We had the good fortune of connecting with Elissa Kalver and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elissa, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?
I value LIVING not just staying ALIVE. As a Metastatic Breast Cancer Thriver for over 2 years now, I have learned the importance in not only surviving, but thriving. It’s one thing to make it through a few months of chemo, but I have had to adjust my life to be able to sustain myself through lifelong chemo treatments. Some have affected my quality of life more than others. While cures are so important to me and the cancer community, living life to the fullest and feeling comfortable, happy, and empowered throughout our lives is just as important.

This realization led me to start the first nonprofit gift registry for cancer patients called WeGotThis.org. When I was diagnosed everyone asked how they could help. This was so easy when I was getting married or having a baby, but why was this so complicated when I was diagnosed with cancer? Our lives matter and sometimes we need food, meals, and wigs, but sometimes we also just need to feel beautiful and comfortable with the right socks, workouts, or beauty services.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
WeGotThis.org is the first nonprofit gift registry for Cancer Patients. Our mission is to build a community of giving and receiving that helps Cancer Thrivers and Supporters live their best lives.

Starting a nonprofit and essentially a new tech platform while going through rigorous chemo treatments is not an easy task. Many people encouraged me to slow down and focus on myself, but the people who really knew me told me that I had to keep going. Creating something this important during a time when I needed a positive focus more than ever has been just as healing as the medicines I take. Our journeys are all different and I believe that cancer is like a thumbprint. Every scenario can be so different and we can’t possible begin to understand them all. But we can sure try to help in any way that we can to make this process more comfortable.

In June of last year, I found out that I had a recurrence of tumors in my breast and a couple of new tumors in my brain. That was horrifying and hearing the word “brain” definitely threw me for a loop. I felt like my world was about to stop, but instead I pushed through even harder. In between radiation on my brain and my new chemo meds, I flew to Boston for our first annual fundraising golf tournament. It was one of the best days of my life and we raised over $100k!

I came back to LA and started a very rigorous chemo treatment that set me back quite a bit on my quality of life. The good news was that it eliminated my tumors, but the bad news was that I couldn’t live the way I wanted to. We made a change to some new chemo meds in December and I’m back to rocking and rolling! We just sold out our second annual fundraising tournament back in Boston and had our first LA event at Top Golf and raised over $50k there!

I won’t feel well all of the time. I might end up back on those other meds that kept me in bed for a couple of weeks every few weeks. And being absolutely brutally honest, I may not may not stay alive on the available treatments forever. It’s going to be a long road ahead and I hope it is exactly that – a very long road. But, I plan to fill it with relentless optimism, the love from family and friends, making a difference for the rest of the cancer community, and always remembering that even though cancer sucks… Together, WE GOT THIS!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My happy place is driving up Topanga Canyon and over to Malibu. So I would start out with some breakfast at Cafe 27, grab some coffee at Inn of the Seventh Rey and then head over the hill to the Malibu Pier for a delicious lunch at the Farm.

To mix it up that night, we would get dressed up for dinner at Yamashiro and then head down for cocktails and shows at the Magic Castle in Hollywood.

After some coffee and Avocado toast from La La Land Cafe, we would go get blowouts at the Beauty Can in Woodland Hills before heading over to a show at the Greek, my favorite music venue in LA.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to dedicate all of my efforts to my incredible husband, Eric! He has been there for me and our daughter through it all. When I couldn’t get out of bed, didn’t know what foods I could tolerate, and even when I told him I wanted to start a nonprofit in the middle of chemo. He has loved me unconditionally and finds me beautiful whether i’m bald or have a full head of hair. I couldn’t do this life without him and am so grateful that he values living our lives to the fullest as much as I do.

Website: WeGotThis.org

Instagram: @wegotthisorg and @elissakalver

Linkedin: Elissa Kalver

Facebook: Elissa Kalver

Image Credits
The Blippi photo is Corey Gibbons at Oak and Gasoline Creative The golf photos are Andrea Leahy at Brasstacks Photography and the others are all Billye Donya Photography

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.