Heath Ritenour defying all odds to Gain Freedom
When Heath Ritenour got what would be one of the worst news of his life, he didn’t let that put him down. The news that he was diagnosed with cancer only challenged him to be more deliberate with his life.
Seeking Treatment
His first deliberate move was on the 11th of January when he decided to take cancer and began his chemotherapy sessions at an outpatient facility. He did that because he knew that chemo would take up a massive part of his day but still wanted to keep his days as normal as he could.
And as he was grappling with the fact that he had to take on a nine-week regimen, he was approached with a friendly face, a fellow patient, Judy. A cancer patient that was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer and had thought that that was it.
That was way back six years ago, but after undergoing surgery and chemo sessions, she was happy to report how she had made it through and had even just received her last treatment, rendering her cancer-free.
The going gets tough.
Even though Heath Ritenour had made up his mind to take cancer on, it still was not very easy as he soon began to realize that the treatments were taking a toll on him. He would get nausea and was even experiencing some hair loss.
He even recalls one particular morning when the medics struggled to get a vein to inject the Iv infusions to his body. Heath Ritenour just felt like he had had enough, but while having a chat with his friend Michael, he changed his mind.
His friend Michael explained to him his situation and how he had to be in chemo for the rest of his life, making Heath much more receptive to his situation.
The Turnaround
Cancer has made Heath Ritenour have a change of perspective on very many things. One of which is his leadership role at IOA.
He now sees that for the enterprise to grow, he needs to give his team members more Freedom over at IOA. He further adds that he aims at not placing any unrealistic expectations and rules over them.
For Heath, he believes that IOA provides its members with the Freedom to be their best selves, whether that is an entrepreneur or a family person, a father, wife and husband, and so on.
Heath Ritenour continues to speak on to that by saying that some of his partners are even given the ability to participate in after-school activities and coach sports, even if that means having them in the office less often.