Our Story
Cancer Be Glammed was born out of friendship. It wasn’t founded in a corporate office but over many late nights at my kitchen table. It was started by two mothers, close friends who experienced first-hand how hard it can be to hang onto your dignity and self-esteem while battling the side effects of cancer treatment.
When I was 47, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. In a very short period of time, I became bald, breast-less, and bloated from surgery and chemotherapy. I could barely recognize myself. It was soul destroying.
My good friend Ellen Weiss Kander understood my despair and offered to help. We started searching for practical-yet-fashionable recovery products and style solutions that would help me to look better and to let me reclaim my “sense of self.” We found it difficult and soon realized that other women must be facing the same challenges.
In 2009, we co-founded Cancer Be Glammed to help women diagnosed with all forms of cancer recover with dignity, self-esteem, and style. Yes, I said the S word, Style!
We launched our website, CancerBeGlammed.com to help inform and prepare women for the non-medical, appearance and lifestyle-related side effects of surgery and treatment, and to provide them with a one-stop recovery solution featuring fashionable recovery products, lifestyle solutions and a dynamic community of patients, survivors and relevant experts. For family and friends who want to show their support, we offer a curated collection of survivor-selected, thoughtful gifts that women in treatment will use and appreciate.
Today Cancer Be Glammed continues to grow and evolve. Thanks to the women in our CBG community that share their hard-won wisdom about cancer treatment, recovery, and survivorship.
In the summer of 2012, my dear friend Ellen passed away from liver cancer. She was generous, smart, warm-hearted, very funny, and extremely stylish; a great business partner and an even better friend. It was tempting to shut down Cancer Be Glammed–too painful to continue without her.
But CBG is her legacy. It was her passion to help all women with cancer and as she would say, her hope that, “Cancer Be Glammed will take away some of your stress, guesswork, and legwork on your own road to recovery.” I hope so too.
As always, we wish you Well.
Lisa
Team
Lisa Lurie
CEO, SURVIVOR, PATIENT ADVOCATE, AUTHOR, AND CO-FOUNDER OF CANCER BE GLAMMED
Lisa Lurie is a cancer survivor, patient advocate, and the co-founder of Cancer Be Glammed. A seasoned broadcast television and corporate communications professional, Lisa was an award-winning writer and producer for Alcoa, KDKA-TV (CBS affiliate) and Comcast. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, Lisa underwent a double mastectomy without reconstruction, an oophorectomy, and chemotherapy. While Lisa received excellent medical care, she struggled to cope with the lifestyle and appearance-related challenges she faced from surgery and treatment.
In 2010, Lisa co-founded Cancer Be Glammed to educate and empower women facing all forms of cancer to recover with dignity, positive self-esteem and personal style. From the spark of an idea, Cancer Be Glammed has evolved into a global multimedia platform. Key offerings include the website, Cancer Be Glammed.com, CBG TV, and unique guidebook, Cancer Be Glammed: The Guide, “Take Charge of Your Recovery with Confidence, Comfort and Style”. Cancer Be Glammed works closely with patients, survivors, support groups, hospitals and the oncology community. In 2018 Lisa received national recognition as a finalist for the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators’ (AONN+) Hero of Hope Award.
Brian Lurie
PRESIDENT, CANCER BE GLAMMED
Brian is a seasoned Information Technology professional with 21+ years delivering complex enterprise IT solutions for global fortune 500 companies including SAP, Johnson & Johnson, McKesson, Verizon, and the Walt Disney company. He is an experienced program and project manager, who has led international teams working with multiple industry software solutions to enable companies to enhance their market share and competitive differentiation. Since joining Cancer Be Glammed, Brian leads the company’s technology initiatives as well as marketing strategy, analytics and business development.
Dafna Yachin
CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER, CANCER BE GLAMMED
PRINCIPAL, LUNCHBOX COMMUNICATIONS
Dafna is a writer, producer and director of award-winning national multimedia campaigns, commercials, documentaries and educational programs for CBS, ABC, NBC Universal Kids, the History and Discovery Channels. She has extensive branding and communications experience in pharma and other healthcare industries. Her most recent efforts have included developing multimedia platforms to improve patient care, outreach, and advocacy for companies and organizations like Living Beyond Breast Cancer, Breast Advocate and Cancer Be Glammed.
Mary Lou Magyarits
GRAPHIC DESIGN SPECIALIST, CANCER BE GLAMMED
LOU DESIGN
Mary Lou is an award-winning graphic designer with extensive experience working for a wide range of clients including advertising agencies, network television, pharmaceutical companies and foundations. Her talents include logo design, print and web graphics, website design, and business communications. Her diverse client portfolio includes Stromata, Serpin, and Orpheus Pharma, NBC Universal, The Style Network, Putnam Partners, the Breast Advocate App, the Gruber Foundation, the Huntington Disease Foundation and Powerhouse Visual Effects.
Roman Franklin
WEBSITE DEVELOPER AND DESIGNER, CANCER BE GLAMMED
ROMAN FRANKLIN WEB DESIGN + DEV
Roman is a website developer and designer highly skilled in creating custom templates and websites for diverse clients including the healthcare industry, advertising agencies and musicians. His technical capabilities include the creation of fully customized templates in WordPress. He is proficient in web technologies including HTML, CSS, JavaScript/jQuery, AJAX, and PHP.
Advisors
Elissa Bloom
FASHION & LIFESTYLE ADVISOR, CANCER BE GLAMMED
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR-PHILADELPHIA FASHION INCUBATOR-MACY’S CENTER CITY
Elissa Bloom is the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Fashion Incubator at Macy’s Center City. In 2011, she launched this unique initiative which has become an international model for fashion incubation. With over twenty years of corporate and entrepreneurial experience working for companies like Bloomingdales and Anthropologie, and successfully managing her own accessories brand, Elissa brings a unique perspective to the world of fashion and business. Elissa is a highly sought-after international speaker and workshop leader. She also teaches fashion entrepreneurship at Drexel University, Moore College of Art and Design and Jefferson University. She is the recipient of many awards including the Philadelphia Business Journal Woman of Distinction in 2018.
DR. MINAS CHRYSOPOULO
BOARD CERTIFIED PLASTIC SURGEON & MICROSURGEON
Dr Chrysopoulo is a board certified plastic surgeon and microsurgeon and President of PRMA Plastic Surgery. He specializes in state-of-the-art breast reconstruction with a particular focus on DIEP flap breast reconstruction, techniques to maximize aesthetic outcomes after breast cancer surgery, and restoring sensation after mastectomy. He is also the creator of the Breast Advocate® App, is the world’s first shared decision-making app for breast cancer surgery and breast reconstruction.
JULIE CRONER
VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FOR HEALTH UNION
Julie Croner focuses in on the Patient Leader Network. She holds a B.S in Business Administration, Management Information Systems from West Virginia University, is an American Association of Drugless Practitioners Certified Holistic Health Coach and is a certified yoga instructor.
After a career in IT consulting had to be put on hold, Julie found the world of patient advocacy and realized her life’s work was to advocate for all advocates. Starting her personal advocacy site (itsjustabadday.com), Julie lives out her mission every day and hasn’t looked back since! Her work has been recognized by numerous platforms including Stanford MedX, The National Psoriasis Foundation, Everyday Health, Healthline, WebMD, The Mighty, in 2020 was named to the MM&M 40 under 40 class of healthcare marketers, and won the 2021 Reuters Events Global Pharma Awards Patient Champion: Patient Advocate award.
