Meet the 2026 Paint the Pink Ambassador – Emily Hovland
Each year, in honor of those we have lost to cancer and to celebrate those who have overcome it, The Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota, appoints a Paint the Town Pink Ambassador. This year, that ambassador is Emily Hovland.
A longtime Austin resident and educator for Austin Public Schools, Hovland was diagnosed with triple-negative ductal carcinoma, an aggressive form of invasive breast cancer that grows fast, spreads fast, and offers fewer treatment options, in November 2024. Now, a year after that diagnosis, Emily is cancer-free, living in the present, and ready to be the face of one of Austin’s most beloved community events that has raised more than $3 million for cancer research at The Hormel Institute.
A Pivotal Moment of Awareness
Life is filled with experiences. Some are fleeting, such as seeing a breast cancer self-screening pamphlet in a friend’s bathroom during grade school and wondering, “What’s this?” Others leave an indelible mark and become a part of who you are.
“In college, I had a close friend whose mom had breast cancer. She was in remission, but then it came back. It was a blow. Scary. We watched her fight and, unfortunately, she did not get her miracle and passed away,” Emily explained. “That was a pivotal moment that catapulted me into doing something about cancer, and I jumped into anything I could find.”
Emily participated in breast cancer walks and awareness events to support others while reading as many books and gaining as much knowledge she could about cancer, how to prevent it, and how to watch out for it.
“It was all about honoring my friend’s mom while helping others be proactive,” she said.
One day in 2006, after earning degrees from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota and the University of Minnesota, falling in love, and getting married, Emily got a call. It was from a former teacher who said Austin Public Schools was looking for an English teacher and Emily should apply.
“I was raised by teachers but fought the idea of becoming one my entire life,” Emily said with a laugh. “Toward the end of college, when I was getting my English degree, I thought back on the teachers who had made an impact on me and thought, ‘I do want to be a teacher.’”
The small-town charm and tight-knit Austin community sealed the deal, and 20 years later, Emily has progressed from 9th grade English teacher to the Mower County CEO facilitator, the Packer Profile coordinator, the student council advisor, and the youth leadership advisor for Austin Public Schools. Not to mention adding four children to her family while being a community leader in cancer awareness.
“This is our home and we love it here,” Emily said. “It’s a great community and we’re blessed by its diversity and ability to grow and come together.”
As 2024 was coming to close, Emily thought how life was progressing exactly as it should. She stepped into the shower to get ready for her son’s cross country banquet dinner.
Knowing Without Knowing
“I’m going to vomit,” Emily said to her husband, her hair still dripping from the shower. As she had done since college, Emily took any opportunity she could to proactively check herself for cancer. That shower before the dinner was no different until she felt the hard, jagged, and stone-like bump in her breast.
“I knew what it was right away,” Emily said, her voice still shaky thinking about that moment and all the fear and uncertainty that came with it. “I powered through the night, called the clinic at 7 a.m., and said, ‘I’m coming in.’”
With scans, ultrasounds, and a biopsy, the doctors confirmed Emily’s intuition and diagnosed her with breast cancer.
“My mom said, ‘How is this happening to you? You’ve been so aware all these years.’ My awareness made it so I knew what to do,” Emily explained. “It was still awful, but I was well prepared for it because of all the reading, events, and engagement I had done in the years since my friend’s mother passed away.”
There’s nothing easy about cancer treatment. Physically exhausting, mentally draining, emotionally consuming — Emily experienced it all and powered through it with the knowledge she gained, an intense work ethic that amazed even her chemotherapy nurses, and support from her community.
“When I told my kids, one of them said, ‘It’s bad, but you’re going to be OK. We have [The Hormel] Institute here,’” Emily said. “Because we had been so involved in Paint the Town Pink over the years and they were aware of the work and research happening at the Institute, it was a moment of hope and trust. I said to him, ‘You’re right.’”
Everything for Good
The musical Wicked culminates with the song “For Good.” In it, the characters Glinda and Elphaba reflect on their experiences and conclude that their journey together didn’t make them better or worse, it simply made them different. For Emily, the song has become an anthem and capstone to her cancer journey.
“I am not the same person I was a year ago,” Emily emphasized, the shakiness in her voice gone and replaced with fortitude and grit. “It gives you a perspective of not knowing what’s happening tomorrow and what’s truly important in life, and it pushes you to have strength you never could have imagined you have.”
Like Elphaba and Glinda, it’s up to Emily to decide how to use this experience. She’s decided it’s for good, and that’s the reason she steadfastly accepted the offer to be this year’s Paint the Town Pink ambassador.
“I was blown away to be asked. It’s a huge honor to be a part of it and sharing a part of who I am,” she said. “If there’s any way I can help to promote the research [at the Institute] and educate people, I’m going to do it. If sharing my journey makes a difference in just one person, then that’s worth it.”
In 16 years, Austin’s annual winter event has grown from turning a single ice rink pink to an entire town fluorescently flushed, and Emily has been there the entire time participating in and being inspired by it. Now it’s her turn to show how a pivotal life moment can be stripped of fear and the unknown and transformed into awareness for good.
Be sure to follow Emily on TikTok @simly_thebreast to learn more about her, her experience, and how you can get involved and stay active in cancer awareness and prevention.