Real People. Real Stories.

At YEOUTH, we believe beauty is more than skin deep. It lives in strength, resilience, and real-life experience. That is why we created Real People. Real Stories. To share the journeys of our YEOUTH community. These are not skincare testimonials. They are stories of growth, self-love, and transformation told by real people for real people.

Welcome to where beauty meets authenticity.

Cassidy’s Journey: From Loss to Renewal

I grew up in a small town in southwest Wisconsin with fewer than 1,000 people. All of us kids learned under one roof. My early childhood on a farm in the 1980s was magical—until it wasn’t.

In 1988, when I was seven, a repeat drunk driver hit my mother. She survived but spent months in a full-body cast. I still remember the morning after the accident, the sight of my grandmother’s herringbone polyester pants, and the matching dresses my little sister and I wore to the hospital.

Less than a year later, tragedy struck again. My father was killed by one of his farmhands. I was pulled from school that day without explanation. When we arrived at my grandparents’ house, my little sister was screaming hysterically. It was the day our lives changed forever.

Rebuilding After Loss

After my father’s death, my sister and I stayed with our maternal grandparents while my mom worked to rebuild her life. She was a surgical nurse and hadn’t really lived a life before starting a family.

After an on-and-off abusive relationship, she eventually remarried a CRNA she worked with when I was 11. Suddenly, I had two stepbrothers and a new home twenty miles away. The nearby city felt foreign compared to our small-town life. It was where we used to go to the mall, see movies, or roller-skate, but now it was supposed to be “home.”

I excelled in school but felt restless and rebellious. At 14, I moved to my paternal grandparents’ dairy farm. That same year, I was hospitalized with appendicitis and a hernia, and doctors discovered I had only one kidney. After recovering, I convinced my mom to let me return to the city for the summer.

Finding My Path

I switched schools several times, finally finding my footing in my sophomore year. I took college classes my senior year to get a head start on my dream—attending the University of Iowa.

A law-related seminar during my first semester there changed everything. I switched my major from nursing to political science, added history as a second major, and minored in Latin. I graduated in three years by studying year-round, determined to take a gap year before law school.

Facing a Life-Altering Diagnosis

The day before my 23rd birthday, during my first year of law school, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). It was a devastating moment, but I refused to give up.

I graduated from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law in 2006. My first job was with a small father-and-son law firm in Omaha, Nebraska. I handled motions, briefs, and hearings—and only seven months later, I won my first trial against a national firm.

Building a Career and Making an Impact

In 2010, I opened my own boutique law firm. I served on nonprofit boards, taught CLE courses, and published three legal articles. One of my articles even led to a change in Nebraska’s durable POA law.

I was appointed to the Nebraska State Bar Association’s Special Committee to help draft that law and later to a Nebraska Supreme Court committee focused on guardianship and conservatorship reforms. My career was everything I had worked for—but MS made it harder each year to keep up.

A New Chapter of Hope

By 2015, I was fully disabled. The fatigue and “cog fog” made working impossible. In 2019, everything changed again. I was invited to interview for the MOST-MS study at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. I was accepted immediately.

On July 15, 2019, I underwent a stem cell transplant (HSCT) that gave me a new immune system. It was more than a second chance—it was a new beginning.

Since then, I have started a new business, renewed my law license, and launched HSCT Hope, Inc., a nonprofit helping others access this life-changing treatment. As Dr. Richard K. Burt said, “We are taking a once chronic condition and with a one-time treatment turning it into an acute illness that you can recover from.”

Living with Gratitude

I see life differently now. Every day is an opportunity to give back, to help others find hope, and to show that healing is possible in many forms. My journey has taught me that resilience is not something you are born with—it’s something you build through every challenge you survive.

Thank You, Cassidy

Cassidy, thank you for opening your heart and sharing your journey with such truth and strength. You remind us that every chapter of life, even the hardest ones, can lead to something beautiful.

💬 Share Your Story
Have you walked through a season of challenge or growth that shaped who you are today? We would love to hear it. Message us or email your story to heidieo@kevgo.co.

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📸 Follow Cassidy on Instagram: @recovering.esquire