Interview with Maimah Karmo (Part 2)

As promised, here is the rest of my interview with Maimah Karmo, a young breast cancer survivor & founder of the Tigerlily foundation.

Let’s talk a bit about your experience leading Tigerlily.  I think that a lot of women want to get more involved in advocacy but don’t always know where to begin.  And in a very short amount of time your organization has grown by leaps and bounds.  Any suggestions?

You need nothing to start besides your passion.  I started Tigerlily while I was in bed going through chemo. I knew  nothing about breast cancer, non-profits, running an organization, how to get awareness, exposure or how to create something that would make a difference.  All I had was a burning passion and desire to make a difference and a deep love and compassion for the young women being affected by this disease. I also pray constantly that I be shown the steps to take and the people that I should reach out to.  Every morning I ask God what our plan is for the day and I listen and do…that is how it has worked. I have had no plan, formal training or strategy… just love, desire, passion and the memory of the pain and isolation I felt during that time and my knowledge of the potential for transformation through a challenge.

Women who want to get involved should just start acting and stop thinking about it.  Call me, email me, commit yourself.  People are dying because of lack of information.  That is unacceptable.  Lack of action can equal a life lost…that is how I see it and that is why I don’t stop and will never stop in my mission to educate and help young women. I owe it to them and to my daughter and to the young women who are dying or have lost their lives to this disease.

I see that you are also a life coach and an editor for Global Woman magazine.  Did these endeavors also flow from your breast cancer experience, or were they activities that you were already involved in prior to your diagnosis?

After I got diagnosed, I wondered, if I’d died, what would have become of all my dreams?  They would have died with me.  So, I decided to create a life where I did any and everything I wanted and dreamed of…and I have and still am. I became a published writer, I wrote a book, I use my life in service to others, I am truly alive, I coach others and share the lessons I learned, I’m a better mother and Maimah, I have more fun…all of the things you see came from my “after life” – my life after I was confronted with my mortality and it has been amazing.  When I die, I want to be smiling and ready to go.  I want to have no regrets, no “what-ifs” and no dreams left unfulfilled…so I’m making them happen.  I also want to leave my daughter with the tools she needs to really live and she will have them because that is what she grew up with.  I want her to be happy and love herself, be at peace and be the change she seeks in the world.  Oh, and I’m not done yet…I’m just getting started!

You are a very busy woman – you are growing Tigerlily, working at another job, and raising a daughter.  How do you keep up with everything?!

A LOT of prayer, juggling and very disciplined time management.  I couldn’t do it otherwise.  I pray unceasingly and ask God to guide me and show me what to do.  Building Tigerlily and being a mother are the most important works of my life and I have to do them both well.  So, I really have to balance my time.  I take my daughter everywhere I go, to events, expos, Capitol Hill, Congressional receptions, speaking engagements, meetings, everything.  She is getting  a hands-on education on how to create the life she wants.  I think hands-on education is everything.  She was three when I was diagnosed, so she went through everything with me and I watched how it changed her, so she knows how important the work  we (she and I) do is.

I make sure to really connect with my daughter and we have one-on-one time, and little special moments and things that we do that are just between her and I.  We take mini vacations and have quiet time at home, where it is just she and I and all electronics are off… We have movie nights and go to get our nails done together or get sushi, we have water gun fights and mommy and me night in, where we do fun things, so I really have to make sure that I balance, she knows she comes first, and that Tigerlily is very important.  Last, but not least, I make sure that I have time for me, where I power down and just relax, center and do nothing…or I treat myself.  I know, a lot, but it works!

Any particular programs / events that you would like to highlight?

Our primary programs are the Chemotherapy Buddy Program, Funds for Families, At Home and Day of Beauty, which provide women with buddies, financial assistance, meals and empowerment, in that order.

In June, we are having our 1st Annual DIVA Night Out, to connect young women, mothers, families and friends in a fun event, while educating and empowering them in terms of their breast health.  There will be a mother daughter fashion show, spa treatments (manicure, pedicures, massages and facials), we will hear from empowerment speakers and breast cancer survivors, women will be able to eat, dance, shop with vendors, and they will get swag bags.  Tickets are $60 per person; groups of 20 get 5 free tickets and groups of 10 get 3 free tickets.  It is an event not to be missed.  Especially after being on the Oprah Winfrey Show, tickets have been really selling.  This event is basically a way to bring young women together in a fun arena and open up their minds to their breast health, while having a good time.

What is your long-range vision for the organization?  How can people help?

The goal for Tigerlily Foundation is that it will be a nationally recognized, then global foundation that provides young women with hands-on support and services – before, during and after breast cancer.  People can help by donating, doing fundraisers, starting affiliates/chapters and spreading the word, to educate others and get young women educated and aware.

One of your stated goals is to “promote ferociously fearless females.” Love that!  How would you define a ferociously fearless female?

Someone who lives her life on her own terms, who creates the life she desires, that makes her heart sing and who realizes that its all in the journey, who is truly alive and lives life in spite of her fears and claims her place in the world.

Thanks, Maimah!  You rock!

Click here for more details about Tigerlily’s the 1st Annual DIVA (Divine Inspiring Vivacious Aware) night coming to Fairfax, Virginia on June 25, 2009.