Teisha Rose is an innovator in health and wellness mindset, transforming personal challenges with multiple sclerosis and stage four breast cancer into a platform for empowerment. As the founder of Hurdle2Hope®, author of 'Life Interrupted', and host of the 'Wellbeing Interrupted' podcast, she has developed the transformative Hurdle2Hope® Roadmap. This offers mindset insights and strategies not just for those living with chronic illness, but also for health professionals and caregivers, significantly enriching the global health and wellness community.
Teisha Rose, Health and Wellness Mindset Specialist
Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.
My name is Teisha Rose and as I’m writing this, I’m surrounded by boxes. Packing up or home to move to 100 acres of stunning land in central Victoria, Australia. This decision is a deeply intentional one for my partner Andrew, me and our two beloved dogs, Paddy and Lori.
In February 2022, my life took an unexpected turn with a diagnosis of breast cancer. It was already at stage 4, having spread to my liver and sternum. Therefore, this move is more than a relocation. I know it is where I need to be for my healing journey.
Living with multiple sclerosis (MS) for 25 years has taught me the importance of prioritising our health and wellbeing. This lesson led me down some incredible paths: stepping out of the corporate world into social work, living in Edinburgh, and volunteering in Romania with special needs children. Even writing my book Life Interrupted: My Journey from Hurdle to Hope (2015).
Now it’s time for a tree change. This new land offers me the chance to immerse myself fully in the healing power of nature. I know this is exactly where I need to be to continue my healing journey and fully embrace life. I am doing all of this while supporting people with life-changing issues with my business Hurdle2Hope®.
What is your business name and how do you help your clients?
My business, and my passion, is Hurdle2Hope®. More than just a name, it stands as a manifesto for transformation for those impacted by life-changing illnesses, drawing on my unique blend of professional expertise as a social worker and my profound personal journey through living with MS and stage 4 breast cancer.
At the core of our services is the Hurdle2Hope® Roadmap. This framework isn’t just theoretical; it’s a pathway lived, breathed, and applied. It demonstrates that when your wellbeing is interrupted, you possess the innate capability to harness your strength, regain your power, and build your resilience.
To further support this journey, Hurdle2Hope® offers a range of tailored services including 1:1 mentoring, workshops, an evergreen course, and the Wellbeing Interrupted podcast. Each is designed to provide actionable insights and strategies for those navigating the complexities of chronic illness. Through this comprehensive approach, not only is a life filled with hope achievable, but it also opens the door to unimagined possibilities.
What kind of audience do you target your business towards?
Initially, Hurdle2Hope® was created to support individuals navigating life with chronic illnesses, or as I like to refer to them, life-changing illnesses. This distinction emphasises the profound impact these conditions have on one’s life, beyond the chronic nature itself.
Over time, it became clear that to truly enrich and empower these lives, our scope needed to embrace not just those directly affected, but also the professionals and support networks crucial to their journey.
Our audience now extends to allied health professionals—physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers, and medical practitioners. Equally important are the support persons: partners, parents, and carers. All of these individuals play an indispensable role in the wellbeing journey, facing unique challenges themselves in these roles.
By broadening our focus, Hurdle2Hope® aims to strengthen the entire ecosystem surrounding a person with a health condition, enhancing resilience, and fostering an environment where everyone involved can thrive.
Can you explain how Hurdle2Hope® has personally impacted your journey with chronic illness, and how you believe it can benefit others facing similar challenges?
The same week I was set to launch the foundational Hurdle2Hope® online experience, I received a diagnosis of breast cancer. Despite the shock, I leaned into the Hurdle2Hope® principles with even more determination, putting the launch temporarily on pause. Once everything calmed down, I saw it as an unparalleled opportunity to apply my teachings to this new, immense challenge of living with stage 4 breast cancer. To become a “case study” of the Hurdle2Hope® Roadmap.
Facing MS and advanced cancer in one lifetime could seem overwhelmingly unfair (no arguments here!). Yet, the Hurdle2Hope® Roadmap, shaped by my experiences with MS, emerged as a personal mindset guide. It navigated me through the stress, anxiety, and fear. Then attracted new experiences, like our unexpected tree change.
Before Christmas 2023, both my specialists confirmed my diseases were in remission. This pivotal moment only deepened my belief in the transformative power of the Hurdle2Hope® Roadmap, affirming its potential not just in my life but for anyone grappling with health challenges.
Driven by this breakthrough, I'm dedicated to sharing the roadmap through the Healing Mindset course and 1:1 mentoring for individuals navigating illness, and workshops aimed at practitioners and support persons. It offers profound insights that empower individuals to not only survive but also to thrive, turning obstacles into avenues of hope. Providing confidence that in living with uncertainty you really can have an impact on your experience.
Who inspires you to be the best that you can be?
Who inspires me? The answer is deeply personal – it's my younger self. Diagnosed with MS at 22, I was thrust into a reality I wasn't ready for. I often reflect on being 25, lying in a hospital bed for months, completely immobilised, terrified I’d never regain my functioning or live the life I envisioned. Fresh from university, with degrees in business and psychology, I was embarking on a promising corporate career. Suddenly, I was depending on others for personal care.
Yet, I'm proud of how I not only regained my mobility but also mustered the courage and determination to live abroad alone within the next year. Through the years, as I navigated life with MS, including several severe relapses that forced me back into hospital and rehab, I gained more insights into living in alignment and prioritising my well-being. With each challenge, I continued to grow. Remarkably, those aggressive relapses stopped in 2012.
Now, I feel a profound duty to my younger self to share the insights and knowledge she gained during those challenging times. with others. I aim to ensure no one feels isolated and hopeless in living with a life-changing illness.
I also want my younger self to know that all she learned is now being applied to another challenge: stage 4 breast cancer. But the good news is that by integrating the lessons from both MS and cancer, we can now transform lives through Hurdle2Hope®.
In your experience, how does mindset play an important role in navigating life with a chronic illness, and how does the Hurdle2Hope® approach differ from traditional methods of coping or overcoming obstacles?
Mindset, fundamentally, is pivotal in every aspect of living with a chronic illness—from the initial diagnosis and encountering new symptoms to undergoing treatments and adapting to significant health challenges. It's crucial to understand that your mindset is the one constant in all situations. However it can serve as your most powerful ally, guiding you through each obstacle, or it can act as a significant hindrance, impairing your quest for wellness.
At Hurdle2Hope®, we delve into the true essence of mindset, asserting that it extends well beyond the realms of mere positivity. While maintaining a positive outlook is undeniably beneficial, authenticity cannot be overlooked. The journey of living with a health condition involves experiencing a full spectrum of emotions; acknowledging and processing these feelings is essential for genuine healing.
Our philosophy champions the cultivation of a healing mindset—one that accompanies you at every stage of your health journey. It’s about being dynamic and adaptable, ready to pivot and adjust as circumstances change. This approach integrates various facets of mindset: positivity, authenticity, growth, and adaptability. By nurturing such a multifaceted mindset, you ensure it remains your steadfast ally across the diverse situations encountered when managing an illness.
What sets Hurdle2Hope® apart is its foundation on a unique blend of lived experience and professional expertise. This powerful combination delivers a deep understanding of the journey, equipping us with strategies that are not only grounded in reality but also enriched with practical insights. Moreover, the essence of Hurdle2Hope® gains further depth by intertwining lived experience with enterprise—reflecting my personal journey of navigating illness and transforming these challenges into the bedrock of my professional career.
What strategies do you suggest for individuals to build inner strength when confronted with chronic illness?
At Hurdle2Hope®, our approach diverges from the traditional 'fight' narrative.
We believe that phrases like 'you're in the fight of your life' or 'be strong, you’ve got this,' while well-intentioned, don’t fully capture the essence of navigating life with a chronic illness. Instead, we focus on a more nurturing and empowering journey, beginning with the first pillar of our roadmap: 'Harness Your Strength.' This initial step is about acknowledging and leveraging the unique strengths inherent within us when faced with health challenges.
An important aspect of this journey involves blocking out external noise—choosing to surround yourself with people who uplift you and engaging only with trustworthy sources of information. Creating an environment that supports this mindset is crucial for harnessing your strengths effectively.
The Hurdle2Hope® Roadmap further unfolds with 'Regain Your Power,' emphasising authenticity towards one's emotions and living in alignment with what truly matters. This step is crucial for anyone looking to reclaim control over their life and choices amidst health challenges.
The final pillar, 'Build Your Resilience,' encourages personal growth and evolution. It challenges conventional perceptions of health and life, developing mental and emotional fortitude that enables adaptation and flourishing in the face of health challenges.
To complement these principles, I've created the Healing Journey Quiz. I believe that by pinpointing exactly where you are in your journey, you can tap into the specific strategies needed to move forward and grow. This quiz serves as a practical starting point to apply the Hurdle2Hope® Roadmap tailored to your current needs, helping to guide your path towards building inner strength and resilience.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years from now?
Thriving. That's where I see myself in 10 years. Imagining a future beyond the statistics is crucial when you're living with stage 4 breast cancer. I choose to embody this vision, fully and gratefully.
But it goes deeper than personal survival. I believe my experiences carry a purpose. While I don't celebrate the challenges of MS or cancer, they've taught me invaluable lessons about resilience and hope. I aim to create a life so full and vibrant that it leaves little room for either illness.
In a decade, I’ll be on our beautiful land, writing and sharing mindset insights, aiming to make a real difference not only for those navigating life-changing health conditions but also for the practitioners and support persons guiding them.
I envision the Hurdle2Hope® Roadmap as more than a source of inspiration—it’s the go-to guide for practical mindset strategies. Designed as a guiding light, it offers a clear path out of the shadows for anyone feeling lost or overwhelmed by their illness, including those who stand by them, turning challenges into opportunities for hope and possibility.
And with these foundations in place, I dream of expanding Hurdle2Hope®'s reach even further. Imagine keynote speaking engagements where I can share the power of our approach with larger audiences, workshops that provide deep dives into our methodologies, and perhaps the most exciting of all, Hurdle2Hope retreats. These retreats could offer immersive experiences for individuals and their support networks, a place to learn, grow, and heal together. So many dreams, all driven by the desire to enrich lives on a global scale.
Read more from Teisha Rose
