Like so many young women diagnosed with breast cancer, Leigh Hurst’s breast cancer diagnosis seemed to come from out of nowhere. Having been an avid runner & triathlete and having no family history of the disease, the words “breast cancer” rarely even crossed her mind. But after feeling a lump in her breast that was undetected by doctors and finding out two years later that this lump in fact was cancer (Stage 1), Leigh realized that truly anyone is at risk of developing breast cancer and that being in touch with your body can help ensure an early diagnosis. She also wondered why, as a health conscious person, she had not thought more about breast cancer and came to the conclusion that the messages that are out there simply don’t get through to young women. From this basic idea, Feel Your Boobies was born.

Leigh was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 33. She found her lump simply by “feeling her boobies”, not through a formal self-breast exam. What originally started as a few fun t-shirts she designed to remind her friends to “feel their boobies” has evolved into a non-profit Foundation and international campaign focused on spreading this life saving message to young women using unexpected and unconventional methods.

Why use unexpected and unconventional methods? Well, based on Leigh’s experience, many young women tune out messages about breast cancer because they don’t believe they are at risk or the messages are too clinical. At Boobies Central, we know that research shows that simply “feeling your boobies” (aka “breast awareness) is just as effective at identifying lumps or other breast changes as the traditional step-by-step process of “breast self-exams”. And that’s exactly why we’re here — to give you “a friendly reminder when you least expect it”. So get feeling girls, and remind a friend to do the same.

Having spent her career focused on learning technologies and behavior change, Leigh was familiar with honing messages to match her audience. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Communications from Ithaca College and went on to earn two Master’s Degrees (Florida State & Northwestern University) in the areas of Learning Sciences & Simulation Technologies. She worked for Accenture doing business consulting in the area of eLearning, and helped several small companies create their eLearning product lines. This background helped her create a campaign that is not only spreading this lifesaving message to an underserved audience, it’s actually saving lives.

Click on the following link to learn more about this foundation:

FEEL YOUR BOOBIES

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