Changing the World of Cancer: How Maggie Judge Helps Others Heal

After an unexpected phone call from the breast clinic office, Maggie Judge’s life changed forever.

Scared and confused about this new chapter of her life, Maggie needed guidance and resources. She looked, but could not find what she needed, so she decided to create her own.

Now, she shares her knowledge and passion for connection with others navigating their breast cancer journey in her community, LoveME Healing.

Maggie, describe your passion in one sentence.

I am passionate about helping those on a breast cancer journey to discover a more personal, loving healing for themselves beyond just the physical aspect.

How did you discover your passion, and how long have you been practicing it?

There is so much change that comes with cancer. Before my diagnosis (November 2020), I was doing work that I loved, but I knew I was working way too much. I wasn't taking care of myself. Cancer was my wake-up call. With a cancer diagnosis, you are thrust into so many big decisions and scary unknowns... appointments with the oncologist, the surgeon, and then all of the individual treatments and surgeries, etc. I couldn't find the resources and tools that I needed in order to navigate it all and decided to make my own. When people started seeing what I had created for my own journey, they encouraged me to share these tools, my learnings and my story with others. I realized during my treatments even that all of this was so much bigger than me or my healing... and LoveME Healing was born (November 2021).

What was happening in your life when you began to discover this passion? 

After my unexpected breast cancer diagnosis in November 2020, I had to make big changes to prioritize my own healing needs.  This required me to be more self-compassionate and advocate for what I wanted and needed in the healing process.  It also was a challenge to navigate all the overwhelm and fear effectively. While my medical team was working to eliminate the cancer, I felt alone in dealing with the healing that needed to happen at the personal, emotional and not-so-obvious physical levels that cancer imposed.

I couldn't find the specific tools that I desired to help move through the day-to-day demands and changes... or to help me figure out how to slow down and shift all the parts that felt like they were spinning out of control.

Have you ever hesitated in pursuing your passion? Why? What support has helped you continue?

I have always been an entrepreneur at heart and have pursued many passions to date.  However, none have felt this ON purpose for me!  My personal health and healing will now have to take priority because with cancer your life does depend on it.  I believe we are all healing from something and helping others discover their unique healing needs is so very meaningful to me.  My husband, daughter, family and close friends help me stay focused on my healing and my dreams.  The many meaningful connections that I have made with other women on this journey are invaluable and continue to strengthen my resolve for ongoing healing.

I needed to process and evaluate what else beyond the treatments and surgeries was important to MY healing, which became personal... opening up and telling others about my diagnosis, letting go of work or roles that no longer served me (without guilt or fear), setting boundaries, checking in and moving through the feelings and emotions, accepting support, asking for what I needed and most importantly loving myself and making my self-care priority.

Tell us about one challenge you've encountered as you've pursued this passion. What is it? Are you overcoming it, or still managing it? 

For most of my adult life, 4 key areas have created a personal challenge as I sought a balance between serving others and taking care of myself. The 4 P's as I call them (Perfecting, Pleasing, Proving and Producing) were my natural response to everything and everyone external to me. But these are an infinite trap, become exhausting and left no time for self-care. Making self-care a priority, practicing saying no to things and letting go of my desire to focus on those 4 P's is an ongoing part of my healing process and journey.

Look back at the "you" before you started this passion.

With the 'old' me... My energy and attention were focused on my work and the needs of 'others'.  I was definitely doing work that I loved, but my creativity, happiness and health suffered because I wasn't taking care of myself.  I am still leveraging similar talents in this new passion work (design, creating tools, building community), but I am doing it in a much more meaningful context with LoveME Healing.  I also believe that I am doing this because I also need it myself.  Helping others heal at a very personal level holds me accountable to keep discovering and implementing my own personal healing!  I could not feel more on purpose with LoveME Healing.

I now have daily non-negotiable practices that are focused on my own self-care and self-love.  I can't very well encourage others to do these things if I am not willing to do them myself. 

Has your passion helped others? How?

We released the LoveME Healing Journey in May 2022 to a small community of about 20 people that are going through it together with our guidance.  This journey is made up of 7 eBooks, 30+ tools/templates and a private group where we share, learn and heal together.  We also have 5 Healing Guides that have been through Breast Cancer and provide support, different experiences and encouragement to these women.  The LoveME Healing community will continue to grow as we plan to launch to the broader public in Q3 2022.  The feedback so far is affirming and positive that these tools are helping others navigate what they are already managing in their healing without piling more on top of the obvious overwhelm.  We are also finding that some of the more personal development-based tools are loved by those in remission.

What is one "life lesson" you're learning as you pursue this passion? (Think of this as something you would share with a friend over coffee.)

The power of meaningful connection; Connection is one of my core values and this came up for me in two ways.

Connecting with Others:

Early on, I reached out to over 20 women that have been through breast cancer to draw from their experiences. The learnings were invaluable in helping me make some of my biggest health decisions.

Connecting with Myself:

Even though I believed in the power of meaningful connection, I realized that I was lacking that connection with myself... I was doing so much for others and for work, that I wasn't taking care of myself. Again, cancer was the wake-up call that created attention, time and space for my own health and happiness.