By Bill Swindell
The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif.
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, “The Press Democrat” in Santa Rosa profiled three women who have combined “ingenuity, creativity and perseverance” to navigate running a business while battling breast cancer. This is Sara Olsher’s story.
Santa Rosa
Being an entrepreneur is not an easy task. There are numerous challenges, from securing startup money to promoting a viable business to attract customers.
Now imagine running your own enterprise and getting diagnosed with breast cancer. The emotional toll the diagnosis carries is overwhelming. In addition, there are physical challenges with chemotherapy, radiation and potential surgery.
How does a businesswoman do it?
Three Sonoma County women provide examples. As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we profiled these women who have combined ingenuity, creativity and perseverance to navigate these obstacles and emerge wiser and healthier.
Sara Olsher had established her Mighty and Bright brand when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017 at age 34.
With a background in psychology and illustration, Olsher created a board with a magnet set to help children communicate with divorced parents. The product serves as a calendar to let children know which parent he or she will be residing with during a given week, who will be picking them up from school, their weekly chores and other activities.
After her cancer diagnosis, Olsher was concerned about telling her daughter, Charlie, who was 6. “The first thing I thought about was my daughter’s tear-stained face at my funeral,” she said.
Her physician’s office was of no help to prepare for this difficult conversation with her daughter. “They didn’t have pamphlets. … They literally had nothing,” she said.
Therefore, Olsher created another magnet set for parents with cancer to keep track of weekly activities with their children. In effect, it was an act of self-preservation as much as a new product line for her.
“Your kid’s behavior is directly related to how you are doing from your own mental behavior,” said Olsher, who also works a day job in marketing for the Redwood Empire Food Bank.
The new set of magnets to plan activities with Charlie proved useful as she went through the medical gauntlet of chemotherapy, radiation and five surgeries that included removal of both breasts. She has to be on hormone-blocking medication for 10 years, but is now cancer free.
“You get so tired and you can’t think what to do with the kids and they start to melt down,” she said.
Olsher came up with another magnet set for children who are battling cancer, and she wants to make one for children who have a parent serving in the military. Her products are available online at mightyandbright.com and she hopes eventually to be able to sell them via Amazon.
Another business goal of hers is to establish a nonprofit focused on advocacy work and could donate her magnet calendars to children’s hospitals.
Olsher acknowledged her work can be difficult because it involves weighty issues between parents and their children. But the feedback she has received has made it worthwhile.
“People send me emails and tell me that my product has changed their kids’ lives. … I don’t think there is anything more gratifying than that,” she said.
Sometimes timing is everything. Tara Jasper was diagnosed in June with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy. Recently, she had another chemotherapy treatment.
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