Strong and Kind: How Leading With My Broken Gene Taught Me Everything About Resilience

By Holly Sabo

The most clarifying leadership lesson I have ever learned came not from a boardroom but from a genetic counselor's office.

When I found out I carried the BRCA1 gene mutation — the same gene that likely took both my mother and my grandmother to ovarian cancer, though neither of them ever knew they carried it — I had a choice. I could let fear make my decisions, or I could lead myself forward with both courage and compassion. I chose to lead.

I had risk-reducing surgeries. I processed the grief of what I lost — the body I had always known, the blissful ignorance of not knowing what was written in my story, the version of my future I had imagined before that appointment. And then I built something from it.

After my surgeries I longed for a quiet way to honor what I had been through — and the strength it took to make those decisions. I designed a modern, minimal interpretation of a broken gene where the break is accented with a heart. It became my way of saying to myself: "I see you. I am proud of you. You are still whole."

When others in the cancer community saw it, they connected instantly. I realized I was not alone — many of us longed for a timeless, beautiful way to express our journeys. That is how BrokenGene was born — luxury jewelry created by one of us, for all of us. And because this community gives so much, a portion of every purchase supports rotating cancer organizations.

Building BrokenGene taught me three things about what it truly means to lead with both strength and empathy.

Emotional intelligence means feeling the full weight of something without letting it become your identity.

When I received my BRCA1 diagnosis I allowed myself to feel every part of it — the fear, the grief, the anger, and eventually the clarity. Emotional intelligence is not about managing your feelings into silence. It is about moving through them with enough self-awareness to come out the other side still standing. I am a BRCA1 previvor. That is part of my story. It is not all of it.

Authentic leadership requires you to build from your real experience, not a polished version of it.

BrokenGene exists because I told the truth about what I went through. I did not package my story neatly or wait until I had all the answers. I shared the raw, unfinished version — and that honesty is what connects BrokenGene to thousands of people navigating the same journey. The most powerful thing a leader can do is stop pretending they have it all figured out and start being honest about where they actually are.

Leading with a heart means measuring success by who you bring with you.

Every piece of BrokenGene jewelry sold means someone in the cancer community feels seen — and supports the organizations fighting for them. A previvor who just learned she carries the gene. A survivor who finished treatment and wants to mark the chapter. A thriver who wears their journey as a badge of strength. 

An ally who wears BrokenGene in honor of someone close to them touched by cancer — a quiet, beautiful way to say "I carry this with you." Anyone whose life has been touched by cancer and needs something that honors that truth. That is the metric that matters most to me — not revenue, not followers, not press mentions. Who did I bring with me today?

The broken gene was written into my story before I was born. I did not choose it. But I chose what to do with it. And that choice — to lead with both strength and love, to build something meaningful from something painful, to show up for a community that needed to feel seen — that is the leadership lesson I will carry for the rest of my life.

Connect With Holly

www.brokengene.store

Instagram: @brokengene.store

Email: holly@brokengene.store