Allison Stanley

Allison Stanley (b. September 7, 1966) is a breast cancer survivor featured on NBC’s Daytime Emmy Award nominated reality television program, "Starting Over". [ [http://www.facebook.com/pages/Allison-Stanley-From-NBCs-Daytime-Reality-Show-Starting-Over/13407490889 Allison Stanley - From NBC's Daytime Reality Show Starting Over | Facebook ] ] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starting_Over_(TV_series)]

Biography

Stanley was born and grew up in Charlotte, NC. She has one brother that is older than her. Allison's dad, James Stanley, Jr., graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill and took over his father's drug store business. "Stanely's" was a Charlotte hotspot during the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s until it closed in 2001 [ [http://www.cmhpf.org/educationhistlistelizabeth.htm The Elizabeth Neighborhood ] ] . Her mother, Ann Stanley, worked at her husband's drugstore for years before branching out into real estate. Allison lost her father in 1991. Her mother remarried a few years later. She lost her step-father in 2005 and her mother in 2008. Following in her father’s footsteps, she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Soon after, she traveled to New York to pursue a career in performance. [ [http://www.startingoverfans.com/archives/006243.html Starting Over Fans - we love reality tv: Allison Before She Had Cancer ] ] While in New York, she became a cruise director in Alaska and Latin America, a junior sales assistant at Morgan Stanley and even checked coats at a posh NY restaurant. In 1996, she left the Big Apple for the Big Easy (New Orleans) and worked as a production manager for a top national political media producer for the 1996 and 1998 elections.

She returned to her hometown in 1999 to work as an executive assistant at Bank of America Securities. In her spare time, she serves on event committees for several charities, enjoys singing with the Opera Carolina chorus and volunteers as a public relations coordinator and soloist for her church.

In February of 2004 she was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. After aggressively fighting the rounds of radiation and cancer medications, Allison came out on top. She is now committed to raising awareness and supporting causes that make a difference in her community and across America. She established the Chemo Cafe', where fellow cancer patients are visited by people and given homemade goodies while receiving chemo. She has also volunteered at Race for the Cure, promoted Laugh for the Cure and produced Charlotte’s Sing for the Cure in September 2006. She continues to participate in each of these and added Raft for the Cure as the Komen representative along side North Carolina’s first lady, Mary Easley, wife of Governor Mike Easley.

Allison has been a keynote speaker for the Hereditary Cancers Conference in Tampa, sponsored by F.O.R.C.E. (Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered) [http://www.facingourrisk.org/docs/conference_brochure_2006.pdf ] , Laugh for the Cure 2005 [ [http://www.laughforthecure.com/charlotte/photo-gallery/ Komen Charlotte Affiliate Laugh For The Cure® | Photo Gallery ] ] during which she received the Celebrated Survivor Award, CCFC Breast Cancer Conference for Health Care Professionals in Cleveland, Ohio, and Share Our Strength’s Conference of Leaders in November 2007. She also had the honor of singing the National Anthem before the Charlotte Checkers professional hockey team during their “PINK IN THE RINK” breast cancer fundraiser.

She is best known for being on Season 2 and Season 3 of NBC’s daytime reality show, ”Starting Over.” While on the show Allison underwent treatment for breast cancer during a leave of absence from Bank of America. The country watched as Allison struggled to overcome lifelong self esteem issues, [ [http://realitytv.about.com/od/startingover/a/AllisonProfile.htm Starting Over Welcomes Breast Cancer Survivor Allison ] ] only to find out later on the show that she had tested positive for the BRCA-1 gene and was pre-disposed to cancer. With millions of viewers watching, Allison made the decision to lose both her breasts and her uterus. [ [http://startingover.betaparticle.com/articles/template_article.asp?articleid=12 Starting Over Resources | News Articles > 5 questions for Allison Stanley ] ] Allison has since overcome this traumatic period in her life, and is now stronger and more motivated to live life to its fullest, sharing her story along the way. Allison showed her humility and strength as she allowed millions of people to witness all the struggles, pain and difficulties of life after cancer. She continues to be a source of inspiration for women and continues to be a voice on their behalf.

References

External links

* http://www.facebook.com/pages/Allison-Stanley-From-NBCs-Daytime-Reality-Show-Starting-Over/13407490889
* http://www.myspace.com/soallison
* http://www.allisonstanley.com
* http://www.linkedin.com/pub/5/155/b4a
* http://startingover.betaparticle.com/blog/template_permalink.asp?id=171
* http://startingover.betaparticle.com/articles/template_article.asp?articleid=12
* http://realitytv.about.com/od/startingover/a/AllisonProfile.htm
* http://www.startingoverfans.com/archives/006243.html
* http://www.realityshack.com/modules/articles/article.php?id=1394
* VIDEO - http://www.sharingmiracles.com/2007/09/allison-stanley_11.html
* http://www.facingourrisk.org/docs/conference_brochure_2006.pdf
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starting_Over_(TV_series)
* http://www.thebodychronicles.com/hero.htm
* http://www.tv.com/starting-over/show/24621/cast.html
* http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0709617/
* http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398571/fullcredits
* http://www.laughforthecure.com/charlotte/photo-gallery/
* http://www.revolutionhealth.com/blogs/rhadvocatehester?page=5
* http://www.realityshack.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=166
* http://www.iymagazine.org/articles/2005_Summer/startingover_Summer05.html
* http://www.scarlettplus.com/
* http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/starting_over/2005_Mar_22_allison_homage
* http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20050414nuts01
* http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20050921nuts01