News
Mrs. NJ Runner Up Makes Red Bank Proud
By Caitlin Stolzenthaler
ATHLETE. BUSINESSWOMAN. Mrs. New Jersey First runner-up. Odds-defying sarcoma survivor.
These are just a handful of DonnaLyn Giegerich's achievements. How about some more: motivational speaker, international author, yoga instructor,professor, and lover of life, even though that's still not nearly all?
"We all have different gifts to share. That's what we're here to do," said Red Bank-born and raised Giegerich,of the life she's made of empowering women facing adversities.
The striking redhead, now 46, worked her way up in the finance world with her own insurance company (Heritage Benefits Group, LLC, begun in 1989 with her husband, Thomas Zapcic); became a licensed realtor and real estate investor, and held a position as an adjunct professor in finance at Monmouth University, among other ventures.
She didn't count on being diagnosed with a rare cancer, Leiomysarcoma, four years ago when a tumor was found between her kidneys and adrenals. She expected even less to discover that Zapcic, then 45, was diagnosed in the same time frame with multiple myeloma.
"It's almost unheard of [for spouses] to get [cancer] at the same time," said Giegerich, noting that, after researching the subject, if both parties get cancer, it's usually several years apart.
Giegerich is currently in remission, and Zapcic continues to battle his cancer, but the couple refuses to let cancer keep them from living life.
"Don't feel sorry for us," Giegerich said. "We're living with such high vibration."
Giegerich, energetic, positive, and charmingly funny through the phone, explained that the couple was set to leave for a financial planning conference in New York City for three days.
Zapcic recently shaved his head. "He's bald but he's gorgeous," said Giegerich, and complimented how this brought out her husband's blue eyes. "We just keep living. That's our mantra."
After being diagnosed and going through a kidney transplantation, radiation, chemo and other treatments, Giegerich became a four-in-one million Leiomysarcoma survivor - one that exercised regularly, to boot.
"I ran the Rumson Run with chemo, in a wig," Giegerich said. "I was in the back, asking, 'anybody else have chemo?' she said, in her way of finding the humor in any situation. "I was slow [that day], but I was showing up. That's what was important."
She also set about getting the word out on sarcoma as a motivational speaker.
"I'm traveling around the country to empower women... to get them through anything that ails them," Giegerich said. She also speaks about the importance of fitness and nutrition from a cancer survivor's perspective.
That's what she was doing in the fall of 2008 when then-Mrs. New Jersey United States heard her speak and read her bio in the event's pamphlet.
"[She said] Holy smokes, will you please consider entering [the pageant]," recalls Giegerich.
"I said, 'Can I raise awareness for sarcoma [by doing this]?'" responded Giegerich.
Giegerich, with no prior pageant experience, was skeptical of the idea at first.
However, after thinking about it, she eventually decided to enter.
Giegerich, true to the hometown she loves, entered as "Mrs. Red Bank," and chose a stunning aqua gown with braided straps from Mustillo's on Broad Street to flatter her toned physique, stuck sparkling chandelier earrings in her ears, and framed her dazzling smile with red lipstick.
"I picked Mrs. Red Bank. I grew up here... I have to be Mrs. Red Bank," she laughed.
She walked away an unprecedented rookie/1st runner-up, winner of the Community Service Award, and the Internet People's Choice award (she has a Web site dedicated to her motivational speaking enterprise, www.donnalynspeaks.com.
A second site, www.donnalyn. org, includes photos, an event schedule, and a brief biography).
"It was beyond my expectations," said Giegerich.
"I went in with reservations. I came out saying, 'I have a whole new respect for the caliber of women... I just met 20 women who make a big difference in the world," she said, explaining that the pageant values achievements and community contributions.
Giegerich credits the two river-area businesses which supported her in her pageant journey, among them, Mustillo's, Excel Travel, and Red Bank Limo, among others. She hopes to return to the pageant and win the title.
All the time empowering women, Giegerich continues her speaking engagements and had her article, "A Man is Not a Plan," published in Prime Woman magazine in the spring. "I don't hate men," she laughed of the article's title. "It's about women taking care of their financial inde pendence," she said, noting that, especially in this economy, women can't rely on a man coming along to take care of them.
She was recently voted one of NJ's "Sexiest Married Women," and is also in an upcoming issue of 40/74 magazine, a supplement to the Asbury Park Press, in a snazzy dress.
"They were trying to put me in a size 2 dress. [I said] 'put me in a 4, I'm going to bust at the seams!'" laughed Giegerich. The size 2 worked out after all.
On June 7, she will be the keynote speaker at the Annual Survivors Wellness Celebration at NY Presbyterian/Cornell Hospital in New York City.
Giegerich also advocates saving money, choosing purchases wisely, and keeping sight of what's important in life.
"I have two dogs and a husband that loves and respects me. What more could I want?" she asks.
There are no guarantees for Giegerich. But she's not letting what may happen keep her from traveling the world and telling her story, in the hope that it will make a difference in someone else's life.
"I'm supposed to be doing this. I feel lucky to do this," she said.
"If I can pay it forward, that's what it's all about."
