Lianna Albrizio, Assistant Editor10.17.22
At the turn of the 21st Century, beauty entrepreneur Joni Rogers-Kante merged the ideas of an aging process called “senescence” with the intelligence of aging to found a cosmetics company called, what else? SeneGence.
The company touts itself as the creator of the first patented long-lasting liquid lip color technology, LipSense, in a complete cosmetic line, and later blending it with a proprietary anti-aging complex into creams and lotions.
Then a single mother to a son, Rogers-Kante sought to help other women become financially independent, but the company metamorphosized into much more—an experience she calls an “amazing personal growth and transformation” regardless of age, background or education.
In the past two decades, she created a billion-dollar business, added a new men’s line to the Happi Top 50 company and secured thousands of distributors in 17 countries around the world on top of surviving breast cancer.
Breast cancer afflicts four million women in the US. Rogers-Kante hopes to inspire women on Breast Cancer Awareness Month to arm themselves with knowledge about the disease and serve as a beacon of hope for those in the throes of it.
Rogers-Kante was shy of 60 when she received her diagnosis five years ago. She was, what she called, “doing life” – being a wife and mother to two sons (one of whom she birthed at 50) and at the helm of a budding beauty business when she unexpectedly fell ill. Early detection, she said, was a blessing. Luckily, the cancer was very early stage.
“There was no dodging the bullet at that point, the outcome was to become full-blown breast cancer inevitable,” she recalled.
Within days, Rogers-Kante underwent a double mastectomy at Hoag Hospital of Newport Beach California. The procedure was the best treatment option to not only minimize any chance of reoccurrence, but keep her as healthy as possible as her maternal grandmother had succumbed to aggressive, metastatic breast cancer.
On Breast Cancer Awareness Month, she celebrates not only her recovery from the disease, but the advancements in treatment that are helping women live longer, healthier lives without impeding on their quality of life.
“Breast Cancer Awareness month is first and foremost, an opportunity to educate women on the importance of regular breast exams and early detection so that it can be eradicated quickly with the least amount of invasiveness,” she said. “The ease of treatment for me was directly due to early detection.”
According to Rogers-Kante, this month is also reason to celebrate the amazing advancements in technologies to help find diseases, cancer and others, long before they can cause permanent damage.
“Early detection and superior technologies –will continue to get even better so together we can continue to make an impact and give more women a chance to beat and survive this disease,” she said.
A Bright Future
“I learned that cancer doesn’t have to define my life story and rue the day each day,” she said. “In my case, it did not become my day-to-day narrative that consumed every moment and every action throughout the days following surgery. Instead, I choose to move forward in every way, living each day in its complete normalcy that truly does define my life,” she said.
In between getting treatment, Rogers-Kante did not allow her condition to disrupt normalcy in her life, or her body. It was business as usual, making public speaking appearances at community or channel events and honoring appointments during the reconstruction phase of her treatment, the education of which she found endlessly fascinating.
“I was determined to not allow my physical appearance (ego) to hinder the progressive movement of a single area of focus,” she said. “Fortunately, I found the days I had to set aside for recovery time became shorter with each surgery, to a point where I could plan surgeries on a Thursday and return to the office by the following Monday. I found an amazing doctor who made the journey to reconstruction fascinating and even creative, learning much about skin, which I am a great student of to begin with, and new technologies to help grow skin along the way.”
In terms of meetings and travel, cancer may have been canceled, but not her busy schedule.
“I knew if I could ‘keep going’ staying the course for life and activities as ‘normal’ as possible, I felt strong,” she said. “I will say though, the complications of covid, which I had contracted several times, made my recovery a little slower in some respects. For example, I found I felt better and thought clearer after a nap in the early afternoons – a very unusual act for me. During these recovery periods after a power nap, I could finish up the day's work and enjoy dinner prep and family time well into the evening before retiring.”
Rogers-Kante cites her family as the driving force behind her courage during her uphill battle.
“As far as advice, I am naturally a shy and quiet person. I did not speak publicly to others about the process at all. My staff was aware and very understanding of any time needed off. However, I am blessed to be surrounded by many women of faith who offered comfort, prayer, inspiration, and support – without saying a word,” she said. “A warm smile, a knowing nod, or an understanding chuckle if the situation called for it—like a drain falling out from under my blouse—were brief moments shared by many who have been through the same.”
SeneGence MakeSense Foundation
Since her recovery, SeneGence’s nonprofit organization, MakeSense Foundation, has also taken on new meaning. Founded in 2003, a percentage of sales of certain products, SeneStyle clothing line and SeneCouture accessories coupled with company and distributor fundraisers have supported women and children in need, including breast cancer research and organizations which offer support to women going through active treatment. In the past two decades, the company has awarded millions of dollars in cash and in-kind donations to qualifying nonprofits that support its causes.
“Breast Cancer doesn't have to become an all-consuming fixation. For those of us who have been afflicted by Breast Cancer and lucky or smart enough to catch it early, it simply becomes a small part of our journey as a woman,” she said. “In turn, we can prove to ourselves how mighty we truly are, show us that anything we put our minds to is possible, and we each have the ability to become stronger than we ever thought we could be. SeneGence means freedom. It means women can craft and create their own success stories on their terms, however they choose to define it.”