# Losing Both Parents Young, Breathwork, and Finding Purpose After Grief with Leslie Hacker | 070

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/resilient-a-f-with-blair-and-alana-7122229/losing-both-parents-young-breathwork-and-finding-purpose-after-grief-with-leslie-hacker-070
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/resilient-a-f-with-blair-and-alana-7122229/losing-both-parents-young-breathwork-and-finding-purpose-after-grief-with-leslie-hacker-070.md
Podcast: [RESILIENT A.F. with Blair and Alana](https://stenobird.com/podcast/resilient-a-f-with-blair-and-alana-7122229)
Published: 2026-03-10T11:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://blairkaplan.ca/losing-both-parents-young-breathwork-and-finding-purpose-after-grief-with-leslie-hacker
Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/f9dfe451-23b4-41db-907f-00facd276bde.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/resilient-a-f-with-blair-and-alana-7122229/episodes/losing-both-parents-young-breathwork-and-finding-purpose-after-grief-with-leslie-hacker-070
Duration seconds: 1840

## Resource

What happens when you lose both parents to cancer in your 20s while trying to build a business, stay functional, and survive emotionally? In this deeply moving episode of RESILIENT A.F. , Blair Kaplan Venables sits down with Leslie Hacker to talk about early loss, end-of-life caregiving, alternative healing, and what it really means to take care of yourself when everything around you is falling apart. Leslie shares her story of losing both of her parents to cancer, beginning at age 25, while simultaneously growing her marketing and communications business. She opens up about the emotional toll of caregiving, the impossible choices that come with terminal illness, and how grief reshaped her identity, priorities, and sense of purpose. This conversation explores grief without platitudes, healing without judgment, and resilience without pretending things are fine. Leslie reflects on losing her father after a six-month battle with cancer, followed by her mother’s diagnosis of glioblastoma. While her mother was initially given a short prognosis, surgery extended her life by five years. Leslie describes the emotional complexity of living in constant anticipatory grief and how it affected her relationships, work, and sense of self. While caring for two terminally ill parents, Leslie was also building her business. She speaks candidly about the pressure to “keep going,” the guilt that comes with choosing work or rest, and the reality that grief doesn’t pause just because you’re self-employed. This part of the conversation resonates deeply with anyone who has tried to function professionally while navigating personal devastation. After her mother’s death in 2020, Leslie made a powerful decision to use her PR skills to advocate for cancer research. She organized a fundraiser to r…

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