At 21 years old, Terry Healey was diagnosed with a life-threatening cancer that would lead to more than 30 surgeries and a permanent facial difference. What followed wasn't simply a journey of recovery. It became a years-long process of rebuilding his identity and discovering that resilience isn't about returning to who you were before adversity. It's about learning how to move forward as the person you've become.
Today, Terry is an award-winning author, keynote speaker, business strategist, and storyteller who helps teams build resilience, gain confidence, and fuel growth. A UC Berkeley graduate with a 35-year career as a marketing executive, he is the author of The Resilience Mindset: How Adversity Can Strengthen Individuals, Teams, and Leaders and At Face Value: My Triumph Over A Disfiguring Cancer.
In this conversation with Notable Men host Laura Ezzell, Terry shares the habits that helped him navigate profound change and introduces his REBAR framework: Reflect, Build, Act, Renew. He explains why resilience can be strengthened over time, how emotional intelligence makes leaders more effective, and why embracing change can uncover opportunities for growth.
Terry also opens up about one of the most important lessons his wife gave him: stop trying to return to the person he was before cancer. Her advice helped him understand self-acceptance as part of transformation and redefine courage not simply as physical toughness, but as the willingness to be vulnerable, seek support, and allow others to see what you're going through.
In this conversation, Terry shares:
- How a cancer diagnosis at 21 transformed his understanding of resilience
- Why gratitude became one of his most important tools
- How adversity helped him develop greater empathy
- The four components of his REBAR resilience framework
- Why resilience can be strengthened through daily habits
- How hope helps us cope, adapt, and move forward
- Why emotional intelligence matters in leadership
- How mistakes and failures contribute to growth
- Why change can become an opportunity rather than a threat
- What his wife taught him about self-acceptance
- How vulnerability changed his understanding of courage
- Why resilience and emotional intelligence can both be learned
- How adversity can lead to greater purpose
- The simple practice he recommends when your attitude begins to suffer
Terry's story offers a different way to think about resilience. The goal isn't always to bounce back to the person you were before something changed. Sometimes the greater opportunity is accepting who you've become and discovering how adversity can help you grow.
