Two women who overcame breast cancer decided they wanted to help others do the same.

Crissy Petrone and Ellen Stack are the first voices and faces you see at the Dyson Breast Center in Poughkeepsie.

Both women beat breast cancer at the center a few years ago. That chapter in their lives prompted career changes.

Stack used to work with preschoolers. Petrone helped remodel bathrooms.

Both women now help people through their diagnosis by handling appointments and sharing advice.

“You can always say to them, ‘You know, I've been through it, and you can be OK,’ and try to be positive,” Petrone says. “Then they see you sitting there working and say, ‘Wait you went through this?’ And just to see the smile on their face— it’s huge."

Stack says the women help patients with the more emotional side of the diagnosis and can give tips from personal experience.

"If you have a bad taste in your mouth from chemo, try rinsing with saltwater and baking soda,” she says. “Just little tidbits that we've heard, that we've done, that we've tried."

Both women are committed to helping fight breast cancer outside of work, too. They recently walked in a Miles of Hope event in LaGrange.

Their journey to be breast cancer-free helps patients know they've been in their shoes.

"I’m more than willing to share my story because that's why I’m here,” Stack says.