As an organization that works with victims and survivors of violent crime every day, Crime Stoppers of Houston knows all too well how hard it can be for a victim to come forward with their story. This week on The Balanced Voice Podcast powered by Crime Stoppers of Houston, host Rania Mankarious sat down with American Actress and Founder of Cancer Schmancer, Fran Drescher, beloved and best known as “The Nanny” for a conversation on how she has transformed her trauma and physical illness into a national movement.

Fran is a survivor of sexual assault and uterine cancer who chooses to share her story, boldly. Why? She believes that confronting trauma is a necessary step in living a healthy and joy-filled life. In 2007, Fran Drescher founded Cancer Schmancer, with a mission to empower women to advocate for their health and wellbeing through prevention, early cancer detection, and needed policy change. You can learn more about the movement at cancerschmancer.org.

Ultimately, we answer this question:

“How can we transform hardship into positive societal change and leave a lasting legacy?”

During the interview, we also asked Fran about social media, the solicitation and exploitation of young girls and their desires to be seen on social media, and advice for today’s ‘influencers’. This is what she said:

“We’re kind of in the wild west of internet and social media and for that reason, I think it’s important for parents to pull in the reins. To spend a lot of time talking with their children and really differentiating between ‘what’s cool’ and ‘what’s appropriate’ and ‘what’s beneath you because you’re better than that but that takes a certain kind of parenting that builds up a child’s sense of self where they don’t have to be so exploitive and attention-getting to feel of value.”

“It is a difficult time to be young […] it’s a scary time and there’s a tremendous amount of violence and division. But then out of that unrest comes people that have taken to the streets in very proactive ways that are really making a difference. Those are organizing in a very intelligent, thoughtful, meaningful, productive, proactive way. I think that young people need to pivot their focus on that because everything else in the airwaves is really a flash in the pan and it’s not deepening your spirit your purpose for being here it’s not helping the greater good it’s not advancing you spiritually or as a human being”

“You gotta set the bar for yourself. Who are you? Are you gonna walk the talk
in this life? Are you gonna elevate? Do you know right from wrong? What kind of an influencer are you?”

Additionally, we discussed her upcoming FranJam 2021 Virtual Music Festival taking place at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT on Sunday, June 20, 2021. In celebration of Peace, Love, and Fran’s 21 years of Wellness, Cancer Schmancer is hosting a virtual concert filled with incredible talent including Jackson Browne, Cyndi Lauper, David Foster & Katharine McPhee Foster, Hoobastank, Debbie Gibson, Cynthia Erivo, and so many more! You can stream the concert for FREE at http://www.cancerschmancer.org/franjam.

Crime Stoppers of Houston was thrilled for the opportunity to sit down and hear from Fran. Watch and share via the links below:

Full podcast episode on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/CrimeStoppersOfHouston/videos/2878246475782455

Check out our show notes for resources and to learn more about Fran Drescher: https://www.raniamankarious.com/post/ep-34-fran-drescher-transforming-trauma

You can also listen and subscribe to the podcast on all major podcast platforms including ApplePodcast, Spotify, SoundCloud and GooglePodcast.