Mo Your Own Way.

Back in 2014, shortly after learning I was a carrier of the deadly BRCA 1 gene mutation, placing me at high risk for breast, ovarian, uterine, pancreatic, and skin cancer, I had started working for a multimillion-dollar startup business unit within a company called Cox Enterprises , serving as an Executive Assistant to the president of our business unit, RMS Automotive.

With my boss traveling my first week on the job, I spent the first week of my job familiarizing myself with Cox when I stumbled across an upcoming spin class to support Movember on the intranet. Someone named Jim just received treatment for prostate cancer, which my boys would be at high risk for if they inherited my faulty genetics. I quickly cleared not only my boss's calendar with reminders the night before to pack his cycling stuff, but I also recruited his direct reports to join in.??

When my boss came back to our office the next week, he looked at me strangely and said, you cleared my calendar to go spinning. I said yep, and reminders night before to pack your workout stuff. He didn't say much but agreed to go (as if there was a choice!) and in addition to him and me, two of his other direct reports also joined us.?

As my time at Cox continued, I ensured our business unit continued supporting Movember. The next year I was struggling to find a way to drive engagement for our geographically dispersed team, so I finally asked my boss if I could get full participation from the team for Movember, and we raise $1,200, can I bring in a barber onsite and have him shave your goatee on Skype? Our team was always on Skype and our preferred platform for our town halls. My boss was used to me at this point, looked at me strangely, and said sure.?What you have to realize is my boss was part of Cox for decades, and his goatee was always part of him.

Working with some of my colleagues, we created fun category names like Porn Star, Dude Looks Like A Lady, and other random categories.

The team had a blast, and I received photos from across the globe of some of the creepiest mustaches ever. The Movember Organization supported our campaign and sent us tons of swag to distribute.

When we reached our goal, my boss gave me the final approval to find a barber and set up a Skype town hall. One of my colleagues referred me to his favorite local barber - not only was my boss getting shaved on Skype, but we were also treating the team in Atlanta to surprise onsite shaves. For our remote tea members, we sent them various shave kits from Harry's and Movember swag.

Watching our boss get his goatee shaved on Skype was creepy but amusing, it was a fun way to break up the usual town halls and to this day, it is one of my favorite campaigns I ever led for an organization close to my heart. Yes, a bit politically incorrect for all the right reasons.

Now years later, I am still supporting Movember ! Today I completed the Strava Move for Movember Challenge, log 60 miles of activity to unlock a $1 donation to Movember to raise awareness for men's health.?

About Movember

Mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer – Movember is taking them all on! Since 2003, Movember has funded more than 1,250 men's health projects around the world, challenging the status quo, shaking up men's health research, and transforming the way health services reach and support men.

Why? Because Men's health is in crisis. Men are dying on average 5 years earlier than women, and for largely preventable reasons.

A growing number of men – around 10.8M globally – are facing life with a prostate cancer diagnosis. Globally, testicular cancer is the most common cancer among young men. And across the world, one man dies by suicide every minute of every day, with males accounting for 69% of all suicides.

Now, back to my boys - Men with a BRCA mutation are at a higher risk of developing prostate cancer than men without a BRCA mutation. A BRCA mutation may also increase a man's risk of being diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

In November 2019, a team of British scientists released?highly anticipated findings?from a study of PSA screening in men with defects in a pair of important genes called BRCA1 and BRCA2. Better known for increasing the odds of breast and ovarian cancer in women, BRCA gene defects are also risk factors for aggressive prostate cancer in men. Cells with defective BRCA genes have a compromised ability to repair the DNA damage they sustain routinely every day. As that damage accumulates, those cells become prone to forming tumors. And let's not forget male breast cancer.

To learn more, please visit?Movember.