Breaking Through

When his son Major was diagnosed with CF, Iowa native Drew Strube's world began to grow. From local fundraising events to March on the Hill, Drew and his wife Jaci jumped in with both feet to help find a cure for their son, and for all people with CF. Drew has come to find a passion for mentoring the next generation of fundraisers and advocates by taking them under his wing the same way so many have done for him and Jaci over the last four years.

We talked with Drew about that drive and how it's pushed him in his career and volunteer life. He also shares his experience as the CF Foundation’s National Advocacy Co-Chair, the virtues of small town living, and the awe-inspiring history of Washington, DC.

Three years ago, Jack Goodwin met someone who changed his life. He began a whirlwind romance with a woman named Mallory Smith, a writer with CF, and that romance lasted the rest of her life. But when she died, Jack was at a crossroads of what to do with the rest of his life. He and the Smith family found inspiration in Mallory's writings, which they posthumously published as "Salt In My Soul: An Unfinished Life".

Today, Jack continues his important work as a defense systems engineer working at a high level for the U.S. military, but he's still trying to figure out what it means to be the former-significant other of someone lost CF, and where he goes from here.

"Salt In My Soul: An Unfinished Life" is available on Amazon (https://nam03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FSalt-My-Soul-Unfinished-Life%2Fdp%2F1984855425&data=01%7C01%7Cjalpaio%40cff.org%7C2c1bcaffa1584ed787e508d6e3a831e1%7Cf581bf53aa87446b9a4fd85c3510df63%7C0&sdata=0WxzTLyKuU1D2Ldc4OXeCHCsepLW2URMu%2FWJQjgjRp8%3D&reserved=0) and other places books are sold.

For this month's episode, we interview an adult living with CF, the 2019 VLC Alex Award winner and the all-around amazing Somer Love! As a force of positivity in the world of cystic fibrosis, Somer has dedicated her life to giving back to the CF community and helping others pursue their dreams. She sat down with Kristen at last month’s Volunteer Leadership Conference to talk about growing up with CF, starting her own organization, and how she maintains her positive outlook on life, which is contagious!

In this month's jam-packed episode, Tomorrow's Leaders take center stage from San Diego to Hollywood to Washington, DC. As this hits your feed, there's a good chance you're on your way to the annual VLC conference in San Diego -- and Breaking Through will be there! To start, we hear from last year's Tomorrow’s Leaders breakout session leaders, Jessica Coniglio, Justin Davis and Harris Markowitz. If you won’t be there in person, you entire conference will be livestreamed at vlc.cff.org (http://vlc.cff.org/)

(http://vlc.cff.org/)Madison Madrid, an adult living with CF, interviewed "Five Feet Apart" director Justin Baldoni and star Haley Lu Richardson about the film, its inspiration and its depiction of cystic fibrosis. (You can watch the full interview on the CF Foundation Facebook page)

Also, we hear from Ginger Birnbaum and Chad Reidy, who share messages from the annual March On The Hill advocacy day.

This month, we meet up with Emily Bridges, Marketing Director for Choate Construction in Atlanta, who has helped build a culture of giving in her workplace centered around cystic fibrosis. That urge to help find a cure came from her best friend, Leann. She brought us into that friendship, and shared how it has formed who she is, and who she hopes to be.

In our first show of 2019, we hear from Tomorrow's Leaders all over the country as we celebrate the inaugural Tomorrow's Leaders 1-2-3 Join Me Day, which took place on January 23. In Community Picks, we take a look at viral videos and follow up with engagements, transplants, and life-changing moments.

You can learn more about Tomorrow’s Leaders at www.cff.org/tomorrowsleaders

This month, we visit with QALO co-founder and CEO Ted Baker, whose active lifestyle brand started as a niche product -- silicon wedding bands -- and is now growing by leaps and bounds. QALO -- which stands for "Quality, Athletics, Love, Outdoors" -- centers commitment at the core of its brand. A former actor and bartender, Baker and his co-founder KC Holiday have built a company that solves a problem while helping people show how much their most important relationships matter to them. He shared his recipe for building a thriving corporate culture, which includes philanthropy and giving back to organizations like the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Kristen Brockman caught up with episode 3 star Reef McIntosh to ask him some follow-up questions about how he splits time between Southern California and Hawaii, how he created a brand for himself, and how he coaches up-and-coming surfers (and their parents) to success. Reef also talked in more detail about the Pipeline to a Cure Gala, and what drives him to carve out time for volunteering and giving.

Meanwhile, this month's Community Picks include other inspiring athletes from the professional and amateur ranks alike, and Kristen updates us on her Un-Bucket List project. (Spoiler alert: It involves a sloth!)

Some people say you can boil life down to a handful of moments that define our direction. Reef McIntosh attributes his big break as a pro-surfer for Quicksilver to one wave that catapulted him into superstardom. Taming it was one part luck, one part skill, and a dash of just knowing where to be on the right day. Today, Reef also supports the CF Foundation at the annual surfing inspired gala, Pipeline to a Cure. The event has raised millions of dollars in the search to cure cystic fibrosis.

In this month's half-episode, our own Kristen Brockman is in the hot seat as she gets interviewed by Episode 2 guest Richelle Meiss. Kristen shares her own CF story, about her sister Kelsi, who was the inspiration for Kristen's "UnBucket List" project, aimed at raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Later, we share some of our own picks from the world of CF this month, and give a preview of October's episode.

You can learn more about the UnBucket List at www.theunbucketlist.com (http://www.theunbucketlist.com/).