about how strong we are —  but about who carried us when we had no strength left. When we first met Catrina Sullivan , she carried herself with strength — and with walls. Walls built over years of heartache. Of people letting her down. Of being taken advantage of. Of learning the hard way that survival sometimes means staying guarded. Her life has been shaped...

Send us Fan Mail What does it mean to survive when life never gives you time to rest? In this powerful episode of Still I Rise , Cat Black shares her extraordinary story of surviving breast cancer and leukemia — not once, but twice — while raising two young children. Diagnosed with breast cancer at 36 with a four-year-old and a five-month-old at home, Cat fought not just for herself, but for her f...

Send us Fan Mail For more than twenty years, Tara Warner has stood at the bedside of people facing cancer. As an oncology nurse, she’s walked thousands of patients through diagnosis, treatment, fear, and hope — always reminding them that the mental battle is at least fifty percent of the fight. But everything shifted when Tara crossed the line from caregiver to patient… when she herself was diagno...

Send us Fan Mail Once upon a time, in a quiet land of shifting skies and whispering winds, lived a girl named Denise.  In her village, children didn’t build houses from wood or stone — they built them from beliefs. Denise learned early how to build.  Be small.  Be silent.  Keep the peace.  Don’t shine too brightly. So she built carefully. Brick by brick. Approval by approval.  A house that looked...

Send us Fan Mail Today on Still I Rise , you’re going to meet a woman who describes herself through the image of a firefly—small, steady, and lit from within, flickering even when everything around her feels dark. Our guest, Dawn Freret, was stepping into a new chapter: rebuilding after a painful divorce, raising her boys, and finding love again—ready to turn 50 and see it as the beginning of the...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Still I Rise , where we celebrate women who have walked through the darkest seasons and found a way to bloom again. Today, we step into the garden of Kathy Cole — a woman whose life has always been rooted in soil, color, and connection. From planting vegetables with her dad to creating Friendship Gardens in every home she’s lived in, Kathy has always believed that growt...

Send us Fan Mail Some women survive storms. But Kelli Beckman has weathered entire skies. For much of her life, Kelli coped by imagining herself tethered to a hot-air balloon, floating safely above the clouds. When joy called—marriage, children, a career—she’d lower her lines and touch the ground. When life hurt, she drifted back up. But over time, her balloon developed a leak. Divorce, the death...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the Still I Rise Podcast, where we share the stories of women who walk through the unthinkable and rise stronger on the other side. Today, we’re honored to welcome Michele Rokes—a mother, a school nurse, and a woman whose life changed in an instant. At thirty-six, a routine appointment led to a breast cancer diagnosis. Days later, she discovered she was pregnant. And th...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to Still I Rise — the podcast that reminds us healing isn’t just about surviving what happened to us, but about rediscovering who we are after. Today, we meet Kathy Burns , a woman whose story— The Fight of My Life —captures the quiet strength that follows the storm. Like so many survivors, Kathy believed the hardest part was behind her once chemo ended and surgery wa...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to Still I Rise — the podcast where stories of resilience remind us that even when life throws us into the steepest drops, faith, courage, and connection can carry us through. Today’s guest is someone I affectionately call Miss Jackson — a woman whose story is as breathtaking as the ride she’s been on. Dawn Jackson has lived her life on what she calls “the rollercoast...

Send us Fan Mail Today on Still I Rise, we meet a woman whose story reminds us that sometimes, life’s most unexpected storms reveal the deepest strength within us. Before cancer, Alicia walked what she calls “a well-marked trail.” She planned her steps carefully, trusted in her faith, and believed that with enough preparation, she could stay safe and steady. But then came the flood — a sudden, lif...

Send us Fan Mail They say you should never judge a book by its cover—and that couldn’t be more true for Louise M. Parks. Like a beautiful rose with thorns, Louise came into the program with her guard up, protective of the strength she’s had to build through a lifetime of challenges. But as she learned to trust us, we began to see beyond that tough exterior—and discovered a woman full of grit and g...

Send us Fan Mail Today’s guest is one of the hardest-working women I’ve ever met — a strong, beautiful mother whose heart for others shines through everything she does. She’s the founder of a nonprofit that delivers care bags to cancer patients, a gesture of love that brings comfort and hope to people when they need it most. But what truly makes her extraordinary is not just what she does — it’s w...

Send us Fan Mail In this powerful episode, we sit down with Denise Poe — a woman who has faced breast cancer three times and continues to stand as a living testimony of faith and resilience. Once an introvert who buried her struggles, Denise found strength in sharing her story, releasing the pain she carried, and embracing the healing power of community. Through her journey, Denise discovered the...

Send us Fan Mail Today on Still I Rise , we welcome a woman who is the very definition of grit and grace. Ginger Swaggerty grew up learning resilience in the hardest of circumstances, built a career in the Army and cybersecurity, and faced life’s battles head-on with unwavering strength. But nothing tested her more than hearing the words: Stage 3C ovarian cancer —a disease often called “the silent...

Send us Fan Mail Today on Still I Rise I’m joined by Hlee Kue— a woman whose story is both heartbreaking and breathtaking. For years she lived by the mantra ‘Be strong all the time. Be a leader and lead, and others will follow.’ It became her armor as she showed up, smiling and producing, even through unimaginable loss. First came the death of her younger brother — one of her anchors — and before...

Send us Fan Mail Today on Still I Rise , I’m honored to welcome Jennifer. Jennifer is living with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, and she’ll be sharing her powerful journey with us. As a very private person, it wasn’t easy for her to enter into a program that requires so much openness and honesty. But through her experience with cancer, Jennifer has learned to look at life in a completely differ...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to the Still I Rise Podcast. Today’s guest is someone very special to me—someone who truly embodies everything that You Night was created to be. When Jill Allender first came to us, she was carrying a lot of sadness, as so many women do when they first step into our programs. She bravely joined our summer SPARK program, and that’s where I first saw this tiny seed of h...

Send us Fan Mail In this special episode of Still I Rise , host Lisa McKenzie pulls back the curtain on You Night’s Runway Empowerment Program and the upcoming YOU NIGHT FIGHT CLUB event on Saturday, October 18th at the Jefferson Performing Arts Center on Airline Hwy in Metairie!  Easy to get to, tons of free parking!  It's going to be amazing! Way more than a fashion show, YOU NIGHT is a cel...

Send us Fan Mail Facing Relapse Anxiety and Scanxiety with Dr. Jimmy Ellis” For many cancer survivors, finishing treatment doesn’t mean the fear is over. The worry about cancer returning—often called relapse anxiety —can cast a long shadow over daily life. Add in the stress of waiting for scans and test results, and it’s no wonder so many survivors talk about scanxiety . In this powerful conversat...

Send us Fan Mail Today, we’re honored to sit down with someone whose hands heal more than bodies—they help mend spirits. Dr. Mark Stalder is a double board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon whose work in breast reconstruction has changed the lives of countless women navigating their cancer journeys. With practices in both Covington and Mobile, and as a dedicated father of four, Dr. Stal...

Send us Fan Mail In this powerful episode of Still I Rise , husband-and-wife team Michael Holmes and Colette Marietta share both sides of the cancer journey. Michael, a devoted caregiver and Chief Growth Officer at Diagnostic Imaging Services, reflects on the emotional and practical realities of supporting a loved one through countless challenges. Colette, a courageous five-time cancer survivor an...

Send us Fan Mail In this powerful episode, the Still I Rise Podcast host, Lisa McKenzie shares the deeply personal story that led to the creation of Story Crafting — a therapeutic writing journey born out of grief, healing, and the need to make sense of life’s most painful chapters. You'll hear how Story Crafting has helped women from all walks of life reclaim their narratives, find beauty in...