We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gena Bradshaw . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gena below.
Gena , so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
Life is a journey that leads you to beautiful destinations, which is how I found my mission and purpose in this lifetime. Although painful going through them at the time, I look back on all of the breadcrumbs that have led me to this moment. I am a young adult and a two-time cancer survivor, one of which was a near-death experience at the young age of three and a half. I was diagnosed with Leukemia at three and a half years old, a battle of will to live, will to die. This journey has set me up for my purpose in life which is to help others reclaim their health and transform their lives through a holistic approach. Thankfully I grew up in a family where health and fitness were a priority, another gem that has helped me on my purpose-driven mission. Once I was out of the woods, I was able to attend school, play sports, and pursue a “normal” childhood, however, I always knew I was different. I knew I was never going to be sitting behind a desk for work at the age of 10, I grew a love for sports and was able to attend Ithaca College and participate on the women’s track and field team. At age 20, I suffered a migraine and went to the health center to see a doctor, she started feeling my throat and her face changed. She didn’t like what she was feeling about my thyroid and sent me to get a biopsy. Turns out I had a 4.3cm nodule on the left side of my thyroid and was cancerous. Warrior Gena kicked in, I was resilient and never gave up, I knew my body would fight for me and I knew I wanted to go a more conservative holistic route when it came to approaching cancer. This is where the real journey began, I learned everything I could at the time about Eastern medicine, holistic health, energy medicine and so much more to help me. Today I celebrate 10 years cancer-free and fully emersed in my purpose of helping others become the healthiest versions of themselves, things you didn’t learn about health growing up, taking your power back, and knowing you have the innate wisdom to heal your body on a deep level. I decided to write a book about my journey, “A Survivors Story: A Holistic Healing Journey Through Cancer” to show and inspire others that cancer does not need to be a death sentence, you can thrive in your life, to teach the things I didn’t learn and were important stepping stones on my journey and to become more awake to what is truly possible. From there I developed a health and wellness business, Holistic Human Performance, to coach others through the tough times in life, especially with their health. The little whispers I receive to keep going and even through challenging times to never give up, this is how I found my purpose, never ignoring my intuition and body of what I am truly meant to do here on earth.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am an author, speaker, coach, and healer that helps others tap into the innate wisdom within their body to help them on their health and healing journey. Being a space holder and leader is a very important role that I play and I take that very seriously because these tools and holistic healing modalities I have done have truly helped heal my body on such a deep level. It is part of my mission to share that with others, knowing you can break generational trauma, disease, and limiting beliefs that hold us back from living our most authentic selves and truly thriving.
It is an honor that I am here on earth doing this work after such adverse times in my life. I couldve taken that and played the victim my whole life, but I knew that wasn’t my truth and I knew there was more. That is why I write books, teach and create holistic tools and modalities to help others not only learn but truly integrate and embody. The most special part about what I do is that I am on the other side of the hell I went through, helping others, doing what I love, and creating a successful business from it. And you can to.
From my book “A Survivors Story” I knew there was more, so I went with my intuition and created my wellness business Holistic Human Performance, which is a whole body health and healing approach. It is a virtual wellness center filled with livestream classes, on demand videos, and digital courses like meditations, energy resets/healings, workouts, nutrition coaching, sound healings and more. We also offer services like our coaching programs, cancer survivor support group, sound and energy healings, and wellness oils. The holistic modalities and products I have created are a combination of my experience and learning that I know work and have been able to see work with thousands of people. I also created the Holistic Human Performance Podcast, as I bring on other lightworkers, healers, holistic doctors, cancer survivors and more, so you can truly learn what it means to live a healthy, whole, free life.
I am so excited to announce I have a Daily Journal Coming out in Febuary 2024 and my second book coming out this year as well, all about the second part of my journey, the tools and lifestyle I have learned, and the methodology I have created to embody that. I am so honored to be here doing this work truly.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
As I look back on my life, the three skills and qualities that were most impactful on my journey were resiliency, creativity, and being open-minded. If you were to tell me 10 years ago I would be doing this kind of work I would laugh in your face and tell you it’s woo-woo but that was me being ignorant and not knowing the truth, asleep. My intuition is what has guided me through this journey, as well as mentors, coaches, and the thirst to learn and implement to be the best version of myself.
My best advice for folks who are early on in their journey would be to be open and listen to your gut, it is always right, listen to what your body is telling you, it holds the key and the medicine to what you need. The universe/God/source ALWAYS has your back, life doesn’t happen to you it happens for you, so be an open channel to receiving and lean into what you are truly being called to do. Know you can heal your body.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
I believe that starting well-rounded and general is the best way to go about learning, integrating, and expanding on what works and what doesn’t work for you. In turn when you experience and you live life to the fullest regardless of the circumstance you become wise. Who and what opportunities are attracted to you with that type of energy in turn opens up doors for you that you maybe didn’t think would open. Eventually, once you get a grasp on what it is you enjoy, you then become more specific on what it is you would like to bring to life and do in this world.
I started in the fitness and nutrition space and was very much known in the industry, I grew up in a family where fitness, nutrition, and sports were life. My parents have had our family fitness business, Bradshaw Personal Fitness, for over 35 years, and that is what I thought I would be doing for the rest of my life. I started learning everything I could about fitness, sports, and nutrition, and then I narrowed it down to more functional training and a holistic approach to nutrition. But I knew there was more. If I had ignored that calling, and not to mention been through my trials and tribulations I don’t know where I would be today. My soul yearned for more and I ignored that for a bit. I had a health scare and that moment is what brought me to what I am doing today. I had to get general again learn and experience all I could and then I began to narrow down and become more specific. Today I work with those who have been touched by cancer and also those who have given up on their health, have no place to turn, and don’t know where to start on their holistic lifestyle journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.holistichumanperformance.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/genabshaw/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gena-bradshaw-60b167b0/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6_zzYf6YxpyH4qpkutWNLQ
