Women Who Shine - Rochelle Nguyen - CEO - Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation

sunny mornings with Joanna and Sean right here on sunny

when it was 6.5 and we are proud supporters of initiative

that we call women who shine. We do this every women's history

month and so it's back this March and we have some incredible

women that we are able to feature each morning.

This morning joining us in studio,

Rachelle Wynn, she is the CEO of Candoliders.

Now we were fortunate enough to host their glam

bout a couple of years ago.

Rachelle, Freddie, who's not familiar with the mission of

Candoliders, could you just tell us about it again?

The full title is Candoliders Childhood Cancer Foundation

of Nevada. We serve families and when I say

serve families not only the kids that are in treatment that

have had a diagnosis of cancer but also all of the family,

the entire family. That is our mission.

We provide not only financial resources,

think, play therapy. We have our big camp out,

hence the reason we have glamp out to kind of support that cause

and we have our upcoming spring fling and Halloween

bash and several other activities that are meant to

help the entire family while they're going through

the unfortunate circumstances of having a child that's been

diagnosed with cancer.

Absolutely. You guys do incredible work. We are proud to

support Candoliders and so we want to learn a little bit

about you since we're shining the spotlight this morning on

you, Rachelle. Tell us how long you've been with Candoliders

and maybe your career background and how you got there.

Well, I have been here a short three months and I

call it a, I just, I didn't realize I could love

and fall in love with an organization so quickly,

having been there for only three months. It has been an amazing

journey. When people ask like what brought you to Candoliders,

I would like to say it was my career but I think it,

I spent the past 20 plus years as a criminal defense lawyer.

So I don't know if there's a natural intersection

between that and what I do at Candoliders.

Okay. And when I thought about it, like how did I end up

in this role? I think my journey in life kind of brought me

there in a strange way and it's what I always tell other

women and young women and high school kids when they are

looking at what their career path looks like, it can take you

on a windy, twisty road, but you might get to where you

were meant to be the whole time. So I started off as a lawyer.

I came to Las Vegas in 1999 straight out of college.

I had never met a lawyer before. My mom was

washed dishes in a hospital and my father is a refugee from Vietnam

and worked in a textile factory. And so I had never met a lawyer

before I came here and people are like, how did you end up in

Vegas from the Pacific Northwest? Yeah. And I will say the sun

intoxicated me because it had rained 129 days in a row in 1999.

So when I came here at 21 first spring break with some girlfriends,

I did not want to leave. And I thought of it as a new adventure. And it turned

out to be an amazing coincidence. They were starting a new law

school. I had the opportunity to build an institution.

Fast forward 20 years later, I had been a public defender. I had owned my own

practice. I had done that with my husband. We had survived. Our marriage had

survived working together as well. And I had an opportunity to run

in the state legislature. And so I served a couple of terms in the assembly.

And then later now I serve in the state Senate. But that really

broadened my horizons. Not only was I doing stuff like in the criminal

justice system, but to support small businesses, but also working

with a lot of nonprofits in the world, working in healthcare,

figuring out how budgets worked, doing a lot of things that I hadn't done

in my other job. And when this opportunity came up with candlelighters,

I was like, this is the perfect opportunity to use the storytelling skills

that I had as a lawyer to have running a business,

running a budget, capturing in those relationship building that is so

crucial to the nonprofit sector. I was like, I can use this, all these skills

to like further just an incredible organization that I was fortunate to be

aware of prior to sharing this role. But in that capacity. So that's my

long story. What a journey. That is pretty incredible. I mean, you've

been everywhere. You've kind of done a little bit of everything, you know,

thinking back throughout your journey. If there is a piece of advice that you wish

maybe somebody told you when you were either just first starting out on your

journey or maybe, you know, before going into the nonprofit world,

what piece of advice do you wish somebody would have given you?

Don't wait until you think you're ready. I think with women in particular,

wait until they are ready. I've often been told in

business as well as in politics that people ask, women have to be asked to run like

five or six times. Women of color have to be asked like 10 or 12 times before they

feel like they are ready to be in that role. And I would say you're never going to be ready.

In my role now, had I ever run a nonprofit before? No. Do I think I'm doing an incredible job

at it? Sometimes. Do I feel like I have a lot to learn? Yes. And so I would say don't wait for

people for it to be the perfect time. You know, there's something to be said about building

the plane while you're flying it. And I think you've learned a lot when you're in those moments of

like a little bit of chaos is good. Absolutely. That's a bit of confidence. I think more of us

need to have out there is just to jump into something whether or not you feel like you're ready.

Yeah. Now you deal with a lot of inspiring stories in the line of work that you're in working

with candlelighters. You know, do you have any personal inspiration that you live by? Like maybe

a quote like a sticky note that's on your mirror of mantra. You tell yourself every day before

you go into work to get yourself in the right head space. I think being able to advocate for

these families and these children that are going through just unspeakable like circumstances

that I don't think anyone would wish on anyone that it's really important in all things that

you want show up. Show up be present when you're in those circumstances. Listen to those stories.

I think following up on those stories and following up on those relationships are super important.

I know that that's the what I bring to candlelighters is showing up following up and then

following through. Sure. You don't have those trust with those families unless you follow through

and say what you are do what you say you're going to do. Right. And so I think that is kind of what

guides me just in my role at candlelighters but also in life and that's the advice I'd give people

out there is show up follow up and follow through love that now if you could pick any song that really

is your theme song your personal anthem when you walk through the door this is how you know

this is what's going to get you going each and every day what song is that for you?

Well I'm a huge I have a dog named Neil after Neil Young but in honor of women's history month

I think one of my just women iconic people I mean there's like Dolly Parton there's like you know

I think modern like Taylor Swift. Sure. But for me it is always going to be Stevie Nicks. I love

not just her music and her songwriting but I feel like she's just she's like a powerful strong

woman that came up in a space reminds me of my mom my mom listened to heart and listened to

Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac and those strong women so I would have to say anything by

Stevie Nicks. Love that. Lovely in my go-to music. Great answer. Love that one. That might have

already answered my next question here. Get outside of maybe Stevie Nicks and your mom. Are there

other women particularly in your life that you have found inspiring personally to you?

You know my mom just passed away from cancer and God I hope I don't cry here but you know

with the limited resources that she had I think I mentioned earlier that she was bipolar.

You know music kind of inspired her sometimes at her darkest times but also motivated her

and her happy times like I mentioned heart and Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac and she loved

Tracy Chapman. Yes. Probably too much. It was obsessed with it and the music but I think the way

music you know guided her and the opportunity that she gave me and my younger sister I don't know

if I can think of a stronger person. She had all of these circumstances horrible childhood riddled

with violence and like physical and mental abuse but she was able to break that cycle and I never

knew a childhood that didn't have anything but support. Love unconditional love and allowed me

and my sister to not only go to college graduate from high school rise above the circumstances that

she had of her childhood or that my father had of his you know upbringing coming up there during

a war time and coming to this country as a refugee to be sitting here today running this amazing

organization I think kind of that love that passion that unconditional like in times of trauma

if my mom could do it I can definitely do it with the resources that I have now so I would say my

mom amazing thank you for sharing that. She sounds like an incredible woman and if you think about

you know the millions of different of things that had to have happened for all of us to be here like

right now it's pretty incredible when you really think about that right. It is very odd. Sometimes I

think I'm like how am I sitting here today on this show hopefully inspiring other like women leaders

to lead but also be able to be and lead this incredible organization like candlelighters.

I it makes it easy I go in I see the people I work with they're just incredible they have that

same kind of passion we have survivors we have parents that are candlelighter moms um

candlelighter dads that come in and are able to take advantage of our services even in those

unfortunate circumstances where people have lost their kids their families are still candlelighter

families and come back year after year to take part in bereavement activities memory like opportunities

and counseling opportunities because once a candlelighter family always a candlelighter family

and to be a part of that organization and be able to take the experience I have and use it to

help lead this organization to the next level is just an incredible gift that I have. Absolutely now I

know candlelighters has a strong um history here in southern Nevada where can people actually go

to learn more maybe to get involved to attend one of your incredible upcoming events where can

they get more information about candlelight our website is an incredible place to go we will be in

touch with you almost immediately so candlelighters and v like Nevada dot org so candlelighters and v

dot org is probably the best place to go you can find out about volunteer opportunities you can

find out about donation opportunities you can find out about the activities that we have and we're

already getting ready for our super hero 5k in September which is like our biggest fundraiser and

we are super excited to be able to take that to the next level so that is an opportunity for

people to come up there dress up like a superhero see our kids who are everyday superheroes sure

and uh yeah it's wonderful that's so awesome Michelle win thank you so much for coming and you've

been incredibly inspiring and uh we hope to see more of you again in the near future

no i would love to come here be able to talk about anything that you want me to but if it's

candlelighters you know i will drive across town and around the world to get over here and talk

about the organization awesome thank you so much for being a part of our 2026 women who shine