Casual colleagues prior, Stacey Griffith and Jill Martin quickly cemented an unshakable bond and a deep friendship forged through the fire. The lust for life each has was apparent throughout the day Purist photographed these dynamic women along the shores of East Hampton. At the end of the shoot, Griffith hopped in the water fully dressed and jumped on a Jet Ski for a celebratory loop around the bay, as Martin sashayed down the shore in pink fuzzy boots. Here, the pair, along with their indefatigable doctor, Elisa Port, M.D., Chief of Breast Surgery and the director of the Dubin Breast Center at Mount Sinai Hospital, share their stories with Purist to shine a light on Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
STACEY GRIFFITH
PURIST: Thank you for showing up to share your journey, and for all that you do for this cause.
Stacey Griffith: You’re welcome. I feel like I was chosen to help lighten the fear in women if they’re ever diagnosed with breast cancer, because I have a microphone, I have a platform and I can really help just by having that.
You were diagnosed within days of Jill Martin. What role did you play in each other’s lives throughout treatment?
SG: Jill and I have known each other socially since 2006, when SoulCycle opened. And then when this happened, she called me and we chose our treatment to be on the same day, so we could be there for each other. And honestly, it made it so much more bearable for both of us. Hers was a lot more aggressive. She did a treatment called the Red Devil, and I elected to enter the Compass trial, which was chemotherapy with immunotherapy. It was totally different, and maybe a little scary, because it was a trial, but I’m all about just trusting and jumping, without putting your toe in the water. It works. I mean, I was cancer-free before my surgery.
What did it mean to have that kind of sisterly support as you were going through this?
SG: It makes you feel not alone when you have someone in there that you know. Your plus-one is really important, so we were each other’s plus-one for cancer.
You had Stage 3 breast cancer?
SG: Yeah. It’s so weird. It feels like it never happened. That’s how great I feel today. I don’t really bring it up—it’s not my identity. It’s a chapter.
Can you talk a little bit about the importance of testing from your experience?
SG: Testing is the most important thing. You have to test every year. I, unfortunately, was a year behind when COVID hit, so that’s one. COVID hit, that’s two. Post-COVID, I couldn’t get an appointment, that’s three. So, I was three years behind. You cannot get behind. And if you have family history, you definitely cannot skip your genetic testing. The Dubin Breast Center is very extensive. They do genetic testing and blood work that’s deeper than your normal ob-gyn or from your gynecologist. They’re so thorough.
How has your personal journey with breast cancer changed how you move through the world?
SG: You definitely don’t put up with bullshit. It opens your eyes to where you’re at in your life, and the people that surround you and your team that you had during that time—it breached a lot of people out. You know, it’s not easy. I gained 40 pounds. I didn’t look like this during that time. It’s not a turn-on. When you lose all of your hair and your eyebrows and your eyelashes and you can’t pee in the same toilet as your partner, it gets very awkward. It takes a really special person to stand by their person going through it. And that’s really what I learned. Like, you really can tell who your people are when you’re going through this.
Did you have strong support during the experience?
SG: I had my squad. My best friends were there for every single treatment. It was amazing. They understood the importance of consistency, of just being there. I walked home every single day after treatment. I never took a cab.
Are there things you wish you would have known before your diagnosis?
SG: I think I already knew it, because I did so much charity work for breast cancer. I did the Paddle for Pink in Sag Harbor for three or four years. I was doing it for my friend, but in the end, I was also doing it for myself. You just never know, when your cause becomes your actual, visible scenario…I mean, it’s wild. And then all the BCRF things, I always was very charitable, which I think is why the universe gave me such a good case—like, really just kind of blooming through the whole thing, with flying colors. And then I ended up getting into the best shape of my life, like, really strong. I’m 57. So, I’m not young, but I’m not old. And now I feel like I’m 30.
What did you do to get back into shape?
SG: Just SoulCycle. And self-love and 100 pushups a day, a lot of gratitude work, a lot of meditating, a lot of frequency work. And surrounding myself with great people.
How much do you think an attitude of gratitude and positivity helped you along the way?
SG: It’s 100 percent your elixir for feeling better. You have to have that. A lot of people sit in their cancer; they can’t get out of it or they’re constantly using it as their identifier. And you’ve got to move past it. You’ve got to stop talking about it, you’ve got to move on, you got to, like, pretend it never happened and just get fit, eat smart, sleep right. It’s all a puzzle. And if one piece is out, you can’t see the full picture. So, eat, sleep, train, repeat.
You’re fearless, you’re strong…. Warrior blood. That’s part of your identity, right?
SG: It kind of knocked me down. I was in shock for a few days. I just could not face my students. I didn’t want them to see me like that. A lot of teachers like to teach through their cancer journey and their chemo and show up with no hair and wigs and bandannas, and I just didn’t want my people seeing me like that. So, I took 13 months off work. My employer was great, understanding. And then I came back really strong. And I used my own brand. I never thought I would use my brand to get in shape. I was like, Oh, the brand works!
How did you celebrate when you finally got the news that you were cancer-free?
SG: I mean, I think every day is a celebration. But we went to Courchevel to go skiing.
What would you say is your mission today?
I just want to continue to inspire and encourage and give people a safe place to feel and hear great music and escape, and discover themselves, to get an hour or two away from the outside world and focus on themselves. And I get to be everybody’s spiritual DJ.
JILL MARTIN
PURIST: What was it like to go through treatment alongside Stacey?
Jill Martin: There are 12 rooms when you get chemo treatment, and it’s so intense. And she was in one of the other rooms, so we literally did chemotherapy together. It’s such a powerful thing to share—I feel very connected to her in so many different ways. We were each other’s strength, and we also gave each other the grace to be sad when we wanted to be sad, and the other person just listened and didn’t say it was OK—because it wasn’t OK. Cancer treatment is not OK. I still can’t believe it. But she looked at me during the shoot today and said, Can you believe we’re here—like this, with our doctor? I definitely took pause, because just to have the energy to do this shoot together, let alone, I can’t believe how hot she looks.
You both look amazing.
JM: Thank you. I’m very proud of myself and feel very grateful and blessed. And I think I handled this as well as it could have been handled under the circumstances. And Stacey did too. We gave each other the ability to cry, to laugh, to feel great, to feel terrible, to complain, and to yell. It’s a very close bond—I’ll always have her back.
How long was this journey from start to finish?
JM: It’s still going. It never ends. It started on June 26, 2023. We both started chemo in August, and I finished on Thanksgiving. I think she finished a week before me, but right around the same time. I cold-capped, so I had to stay for 12 hours total to put ice on my head; it freezes the follicles, which allows you to have your hair grow back longer. If you look at our hair right now, Stacey was not attached to her hair like I was, but she used to sit with me for those hours.
And tell me about that decision.
JM: I’ve always thought you can hold two different feelings. You could want to save your life and also want to save your hair. And you could want to feel healthy and also want to look like yourself. You can heal and be hurt. I mean, I just feel like oftentimes we don’t allow ourselves to feel both things… But a lot of beautiful things came out of it. I started my new direct-to-consumer business [by Jill Martin] that’s thriving. The line is centered around a jacket that I made out of two blanket fabrications that is meant to be worn indoors, outdoors, to your favorite sporting event. I’ve sold over a million on QVC. I started in October, and we sold out instantly. It’s this accessible elegance and it’s about being comfy, cozy and confident.
This October, I’m kicking off something called The Warrior Effect. People always ask me what they should do if someone’s diagnosed or what they could buy. And I always felt like there’s a way to acknowledge what you’re going through and to remember it after without it being so overt. So, I created items around The Warrior Effect that say “Warrior.” To me, there’s two choices. You could either pull the covers up over your head and feel sorry for yourself and be the victim, or you could choose to just move forward and thrive and be kind and give back. It’s a decision that you have to make every single day. And the people that make the decision to take pain and turn it into purpose to me are warriors.
We’re launching on the Today show on October 1, and we’re hoping to break a world record for the most genetic testing sign-ups in multivenues for Guinness World Records. I’m encouraging genetic testing, because if I had done that earlier, I wouldn’t have had cancer, because I would have been able to take care of it preventively.
You had Stage 2, and the BRCA2 gene.
JM: It’s not about the stage. I had a tumor that was on the move, and it had spread to a lymph node, so that’s why I needed really intense chemo. I framed chemotherapy as my best friend. I needed something called the Red Devil, with someone in a hazmat suit to administer it to me. I had to trick my mind into believing that. And I didn’t trick it; I actually taught it to. And so, they became tolerable. But the chance of the recurrence is very high. They said, We’re throwing the kitchen sink at you. And had I not caught it, it would have been incurable within the year. My mammogram missed it. My sonogram missed it. No test is perfect, as Dr. P always says.
How did you catch it?
JM: Someone said, “Did you ever take a genetic test on your father’s side? And I said, “No, there’s no breast cancer on my father’s side.” They said, “it doesn’t matter.” I take the test, and I find out that I’m BRCA positive, which means I have a 60-to-90 percent chance of getting breast cancer. They found the tumor when I had the preventive surgery. They were like, Go immediately. I was 47. My oncologist gave me the permission to calendarize life before and after cancer. And I really appreciated that because when I meet people now, I think they only know me after cancer. And I’m so much different. I mean, my core and fabric and foundation is still the same. I am the girl that my parents raised, but I’m much more calm. I make really great choices. I’m very happy, my life is very balanced. I feel very blessed. It’s a more consistent feeling of calm and joy and happiness than I had prior to.
Both of you are pretty public figures, and you’ve been very public about the journey.
JM: When I told Dr. Port I wanted to go on the Today show, like, the day after I was diagnosed, she said we should wait until after the surgery. No one does it before. And I said, No, if something happens to me, I want people to know. Because in the time that I could be recovering, more people could be getting tested. I couldn’t imagine going through treatment and healing, knowing that in the three weeks or three months and eventually three years, other people could have been getting tested to avoid getting to the stage. I couldn’t bear it. And so, I went against Dr. Port, which I’ve never, ever done since then. She’s my North [Star]. So, the viewers were with me every step of the way. I mean, people come up to me and just hug me and say, You know, I was going through something—because everybody has something. Every day you have to pick: You could be the victim, or you can thrive. And it’s much more fun to thrive.
What was the first thing you did to celebrate?
JM: Well, first of all, people don’t realize that for a lot of survivors, after cancer is harder than during treatment, because during treatment, you’re fighting for your life and you’re actively doing something. When you stop is when you start to have the time to realize what just happened. This was much harder for me than the actual treatment.
What is your mission today?
JM: My mission today is to have a great time, to be my own best friend and to enjoy every day like it’s my last. And to educate and to advocate, and to make sure that I help as many people I can while balancing having a magical life. Part of the goal of doing this story is to educate people and inspire people to live their best lives and be healthy and do what they can to either prevent or get an early diagnosis. Knowledge is power. Ask your doctor if genetic testing is appropriate. I was never the unlucky one until I was. So, if there is an opportunity for you to be knowledgeable about something that can prevent such pain and heartache in your life, you would be nuts to not follow through with it.
DR ELISA PORT
PURIST: What was it like to see Stacey and Jill go through their journeys?
Dr. Elisa Port: First of all, I feel honored to be included with these two superstars that I had that incredible honor of taking care of. There’s no one-size-fits-all for breast cancer, and everybody’s case is very different. Two women might think they actually have the exact same thing, and for me, it’s different and very specific in medical and nuanced ways that could have very different outcomes related to how we take care of them. But I knew that both of them were very public and were going to find ways to utilize their journey to help other women, which is always incredible. It’s not my story; it’s their story to tell. And if they want to make it public, that’s great. If they want to be private about it, that’s also great. It’s my job to keep it private.
I’m writing a new book called The Breast Advice, a combination of patient experience and doctor expertise. And I think that’s one of the most powerful ways you can provide information to women who are currently going through it, or about to go through it, or may go through it. The survival rate is better than ever, currently 91 percent. Of course, our job isn’t done. I was recently at a meeting where we showed a slide, and it said, “Our goal: zero breast cancer deaths by 2025 or 2030.” And I was like, Yeah, we’re almost there. Let’s do it.
Beautiful.
EP: These women are examples of that optimism and positivity.
How much do you think that plays a role in it, the optimism and positivity?
EP: Huge. Because for me, it’s not only about quantity of life. I know everyone wants to live a long life, but it’s also about quality of life. And I do have patients who are incredibly anxious, always waiting for the other shoe to drop. I’ve been doing this for 25 years. So, if I took care of them at 50, they’re now 75. And they’re fine. Some of them tell me things like “I wish I hadn’t worried so much,” or “I wish I would have known that I would be here 25 years later.” I tell them, “None of us has a crystal ball.” I feel like the optimism part is about the quality of life for the years that you’re going to be here. That applies to all of us; none of us has a guarantee. And I know the diagnosis of breast cancer is something that people very much associate with mortality. The first question patients ask me is: “Am I going to die?” Thankfully, the answer is usually “no.” I tell people: Look, there’s no guarantees for anything. You can walk across Fifth Avenue and get hit by a bus. Terrible things happen and breast cancer is one of those things that’s super survivable, so there is no reason to not face it with optimism.