Dorothy: [00:00:00] What you’re about to hear is a series of many episodes recorded during a fundraising event at Nice Winery. We spoke with past patients and supporters and they all bring their individual stories, but they all have one thing in common, their undying support for The Rose’s mission.
Let’s Talk About Your Breast, a different kind of podcast presented to you by The Rose Breast Center of Excellence and a Texas treasure. You’re going to hear a frank discussion about tough topics. And you’re going to learn why knowing about your breast could save your life.
Ryan: Hi, I’m Ryan Levy. I’m the winemaker and one of the owners of Nice Winery here in Houston, Texas. We planted the very first commercial wine growing vineyard inside the city limits of Houston. And this is our 10th year to be [00:01:00] selling a rose wine to raise money to end deaths from breast cancer. Our beneficiary this year and for the past few years has been The Rose, an amazing organization dedicated to making sure that every woman has a mammogram, regardless of her ability to pay.
I started this based on one fact that I don’t think people realize, which is that 98 percent of breast cancer cases are curable if they are detected early. And so, it’s our mission to return every single dollar from every bottle of rosé that we sell and a little bit more that we raise to make sure that every woman has the chance to be in that 98 percent cured percentage of breast cancer cases.
A decade ago, my dear friend Emma Jacobs, a breast cancer survivor, came to me and said, we needed to work together [00:02:00] to end deaths from breast cancer. And it was Emma’s idea that we would make a dry rosé wine to return all of the proceeds and raise as much money as we could each year to end deaths from breast cancer.
And I always say that some of the best ideas come from a brazen challenge because over lunch one day, Emma challenged me to make a rosé wine and to donate all the money to breast cancer, both research and treatment. And that’s what we’ve done. So we’re really glad for that brazen challenge and so thrilled of the 10 year history of giving back and ending deaths from breast cancer, one glass of rosé at a time.
Gail: Hi, my name is Gail Levy. I happen to be the mother of Ryan Levy, who is the owner of the Nice Winery, who makes a fabulous Pinot Noir [00:03:00] rosé from Russian River Valley, and all the proceeds are given to The Rose. We’re able to raise thousands and thousands of dollars every year with our generous donation.
And it’s very important that we give back to our community and help those that cannot help themselves. And we’re also very, very good friends friends with Emma Jacobs, and we believe in her foundation, and we are very proud to offer this wine to make the proceeds go for The Rose. It’s one thing I’ve raised my children to give back to their community. They’ve been very fortunate in their lives to get Scholarships and you know, opportunities that maybe other children are not, you know, able to have. So, it’s very important to give back to our community.
Alexis: I’m Alexis Rogers. I’m on the [00:04:00] board of the Emma Jacobs TITS Foundation. And everybody TITS stand for?
It stands for Taking Initiative to Survive. And that’s what my girlfriend Emma did 23 years ago. She came to this winery a number of years ago, got to know Ryan and said, why aren’t you making a rosé for my foundation? And so that became the history of the nice winery relationship with Emma. Emma and I have known each other for 30 years.
We were both recruiters together back in the day. She was very fortunate. Took off like amazing and um, did uh, recruiting in the IT space. I’ve always done accounting and finance. And again, we’ve continued to know each other. Our kids, our boys are 30 years old and we were both pregnant together.
Bottom line, she’s a cancer survivor and I’m [00:05:00] a friend survivor. Because I was there, uh, with her during some pretty bad times and, and some wonderful great times. Anyway, fast forward, I’m very happy to be a part of this foundation to support the cancer survivor and find a way to, uh, give money back to the people that need it. And The Rose is one of the most amazing organizations. What I’ve learned from Dorothy and Emma and just knowing how The Rose gives back and gives all these individuals a chance to have a mammogram or now we do, uh, ultrasound to make sure that, women catch breast cancer before they die from it. And my girlfriend had it 23 years ago, and thank God she did not die from it. Because she’s one of the best supporters, not only of you people, [00:06:00] but of me and my family too. So, I’m so happy to be here, I’m so happy to be a part of this organization, and I’m so, so grateful to Nice Winery for having us tonight and raising this money for The Rose. Thank you.
Felicia: I’m Felicia May. I am familiar with The Rose in from a professional setting. So I’m have worked in employee benefits for oh gosh over 20 years. Let’s just leave it at that. And we’ve been we’ve utilized The Rose for mobile mammography and so I’m certainly familiar with it. I’m a member here at Nice Winery. I’ve attended The Rose, uh, release event for several years and always enjoyed drinking the, uh, the charity wine that Nice Winery produces fabulous wine. And last year, even though I’d been familiar with The Rose for years, I was referred for, um, uh, 3D mammography [00:07:00] for dense breast tissue. As I looked at what was covered by insurance, not covered by insurance, what goes to deductible, all of that good stuff. I thought, Why aren’t I using The Rose? And I’m glad that I had that opportunity to sort of step back and see how this would apply to me, not just others, right? So, as I look at that and I see how an insured patient, um, you know, what I use when I use services at The Rose, not only is it cost effective for me, but my insurance benefits actually help fund services for other people.
Not only that, I had an incredible experience there. It was everybody was nice, they were reassuring, they were, they were kind, and just very loving. Um, because this is what they do every day, all day. And it was a terrific experience. And, [00:08:00] you know, I left thinking, why would you go somewhere else? So, from my standpoint, my annual services that I get, I’ve been doing that for years and years, will be at The Rose. Because, um, not only are they wonderful people, but it serves other women who are not as fortunate as me. So, I hope that you’ll try The Rose too. It’s wonderful.
Post-Credits: Thank you for joining us today on Let’s Talk About Your Breasts. This podcast is produced by Speke Podcasting, and brought to you by The Rose. Visit therose.org to learn more about our organization. Subscribe to our podcast, share episodes with friends, and join the conversation on social media using #Letstalkaboutyourbreasts. We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Consider supporting The Rose. Your gift can make the difference. Remember, self care is not selfish, it’s essential.
