Mammographer, Artist, Poet, Motivator, Realtor, Gunnison, Colorado, USA

Ms. Tiffany Hardy’s passionate writing is destined to resonate with that very woman who needs to hear this truth. There is something so profoundly vulnerable and explosive in her answers. Ms. Hardy is a healthcare superwoman who traverses the country providing mammograms, comfort and a listening ear. Her sense of humour and a kind demeanor also help soothe and crack the tension during the very unpleasant and scary procedures.

We crossed paths in a small town in Colorado, USA. I noticed Tiffany right away; she was having an animatedly jolly conversation with the barista, her sweet daughter watching her fabulous mother turn yet another stranger into a friend.

It was an intersection of a healthcare provider, an artist and a poet that got me so inspired. Tiffany shared with me that sometimes she recites uplifting and encouraging poems during the more painful moments of the mammogram procedure. Her goal? To provide comforting words, detract from the pain and relieve anxiety. I hope this WOW Woman feature serves as a tribute to Ms. Hardy and the beautiful gifts she continues to bestow on her patients.

1. Name.

Tiffany Hardy.

2. Where is your hometown?

Shreveport, Louisiana.

3. What is your profession/career/title/self-label/designation? What does your average day look like?

Mammographer/ girl mom, artist, poet, motivator, realtor. My average day I spend thinking of how to serve my community and my family better.

4. What did you study in school?

Radiology.

5. What was the journey like to get where you are (in life and career-wise)?

The journey to get here has been long, eventful, confusing at times, draining and painful. I feel like I’ve had a lifetime of soul-searching, digging, discovering and uncovering answers to the questions buried deep down inside trying to understand my purpose and who I am.

My life has been filled with many twist and turns leaving me questioning my path and myself.

Write about some of the achievements that you are most proud of?

I’m most proud of my 20 year-career as a mammographer. It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve my community. I’m also proud of the Pink Angels Breast Cancer Art Collection I conceived. It is a montage of expression, inspiration behind all the years I spent taking care of patients. It’s a dedication as well as a farewell to my career in mammography. It’s a justification and explanation of “what the heck have you been doing for the last 20 years, Tiffany?”

What was the breakthrough moment for you (in your personal life and/or career?) that set you on the current path in life?

The pandemic was my breakthrough moment. I couldn’t work because the schools were closed and I had no one to keep my daughter during the day. I’ve always been an artist, master gardener and a yogi in my head. So for the previous two years I had been collecting art supplies, yoga mats, seeds and gardening books.

I drew a pink ribbon and the rest was history; 78 paintings and two weeks later I had zero sleep, only naps. I was addicted to the canvas. As a result, The Pink Angels Art collection was born. At the end of those two weeks it was as if I had been to a revival or had an exorcism performed. I had poured every experience, every patient’s sorrow, every geographical area I’ve ever lived in as a Mammographer, down on that canvas. My wins and my losses, my laughs, hugs and tears I’ve shed with my patients were all hanging on my wall. They spoke to me, they encouraged me. Those painting would literally come to life; the paintings have different names and feelings.

As for yogi and master gardener, I’m working on those titles in real life, and not just in my head (wink).

6. How is your life different from what you pictured at 20?

When I was twenty I imaged that at 41 I would be a married housewife with ten kids, living in a home with a white picket fence. God had different plans. 

7. Was there a time when life knocked you down or out and how did you get back up on your feet?

I remember there was a time in my life when I was super ambitious, for all the wrong things. I thought more money equaled success; boy was I wrong! I took a job managing five breast imaging centers so I would feel elevated in my career.

Then it all came crashing down once I realized the amount of pressure and stress I was under, it was affecting my metal health and sanity. I stepped down from that position and came back to my first love: patient interaction. My patients are what keeps me going to this day. I will never forget the day I stepped down from that management position; I was making quesadillas for my daughter and I just remember a feeling of such a peace coming over me. I remember thinking that in that moment the only thing I had to worry about was not burning the quesadillas! Can you imagine? What a wonderful feeling that was, to just worry about what was in front of me in that moment. Now my inside joke to myself is “can I focus on not burning my daughter’s quesadillas after 5PM? That became an unofficial measuring stick when evaluating if a work opportunity is the right fit for me.

8. Advice for other women?

My advice for other women is try NOT to be strong all the time. It’s OK to bask in your feminine energy and NOT have to do EVERYTHING yourself. We’ve proved that we are strong, for long enough. Now rest and take care of you, STRONG WOMAN!

9. Knowing what we know now in a current political climate, can women be "all that we can be" in today's world? What is the way forward, as you see it, for "feminist values"?

I think women being women, with our nurturing nature is enough. That’s all we can be. I have a poem called Strong Woman: 

With our tattered body and war wounds, our hidden secrets and suffocated voices we truck through the storm. We alchemize the wind and the rain. With every tear shed we also bleed for our families, our nation and lastly yourself.

With primadonna dreams we are expected to be strong, we are selected to nurture and appointed to pray

We are expected, as women, to fulfill everyone else’s definition, purpose and agenda as we suffer in silence. It’s our time to redefine the expectations placed on us, we must stand in what we were created to be. The effort to fit in the “Be All You Can Be” boxes can exhaust us mentally, physically and spiritually.

I see it all the time. Women come in to get their mammograms and we find a cancer and they have no support from anyone so they suffer in silence. I say we’ve exhausted ourselves being all we can be for everyone else let’s take a stand to put us first NOW!

10. Where in the world do you feel “tallest” (i.e. where is your happy place)?

My happy place is the moment just at the break of dawn, right before the sun rises. It is quiet and peaceful.

11. What extracurricular activities/hobbies are you most proud of? Why?

I paint on canvas. It’s the most relaxing and therapeutic thing I’ve ever done. It’s as if mistakes are impossible, because all  you have to do is keep painting. There is a lesson in the art about life: “There are no mistakes! Just keep going!”

12. What do you want to be when you grow up? Future goals/challenges?

I would love to teach  mammograhy at a HBCU (historically black college or university); preferably my alma mater, Southern University in Shreveport, Louisiana. I want to reach and inspire African American women in underprivileged communities.

13. What fears are you still hoping to overcome?

I am still hoping to overcome my fear of failure.

14. Anything you'd do differently, if you had another go at life?

I would spend less time worrying and more time focusing on my goals.

16. What are you hopeful about?

I’m hopeful about the future actually. Although we went through a pandemic, there was also a major awakening in consciousness that was happening simultaneously.

17. What are some ingredients to a good life?

Peace, gratitude and joy.

Has the global pandemic changed your perspective about the world, about your life, your goals and dreams?

Yes the pandemic definitely changed my perspective in so many ways. It made me question importance of financial stability as well as mental stability. It made me question what is important in life and identify what is not.

18. What are (at least) three qualities you most love about yourself and why? What are your superpowers?

• I love my ability to talk to anyone. My mom always said: “Tiffany has never met a stranger!” I’ve used this superpower with my patients throughout my entire career. My warmth and curiosity go hand-in-hand with mammography. I intrinsically sense how to make patients feel comfortable instantly.

• I was blessed with a creative ability. Not long ago I discovered that I could unleash my creativity. Creating art is healing; it speaks to the heart and the soul.

• My optimism helps me in many challenges in my life and in the lives of my patients. When my patients feel anxious or nervous I pour out optimism onto them as a way of honor and support.

20. What are you reading now? (what books do you gift most and what are your favourite reads?)

Currently I’m reading “The Greatest Secret”, a book by Rhonda Byrne. I often gift a book by Helen Schucman called “A Course in Miracles”. It changed my perspective on life. I also love “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho and “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz.

21. Who is a WOW WOMAN in your world who inspires you and why? Can you nominate three (or more) women you know who perfectly fit WOW WOMAN description? What would you tell them, if you had an opportunity, why you admire them?

Anneka Simms Alexander. She is my childhood best friend. I am so very proud of her. She is a teacher, a mother of five amazing kids, a wife and a business woman. Together with her husband she runs a mobile dental clinic out of a van called Miles for Smiles in Shreveport, Louisiana. She is a leader, a planner and an implementer.

My childhood best friend Deundra Washington is a mother of two, a wife and an entrepreneur. She works full time and has a handmade soap business that was created due to the soap shortage during the COVID pandemic. I admire her resilience, her business sense and the courage to follow her dreams.

Dawn Miller is my former boss. She has buried three children and has been faced with severe grief. But she still manages to inspire me and countless other women.

22. Where can others find you/your work (links to websites, blogs, etc.)?

My YouTube channel is called Pink Angels 11:11 . There you can find examples of my art, my tips for a painless mammogram and also specific steps for women to schedule a mammogram.

My work: Ignite Breast Imaging Services.

My LinkedIn profile.

My IG: @epiphany1luv4lyfe

Bonus Quick Round:

1. What and who is worth suffering for? My daughter.

2. What would you stand for if you knew that nobody would judge you?

I would stand for African American pride. Unfortunately the world views African American Pride as being racist toward other nationalities which is totally not the case. African American pride is being comfortable in your own skin and heritage.

3. What would you do if you knew that nobody would judge you?

I would buy a old school bus and  paint it pink and travel all over the country and bring breast cancer awareness and paintings to women who are warriors and survivors. I would have my daughter with me and home school her.

4. Whom do you admire most and why? I admire my grandmother. She is so kind and stable; she is a anchor. 

5. What are a few things you thought you would never get over when you were going through them?

I thought I would never get over my latest heartbreak, at the age of 41. At this age who would have thought I would be heartbroken? It goes to show that you never stop learning and growing.

6. What do you not want anyone else to know about you?

I’m an OVERLOVER!

7. What would be too good to believe if someone was to sit down and tell you what's coming next in your life?

That real love actually found me. After all I’ve been through, I would be completely blown away.

8. Who from your past are you still trying to earn acceptance from?

My mother and grandmother. I come from a linage of strong women, and being weak in any sense is totally unacceptable and is frowned upon. I’ve had a lot of emotionally unravelling moments in my life and both my grandmother and my mother had the front row tickets to my pain. I want them to see me accomplish all my goals and finally be ok in life.

9. If you didn't have to work anymore what would you do with your days?

I would volunteer in the domestic violence shelters.

10. What bothers you most about other people?

I’m bothered when people are negative and inconsiderate.

11. What do you love most about other people?

I love seeing people unite in unity and love.