In this month’s Lifting While Climbing podcast, we spotlight the unstoppable Rijon Charne—a lawyer, cancer warrior, and fierce advocate who turned every obstacle into ammunition for change.
Just two days after graduating from law school, Rijon was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Before starting chemo, she tried to freeze her eggs—but her insurance company denied the claim, calling fertility preservation “not medically necessary.” The cost? $18,000. The response? She didn’t just fight back—she rewrote the rules.
What started as a personal battle became a national movement. That denial sparked a campaign that helped pass fertility preservation laws across 16 states, with 18 more in progress.
In this episode, Rijon shares how she met resistance at every turn—lawmakers, doctors, even the legal community—and kept going anyway. Her story is one of defiance, grit, and radical impact.
If you’ve ever been shut down by the system, blocked by bureaucracy, or told "no" one too many times—this episode is your reminder to keep going.