A Chronic Entrepreneur: Justine Martin
Justine Martin is a professional artist, art wellness teacher, author, and resilience consultant and speaker. Being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2011, her successful corporate life was turned upside down. She has since battled three primary cancers at once and since then has overcome a long list of medical conditions. Entrepreneurship came naturally to her as she broke free from her “survival mode” in order to achieve the big dreams and goals that she set for herself. It wasn’t until she was diagnosed with her chronic that the entrepreneurship path truly took on its full meaning in Justine’s life. Read on to learn more about Justine’s story.
What’s your Chronic?
I have MS (Multiple Sclerosis) Lipedema and recovering from 3 primary cancers that I had at once.
What makes you an Entrepreneur?
I’m always looking for new business opportunities, following through with ideas and growing my business.
How did the path of entrepreneurship come to you?
I’ve been in survival mode for most of my life. In order to have enough money to feed, clothe and house my children I’ve had to do many different jobs at once in order to make a living. Nowadays I have big dreams and goals and in order to succeed the path of an entrepreneur came naturally to me.
What came first, the “chronic” or the “entrepreneur”?
I was an entrepreneur with various things in my ‘previous’ life, however it wasn’t until I became “chronic” that the term entrepreneur took on its full meaning.
What’s your diagnosis story? How old were you?
My successful corporate life was turned upside down in 2011, aged 40 when I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. A close relative died from complications from the same disease at 49.
Since then, I have battled three primary cancers all at once and overcome a long list of serious medical conditions.
What’s your frame of mind like at the moment? How have you survived the pandemic?
Living! Not stressing about the things, I can’t control. Making a safe and happy environment for myself. Having dreams and goals. Never tell yourself you can’t. Limiting the media. Stopped watching commercial TV. Filled myself with things that make me happy such as painting, drawing writing. Keeping in contact with other positive people.
What have you learnt about yourself through this journey? How have you changed, if at all in your relationships, decisions, what you value/your life philosophy?
That I am stronger than I ever thought I could be.
I value time. You can’t buy it, reuse it or borrow it. So, spend it wisely.
You are the sum of the 5 people you hang around with. Make sure they are your people, if not, find a new tribe.
Did you go through any sort of 12-stages of grief with the diagnosis or take it in its stride? In other words, how did the grief process manifest itself – did you immediately reassess your life or was it more gradual?
I went from having a social job to looking at 4 walls. My partner was like a ostrich and refused to believe it was happening. I had full blown depression, major anxiety. My world crumbled. I was angry. I have been through the stages of grief. That took a few years. I sought counselling very early on. As I have seen firsthand what MS can do to a loved one, I chose to not take the same path as she did. I wanted to be in control of my journey, to give myself the best possible chance of a long good quality of life.
What would you say to your ‘first-diagnosed’ self, or someone else who has just been diagnosed with a chronic illness?
Be kind to yourself, find someone to talk to outside of your family and friends. Your life isn’t over. You will need to adapt things to overcome the adversity, but you will gain the resilience. There is still a lot of living to do.
Are you on any treatments? What modalities are in your wellness team?
I am on a weekly infusion that I can to give myself weekly of other peoples antibodies to strengthen my weekend immune system.
I have regular massages, chiropractor, GP, ophthalmologist, exercise physiologist, dermatologist, cardiologist, neuro physiotherapist, psychologist, haematologist and neurologist. They all work together.
What is a ‘bad day’ for you? How do you look after yourself on a ‘bad day’ or a day that is particularly stressful?
A bad day is one where I have such bad fatigue I am nauseous. I get extremely cold when my fatigue is bad and cannot warm up. I have to have a shower to warm to through to the bones, however, I often don’t have the energy to do that. My MS at times will affect my vision and concentration. I try to factor rest periods or quiet times into my day and week. If I have a busy day, it's normally followed by a few quiet ones. I am sometimes in too much pain to walk and move.
On bad days I have to use my walking frame or wheelchair to have mobility. I make sure I drink enough water and eat clean to help. I weight train three days a week to help with movement.
Who are your back up dancers?
I have a lot of support, both informal and formal.
My family support me, in particular my Daughter Ally, she helps when she can. I have a lot of support from NDIS with support workers.
Best & worst bits of being A Chronic Entrepreneur?
Best: I am my own boss and I can work around my disabilities.
Worst: Too many shiny new things!
What are your dream weekend plans and have these changed over the past year?
A weekend away to somewhere warm! Catching up with friends. Covid changed it. Now I spend the weekends alone in lockdown
What are you looking forward to in the next 6 months-1 year?
My heath remaining stable, while I build my empire!
Where can people support you online?
