Beck BodeA Chance Encounter Brings Unexpected Hope
It started with a last-minute decision to escape. Last July, Angel Costanza, COO of Beck Bode, and her husband Nick booked first-class tickets to Dallas just 24 hours before departure. An uncharacteristic splurge in the name of spontaneity. What Angel couldn't have anticipated was who would be sitting across the aisle. The stranger's phone conversation caught her attention immediately. "He's talking about cancer research on the phone before we take off," Angel recalls. "So I asked him, 'Do you do cancer research?' And he goes, 'I own a biotech firm, we're working on cancer research.'"
What began as casual conversation shifted when Angel mentioned her own diagnosis. "I said, 'Well, actually I have breast cancer, I'm in treatment.' And he replies, 'What kind do you have?' I said, 'Triple positive.' And he goes, 'Well, my company doesn't do that. We're working on triple negative. But I know alot of what's in the space,"
This stranger then offered her something precious: certainty in an uncertain time.
"He said, 'You're young, you're 35. You're stage two. You won't die from breast cancer. Even if it comes back, it will not happen. I know everything that's in the pipeline. I know all the things that aren't FDA approved yet that are coming out.'"
For Angel, this chance encounter transcended coincidence. It became the first moment she could truly breathe again after her diagnosis.
"That moment really gave me a lot of impact and purpose," she says. "I think it was the first time I was able to breathe and think that maybe I won't die of cancer. Even if having this much chemo pumped into my body means I'm not going to live to 90 anymore, I'm probably going to live to 72. It's fine. I won't die at 47 of cancer. That made me feel good, pretty good for the first time in a while.”
The Competitive Achiever Takes on Cancer
Anyone who knows Angel understands her drive to excel. This fundamental trait didn't simply persist through her cancer journey—it became a cornerstone of her approach to treatment.
"Should you put my Strengths Finder at the beginning of my article? Angel, Achiever," she laughs, referring to the corporate personality assessment tool that identifies a person's top five talent themes. Her competitive spirit shines through as she continues:
"What kept me going was I want be the best cancer patient. I kept saying, 'No, I will get this. I will work, I will do this. I will achieve at getting rid of this cancer.'"
This competitive mindset transformed her experience, extending to how she measured treatment success in unexpected ways.
"I prided myself that during chemo, I hardly ever took any anti-nausea medicine. I was so good. This was fantastic," she says with characteristic enthusiasm. "I don't know why I prided myself on that, but I did."
When this achiever mindset was noticed by her medical team at Dana-Farber, Angel didn't back down. "I made this joke the other day to the social worker, and she goes, 'That's a good joke. Are you just putting on this face for me because you want to be an achiever?' And I reply, ‘I'm not putting on a face and telling you everything's okay because I really am good. Do not try to dissect my achiever!'"
Even as she approaches her final five treatments, Angel focuses on celebration rather than completion. Her enthusiasm for marking milestones remains undiminished. "I told my husband, 'Do we do our last session where we started at Dana-Farber main campus? Or do we do it in Foxborough?' He's like, 'Whatever you wanna do.' And I was like, 'Well, if we do it in Foxborough, we have a party, and everybody could come.'"
Her husband's bewildered response, "You want to throw party? After you go to chemo?" couldn't dampen her enthusiasm.
Finding Joy in Unexpected Places
Throughout her treatment journey, Angel has maintained what she half-jokingly refers to as "toxic positivity" an unwavering commitment to finding joy wherever possible.
This positivity philosophy evolved from a coping mechanism into a practical approach to daily challenges. Rather than focusing on the overwhelming nature of cancer treatment, Angel broke the experience down into manageable moments of potential joy.
"Find joy in the smallest things. Find joy in the fact that you got out of bed that day. Find joy in the fact that you didn't throw up. If you threw up, find joy in the fact that you're not throwing up right now. Find joy in every little thing, whether it's putting on your Christmas pajamas in the middle of summer, or taking a last minute trip."
This determination manifested in unexpected ways, like the treasured box of paper chain notes she was given from the team at Beck Bode when she was first diagnosed.
"This is my special box," Angel says, opening a seemingly ordinary paper container filled with handwritten notes daisy chained together. "They sent me these chains. I open a chain and it has something, either Bible verses or notes. This one says, 'Every strike brings me closer to the next home run. Babe Ruth.'"
These tokens of support became treasures to her. Even simple gifts took on new meaning during treatment. "A lot of people buy you new pajamas when you have cancer. It's fantastic. I got rid of all my old worn-out pajamas and now I have all brand new drawer pajamas," she shares. "Every time I put them on, I still think about it and that persons support. If you send a cancer patient something, send them something that's lasting, because they'll continue to remember it and it will make such an impact."
Even food brought unexpected joy, particularly during difficult days after her mastectomy. "Jim sent me the biggest edible arrangement. I'm talking like, it is huge.," she laughs, eyes lighting up at the memory. "I can't move out of the bed, and this thing is so big, I'm just eating it in the bed. It comes back and forth from the refrigerator because I won't make decisions about what I want to eat off of it."
The Support System Effect
The biotech executive she met on the plane had told her something that resonated deeply about this support network. "He asked, 'Do you have a lot of people praying for you?' I said, 'Yeah.' He's says , 'I can tell you have a big support system.' He said, 'There's things around medicine that we just don't understand. People that have these support systems and a lot of people caring for them and praying for them, they have better outcomes.'"
Angel reflects, "To go from a guy who's telling me this factually, medically, to going to the opposite end of like, the world around you is healing you... it's just funny in those unexpected moments."
"My biggest piece of advice for anyone is continue to keep up with a person through the long run. It sounds simple, but it's effort to remember people's chemo treatments."
When asked what advice she would give to friends and family of cancer patients, she emphasizes consistency. "My biggest piece of advice for anyone is continue to keep up with a person through the long run. It sounds simple, but it's effort to remember people's chemo treatments. It's things like that that make such a difference."
Leadership Transformed Through Challenge
In early 2024, as Angel began treatment, stepping back from her usual hands-on management style wasn't optional. It was necessary. Yet this unexpected distance revealed strengths in her team she might never have otherwise witnessed.
"I changed this past year because I couldn't be that person and I couldn't be everything to everyone. It allowed me to give people space within the organization," Angel reflects. "So many have blossomed this year because I had to lean and rely on them, and they've just blossomed so wonderfully."
Angel continues, "I literally said to Jim Bode and Ben Beck, CFP®, our managing partners, 'This year has given me this opportunity where I couldn't micromanage everything. And I had to rely on different ways of working and figuring things out and getting things done.' It's allowed people to come in and just soar."
This revelation came with mixed emotions. "It's been a very introspective time with work because I am able to see where my impact lies. And it also showed me places where, as I dig back in next year, I need help. I gave things breathing room, and some areas need more support now."
Walking the Line Between the Angel before and during her cancer journey
Perhaps the most profound challenge has been navigating the tension between maintaining her identity while acknowledging fundamental change.
"I know I haven't been able to be myself at all times," she explains. "I don't get to see the Angel whose brain worked really, really well before Cancer often. That could remember everything. Could keep up with everything. Now I have to focus on the main things. I have to have different reminders and do things differently to keep me going in ways I didn’t have to before."
Despite these changes, she remained determined to stability: "I always wanted to continue to show up in the same way that I showed up before. And that's almost virtually impossible. It's an extremely hard struggle I have personally. I don't have any problem telling you that I've been sick, I don't feel good. But it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. I just want to be that person that I once was."
The cognitive challenges of treatment, which Angel calls "chemo fog," created moments of doubt about her own perceptions. "Is it the chemo fog, or is this me actually feeling this way? she admits. Now that she is out of this phase she grateful. Its hard to be going through something so taxing on your body and be unsure on how you are perceiving things.
Yet through this uncertainty, Angel discovered something unexpected: greater decisiveness and less concern with others' opinions.
"I used to really worry about what people thought and how I was perceived. This has been an interesting journey in letting go of those thoughts."
"I think I can make decisions a little bit better. I used to really worry about what people thought and how I was perceived. This has been an interesting journey in letting go of those thoughts. Because when you have cancer, everybody's got an opinion, and you have to start learning how to trust yourself and your team."
This extended to her medical decisions as well. "My oncologist would ask, 'Do you have any more questions?' And I said, 'No, I'm coming to Dana-Farber because I'm hiring the best.' I'm in wealth management, and I always say people hire us because they need a professional to help them do something that they can't do. I am trusting you to take care of me, make the right decision. I'm in the best place I can be."
Looking Forward: Rediscovering Priorities
As treatment nears its conclusion in late 2025, Angel's focus has shifted toward the future with new clarity about what matters most.
"If there's something I want to see, I'm going to do it. If there's somewhere I want to go, I'm going to do it now. We're going to do a lot."
Angel is determined to make the most of this time. "I have about two years before I can have children, and Nick and I are going do a lot. We're going see the world that I've waited to see."
Building a Meaningful Legacy
Angel's professional focus has also evolved, particularly around legacy planning.
"Not to say that legacy planning has been born because of all this, but really thinking about what kind of legacy you want to leave on the world has given a lot of energy to that conversation. Who do you want to be?
I am the poster child for getting more time. However, what am I doing with that time and what kind of impact do I want to make?"
This perspective has already sparked ideas about how she might help others. "When I think about my legacy around having breast cancer, I think I want to help the families around it. So much support is given to the patient. As a patient, I could see my family around me was suffering in such a way. I kept thinking that nobody was taking care of my husband."
Angel's perspective on her experience has evolved into something approaching acceptance. "I don't know why I got cancer. I wasn't meant to have children in 2025 like I had planned to last year . Who knows why I am on this track? But (cancer) needed to be a part of my journey for some reason."
As Angel approaches her final 5 treatments, the question that now drives her forward is clear: "What kind of legacy, what kind of impact can I have in the world, regardless of how much time I have left, whether it's five years or it's 35 years?"
For those who know Angel Costanza, the answer is emerging through her daily choices to find joy, empower others, and transform challenge into purpose. Her cancer journey hasn't defined her, it’s cemented her achiever mindset as her fuel for continued strength.