How To Lead A Company Through Personal Crisis And Come Back Stronger

Forbes

21 hours ago

As Paramount Chair Shari Redstone reveals her battle with thyroid cancer, founder Billie Whitehouse opens up about leading a company through a profound health challenge—and what other women leaders can learn from her experience.
When news broke that Shari Redstone, Chair of Paramount Global, is undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer, the public learned only through a brief, formal statement from her spokesperson. Redstone has not commented directly but emphasized through her team that she would 'maintain all professional and philanthropic activities throughout her treatment, which is ongoing.' Her discretion underscores the pressure many women leaders face to project invulnerability in the face of deeply personal health crises.
That's why Billie Whitehouse, founder and CEO of fashion tech company Wearable X, is choosing a different path. Now in remission after a stage 4 colon cancer diagnosis, she's sharing what she wishes she had known—and how women can remain effective leaders through profound health challenges.
When Whitehouse was initially diagnosed in 2022, she was 27 years old and 22 weeks pregnant. Despite experiencing intense abdominal pain, her doctors repeatedly dismissed her concerns.
'They kept telling me that it didn't make sense for me to get a colonoscopy and that I didn't fit the profile. I wish I could have read something somewhere that showed me what I should have done. At the time, I didn't have the confidence to push back. I was just like, 'oh yeah, they're the experts. Okay, we move on.''
Eventually, emergency surgery revealed a tumor in her transverse colon. Her baby survived the operation but died six days later.
Whitehouse took a board meeting from the hospital the day before her baby died. 'I had waited for this board meeting for so long. Everyone had rescheduled a million times. I just needed to get it done. In hindsight, I really wish I hadn't done that.'
Her experience and her survival taught her powerful lessons she now wants to share with other women. She hopes her story can guide those navigating personal crises while also leading companies.
Whitehouse's first instinct was to keep her diagnosis private. And she doesn't regret it.
'I told [the board] I was going through treatment, but not what the treatment was,' she says. 'I feared not getting a project or a client because someone thought I was too high-risk. I was worried they would remove me if they didn't think I could do the job.'
John Samuels, CEO of Wellworth Advisors, agrees that leaders don't always have to disclose all of the personal details. However, they do need a plan. He suggests considering factors like privacy, the ability to perform your job, the type of work you do and legal and regulatory requirements. Samuels also suggests only communicating facts and not 'unknowns.'
While Whitehouse kept her personal story to herself, she did choose to over-communicate about the state of the company. 'In the first month after my diagnosis, we lost our biggest client, our bank went bust and we got audited for our insurance,' she says. 'So, I really over communicated with the board at that time.'
When asked if she felt that was the right approach, she answered an emphatic yes. 'The board has since told me they were so grateful for the over communication.'
Nadi X by Wearable X yoga wear
Wearable X
When Whitehouse was first diagnosed, she tried to maintain a sense of normalcy, prioritizing both work and her health, despite undergoing surgery and a rigorous course of chemotherapy. She didn't want to convey that she wasn't able to do her job. 'In the first three months of my diagnosis, I tried to maintain my normal work schedule. I tried to be on every call and just 'do the thing.''
Melissa Gonzalez, author of The Purpose Pivot, says women need to stop looking at vulnerability as a weakness. 'Too often, in our personal pursuit of professional excellence, especially as women leaders, we've been conditioned to ignore the early warning signs our bodies send us.' The retail strategist says women are conditioned to wear exhaustion like a 'badge of honor.' 'We hide our struggles out of fear of appearing weak and tell ourselves to just 'power through' until our bodies make different decisions for us.'
Lisa Marchiano agrees, especially for younger women. The Jungian analyst and podcaster says, 'Young women in a corporate environment often worry about not being taken seriously. Showing weakness or vulnerability may feel unthinkable as they worry it will undermine their authority.'
When Whitehouse's cancer returned in 2023, she took a different approach.
Whitehouse's recurrence provided an opportunity to do things differently. She says one of her biggest realizations was that she didn't need to keep pushing at full speed. She could, and should, set boundaries.
Referring to her second bout with colon cancer, Whitehouse said, 'This time I was just very deliberate about when I could work and when I couldn't based on my treatment. I told people I would respond by email, but slowly... don't expect it to be immediate.'
Whitehouse says she learned this lesson the hard way.
'Previously I tried to maintain my normal work schedule. This time around, it was a much more deliberate approach.'
Marchiano warns that bearing suffering alone cuts us off from an essential source of help and comfort. Women, fortunately, tend to respond to stress through a strategy known as 'tend and befriend,' she says. 'If we're suffering, we let our close circle know and may receive an outpouring of material and emotional support.' However, she warns, if we choose to keep a diagnosis private at work, we lack that support where we may need it the most.
This means it may be helpful to confide in a close circle of colleagues.
'Having to face a life-threatening illness or devastating loss while few around have any idea means that you are carrying this burden alone, at least in the work sphere,' Marchiano says. 'This takes a toll.'
'I got my mojo back by finding things to look forward to, like meaningful projects, travel, time with family,' says Whitehouse.
'I'm enjoying work in a new way at the moment,' she says. 'And I think that helps you get your mojo back—when you can find the parts of work that really excite you.'
That also includes getting rid of toxic clients. After engaging with a client that caused her a great deal of stress, she ended the relationship. 'I'm proud of myself for making that decision. The stress from working with people like that is too great now.'
Whitehouse has also launched a yoga e-book and is developing a breast pad that vibrates to reduce mastitis in nursing mothers.
And her biggest boss move yet may just be her recent photoshoot that shows the world her battle wounds – her surgical scars. 'It's quite personal,' she explains. 'But it feels like it's the time to be fully transparent.'
'One of the things we need to do with suffering is to make meaning of it,' says Marchiano. 'Then, it can become bearable.' Marchiano supports Whitehouse sharing her story so that others going through something similar might benefit. 'In this way, she is trying to put her suffering to good purpose.'
Gonzalez shares the same sentiment. One recurring theme she elicited through interviews for her book is about sharing. 'There is immense relief that comes from sharing our journeys and embracing the strength found in vulnerability, and the unexpected gift of our sharing helping others.'
Whitehouse agrees. 'I've decided I don't want to be ruled by fear anymore,' she says. 'I want to live fully, and for me, that means being vocal.'
Whitehouse's Nadi X yoga wear by Wearable X
Wearable X
And vocal she is. While not every woman will or should handle crises in the workplace the same way, what matters is that your communication be honest and on your own terms.
'Communicate authentically to yourself,' Whitehouse says. 'For me, that meant ensuring that the status of the company was clear and that there was still a path to success—even if that meant taking some time to slow down.'