Inspirational Speaker, Musician, Two-Time Breast Cancer Survivor and Advocate

Keynote Speaker – Inspires with Movie and Music

Marcy Brenner is an Inspirational Speaker, Musician,  Two-Time Breast Cancer Survivor, and Advocate for Cancer Survivors.

With the documentary movie about her life ,”Dead Girl Walking,” she presents an intimate portrait of what it takes to survive, and she inspires her audience to learn the lessons of survival without going through the crucible of a near-death experience.

Marcy’s life-threatening illness bestowed unexpected gifts in backhanded ways.

Through her intimate personal story, a powerful documentary movie, and her enchanting songs, Marcy touches the hearts of  survivors and caregivers with joy and clarity.

Friendly and uplifting, her “insanely positive” attitude shines through everything she does, and, unlike cancer, it is contagious.

Her Two-Time Cancer Journey

Her cancer journey gave her an understanding that could come only through  experience, and she invites everyone in to share the wonder of it. She encourages us to “live while you are alive.”

Marcy was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 34 — the same year she lost her mother to ovarian cancer. Although the tumor was smaller than a pea, it was aggressive; already stage two.

She found herself sitting in the same chairs her mother had sat in only 6 months before, undergoing surgery and chemotherapy.

The cancer later returned with a vengeance in her hip, spine and chest.

But in 2000 she underwent a stem cell transplant, and she has been free of cancer ever since.

The moment the bandages came off and she saw her heart beating through her new cancer-free chest, she knew that she was okay, and instead of being devastated, she now would reach out to others who face the losses that cancer, specifically breast cancer, brings.

She was flooded with the desire to let others know it can be okay for them too. She vowed to help others through the basement of a cancer diagnosis.

She has spent the last 20 years offering a hand to individuals and groups who are in the darkness and isolation of a cancer diagnosis and also celebrating along with them being truly alive.

As a Musician – Songs to Movie to Recordings

Marcy is a polished performing songwriter, recording artist and author. She lives in Merritt Island, Florida with her husband, Lou Castro, where they enjoy a vibrant music community, and the rockets that take off from nearby Kennedy Space Center. Together they are the musical duo called Coyote and bring music, along with love and inspiration, wherever they appear.

As a way to express what it is like to live with the shadow of advanced breast cancer, Marcy wrote a song entitled “Dead Girl Walking.”

She wrote the song to “go first,” to be brave enough to live with the ever-present threat, the thing that may take their life.

Documentary filmmaker Ray Schmitt heard the song and was inspired to make a documentary movie of the same name, “Dead Girl Walking,”

It has won numerous awards across the U.S. and Canada – including  the Amazing Grace Award at the BreastFest Film Festival in Toronto, Canada, and multiple Share Recovery Self Help awards in Los Angeles.

Marcy was awarded a Hambidge Center Fellowship to support writing her creative memoir A Hundred Years of Waiting, which describes her extraordinary life experiences, the backhanded gifts of which she speaks.

She started the book as an exploration of self-image after her mastectomy.

It became an inspiration for others to discover the gifts waiting for them inside difficult life experiences.

Marcy and Lou have recording and film credits as well. As members of the internationally-known Molasses Creek folk band, also from Ocracoke Island, they have produced and published five records and toured widely.

Then in the Nicholas Sparks film “Nights In Rodanthe,” starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane, they fronted the post-hurricane party band.

They are included on the soundtrack in company with Emmylou Harris, Count Basie, Dinah Washington and The Dillards.

Feature Article – Family Genetics and Cancer

Marcy, her two sisters, and her niece were featured in a Raleigh News and Observer series entitled “In the Family” which chronicled their experience through genetic testing.

Where She Inspires Audiences

Marcy has presented for medical facilities and teaching hospitals, cancer centers, support organizations, film and storytelling festivals, workshops, and discussion panels.

She is available for innovative adaptations of her topics to Virtual Audiences anywhere in the world.

Most Popular Topics:

Unexpected Gifts from Wake Up Call to Life

Alternate Titles: Music with a Message, Wake Up Call to Life, or Live While You Are Alive

Through story, film, and song, Marcy shares her inspiring story of surviving breast cancer and only afterward finding the backhanded gifts hidden in the experience.

She brings everyone into her story in a uniquely intimate way that delights and inspires listeners.

The award-winning documentary film, “Dead Girl Walking,” provides a powerful platform for her story. Her songs are enchanting, her message universal (and, at times, funny), and her presentation extraordinary and uplifting.

Cancer In the Family

Genetics have played a major part, not only forming her challenges, but for other members of her family. Knowing the effects of genetics is important to all audiences. In this presentation Marcy tells her own story, screens the film, and plays the songs, to inform people about the importance of genetics.

Her genetic story includes why her family underwent genetic testing, what information it did (and didn’t) provide, how they dealt with the process, and the usefulness of knowing her rare BRCA1 and BRCA2 status.

Her family provides vivid examples of the importance of genetics. Her mother carried BRCA1 and her adopted daughter carried a rare genetic syndrome that ended her life.

This story includes additional topics of adoption, loss of a child, recovery from grief, and gratitude, none of which are included in “Live While You Are Alive” above.

Audiences come away with a clear concern for discovering their own genetic stories and thereby saving lives in the community.