Meet Laura Mays

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Laura Mays a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Laura , we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

My purpose found me. At the age of 5 I was diagnosed with dysplastic nevi syndrome (genetic condition of people who have multiple abnormal moles and increased risk of melanoma) and had my first abnormal mole removed surgically. At a young age I learned the importance of checking my moles and protecting myself from the sun’s harmful rays. But it wasn’t until I was 20 years old, that I learned the severity of melanoma. My sister Cindy was 28 and was just diagnosed with stage 4 nodular melanoma. At 26 years old, she had noticed the lesion while pregnant with her first child. At the time, her OB/gyn diagnosed her with a “hemorrhoid” and told her not to worry about it- that it would go away after the baby is born. Before she could ask for a biopsy or surgical removal, she was pregnant with baby #2 and the doctor told her to wait to have it removed until after her second delivery. She trusted the doctor and waited. The ob/gyn referred to a colon rectal surgeon who ended up telling Cindy he didn’t think she needed it removed, that it would eventually shrink as she lost the baby weight. Unsettled and unsure, she took it upon herself to schedule an appt with a general surgeon. The surgeon took a large biopsy of it in the office and was shocked at her findings. At age 28, Cindy had a stage 4 melanoma growing in the anal area. Throughout her treatments of chemo, bio-chemo, immunotherapy, and radiation, the cancer kept spreading. We were all helping take care of her and the boys and trying to remain strong. Two years went by, and she was doing well, until she was out of breath walking up the stairs in her house. She was rushed to the ER and they discovered it had spread to her liver.
At that time the doctors told us to get the family into her room to say our goodbyes before she was put into a drug induced coma. Cindy was unbelievably strong as she sat with her boys on her lap in her hospital bed, and without shedding a tear, she told them that Mommy was going to be with God now and that she will always be their Mommy and watch over them from heaven. She battled her beast for 2 years and eventually succumbed to its grips 4 days later. Cindy died at age 30 from melanoma leaving two sons, 2 and 4 years old. Before she passed, I had started a foundation in her name to raise funds for melanoma awareness and research. Two years after my sister died, I got into the physician associate program at her Alma Mater, Butler University in Indianapolis (our hometown). It was Cindy’s idea that I look into being a PA as I was wanting to be in the medical field in some capacity and since her diagnosis, I only wanted to practice in dermatology. I completed my degree and moved to Florida to begin my career helping others. On the morning of my 31st birthday, I had immense survivor remorse and felt guilty that I had now outlived my big sister. I felt that I should have been the one that was diagnosed with melanoma because I had no children at that time. I felt badly that I was alive, and my poor nephews didn’t have a mom. At that moment I decided to live every day for her and make a difference in any way I can. I was determined to turn this tragic thing in my life into something positive and keep her legacy alive. My sister said if I helped save one person from having melanoma, then I had succeeded. In 25 years of practicing, plus the foundation’s awareness and fundraising efforts, I have helped at least thousands of people in her honor, and I am not stopping anytime soon. Eight months ago I took a job in biotech with SciBase and I now promote a medical device that helps dermatology providers detect melanoma and save lives. Now on a global level I am helping stop melanoma in its tracks and hopefully making Cindy smile even bigger, Hope I make you proud sis. I love and miss you every day. Your spirit lives on in everything I do.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Right now, I have two main priorities in my life but both with the same goal. My foundation is getting a makeover and some restructuring so that we are more efficient at fundraising while adding on additional services like melanoma patient care services (transportation to treatments, food assistance and self-esteem assistance). My career at SciBase is flourishing as my passion for prevention shines brightly. I adore my job as a senior strategic medical executive as well as being the lead in our own melanoma awareness campaign. Our device, Nevisense, is a non-invasive enhancement technology that assists the dermatology provider in the gathering of information about sub-cellular changes that are signs of melanoma. It is the only FDA approved device in the US for the detection of melanoma. SciBase is an international company that has devoted its mission to melanoma prevention and detection. I am ecstatic to be part of such an amazing team of dedicated, intelligent and compassionate people.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Faith, determination and positive outlook. Never give up on your dreams and your goals. Even when it feels like you cannot go on- tomorrow is a new day. Remember “this too shall pass”. So on a bad day- find solace in the fact that it will not last forever and when the good days come along- cherish every moment and be grateful while you enjoy those days. Try your best to learn from failures and unfortunate times and do your best to take something bad and turn it into something good. Start your day by being grateful- it humbles oneself and sets the stage for a great day. It has taken me a long time to learn and accept that lots of things are out of our control and cannot be forced. You must rely on your faith and let God take over. Do your best while HE does the rest.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

My biggest area of growth has been self esteem and belief in myself. I have doubted myself more than I should, for far too long, and recently some special people have entered my life and changed my outlook tremendously. Now I dream even bigger because I have complete confidence in myself that I can achieve anything that I put my mind to.

Contact Info:

• Linkedin: Laura Mays
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits

SciBase has the rights to their logo and the device picture but since I work for them it should not be a problem to use these photos