Redefining Life After Cancer: Gina Martin on Healing, High Achievement, and Rebuilding Her Coaching Career
Jun 11, 2026Shownotes For Podcast Episode 31: Redefining Life After Cancer: Gina Martin on Healing, High Achievement, and Rebuilding Her Coaching Career
In this insightful episode of The Health and Wellness Coach Journal, Dr. Jessica Singh speaks with Gina Martin, PCC, an Executive Coach, Consultant, and Director of Executive Coaching & Leadership Development at Leap Academy. Her work has been recognized with the Gold Stevie Award for Mentor and Coach of the Year, and she is a member of the Forbes Coaches Council with advanced certifications in Hogan and DiSC. Gina is also the founder of Own Your Next, a nonprofit that supports high-achieving women as they rebuild confidence, identity, and their careers after cancer.
Gina shares her journey from corporate leadership to coaching, spanning more than 25 years of leading in high-pressure organizations such as Victoria’s Secret, GUESS, and Gap. She reflects on the transitions that shaped her life, from arriving in the United States at age 18 with $300, a toddler, and no English, to becoming a single mother, building a successful career, and later navigating a stage-three breast cancer diagnosis.
Gina speaks candidly about advocating for herself when her intuition told her something was wrong, even after two mammograms came back clear. She shares what treatment required of her physically, emotionally, financially, and spiritually, including surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, physical therapy, and the difficult but necessary decision to slow down.
Together, Dr. Singh and Gina explore what healing can ask of high achievers, why self-compassion becomes essential during profound change, and how coaching helped Gina stay present through uncertainty. Gina also shares how cancer reshaped her identity, values, confidence, and professional path as she rebuilt her coaching career with more alignment, presence, and purpose.
The conversation also offers meaningful guidance for coaches who are finding their way, building a business, or learning to value their lived experience. Gina reminds coaches that they are more than a certification and that their story, resilience, and voice are part of what they bring to the coaching relationship.
To be notified of new episodes, subscribe here: https://www.centerforhealthandwellnesscoaches.com/stay-connected
Resources Mentioned In This Episode:
Website: https://ginamartin.coach
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/own-your-next/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachginamartin/
Gina Martin works with senior leaders and founders who are ready to elevate their strategic influence, strengthen their executive presence, and lead with greater decision authority.
Her clients often come to her at pivotal moments, when they are scaling, navigating high-stakes transitions, or realizing the leadership that got them here will not get them where they want to go next.
Through her coaching and consulting, Gina helps leaders move from reactive patterns to deliberate, high-impact leadership with more clarity, confidence, and coherence when the stakes are highest.
Before founding Gina Martin Coaching and Consulting, she spent more than 25 years leading inside high-pressure organizations, including managing teams of up to 600 people at Victoria’s Secret, GUESS, and Gap. She knows leadership from the inside and brings that real-world experience to every client engagement.
Gina’s work is also shaped by her own story of reinvention. As a breast cancer survivor, she has a deeply personal understanding of resilience, identity, and what it takes to lead through profound change. That experience also inspired her to found Own Your Next, a nonprofit supporting high-achieving women as they rebuild confidence, identity, and career after cancer.
Today, Gina partners with CEOs, C-suite leaders, and leadership teams navigating growth, transition, and the defining moments that shape their legacy. Her work has been recognized with the Gold Stevie Award for Mentor and Coach of the Year, and she is a member of the Forbes Coaches Council with advanced certifications in Hogan and DiSC.
Timestamps:
0 - Introduction
2:50 - Gina Martin’s Journey: From Corporate Leadership to Coaching and Life After Cancer
8:10 - The Courage to Pause as a High Achiever: Healing, Recovery, and Self-Compassion
19:38 - Rebuilding from the Inside Out: Reshaping Identity, Confidence, and Career
25:03 - Words of Wisdom for Coaches: Owning Your Worth and Sharing Your Voice
35:39 - Takeaways
