We recently had the chance to connect with Jenna Benn Shersher and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jenna, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What is a normal day like for you right now?
I am usually up at around 5:00 am before my husband, kids and dogs start to stir. This gives me at least 30 minutes before I am needed for anything. I treasure this time in the morning, the quiet, the stillness, a cup of coffee on my own. By 6:30 I am downstairs preparing breakfast and helping the kids get ready for the day. By 7:40 the dogs are fed, the kids are fed and we are en route to my eldest daughter’ s middle school. We then head home, get the youngest dressed and ready for school and all kids are dropped off by 9. I sit down at my desk and first start by answering emails that came in overnight. I typically have a day filled with zoom and in person meetings, a 90 minute tennis session to break up the day, and am back with the kids around 4:00 shuffling them to classes and extracurriculars. We have dinner, my husband and I may have a glass of wine, sit down to watch Task or the Morning Show and head to bed around 930 pm.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Jenna Benn Shersher, Founder and CEO of Twist Out Cancer—a nonprofit that helps individuals touched by cancer heal through art and storytelling. We build safe spaces for people to share, connect and heal. Our signature program, Brushes with Cancer, pairs those touched by cancer with artists who translate their stories into original works of art, culminating in exhibitions and community-wide celebrations. We also lead Twistshops—evidence-informed, art-based workshops in hospitals, schools, and workplaces. Twist Out Cancer grew from my own experience with a rare blood cancer and the belief that creativity and connection can turn isolation into belonging. Today, our community includes survivors, previvors, caregivers, clinicians, and artists who show up for one another long after the paint dries. This year, I’m focused on expanding Brushes with Cancer, deepening hospital partnerships, and inviting new corporate and foundation allies to help us scale access to expressive arts programming. If you’re looking for a place where stories become catalysts for resilience—and where art is more than a product, it’s a pathway—you’ll feel at home with us.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
I had a fifth grade teacher that believed in me before I believed in my self. In the third grade I was diagnosed with a learning disability which required tutoring multiple days a week. When my friends where hanging out and enjoying extracurriculars, I was focused on figuring out how best I learn. By the time I hit fifth grade, my confidence was low and I was convinced that I was not very good at school. I had a teacher that figured out how I processed information and she helped nurture me throughout the year. It was because of her love and support that I started to find my place, and my voice.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering stripped away everything superficial and left me face-to-face with what mattered most: connection, creativity, and compassion. When I was diagnosed with cancer in my late twenties, I lost control over my body, my plans, and my sense of safety. But in that unraveling, I discovered a more profound truth—that vulnerability is not weakness, it’s the birthplace of empathy and innovation.
Success can affirm what we already know; suffering transforms what we thought we knew. It taught me to listen more than I speak, to create when I can’t control, and to see beauty in the broken places. Out of that experience came Twist Out Cancer—a community built on the belief that sharing our stories and expressing ourselves through art can turn pain into purpose.
Suffering taught me resilience, but more importantly, it taught me how to help others feel less alone. And that, to me, is the most meaningful kind of success there is.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
The public version of me is *part* of me—but not the whole story.
The real me is more layered. I am the mom making lunches and running lists the night before, the rare cancer survivor still learning how to rest and find gratitude in small moments, the creative who processes the world through hyper-color and storytelling. The public and private versions of me coexist—they inform and balance each other.
Twist Out Cancer was born in the overlap between those two selves: the part of me that wanted to hide and the part that knew I needed to be seen. So while the public version of me may be more polished, Im still real—and at times a mess! The quiet, unfiltered me behind the scenes is what gives that light its depth.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What will you regret not doing?
I would regret not slowing down enough to feel and appreciate small moments. I’ve spent so much of my life building community—and while that’s deeply fulfilling, the drive to create can sometimes eclipse the simple joy of being present.
I would regret not taking the trip, not saying ‘I love you’ enough, and not dancing in the kitchen with my kids. I would regret not carving out the space to dream big.
Professionally, I’d regret not taking bigger risks to grow Twist Out Cancer in bold, unexpected ways—expanding the reach of art and storytelling to people who never imagined they could be part of something like this. Personally, I’d regret not being fully present for the people and places that make my life rich and meaningful.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.twistoutcancer.org
- Instagram: @twistoutcancer.org
- Linkedin: @twistoutcancer.org
- Facebook: Twist Out Cancer
- Youtube: Twist Out Cancer
Image Credits
Eileen O’Hair
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