Influencer Bridget Bahl’s Brand Was About Fashion And Dating. Then She Got Breast Cancer (exclusive)

Bahl now helps other women with breast cancer, and found joy and community on Delta’s 15th charter flight with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation

NEED TO KNOW

• Bridget Bahl was diagnosed with breast cancer at 41 and began sharing her journey with social media followers
• Her mother was also recently diagnosed, and Bahl has been open about that experience
• Bahl joined Delta and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation to connect with survivors and support breast cancer research

Before Bridget Bahl was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer, the 42-year-old was known as co-founder of fashion brand The Bar, building her platform of 2 million followers around style, lifestyle content and dating advice for young women.

But since her 2024 diagnosis, Bahl has found a new purpose: raising awareness of breast cancer, particularly among younger women.

“My whole thing before all of this — when this wasn’t my story — everyone who followed me was like, a girl between 29 or 32 living in New York City and isn’t married and hasn’t found her person,” Bahl tells PEOPLE.

“So they were all coming up to me and being like, I followed you for so long … So I’m just like, but you’re still following me and now you know so much about breast cancer and that’s so cool.” 

With no known family history of breast cancer or genetic predisposition to the disease, Bahl admits that breast cancer was completely off her radar. After her diagnosis, she began documenting her journey with her followers, sharing her chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation treatments and surgeries.

This month, Bahl revealed that her mother, Linda, had also been diagnosed with breast cancer. She initially didn’t want to share the news, but her mother encouraged her to use her platform to remind her followers how important it is to get screened. 

“She was like, ‘I just want you to tell everyone to go to their appointments, and that’s it,’ ” Bahl says. “So it makes me feel like there was purpose in everything I shared because I’m like, it might not have been so high on her radar.”  

Advocacy not only allows Bahl to connect with followers and others in the breast cancer community; it also offers a way to navigate the lingering effects of her diagnosis. For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Bahl has partnered with several organizations working to fund research and bring people within the breast cancer community together.

As part of that work, she joined Delta Air Lines and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation — as well as 100 Delta employees affected by cancer — on a Breast Cancer One charter flight from Atlanta to Las Vegas. Upon landing, the women began a two-day experience of community and support, including a panel discussion with BCRF researchers moderated by Bahl.

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For Bahl, being on the flight with women who have gone through similar experiences was something she will never forget. 

“I loved this because I’m not merely going to talk on a panel, I’m going on a plane with people who are my people … who get me and understand me and I get to understand them and I get to learn from everyone else,” she says. “It fills me up with so much joy.” 

Bahl’s decision to support Delta and BCRF is personal. Delta and BCRF have raised more than $36 million and helped fund over 720,000 hours of breast cancer research over 21 years. For Bahl, who was diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer, research has been life-changing. The subtype was historically associated with a poorer prognosis, but the development of targeted therapies helped transform treatment and outcomes.

“In my lifetime, money that was donated or fundraised provided for research that made a drug, and without that drug, I would not be sitting here with you today,” Bahl says. 

Bahl has also taken her advocacy offline. Earlier this month, she teamed up with Estée Lauder and The Bar for a breast cancer awareness pop-up in New York City, encouraging women to pay attention to breast changes and stay up to date on recommended screenings. 

“I feel like I’ve never gotten to experience Breast Cancer Awareness Month from this lens,” says Bahl, who was in treatment last October. “I experienced it when I was in the thick of it, and I was so grateful for it then. So this is my first time getting to do anything like help.” 

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Bahl’s advice to those impacted by breast cancer is to take healing one day at a time and lean on people with shared experiences — something she continues to do in her own journey. Now splitting her time between New York and Dallas, she is focusing on her ongoing recovery five months after being declared cancer-free.

But, she says, finishing active treatment does not mean instantly feeling back to normal. “It would have been helpful if someone told me healing isn’t linear,” she says. “I think there’s a lot of work to do there.”

As Bahl continues her advocacy work beyond Breast Cancer Awareness Month, she plans to keep raising money for breast cancer research and sharing her journey. She is also currently supporting her mother as she undergoes treatment.

“Educating other people and creating awareness has given me more purpose in my life than any clothing or outfit I’ve ever posted,” she says. “To me, the whole purpose of life is kind of using the hand you’ve been dealt to help other people.”