“There was no book in Spanish for people dealing with cancer,” explains Hollye Jacobs, the New York Times best-selling author of The Silver Lining: A Supportive and Insightful Guide to Breast Cancer. So the nurse, author, and cancer survivor approached several Fortune 500 companies to translate her book into Spanish and distribute a condensed version in both languages for free to a wider audience. Allstate was convinced to step up to the plate.
Making her book accessible was essential to Hollye, whose part memoir/part step-by-step guide is for all affected by cancer, but especially for the woman “who has to make a choice to buy food or medicine.” She gets so animated talking about the topic, but she actually gets quite enthused about every topic I bring up. She is so present and enjoying life, a spirit conveyed through an infectious smile. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, she speaks publicly and writes about her experience on the award-winning blog, “The Silver Pen.”
“I was a health care provider who became a patient,” she explained. “I learned so much more after I was diagnosed.” She is adamantly not “the pink ribbon person,” which means you won’t find her raising money and awareness. Instead, her mission is to educate and directly help people and families that are impacted by cancer.