About Cynthia Swan

. . .

The Author

Cynthia Swan grew up in the Midwestern United States and moved to California after graduate school. She has been a national and international public speaker since 1995, founding her own consulting company, Cielem’el, in 2003. An Argentine Tango enthusiast, Cynthia became a professional Ballroom, Latin, and Argentine Tango dancer, competitor, and instructor as well.

Diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 32, Cynthia underwent multiple biopsies and surgeries as well as chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Already published in a number of professional and academic journals and a lifetime writer, Cynthia journaled throughout cancer treatment and then wrote a book about her experiences in cancer treatment, titled My Tango with Cancer – A Dancer’s Journey of Breast Cancer Survival and Growth.

Still dealing with severe chemo-induced neuropathy today, Cynthia’s unwavering spirit continues to encourage and inspire others as she travels the continent for book signings and meeting with a wide variety of audiences to share experiences of survival, inspiration, and hope.

The Tanguera

Cynthia’s first Argentine Tango was in Buenos Aires in 1997, when she was taken onstage from the audience at a tango show and was amazed to find herself dancing ochos, molineras, ganchos, and boleos without a clue how the tanguero made it happen. A management consultant traveling throughout South America on business at the time, Cynthia never forgot the experience, but temporarily set aside the thought of dancing to complete her education and pursue her business career. Over the years she has returned to Buenos Aires multiple times to develop as a tanguera and appreciate Argentine Tango.

While consulting in supply chain management and teaching graduate courses in business intelligence and information systems, Cynthia began her dancing career in early 2003 as an amateur with Arthur Murray Dance Studios. Dancing in three competitions in four months as an amateur competitor, Cynthia won the top student award for her division at all three competitions, over 100 first place awards, top solo routine awards for Argentine Tango and Cha Cha/Hustle, and placed twice in the top three in the American Open All-Around (a competition across all nine American-style Ballroom and Latin dances) before going pro in June 2003.

As a dance professional, Cynthia has performed in numerous professional shows and pro-am competitions/shows. Her students have won dozens of first place awards, as well as the Silver Pro-Am American Open All-Around. Cynthia also won the top teacher award at the 2005 World Pro-Am Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Though not always a dancer, Cynthia has been a performer her entire life, performing her first piano recital in kindergarten and eventually becoming a professional pianist, flutist, and singer, with the pinnacle of her singing career occurring on the main stage at Carnegie Hall followed by a six-week European tour and the CD release “U Singers – Live in Europe.”

A DVIDA certified NDCA professional in the Ballroom and Latin dances since 2003, Cynthia also completed her Argentine Tango certification with the University of the Tango in Buenos Aires in 2007. Cynthia’s love of dance is contagious, and her ability to break down technical elements for any dance level, combined with her teaching ethic for students of all levels to have fun while learning, gives her students self-confidence that is evident both on and off the dance floor.

Though no longer a dance instructor due to severe chemo-induced neuropathy, Cynthia is still a tanguera, dancing Argentine Tango as much as possible in venues across the country and occasionally in her favorite city, Buenos Aires.

The Speaker

Cynthia’s first public speaking engagement was at a logistics and economics conference in Las Vegas. It was 1995, Cynthia was still in college, but she was invited to present a session on her thesis research in inventory management and competitive strategy. Over the next ten years, Cynthia continued speaking as a supply chain management professional, presenting to conference audiences of hundreds of people several times a year. Most of her time, however, was spent with smaller groups of people in large and small corporations, giving workshops on supply chain management, information systems, and business intelligence.

After completing her doctoral studies in California, Cynthia became an adjunct professor teaching graduate courses several terms each year. While the courses varied across logistics, supply chain management, project management, information systems, and business intelligence, Cynthia’s workshop style of teaching worked well with graduate students because Cynthia felt it was important to engage the students in the thought process, rather than simply giving a lecture on any given subject.

Cynthia’s workshops and conference speaking took her all over North and South America, as well as across the Pacific Ocean to engagements in Australia and South Korea. An engaging and spirited public speaker, Cynthia’s power was in her energy, connection, and enthusiasm.

After cancer treatment, Cynthia’s enthusiasm for business-oriented public speaking waned as she discovered a deeper need to connect and help people grow as individuals, rather than teaching them strategies and tools to increase corporate competitive position. As chemo killed off any remaining cancer cells, Cynthia’s heart and mind wanted to contribute to the world in a greater way.

Cynthia’s evolution as an inspirational speaker linked directly to her diagnosis of breast cancer in April of 2009. Suddenly Cynthia found herself educating her friends and colleagues about breast cancer, often consoling or encouraging them rather than the other way around. As the treatment side effects became more and more severe, Cynthia’s determination to take it all as gracefully as possible started having a greater and greater impact on the people around her, inspiring them not only with her approach to treatment but also inspiring them to find more strength and opportunities for growth in themselves.

After radiation treatment was completed in December 2009, Cynthia was committed to a new life path encouraging and inspiring others in their own survival and growth through the adversity of severe life trials. As a cancer survivor, Cynthia shifted her public speaking to first focus on cancer patients and survivors in cancer support groups, and gradually expanding to include groups for caregivers and families of cancer patients, and eventually non-cancer focused groups  such as rotary clubs and women’s organizations as well.