Black VoicesShark Tankthyroid cancerdaymond john

'Shark Tank' Star Daymond John Reveals He Was Diagnosed With Cancer

“I want to share this with people because that’s what success is, it’s staying in your family’s lives."
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By 

Pop Culture Editor, HuffPost

Daymond John is using his thyroid cancer scare to emphasize a different kind of success.

During Wednesday’s episode of “Good Morning America,” the FUBU founder and “Shark Tank” star revealed to host Robin Roberts that he discovered he had stage 2 thyroid cancer last year.

“I had an extensive physical and they discovered there was a nodule on my thyroid,” he told Roberts. “They removed it and it was stage 2 cancer on my thyroid ... I didn’t skip a beat. When I got some early detection and I understood that I had a challenge and if I attack it now, then I wouldn’t let it attack me. I had that removed. I didn’t miss anything, I was out partying and dancing two days later.”

John said that he still has half of his thyroid and is continuing to take necessary preventative measures.

“I’m absolutely great,” he said. “I have to monitor it for the rest of my life. I have another half of my thyroid still in. In the event that it comes back I’ll be able to fight it. Thyroid cancer is a very slow-growing cancer.”

As he continues to keep tabs on his wellness, the entrepreneur and author wants his journey to serve as an example for others to be proactive with their health ― particularly as it pertains to family members.

“I want to share this with people because that’s what success is, it’s staying in your family’s lives, it’s being around, and that’s what success is,” he said. “I have three beautiful daughters and I want to be here to walk them down the aisle, I want to be there to protect them, I want to be there for them to keep yelling at me and ignoring me.”

“And this is how it happens, by going out, getting mammograms, colonoscopies ... and all the things to find out what’s going on,” John continued. “Because you can prevent this and you can stay around in your family’s life. We need each other.”

Check out more of Daymond John’s inspirational health journey in the clip above.

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Before You Go

'Shark Tank' Contestants Reveal Their Biggest Lessons Learned
Jayla Siciliano, Bon Affair(01 of21)
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The biggest thing I learned is the power of media and the power of taking a risk and putting it all out there. It was not easy to go on national television and talk about all the issues I'd had in starting my business but the risk paid off. The media and shows like Shark Tank and investors like Mark Cuban (who has been amazing to work with!) can be an extremely powerful platform for small little companies like mine. Taking the risk and putting it all out there, as hard as it was, was the best thing I ever did. - Jayla Siciliano, Founder, Bon Affair
Steven Nakisher, Talbott Teas(02 of21)
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Despite all of the amazing exposure you get from being on Shark Tank, there are no silver bullets – you still have to do the work . Even if you get money, partnership and connections from the Sharks, you still need to run your company, produce and sell your product, and build your business. The Sharks do not have the time or the interest in running your company. - Steven Nakisher, Talbott Teas
Romy Taormina, Psi Health Solutions(03 of21)
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While I thought I had “thick skin”, I realized I did not. And from this experience came a truly powerful and enlightening realization and lesson that as long as I feel I am always doing my best to do good by others, then there are no regrets. With this mindset, I can still care what others think of me, but their opinions can never define me or my values. This liberating insight allowed me to grow as a person and as a business woman. It propelled me with even greater focus and determination to focus on our core mission to make a positive difference in people's health. Romy Taormina, Psi Health SolutionsPhoto credit: Jim Pinckney
John Tabis, TheBouqs.com(04 of21)
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I learned that each investor brings his or her own point-of-view to any pitch or business opportunity based on experience, interests and their own personal history with a category or product. Therefore it's important to hit on the points of your business that appeal to any individual investor, making the business interesting and relevant. It's a bit of a challenge when pitching 5 individuals simultaneously, but finding the hooks and driving them home to land that deal (or fish, I guess) is the goal, and the bait may be different for each investor. Tailoring the pitch as best you can might be the difference. But, ultimately, like many purchase decisions, price often can be the most important factor. - John Tabis, TheBouqs.com
Bruno Francois, Cycloramic(05 of21)
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This may not apply to everyone, but personally I realized that it is not about selling your product, or trying to maximize the value of your company. Just concentrate on showing and demonstrating the value of your product. Let them decide from there. If your product is good, things will happen. - Bruno Francois, Cycloramic
Ryan Frankel, Verbalize it(06 of21)
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Seven million viewers will result in tremendous inbound interest and while many of the leads are qualified, there will be a tremendous amount of noise. Having the right tools in place to filter genuine interest from noise is critical to making the most of the experience. Absent these filters, which for us was a combination of business development tools and team members, we never would have been able to follow-up with true prospective clients in a timely manner and with the attention that each deserved. - Ryan Frankel, Verbalize it
Amy Baxter, Buzzy(07 of21)
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The sharks were absolutely right. It is better to work within the healthcare realm with a device that controls injection pain than trying to let the public know with no advertising dollars. We've changed our strategy. - Amy Baxter, Buzzy
Mike Szymczak, OrigAudio(08 of21)
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The biggest takeaway from the Shark Tank experience is that five multi-millionaire entrepreneurs moguls gave validity to our young business and commended us on what we had created to date. It is pretty much the equivalent of Michael Jordan saying 'Hey, Nice Fade-Away jumper'. Something like that will give you quite an ring of confidence. So even before our episode made it to air, that validation and confidence really fired us up and was an added motivator to continue to propel our business. - Mike Szymczak, OrigAudio
Erin Bickley & Jenny Greer, Hold Your Haunches(09 of21)
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We learned that what some may consider a weakness of ours (nonchalance), actually proved to be one of our greatest strengths. Entrepreneurs ultimately have no control over the Shark Tank process from beginning to end and a good sense of humor goes a long, long way. - Erin Bickley & Jenny Greer, Hold Your Haunches
Julie Busha, Slawsa(10 of21)
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Never let someone else's inability to see your value determine your worth. There's not an adjective to describe the shock I felt walking out of the Tank, not to walk away without a deal, but to have received such compliments yet not one offer. I feel very strongly about the path Slawsa is on to re-invent the relish section, as well as my efforts behind the business. I'll never be able to answer 'why' things didn't turn out the way I envisioned it, but I'm not going to dwell on it and let those thoughts get in the way of success. - Julie Busha, Slawsa
Jennifer MacDonald and Hayley Carr, Zipit Bedding(11 of21)
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The biggest lesson we learned from our experience on Shark Tank was that the Sharks aren’t always right. Though there was no disagreement from the Sharks that our product was a WINNER, there was a huge one however, with how they thought we should sell the product to the public. We have always thought the best way would be to launch a Direct Response campaign on TV (think Pillow Pets or OxyClean), so we could “educate” the public and show how Zipit Bedding worked. They all laughed at us. We ended up standing our ground and proving the Sharks wrong. Ironically, not only did our National TV commercial air the same week our Shark Tank episode aired but we sold out of our entire inventory in just one month post-airing! In fact, we haven’t been able to keep product in stock since. - Jennifer MacDonald and Hayley Carr, Zipit Bedding
Kelly Costello, Puppy Cake(12 of21)
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The biggest lesson I learned is realizing that I wouldn't have bought my company in the state it was in. Since then, I have made the necessary changes to make it a good investment. A lot of those changes started with my attitude and goals for the business. - Kelly Costello, Puppy Cake
Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix, Xero Shoes(13 of21)
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Have software that can scale quickly and effortlessly in place early-on in a business' founding. You never know when your Shark Tank moment will come. - Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix, Xero Shoes
Becky App & Abby Jordan, eCreamery Ice Cream & Gelato(14 of21)
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The experience of Shark Tank gave us a huge boost of optimism. After you are working so hard on something around the clock for 5 years, sometimes doubt can creep in. Is this all really worth it? Being on Shark Tank connected us with entrepreneurs from around the world and that really reinvigorated us. We had calls and emails of support from literally all over the world. Yeah, we both cried many times going through the emails of support we got. Even connecting with the other entrepreneurs going on Shark Tank was so valuable. They inspired us. Some of the contestants may seem crazy, but they are DOING SOMETHING They aren't sitting on their couch waiting for something to happen. That inspired us more than I can really say. - Becky App & Abby Jordan, eCreamery Ice Cream & Gelato
Pat Yates, Happy Feet(15 of21)
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Be prepared to not only sell your business, but to also sell yourself. When the belief isn't there in one of those two, use the other to reconfirm their doubts and turn it into a positive. Keep grinding because it could change at any moment. - Pat Yates, Happy Feet
Charles Michael Yim, Breathometer(16 of21)
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Great things can happen under high pressure and glaring cameras! All five sharks invested in my company, so I wouldn't have done anything different, except maybe raise the valuation of the company a bit. - Charles Michael Yim, Breathometer
Mona Weiss, Eco Nuts(17 of21)
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I learned that the sharks are not as smart about every aspect of every business as people tend to think they are. The sharks are very smart and very accomplished in some areas, but they are not a one-size-fits-all for every type of business. It's very hard pitching to an investor who isn't interested in your niche to begin with or has no experience in that area. - Mona Weiss, Eco Nuts
Rebecca Rescate, CitiKitty(18 of21)
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You will never over-prepare for Q&A when going on Shark Tank. When you film, you realize there isn't such a thing! I am happy to say I don't look back and see any mistakes I made. Was my appearance perfect? No. But I am human. - Rebecca Rescate, CitiKitty
Betsy Johnson, SwimZip(19 of21)
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I learned a ton about mass retail! Daymond John is a guru about getting products in the store and he provided a lot of valuable feedback in the processes of the Q&A that SwimZip has taken to heart and really executed in our sun protective swimwear and beachwear business. - Betsy Johnson, SwimZip
Shelly Ehler, Show No(20 of21)
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Don't be attached to an outcome. Things may not always look like you think they should, but that doesn't mean it's wrong. Be grateful for everything! - Shelly Ehler, Show No
Lori Cheek, Cheekd(21 of21)
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Although I gotten eaten alive in the tank, the evidence that I still have a genius idea came through in the email flood the day after the show aired. In the 48 hours after the broadcast, Cheekd.com received a record breaking 100K unique visitors and our inbox filled up with thousands of emails insisting that the Sharks were “out of their minds” for not investing. People on the street were yelling "I WANT TO GET CHEEK'D!" - Lori Cheek, Cheekd
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