I’m proud to stand alongside a community of changemakers working to transform women’s health—but for me, this mission is painfully personal.
I support the American Heart Association and the Go Red for Women movement because a heart attack took my mother from us.
On January 1, 2017, my mom passed away suddenly. The day before, she complained of what seemed like nothing more than heartburn. We didn’t know then that heartburn can be one of the warning signs of heart failure in women. We didn’t know that women’s symptoms are often quieter, subtler, and easier to dismiss.
Women experiencing heart failure may feel extreme fatigue, shortness of breath during everyday activities, nausea, dizziness, swelling in the legs or feet, trouble sleeping, anxiety, or chest discomfort that doesn’t look like the “classic” signs we’re taught to watch for. Too often, these symptoms are brushed off as stress, indigestion, or just being tired. That lack of awareness cost my mother her life.
Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women, yet women have historically been underrepresented in research, undertreated in care, and undercounted in outcomes. That reality is why I’ve committed myself to the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Woman of Impact campaign—to help ensure other families don’t experience the same loss mine did.
Supporting my Woman of Impact campaign means investing in research that reflects women’s unique bodies. It means fighting for equitable access to care, better education, and earlier intervention. It means creating a future where women recognize the warning signs, are taken seriously, and receive the lifesaving care they deserve—at every age and stage of life.
This campaign isn’t just about wearing red. It’s not just about sharing statistics. It’s about women standing together, lifting one another up, and refusing to accept heart disease as our fate.
I’m doing this for my mother. I’m doing this for every woman who has ever been told “it’s probably nothing.” And I’m doing this so more daughters don’t have to grow up without their moms.
The time is now. Will you stand with me?
To support my Woman of Impact campaign, please click the Donate button.
Thank you—from the bottom of my heart. ❤