Real Men

Mrs. Yokanovich is the Founder and Executive Director of Cancer Legal Care. A mom to 4 children, she grew up among the strawberry fields and surfers of Southern California and went on to become a lawyer and practice law in San Francisco. That’s where the pro-bono work she did with the AIDS community changed her. Those experiences, coupled with the impact cancer had in her own family, inspired her to dedicate her career to work that she cares about as much as her family. Her vision was an organization that engages the law to resolve the complex challenges facing people and communities affected by cancer. Listen as she unpacks why you need a lawyer on your healthcare team, statistics like 42% of cancer patients depleting their life saving within two years of diagnosis, and where people can go for similar legal services that don’t live in Minnesota. We also discuss a recent branding journey her organization completed that unlocked their enormous potential and we close with the hard-won wisdom she’s earned as a founder. If you have an idea that you’re in love with we promise, she’ll inspire you!

Mr. Woody is the host of Real Men and leader of Jack’s Caregiver Coalition. In this episode he gets grilled by Charles Wuest, the best man in his wedding who’s known him since their band nerd days in junior high school. Kyle unpacks his personal core values, his personal caregiving story, and the events that inspired him build the team that would go on to make Jack’s a reality. He tells stories about the early years on the mission and how those experiences made our programming what it is now. We close with conversations about new programming that’s still in beta mode, where Jack’s is on its journey to bring its mission beyond the Twin Cities, and what good day looks like for Kyle.

Mr. Christensen is a big-time talker whose best man in his wedding wasn’t a man at all. He’s also a technologist whose favorite season is baseball season. As his wife Sara faces a rare cancer called an angiosarcoma he often finds himself more afraid of her medical procedures than she is. And while he also often finds himself flying solo as a caregiver, no one would accuse him of lone-wolfing it. Alan has reached out to his neighbors who responded in kind with food, snow and debris removal and even cards for encouragement! Being a talker and not a texter, Alan is able to reach out via phone calls to his Uncle Dave, Uncle Jim and sister Becky for countless hours of support. Alan is also a proud volunteer for Rein in Sarcoma and a member of Jack's Caregiver Coalition.

Mr. Cesarek is a co-founder of Jack’s Caregiver Coalition who fancies himself a trophy husband. He lost his sister to Leukemia when he was 11, his bride was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer when their daughter was 8 months old, and his mom recently developed endometrial cancer. Recently he completed a 4-year stint as a stay at home dad. Now he’s in law school and actively supports the mission of numerous cancer focused non-profits. He spends his spare time winning cool stuff like the Heffelbower Fellowship and the University of St. Thomas Law School’s 2018 “Living the Mission” award.

Mr. Anderson has been motorcyclist since he was 5 and had a full kitchen in his bedroom by age 10. Now he’s a father, a 210 average score bowler, a primary caregiver for his wife with colorectal cancer, and CEO of a technology company. Hear him unpack how he does it all and us unpack what we learned at our recent “Under the Sheets, Intimacy and Cancer for Couples” workshop at Smitten Kitten in Minneapolis. Guybrators (vibrators for guys) and advanced lube science is just the tip of the intimacy iceberg.

Mr. Baumgart is a PhD, a father, and an educational psychologist that loves his pick-up truck and his cowboy boots. His mantra is if something needs to be done, do it. Like adding onto his own house, where his first attempt at drywall was so shoddy he decided to cover it up with a bookshelf. Hear about the different roles his caregiving team of Joe, Lee, Dave, Rich, and Kyle play to help him face his bride’s metastatic colon cancer.

Mr. Kieffer was told his fiancée had two months to live one month before their wedding. Ovarian cancer took his bride from him in June of 2018. The 26-year-old diesel mechanic boldly shares what their wedding was like, a blow-by-blow on what surprised him about the end of her life, and why he loves fixing things. Artificial intelligence fails miserably at helping us understand exactly what a caregiver is.

Mr. Robertson is a dad facing his wife’s metastatic breast cancer. He believes that creativity is what makes the world happen. Hear him unpack why becoming a caregiver is like becoming a martian, why he wants to make men wiser, more intriguing, and harder to kill, and creative parenting tips like “Disco Baths”. The “one thing” he asks people to do that wanna help him is shockingly simple.