Stronger together—Colleagues connect in cancer support group

At 36, Charlene Randall became a widow and single mom to three young sons and a teenage stepdaughter. And then a year-and-a-half later she was diagnosed with Stage 3 Breast Cancer. If we were using the rollercoaster metaphor, Charlene would credit Schwab—where she’s worked for 28 years, or half her life—with being the stabilizing force that literally and metaphorically kept her on track when life was twisting every which way.

A proud California Bay Area native, Charlene started working at Schwab in 1997. It was ten years later when she received the cancer diagnosis. She calls it kismet that, built into her Fixed Income team, were two breast cancer survivors there to support her through the process. They told her what to expect, what procedures to look into, what to eat, and just held her hand in the bathroom when she needed to cry.

Other colleagues helped her too. They donated sick time and brought her home cooked meals, which she says gave her the space to just be “Mommy” and not “Mommy with cancer” when she was at home.

“I was thrown into the deep end of the ocean, but I was given a lifeboat,” says Charlene of the support she received at work, and the gratitude she felt. 

She’s been in remission for 17 years.

Even though she had a strong support system in place, Charlene knows that a cancer diagnosis can be isolating—thinking no one can relate to your situation. That’s why she knew she wanted to start her own support group at Schwab. 

With her children grown and feeling settled after moving to Denver, Charlene finally had the opportunity to bring her vision to life. She launched the group in September 2019 with eight people that met on the Lone Tree, CO campus. But then, in March 2020, the group experienced rapid growth through word of mouth, when they switched to a virtual format due to COVID-19.

Today, the group has about 115 employees across the country and is a mix of people currently fighting cancer, those in remission, and those serving as caregivers. Charlene says the group is for “anyone who has a dysfunctional relationship with cancer.”

Each meeting opens with a check-in on everyone’s mental health. And then, depending on how people are feeling, the group will either talk about what’s on their mind, or Charlene will lead with something she’s been thinking about to get the conversation going. 

On occasion, she also brings helpful information to the meetings, including presentations from Schwab’s benefits team who have talked about open enrollment options, Bright Horizons backup childcare, and counseling services through ComPsych—employee benefits that may be helpful to those fighting cancer.

Charlene uses statistics as another compelling reason for why Schwab needed a cancer support group. She points out that one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.¹ And one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer.²

“How many women do we have at Schwab? How many men do we have at Schwab? You do the math.” she says. “But I knew, because of those stats, there was going to be someone I worked with that was going to get a diagnosis that was going to be hard to swallow.”

Charlene wanted to be sure she was there when that happened.

In the five years the group has been meeting, there’s been lot of laughter, encouragement, and tears. Charlene hopes that each meeting someone walks away from the group feeling just a little bit better.

“It’s about feeling strong enough to smile for your child because you spent a couple minutes focusing on your fear and talking to someone who understood you,” she says. “To me, that’s worth it, and that’s what this is about.”