The Face of Hope with Heidi Floyd

Have you ever felt hopeless at work? You should meet our new friend Heidi Floyd and hear her incredible story. 

Heidi says, “Most of us have a life 90% of the world isn’t fortunate enough to have and somehow we feel hopeless. This young man didn’t realize how incredibly blessed he was - with his head down, just thinking about himself, he couldn’t see all the good things.” 

“There is love all around us. There is hope all around us. But if all we’re focused on is just getting through the day, we’re going to miss it.”

“But when you examine them closely, sometimes the little things can turn out to be the biggest gifts in your life.”

Heidi has welded together over a decade of non-profit management experience but more importantly, she has tackled some of life’s ups and downs head-on. Not only is she a breast cancer survivor, but has leveraged that experience to become a nationally recognized patient support activist, helping some of the largest companies in the world be supportive of families going on their cancer journey. 

She has served as the “voice of the patient” for myriad organizations including Ford, Google, the US Department of Defense, the American Cancer Society, and Susan G. Komen, and has been published in Forbes, Huffington Post, CNN, and in The NY Times.

I say every episode is created for one person out there who needs it, and today that might be you. I can't wait for you to hear it.

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Transcript

Introduction: 0:01

Welcome to the Raise Up Podcast. The only podcast focused on how you can get a raise at work. Every week, we're dishing tips, and tricks straight from the industry experts, CEOs, and HR Directors. So, you can finally get paid what you're worth. So, buckle up buttercup, let's break it down. She's a little sassy, but a lot of fun. Here's your host, Amanda LeFever.

Amanda: 0:27

What is up everybody? Welcome to the Raise Up Podcast. My name is Amanda LeFever, and I'm here to help you make more money at your job. My new friend, and our special guest today is a mom, author, and international speaker, Heidi Floyd. Heidi has welded together a decade of non-profit management experience with her experience as a breast cancer survivor and is now a whirlwind activist in the field of breast cancer patient support. Heidi has served as the voice of the patient for many organizations, including for Google, the US Department of Defense, the American Cancer Society, and Susan G. Komen. And has been published in Forbes, Huffington Post, CNN, and in the New York Times. Hey, Heidi. Thanks for being on the show.

Heidi: 1:11

Thank you very much for having me, I appreciate the invitation.

Amanda: 1:14

Yeah, I'm so excited. So, I was totally drawn to you and your story. Do you mind telling our listeners a little bit about what you're passionate about, and why?

Heidi: 1:25

Sure, I'm passionate about many things, but I kind of have a singular focus. Now I am first, and foremost, a wife and mom. And so, that kind of is where all of my energy is centered. However, my side passion, if you will, is for breast cancer research. And in my family, my mom had breast cancer as did her mom, and I, myself, have breast cancer. And since I have children, I would like that stop with me. I would prefer that my children not have to say those exact words that I just did. And so, I'm doing all I can with my limited capabilities to get the voice out, and educate people who want to learn about it to help companies find their philanthropic heart. If they want to be, you know, someone who can partner in this, and to be supportive to families who are going on their cancer journey. And that's really where my heart lies.

Amanda: 2:17

That's amazing. And I know that you have done so much over the last years, and you've overcome a significant amount. And as we talked about a little bit, our show is all about someone improving their financial situation, like getting a raise at their job. But I was drawn to you as a guest, and I'm excited to have you here because we have found a lot of our listeners feel like they're trapped in a bad situation at work, and they aren't sure which way to go. And you found yourself sort of trapped in an unbelievably bad position. Can you talk about mindset when you're faced with like major life obstacles?

Heidi: 2:56

Sure. I mean, everyone has obstacles, and everyone has their own story of how they've overcome things. Or, even if they're in the middle of it right now, it will be their story, you know, five years from now, they'll be able to look back and kind of tell what happened. Everyone has had bad jobs but have liked the people that they've worked with or have really liked their jobs and not liked the people that they've worked with. So, it's really just kind of a different scenario. I, myself, was kind of living what I would consider to be this fantastic life. I had a great husband, kids, things were going well. My husband had decided to kind of step away from his computer programming job and become a pastor. And so, he was at school, and that is right when we realized that I simultaneously, we realized that not only was I pregnant, but I also had breast cancer. And so, and I was 35. So, for me, that was inconceivable. My mom was young when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and passed very young. So, for me, I did all of that came rushing back. You know that those emotions, oh my gosh, what do I do? And, at the time my husband was in school. So, I was the one working full time supporting our family. I had the insurance, and then this, this devastating news. Really, the very first doctor that I met with, encouraged me, didn't encourage me. There was no encouragement. It was quite the opposite. I was told without question if I wanted to live, I had to terminate the pregnancy, no question. My cancer was too aggressive, that's just the situation. And, I remember everything swirling in my head, like, how can this be? That can't be, there has to be options. Where everyone talks about choice. How come I am not being presented with one, what's the situation? So, we had to do a little bit of scouting and found a doctor who in fact told me, yes, you will be able to combat this. You'll be able to go through chemotherapy while you're pregnant, but it's going to be really hard. Like, it will be harder than what your mom went through, harder than what all the other women are going through when you sit there with them in the waiting room. And I thought, well, in my mind, my thought was kind of swirling, oh my gosh, this is terrible. Am I even going to live? But even though he told me it was going to be the most difficult thing, he still gave me hope. He still told me there would be light at the end of the tunnel, but it would be a tunnel. Like there would be a journey that you would have to go through, that would be incredibly difficult. But at the end, there was a slim percentage that not only might I survive, but I might also get a baby out of it. So, that's kind of how I jumped into it, realizing that yes, far away was something that I could reach for, something that I could strive for, something tangible, another human, something worth fighting for. And that to me, is just paramount. Knowing that there's something at the end, something that you can achieve, for something you can strive for. And, the big thing is, and of course, all of this relates to, it's my life, it's my story, but it can relate to so many things. Knowing that there's something at the end, knowing that you can't do it by yourself, knowing that you have to rely on the intelligence and gravitas of other people. Just kind of going through that situation really did educate me in ways that I couldn't have even imagined. We did stay with that doctor. Who's a genius, brilliant man knew exactly how to administer the chemotherapy, what would, and would not cross the placental barrier. And in the end, I delivered a safe, healthy, handsome, beautiful little boy. It was, it was a struggle, it was incredibly difficult. But, as promised, the journey was long and hard, but it was successful knowing that I, knowing that I had something to shoot for at the end.

Amanda: 6:33

And you're in, are you in remission now?

Heidi: 6:36

I am not, I had a re-occurrence about seven years ago. And so, I'll never be in remission. So, I take a low dose form of chemo every day, and it's not nearly as drastic as the intravenous, this is more just, they're trying to hold what I have. I was not able to get what they call clean margins in the surgery. So, I still have some inside me, so they're just keeping it in control so it's not spreading rampant throughout my body. So, that's kind of been fuel to my fire as well. You know, knowing I did everything I was supposed to do, and then it came back again. It just made me, it served to make me more angry, but that also, okay, what else can I do? I'm doing the walks and the presentations wasn't enough, how else can I be involved in the cancer community to help out? So, that's where I ended up where I am.

Amanda: 7:24

Right. So, all of these opportunities have, not even these opportunities, like these tragedies you've turned them into an opportunity more or less, is what it sounds like.

Heidi: 7:32

Yeah. I think I had no intention of that, just so you know. I was a computer programmer, I worked with databases, I extracted data, that was what I did. I worked alone with computers and gosh, I hadn't even, I had just had the baby, just finished chemotherapy, hadn't even started radiation yet. Cause you can't do both when you're pregnant. And my doctor asked me if I would consider speaking. And I said, without question, no, no, I will not do that. And he's like but, he kind of sat me down and explained to me like, this is, this is why this matters. In your mind, this is your story, and you may, or may not want to keep it private. But he said I've dealt with several different types of people over my long and historied career. And there are people that get cancer, and they want to put it in a box and put it away, and never tell anyone about it. He said, and then there's people that get it, and they, it really does fuel their fire. They're so angry they have it, they don't know where to place their energy. And so, they use it to help other people. He said, I could be wrong, but I think you're in this other camp. I think you're in the,"I want to help people." And I said, yeah, but can I do that by like praying quiet? And he's like, no, no, yes you can. But also, you're going to be speaking, and just tell your story because it's not just your story. There's someone who needs to hear it. There's someone who needs to hear that I'm a doctor that can help them if they're pregnant, you know what I mean? Like that has to be done. There's someone that needs to know that, that your son is valuable to you. There's someone that needs to hear that he's okay. Someone that needs to hear, gosh, I'm going through it, but hers is much worse so I can keep going. So, it was really his, and plus he saved my life. So, what am I going to say? Really? No? So, it was his kind of gentle, nudging, and encouragement that had me do my very first terrifying speech. And then from that, literally it's just been word of mouth. I don't advertise, I don't. People just come to me and ask me to speak and share my story. So, it has been good things have come from the bad, but it's certainly by no effort of my own.

Amanda: 9:37

Well, that's it. I don't even know what to say. Like your story is so inspiring and I'm just, I don't know, I'm amazed by what you've done with such a hard situation. Like a lot of people, like you said, would put it in a box and just hold it in and not share it. How did you use that energy? Like how did you harness it?

Heidi: 10:04

Honestly, the fact that I'm not a natural keynote speaker really helps because I get wildly sick beforehand, cause I'm so nervous. And so, all the energy I have to kind of compress it into, calming myself down before. If I were like an actress or it was very easy for me, it would probably be very much more stressful for me, quite honestly. All of my energy has to focus on things like, please do not let me fall when I walk up on stage like that's what I, that's where I gotta put everything. Oh, my goodness. And then I realized there are different tiers, you know, there are people that do the walks and runs all over the country to raise money, and they're really good at it. And their efforts fund research that saves lives. That's, that's not my wheelhouse. I've done that. But when you're a mom of four, and your husband is busy, and you're helping him. But when you have all of these things going on, those types of walks and runs aren't really something that I can do, and I wanted to keep working. And someone asked me, gosh, you know, have you ever considered grant reviews? And I'm like, I don't even know what that means. And they explained to me that it's a pool of wonderful people that sit together and review the grant requests that come into places like the American Cancer Society. And you, as a patient advocate, could chime in and say,"that sounds great, but also very painful." Or have we considered including minority populations? You have to be the voice of the patient, and I didn't even know that that existed. And when I first went, it was invited to be part of the American Cancer Society grants review board. That was my first taste of that, and it was like a light bulb went off. It was so amazing to see all of these ideas from around the world, people submitting ideas saying,"I think that this might help this particular type of cancer." If we just try this, this new technique or this new drug, and it could be 10 years off. But just the idea that some young gal, some researcher in Kansas has this brilliant idea, you know, do we fund her? Yes, we do. And so, I was always the one like, yes, throw all of the money at them. But I learned over time, how to carefully analyze these, you know, it sounds wonderful, but in reality, is it sustainable? Is it something that can be executed? Might it already be happening somewhere else, you know, could it even be partnered with another researcher? And so, from there I went to the Department of Defense, and I'm on their grants review board as well. And that's, that's like the big leagues, you know, that's an even bigger step. The United States Government funds more breast cancer research than anyone else, which I find it fascinating. But they're just brilliant people, and so, it's just an honor to be part of it. And that really helps focus my energy as well, cause I'm not a scientist. And so, when these grants come to me, I have to go through them with a dictionary and Google on both sides, learning what all these words mean so that I can properly present the voice and say, yes, I understand as much as I can. And when I'm there, I'm able to ask questions as well, explain this to me. So, and I'm able to do all of these things. I have a full-time job. I work as an executive admin for a great company, here in Georgia. And I take all of my vacation days, every single PTO day, I have to do these speaking engagements. So, and I think when you and I first started talking, I thought, gosh, you know, I don't make a lot of money. So, like I don't know if I'm the right one, but to me, what my company allows me to do is almost just as important. You know, I can say, I'm not going to take two solid weeks of vacation like everybody else, I'm going to take a Friday here, or a Wednesday here, or a Tuesday and a Monday. And they allow me, not only do they allow me to do it, but they encourage me. My bosses are like, oh, you're going to do great, you know, this is fantastic. Where are you going this time? And, you know, they celebrate what I'm doing. And I think that is just as important as making a ton of money. It would be great, you know, to be able to pay off all my cancer bills, yes it would. But it's also great knowing that I'm supported emotionally and peripherally by my bosses, that it really means a lot to me.

Amanda: 14:26

And I think that's a huge piece of it. We've talked about that a little bit, kind of that raises and promotions don't always come in the form of like monetary compensation that they, they can come in flexibility, or they can come in the fact that if your kid's sick, you can leave and it's okay.

Heidi: 14:45

Oh my gosh. Yes, sometimes we get stuck in this mindset that that's the only way to have money. Yeah. Like this full and great life is if we hit this certain point, but sometimes, and I think that and that was one of the things in our pre-interview that I was really excited about is how amazing the company you work for is, and how supportive they are, of what you're doing, because you're helping so many other people by being able to go and speak and share your story. And then I didn't even know about the grant writing that's even more of the grant review, I mean, that's amazing. And it's kind of the emotional heart, if you will, the philanthropic heart of the company, and there are other companies that do this as well, but they're few and far between. So, when you find them, it's not just saying,"We really care about people, and we want to encourage them to do charitable acts." No, it's more than that. It's saying, I understand, that you work in our warehouse five days a week, but you have taken time to go help this camp for children. You know, I'm just using that as an example, and children with special needs. They don't just like talk about it and look at it. They say,"what else can we do to help you?" You know, this is worth celebrating. And to me, that's crucial if you work, and you're solely focused just on financial, there's a huge part of your life that you could be missing by not helping others. And I'm not saying everybody has to go out right now and fund breast cancer. If you want to, that's okay too.

Amanda: 16:26

I'll hook you up with Heidi.

Heidi: 16:29

You know, if your grandpa's struggled with Parkinson's, maybe that should be your charity. Or, your next-door neighbor girl has cystic fibrosis, maybe that's your charity. Find something to give back, and then talk about it. Like, don't just do it in a little, and I understand everyone likes their privacy, but what if by sharing with people, what you did this weekend, you know, I did help my neighbor with cystic fibrosis, and here's what we did. Someone else might say, I never even thought about that. I didn't even know that is something that's needed in our community. Can I help you next time? Or, I had no idea that gentleman with Parkinson's likes the smell of flowers or really help him, can I help you make a basket? Like things, if you share what you're doing with your heart, you're inviting others into that same space. And I think that's worth more than money anytime, every time. Absolutely. So, there was one interview with the Susan G. Komen foundation you mentioned when people are fighting cancer, they have to talk about it. You said, reveal yourself. Is that good advice for the workplace as well? We're talking about that a little bit. Like you didn't ask to be put in a bad spot, like ask for help when you need it type situation? Yes, and I learned that the hard way. Initially, it was a very difficult situation, but I didn't reveal as much as I should have, especially about, I mean, I think the more candid you can be, it depends on your situation. If you were in an environment where you feel like they don't really care, and you're pretty confident that they don't care, that might just be an indicator that you might be in the wrong situation. But if you feel like you can confide in someone, and I'm not saying HR, you know what I'm saying, anyone in the company, just to let them know, I'm going through this situation, it could be temporary. You know, I'm helping my great aunt, who's probably only got a month to live, let them know, let them know that situation. But if it's something that's ongoing and you don't know, it's important that you let them know as well. Now, if you're not comfortable doing so, then don't, because it could obviously be used against you. I mean, it is not uncommon for people with cancer, specifically to be fired, to be mistreated at work, and that's an entirely horrible topic.

Amanda: 18:54

I had no idea. I didn't even know.

Heidi: 18:56

It is unbelievable the harassment that occurs in places that you wouldn't even expect, is shocking. But that's how I noted to cherish environments that are the opposite of that. And, and it's not just, I'm going through this situation, by opening up to people that you trust, they might be able to say, Hey, you don't know this, but in a month or two, financially, you're going to be in a really hard place because I've been there and here's what happened. Or, don't do this with insurance, go this path, the more you open up, the more you can learn, everything is a learning experience. You're not asking for help as much as you're looking for an education. Like in our situation, we had no idea, my husband and I, we had been fastidious. We're very good, very cautious, and conservative of our money. And then when I got cancer, the bills started to roll in that you can't even imagine$300,000 bills, things like that. It was crazy, and we didn't know what we were doing. And so, we said, how are we going to pay these bills? We got credit cards and maxed them out, paying off cancer bills. We shouldn't if we didn't know that we could go to the hospital and talk to them about this or that insurance, you don't pay first, insurance pays for it. Like we didn't know any of that, and those tools aren't available to people, but if you're comfortable enough to talk to someone at work, it doesn't even have to be the same situation. It could be someone that had just gone to the hospital for a stroke or something like that. They could say, listen, I have the same insurance as you, here's what you need to do, and that is valuable as well. If you have someone at work that's very valuable as well. It's not like getting a raise, but it certainly is financial acumen. The education that you need to deal with any sort of crisis is wonderful, and if you can get that at work again, that's just as good as a raise in some cases.

Amanda: 20:45

Yeah, you had mentioned a little bit too, about your current position, their health insurance. That, that was one of the draws as well. Sure. I don't think that we really talked about that earlier, but one of the questions that I wanted to ask, is obviously you're a really great speaker speaking at Google and Ford as a patient advocate. You're part of care teams with a lot of big personalities. What advice can you give us about being confident and clear about what you need at work?

Heidi: 21:20

I think everyone knows the waters that they're swimming in at work. And if they don't, I'm hesitant because I've had so many friends in the cancer community like I said, be completely mistreated at work, you know, completely maligned and treated poorly, but then I've seen the opposite people being embraced. I think it's each individual person needs to assess the situation that they're in. If you are comfortable, if you feel like you can trust the people at work, then do share. You'll know by looking in their faces when you've said it too many times, or when you've crossed a line, or if someone is disconnecting. But it might be their opportunity to learn from you as well. Like, I didn't know you had to travel? I have airline miles; can I help you get there to your treatment? Things like that, if you do it without asking for help, but just kind of letting them know, just be as candid as possible. You know, I'm struggling with making meals every Friday, cause that's when the chemo kicks in, you know, just being as candid as possible to see. Cause you never know, people might surprise you, being willing to help or offer you advice and tips and not, not advice about your situation. Not like, Oh, you know, my aunt's sister has imported some mold from Mexico to help with cancer. That's not what I mean. No, no, no.

Amanda: 22:48

Does that happen too?

Heidi: 22:49

Oh, all the time. Well, you know, if you had only been eating vegan and I'm like, oh, come on, come on. No, not that type of advice, but I mean the, literally I just went through this. Did you know that there's this thing you could do with our insurance company? Did you know that there's a psychologist available at no cost on our insurance, things like that to help you emotionally go through things? If you don't know what's available, then it's, it's incumbent on others. I think to help you to learn what's available to me, how can I make it through this situation?

Amanda: 23:23

What are some things that you feel like have helped you make it through these situations?

Heidi: 23:28

I'm a person who believes vehemently that I have a God who loves me. And I know that means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. I mean, my personal situation is, I like that guy in the Bible that helped everybody all the time and wasn't really mean. That's what I'm going for, the not mean guy, he's the one I like. And so that's kind of where I find a lot of strength, knowing that no matter how many times I fall, I will always be loved. But then I also see that by sharing my story and by reaching out to others, I see that little spark in their eye that I think my doctor must've seen when he told me, yeah, it's gonna be really hard, but you might make it. Just being able to share with someone, you know, look for a doctor that will help you, giving advice for people that didn't know. That really helps me, helping others has helped me more than almost anything else. Saying things like, oh my gosh, do you know that there's a, there's a group called the pink fund in Michigan and they'll help you pay your bills while you're going through chemo? People light up, they have no idea that there are entities out there that really just want to help them. And when I can share that information, it's incandescent. It really is wonderful. And that helps me, by giving to others, it helps my heart enormously.

Amanda: 24:54

Yeah. Well, I know you have four kids, right? So, it's probably a little chaotic at home? I'm just wondering like how have you balanced it all? How do you, you said God, and I believe in that too. It just, it seems like so much, like I'm sure at times it was really heavy.

Heidi: 25:23

Oh my, yes, and, dark. I mean, there were times when I did not think that I would live. And so, I always go forth kind of thinking if that happens, what are you going to do? Cause having lost my mom, you know, when I just started college, I know what it's like not to have a mom there when you get married, and when you have babies, and when you have questions. And so, I know what that absence is like. And so, I immediately went into work mode, which is, the fight or flight situation. Mine is scrub the floors, like if you're panicking, here's what you need to do. And so, for me, I did things like, I assumed I was going to die, which is probably horrible, but there it is. I sing to my children. I used to sing to them at night all the time. And so, I recorded each one of them, a little CD with me singing their favorite songs. Because if I'm not there five years later, I want them to still have some sort of, cause I have no recording of my mom. And so, I miss that terribly, and I wanted to make sure that they had that. So, I did make all these little CDs for the girls. And then I had my son, I made one for him. And then like, I'm still living, but the kids, I gave them to the children because I started to travel a lot to speak. And so, they started to call it their bed night music to go to sleep because I wasn't dead, but I also wasn't there. So, when I would travel, they would listen to this music. So, I've never excluded them. I've always included them in conversations. If I go to a speaking engagement, that's local, I'll take them with me. You know, you're going to come listen to mom. And even if you're a baby, especially when Noah, my son's name is Noah. When he was born, everyone wanted him to come to be at the event so they could see like the face of hope. That's what they wanted to see. So, I dragged that baby across this country to so many different speaking engagements. And at one point, it was a huge event, I think there were probably 8,000 women. It was a big, it was an arena, and afterward and he has white hair, he's very, very blonde. And at the end, there were so many grandmas that had kissed him, the lipstick on the top of his head was so bad. And he said I don't want to do this anymore. So, I promised him, he no longer has to do that, but I try to make sure that I didn't have like this volunteer work that I do over here. And then my family and worked over here. To me, if it's not altogether, then it's not true. You know, I wanted them to know it's important to do philanthropic things. It's important to give your heart to something, find that thing. If it's not cancer, please, I hope it's not cancer. I hope it's the environment. I hope it's something else that you care about enough to get involved and be willing to donate so much time to. So, they've always known that growing up, they've always been around this environment of doing this work to help other people. I forget we were walking in a forest one time; we were taking a hike, we love taking hikes. And I was in front of the kids and they didn't know that I heard them, but they were walking around, and my son said, oh my gosh, look at that tree, it's so deformed. And they all stopped, and he said, it looks like it has a tumor. And my daughter said, don't tell mom, she'll get it some kind of support group. Well, they know all the language, they know the words. And they're also like, whatever.

Amanda: 28:52

That's awesome. I love that. Well, and they've seen you, just this like beacon of hope, and truth, and service. And just being out there, it's such an amazing, like role model for your kids. I'm really impressed.

Heidi: 29:08

It's very light, it's very lighthearted for them because I mean, this is a very serious topic, but they've heard me, they've heard me share my story so many times. And I actually asked my youngest daughter's name is Bella, and when she was like eight, I asked her not to consider coming with me anymore because she would lip-sync me up there. And then at the point where like everyone would be crying. She'd be like this,"mmmm" in the front row. And she's like, no, I want to keep coming so I can get the little, the little hot dogs at all these events. I'm like, no little hot dogs. That's all, it's like going to fancy events. They just don't wanna hear mom talk the whole time.

Amanda: 29:52

And they want the good food and the swimming pool at the hotel, right?

Heidi: 30:00

They like to travel. They just don't like the boring part.

Amanda: 30:04

And all right, well, we're getting ready to close. And so, I have just kind of like one more question, I think. And I'm just wondering if somebody finds herself in like a situation where they feel hopeless, what is something that you would, you would tell them?

Heidi: 30:28

I would tell them to look for the little things. Someone just asked me speak this, a major corporation had me speak to their all-hands meeting. And there was a young gentleman who said exactly that, it was just the beginning of COVID, and he said, I feel so helpless and hopeless and alone. And like, what do I have to live for? That's exactly what he said. And I said, tell me about your day? Tell me about this morning? Cause this was like a new presentation that I was giving. And he said, well, same thing as every day, you know, I got up, I don't know, I had some coffee. I said, no, no, you got up, and then what? He said, what do you mean? I said, literally walk me through. He said, well, I got up and I took a shower. I said you got up out of a bed, correct? And he said, yeah. I said, in a safe environment with clean sheets in an air-conditioned room. And he said, yeah, I said, and then did you take a shower? He said, well, yeah, of course. I said, out of potable water, water that you could have quite conceivably had a drink from coming out the shower, it was so clean? You had soap, you had a towel, you had everything you needed? You have more than 90% of the world and you haven't even left your bedroom yet. By stopping for just a moment to look at the incredible bounty around us. The fact that you got out of bed and you're healthy, then you're able to put your shoes on without any help or assistance. That you're able to stand up without crutches. That you're able to brush your teeth because you have teeth, that you have a toothbrush. These are so many things that everyone takes advantage, takes for granted here in the US because they don't realize, or they forget that we're so incredibly blessed here. And, I kind of have come to hate that word because people use it for so many things, but really there's bounty all around us, and there's love all around us, and there's hope all around us. But if we're so focused on just getting through the day, we're going to miss it, it could be just a little flower accidentally growing in a crack on the sidewalk. But if you're so busy walking by it, you're not going to notice it. Just stop for a minute, stop, and realize that your happiness should not be tied to your health or your financial success. It should be tied on what your heart truly tells you to do. So, look for the little things, stop for just a moment and look for something very small. And then you might be able to see the very, very large gifts that are around you as well.

Amanda: 33:00

That's amazing. Thank you so much. Oh my gosh, this has been awesome. Can you tell me where people can connect with you if they want to? What's the best way to connect?

Heidi: 33:11

I'm on all sorts of social media. LinkedIn is the best avenue for professional and speaking. I do have a Heidi Floyd,"Follow Heidi" is my Facebook for speaking engagements. I'm pretty active on Twitter as well, mostly because there's a great cancer community out there and we will frequently shoot each other questions and answers and just support. So I use each platform for different things, but you just, just look for me and you can find me basically on any social media. I'm happy to connect with people from around the world. Just anything that I can do to help. I'd love to.

Amanda: 33:45

Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Heidi, for being on the show. This has been incredible and you have provided so much insight. I'm really excited for everybody to listen to this.

Heidi: 33:56

Well, thank you very much. It's an honor to be with you.

Amanda: 33:58

Yeah. All right. Well, I will talk to you soon.

Heidi: 34:01

Okay. Thank you.

Amanda: 34:02

Bye.

Outtro: 34:07

Thanks for listening to the Raise Up Podcast. If you want to raise, head to www.raiseuppodcast.com and download our step by step roadmap where we've taken all the expert advice we've collected and put it into a simple PDF ebook called you guessed it, How to ask for a raise. Before you join us again, make sure to subscribe, share it with your friends. You can click the share button, take a screenshot and share it on your social stories and tag@AmandaLeFever, see you again soon.