Driven by deeply rooted purpose, both LaKisha Cargill ’00 and Carla Youngblood ’94 – Birmingham natives who have waged successful battles against breast cancer and have transcended life’s challenges with remarkable optimism and faith – personify the ginkgo’s ability to thrive.

Today, they’re versatile entrepreneurs, successful authors, and survivors. As they inspire others, pursue personal and professional projects, and achieve big dreams, both are in irrepressible bloom.

At Birmingham-Southern, Cargill was guided by the singular knowledge that she would become a writer. She’d been writing, speaking publicly, and performing monologues since childhood. Now, Cargill works as a claim team manager at State Farm and is an accomplished writer and award-winning poet.

“My purpose hasn’t shifted. I was always going to be a writer, no matter what job I landed in,” she says. “Nothing was going to change that.”

Youngblood’s purpose has evolved into life as a CPA, comedienne, podcaster, and author. Through it all, she’s harnessed her talents for discussing taboo subjects – from money to serious illness – with honesty and humor.

What nurtured them?

“It really boils down to having that support system and being able to do the things you want to do that you feel will help you thrive. Birmingham-Southern gave me that opportunity to develop the creative spirit I wanted to have,” says Cargill.

“You can do multiple things, but you have to focus on one core thing that’s going to fulfill you. If you can combine all of them together, that’s even better,” she adds. “It’s not just about making all the money in the world, it’s about finding fulfillment and joy.”

Youngblood agrees.

“Being at Birmingham-Southern gave me the freedom to totally be myself. The professors were so relatable,” she says. “They wanted to make sure that you understood what you were doing and what you really wanted to become.”

Facing the unexpected didn’t alter their course.

At 26, Cargill found a lump during a breast self-exam – and knew it was cancer before testing provided confirmation. She asked the doctor one question: “What are we going to do about it?”

“That’s how I fought it,” she says. “I’m driven by the fact that at any moment any one of us may be snuffed out, for any reason.”

Youngblood’s triple-negative breast cancer diagnosis seven years ago became an opportunity to change others’ outlook.

She told jokes to lift the moods of fellow patients receiving treatment, eventually compiling them into “The Truth About Breast Cancer,” a one-woman show. Her first performance was for an audience of over 300 people, nearly half of whom were breast cancer survivors.

“I wanted to tell my story, to make it funny without being offensive,” Youngblood says. “Afterward, people said they wished they’d known my story while going through treatment, because they would have looked at their situations differently.”

During that time, she also obtained a second college degree. Now, she is cancer-free and still in pursuit of her dreams.

“Maybe you didn’t choose to face whatever you’re facing, but you have a choice in how you’re going to deal with it,” Youngblood says. “Everything starts in the mind. There is nothing I can’t do if I set my mind to it. Then it’s a matter of making it happen.”