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Teen Mom Beats Cancer and Other Odds and Starts Her Own Company

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Deona Hooper is 42 years old and is the Founder/Editor-in-Chief of Social Work Helper Magazine. Life is good now, but it certainly did not begin that way for Hooper. She had to beat incredible odds to get to where she is today, including beating cancer.

Life wasn't always so sweet

Hooper recently told Essence Magazine, "Being a black woman period, you're already starting off at a deficit and then when you're a teen parent, much less a generational teen parent, the judgment and the low expectations will follow." Hooper attributes her positive attitude and not giving in to peer pressure for her ability to overcome these odds.

On top of these odds, Hooper had to deal with thyroid cancer, and she didn't have health insurance. Amazingly, this is the very time she focused on something positive in her life and started Social Work Helper Magazine. The online magazine provides news, information, and resources for social issues and human rights. As she explains, "Social workers are there to help people through crisis, so I decided to not just uplift their voices into a media platform but an intervention."

Hooper found her work on the magazine to be therapeutic, but at the same time, it was helping others. Fortunately, Hooper is now healthy and enjoying her magazine. Regarding the strength it took to overcome incredible odds, states Hooper, "I have the ability to carry a lot and not show it."

Congratulations, and more power to you, Deona Hooper!

To learn more about Hooper's online magazine, visit www.facebook.com/SWHelper/

Read more at www.essence.com/lifestyle/essence-network-being-third-generation-teen-mom-and-overcoming-cancer-starting-her-own-company?xid=nl_essence_moneycareer_011917