Ivana Katz says she no longer sweats the small stuff.

Ivana, the 66th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, changed her outlook after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017.

Thankfully, Ivana defeated the cancer after several rounds of chemotherapy, but it put things in perspective.

For example, why reject opportunities just because you’re not fully prepared at the time? Better to say yes today and then figure out the details tomorrow.

And why worry about what other people think of you? Especially when you realise they’re probably not even thinking about you given they’re so busy worrying what others are thinking of them.

Ivana is actually from Prague, but when she was 13, her parents snuck the family out of communist Czechoslovakia.

In 1998 – way ahead of the curve – Ivana opened an online store selling plus-size clothing, before starting her current venture, Websites 4 Small Business, in 2001. 

Ivana kept her chemotherapy largely private, so it wouldn’t affect how people treated her or interfere with work. When she had the energy, she would hold meetings and do jobs, to keep the business ticking along.