Comfort Heart: A Personal Memoir

Lisa M. Rohlmann is a former business owner in Shelburne, Ontario.

Comfort Heart is the inspiring memoir of a woman who became one of Bell
Canada’s first female vice-presidents and was recently honored with
membership in the Order of Canada. Born into a dysfunctional family in a
small town in Nova Scotia, Carol Ann Cole left home at the age of 18 and
settled in Northern Ontario where she landed her first job as a typist
for Bell Canada. By dint of hard work and commitment to the company, she
moved rapidly up the corporate ladder. A short, unhappy marriage left
her with a baby boy; after a brief break, she resumed her career as a
single mother. In 1989, she attained her dream when she was appointed
one of Bell’s first female vice-presidents.

Not long after that milestone, both Cole and her mother were diagnosed
with breast cancer. Cole survived; her mother did not. After her early
retirement from Bell, Cole started the Comfort Heart initiative, which
has raised well over a million dollars for cancer research. Cole’s
account of breaking through the glass ceiling will inspire women hoping
to do the same in corporate Canada. More important, cancer patients will
find hope and comfort in this must-read book.