Eastern Iowa man creates own podcast: 'Stage Four 2 On Stage'

A man from eastern Iowa is using his own personal experiences with cancer and depression to help others. Dylan Slattery grew up in Dyersville, and now he leads a podcast called Stage Four 2 On Stage.

Slattery is back home in eastern Iowa for a few weeks over the holidays. He lives in Denver now.

But while on break, he's still actively working on his podcast- Stage Four to On Stage.

“Kind of mirroring my journey from stage four cancer to now, survivor.”

Dylan beat skin cancer-- twice. And previously he struggled with some anxiety and depression.

Which also runs in his family.

“My dad passed away before I was born, to suicide,” Slattery said. “It's interesting cancer helped me overcome my depression and to allow me to share this story.”

Dylan says focusing on the positive parts of life helped him move forward. A message of gratitude he now tries to share.

“The darkest days of my life is when I had the most gratitude because I had to focus on the little things -- a card in the mail -- and it's carried forward since then."

And that's the focus of the podcasts. Dylan will often bring on guests to share their life's journey.

A guest, who also beat cancer, left him with a flag. Dylan plans to pass it along to another survivor.

And people who are down, either mentally or physically shouldn't be afraid to speak up. Dylan says asking for help is one of the strongest things a person can do. A habit he still practices today.

There are about 15 episodes of the podcast now. Dylan says they will always be free.