Before she was diagnosed with stage 0 breast cancer, Arizona-based Jessica DeBry was at a “high point” in her career as a book coach and hybrid publisher, reaching income goals for her small business and getting professional opportunities she’d never had before. “From the outside everything looked amazing, but what people didn’t really see was that mentally and emotionally, I was completely burned out,” she says. DeBry explains that she’d always had a hard time saying no to things and was running herself into the ground.
“Hearing words like breast cancer and malignant was just a complete life check,” DeBry says. Her diagnosis forced her to slow down and get in touch with what she really wanted. “It felt like I finally had permission to say no to things that weren’t aligned anymore, permission to stop chasing more just for the sake of more,” she says. “I think the biggest silver lining was realizing I could realign my life and my business around what actually matters to me instead of just constantly pushing myself harder and harder.”
“I stopped waiting for the ‘right time’ to do things I’m passionate about.”
Not only did cancer force DeBry to rethink her business priorities, but it also inspired her to devote more time to what gives her joy, including beauty pageants. “Ever since I was a little girl, I admired beauty pageant queens. Competing in a pageant was always this dream I secretly carried around, but I never felt confident or brave enough to do it,” she says. “Over time I convinced myself it was unrealistic or something I had missed my chance to do.” Then, DeBry says, breast cancer happened. “So at 43 years old, married, a mom, and fresh off two lumpectomy surgeries—with lopsided breasts and all—I competed in the Mrs. Arizona America pageant. Although I didn’t capture the crown, I placed as first runner-up and had an incredible time!”
DeBry says going through her diagnosis and surgeries led to a huge perspective shift. “It made me realize how many things in life I had pushed aside while waiting for the ‘right time,’ and honestly, I just stopped wanting to wait anymore,” she says. “Obviously, I never would’ve chosen breast cancer, but it really did wake me up to the fact that we only get one life. And for me it sparked this desire to stop talking myself out of the things that matter to me.”
“Cancer gave me a greater sense of purpose.”
Addalaya Looper
