Heroes in Business - Sheryl Crow, Grammy award winning musician, breast cancer survivor

Episode Date: October 11, 2024

Sheryl Crow, Grammy award winning musician and breast cancer survivor and Dr. DaCarla Albright discussing breast cancer awareness are interviewed by David Cogan founder Eliances and host of the Eliances Heroes show broadcast on am and fm network channels, internet radio, and online syndication. www.genius3dnearme.com www.eliances.com

Welcome back to Alliances Heroes, where heroes in business align. To be part of our super community and find out more about Alliances, visit www.alliances.com. Now, back to our super host, David Kogan, founder of Alliances. That's right. Can you believe the morning? I mean, we just had on the co-founder of Motley Fool, David Gardner. And later on and towards the end of the show, we're going to have David Grimm with the Direct Source Wealth, your partner in building time freedom at directsourcewealth.com forward slash hero. And by the way, thank you for the feedback we continue to have from the CEO of the American Diabetes Association. With that, we have two amazing, phenomenal heroes.

Are you ready for this? Sheryl Crow, that's right, the musician and breast cancer survivor, along with Dr. DeCarla Albright, ambassadors for breast cancer awareness. You can reach them at Genius3DNearMe.com. And, of course, we'll have the web on our website at Eliance me.com. And of course we'll have the web on our website at alliances.com. That's E L I A N C E S.com. The only place where entrepreneurs align. Now with that Sheryl Crow, now you've, you're known all over the world for highly regarded musician, such as hits as All I Want to Do, If It Makes Me Happy, Soak Up the Sun, and so much more. Now, in 2006, you were diagnosed with breast cancer.

And as a breast cancer survivor, how has that moment that you found out that you had breast cancer changed your life? Well, I think like most people who are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, it tends to bring your life to a screeching halt. And it really demands that you really redefine your life and decide what you want the rest of your life to look like. And that's what it did for me. It kind of dictated that I learned how to take care of myself and put myself first. for me. It kind of dictated that I learn how to take care of myself and put myself first. But it also forced me in some ways to embrace this dubious honor that I have to speak to women, because I have so many women in my fan base, moms and sisters and daughters and even grandmothers, to talk to them about their health and what it means to advocate for your for your own health

and I'm constantly talking to women about making sure that they're diligent about getting their mammogram starting at age 40 and to do it yearly and to seize the new technology that is out there which is far improved over what used to be around and you know it really is the message for me that early detection is our best, that's our best weapon until we have a cure. And Dr. DeCarla Albright, again, you can be reached at Genius3DNearMe.com. Tell me about your role. Well, my role is sort of to be present and make sure that we understand what breast density is and how we continue to screen and definitely impact the lives of women to decrease the risk of

breast cancer for all women. So 3D mammography has really become sort of like the state of the art screening technology regardless of all breast density but with women who have denser breasts that means they have more fibrous or glandular tissue in the breast and that actually can only be diagnosed with a mammogram and unfortunately that density appears white on a mammogram but so does a cancer lesion so density can make it more difficult to detect cancer and sometimes that can delay a diagnosis. So it's important for a woman to be informed about the amount of breast density so she can best advocate for herself and be aware of how often she needs to be screened

and if she needs any adjunctive screening technology. But most importantly, definitely making sure that that first mammogram, that screening mammogram is 3D because it's going to be able to decrease the risk of a false positive and likely detect her cancer earlier if she unfortunately has one. Absolutely amazing. And I don't understand why everybody doesn't get one, why all women don't get one and why they're not on a schedule? I mean, there really shouldn't be anything preventing them, especially since it's just so prevalent out there. And if you can catch something early, it helps so much more. Why do you think women are, not all women are doing it, or some that are scared to?

I think a lot of it is fear, just because no one wants to embrace the idea of thought of cancer. I think a lot of women unfortunately think that they need to have a family history of breast cancer in order to be at risk, but they really only need breast. Most women don't have a family history that are affected by breast cancer. And, you know, some will speak to the discomfort of having the mammogram, You know, some will speak to the discomfort of having the mammogram. But like I like to tell them, it's really only a few seconds of time that may significantly impact your life. So it's worth doing.

Well worth it. Absolutely amazing. And I really appreciate you both sharing this. You're listening to me, David Kogan, host of the Alliance's Hero Show. It is the only place where entrepreneurs align and people that are making a difference like Cheryl Crow and also Dr. DeCarla Albright. It can be reached at Genius3DNearMe.com. And, of course, we'll have the link on Alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. Cheryl, you sing the song, If It Makes You Happy.

What makes you happy? You sing the song, If It Makes You Happy. What makes you happy? Well, I have two little boys, 11 and 8, and they just absolutely light my life up. I do enjoy good health, obviously. I do take it seriously, probably much more seriously than I would have had I not had breast cancer. I am one of those people that would never have thought I would have breast cancer. I had no family history, and I was young, or relatively young. I was almost 44 and healthy and fit, but did not put off my mammogram,

and that is the way I was finally diagnosed. But, yes, I mean, I'm a happy single mom who has a fantastic job of raising two boys and this side thing called music, and that's basically what keeps me going. Well, I think it's so important, too, because so many people look to you. I mean, you're a celebrity. Everybody knows you. And so for you being the person that is bringing awareness to this and being able to help so many and also encouraging men to encourage women to go ahead and get tested, too, which is absolutely huge.

We got flooded with a ton of questions. And then, Cheryl, I've got to ask you another one here is this. What song do you sing in the shower? Oh my heavens, Betsy. I mean, I'm embarrassed to say, I do not sing in the shower. I never have sung in the shower. I'm just not a shower singer. I like to get paid to sing. Oh my gosh, that's incredible. So Dr. DeCarlo Albright, what would you like if you were able to make a wish for everybody in regards to what you're doing, what would that be for those that are listening? Well, my wish would be that 3D mammography would be the standard of care for screening

for all women. You know, that would be my wish. I think we are approaching that. And I think to second that, it would be that we would improve breast density reporting in all states. So women, all of us will have that information and we'll be armed so we can advocate for ourselves and really emphasize the annual screening. So that's what it would be. And Cheryl, you mentioned about your children. What would you like them to learn from your experience of fighting breast cancer, which is

really a serious thing? Well, last night at the dinner table, they asked me, I said, I'm not going to be able to take you to school in the morning because I have to go do some commercials for breast cancer. And they both said, breast cancer, do you have breast cancer again? And I said, absolutely not. And we had a talk about that. And, you know, I guess most kids learn from modeling. They know that I do not sweat the small stuff and that I really, it's important to me to be present in every moment. And hopefully they're learning that along the way. They're learning strength and they're learning what to me to be present in every moment, and hopefully they're learning that along the way. They're learning strength, and they're learning what it means to be a good person

and compassionate and kind. And those are just the main life lessons that whether I'd had cancer or had not had cancer that I would want to instill in my children. And being open. I mean, we do talk about cancer. We talk about, you know, what it means when you get sick and have to really battle to get better. And, you know, they understand that, and they know that there's nothing off limits to talk about. All right.

We've got a little less than a minute left, but, Cheryl, I just need to ask you this question. From the second that you found out that you had breast cancer, and this is, again, very serious, what was exactly going through your mind? Well, I mean, for one thing, I was really shocked because I would not have put myself as a candidate for breast cancer. And like Dr. Albright said, it's not, I mean, anyone who has breasts can have breast cancer. So in fact, there is a small, um, a small statistic of men who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Um, I think what went through my mind is this is not going to kill me. It's early stage, thank God. Um, but I'm going to redefine my life, and that's what I did. I learned how to put myself first and, you know, really take care of myself

and be true to myself, and that was my philosophical lesson, but also the lesson of being able to share the information that I have because I consider myself to have been very lucky to share that information and to be a beacon of encouragement to other women who, when they reach 40, will take their health into their own hands and be diligent about getting their mammograms. Fantastic. Well, Cheryl, you entertain so many and create a new world of awareness for women's health by your surviving cancer and fighting for the lives of others. You're both heroes, Cheryl Crow and Dr. Albright. That's right, go to Genius3D near me to find out more,

and we'll have the link on our website, Eliance's.com. This is David Kogan with Eliance's.