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Meet this local: Tamara Rodriguez

MEET THIS LOCAL: Five years ago, Tamara Rodriguez was diagnosed with breast cancer. 

With no family history of breast cancer, and as a fitness-focused and healthy 35-year-old mother of two, the diagnosis came as a surprise. While undergoing chemotherapy and having a double mastectomy, she was looking for resources on how to explain her illness to her young daughters. 

She wasn’t inspired by the outdated books that didn’t represent her multiethnic family. So she decided to write her own. 

WHAT SHE IS DOING: The Haitian-born author has since released two books: “Hair to the Queen!” and “Teo the Great: A Child’s Approach to Cancer,” both of which are available in Creole and English.

The book “Hair to the Queen!” focuses on adults being sick and how children deal with that. “Teo the Great” is through the eyes of a child that is sick and looks at how the family deals with that.    

FUN FACT: Tarama is celebrating her fifth year cancer-free this year. Now she is focusing on the health and wellness aspect of life after cancer. 

“Now that everything’s behind you and you moved through that big five-year milestone, what’s next? That’s really what I hope to work and focus on — the next steps,” she said. 

QUOTABLE: “My passion has always been to make people feel great about themselves and empower people and touch people in ways that they needed to be touched so that they can accomplish their dreams,” Tamara said. “I have always enjoyed doing that, but never really had a platform to do that. I think, unfortunately, cancer gave me that platform.” 

HOW YOU CAN HEAR MORE OF HER STORY: You can join Tamara at Baptist Health’s 2019 Women’s Summit where she will be telling more of her story and also selling her two books.

The one-day event — happening this Friday — will focus on leveraging courage through three main pillars: health and wellness, professional life, and mentorship. Along with a powerhouse list of Miami’s leading women, the event will also feature a self-care lounge with health screenings and professional headshots, and a lady boss marketplace featuring local shops like BeLoved Box, Zaytouna Foods, and Loteria Press. Get your tickets today.  

 

By The New Tropic Creative Studio
The WhereBy.Us Creative Studio helps clients big and small engage locals, through campaigns that use creative marketing, storytelling, events, and activations to build community, conversation, and impact.