One Step Forward, Every Day
Michelle Leeson
At 48, Michelle Leeson knows life rarely follows the path we expect – and sometimes its greatest challenges can lead us somewhere entirely new.
Having lived locally since she was 16, Michelle’s life today centres around her four children, a love of learning and an outlook shaped by an extraordinary period of change.
Her 40s began with life seemingly settled. She loved her work as a teacher aide, her children were happy and she and her husband had celebrated 20 years of marriage by renewing their vows.
Then, in 2021, Michelle was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer.
With a frightening prognosis and the possibility she may not survive, treatment tested a strength Michelle already knew she possessed. What surprised her was how difficult life could be once treatment ended.
“Being in treatment was scary and hard but finishing treatment and rebuilding my life was almost harder.”
Michelle advocated for herself, sought the right professional support and began rebuilding her health across mind, body and spirit. Today, having beaten cancer, she says she is the healthiest she has been in a long time.
The experience also fundamentally changed the way she viewed caring for herself.
Twenty years ago, immersed in raising three young children, Michelle routinely placed herself last. Cancer taught her that prioritising her own wellbeing was not selfish, but essential.
“I know firsthand that if Mum crumbles the whole family follows.”
Her recovery sparked another transformation.
A lifelong learner with a fascination for psychology, health and personal development, Michelle channelled that curiosity into new qualifications as a life coach and Pilates instructor; achievements she admits would have seemed unimaginable eight years ago.
Now she is preparing to launch Life Forward Coaching, turning years of lived experience and learning into a business focused on helping others rebuild following significant challenges.
Part of that vision includes a comprehensive after-care program for cancer survivors, inspired by a gap Michelle recognised through her own recovery.
“I wasn’t ready 10 years ago to offer the service to others that I am now. I had more lessons to learn before I realized that there was a real need for a comprehensive after care program for cancer survivors.”
Joining the Women Over 40 Project has offered Michelle another opportunity to mark this chapter.
After her daughter’s wedding prompted the realisation that she was usually behind the camera rather than in photographs herself, the importance of capturing moments became particularly poignant. Having lost her parents, two brothers and sister, Michelle understands how precious photographs can eventually become.
Her portrait now represents more than turning 48. It captures the year she transformed a long-held ambition to help others into reality.
The future is filled with milestones – another daughter’s wedding, her son completing his apprenticeship, her youngest beginning high school and, one day, grandchildren.
And at 48, Michelle is approaching all of it with a message she hopes other women will carry with them.
“Turning 40 is a gift. You’re not past your used by date. You’re actually at an age where you have so much to give. Use that life experience and knowledge and do something great with it.”
Her philosophy for what comes next is fittingly simple: “One Step Forward. Every Day.”
