One year after Bridgette Bello was diagnosed with breast cancer she published her first edition of Tampa Bay Business & Wealth, which was recognized this year by the United States Chamber of Commerce.

ST. PETE, Fla. — October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and there is a woman in St. Pete who not only survived her diagnosis but used it to motivate her into pursuing her dream job.

Bridgett Bello is a writer, and if she had to type out the most challenging year of her life, she wouldn’t have writer’s block.

“In June 2017 I was diagnosed with breast cancer,” said Bello. “It was very, very scary, I was 47, had no family history, no reason to suspect that, I still have no family history, I’m still the only one in my family.”

Just a few months later her house was destroyed during Hurricane Irma.

“So 2017 was not my year,” said Bello.

However, in between the pain of that year, Bridgett also found the power to pursue her lifelong goal.

“There were a lot of introspective days where I really got inside my head and said, ‘ok what do I want to be when I grow up,’ and if this does kill me, ‘what do I want my legacy to have been,’” said Bello.

Source: Breast cancer diagnosis motivates Tampa Bay woman to start magazine