Yolanda J. Murphy

Yolanda J. Murphy was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA.  At a young age, she understood the value of education and the importance of excelling. In 1997, she graduated from Trinity Christian School and went on to obtain her BS in Business Management from Carlow University in 2008. For several years, Yolanda has worked for a healthcare company and until 2016 was living a normal simple life.  At the age of 36, things drastically changed.  Yolanda was diagnosed with Stage 2 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC) of the left breast. She underwent four rounds of chemotherapy and thirty radiation treatments.  As a young African American woman, she thought this could never happen to her and more frightening was the inability to find the necessary resources to help her navigate her now new normal.  While she is thankful for the organizations that did help her fight for life, she is passionate about advocating and providing resources for young women suffering with breast cancer.  She understands how important it is for women to know being “too young to get cancer” is a myth. Equally important, she wants women to know they have the inner strength and mental tenacity to conquer anything they are going through, including difficult physical challenges.

Yolanda serves as a Pennsylvania State Leader for Young Survivor Coalition (YCS), an advisory board member for Lacuna Loft, 2017-2018 Young Advocate for Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) and an active member of Young Adult Cancer Support (YACS) of Pittsburgh. She has shared her story with a variety of audiences and organizations and in January 2018, she created a blog to share her story with the world, thisexceptionaljourney.com. She is also in the process of writing her first book.

Yolanda is now cancer-free and encourages all she meets by declaring: “I am a miracle! Despite what it looks like, you can make it. Find what gives you hope.”

Follow Yolanda J Murphy, @thisexceptionaljourney, on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For speaking engagements, sessions or just to be in touch, she can be reached at yjm@yolandamurphy.com. You can also write to PO Box 261, Turtle Creek, PA 15145.