What happens when you lose both parents to cancer in your 20s while trying to build a business, stay functional, and survive emotionally? In this deeply moving episode of RESILIENT A.F., Blair Kaplan Venables sits down with Leslie Hacker to talk about early loss, end-of-life caregiving, alternative healing, and what it really means to take care of yourself when everything around you is falling apart.

Leslie shares her story of losing both of her parents to cancer, beginning at age 25, while simultaneously growing her marketing and communications business. She opens up about the emotional toll of caregiving, the impossible choices that come with terminal illness, and how grief reshaped her identity, priorities, and sense of purpose.

This conversation explores grief without platitudes, healing without judgment, and resilience without pretending things are fine.

Leslie reflects on losing her father after a six-month battle with cancer, followed by her mother’s diagnosis of glioblastoma. While her mother was initially given a short prognosis, surgery extended her life by five years. Leslie describes the emotional complexity of living in constant anticipatory grief and how it affected her relationships, work, and sense of self.

While caring for two terminally ill parents, Leslie was also building her business. She speaks candidly about the pressure to “keep going,” the guilt that comes with choosing work or rest, and the reality that grief doesn’t pause just because you’re self-employed.

This part of the conversation resonates deeply with anyone who has tried to function professionally while navigating personal devastation.

After her mother’s death in 2020, Leslie made a powerful decision to use her PR skills to advocate for cancer research. She organized a fundraiser to raise awareness for her mother’s brain surgeon in Montreal, transforming grief into action and meaning.

Leslie explains how traditional therapy eventually stopped meeting her needs, leading her to explore alternative healing practices such as EMDR, breathwork, and sound healing. A transformative retreat in Costa Rica, complete with jungle immersion and a rain-soaked breathwork session, marked a turning point in her healing journey.

In one of the episode’s most powerful moments, Leslie describes a breathwork and sound healing experience where she felt connected to her mother’s spirit and found clarity around unanswered questions.

This episode is a reminder that resilience isn’t about pushing through pain or having the right answers. It’s about listening to your body, honouring your grief, and allowing healing to take forms you may never have expected.

Leslie’s story is raw, generous, and deeply human. It’s an invitation to slow down, breathe, and remember that caring for yourself is not optional, especially when you are caring for others.

Buy the books: https://theglobalresilienceproject.com/books/

About the Guest:

Leslie Hacker is a PR, social media, and marketing strategist with 15+ years of experience helping brands break through noise with meaningful, emotionally intelligent storytelling. She is the founder of Hacker Communications, a collective agency that partners with purpose-driven brands across hospitality, tourism, lifestyle, tech, and consumer goods. She also serves as Vice President of the Canadian Public Relations Society of Vancouver, where she helps shape the future of ethical, innovative communications in Canada.

Leslie’s path to building her agency is rooted in resilience. In 2015, both of her parents were diagnosed with cancer in the same week. Overnight, she became a caregiver, and freelancing became her lifeline, and the only way to support her family while keeping her career alive. What began as survival slowly evolved into something meaningful. After losing both parents by 2020, Leslie made the decision to build a business with purpose at its core: work that connects people, tells the truth, and moves audiences to act.

Today, Hacker Communications is trusted by brands across Canada for PR, influencer strategy, and experiential marketing. Leslie has led campaigns for national brands and emerging startups alike, delivering measurable impact through storytelling that resonates.

She is currently writing her first book; a candid, powerful memoir about the five years she spent caring for her parents, how she survived the emotional and practical realities of illness and loss, and how she rebuilt her life and career with intention, creativity, and heart.

Leslie’s story is one of grit, reinvention, and the strength it takes to transform pain into purpose. Through her work, her leadership, and her voice, she reminds others that resilience isn’t just something you endure, it’s something you build.

Links:

https://www.hackercommunications.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-hacker/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/hacker-communications/?viewAsMember=true

https://www.instagram.com/hacker_communications/

https://www.instagram.com/hackattackpr/

https://www.facebook.com/ThePublicRelationsHack

Gift: Free 1-hour brand strategy session with Leslie Hacker ($200 value) Includes:

• Brand & Messaging Snapshot – A quick audit of your online presence with insights to strengthen clarity and connection.

• Strategy Guidance – What to prioritize, what to pause, and how to move forward.

• Content & Visibility Ideas – Fresh angles for posts, pitches, campaigns, or media opportunities.

• Simple Action Plan – A clear set of next steps you can use right away.

To Book: Email: [email protected] by December 31, 2026 and mention this podcast episode.

⚠️ Content Note: Some episodes may contain themes that could be distressing. Please take care of yourself while listening, and don’t hesitate to seek support from a mental health professional if needed.

About the Hosts: 

Blair Kaplan Venables is a British Columbia-based grief and resilience expert and coach, motivational speaker and the Founder of The Global Resilience Project. Her expertise has been featured on media platforms like Forbes, TEDx, CBC Radio, Entrepreneur, and Thrive Global. She is named the Top Grief and Resilience Expert of the Year 2024 by IAOTP. USA Today listed Blair as one of the top 10 conscious female leaders to watch and she empowers others to be resilient from stages around the world. ‘MyStory,’ which is a television show available on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ and Google Play, showcases Blair’s life story. She is the host of the Radical Resilience podcast and specializes in helping people strengthen their resilience muscle using scientifically proven methods and guides grieving high performers with her Navigating Grief Framework. The Global Resilience Project’s award-winning book series are international bestsellers, and her fourth book, RESILIENT A.F.: Stories of Resilience Vol 2, will be published in January 2025. In her free time, you can find Blair writing, in nature, travelling the world and helping people to strengthen their resilience muscles. 

Links:

https://www.blairkaplan.ca/

https://theglobalresilienceproject.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/blairdkaplan 

https://www.facebook.com/blair.kaplan 

https://www.facebook.com/BlairKaplanCommunications  

https://www.instagram.com/globalresiliencecommunity

https://www.instagram.com/blairfromblairland/

https://www.facebook.com/globalresiliencecommunity  

https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-global-resilience-project 

[email protected] 

Alana Kaplan is a compassionate mental health professional based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She works in the mental health field, and is a co-host of the Resilient A.F.  podcast. Fueled by advocacy, Alana is known for standing up and speaking out for others. Passionate about de-stigmatizing and normalizing mental health, Alana brings her experience to The Global Resilience Project’s team, navigating the role one’s mental health plays in telling their story.

Engaging in self-care and growth keeps her going, and her love for reading, travel, and personal relationships helps foster that. When she’s not working, Alana can often be found on walks, working on a crossword puzzle, or playing with any animal she sees.

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