Difficult News to Share About Jeanine
A letter to all of you:
My name is Madison O’Neill. Some of you may know me as our Director of Client Services here on Team Jeanine over the years. But some of you may know me better as Jeanine’s daughter.
I have sad news to share with you. My mom, Jeanine Blackwell, passed away last week after her journey with advanced-stage breast cancer.
Jeanine had been on a journey of healing herself from breast cancer for the last year. She and I constantly had conversations around the “right story” and “right timing” for sharing her diagnosis and treatment with you. The timing of sharing her story always revolved around “when I get to the other side of this” – when I have a tactical approach to share with others, when I’ve collected financial resources I can pass along, when I round up the right care team to recommend, when I start the scholarship to help others who can’t afford the right treatments, when I film the Netflix-style documentary (yes, even that was on her list)…
What stopped her from sharing her story was something she preaches to all of us every day. A deep voice inside all of us that whispers, “what I have to share is not enough…it’s not the right time yet.” Instead, she kept trucking along on this massive quest of what she felt was her greater purpose – to write a story she felt was worthy of sharing, with all of you, and the world.
To be candid with all of you, this post carries a lot of weight. To be able to articulate our morning coffee conversation a-ha’s. To summarize journals and journals filled to the brim with insights and notations worthy of a medical school textbook. To share what she would want to be her legacy with all of you.
When I sort through it all, I don’t think the story she was here to share was some massive step-by-step guide on how to cure cancer. I think there are two messages she would want me to leave to all of you instead.
The first is from a health standpoint. Take care of yourself. Schedule the doctor’s appointment you’ve been putting off. Go get the mammogram. Be an advocate for your own health because no one else will do it for you.
The second is one that I feel aligns with all of us, but especially the community she has grown over the years and was so inspired by. There is immense value in “being in the trenches” and one step ahead of the people you can help. What you have to share IS good enough. You don’t have to be “on the other side” or the Wonder Child success story to change peoples’ lives. You have so much worthy of sharing and so much good you can do. What you have, who you are, and what comes naturally to you is good enough. It is your superpower, and it’s why you are here on this Earth. Don’t let that voice in your head slow you down.
Jeanine’s entire life was dedicated to helping those around her, including you, tap into your genius and share what only you could share with the world. She had a gift for seeing what each of us was here to uniquely do and spent her life helping all of us live up to our greatest potential and take the next step towards our freedom. Having the joy of building our business together will be one of life’s greatest gifts to me – all our time spent, our laughs shared, and her unrelenting support in anything I dreamt up. To be able to have Jeanine as a mentor and a mom allowed me to grow into the woman I am today, and foster the belief that anything is possible in the future. I know she impacted many of you in a way you can relate to as well.
No words can adequately express how grateful she was to each and every one of you. Every time someone said “yes” to what’s next for them or shared a win with our team, she celebrated. We even have a gong in our office she would ring to celebrate your wins!
While we never hoped to be in a world without Jeanine, continuing to share her mission of helping experts like you get your brilliance out of your head and into the world has always been our collective vision. Our team and myself, who have been with Jeanine since the founding of this business, feel so fortunate to be able to continue this work in her memory. While things may start to look a little different without her here, it’s our goal to continue to deliver content and experiences to support you all in bringing your dream business to life. As we enter into the next phase of what this journey looks like for our company, we would love to invite you to be a part of it.
Do the work you are here to do. And along the ride, cherish it all. Every moment. ❤️
Cheers,
Madison
Jeanine’s daughter and Director-turned-CEO of Simple 7 Digital | Create 6-Figure Courses™ | Jeanine Blackwell Consulting
If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, or condolences, we have set up an email address that will be shared with our family and our team. Simply email your thoughts, memories, condolences, and what you’ve learned from Jeanine to: Remembering@jeanineblackwell.com
