Co-Founder

Getting diagnosed with breast cancer at thirty five, only a few months after my husband had returned from a seven month deployment with the US NAVY, was definitely not on my bingo card for 2017. But the universe had other plans for me, as usual. At the time I was absolutely terrified. I had a two year old and two 5 year olds at home with me and I was so scared for them. One of my dear friends connected me with an old friend of hers who was also married to a military spouse and had just gone through breast cancer the year prior. That new friend became my saving grace. She ended up mentoring me through that entire year of surgeries, treatments, decisions and side effects all over facetime as she was in Florida and I in California. She truly was a blessing. I took her friendship and guidance with me as the years went on past my own diagnosis and I continued to connect myself with numerous women who were in the same position as me in the beginning. I’ve spent the last seven years mentoring other breast cancer patients via all forms of communication and all over the world thanks to friendly connections, advocating for fellow women to get checked and check themselves and also making some of the best friends I never would have made had I not been diagnosed with breast cancer.

During the pandemic I finally discovered my first true hobby in my life, gardening. And it happened by accident of course. I decided to redesign my entire backyard and turn an old dog run into a tropical zen garden. Because, if you know me, this is not an abnormal task for me to come up with and choose to take on. So I busted out my graph paper and pencil and I was off to the races. Fast forward six months and I was knee deep in schooling myself on soil, sunlight and water needs of all my beautiful new plants. I was HOOKED!  Ever since then you basically have to pry my hose out of my hand these days to get me indoors. 

Last summer I had a new neighbor move in a few doors away. We connected over our love for plants, our ADHD and of course, the fact that we were both breast cancer survivors. On top of all that we share so many more things in common it’s almost creepy at this point. Over the winter while we were painting garden rocks in Beverly’s She shed, I came up with an idea. I said what if we offer to help other survivors with their gardens and yards during treatment? They can see that there is hope for a life after cancer and we can hopefully also help ease some of their fears. Beverly was in from the get go and Backyard Breasties was born February 2024.