What’s most true to you? How are you living it?

“Somebody said something really insightful to me once and it really helped me. They said time now has a definition. That has stayed with me since the moment it was said because, especially at 27, I thought time was limitless. I thought I had all the time in the world and now I guess it just removed some of that inhibition because, so what? Ana Ono doesn’t make it? I tried. I did the best I could. I gave it my all. I did something that I always dreamt of doing.” ~Dana Donofree, Founder of Ana Ono Intimates

Diagnosed with Infiltrative Ductal Carcinoma, an aggressive form of breast cancer, at 27, Dana Donofree founded AnaOno out of her own necessity and desire for pretty, sexy, beautiful lingerie. After a bilateral mastectomy with implant reconstruction, her own bras no longer fit, and she was certain there must be better options. After discovering her beautiful and functional bras following my explant surgery, I had the pleasure of becoming friends with Dana from across the country. Finally, in December in New York City, I had the pleasure to meet Dana and Ana Ono employee, Alison Hinch, to discuss life after breast cancer, mastectomies, personal growth and embodiment after illness and trauma. Dana frankly shares about breast cancer and her last cut, her decision to get a mastectomy tattoo years ago before it was popular to do so. Her choice was a powerful reclaiming of self after all she had been through at a young age. I love Dana’s honesty and honor all she does for this community. For more information on Dana and her gorgeous lingerie and loungewear, please visit anaono.com and @anaonointimates on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

What’s most true to you? How are you living it?

"I really and truly believe that undergarments can change a women's life and then she can go on to change the world. I'm talking about how starting with that layer, [that experience] can totally transform how a woman thinks about herself, about her body, about her worth, about her femininity, about her feminine energy. Physically and emotionally, our breasts are the doorways to our hearts. So if you can imagine, if you think anything about chakras and even if you don't, just physically being able to stand up tall and have your heart be able to lead, it changes a woman's life." ~Kimmay Caldwell, Hurray Kimmay blogger and expert bra fitter

I first encountered Kimmay Caldwell, lingerie blogger and expert bra fitter, and her “Hurray Kimmay” blog on the Ana Ono Intimates Instagram feed. After reading her post on post-mastectomy lingerie (though not post-reconstruction herself), I was further impressed that she does not allow photographers to Photoshop her body in photos anymore. Kimmay is here not only to talk body positivity, but is walking the walk. In her adorable, bubbly and deeply intelligent way, she is here to educate, connect and help women fall in love with their bodies. This Last Cut Conversation reminds us that there are so many ways to be of service, educate and show up as a force of good in this world. For more information on Kimmay’s work, please visit hurraykimmay.com, and @HurrayKimmay on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Samantha Paige and Last Cut Photographer Lisa Field speak candidly about the evolution of their friendship over the last decade and how they have navigated working so closely on Last Cut. In sharing about the birth of Last Cut, they discuss how their trust and connection has fed the art and also the need to speak up and create boundaries to honor the friendship. 

What is most true to you? How are you living it?

“Honesty is what drives me, but in order to be honest you have to understand who you are. You have to go through experiences to build who you are, but you also have to look at yourself and reflect because honesty is the only way to receive love.” ~Vanessa Cuccia, Founder of Chakrubs

Vanessa Cuccia, founder of Chakrubs, speaks about her movement towards self-love, healing and pleasure in this Last Cut Conversation. Meeting last summer on Samantha Paige’s birthday, Vanessa opened her Chakrubs’ office and heart, telling the story of her personal discovery of self and pleasure. She has shared the literal and figurative tools crucial to her own evolution through the creation of Chakrubs, the original 100% crystal sex toy company. Samantha connected with Vanessa through her exquisite and artfully presented Instagram account for Chakrubs. Everything that Vanessa has her hands in is beautifully powerful. For more information on Vanessa Cuccia and Chakrubs, please visit chakrubs.com or @chakrubs on Instagram.

What is most true to you? How are you living it?

“I feel like what I have come back to, or come into, is honoring myself first. Which is something that I never knew how to do. I’m still learning it. It’s really amazing. Yeah, the concept of self-care. I can talk about it over and over and tell people what to do. But radical self-care is revolutionary.” ~Vonn Jensen, US-based cancer advocate and founder of Flattopper Pride and Queer Cancer.

Vonn Jensen (formerly Emily Jensen) is a US-based cancer advocate and vanguard approaching advocacy through the lens of social justice. They founded the movements, Flattopper® Pride and Queer Cancer, and work specifically with populations often disenfranchised or rendered invisible in the dominant breast cancer narrative. Using a variety of media, they have worked for visibility as a means of combating the marginalization that certain groups, such as the queer community, face during treatment.

Jensen is currently working with filmmaker Emily Mackenzie on Tapestries, a documentary series that chronicles the stories of individuals as they navigate their lives after a breast cancer diagnosis. In an effort to change the discourse around breast cancer, this project offers alternative narratives to the mainstream depiction of ‘pink survivorship.’ By sharing the complicated stories of people navigating life after diagnosis, we question our culture’s relationship with cancer, femininity, gendered bodies, power, and survival. For more on Tapestries, please visit

For more on Tapestries, please visit www.tapestriesdoc.com. For the latest on Vonn’s other projects, please visit vonnjensen.com and Flattopper® Pride on Facebook and Instagram.

What’s most true to you? How are you living it?

"So for me, what really interested me is the politics around reconstruction and what you do with your body. Body politics is a thing. What is that famous piece of art? The photo with the words, 'My body is a battleground.' That photo, when you are talking about women's bodies, says that everyone is allowed to have an opinion. What they should and shouldn't do with them. How they are supposed to look. What's going on? So breast cancer becomes this interesting intersection to talk about feminism to me. Body policing. How does this work? What is expected of us?" ~Emily Mackenzie, New Orleans based Director and Editor

Emily Mackenzie is a New Orleans based director and editor. Mackenzie is a graduate of Bard College and the New School’s Documentary Media Studies program. She has worked as a director, producer and editor for broadcast networks such as MTV, HBO, and Animal Planet and for documentary films - features and shorts - that have been screened at festivals internationally. She is currently working with US-based cancer advocate and vanguard Vonn Jensen on a documentary, entitled, Tapestries. Tapestries is a documentary series that chronicles the stories of individuals as they navigate their lives after a breast cancer diagnosis.

In an effort to change the discourse around breast cancer, this project offers alternative narratives to the mainstream depiction of ‘pink survivorship.’ By sharing the complicated stories of people navigating life after diagnosis, they question our culture’s relationship with cancer, femininity, gendered bodies, power, and survival. For more on Emily’s current project, please visit www.tapestriesdoc.com.

Samantha Paige and Last Cut Photographer Lisa Field discuss the lead up to Samantha’s participation in Equinox’s 2017 Commit to Something campaign. Equinox’s message around commitment and how our commitments show who we truly are, parallels the underlying themes of Last Cut in unbelievable fashion.  

Equinox Creative Director Elizabeth Nolan speaks with Samantha about the power of commitment in life, not only the gym, and how Equinox chose Samantha for this image. 

Samantha’s provocative image from the campaign conveys her empowered embodiment, which landed and evolved powerfully this year through her explant surgery and Last Cut.

What is most true to you? How are you living it?

"I think for me what is most true to Ronny is the desire to never stop discovering and for me the discovery is limitless. Discovery of myself. Discovery of others. Discovery of what the world has to offer. This inner voice inside of me that is always giving me advice and direction of where should I go, where should I not go." -Ronny Turiaf, NBA basketball player, world traveler and a truly generous soul and friend. 

In 2012, I sent jewelry from my company, Adesso, to a stylist for a couple of NBA players. One of them, Ronny Turiaf, loved the pieces but beyond that, was moved by my personal story. We had something profound in common.

We both were cruising along in our early 20’s, feeling healthy when we were told that we were sick inside and needed surgery. I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at age 21, and Ronny, after being drafted by the LA Lakers right out of college at age 22, was told he had an enlarged aortic root in his heart that required immediate surgery. We both made it to the other side and are probably the better for it, but the trauma of those experiences, including having your life turned upside down and then quickly put back together again with little time to process what happened, changes you.

Ronny called me for the first time on his way to the celebratory parade for his 2012 Miami Heat NBA championship. We went deep fast and that call was the beginning of our powerful friendship. We understand and learn from each other, and crossed paths in this lifetime to encourage the doing of great things. It was at dinner about a year and a half ago with Ronny that I first vocalized the dream of Last Cut project. I knew I wanted to highlight people’s stories through their internal and external scars, and here we are. Ronny shares his most recent last cut, which was an allowance of time and space for deep self-discovery off the basketball court.

What’s most true to you? How are you living it?

 "I was struggling so much with my self-identity as a woman, seeing myself in the mirror without makeup and wondering, “I don’t know if I am a woman or not.” So for the podcast that I am doing, when I got the answers about “what makes a woman a woman,” I was told “beautiful,” “strong,” “resilient,” nothing about big boobs and makeup. I had my mind opened to the fact that there is more. I am a woman!” ~Stephanie Ramirez

A few months after my explant surgery, I received a direct message on Instagram from Stephanie Ramirez. She wrote, “I’m 23 years old and I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I underwent a double mastectomy. I’m comfortable with the way I am and did not undergo reconstruction or plastic surgery. Your pictures help me a lot and just thank you so, so much.” I was touched and wanted to meet this young survivor. She finished her chemo in July and soon after we shared a Last Cut Conversation in her home.

Stephanie is such a bright light. Within two minutes in her presence, it was clear why my daughter said, “She is my favorite role model” after seeing one of her photos. Her battle to love herself, inside and out, is a universal one. The way in which she landed in her power through her bout with breast cancer holds lessons for us all. She also reflected back to me that, even in those moments when I think that having my chest photographed and sharing on Last Cut is utterly self-indulgent and unnecessary, I should keep going. I made a difference in someone’s life. We all can. We all do when we show up, open up and connect in whatever way we can.

What is most true to you? How are you living it?

"One of the greatest liberations, perhaps, is actually recognizing for real what feels right and recognizing that what is negative is probably not right.” ~Talila Gafter, Philosopher, Pianist, Business Woman & Friend

With her background in philosophy, my guest, Talila Gafter, breaks down the fundamental meaning of the words truth and cut while discussing a pivotal last cut moment in her life, the suicide of her father. Talila earned a PhD in philosophy and wrote a dissertation on German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. She shared Nietzsche’s sentiment, “The truth is there is no truth,” and from there, our conversation examined what it is to know one’s truth and how one finds greater freedom through the pursuits of holding up those ideals.. Talila is undoubtedly one of the smartest people I have ever met. She speaks 7 languages and is constantly seeking to study and learn more, be it classical piano or philosophy. She is as kind as she is intelligent. I admire her and always learn from her way of approaching things. This Last Cut Conversation was no different. Talila challenged me to go deeper and even further refine and elevate the dialogue of the project.

Visit http://www.thelastcut.net/last-cut-conversations/2016/8/10/talila-gafter for the full transcript and photos of Talila Gafter’s Last Cut Conversation.

For more about Ellagem, the beautiful jewelry business that Talila runs with her mother, visit their website, ellagem.com, or ellagemny on Instagram.

What is most true to you? How are you living it?

"Love. Easy. Love. It’s the only thing that is, that we are, that everybody is. Simple.” ~Josette Tkacik, International Zumba Instructor & Inspiration

My guest, Josette Tkacik, shares her story about overcoming debilitating disease in her own way. Diagnosed about five years ago with mobility threatening rheumatoid arthritis, a dancer for life, Josette opted not for a hefty pharmaceutical regime, but her own recipe for healing. Instead of leading Zumba class with a mic from a wheelchair, six days a week, Josette pulls hundreds (yes, hundreds) of people onto her dance floor and leads them through an hour plus of pure joy and complete celebration of life.

Visit http://www.thelastcut.net/last-cut-conversations/josette-tkacik for the full transcript and photos of Josette Tkacik’s Last Cut Conversation.

For more about Josette Tkacik’s story and Zumba class offerings, visit her website, josettetkacik.com. She is on Facebook and Instagram as Josette Tkacik.

What is most true to you? How are you living it?

“I believe in creativity. Absolutely that is what I believe in and what I believe can fix the world. Creativity can shift consciousness.” ~Sasha Markova, Creative Mind, Advertising Visionary & Author

My guest, Sasha Markova, shares about her most recent last cut, a move from her hometown of London to Los Angeles in order to pursue creative projects in line with her values and global vision. Sasha, a creative genius, author and activist, outlines the reasons behind her transatlantic move and the inner truths that drove her decision. She also brilliantly describes the concepts behind Last Cut in her own words. She is here to do incredible things, and in very Sasha fashion, is able to express it all beautifully.

Visit http://www.thelastcut.net/last-cut-conversations/sasha-markova for the full transcript and photos of Sasha Markova’s Last Cut Conversation.

Sasha Markova has been behind many incredible campaigns with the Mother Advertising Agency, and also writes and designs projects for her own website, iloveboxie.com.

In the introductory Last Cut Conversations episode, Last Cut creator, artist Samantha Paige, tells her personal story and discusses how the Last Cut project was born. Samantha talks vulnerably and candidly about her cancer diagnosis at age 21 and the debilitating effects of unaddressed trauma, anxiety and depression over the following decades.

Last Cut is a photo-documentary and book project about those big life decisions {last cuts} made to bring us closer to living truth and more freedom. The project was born in January 2016, when Samantha opted to remove silicone implants she had elected 8 years ago when she had a preventive double mastectomy.

Her explant surgery became the metaphor for the many ways in which we are faced with choices that ask us to address big questions within ourselves, commit to our truth and own our scars. Her explant inspired the launch of the

To read further about the Last Cut project, visit thelastcut.net.  Last Cut is on Instagram (@lastcut) and Facebook (@lastcutproject).