Ricki Fairley is an award-winning, marketing expert who has transformed her business acumen into breast cancer advocacy. Fairley co-founded and serves as CEO of TOUCH, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance which is dedicated to addressing breast cancer as a unique disease with special conditions with the overall goal of reducing the mortality rate for Black women.
A triple-negative breast cancer survivor, Fairley’s personal purpose, passion, mission, ministry, and blessing is to bring attention and action to eradicating Black breast cancer, and supporting and coaching what she calls her “breasties” through their breast cancer experience. She also actively assists pharmaceutical companies in revamping and designing their clinical trial recruiting materials.
What is the Black Breast Cancer Alliance?
The Black Breast Cancer Alliance is about eradicating Black breast cancer. We have this growing body of research that validates that a Black breast cancer cell looks different from a White one. Black women have a 41 percent higher mortality rate than White women. That means that for every 100 White women that die of breast cancer, 141 Black women die. We also have a 39% Higher recurrence rate, so we get it back at a 39 percent higher rate than Whites. The stat that I hate the most is that Black women under 35 get breast cancer at twice the rate of White women and die three times the rate of white women. Before they would have that first mammogram at 40. 40 is too late for us. I had triple-negative breast cancer, it’s the worst one, and it has the highest mortality rate. Black women get three times the rate and we don’t know why.
We are about trying to advance science. There are so many breast cancer organizations, and I applaud all of them, but nobody’s focused on the science. I’m trying to beat up the pharmaceutical companies to get better drugs. We have only a three percent participation level in clinical trial research so even in the drugs being developed now, because the drugs that we have on the market now, were never tested on our bodies. We are working diligently to try to get them to recruit Black women and teach them how to do it because they don’t know how to do it.
What did you do and what do you want women to do once they’ve gotten a diagnosis that they have breast cancer?
I went for my annual checkup and my doctor said they found a lump. I’m like, “Well, I don’t have time to deal with this right now.” I found out a few days later that I had triple-negative breast cancer, which if you go to Dr. Google, says you’re going to die fast. So I said, “I better deal with this.” I had a double mastectomy, I did a lot of chemo, and I did a lot of radiation. I was told that I was okay after. I went back almost a year to the day and they found five spots on my chest wall. My doctor said I was metastatic and they didn’t have any more drugs for me and that I had two years to live, so get my affairs in order. I said, “I can’t die right now. I got a daughter at Dartmouth, I gotta pay tuition. You and God have to do something. I need some drugs or something.” I went and advocated for myself, I found another doctor at Emory, and she was probably one of five doctors at the time that was researching triple-negative. She put me on some experimental drugs, which is why science is so important, and a lot more chemo, and I didn’t die. It’s been 11 years.
What are three things you want people to know when they decide to be a CEO?
Know your craft, be good at your craft, know it inside and out, and be very clear on your purpose. I tell everybody that when somebody’s deciding on your business, life, or career, you’re not going to be in the room. They’re going to say “I’m going to buy this, I’m going to do this, I’m going to promote this person,” but you’re not going to be in the room. What do you want people to say about you when you are not in that room? You have to live with that. I say pick three words that you want to live by and believe in that and live that so that when you’re not there in somebody’s deciding to buy your company or hire your company, they’ll say those three things. Mine are I know my s—, I’m good at my craft, and I get s— done. My two hashtags are GSD, which means get s— done. My other hashtag is DIS, which is do iconic s—. If you look at the good marketing stories in the world, it’s because they were iconic. It’s because they brought on brought something to the market that didn’t exist before. That’s what I’m trying to do in the breast cancer space. I’m trying to use my 35-plus years of marketing acumen in breast cancer advocacy and do things that are different.
How should Black people approach their health differently, particularly, Black women?
Be the CEO of your health. You got to be the CEO of your own house because we live in a world of health inequity. There is no health equity. I believe that our health illiteracy in our Black community, we don’t even know what we don’t know. I believe that health illiteracy is breeding health inequity. It’s breeding because White doctors have implicit bias. Even the ones with good intentions have implicit bias, even if they think they’re not racist. That racism and that implicit bias exist. You have to take it into your own hands, you have to do the research, you have to understand your disease, and you have to understand yourself and make it happen.
What is implicit bias?
That means that the doctor may have good intentions, because they take that oath, but they may not offer you the right stuff. I see it every day in breast cancer, where you’re not offered immunotherapy and a clinical trial. Most people don’t participate in research because they’re not asked by their doctor because they don’t know what to ask. When you’re sick and you hear the C word, you don’t hear anything else after that, because you’re scared. You have to stop the doctor and say, “I don’t understand what you’re saying. Say it again, break it down for me talk to me like I’m a five-year-old.” If they don’t talk to you and give you the information that you need, you have to find another doctor. It’s okay to fire a doctor. They’re human beings. A lot of the time we walk in there and we think the doctor is the end all be all here because they spent a lot of years in school. Well, they are people and they could be a little racist. They could be a little biased and clearly, they are not offering Black women in breast cancer all of this stuff.
How can Black women join your movement?
We just launched a new campaign targeting young Black women because I’m so worried about them. It’s called For the Love of my Gurls. If you go to www.loveofmygurls.org, you’ll see a cool video, but it’s three calls to action. Black breast cancer is a different disease, but Black breast health is also a different disease. You have to take care of your health differently and be aware of your risks. That entails knowing your Herstory. Talk to your mom, grandma, and auntie on both sides of the family. Know your family. We don’t talk about it until our uncle has his leg amputated, or grandma is in the hospital. Bring the conversations to the table as a family unit. We have a little worksheet to talk about to bring these conversations to you. We’ve had an HBCU internship program for four years now and we asked the girls to talk to their moms. It’s the first conversation these 19 and 20-year-olds have had with their mom.
Also, know your breast. Look at them in the mirror, feel them, and make them a part of your routine. Every time you get your nails done, check your breasts, and you need to check them after your period. When you go out on a date, check your breasts, when you go out with your girls, check your breasts, and instead of making it a chore, make it a part of your beauty and self-care routine.
