Welcome to "Choosing to Smile" - We are the 'Choosing to Smile' authors -  Julie Houlker, Glenda Standeven and Michelle Rickaby. Our three life stories are presented in our book which has been described as "encompassing the wholeness of life."

Although we are cancer survivors our stories are most definitely not just about cancer. The book follows our lives as three ordinary women who encounter extraordinary life circumstances. We decided to share our message of hope with others by writing this book in 2009 and before we knew it we had started a world-wide movement called 'Choosing to Smile'.

The Choosing to Smile movement evolved from our desire to make a difference and our book is for men and women of all ages who are facing ANY type of adversity. Our goal is to help people find strength by choosing to smile through whatever challenges life brings. The movement continues to grow and we now have over 4000 members in our Facebook group as well as visitors to our website from 42+ countries. Through our experiences we have discovered that choosing to smile can help everyone no matter what journey they are on in life and we want to share our message with the world. We hope you enjoy reading our book. You can order your autographed copy here. 

Julie Houlker is a 14 year cancer survivor who has faced breast cancer three times. (Yes, she actually is one of the few women who have had a mastectomy twice on the same side – a natural breast and a reconstructed breast removed) and is currently living with metastatic breast cancer. She has just begun chemotherapy and has picked out a sassy wig to wear while inspiring others to get through the tough times by choosing to smile. Follow her journey through metastatic cancer treatments on her blog.