Introducing Encourage: Breast Cancer and Beyond
The Course, Community, and Connection You’ve Been Looking For—During and After Your Breast Cancer Journey.
From idea to impact—how a quiet vision in 2024 became a supportive membership for survivors in 2025.
For all of 2024, Encourage: Breast Cancer and Beyond sat quietly in my Kajabi library.
I had the framework. I had the vision. But the year didn’t unfold the way I thought it would.
Still, the dream stayed with me: to build a space that didn’t yet exist when I was newly diagnosed—something more than a blog, more personal than a book, and more consistent than scrolling through comments on social media. I imagined a place where breast cancer survivors could go to feel informed, connected, and truly supported.
In 2025, that dream became a reality. I recorded the course videos, created a private community, and began hosting weekly Encourage Meetups—sometimes even when I was the only one who showed up. 🙂
Now that the foundation is built, I want to take you behind the scenes to show you what Encourage really is, what makes it different, and where we’re headed next.
The Heart of Encourage: A Breast Cancer Journey — The Course
“I’m too overwhelmed to read a book.”
Oh, I get it. There’s something uniquely exhausting about trying to process information when you’re newly diagnosed. I remember reading—really trying—and then feeling my eyes glaze over when it became too much.
That’s exactly why the heart of Encourage: Breast Cancer and Beyond is my book—but delivered in a different way.
So what does that look like?
A thoughtfully organized online course with short, focused videos that walk you step-by-step through the journey.
Throughout 2025, A Breast Cancer Journey—the course—has come to life with new content. Inside, you’ll find guidance on topics like imaging, biopsies, genetic testing, surgery decisions, recovery, and how to set up your space for healing.
Each module also includes a personal video where I share insights from my own experience—what it really felt like to face the shock of a DCIS diagnosis, and how it affected our life and family.
The course is divided into clearly labeled topics so you can find what you’re looking for without overwhelm—and get a survivor-led perspective from someone who’s walked this path.
The Power of Support: Weekly Encourage Meetups
There’s something powerful that happens when we talk to other breast cancer survivors. The support gets deeper. The connection feels more real.
Every Thursday afternoon, I host an Encourage Meetup over Zoom. As each new module of A Breast Cancer Journey—the course—rolls out, our conversations often align with that week’s topic.
These weekly support calls offer something we don’t always get in a clinical setting: space to ask the follow-up questions, the “is this normal?” questions, and the ones we didn’t think to ask during our appointment.
Our doctors help us with medical decisions, but once we walk out of the exam room, where do we turn with everything else?
Encourage Meetups are that place. A place to be seen, heard, and supported by others who truly understand.
I’ve been leading online support groups since 2021, and I know firsthand how helpful it can be to connect with people who have been where you are. Whether you’re navigating a tough decision, sorting through test results, or just having a hard week, you don’t have to figure it out alone.
If you can’t make it live, no problem. Meetups are recorded, and you’re always welcome to send in your questions ahead of time. I’ll answer them during the call so you can catch the replay when it works for you.
Looking to Level up Your Support?
Inside Encourage: Breast Cancer & Beyond, a private membership community, you can join me on calls where we can talk about how to find sustainable rhythms after our treatment ends.
Membership includes:
- Access to “A Breast Cancer Journey” Online Course
- Private community
- Regular Zoom Support Calls
A Private Community to Connect
Encourage also includes a private online community—an off-the-algorithm space where you can ask questions and get the support you’re looking for, anytime.
There have been so many times I’ve wanted to connect the DCIS survivors I’ve met on Instagram with the people I’ve chatted with on X. But we all have our preferred platforms—and maybe you don’t want to go public with your diagnosis at all. I know I didn’t at first.
That’s why the Encourage Community is built right into the membership. It’s not hosted on any major social network, so you don’t have to worry about who might see your post or whether your colleague might stumble across your question on LinkedIn.
Inside this private space, you’ll find a welcoming group of people who truly understand. It’s a place for connection, encouragement, and getting your questions answered—without needing to broadcast your story to the internet.
Beyond our Treatment: Ongoing Support in Survivorship
When active treatment ends, the appointments slow down. But that doesn’t mean the need for support disappears.
Many of us are still reeling—from side effects, hair loss, fatigue, or adjusting to ongoing medications. Yet it can feel like the support system around us quietly fades. It’s not that our network doesn’t care—but there’s often an unspoken message: “It’s time to move on.”
But where do we go when we’re still facing challenges?
What if we’re struggling with intimacy, returning to work, fear of recurrence, body image, energy, or scanxiety? Who can we talk to?
Encourage is designed to be a home for those conversations. A place to receive ongoing support in survivorship, where emotional processing doesn’t stop just because appointments have. We’ve been through a lot—and many of us want to talk about it with people who truly get it.
Once the full course content from A Breast Cancer Journey is live, we’ll begin exploring what comes next—how we move beyond breast cancer and into a life that feels vibrant and whole.
We’ll focus on rebuilding emotional, mental, and physical well-being. We’ll talk about returning to work, adjusting routines, parenting, relationships, and creating a life that fits within our new capacity.
Breast cancer changes us—and we deserve support that doesn’t end when treatment does. Encourage will be here to walk with you through every part of that journey.
Where We’re Headed—And an Invitation
What started as an idea for support, existing only in my head (and a draft course inside Kajabi), has become something real: a space to learn, heal, and connect. And we’re just getting started.
You may already know me through my blog, my book, or social media. Those resources are here to inform and encourage you, and they always will be. But Encourage offers something more.
It’s not a one-way conversation like a blog post.
It’s not a public forum like social media.
And it’s not just another support group.
Encourage: Breast Cancer and Beyond is a guided space designed to grow with you, whether you’re in treatment, recovering, or figuring out life after breast cancer. Inside, you’ll find:
- Survivor-led lessons with trusted information (delivered in bite-sized videos based on my book)
- Weekly Encourage Meetups where you can ask questions and connect in real time
- A private community that doesn’t rely on social media
- Ongoing survivorship support focused on emotional, physical, and mental rebuilding
I created this membership because it’s what I needed during my diagnosis—and what I couldn’t find anywhere else. A place that blends education with connection. Information with empathy. Structure with soul.
If that sounds like the kind of support you’ve been looking for, you’re invited to join us—whenever you’re ready.
👉 Learn more or become a founding member: Encourage Membership
Jennifer Douglas
Jennifer is the author of "A Breast Cancer Journey: Living it One Step at a Time," breast cancer survivor, and patient advocate. Her book, published in 2023 by Bold Story Press, is an encouraging guide for breast cancer patients. It contains first-hand information, organized by topics, to help readers navigate the diagnosis, treatment, and recovery from breast cancer. Her writing emphasizes emotional, mental, and physical well-being along with empowered decision-making.
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