Today we’d like to introduce you to Holly Cotton.
Hi Holly, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I always say the second chapter of my story started after I was diagnosed with cancer. Being totally unprepared for the possibility of dying changes who you are and who you want to be for the life you have left. After I went through my surgeries and treatment, I wrote a book about my journey on a whim and what followed is what I am now. That book led to several other books, becoming a mental health advocate, life coach, creating a podcast and focusing my efforts into being the change the world needs. I created my initiative Your Mind, Your Magic which focuses on adolescent mental health. With this initiative I have been able to create a course that I sell and teach. My workshop focuses on parents AND adolescents. It creates a dialogue between the two to explore some barriers with communicating and also common struggles tweens and teens encounter. I call it a playbook because sometimes we need help. I discovered in my own parenting that it is easy to get fixated on being the provider and not being accessible to our youth when they need us. I also created a niche for single people. There are a ton of resources of how to keep your partner happy, working on love languages and intimacy. The problem is when you don’t have someone to explore these with. Being single can cause a snowball effect leading to depression, withdrawal, soothing addictions, and other negative outlets. I created a book to talk through the single phase. Loving ourselves enough to not settle. To know your worth. Being a life coach and wellness expert has given me the ability to speak from both a medical and psychological perspective.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Um no. Nothing worth having will be an easy road. The biggest struggle along the way was deciding if I wanted to tell my story of cancer as who I was or if I just wanted to bury it and focus on life as a regular person, not just a cancer survivor. As a survivor of anything, sometimes you get tired of telling the story. Sometimes it can be overwhelming with the sympathy and people not knowing how to act. It also has been a difficult road because as a strong woman sometimes it’s frustrating when people only see you as a cancer survivor. I love that people find my story inspiring, but that’s just one of the chapters of Holly Cotton. I feel like I’ve survived so many other things and I never want one thing to define who I am. Thus the struggle of separating everything, but still using all of your life skills and experiences to create your brand. Being an author can be challenging. Finding new things to write about that are relevant is the key. Keeping up with marketing strategies to reach a broad audience can also be taxing. The key is to prioritize what’s important and focus on what you can achieve rather than becoming overwhelmed by the items you can’t.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My trade is nursing. I have a Master’s Degree in Nursing. I’ve been a college professor and actually taught nursing students. I still do. It’s my way of giving back and imprinting myself on the new medical professionals coming into healthcare. As I mentioned, I have over ten books. I recently published a new book about finding closure after a breakup. Since my first book I’ve gone on a path of mental advocacy. I wrote a book last summer called somebody’s wife or not, discovering self-love and single life. After I wrote that book, I started speaking on panels and everyone wanted to know about self-love and single life. With that came a ton of questions and a lot of them revolved around “how”. How to move on. How to stop loving the ex. How to heal so they didn’t bring the trauma into their next relationships. So with all the informal therapy I knew I had to find a way to help, thus the newest book. Don’t Call Them. I am also a podcast host, Holly Cotton Conversations has a global fan base and I have met so many unique people. One of my talents is being able to pull out stories and my guests always have something inspiring to say. I’m honored to be the one they said it to. I am also a huge fitness fanatic. I am still certified as a personal trainer, but I don’t teach anymore. At this point I’ve now built a brand from my name and am an “influencer” in some form. I love showing my life and story. Yes, you can beat cancer and still be beautiful. Yes, you can have a corporate job and still be an entrepreneur. Yes, you can be a mom and still be sexy. I want to use my life to inspire women, and men, to live a fun and fulfilling life every day. Not just on vacation.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I am a HUGE movie geek. I love action movies. I have literally been at the theater on opening day for every Marvel, DC and Star Wars movie.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hollycotton.com
- Instagram: hollycotton_
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hollycotton
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/4bdB8A83ZLK9I7OOYKQL2B
