Speaking
A survivor of a life-threatening cancer that left him with a permanent facial difference, Terry Healey is an author, keynote speaker, and business strategist. Terry helps business and healthcare professionals, cancer survivors, youth, and individuals with mental health challenges and disabilities to better address adversity and change, build resilience, and gain confidence. Terry's ReBAR framework is built on the foundation of keeping hope, having faith, practicing gratitude, and maintaining a positive, resilient mindset.
terry's history
35 years of success
Having endured over thirty surgical procedures in an effort to reconstruct his face after a life-threatening cancer diagnosis while in his early twenties, Terry discovered tools that could help him transform his changed life. He shares ways to take control, overcome challenges, build trust and teams, embrace change, and learn the value of acceptance and tolerance. He views the lessons he learned in life as gifts, and believes his greatest reward is being able to teach others how to overcome any kind of adversity and celebrate life.
Terry’s experience led him to a 35-year successful career as a high-tech marketing executive, including being on the founding team of a company that had a successful Initial Public Offering (IPO). His popular programs are presented to healthcare organizations, corporations, and educational institutions nationwide, and include the University of California Berkeley Football Team, Santa Clara University, Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Genomic Health, Perkin Elmer, Stanford University, UCSF, Kaiser Permanente, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Greater Baltimore Medical Center, and many others.
Healey is the author of The Resilience Mindset: How Adversity Can Strengthen Individuals, Teams, and Leaders (9/9/2025 – ECW Press/Simon & Schuster), At Face Value: My Triumph Over A Disfiguring Cancer (1/6/2006 - Caveat Press), and is a contributing author to Open My Eyes, Open My Soul: Celebrating Our Common Humanity, Make Your Own Miracle: Surviving Cancer, an Anthology, and Reading Lips and Other Ways to Overcome a Disability.
His work has appeared in the following publications: CEO World Magazine, Newsweek, Fast Company, Huffington Post, The American, Authority Magazine, Training Industry Magazine, Psychology Today, Metro UK, The San Francisco Chronicle, Guideposts, NurseWeek, U.S. News and World Report, MarketingProfs, Coping and CURE Today. He has appeared on dozens of national and local TV networks and has been interviewed on more than 100 podcasts and radio stations across the U.S. and Canada. Healey serves on the board of directors for the Sarcoma Alliance and is an Ambassador for the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance.
- Navigating Disruption in the Workplace with the ReBAR Resilience Framework – Keynote
- Building Resilience During Change - 2.5 - 4 Hour Workshop
- Navigating Life's Roadblocks and Building Resilience – Keynote
- Workplace Sensitivity: Approaches to Celebrating Visible Differences – Keynote / Workshop
Resilience is about having the ability to
Cope with and recover from life’s challenges and setbacks.
No one is born with resilience. It’s something each of us can learn and build based on our life experiences. We can learn to adapt to adversity, to bounce back, and discover growth that we gain from our experiences. The road to resilience is best framed in my forthcoming book, The Resilience Mindset. Based on my life experiences, I built an adversity framework called ReBAR that consists of four key phases, or principles. The critical stepping stones in ReBAR allow others to overcome adversity, rebuild confidence, and find greater purpose.
Reflect
Daily reflection is paramount – think about what you are grateful for, what happened during the course of your day, what can you learn from each day, and what might have inspired you to adapt going forward.
Build
The build phase is about developing a positive mindset and growth mindset as you learn to adapt to change. It’s about your support system, having a positive outlook, and maintaining life balance. With these, you can navigate life’s challenges with positivity and optimism, not negativity and fear.
Act
Act is where the rubber meets the road – this is where we begin to face challenges, take control, set goals, focus, and persevere.
Renew
Renew is the reinforcement phase – a commitment to continually improve and build upon what you have learned from each adversity. This is where we find purpose in life. What did we learn that will change how we prioritize our lives to become the best versions of ourselves?
