From Sadness to Tears of Joy: How Cortney Cole Hall Made it Happen

HOUSTON - Oct. 20, 2014 - PRLog -- Cortney Cole Hall and Kate Thompson Tankersley were recent guests on the weekly radio program, Make It Happen with David Lorms.  From sadness to heart-felt fulfillment, Cortney Cole Hall’s dreams and ambitions help women every day.  Her story is an uplifting look at life, death and helping others move forward.
Cortney, along with long-time friend Lee Mitchell, co-founded a volunteer-based non-profit that administers programs and services to help all women cancer patients and survivors begin a new life after cancer.  They named it Pink Door. “Pink” because it’s all about helping women.  “Door” because Cortney’s mother (whom you’ll learn about later) always told her, “Wherever one door is closed, another is opened.”  The organization helpswomen who have endured the closing many of life’s doors, (e.g., the door to good health, stable finances, beautiful hair) and need to see a few good doors open for them.
Hall told Lorms, “I love what we have done and will continue to do at Pink Door.  We have helped divorced mothers finishcollege degrees by financing tuition and books; we have made mortgage payments for women trying to avoid foreclosure whilesuffering through chemotherapy; we have helped women with living expenses while they try to keep a job and pay for medication and gasoline for their trips to their medical appointments. It’s so wonderful to know that we have really changed women’s lives for the better!”
Lorms asked Hall, “How does a beautiful, young former UT sorority girl with a background in the Los Angeles entertainment industry start a non-profit in Houston that helps women cancer survivors?”  Hall begins her story about her best friend, her mother.  “I was living in Austin when Mom, recently divorced, got the news she had breast cancer.”  Hall moved to Sugar Land to take care of her, watching her go thru her post-divorce traumaand cancer treatment at M D Anderson at the same time.   When her mother was declared to be in remission, Hall moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the entertainment industry.  She appeared in some commercials and was on stage before joining the business end of the industry.  She often traveled back to Sugar Land to visit.
A few years later, something almost “mystical” happened:  Hallfelt a calling that she was needed back home.  Following her intuition, she moved back to Sugar Land and three weeks later her mother was diagnosed with stage 4 bone cancer.  “I put a stop to my career and put my mother first.”  She again took care of her mother who passed away after a year and a half. While cleaning out her things, Hall found a resume that her mother had paid $100 for.  “I couldn’t believe she was paying thousands of dollars for cancer treatment and she had to pay to have her resume made!”  That was when Hall thought she could do something for other women who were going through similar experiences.
Lorms asked her if she had a network of supportive people around her.  Her answer may surprise you!  “Many were – but one in particular declared to me that I couldn’t make this happen, that it would never work!”  She continued that later she was grateful for that comment because it gave her the “I’ll-show-him” fire in the belly attitude. The rest is Pink Doorhistory.
“We have a great board and other amazing volunteers,” Hall exclaims.  “Our biggest asset is that we are an all-volunteer group.  Our biggest obstacle is that we are an all-volunteer group.”  Everyone at Pink Door has a full time job, including Hall herself!  “We’re exhausted.  We have no weekends.  But we sleep a good sleep every night.”
That leads into the introduction of their first staff member, Kate Thompson Tankersley, who is their new Executive Director.  Tankersley comes to Pink Door from The Health Museum and is truly anxious to get started with Pink Door.  “She was the first person I wanted to have this job,” Hall said. “We interviewed a lot of folks, but Kate feels passion for our mission and really loves and believes in non-profit.”  Kate retorts, “I’m an Aggie from Stafford and can’t wait to focus on our fundraising and increasing our outreach.  I’m really glad to be the first staff member at Pink Door.”
Even in high school she had a role model.  She now has 4 mentors whom she goes to for feedback about certain challenges in her day job (Corporate Sales at Office Depot), Pink Door and her personal life.  She also mentors two people.
“You have so many talented and unselfish volunteers, your organization is growing and you are serving more and more women.  This is proof that you are where you need to be.  Things come together for a reason,” Lorms observed.
For 2014, Pink Door is thrilled to announce its 7th Annual Gala event – “A Fairytale Ending” Honoring Houston Methodist’s Dr. Sherry Lim and Survivor Honoree Lyn Hutchinson. Pink Door’s2014 Chairs Andrea and Matt Flanagan have graciously underwritten the Gala event in support of reaching Pink Door’s goal in helping over 40 women cancer patients and survivors through Pink Door’s “My Pink Wish” Assistance Program. There are only 2 tables left to purchase and volunteers are still needed.  The black-tie event is Saturday, November 8 (x-apple-data-detectors://4), 2014 (x-apple-data-detectors://4) at the Omni Hotel on Woodway.
To learn more about Pink Door, including volunteer, donation and gala information, please visit www.pinkdoornonprofit.org.
David Lorms hosts Make It Happen With David Lorms, an internet radio show on www.KBRZSports.com live every Wednesday at noon (x-apple-data-detectors://6) about entrepreneurs, business owners, and successful people, their challenges and failures turned into success, and advise for people to better their lives and careers. Past episodes are available by pod cast on http://www.spreaker.com/user/7420120 or on Lorms's web site http://www.lormsinsuranceservices.com and on iHeartRadio. He is also an Award Winning Insurance Expert, Best-Selling Author having won numerous media awards, including the Quilly and the EXPY Awards for his shared industry knowledge. He's been featured in Forbes Magazine and USA Today and various other radio talk shows.