Holly Cotton shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Holly, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
For me, I think I get very task oriented and get consumed when I am trying to achieve something. Once I am zoned in, it’s hard for me to focus on anything other than what I’m trying to do. I’ll put my phone on do not disturb or just not answer calls or texts. Sometimes I will find myself working into the middle of the morning with no sleep. Just trying to figure something out. The problem is is that I have other things and other people in my life that also need my attention so I have to reprioritize my life to make sure I am also focusing on other things so I don’t make people feel unimportant. I literally have to unplug so that I don’t spend every waking moment trying to achieve a certain goal.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Holly Cotton and my mission is to change the world. What began as a diagnosis of cancer, became a new trajectory of finding purpose. After I recovered from my cancer journey, I wrote my first book, Strong, More than Muscles, which is my autobiography of surviving cancer. From that moment I started a whole new career I didn’t know was possible. My background is nursing. I have a Masters degree in Nursing and have been a registered nurse my entire adult life. After I wrote my first book, I realized that I could implement my wellness expertise into other relatable formats, specifically in the mental health field. I began writing books about self-love, navigating single life, loss and grief, and surviving the worst day of your life. I write books for people who are having a hard time and need help. After helping adults, I decided to go further and expand my campaign of self-love to kids, adolescents and young adult adults. I created an organization that focuses on adolescent mental health call Your Mind, Your Magic. I also created a free interactive mental health website where kids can get 24 hour real time feedback from a safe source.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
I think what really reshaped how I see the world is social media. When I started off branding myself, I thought that I needed a company or a logo to have people rally behind me. As social media began growing I realized that anyone can have a platform. You don’t have to be important, have a product or have something all shiny and polished. Once I decided to make my brand, Holly Cotton, I just insured that I was intentional about who I connected with and what I wanted my brand to stand for. I think once you create a mission statement or a goal of how you want to be viewed, the rest is easy. You just make sure that you only align with things that resonate with the mission statement.
When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
Being a cancer survivor I’m often on panels or at events talking about cancer and my story as an inspiration to others. One of the topics I discuss is survivorship and how the survivor will either take their traumatic event and bury it deep and never talk about it again, or they’re going to take the traumatic event and do something to spread the word to stop other people from having the same experience. Some people don’t want to relive losing someone they loved or nearly dying. For me, telling my story helped me process what I was going through. It helped me see the good of surviving something that could’ve killed me. It put me in rooms with people who lost loved ones and made me realize how lucky and empowering survivorship can be.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Is the public version of you the real you?
My favorite thing is when someone comes up to me in the public and says, I follow you on social media and you’re exactly the way that I thought you would be. Only one version of me, so I don’t have to worry about being the real me. I’m always the real me.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I think for the first half of my life I did what I was told to do. I was told to go to college. I was told to get a good job. I was told to create a family. I did all of those things. Then I began a second life after cancer. I realized that I didn’t want to just have a life, I wanted to actually live. So in a way I’m thankful because it opened my eyes and changed my perspective. The second half of my life is completely intentional and purposeful and peaceful.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hollycotton.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hollycotton_
- Other: https://www.yourmindyourmagic.com
