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Dressed in a cap and gown, former Channel Seven star Sally Obermeder turned to the camera and smiled.
The TV presenter and co-founder of wellness brand SWIISH was at Western Sydney University for an “extraordinary” moment this week – receiving an Honorary Fellowship for a career marked by hard work and dedication.
“Standing on that stage, listening to my journey being read aloud, I reflected on just how unexpected life can be,” the Real Housewives star shared in an emotional post.
“From doing a B Commerce at UWS, to a career in television, to becoming a mother + receiving a cancer diagnosis in my 30s, writing 6 books, advocating for women facing cancer, and building SWIISH from the ground up – none of it was part of a master plan. And I mean absolutely none.”
Indeed, Sally found her calling in a very unexpected way. The former Daily Edition host was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in October 2011 – just a day before she welcomed her first baby, Annabelle, into the world.
“The lowest point for me was at the four-month mark of chemotherapy,” the star previously told Marie Claire. “Initially they said I would only have to do three months, but it kept getting extended. I was experiencing pain like nothing I could assimilate it to: searing bone pain, crippling nausea, my nerve endings are on fire, my hair has fallen out. I remember just howling in the shower. It was so loud that my husband Marcus thought I had fallen over. I was really saying ‘I can’t go on’.”
But from unbearable pain, and Sally’s subsequent journey, came a life-changing realisation: that she wanted to give something back to those who had supported her.
And so SWIISH was born – a wellness brand co-founded by Sally and her sister Maha Corbett.
In her recent Instagram post, Sally, 52, revealed how what had guided her “every step of the way” was a belief that “even our most difficult experiences can become a force for good when we choose to share them, learn from them, and use them to help others”.
“They say ‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade’,” she shared. “But I think actually you have to make so much lemonade that you can’t keep it to yourself.”
Sally urged her followers to “learn everything you can about those lemons” so you understand and question them.
“Figure out what works and what doesn’t. Then share what you’ve learned with anyone else who finds themselves holding lemons too.
“Cancer handed me lemons I never asked for,” the star went on. “It forced me to learn, understand, advocate, ask better questions, and take ownership of my health in ways I never imagined.
“And once I learned what I could, I felt and continue to feel a responsibility to share it. Because there are so many people standing where I once stood – scared, overwhelmed, and unsure what to do next.”
Sally went on to say that if her experience can help one person navigate their own journey with “a little more confidence” then every lesson has been worth it.
“We’re not meant to do this alone. Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is share the recipe,” she said.
The star’s latest comments come two months after she shared candid details of a 22-kilo weightloss journey that began for her back in late 2020.
That year, Sally went for a walk on Christmas Day and realised her body had “become an afterthought”.
“The last time I felt really connected to my body was after my cancer treatment,” the star explained in an essay for SWIISH.
“Over the past few years, this was something I had really forgotten. I had stopped doing that check-in, replacing it instead with looking after everyone else first.”
Taking inspiration from her husband Marcus, who had started walking for just 30 minutes a day in a bid to get fitter, Sally began taking small steps.
“I did not set out to lose weight. That was not the goal,” the star shared. “The goal was to feel fitter and to be more active with my girls. I wanted to become more connected to my body. I wanted to feel strong and I wanted my physical strength to match my mental strength.”
By walking and adding little “acts to self-kindness” to take care of herself, Sally began to notice a change.
“It wasn’t until I’d been walking daily for around four months that I really noticed my fitness increasing. This made me enjoy my walks even more. They started going from 30 minutes to 45 minutes, then to 60 minutes,” she wrote.
By the end of the year, people had started commenting on the weight she had lost.
“Despite it being obvious to the outside world, for me, it just felt like I was back to myself. I have been this weight before. I don’t look at this as getting back to some “lowest weight ever” stage. It’s not about that,” the presenter said.
“It’s about getting back to where my body feels most comfortable. Most itself. Most myself.
“I’m wearing clothes I wore years ago, back after I had finished treatment. Because I was taking care of myself back then, but for the last five years or so I hadn’t been. I feel comfortable and healthy and that’s what makes me happy.”
