00:00Hey Zingers, it's Dan Leach and it's my pleasure to welcome in the brand ambassador for Minds
00:07Biomed, Petra Smeltzer.
00:08Petra, great to have you today.
00:11Thanks for having me, Dan.
00:12I'm very excited to be here.
00:13Well, we're excited to have you and I wanted you to tell us a little bit about your background
00:17and what attracted you to Minds Biomed.
00:19So I grew up in Europe, not far from Germany in the Czech Republic.
00:24I moved to the United States.
00:26I graduated first in my class from Georgetown Law School.
00:30I worked for a big law firm, then I worked for President Obama as his senior advisor.
00:38And then I left the White House.
00:40I became CEO of Vikram Yoga, probably the biggest international fitness brand at the
00:46time.
00:48But unfortunately, at some point in my life, I got hit with rectal cancer.
00:53And so I got so excited to be able to work with Minds Biomed because they are really
01:02changing the possibilities for people like me who are faced with this horrible disease.
01:11So that's what attracted me to Minds Biomed the most.
01:14Well, obviously, very sorry about your condition, but to be able to, you know, connect into
01:18a company that's really helping is awesome.
01:21And congrats on the new position.
01:22What will your partnership with Minds look like?
01:25Well, I think what's amazing is that, you know, throughout my life journey, I have amassed
01:32quite a nice following on social media.
01:35I think I have in excess of a million followers on just on Instagram alone, and I'm on different
01:42social media platforms.
01:43And I really want to sort of become the face and the advocate of people to get these tests
01:50early because myself, you know, when I got diagnosed with cancer, I was 45.
01:57I was on top of my game.
01:59I was doing two yoga classes a day, Tracy Anderson, swimming.
02:04I had a six pack.
02:05I was as healthy as anybody can be.
02:08And no one in my family has ever had cancer.
02:10I didn't know a person who had cancer.
02:13So for me to be diagnosed with such a disease and lead that stereotypical, you know, healthy
02:20fit life, it was tragedy.
02:22And I couldn't understand it.
02:24And none of my friends understand it.
02:26So my mission is to make sure that young people, as many people as possible, get tested with
02:34this revolutionary test because, you know, catching it early or or just when it's
02:41starting, that's a game changer in the quality of life people will have and the length of
02:46life. So that's kind of my personal mission.
02:49No, that's beautifully said.
02:50And, you know, as you mentioned, you were a senior White House advisor for President
02:54Obama. How does your experience in that role help you as a brand ambassador?
02:59Well, you know, as a senior advisor to President Obama or any American president, every
03:07day you are faced with unforeseen circumstances.
03:12Every day you come to work and you make a list of what you want to accomplish.
03:17But something happens like, you know, the day that we killed bin Laden happened and
03:24everything changed in a minute.
03:26You know, some country starts a war, things change.
03:30And so I think that having that experience from the White House at the top level, I am
03:38very good at reacting to any kind of situation, making the most of it and and helping
03:47people see the positive light and get out of it.
03:50Now, it's a very special thing.
03:52Listen, you mentioned how Minds Biomed, you know, is doing incredible stuff.
03:56Why is early detection so critical?
03:59Well, early detection is so critical because my understanding and I'm not an MD, I'm a
04:06JD, I'm not an MD, I'm doctor of law, not doctor of medicine, unfortunately.
04:11The early detection is critical because my understanding is that this cancer moves very
04:17fast, but it's possible that you can catch it in the very, very early stages, which
04:26means that you might be able to just have like a polyp removed or or the first sort
04:37of iteration of the cancer cells, because basically my understanding is that the cancer
04:42multiplies and basically doubles.
04:45So it goes 2 to 4, 4 to 8, 8 to 16, 16 to 32.
04:50And so it's like multiplying so fast.
04:53So if you catch it in the beginning, your treatment will look very, very different than
04:59someone who caught it much later in the cancer.
05:02And unfortunately, a lot of people, they wait, they have symptoms, they ignore them.
05:08We all lead busy lives.
05:10And by the time they they catch the cancer, a lot of times it has metastasized to other
05:15organs in their body.
05:16And then their prognosis isn't that great.
05:18You know, so the earlier you catch it, the better chances you have and the less painful
05:24chances to get better.
05:26Yeah, and as you said, too, it's you know, it's a shock to the system.
05:29When anyone gets cancer, I've had a lot of friends and family that have gotten it, you
05:33know, obviously we're expecting it.
05:34Like you mentioned, you weren't either.
05:35No one ever is.
05:37But then when you look at a company like Mines Biomed and all the great things they're
05:39doing, what is it that Mines is doing that others aren't, though?
05:43Well, I think it's the ease of the test, because, you know, in my case, when I was
05:49diagnosed with colorectal cancer, I was 45.
05:52And because I, you know, I was at most a pescatarian, I have never eaten a red meat in
05:59my life. I've never eaten chicken in my life.
06:02I don't drink even though I come from the Czech Republic.
06:05I actually don't like beer and I don't like any I don't drink any hard liquor.
06:09Like at most I would have like a mimosa or red wine.
06:12Two only things that I ever drink in very limited quantities.
06:17So when I was in feeling myself, really, I went to my primary care physician.
06:25I went to my OBGYN and both of them were like, oh, it's in your head.
06:30You're too stressed. You work too hard.
06:32You work for the president.
06:34Just go on vacation, unplug from your phone.
06:37And I was like, no, something is not right.
06:39So then they said, OK, if you think something is not right somewhere in your stomach,
06:43let's do a colonoscopy.
06:45I was 45 at the time and back then colonoscopy was only approved for people who are 50.
06:52Colonoscopy is much more difficult test.
06:56You have to do the prep.
06:58You have to drink the nasty drinks.
07:00Then you have to go to a doctor's office.
07:01You have to have somebody who brings you, takes you out.
07:05You know, it's a lot involved.
07:07And in my case, even though I ended up being diagnosed with rectal cancer, my insurance
07:12company refused to pay for the colonoscopy because I was only 45, not 50 at the time.
07:18And I had no risks.
07:20So they didn't feel like I should have that expensive test.
07:25Whereas with Mines Biomed, you know, it's a simple kit.
07:29You order the kit, you do it at home, you send it in and you know if you have an issue
07:35or if you don't have an issue.
07:36So that's where the revolution really is.
07:38It's going to help so many people.
07:40Petra Smeltzer, the brand ambassador for Mines Biomed.
07:43It's been truly a pleasure and honor to talk with you today.
07:46Keep fighting the good fight and to nothing but great times ahead.
07:49Thanks a lot.
07:50Thank you, Dan.
07:50I really appreciate you having me here.
07:53Have a nice day and thanks for watching.
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