Jill Martin sherpa; Nick Fouquet hat; Simkhai dress; Winick Diamonds necklace; Jane Win coin necklace; Natasha Schweitzer necklace; Jennifer Miller Jewelry necklace; Marie Mas earrings.
Jill Martin shares her winning game plan for overcoming obstacles and turning challenges into opportunities.
Many recognize Jill Martin from her 15 years on the Today show as a sportscaster for the New York Knicks and Miami Heat, for her lifestyle brand on QVC and as a New York Times bestselling author. However, Martin has worked in the NBA wearing different hats for almost two decades. This month, she is giving the NBA and WNBA logos a striking pink makeover on her new sherpa products in what she says is her most important job: saving lives through awareness and testing.
Jill Martin sherpa; Nick Fouquet hat; Simkhai dress; Winick Diamonds necklace; Jane Win coin necklace; Natasha Schweitzer necklace; Jennifer Miller Jewelry necklace; Marie Mas earrings.
Martin is now cancer-free but explains that the emotional and physical fight is “forever.” On June 20, 2023, Martin was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer. Since then, she and her family have been through an earth-shattering, life-changing year. She has been through a double mastectomy, the most aggressive chemotherapy, radiation, removal of the ovaries and fallopian tubes, and reconstruction. She is now on two “safety net” pills that have intense side effects. While this was and still is a difficult time, she was able to share her journey on the Today show to raise awareness about the mutation and to encourage others to get tested. She has already saved thousands of lives in the process and continues to advocate for survivors in treatment.
For this issue, Martin sits down with Hall of Fame NBA broadcaster (and one of her best friends) Mike Breen to talk about the silver linings in her life now, her passion for raising awareness and her new company, which promises to make everyone’s life a bit cozier.
It’s been a little over a year since your life was turned completely upside down. Just give us a feel for what it’s been like.
So funny because, you know, I’m so much about silver linings, and I want to say something positive to start, but it’s hard for me to do that. But the past year has been earth-shattering, transformational, beautiful, hard and torturous at times. Going through cancer is something that is hard to articulate, but you get initiated into this club, and everyone you meet in the club is someone who you want to be with. So it’s confusing, but the year has been shattering for my family and has a lot of silver linings.
"I’ve been able to stay bright by concentrating on new beginnings."
Everybody who knows you is blown away by how you’ve handled it all, and you’ve gone through this earth-shattering stretch of your life. What’s the key? How do you get through?
To me, it’s like a disco ball. I have disco balls all over my house, and it’s like a million shattered pieces I somehow put back together—but it’s a new thing. I’m a new person in many ways. So, I’m treating everything, both professionally and personally, like a new beginning. I feel like I had it together prior to the cancer diagnosis: I always put family and friends first. I try to be kind in every situation, and I’ll never be beaten in work ethic. I have a different kind of confidence that I didn’t have before. There’s a different kind of humor that I didn’t have before. There’s a different kind of appreciation for moments that I didn’t have before. Everybody is going through some sort of trauma, I’ve learned, so I’ve been able to stay bright by concentrating on new beginnings. My number one goal is to help people who are a few months behind me in treatment to help get them through. And it’s people that I know through people or strangers who see me on the street. I spend hours a day saying, "Cold cap like this, ask for extra fluid, advocate for yourself." I got the BRCA mutation from my father’s side, even though breast cancer ran on my mother’s, so I’m focusing on raising awareness for testing, and that’s my most important mission right now. Because my kind of cancer likely could have been avoided had I known I had the gene. I was going in for preventive surgery when I found out I had cancer through an MRI. I’m raising awareness with the NBA and WNBA. We’re turning the logos pink on my new items and all the NBA and WNBA proceeds will be donated to the Basser Center for BRCA, the first center solely devoted to the research, treatment and prevention of BRCA-related cancers.
Tanya Taylor shirt and jeans; Bea Bongiasca necklace and earrings; Jane Win necklaces; Grace Lee earrings and bracelet.
So we’re going to get to the impact that you’ve had just by raising awareness and having them get tested. But for those who will have to go through it, it’s life-altering, physically and emotionally. Where have you changed mentally or emotionally?
I think the biggest impact is from Dr. Elisa Port, something she said to me when I started the chemotherapy and I was having a really hard time. She said to me (and she said this again when I started my ‘safety net’ pills)—‘Don’t look at it like you’re putting something in your body that’s trying to harm you. Look at them as your best friend.’ And it’s very confusing to do that, but every morning when I take my pills now, I say, ‘Thank you so much for being my best friend because it’s saving my life.’ So that’s the best advice that I give, is that when you walk into that chemotherapy room, and you’re so scared, you say to yourself ‘somebody needs to put a hazmat suit on to protect me.’ So I hold both things simultaneously—which is hard to do—but allows me to be smarter, braver, and have a better outlook on the situation.
You mentioned silver linings, and it always sounds so silly and trite to talk about positives, but what’s been the biggest positive that’s come back?
I feel like I can do anything. I feel like I can ask for anything. I’m usually the giver. Now I'll ask for favors. I’ll look for easy wins. I think I ‘take the plan’ when I would normally say no because I think that, you know, one day changes to another. You’ll never regret not going. And then, professionally, it really caused me to hone in on what I’m really good at. I think I was one of those people... always looking for more and more and more and more. And I think it caused me to say, ‘OK, I have invented hundreds of items over my 48 years in life, and now, it is time I focus on my five, what we call hero items, that I know to do well, that I know will work.’ And I went out, and I got all the best. So, we went out and got many of the licenses: NBA, WNBA, many colleges, and all the sororities and fraternities. So now I am going narrow and deep instead of trying to grab at everything. And that’s symbolic of how I’m living my life now. I have a few lanes and I am giving those 100% of my energy.
Tanya Taylor shirt and jeans; Bea Bongiasca necklace and earrings; Jane Win necklaces; Grace Lee earrings and bracelet.
That’s always the way you’ve been. Can you wrap your head around what you’re doing in terms of giving people information and raising awareness? Can you wrap your head around how many people you will help and how many lives you will save?
My college roommate got tested because of me. Turns out, her father has the gene, like me, so she got the preventive surgery, and she calls me every day and says, ‘Thank you for saving my life.’ Because if you have a BRCA mutation, you have a 60% to 90% chance of getting breast cancer. That’s a crazy number, 60 to 90%. I would never bet on those odds. So, had I known (like my college roomate), I could have been scanned and had preventive surgery—there are things to do. So, my focus is now on raising awareness, I’m doing that through the Basser Center for BRCA. It was established at Penn Medicine in 2012 through a visionary gift from Mindy and Jon Gray. The Basser Center is dedicated to research, treatment, and prevention of BRCA-related cancers. 25 million people worldwide have the gene but only 10% know. And it is not just women, men too.
"You have to choose every day to be happy."
How about the family that surrounds them? I’ve always wondered, what would you like to hear from someone? People are uncomfortable, whether a family member or a friend, I know they don’t know what to say. So what’s right? What have they said that is good, that you like to hear, and what you don’t want to hear?
Well, nobody wants to hear you got the good cancer, because there’s no good cancer, but it’s an interesting question because I always feel bad for people when they see me, so I bring it up and make them feel comfortable, like, I’ll say, ‘Oh, you know, I just had breast cancer. I don’t know if you’ve heard.’ So they don’t say, ‘I love your haircut.’ It’s not a haircut. My hair is growing out from chemotherapy. And so I’m like, ‘Oh, you love it. Thank you so much.’ So, I think it’s about the person embracing it. You know, some people say to me, you did this publicly through the Today show. Was it so hard doing it publicly? And I say, it was actually easier because people have had so much empathy or sympathy for me. People treat me so kindly and give me that extra push, lift or smile because they know what I am going through. I can’t even imagine going about my normal day and somebody being in a bad mood, saying something or doing something, and then not knowing what I’m going through. So it’s kind of the opposite of what you would think. Going through it publicly has made it easier for me.
So you feel how much people care about you. And I’ve always said your caring gene is larger than most human beings’, and that’s obviously something you’re born with, but it’s also an influence of people around you throughout your life. Who were some of those?
You’re the average of the eight people you surround yourself with, so choose wisely. I really do believe that, and so I am very careful about who I surround myself with. I have my family around me all the time. I have a 1-year-old nephew who is healthy and beautiful and knows Aunt Jill has him forever. But I always say I have a great ‘color war team.’ You know, I have such a great support system. I never knew the support system I had until recently when I needed it, and I don’t usually need it. And now I know. I’m like, ‘Wow, I’m protected.’
Tanya Taylor shirt and jeans; Bea Bongiasca necklace and earrings; Jane Win necklaces; Grace Lee earrings and bracelet.
You’re usually the support system, right? So now you’re on the other end. Is it hard to be on that end?
Yeah, I just can’t believe it. I lived kind of an ideal life... I’ve had my things. And then the last, you know, year and a half, really, it’s like a vase that breaks. You can never fully put it back together. But I bet you could see what it was. And so in some ways, again, you know my disco ball reference, I use that all the time, and I have them all over the place because I really believe in that. I believe that you can create something beautiful, both personally and professionally. And the other thing I have to say is that you have to choose every day to be happy. You have to choose that.
Last one on this… For somebody who gets the news, ‘Here’s the diagnosis, and it’s positive,’ now they’ve got this rough road ahead like you had. What’s the No. 1 piece of advice you give?
First of all, I’m so sorry, that’s what I say, because I am so sorry that anyone has to go through it, but you have to fight so hard and just know that it comes with confidence. There’s nothing you can’t do if you get through this. I designed a whole new line during this whole ordeal, but, either I was going to lay and cry in bed and feel sorry for myself, or I was going to rally with my amazing team and come up with a whole new line. So that is what I did. I am concentrating on making sports a whole lot cozier and stylish. I have worked with the NBA for two decades. I worked for the Heat and Knicks and now I am a league licensee. I am not only able to spread awareness this year, but I am also going to make watching your favorite sport a whole lot more comfortable.
Jill Martin sherpa; Sea dress; Grace Lee rings; Yvonne Léon ring; The Future Rocks earrings.
So the new Jill Martin brand is based on whether you want to be your most comfortable self or not?
Everybody wants to be comfortable, and everybody wants to be cozy. I teamed up with a blanket company who has been in the industry for over 30 years and said, ‘How can I make this into a wearable item that people will love?’ I am starting my own DTC brand on jillmartin.com. We have the NBA, the WNBA, college sororities and fraternities—and we’re taking our hero items and putting the logos on each. We also offer personalization on the cuff because everybody wants individualization and personalization. The brand is all about being cozy, comfy and having a great time—and it’s machine washable.
I read one article about it that said, ‘It’s a combination of elegance and comfort.’ Is that accurate?
That’s accurate. And I feel like the NBA charged me with doing that because we can want both things. You can want to be warm and cozy and can also want to be stylish and chic. You can hold both things. Everything is sherpa and every item comes with a warning label: You may never want to take this off!
Jill Martin sherpa; Sea dress; Grace Lee rings; Yvonne Léon ring; The Future Rocks earrings.
Your NBA experience that you and I worked on was with the Knicks telecast, and you had this segment I always loved called ‘Give Me a Minute,’ where at halftime, you only had a minute to ask rapid-fire questions. And sometimes they were so into it, and it was magic. And you made it funny. It was great. And even the best of all diehards loved it because it was so different. So we’ll do a couple of minutes:
What’s your favorite thing about the Hamptons?
Oh, wow. That’s a big question. It feels like home.
Favorite summer drink?
Favorite summer drink is a dirty martini from Le Bilboquet.
Favorite movie that makes you laugh?
Wedding Crashers
Favorite movie that makes you cry.
Love Actually
Give me a song that’s kind of your anthem.
“Let’s Groove”
Favorite breakfast?
Sip’n Soda in Southampton
Jill Martin sherpa; Nick Fouquet hat; Simkhai dress; Winick Diamonds necklace; Jane Win coin necklace; Natasha Schweitzer necklace; Jennifer Miller Jewelry necklace; Marie Mas earrings.
Throughout this, who blew you away with their support?
Honestly, my entire circle of support—with everything I’m going through, professionally and personally. I am so grateful and blessed. And I know it’s hard to imagine holding both things, but I do.
Photography by: Photographed by BEN WATTS
Styled by GABRIELA LANGONE
