Aileen Lamb on Breast Cancer, Finding Purpose and Starting Again

Loading player...
A breast cancer diagnosis can change your life in ways you never imagined but sometimes those changes can lead you somewhere quite extraordinary.

This week on my Good Things with Brent Lindeque podcast, I chatted to Aileen Lamb, the former CEO of New Media, who was diagnosed with breast cancer on Women's Day, at exactly the same age her own mother had been diagnosed.

Thankfully, her cancer was detected early but the experience made her reassess her life and ask herself one important question... "If not now, when?"

And that question changed everything.

Aileen decided to pursue a dream she'd carried for years, immersing herself in the world of perfumery and eventually launching Heirloom Perfumery, a proudly South African fragrance brand. And she's giving back too, with 5 percent of online sales going to Project Flamingo, which supports women receiving breast cancer treatment in public hospitals.

This conversation was incredibly meaningful for me as my own mom has just finished radiation treatment for breast cancer, and with October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it felt like an important story to share. We also spoke about finding your ikigai, a Japanese concept meaning your reason for being, and how even the scariest experiences can sometimes push us towards a new purpose.

What I loved most is that Aileen's story isn't really about cancer. It's about everything that can still happen afterwards and the wonderful possibilities waiting for us when we decide to follow our dreams.

You can catch our full conversation on Good Things with Brent Lindeque, available on YouTube and your favourite podcast platforms.

🎧 Watch and listen to the episode on all our social platforms (like all of them).
📆 New episodes drop weekly.
🏡 Powered by BetterBond. Filmed at Primedia Studios.
❤️ Stories that matter. Conversations that count.
13 Oct English South Africa Society & Culture · Daily News

Other recent episodes

Meet Julie Oates: The South African Woman Behind Julz Shoes!

A devastating fire, a R2 million hijacking and a multimillion-rand South African footwear business! Julie Oates, the incredible woman behind Julz Shoes, has a story worth sharing. On this week's episode of Good Things with Brent Lindeque, I sit down with Julie to discover how she turned a devastating setback…
10 Nov 16 min

Adrian Gore Shares Four Principles That Could Change Your Life

This week on Good Things with Brent Lindeque poddie, I had the privilege of sitting down with Discovery founder Adrian Gore. Adrian founded Discovery in 1992. Today the company serves over 50 million customers across 36 markets. But we weren't really talking about business. We were talking about optimism, human…
4 Nov 33 min

Tourism is Changing Lives! Alan Campbell Shares Why South Africa Has So Much Potential!

Tourism is one of South Africa's greatest opportunities, and the good news is that its impact goes far beyond beautiful hotels, incredible holidays and international visitors. Every tourist who arrives in our country represents jobs, opportunities and families being supported. Think about the hotel staff, the drivers, the restaurants, the…
28 Oct 17 min

One Word Could Change Everything: Pepe Marais on Finding Your Purpose

This week on my "Good Things with Brent Lindeque" podcast, I sat down with one of South Africa’s most celebrated advertising minds, Dr Pepe Marais, the co-founder of Joe Public. We spoke about his incredible career, the challenges of building a business, almost losing everything to bankruptcy and how those…
21 Oct 28 min

One Step Behind Mandela: Rory Steyn on Protecting Madiba

Rory Steyn had one of the most extraordinary jobs in South African history: protecting Nelson Mandela. Appointed to lead Madiba’s personal protection team in 1996, Rory travelled with him locally and internationally, getting to know the man behind the global icon and witnessing moments most South Africans never got to…
7 Oct 22 min