Summits Podcast

What's your cancer story?

About the show

Summits Podcast

What’s your cancer story?

Hosted by cancer survivor and philanthropist Vince Todd, Jr., Chairman and Co-Founder of the Heroes Foundation, and Heroes Foundation Board Member Daniel Abdallah, the Summits Podcast is a place for people to share their stories.

Everyone has a cancer story.

From battling a deadly disease to caring for a loved one, when we rise up and face life’s greatest challenges, we see with a new vision, feel with a greater passion, and think with a deeper perspective.

Along the way, paths cross, journeys intersect, and missions converge.

For Vince Todd, it was his own cancer diagnosis that led him and his wife, Cindy, to launch the Heroes Foundation to provide meaningful support to cancer patients, education to promote cancer prevention, and resources to advance research for a cure.

What started with friends and family grew into a community. The Summits Podcast is an extension of that community.

Our stories are what bring us together.

Artists, athletes, doctors, business people - we’re all family members, community leaders, and activists.

Everyone has a story. Anyone can inspire. No one battles alone.

Join the conversation.

Let’s climb the summit together.

Summits Podcast on social media

Episodes

  • Epi 82: Remembering Tyler Trent with Tony Trent

    December 3rd, 2024  |  32 mins 12 secs
    architect, beatcancer, bigtencancerconsortium, bobblehead, boilerup, book, cancer, caregiver, carmel, childhood cancer, community, construction, dosomething, football, hero, heroesfoundation, indiana, indianapolis, inspiration, iu, landscaping, morein24, oldoakenbucket, osteosarcoma, payitforward, pediatriccancer, picr, prevention, purdue, research, showursummits, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, support, theupset, thrivein25, tumordonation, tylertrent, whatsurcancerstory

    In episode 82 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Tony Trent, President of the Tyler Trent Foundation. Tune in as Tony shares his son’s osteosarcoma diagnosis and his passion for better outcomes through pediatric cancer research.

    For more on Tyler’s story, purchase his book at tylertrentbook.com.

  • Epi 81: Fighting lung cancer with Betsy Beggs

    November 19th, 2024  |  47 mins 44 secs
    alecensa, alectinib, alk+, alphaphi, aneveningwithheroes, beatcancer, bloomington, bloomingtonsouth, btown, cancer, caregiver, community, depauw, economics, er, gala, genetech, goldman, goldmansachs, hero, heroesfoundation, holidays, hotdog, indiana, indianapolis, indianauniversity, inspiration, investmentbanking, iu, lungcancer, manhattan, morein24, newyork, newyorkcity, nyc, podcast, prevention, research, showursummits, sloankettering, stage4cancer, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, support, townie, weillcornell, whatsurcancerstory

    In episode 81 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Betsy Beggs of Goldman Sachs. At 23 years old, Betsy was a young professional finding her footing in New York City when she was blindsided by a stage 4 ALK+ lung cancer diagnosis. Tune in as she bravely shares her cancer story.

    For more, listen to Sarah Beggs, Betsy’s mother, share her story from a parent perspective: youtu.be/05CrU4ltf80

  • Epi 80: Living for family and health with Justin Davis

    November 12th, 2024  |  40 mins 3 secs
    aunt, beatcancer, cancer, caregiver, cars, coldplunge, community, corvette, cycling, development, dogs, family, finances, fitness, ford, getchecked, girldad, grandma, greenfield, hero, heroesfoundation, indiana, indianapolis, inspiration, iuindianapolis, iupui, labs, leafspringschool, morein24, networking, nurse, orthopedic, podcast, prevention, realestate, research, sales, showursummits, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, superpower, support, teamheroes, uncle, whatsurcancerstory, whyheroes

    In episode 80 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Justin Davis, President and Owner of LeafSpring School at Geist. Tune in as Justin shares his focus on family, fitness and giving back as a Team Heroes cyclist and director on the Heroes Foundation Board of Directors.

  • Epi 79: Igniting change for the cancer community with Teresa Altemeyer

    October 30th, 2024  |  44 mins 3 secs
    art, artist, beatcancer, breastcancer, cancer, caregiver, communication, community, completelife, divorce, flowers, gardening, hero, heroesfoundation, indiana, indianapolis, inspiration, iuscc, iusimoncancercenter, lls, lymphoma, morein24, move, prevention, research, showursummits, simonsays, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, support, supportgroup, whatsurcancerstory, whyheroes

    In episode 79 of the Summits Podcast, Vince Todd, Jr. is joined by Teresa Altemeyer, cancer survivor and patient advocate through cancer support groups and art therapy at the CompleteLife Program at IU Health and the IU Simon Cancer Center. Tune in as Teresa shares the incredibly important role that these groups and therapies play for patients, survivors and caregivers.

    The Heroes Foundation proudly provides funding to the CompleteLife Program to further our mission to provide meaningful support to cancer patients, education to promote cancer prevention and resources to advance research for a cure.

  • Epi 78: The joy of therapy dogs with Melanie Claymon

    October 2nd, 2024  |  29 mins 19 secs
    accounting, arizonastate, beatcancer, brcanegative, breastcancer, cancer, caregiver, community, dogshows, friends, goldenretriever, grandviewlake, her2positive, hero, heroes, heroesfoundation, indiana, indianapolis, influencer, inspiration, invisiblefence, iu, jetski, morein24, pawstoheal, petproducts, peytonmanningchildrens, podcast, rileyhospitalforchildren, showursummits, sister, socialmedia, stlouis, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, the3retrievers, therapydog, wakesurfing, whatsurcancerstory, whyheroes

    In episode 78 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Melanie Claymon, who volunteers with her therapy dogs with Paws & Think at local children’s hospitals, schools, and more. Tune in as Melanie shares how her sister’s breast cancer diagnosis inspired her to give back through her beloved pets.

    Follow along for all of Melanie’s adventures with her four golden retrievers on Instagram at @the3retrievers!

  • Epi 77: The gift of fundraising & philanthropy with Genevieve Shaker, Ph.D.

    September 17th, 2024  |  51 mins 36 secs
    beatcancer, billgates, cancer, caregiver, community, fundraising, hero, heroesfoundation, indiana, indianapolis, inspiration, iu, leadership, lillyendowment, lillyschoolofphilanthropy, morein24, phd, philanthropy, prevention, professor, research, sharedstory, showursummits, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, support, teamheroes, teamjoey, themoreyouknow, whatsurcancerstory, whyheroes

    What are the trends today in fundraising and philanthropy? How has the Heroes Foundation’s philanthropy efforts changed over the past 24 years? Don’t miss episode 77 of the Summits Podcast with co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah, and guest Dr. Genevieve Shaker of the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University Indianapolis.

  • Epi 76: Facing your child’s cancer diagnosis with Sarah Beggs

    September 4th, 2024  |  36 mins 21 secs
    advancement, beatcancer, cancer, caregiver, community, cornell, curtsimic, dallas, daughter, depauw, eds, goldmansachs, havegrace, hero, heroes, heroesfoundation, indiana, indianapolis, indianauniversity, indianauniversityfoundation, inspiration, iu, iusf, jelloshots  , little500, livingtolive, lungcancer, morein24, newyorkcity, nyc, philanthropy, plano, podcast, sloankettering, stage4, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, texas, westpoint, whyheroes

    In episode 76 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah travel to Indiana University in Bloomington to visit Sarah Beggs, Senior Vice President at the Indiana University Foundation. Tune in as Sarah shares how cancer became personal for her family as her daughter faced a stage 4 ALK+ lung cancer diagnosis.

  • Epi 75: Living fully after cancer with survivor Kevin Bohn

    July 23rd, 2024  |  46 mins
    ambassador, athlete, beatcancer, blood cancer, california, cancer, caregiver, chicostate, chop, coma, community, cybersecurity, hero, heroesfoundation, indiana, indianapolis, inspiration, kevstrong, leukemia, lymphoma, marathon, nonhodgkins, podcast, resuscitated, runnerwithoutastomach, running, sacramento, santarosa, showursummits, stage4, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, tahoe, teamheroes, universityofcalifornia, whatsurcancerstory, whyheroes, willpower, yubico

    In episode 75 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by California-native Kevin Bohn of Yubico. At just 25 years old, Kevin was blindsided with a stage 4 lymphoma diagnosis, resulting in removal of his stomach and spleen. Post-treatment, Kevin eventually committed himself to growth after cancer, focusing on his mental health and energy. Now five years post-treatment, Kevin has ran multiple half-marathons and will run the Santa Rosa Marathon in August 2024. Don’t miss Kevin’s story of strength and perseverance.

  • Epi 74: Fighting Cancer with Dan Plumlee

    June 4th, 2024  |  39 mins 23 secs
    andrewhuberman, beatcancer, bike, cameronhanes, cancer, caregiver, colts, community, cycling, davidgoggins, endurance, fit4heroes, fit4heroes2024, hero, heroesfoundation, hipreplacment, indiana, indianapolis, indianapoliscolts, inspiration, lapel, morein24, perthesdisease, prevention, pushingyourlimits, research, running, rv, showursummits, snakebitestv, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, support, teamheroes, treadmill, ultrarun, walnutridgerv, whatsurcancerstory, whyheroes, youtube

    In episode 74 of the Summits Podcast, Vince Todd, Jr. is joined by Dan Plumlee of Walnut Ridge Family RV Sales. Tune in as Dan shares his plan for a year long Fit4Heroes campaign to push himself physically and raise important funds for Hoosiers fighting cancer.

    Join the Heroes Foundation in the Fit4Heroes campaign from June 1-23! Learn more and register at fit4heroes.org.

  • Epi 73: Nursing & Cancer Care with Julie Otte

    May 7th, 2024  |  38 mins 33 secs
    beatcancer, boardmember, boilerup, bonemarrowtransplant, cancer, caregiver, chicago, community, dyingwithgrace, hero, heroesfoundation, indiana, indianacancercommunity, indianapolis, indy, inspiration, kroger, masters, morein24, nashville, nurse, nursing, oncology, personal connection, phd, podcast, prevention, purdue, research, school of nursing, showursummits, sleepstudy, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, support, symptommanagement, university of chicago, vanderbilt, whyheroes

    In episode 73 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Julie Otte, Associate Professor at Indiana University Indianapolis School of Nursing. Tune in as Julie shares her time as an oncology nurse, and the research she is doing to improve patient outcomes.

    This #NationalNursesWeek, the Heroes Foundation thanks all nurses who are making a difference in the lives of patients and families!

  • Epi 72: Nutrition and Corporate Wellness with Shea Rankin

    April 30th, 2024  |  41 mins 30 secs
    beatcancer, bloomington, bloomingtonnorth, bottleworks, btown, caffeine, cancer, cancerprevention, candy, caregiver, carmel, celsius, clevelandclinic, community, cycling, cyclingstudio, fishers, fit4heroes, foodbabe, functionalmedicine, health, healthiswealth, healthyweight, hero, heroesfoundation, hotyoga, humproom, indiana, indianacancercommunity, indianapolis, indianauniversity, indy, inspiration, ironman, iu, leadingbyexample, morein24, nicks, nicksenglishhut, organic, peerinfluence, pilgrimmethod, prevention, research, showursummits, smartsweets, sourpatchkids, story, sugar, summit, summits, summits podcast, support, sweets, townie, triathlon, wellness, wellnesscoaching, whyheroes, yoga, yoga6, yumearth

    In episode 72 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Shea Rankin, Founder of The Pilgrim Method. What are the benefits of encouraging wellness in the workplace? What are the best foods to consume to lead a healthy lifestyle? Don’t miss this wellness-packed episode with Shea Rankin.

  • Epi 71: Cancer & Changing Paths with Ann Keil Dux

    April 9th, 2024  |  39 mins 55 secs
    advocate, american university, beatcancer, boston, boston university, cancer, carcinoma, caregiver, communications, community, dolphins, dolphinschallengecancer, emmy, florida, headandneckcancer, hero, heroes, heroesfoundation, indiana, indianacancercommunity, indianapolis, indy, inspiration, journalism, journalist, masters, mba, miami, morein24, neckcancer, prevention, publicaffairs, research, southbeach, stage1, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, support, sylvestercomprehensivecancercenter, university of miami, wsvn, wxin

    In episode 71 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Ann Keil Dux, former television journalist and now strategic communications consultant in Miami, FL. At a height in her career and just weeks before her wedding, Ann was diagnosed with neck cancer. Don’t miss her incredible story of survivorship and changing paths after a cancer diagnosis.

  • Epi 70: Colorectal cancer awareness with Mike & Jamie Simek

    March 26th, 2024  |  54 mins 7 secs
    afghanistan, airforce, armedforces, army, beatcancer, cancer, caregiver, clinicaltrial, colonoscopy, colorectalcancer, community, detroitlions, goblue, hero, heroesfoundation, immunotherapy, indiana, indianacancercommunity, indianapolis, indy, inspiration, marinecorp, marines, michigan, military, monoclonalantibody, navy, pancreaticcancer, prevention, prostatecancer, purdue, rectalcancer, research, reserves, rockville, rollsroyce, sloankettering, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, support, universityofmichigan, va, veteran, veteransadministration, whyheroes

    In episode 70 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Mike & Jamie Simek. Tune in as the couple shares the strength and courage they’ve gained in their longtime US Marine career, and how that applies today to Mike’s colorectal cancer journey. “Having an appreciation for how short life is and knowing that every day is precious is important – it comes into play here as you fight through cancer, too.”

  • Epi 69: Racing, Family, and Cancer Prevention with Jarett Andretti

    March 5th, 2024  |  40 mins 35 secs
    aldoandretti, andretti, andrettiautosport, beatcancer, cancer, cancer prevention, caregiver, checkitforandretti, chicken tenders, chickentendies, cologuard, coloncancer, colonoscopy, community, ferrari, getchecked, hero, heroesfoundation, imsa, indiana, indianacancercommunity, indianapolis, indy, indy500, indycar, inspiration, jarettandretti, johnandretti, lamborghini, marioandretti, michaelandretti, morein24, northcarolina, porsche, racing, sprintcars, story, strategerie, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, whyheroes

    In episode 69 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Jarett Andretti of Andretti Autosport. Tune in as Jarett shares his family’s racing history and CheckIt4Andretti, a family foundation encouraging early screenings and detection for colorectal cancer. “It can never be too early but it can be too late.”

    For more on CheckIt4Andretti, in memory of John Andretti, visit checkit4andretti.org.

  • Epi 68: Surviving & Thriving with Rick Czaplewski

    February 20th, 2024  |  47 mins 14 secs
    abvd, author, beatcancer, betterdirtythandone, biopsy, bucks, cancer, caregiver, community, cyclist, father, hero, heroesfoundation, hodgkins, hodgkinsdisease, hope, indiana, indianacancercommunity, indianapacers, indianapolis, inspiration, ironman, lance, milwaukee, milwaukee bucks, morein24, motivationalspeaker, mountranier, nba, noonewalksalone, pacers, podcast, relapse, speaker, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, survivor, swimfromalcatraz, uweauclaire, whatsyourlegacy, whyheroes, wisconsin, wrestling

    In episode 68 of the Summits Podcast, Vince Todd, Jr. is joined by Rick Czaplewski – author, speaker, and two-time cancer survivor. Tune in as Rick shares his journey of fighting Hodgkin’s Lymphoma as a college student, and how that experience shapes his life today.

    To purchase Rick’s book, “Better Dirty Than Done”, visit rickczaplewski.com/purchase-book.

  • REPLAY - Episode 15: Harry Santa-Olalla Is Living His American Dream.

    January 3rd, 2024  |  46 mins 36 secs
    cancer, caregiver, community, hero, indiana, indianapolis, inspiration, story, summit, summits, summits podcast

    You may recognize Harry Santa-Olalla as the entertaining and energetic host of An Evening With Heroes. Tune in for how Givergy brought a Brit to New York City and helped him find his American dream. “Very quickly, it became something that’s part of my soul. I love being on stage and raising money for organizations and feeling like I’m making a difference.” Hear more about the city he calls home, his perfect day, and why he’s so passionate about fighting cancer in episode 15 of the Summits Podcast.

    Join the Heroes Foundation for the 24th annual An Evening With Heroes on Saturday, January 27 at the JW Marriott Indianapolis! For table sponsorship, tickets, hotels and more, visit heroesfoundation.org/events.