Season Four · Episode Seven · Zulma Williams
Before It Becomes Regret
Starting Over After Cancer and Changing Your Life
What if it is not too late to choose a different life?
Raised in Buenos Aires, Zulma Williams grew up with a clear expectation of what a woman’s life should look like. After the sudden death of a cousin close to her age, she could no longer assume there would always be more time. At thirty-one, she moved to the United States without a job, a home or certainty—only the determination not to spend her life wondering what if.
Learning English, beginning again at entry level and changing careers in her forties became part of a life defined by first steps. Six weeks after earning her bachelor’s degree, a breast cancer diagnosis interrupted her plans. It delayed her, but it did not decide who she would become.
Before · The change · What came next
Before
Zulma imagined a life beyond the path expected of her. Her cousin’s death broke the illusion of unlimited time, and she left Argentina for the United States ready to learn through immersion and build an independent life.
The change
After returning to school at forty-two and earning her bachelor’s degree at forty-six, Zulma was diagnosed with breast cancer. She moved from asking “Why me?” toward participating actively in her care and asking what the experience might teach her.
What came next
Zulma returned to graduate school, became a therapist and built Dragonfly Therapy Services. At sixty, she packed six decades into six pieces of luggage and moved to Panama, creating the life by the ocean that once seemed impossible.
“It’s not about not falling. It’s about not remaining on the ground.”
Zulma Williams
Listen to Zulma Williams’s story
Before It Becomes Regret premieres November 17, 2026. Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube links will be added when the episode is released.