The Manager of Community Outreach at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and a former oncology social worker, Bates now adds to her resumé “life coach” for a new program offered by The Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation (TMPCF): Life Coaching for Living Beyond Cancer. Bates completed 160 hours of classroom training as well as six months of formal coaching supervision to obtain accreditation through the International Coach Federation. Now a certified life coach, Bates spends two days each week helping cancer survivors regain control of their lives.

“The whole landscape of cancer treatment is different,” Bates says. “People are surviving, but it comes with issues.” Fatigue and other long-term side effects are quite common, but priorities change as well ... survivors often don’t want to live life the same way.