Podcast appearances and mentions of kristin smedley

What happens when life throws not one, but multiple curveballs? In this powerful episode of SolFul Connections, Kristin Smedley returns to share the next chapter in her extraordinary journey.Kristin's path was clear. She planned to be a teacher, a mother, and live a life rooted in faith. But life had other plans. Two of her three children were born blind, her marriage dissolved, and she was faced with redefining everything she thought she knew.Through her TED Talk, the founding of a nonprofit, advocating for all experiencing blindness, and now a film in production called Curveball, Kristin has turned adversity into advocacy and pain into power.Listen in as we talk about faith, identity, resilience, and how her blind son not only played Little League, he excelled. This is not just a story about blindness. It's about vision, grit, and meeting life's toughest moments with grace and courage. Whether you're facing your own curveball or simply in need of a little inspiration, this one's for you.More on Curveball: www.KristinSmedley.com/filmThinking about starting your own podcast? It's easy, fun, and if you use the SolFul Connections affiliate link, you get a discount. Who doesn't love a deal? Riverside: HD Podcast & Video Software | Free Recording & Editing

Today's Guest Kristin Smedley is a visionary leader who empowers individuals, teams, and organizations to unlock their hidden potential and gain a competitive edge. Kristin, a TEDx speaker, best selling author, nonprofit founder x2, business owner, and acclaimed filmmaker, leaves audiences on their feet cheering and wanting more of her energy and influence. Kristin has spent her lifetime studying people that succeed without sight and discovering those repeatable systems and strategies that cause a competitive advantage.  As a single mom with a signature smile that has raised three children (two of which are blind) to surpass all grim expectations and out- achieve everyone around them, Kristin leaves a lasting impact on those fortunate enough to experience her powerful presentations. https://kristinsmedley.com/ About Dr. Raj Dr Raj is a quadruple board certified physician and associate professor at the University of Southern California. He was a co-host on the TNT series Chasing the Cure with Ann Curry, a regular on the TV Show The Doctors for the past 7 seasons and has a weekly medical segment on ABC news Los Angeles. More from Dr. Raj www.BeyondThePearls.net The Dr. Raj Podcast Dr. Raj on Twitter Dr. Raj on Instagram Want more board review content? USMLE Step 1 Ad-Free Bundle Crush Step 1 Step 2 Secrets Beyond the Pearls The Dr. Raj Podcast Beyond the Pearls Premium USMLE Step 3 Review MedPrepTGo Step 1 Questions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

20240827 Kristin Smedley returns for an Encore! Originally Broadcasted August 27, 24, on ACB Media 5   We heard more from her and all about the Thriving Blind Academy and will have an interactive discussion with those of you who attend and participate.   Sponsored by: Arizona Council of the Blind   This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

When Kristin Smedley's young son was diagnosed as blind, she was devastated. But rather than accepting limits, she became fiercely determined to give him every opportunity. Tapping into creative problem-solving skills from her own athletic past, Kristin empowered her son to navigate life fearlessly.   Through using all available tools and relentless advocacy, her sons thrived academically against all odds. But Kristin's vision didn't stop there. She now inspires others through her nonprofit, proving disability is no barrier to success with the right mindset and support.   Hear Kristin's incredible story - from the shock of her son's diagnosis to his graduation at the top of his class. Discover practical lessons on nurturing independence, creative accessibility solutions, and transforming challenges into triumphs. Kristin will motivate and inspire you to believe in limitless potential.   Highlights: 00:00 Intro 01:01 Kristin's childhood in Philadelphia 03:43 Learning about the importance of team 07:19 The shock of hearing her firstborn was blind 10:13 Realizing what to do as a parent of a blind child 14:23 Finding a nonprofit to help the blind community 18:43 What I Can Be Is Up to Me book 20:31 Using all available tools and holding the school accountable 23:22 Things to apply to make your life better 26:28 Where can people find Kristin?

Send us a Text Message.Kristin is a force! Her story she shares on this episode is simply amazing! We go way back when she was a child, what she learned while playing softball and having her father as her coach, being an amazing teacher, to becoming a monther. After she had her first born child, 4 months in, she learned that her son was leagally blind. She shares her vulnerable, honest feelings finding that out. A few years later she had another son and he also was diagnoised legally blind and then not long after that she had a sighted daughter. She shares it all with us. This is a must listen episode! Kristin's Bio:Kristin Smedley is the Mom of three children, two of which were born blind and are now thriving far beyond all grim expectations. Kristin is the Best Selling author of Thriving Blind: Stories of Real People Succeeding Without Sight and the award winning children's book, What I Can Be Is Up To Me. A recognized expert in the blindness and rare disease communities, Kristin won the highly regarded Champion of Hope Award, was named an Ambassador for the National Organization of Rare Disorders, and is a 2022 inductee into the Conwell-Egan Catholic Wall of Fame. Kristin is a popular, in demand speaker who has been invited to share her message internationally. As CEO of a global patient organization, she coordinated legislation (H.R. #625) that became the first in US history to be submitted in Braille. Kristin spoke at the FDA to help achieve the first ever FDA approved gene therapy to treat an inherited retinal disease in the United States. Recently, the research her organization coordinated achieved a $1.25 Million grant from the National Institutes of Health. Her TEDx Talk, books and international summit change perceptions of blindness, and sparked a global movement, Thriving Blind Academy, that is solving the unemployment, literacy, and financial crisis in the blind the community.Connect with Kristin:Website: www.KristinSmedley.comInstagramLinkedInTwitterThank you to our partner this week:Showit! Want to start a website or update your current one on an easy to use platform? Check out Showit! It's the website platform I use to create my website and blog! You can get one month free when signing up with the code: Katey http://kateyfortun.com/showitSign Up Here and get your first month free!Flodesk! Want to stay connected to friends, family, customers and your community you're building? Flodesk is, in my humble opinion, the best email service out there! They don't penalize you for growing your list, like many other email providers out there do! you can get 50% off your first year when signing up with the code: KATEY1https://kateStay in the loop with the new Different Ability® product I'll be launching!Sign Up Here!Shop new products here!Places you can reach me at:Website:https://kateyfortun.com/https://kateyfortun.com/podcastInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/kateyfortun/https://www.instagram.com/differentabilitypodcast/

Christine Van Bloem and Kristin Smedley of Daffodil Pathways have a  lively discussion  about navigating menopause and holistic health practices, with a focus on empowerment and self-advocacy.The conversation delves into Kristin's journey transitioning from nursing to holistic nursing, menopause experiences, and empowering women to become their own health advocates. We discovered the inspiration behind Daffodil Pathways and the resilience symbolized by daffodils. Kristin shared her expertise on self-discovery, mental health during menopause, and the importance of finding an educated health provider. Enjoy a special offer for podcast listeners to engage with Kristin's services at Daffodil Pathways, emphasizing self-care and holistic health practices. Stay tuned for more empowering conversations with Christine Van Bloem and inspiring guests on Empty Nest Kitchen!Find Kristin here:IG: @ksmeddyFB: Kristin Hall SmedleyWeb: daffodilpathways.com

In this episode of Top 3, Marcia O'Connor, CEO of The O'Connor Group, welcomes Kristin Smedley of Thriving Blind Academy to discuss her journey. Kristin shares her experience of raising blind children and founding Thriving Blind Academy. Despite initial devastation, she learned to focus on possibilities rather than limitations. Through her children's successes, she realized the importance of accessibility and empowerment. Kristin's TED Talk on disability stigma reflects her belief in seizing opportunities to share impactful messages. The conversation touches on her upcoming film project, highlighting the journey of blind individuals in the IT world and baseball. Kristin's story serves as inspiration, reminding us that setbacks can lead to unexpected opportunities for growth.

As you will hear in this episode, Kristin Smedley grew up and lived her first thirty years or so as a list-maker and planner. She literally planned everything and she was successful at it. Well, she was until literally one day everything changed. In January 2000 she gave birth to her first son, Michael. When he was eight months old she asked a nurse friend/Michael's babysitter about the fact that Michael's eyes seemed not to be focused when he was lying on his back. After examinations, she got the news that Michael was blind. All the plans she had for herself and him “crashed to the floor”.   We get to hear Kristin's story with not one blind son, but a second one, Mitch who was born two years later. Kristin will tell you that she refused to adopt the attitude that these two blind kids could not grow up and do anything. She will tell us how both sons played baseball in grammar school. You will hear how Kristin's incredible positive attitude about blindness helped her family discover and learn that blindness does not hold people back.     About the Guest:   Kristin Smedley is Co-Founder and CEO of the only patient organization in the world for people living with the blindness her two sons are affected by, CRB1 LCA/RP. The Curing Retinal Blindness Foundation has raised over 4 million dollars and achieved a National Rare Eye Disease Awareness Day.  That legislation, H.R. #625, was the first in US history to be submitted in Braille and it advocates for better resources for blind and visually impaired Americans. Kristin partnered with Spark Therapeutics to help achieve the first ever FDA approved gene therapy to treat an inherited retinal disease in the United States. She has done a TEDx Talk in New York City to change perceptions of blindness and she partnered with Comcast media to spread awareness of the inclusive X1 product. Kristin is author of the bestselling book Thriving Blind: Stories of Real People Succeeding Without Sight and a new children's book, What I Can Be Is Up To Me. Kristin co-founded ThrivingBlindAcademy.org to solve the employment, literacy, and financial crisis in the blind community.  She is Co-Creator of the short film, The Great Equalizer, that addresses the unemployment crisis of the blind.     Ways to connect with Kristin:   Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinsmedley/ Twitter https://twitter.com/KristinSmedley Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thrivingblind Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kristinsmedley/   About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well, hi, welcome once again to unstoppable mindset. I'm really looking forward to our guest today Kristin Smedley because she has two sons who are blind, I'm not prejudiced or anything like that, of course, but nevertheless, yeah. Nevertheless, she's got some interesting stories to tell. And she has been involved in doing a variety of things, including influencing Washington dealing with forming organizations, and we're gonna get into all that. So I will not talk anymore. But Kristen, let's just start with you. Welcome to unstoppable mindset. Oh,   Kristin Smedley ** 01:55 thanks so much for having me. I'm I'm a big fan of yours. And I'm happy to be here and chat. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 02:03 thanks for for coming on. Well, tell us a little bit about you first, Gordon growing up the early Christian Christian as it were.   Kristin Smedley ** 02:14 The early Christian all those years ago, law I O in   Michael Hingson ** 02:18 a galaxy far far away.   Kristin Smedley ** 02:21 I am a born and raised Philly girl. I have my fillies hat on for those that are watching this on video. And I was one of those kids, Michael that I went for a lot of stuff I had success. In almost every area of my life. I was raised by parents in I'm learning as an adult that I was raised in unconditional love. And I believe I've said it a lot that I believe that's what sets us up with a foundation to thrive. So I had a good support system to get out there and try stuff and go after dreams and, and I was sports school. I mean, you name it. I had a great time with it. But I will above I will admit that above all things I was a I was a planner, you know, and a list maker and a check it off the list, kind of person. So I really liked making plans, achieving them celebrating and going on to the next thing. I've I've played soccer my whole life. I still play actually, I'm going to be 52 And just last year, I perfected my left foot kick. So I figure you know, I'm a quick study, right.   Michael Hingson ** 03:38 But But you weren't invited to New Zealand for the World Cup this year. Hmm.   Kristin Smedley ** 03:42 Weird, right. And I was just looking at the at the pay rate of the top 10 Women's players and and I wasn't on there and I'm nowhere near that pay rate. So what's that about? Yeah, really. I've been playing longer than them.   Michael Hingson ** 03:53 So they're I don't know how to count for something.   Kristin Smedley ** 03:56 But yeah, I was very I was competitive and and love sports. And you know, being a Philly person. I don't know many people in our town that aren't Philly sports people. But I had a good time. I have four brothers, it was a crazy house. Very big family, lots of cousins. And, you know, just a typical, typical kind of kid growing up with dreams to be a teacher achieved all of that. And nothing, nothing really nothing really derailed plans at all until it did. Well.   Michael Hingson ** 04:33 And then it wasn't so much derailed. But it also goes to show that sometimes plans need to change. So along the way you you got a husband or whatever and, and did all that sort of stuff. I assume   Kristin Smedley ** 04:46 I did all the things that that everybody did. Right. And I mean, back then it was I mean like I said I'm going to be 52 Back then there wasn't a whole lot of of options. that that girls like me grew up with as as careers. My family was like there was absolutely no way that there was a future in soccer or sports for women back then. But I was I knew I was going to be a teacher from the time I was five years old. I am one of those bizarre people that just knew it from when I was very young. I would I would set up my my four brothers. In my dad's workshop at the back of our basement. He had this chalkboard and I would bring home the extra handouts from teachers at school and I would I would have my know why my brothers sat and did that. With me. I'd hand stuff out and I have them writing on the board.   Michael Hingson ** 05:40 They tolerated you.   Kristin Smedley ** 05:42 They sure did tolerate that's a great word, because they're still doing that.   Michael Hingson ** 05:46 I'm just gonna ask you if they still do that. They still tolerate   Kristin Smedley ** 05:49 me. They don't sit and let me hit him. They don't sell them handouts anymore lectures   Michael Hingson ** 05:52 anymore. Yeah, well, what so what did you teach? When you when you grew up and started teaching?   Kristin Smedley ** 05:58 I was an elementary school teacher.   Michael Hingson ** 06:01 Yes, it was my wife. I   Kristin Smedley ** 06:03 loved it. I just my whole life. I wanted to do that. And then when I was in the classroom, oh, boy, did I have a good time with that?   Michael Hingson ** 06:15 What? What grade did you want to teach? Or what grade did you find? Was your favorite grade?   Kristin Smedley ** 06:21 Well, that's it Sure. I will say first. And third, I never would have thought when I was when I was planning to be a teacher. I thought second grade was where it was that like that was where I really wanted to land. And I remember student teaching first grade, and I the first week. I remember coming coming back to the house, I lived in with a bunch of my friends at college. And they were like, they thought I had caught like a massive flu or something that I was exhausted my exhausted five days with first graders. And I said, I remember saying to my roommates, you even have to include in your directions not to eat the paste. To be very specific with first graders, but I love the fact that that first graders, just they kind of believe what you tell them. You know, they haven't really formed their their own individual personality. Some of them have, but most of them are along for a really fun ride, you know, third grade, though, they start developing their own personalities and the things that they they know that they want to do. But you're still cool. Third graders still think that teachers are cool. Fourth grade, they start to go maybe not. So I wanted to stay. I wanted to stay in the cool zone. My   Michael Hingson ** 07:42 wife loves third grade, she thought that that was the best grade to teach. Definitely the earlier grades. But she loved third grade the best because as you said, kids started to develop a personality, but you could affect it. You could teach them they would listen. But when you got beyond that, especially when you got to sixth and seventh grade, much less high school, of course, that got to be a real challenge. Oh,   Kristin Smedley ** 08:06 yeah. Oh, yeah. I have one of my best friends. We actually met at college orientation. She's taught middle school science for her whole career. And I'm like, Man, are we different? I couldn't I could not. I wouldn't accomplish anything with middle schoolers, but first and third grade. I'm your girl. That was a good time. I   Michael Hingson ** 08:28 suppose the idea of middle school science, though, is if you do interesting experiments, and you do things that they don't expect that is because they haven't really learned about a lot of that stuff. You can sort of keep their interest.   Kristin Smedley ** 08:43 Yeah, you know what, that's a that's a really good point. Because Stacy has kept it, she think makes things incredibly interesting. And I'm like, Oh, my goodness, she I've there's been times we've been sitting in and hanging out drinking wine, and she'll start showing me this, this PowerPoint of like, scientific stuff. And I'm like, and she's so into it. I'm thinking, okay, now I get it. I know why. No, I think kids were into it for all those years. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 09:11 But she's got the knack of being able to make it interesting for the kids. And of course, that's the issue. Right. Right. Right. And you're still teaching third grade in as you said, the cool zone. So that helps a lot. But you know, I, I know what you're saying. I remember. Oh, gosh, now it's been about 18 years ago, I was doing a talk in San Francisco. And I went to the school it was an elementary school K through six and the whole the whole school was there was an assembly and the teacher said Now look, you can't talk more than 15 minutes they will not sit and listen to you. Now we're sitting there going, just wait So of course, I come out with my guide, dog Roselle. If that isn't going to keep kids interested, give me a break. So like about 40 minutes after we started talking all about dogs and I talked a little bit about the World Trade Center, of course. But it was mostly what the dog did and how guide dogs work. And they all sat there and rapt attention. Then I finally opened the door to questions. And as I tell people, there's no question that anyone can ask me today that's off limits, because this third grade kid gets up a guy, right, a boy. And his question was, how do blind people have six? Oh, my God. And so, you know, no questions off limits? Well, I'm not dumb. I just said the same way everybody else does. And if you want to know more, you go ask your parents. You know, I'm not an idiot. But but you know, there's no question off limits. I've remembered that story ever since. But then the teachers came up afterwards. And they said, We don't know how you did it. And I said, it's the dog. And it's talking about the dog. And even the sixth graders were all interested. And, of course, everybody wanted to come and talk to the dog. So after it was over, I said at the end that if anybody wants to come up and visit with the puppy dog, they are welcome to do that. I knew Roselle very well. Roselle was one of those dogs who had discovered the scientific principle of maximum petting area, she would lay down on the floor and stretch out every appendage as far as she could to get as many people petting her at one time as and she loved it sweet. And, and all of my guide dogs have been that way. They and I wouldn't want it any other way. You know, the harness was off, and they just all love it. And the teachers kept an eye on things, but still, everyone got to come up and spend some time with Rosella. And she thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Sliced bread too, but you know. But yeah, third graders, my wife always loved third graders and, and we've talked about it a lot. My teaching was at the high school level, I got a secondary teaching credential ended up going into other jobs. But I have my secondary teaching credential and, and taught, and I've actually had kids from my classes come up to me like 10 years later, and say, Do you remember me? And the voices of well, of course, all change. And I don't know, well, like one guy. I'm Marty, I was an eighth grader in your algebra one class in high school. And I remember coming into class and talking with you and solving problems with you. And Marty was actually, one day asked me a question, and I didn't know the answer. I just didn't happen to remember it. And I said, I'll go find out the answer, but I don't know it. And then the next day, I came in with the answer, but Marty did as well. And I said, alright, you come up and write it on the board. My master teacher said, That was incredibly smart, you did the best thing you could do, because these kids will know if you're blowing smoke. The fact that you said that you didn't know, scored you so many points. And that's really true. And it's I think is true today, and anything that we do, rather than bluffing your way through. It's better to be honest. I   Kristin Smedley ** 13:23 totally agree. And kids can, they can definitely. They can definitely tell. So every time Oh, yeah. No   Michael Hingson ** 13:33 doubt about it every single time they can tell those things. Well, so you taught and how long did you teach? A   Kristin Smedley ** 13:41 few years. And then I at the time I was married, we moved to Chicago. And that was after an extremely challenging third grade year was a great group of kids. But one of the remember at the end of that year, saying if I could survive that year, I can survive anything. I never should have said that out loud, because then all kinds of things happened. But I ended up going which was pretty cool. I want to take a break from the classroom for a little bit and was working with the Department of Ed and this is how old I am now that was back when we would go in and teach teachers and principals how to use technology in the classroom.   Michael Hingson ** 14:26 You're probably a lot of them will still need that but I hear you   Kristin Smedley ** 14:28 oh yeah, we actually organized big educational conferences and and it's funny how my life has gone because I said I always I had planned to be a teacher always wanted to be a teacher stayed in the teaching profession. But then as I watch everything that unfolded like those, planning those conferences and working with teams that were were in house and remote like it's all the things I'm doing now. All of those experiences gave me gave me experience As in being able to do the stuff I do now. So I always say to people, you know, when when, you know, when when you seem to have a roadblock, or are taking a different path for a little while, or maybe making a right turn where you thought you're going straight pay attention, because because every experience gives you tools for stuff that's coming later. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 15:20 and the, I think most successful people are the ones who realize that, and who can actually trace back and remember when they learned those tools and what they learned, I know that I believe our lives are really comprised of all the choices that we make. And all too often we forget the choices we make. And I think it's important. And I worked very hard at remembering what led me to where I am. And it doesn't mean that it was bad. Even if it didn't turn out the way I expected to. There's still things you'll learn along the way. Yeah,   Kristin Smedley ** 15:56 you know, I'll even take that a step further and say, I'm realizing now like, like, literally, within the past seven, eight months, when, when a sidestep or something or setback happens, I now pay attention in the moments of new things that I need to learn new perspectives that I need to have my eyes open to, like, instead of waiting until later, like I always did. Now I'm actually on the one of my friends, Chip Baker says, grow through your go through. So when you're going through something, what is what are all the growth opportunities that you can have your eyes open to and I'm telling you, it makes it makes it not that it takes struggle away or stress away, but it makes it a heck of a lot easier.   Michael Hingson ** 16:43 It does. Because everything that you do is a learning experience, no matter whether you think you learned something or not. You did. And, and just we don't pay nearly as much attention to that, which is not not really the way it ought to be. I love that go through your growth. grow through your go through. Yeah, tongue twister, but still. Well, so you've referred to it a whole bunch of times. So things sort of started to make you deviate and you had sudden unexpected changes. Tell us about some of that, if you would. Yeah,   Kristin Smedley ** 17:21 you know, I was at a point in my life where the Christian in the year 2000, I can tell you that Christian of 2023, I'm not sure that they would be friends. Because Christian back then had. I mean, like I said, I had planned, I had planned to be a teacher, I plan to be successful, I plan to get married everything I accomplished everything I had, you know, gotten the degree landed the job, married the guy at the got the big house, bought the brand new SUV. And, and my final not necessarily final dream, but my biggest dream of all was finally coming to fruition to fruition. And that was becoming a mom. And I have to tell you, Michael, I had an incredible Mom, I have I have a wonderful role model for mom and my grandmother, her mom was wonderful. And I was surrounded by a lot of people that were really good moms. And I of course, being competitive, couldn't wait to be a mom and do even better, right? Like I was even going to be even better than all of them. And, you know, most people they find out they're pregnant, and they're like, I just want a healthy baby. Right? And then and that's what I did. And then by when you're me by like month eight, it's Oh, is he going to be a pitcher for the Phillies or quarterback for the Eagles? Right? And is he? You know, will college really go to and and you know, you're envisioning all of the things. And when he was born, he was Michael was born in January of 2000. And on our street. Now, if you remember back then it was y2k was happening. And this was January, like we survived the computers, right. But there was I didn't even realize it at the time. There were so many people trying to have a y2k baby. So, on my street in January, there was like, eight people had babies within eight days of each other. It was crazy. Crazy. So everyone was in the hoopla of new babies and and, you know, the hospital stays and we would all be we weren't necessarily outside in Chicago in January, but we'd be in each other's Kitchens talking about all the things and that book, What to Expect When You're Expecting we knew every line of every page and, and all that stuff and talked about everything. And then I started noticing something about Michael was different from the other kids and I had gone back to work and had him a friend of mine who's a nurse was babysitting him every day. And I said to her Is it weird that When, when you lay him down on his back, his eyes swirl around and disappear. And she said, yeah, it is weird. You need to have that checked out. And after a few weeks of of no answers, and lots and lots and lots of tests, we finally flew home to Philly, and got an appointment with a specialist at Children's Hospital Philadelphia. And that's where that's where I heard a sentence that I had not planned for. And that's when he said to me, Kristen, your son is blind. And, you know, the planner in me that was not in the plans like valedictorian, summa cum laude, you know, professional athlete, those were the plans. And in that moment, I gotta tell you this, this, I can say it now I was embarrassed about this for years, but since my kids are successful, and I, I turned out, okay, I can tell you my first question to that doctor was like, I was trying to consider how blind I didn't understand blindness, right. And I said, Willie, play baseball. Can you imagine that? That doctor probably tells that story at parties all the time. at conferences with other ophthalmologist right was the dumbest question you ever heard? Yeah, I was. I said, Well, we play baseball. I was trying to get it in my mind. I just had an absolutely zero knowledge of blindness. And the doctor, of course, said no, he's not going to play baseball. And it was like everything. Willie drive. Now, will you go to school? Probably Probably not a regular school, all the things. And I said, Oh, my gosh, well, what is he going to do? And the doctor said, I have no idea but good luck. Now, oh, that was nice. Right? You know, and I, I'm like, Well, that was 23 years ago when that happened. But it's still happening. Doctors are still saying, Yeah, I don't know what to tell you. I have one of my friends that has choroideremia. He says, doctors are saying, Go home go blind. We got nothing for you. So we can get into that later. But well, we can because   Michael Hingson ** 22:00 it's absolutely worth doing. Doctors still believe that if they can't save your eyesight, they're failures. ophthalmology, schools don't teach the eyesight really isn't the only game in town, which doesn't mean you don't try to save eyesight. But eyesight is not the only game in town. And we don't deal with that nearly enough.   Kristin Smedley ** 22:18 Yeah, yeah, that was I've, I've often talked with, with folks about the fact that you know that there's that first do no harm for doctors. And I think it is, it is more than harmful to not send a family on their way with some kind of resources or, or one resource. that's ultimately why I ended up writing my first book, I'm like, if no one's handing over, if there's no resource to hand them, we're going to make a resource to hand over. But yeah, that's where I started. And I was actually just talking with somebody yesterday about this concept in terms of parenting, I believe now, when I heard those words, and you know, heard good luck, I literally crashed to the floor and all of my dreams had crashed to the floor. And I had no education, knowledge experience with blindness. I will say, I think the greatest thing that happened to me in my life, was that all of my dreams for my kids crash to the floor. Because when I'm noticing even even myself, I do have a sighted daughter also. With kids, I'm I'm seeing our biggest struggles, their biggest struggles and stress come from, they're walking away around with carrying the weight of their own dreams and ambition. But they also have ours on top of them and I one of the greatest things that ever happened to me and my kids was that everything that I had planned for them was eliminated because I didn't think it was possible and I had to I had to literally just I said to the boys I'm gonna I'm gonna get you what you need and follow your lead because I have no idea where this is going. Thank God thank God it wasn't there wasn't anything that I had intended for them that they went after at because that would have been such a limited life when I looked back on their on their where they're at now. So   Michael Hingson ** 24:17 what caused Michaels blindness.   Kristin Smedley ** 24:21 So we will find out later that the umbrella disease it's a it's an early retinitis pigmentosa it's Leber's congenital amaurosis, and we didn't find I didn't find out until oh nine that it's the CRB one gene causing it. Okay. Yeah. So and with with each pregnancy now for all the math minds out there you'll love this part and everyone else just hang in there because I don't talk about math all that long. I do have lip gloss on so I don't do math and statistics when I wear lip gloss. It's a rule that I have, but To the with CRB one LCA, there's a 25% chance with each pregnancy that the child will be affected. Now, optimistic Kristin, which people have said that my my memoir could be titled delirious optimist, heard 25% chance and stop listening. So I was like, well, I already you know, one in four babies, I already had one. So we're good, you know. And then I remember one of the specialists was like no Christian with each pregnancy. So it took it took me a while to get my head around how I was going to raise Michael. But I have to say ultimately, and and I believe the statistics are still that most LCA families there's I think 30 genes now identified in LCA. But most LCA families, once they have that baby, the LCA child, they don't have any after that. Because most people don't want to hear a second diagnosis or don't want to experience a second diagnosis. I was quite optimistic. But when I was really weighing all of it, to be honest, I thought, I started interviewing people, I'm a little bit of a nerd like that, like, I want to have as much information as I possibly can. And I talk to everybody that I possibly can. And I went and talked to people that I knew that were only children, because I couldn't get my mind. I couldn't get my head around blindness, but I could not get my head around an only child. And heard pros and cons of it and everything. And I thought ultimately, I would have a harder time raising a child that was a single child, then raising a child that couldn't see I figured I could figure out blindness much faster and better than I could figure out how to have a an only child. It just I guess it was just, you know, I was what 28 At that time and, and my experience had just been a big family was all I knew. And gosh, we I mean, it was crazy. But boy, did we have a heck of a lot of fun with cousins and everything. So you know, ultimately, I just I was like, let's let's go for it. And I was like, come on, what are the chances really? Like, I'm always in that 75% camp. I'm always on the better end of statistics, right? Oh, my goodness. And then and then. A family member always says with a very cynical tone that we hit the lottery twice, because Mitchell was diagnosed with CRB one LCA also. But I will say that I do say we hit the lottery. Three times, all three of my kids are extraordinary human beings. And I can't even imagine if if it was if I had an only child, I mean, I love Michael. He's great. But the dynamics of what all three of them have brought to my world are just incredible. And they're all different. Oh, boy, are they all different? The one retina specialist in Boston said after a day of testing, he goes Chris to any experience the boys for the day. He said they are different down to their retinas. Even the retinas aren't the same all.   Michael Hingson ** 28:19 So now we measure a difference by our retinas. Okay, and works. You know, but going back to what we talked about earlier, the whole issue of how the medical profession deals with it. It is so frustrating. I mean, you, you read the underdog. I read that years ago. Yeah. So you, you read my story. And the doctors told my parents that they should just send me to a home because no child who is blind could ever amount to anything. And my parents said no. And we we went from there, I don't know, never really talked about their fears. But I think if I had asked my parents tell me about your fears, they would have said no, we just assumed you would grow up to do whatever you chose to do. I think the fears were, were there in one way or another. But they just felt that. So all right, you're blind. We'll deal with it. And they were risk takers by any standard. But I don't even think they would classify themselves as risk takers. They were very unusual in the way they approached it, but they did. And the fact is that I got to grow up and do the things I wanted to do. And I always wanted to teach, but I ever ended up actually doing teaching in the classroom past student teaching. But I learned along the way that when I was confronted with a situation where I would either lose a job or go from doing scientific human factor studies into sales and chose to, as I love to say lower my standards and go from side It's the sales that in reality, UI though, in reality sales is if you do it, right, more teaching than anything else in the world, it's all about teaching. And it's all about helping people understand. But it's also because of that, about listening. And it's, it's important to do all of that. But the fact is that blind kids have as much opportunity to grow, or should have as much opportunity to grow and be whatever they choose, as anyone else. And part of the burden that we face is the prejudice that everyone has about blindness.   Kristin Smedley ** 30:39 You know what that that's, that's, oh, my gosh, I'm taking a deep breath, because it is so frustrating to me that in this day and age, that that bias is still there with with all of the you know, you feel like you do all this advocacy and your stories out there. And my social media platforms are huge. And there's all these other stories out there, and people still have no idea I just did an event here in in my town where my boys have grown up and done all kinds of things. And we are I mean, you're, you're kinda it's hard to not be famous in a small town when you got two blind kids. I mean, everybody knows who we are, everyone has seen all the stuff that they do. And I did an event with a short film that I just co created about the bias against blindness, and hiring people that are blind. And after the film, people that have watched, I mean, elected officials that I know very well, incredibly smart, successful. People were coming up to me saying, Oh, my gosh, I had no idea that blank, people could do all the things and I recite, but you you had two examples in front of you for two decades. How is that possible? I guess they figured my kids were some anomaly or I was constantly opening doors for them. I don't know. But they were blown away. And I was, it was a weird, I don't know what the word is for it. I have to have to go into chat GPT to give me some words for this. But it's it was like angry and happy at the same time. They're not angry, astonished. Yeah. And happy at the same time that the 20 Minute. Video got through to them. But I thought how could you not know. But that's that is how it is?   Michael Hingson ** 32:22 Well, you know, and I joined the National Federation of the Blind in 1972. It's a consumer organization, I'm sure you've heard of it. And it does a lot of things. But even with a lot of blind consumers, who have adopted a philosophy that blindness isn't the problem, we are not having a lot of success, at changing people's attitudes, not nearly the success that we have to have, in order to truly make it possible for us to have the same opportunities as everyone else. And the consumer organizations can help they do help. The National Federation of the Blind, and its legal efforts, changed the insurance industry so that blind people could buy insurance, you know, back in the 1980s, no blind or other person with a disability, physical disability could buy insurance because the insurance industry said you have a higher mortality rate, you're a higher risk. And wow happened was that somebody came along and said, You do everything based on scientific data and evidence, Where's the proof? And they said, Well, we have it, but they could never produce it because it didn't really exist. It was all based on prejudice. So by around 1985, legislation had been passed in every state saying you can't discriminate unless you got the proof. But the fact is, it was still there. There's still the attitudes and even that didn't deal with it. And I think part of the if I were to say one thing that doesn't happen that needs to really make a difference is we've got to become more part of the conversation, the whole human dialogue. And we're just not even some of the so called Disability experts. Don't push enough. We need to be in the conversation a lot more. Oh,   Kristin Smedley ** 34:14 I 100% agree and and we also need to be in every facet of life that sighted people are in right I think that's why I'm so passionate with, with stories with with, especially the children's book that I just put out and film and Hollywood, I tell you this, I put a post on Twitter, or x, whatever it's called these days. Yeah, I'm just gonna go with Twitter. Another story. Oh, my. Anyway, I put a post about my son Mitch, who's home for the summer from college. In our home, we are addicted to the show suits. I don't know if you follow that show.   Michael Hingson ** 34:56 I don't I've heard of it. I gotta watch it.   Kristin Smedley ** 34:58 I gotta Oh my gosh, one Now it's on. It's on Netflix. And we're we're rewatching the whole series. We watched it through COVID. And now we're rewatching it and it is I mean, it's attorneys and it's it's egos and it's just great. We love it. And we all have our favorite characters will Mitchell who just turned 20 years old, literally bounced, like jumped out of his stool. He sits on this little this funny little stool, the cracks, we have this big, tall 20 year old with an attitude right sits on this little stool in front of this giant TV and is glued to the show, jumps off the stool and bounces into the kitchen yelling mom. Netflix put audio description on suits. Yeah, he you would have thought that he just got like his the the bike he always wanted for Christmas, you know, like he was so excited. So I put a post out on Twitter that said, Oh my gosh, that feeling when your son bounces in the room and I put a thing about how him announcing that Netflix, put audio description on suits. And I said, Thank you so much Netflix, for being inclusive, whatever. I did a hashtag that the suits, I didn't realize how passionate the suits community is about that hashtag. It is now I think it's at 7000 people it's reached, people went crazy. We didn't know that was a thing. Oh my gosh, tell us more. What is audio description. And then um, that was like this teachable moment. But people have absolutely no idea that something like that is out there. But it also, you know, it went back to my point of when people that are blind are involved in all facets of life. That's when the education really starts to spread. And that's when perspectives are shifted. And that's when I see the bias disappear. I mean, my when my boys oh my gosh, I will never actually I'm writing the screenplay now for the moment. And I just wrote out the moment, the scene that we experienced when Michael told me, he wanted to play Little League baseball in our town when he was nine. I mean, he was playing blind baseball in the city. And but he was going to public school. And he wanted in on those lunchtime conversations where all the kids are screaming at each other of whose team cheated in which arm sock and all that stuff, right? And he's like, I want to play baseball, I said you do play baseball. And he's like, No, I want to play baseball here in this league where all my friends play. And when I walked up on registration day to baseball registration. When I talk about this, I should actually have like a button I hit with music that's like, you know, it's more than Disney World and all these happy cheering people that are there for registration. And Michael walked in with his white cane and said he wanted to play baseball. And as grouchy and grumpy as the Commissioner is of a person, I will give them the credit that he did give it some thought and long story short, Michael ended up on a baseball team. And in his second year, they won the championship like they were the worst team in the league and came back and won the championship and, and he was an all star and led the team in RBIs. And there was a dad that I knew was not happy. Michael was on that team at the first practice that came up to me after that championship when and he said, he said Kristen, you know, when all of our kids started this season, and came together, they were all just a bunch of spoiled kids to get everything they want. And he said one by one, your son changed all of them. And that changed all of us and watching him has been phenomenal. And I thought that's what it is. It's it's when it's when we're out in the world in all facets of life, doing life, that we change those perceptions and those biases. So so I want people that are blind and visually impaired and their parents and everybody around them, get out there in the world. And like you said, be in the conversations be in the experiences. And if we can, if we can multiply that then I think that we can really get rid of this bias a lot faster.   Michael Hingson ** 39:11 So how did Michael play baseball? Well, interesting.   Kristin Smedley ** 39:14 Now I'm in so many conversations, you know, in the ENI stuff and workplaces and we keep saying reasonable accommodation. I'm like what I didn't know it was what we were I was asking at the time, but it was reasonable accommodations I we weren't changing rules. We didn't change much. But he was able to hit off a tee now this is 910 11 year olds, they were they were kid pitching hit off a tee. And he played in the outfield with another with another guy. That guy would feel the ball and Michael had to throw it in to where the play was okay. Then I I've actually spoken at some sports stuff. And you know on the topic of parents and and sports I say I always say listen for coaches. If you have problem with parents and vocal parents and how, you know, parents have become a nightmare at youth sports, get a blind kid on your team. Because when Michael we get the ball when that guy would hand it to him in the outfield, he had to listen to one voice to know where to throw the ball so that the kids learned quick and they shut the parents down even quicker. No, but as soon as he got that ball, it would be silent. And one person if the kid if the play was at second, that kid would stand there and call Michael's name, and he could throw that ball to him on a dime. It was really cool. Now, for people that are listening or thinking, Okay, at this point, you know, Michael's nine and a half 10. And I'm saying to him, you have to hit off a tee he did not he did not initially, he wasn't on board with that. He was like, no one's hitting off a tee. That's, that's, that's stupid. No one, there is no tee. In this in this league, I want to swing at the pitchers like everybody else. And it was an interesting conversation that night that I said, you know, you can do that if you're against the tee. And you think that that's what you should be doing. But let's think about this. Those I've seen in this age group pitch, there is no consistency. It's not like it's gonna they're even going to try to help you out and direct that pitch, you know? And I said, and you still don't, we're not changing the rule, you still only get three strikes and you're out water. And Michael's a very scientific, math minded kind of kid. I said, what's the probability that you're going to hit that ball with that kid pitching it. So then he went into a whole thing about velocity, and oh, my god, he like nerded out on science about the ball not moving and an object not moving. And I was like, guess what I've turned his light off. I'm like, good night. We'll talk about this tomorrow. And the next morning, we sat there eating breakfast. And he said, he said, I'm not happy about having to hit off a tee. But I don't want to, I don't want to let the team down. And I don't want to be that guy that they can count on will be an out every time I get to the plate. So he did, he had to set up the tee on his own, put the ball on there. And and he got, you know, if there was if he missed it three times, he was out. He never did miss three times he got on base almost every single time he actually led the team in RBIs. That very first season and I said you know you didn't contribute by hitting a home run. But you sure did set everybody else up to cross home plate.   Michael Hingson ** 42:33 I presume he had to practice a lot though, to be able to hit it and make good contact.   Kristin Smedley ** 42:38 Oh, oh my gosh, the practice. And I will say this for parents that are listening. We did I want to make sure I re emphasize he did start in blind baseball. Like he had people that were trained in how to teach a blind child baseball. So he knew the mechanics of swinging the bat connecting with the ball, throwing the ball, like he knew all that. And then we just did I mean, I played softball, my whole my whole childhood. So I have some skill there. And we just practiced and practiced and practice and we would get to the games early and run the bases run the bases just so we had that memory of where the those bases were, when he ran his his coach the first year this guy Rich, who was absolutely tremendous. He didn't he just he was on board with everything. But he did not want him out there running on his own and having a sound box or something at the bases. That was where he drew the line. He was like he was too nervous. So I said okay, you know, he was on board with everything else. Let's let's not have them have a stroke here. Let's Okay, so rich would run with them. But as Michael got more and more confident and really knew where those bases were, he was getting faster and faster. And then there was fewer so play in the one game, and it was a tight game. And the kid the kid just clocked this ball and everyone on base Michael was at first the bases were loaded. Now they're running and they're rounding the bases. And Michael enricher running and they turn third and Michael just he just guns it for home and he outran rich so and then all the parents instead of cheering for Michael they were cheering for rich to run faster.   Michael Hingson ** 44:20 Well, you know Rich needs all the help he   Kristin Smedley ** 44:22 can get to was so funny. It was so quiet. And then he looked like we were like, oh god, somebody better get rich some oxygen and I'm like, You think maybe it's time that my   Michael Hingson ** 44:34 zone? Yeah. And what happened?   Kristin Smedley ** 44:39 He did what he ended up doing he would go to like second and just call his name once but he was he hadn't he had a valid concern. He was nervous that if Michael You know, yeah, would do it himself and was on second waiting for a hit. He would never be able to duck. If the ball was coming at him and we didn't I didn't want to rely on on a nine year old to be standing there and tell him So we just had to coach out of the base and it worked out just fine.   Michael Hingson ** 45:02 And, you know, we get back to the whole discussion that you sort of alluded to a reasonable accommodation there. The reality is that there's no reason not to allow for accommodations to permit people who are different than we to be able to perform the same thing. And, again, we we really, collectively, I think, misjudge it a lot. But the fact is that Michael obviously proved he could do it. Now what admits do, did he play baseball or any of that?   Kristin Smedley ** 45:39 Oh, he sure did. He a few years later was on the exact same team. So that was Michael for his first season. The second season is when they won the championship. And I remember watching the whole thing unfold. And then when the whole town was on our sideline, watching and everything that happened, I thought, oh my gosh, this this is like, this is like the feel good movie of the year. And I would talk about I'm like, I gotta make this into a movie. Mitch played a few years later, this same orange Mets team, we are Phillies people, the fact that I have had two kids on teams called the Mets was brutal. But anyway, he was on that team. And, and he won the championship. Also, Mitchell was a completely different. He's a completely different kind of kid made a completely different impact, equally huge impact. But he was they had to figure out real quick about him running the bases because he wanted to steal second, he didn't want to just run the second one, there was a hit. Yeah, he wanted to steal bases, he figured out he was actually the fastest base runner on the Team Mitchell is quick. And he has an even if it's even possible, and even better spatial memory. Or maybe because he has this little see had this little sliver of vision in the in the right corner of his right eye. And if he tilts his head, just so and he was so much smaller and closer to the ground, maybe he was able to navigate the bass line a little better. But he did the same thing. He hit off a tee. And he played the outfield. And I have this I have this incredible picture of him and his best friend Nick, on that team. And Nick's dad was the coach Mitchell, you know, Michael and Mitchell and Shay achieve everything they want in a day. Right? Michael will do it all by himself. I mean, if he was he was moving in Florida the other day, and I swear he was going to try to figure out a way to get a U haul on his own because he did not want to wait for somebody, right? He does, as much as he can all by himself accomplishes everything. And he's exhausted at the end of the day. Mitch uses every ounce of charm, good looks everything to get people to do things for him to accomplish once and he's so he's so crazy with it that that when they would him and his buddy would come in from the outfield. I have a picture of it. Mitchell would hop on Nick's back like Oh, Nick, my legs are tired. We've been out here the whole day. Give me a ride. And he could run with Michel   Michael Hingson ** 48:10 blindness issue? Nope.   Kristin Smedley ** 48:14 It's a laziness issue.   Michael Hingson ** 48:17 Now Oh, my goodness Michael doing today. You said Mitch was in college still. Yeah. Michael   Kristin Smedley ** 48:23 Michael graduated Penn State last year. And you know, I had said that one of my things I thought about was summa cum laude. And sure enough, he was summa cum laude from Penn State. And he had two majors, two minors and a business certificate. There were a couple of semesters that he took 28 credits, they now have a law and Penn State you can't do that. I said, if I get a second tuition bill, that they think there's two of you, you're gonna have to stop doing this. But he's, he was a communications and, and audio engineering, double major. And now he's at Disney. In, in a situation where it's only Michael, I always say I'm coming back in my next life is my son, Michael, because things work out for him in ways that are just unbelievable. But he My mom always says Michael wakes up every day expecting it to be the greatest day and everything to work out. And sure enough, that's what happens for him. But he started with Disney in the live entertainment, doing sound design and things like that. And then he had an opportunity to slide over to working in contracts, and he eventually wants to go to law school and be in copyright law and stuff like that. So he went, he's like, Oh, I could try that out for a little bit. So they're holding only Michael. They're holding his position, the first position while he tries the other one for six months and then decides what he wants to do. In this day and age where 70% of this community is unemployed. People aren't even going to work companies can't get people to work. And then they say to Michael Michaels, like I want to try this and you want to hang on to that. position in case they don't like it. And they said, sure they're loving them down there.   Michael Hingson ** 50:05 You know, you're speaking of Disney and you're talking about descriptions, descriptive audio descriptions. We got the Disney Channel, my wife and I signed up for Disney in 2019, because we wanted to watch Hamilton. And I assumed that it would be audio described and it was, but before I watched Hamilton, I decided, I want to go see one of my favorite Disney movies, if they haven't the sign of Zorro, which goes back to I think 1959 with Guy Williams. And it was audio described, Disney has done a wonderful job of putting in audio descriptions on everything. I haven't watched Davy Crockett yet with this, Parker, but I know it's going to be audio described. Oh, man, it's really amazing that they have done such a tremendous job of putting audio descriptions on the things that they do, which is wonderful.   Kristin Smedley ** 51:00 Oh, yeah. Well, he Michael said they are they are so majorly focused on accessibility and all that they're doing now, especially at the parks, and he's on committees and, and all kinds of things working on his ideas for it's actually how he got the job. He in his interview, you know, there's the whole thing in the blind community, whether you disclose or don't disclose your blindness in the interview. And I said to him, I go, of course, that we were coming out of the, you know, we were in in zoom times coming out of COVID, when he had that interview, and I said, Of course you it's your luck that you get to do a zoom interview, and they will never know Michael is very good at at setting up the camera and the lighting and looking straight on. So there was nothing to tell anybody physically, visually, that he's blind. And I said, Are you going to disclose you're not and he was like, I have no idea. And he was five minutes before the interview, he still wasn't sure what he was going to do. And it just, uh, conversely, he called me afterwards, he said, Well, I made the person cry. And I said, Oh, my God. He said that they he went, they went through all the technical questions. And then there was something to the effect of, of how can you make Disney an even better company? Or what can you really bring to the table, something along those lines? Well, I told a story about growing up. We used to go to the Disney Parks every year. And he said, one of the biggest reasons he loved going to the Disney Parks is that they thought about kids like him, they thought about people that access the world differently. So he could have a phenomenal experience just like his sighted friends, and they could talk a lot about everything that they got out of being at the parks, he didn't feel like he missed out on anything. And he said, he said but also, knowing what I know now and and, and the things that I know professionally, we can make it 10 times better for all abilities, disabilities, all different ways that people access the world. I mean, he said it much more eloquently than that. And it was absolutely magnificent. And, and he ne harped on the fact that it was because of his blindness, that he'd be the biggest asset because he really knew that the couple of tweaks that they needed to do. And then this woman ended up in tears because she said she had never heard somebody so passionate, and so confident that they could make the changes that would enhance the company. And she was in full belief that that would happen. So after he tells me this whole thing I said I'm so what you're saying is you disclosed.   Michael Hingson ** 53:34 It has always been a debate. And I realized, well as back in 1989. I had owned my own company for four years selling CAD computer aided design systems to architects. I didn't need to work the system. All I needed to know was how to work it. And I decided though eventually I was going to go back into the workforce. So my wife and I were looking at jobs, and we found this great one that sounded perfect. And we talked about do you say you're blind or not. And finally, I went off and I wrote a cover letter. And I decided I'm a sales guy. Sure I should be able to talk about and so I wrote, in the cover letter, I said, the most important thing that you need to know about me is that I'm blind. And the reason that's important is because I have as a blind person, have had to sell all of my life to convince people to let me buy a house, take a guide dog into places because we didn't have the ADA back then rent an apartment, go into grocery stores or do anything else that I wanted to do. So do you want to hire somebody who comes in for eight or 10 hours a day? And then they go home because the job is over? Or do you want to hire somebody who truly understands sales for the science and art that it is and sells 24 hours a day as a way of life? And I got the job because of that   Kristin Smedley ** 54:46 that's that's what I love. It's it's it's so many and I was I was the same way for so long until recently looking at it as Oh, I got it. I gotta convince these people that this It's okay. And my kids are okay. And it's going to be just I gotta convince them to give them the chance now I'm like, chance. Are you kidding me? Hiring someone like, like, my Michael gives you the competitive edge? I'm like, exactly. They've got skills they've been practicing oh my gosh, when everyone was talking about being resilient after COVID Michaels like if I hear resilient, one more stinking time, he's like, we have been resilient 57 times a day since the day we were born, like, oh my gosh, it was so funny. He's like, Oh, this 82 People are being resilient. Now.   Michael Hingson ** 55:32 It's a beautiful thing. You know, and we, we keep hearing, and I heard it so often after September 11, we got to get back to normal. And it took me a while to realize that's ridiculous. We can't get back to normal or it'll happen again, normal will never be the same. And I hear it after COVID and everything else. And we, we really need to, to look at things differently than we do. And we need to give everyone the opportunity to use their gifts, to be able to to thrive as much as they can. We talked about conversation, one of the things that I think we knew need to do collectively is to change words we use. I've never I've learned not to be a fan of the whole concept of blind and visually impaired. And I and I realized that my problem with visually impaired after thinking it through was twofold. One, just because I'm blind I'm not visually different visually has nothing to do with that's what the experts did, to screw it up and impaired compared to what why do I need to be compared with eyesight? So I believe that blind low vision is a much more accurate terminology. Deaf people realize that some time ago they will bristle or maybe eliminate you from the world. If you say hearing impaired, for the very reason, you know, visually impaired is is a horrible thing. But that continues to promote the attitude that we really need to change.   Kristin Smedley ** 56:56 Yeah, I 100% agree. And actually, when I'm when I was writing my children's book last summer, I wrote it and then it just came out a few months ago, I have a friend that was my educational consultant on it in terms of words and language. And it's geared specifically for first graders for six year olds. It's best not well, actually, it was funny because it was at school, it was this is how I love looking back on my journey and seeing where everything just aligned beautifully. And this is why I had said earlier, I really pay attention now when things happen to take it all in so that I don't have to wait 10 years to see the gain, as opposed to the loss. So yeah, when I was getting so frustrated in my work with with my first book, thriving blind was wonderful. I mean, it was, you know, 13 people that were role models for me and my boys, I'm sharing with the world. And so that opened a lot of doors to a lot of stages and a lot of conversations. And then you know, with the this unemployment statistics, and I do the short film to convince companies and adults, I felt like I've just I've worked 24 hours a day. And I'm still kind of banging my head against the wall trying to change the biases of adults. And I said to myself, What if the bias never happens in the first place? What if What if kids come into the world with a whole different story about blindness, just like the kids that grew up with my kids, those kids that grew up with my kids, they're out in the world, they'll meet a blind person, and I'm certain that they're like, what football team? Were you on? What position? Did you play in baseball? You know, how many college degrees you have, they have a whole different view of blindness than the rest of the world. So I said, How about if we did, if I do a children's book, that we tell them from the very beginning that differences so it's not that they don't matter? It's that it's what makes you unique, and it's what's inside of you and what you believe about yourself, is what matters because the world is going to tell you a whole bunch of different things. And so to the point of my educational consultant she was looking at it as making it educationally sound for to be in schools and align with curriculum and all that kind of stuff. But we went through every single word to make sure that every single word was empowering and not you know, there's no you don't the word disability isn't even in the book its abilities we say we all my the words are it's in first person about the child telling themself all this and it's about my abilities make me who make me me. It's there's nothing about this in there.   Michael Hingson ** 59:43 Well, what I've also realized is that there's nothing wrong with the term disability. It's a characteristic and the reality is disability doesn't need to mean lack of ability and sighted people Have as much a disability as blind people, except that since Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb in 1877, we've covered up your disability by making sure that you have light everywhere you go. But it doesn't change the fact that it's there. And we really don't deal with with the whole issue at all. But you know, I was in a hotel in March, and then the power went out. And so when it did, of course, everybody started to scream because they couldn't see and they were grabbing for their phones and flat or looking for flashlights, and all that proves my point. The fact is that disability doesn't mean a lack of ability. And we all have that characteristic, in one way or another. And it's high time that we start to move away from thinking and just because some people's characteristics are more visible than others, that they're less than we are, that's just not true. Yeah.   Kristin Smedley ** 1:00:54 Yeah. And honestly, when that message was delivered to my Michael, by way of Eric weimarer, the mountain climber when he was Michael was six, when he met Eric Eric had just come off Everest, back then. And was was being honored in the city of Philadelphia with this big award. And I took Michael down there to meet them. And I'm looking at my little Michael, right, and his little suit, he was he was short for his age. And I watched his, I watched the moment of him talking with Eric and realizing in his own little mind, oh, my gosh, this blind guy is the coolest, he's just like me, he just did the coolest thing. And I've never heard I've never, he never met a sighted person that climbed Everest, you know, we've never met anybody that cool. And this guy happened to be just like him. So in that moment, at six, Michael believes that anything was possible for him. And he listened Eric talks in the speech that he gave, and in the conversation with Michael, it was all about the tools that he had to, had to figure out like he was in full responsibility for, he took full responsibility to achieve that goal. And it was all on him to achieve it, and he believed he could do it, and he found people to help them. That was the message that Michael got that day. And it never wavered. It has never wavered in his mind that he, he believes that things are possible for him, he just has to go get the tools and build a team and do all the things. So I thought, Gosh, I need all six year olds, whether they're blind, sighted, deaf, whatever, to understand that, or to at least get the correct story. That what they can do in this world is up to them, not what other people think about them. And let's let's change that and put the correct story out with the little kids because I'm tired of changing adults minds. Much harder work, it's much easier. And because I taught first grade and was like, I was like a Broadway show with some of the books that I really love. But this book is just like going on a bear hunt, you know, and you're all these actions, and you're meeting these cool people. And then you don't even know that they're blind until the end of the story. Like it's just, you're riding a skateboard and, and you're climbing a mountain, you're painting a picture, like it's just really fun stuff. Because I also I feel like so much of the information that's there for people to get educated about blindness is boring, or it's like heavy, right? Like, it's, it's a lot for people to take in where I'm like, why isn't it just part of the regular story? You know, it's just a regular story happening. And oh, by the way, here's the tools that they use to be able to do that. Because they don't, they're, they don't use their eyes to see like, no big deal. No, but let's talk about that. You know, like, it's just simple and fun. And let's change the story from like I've been saying from the youngest sets of eyes. Is there an accessible version of the book? It's only printed in an accessible version. It's in print and Braille. It's in print in Braille. Yeah, that's the only format we're doing it in right now. Which is incredibly

Gratitude is a tool that connects us to our happiness, success and power.  ~ Kristin Smedley & Mary Fran Bontempo NOTE** This episode was previously aired, but it's fun, has a great message and deserves to be run again! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! Has it ever occurred to you that gratitude can help you tap into your power? We don't often think of thankfulness as a powerful thing. In fact, some of us feel that being grateful may make us seem weak. Here at Brilliantly Resilient, we are card-carrying members on the gratitude train. Even in our darkest hours, we were thankful for those slivers of light that held us up and gave us hope, whether they came from friends, family, or the experts who helped guide us through our crises. Training the mind to focus on blessings instead of lack opens up the spirit, and okay, we're going a little woo-woo here (with Mary Fran's blessing), the universe, to provide opportunities, connections and the strength to move forward instead of stewing in a pot of blech. Gratitude provides focus, as well as the positive energy necessary to make decisions and take action. This Thanksgiving, remember to be truly grateful for blessings both big and small. Live with an open heart and mind and use gratitude as a tool to live a Brilliantly Resilient life! Happy Thanksgiving! XO, KS & MFB

The most important foundational pillar of being Brilliantly Resilient for me is perception. It is how you are seeing your challenges. Are you looking at your life the way it "should be," or are you seeing what "could be?"  ~Kristin Smedley How do you see your challenges? No one looks at challenges as a blessing, at least not at first. But many people report feeling as though their challenges changed them in positive ways--once the crisis was navigated. Brilliantly Resilient co-founder Kristin Smedley recognizes that challenges can leave us stuck in the negative if we don't intentionally seek a way forward. For us here at Brilliantly Resilient, that way forward frequesntly lies in our perception of our problems. We're often stuck in the way we believe our lives should be, frustrated by circumstances that keep us from living the lives we want, or believe we deserve.  Yet, as Kristin tells us, once we let go of what we believe our lives should be and make room for what could be, we begin to uncover not only solutions to problems, but new ways of seeing the world that provide opportunities for growth, success and happiness.  As we reset with resilience, perception is one of the foundational pillars of living a Brilliantly Resilient life. Tune in to this episode of the Brilliantly Resilient podcast for more of Kristin's wit and wisdom, and be sure to pick up your copy of the book, Brilliantly Resilient, on Amazon! Learn more about Kristin's work at https://kristinsmedley.com/. Let's be Brilliantly Resilient together! XO, Kristin & Mary Fran  

Happy Thursday! Today on The Business Shift we have a very special guest. Let's welcome Kristin Smedley! Kristin is the mom of three children, two of which were born blind.  Kristin is the Best Selling author of Thriving Blind: Stories of Real People Succeeding Without Sight and Brilliantly Resilient: Reset, Rise and Reveal Your Brilliance.  A recognized expert in the blindness and rare disease communities, Kristin won the highly regarded Champion of Hope Award, was named an Ambassador for the National Organization of Rare Disorders, and is a 2022 inductee into the Conwell-Egan Catholic Wall of Fame. As CEO of a global patient organization, she coordinated legislation (H.R. #625) that became the first in US history to be submitted in Braille.  Kristin spoke at the FDA to help achieve the first ever FDA approved gene therapy to treat an inherited retinal disease in the United States.  Recently, the research her organization coordinated achieved a $1.25 Million grant from the National Institutes of Health.  Her TEDx Talk, book and international summit changed perceptions of blindness, and sparked a global movement, Thriving Blind Academy, that is solving the unemployment, literacy, and financial crisis in the blind the community. If you would like to connect with Kristin, check out the links below. Also enjoy some of these free resources as well: Her new children's book: www.WhatICanBeIsUpToMe.com Trailer and info about the short film she co-created, "The Greatest Equalizer" www.ThrivingBlindAcademy.org/film Her first book, Thriving Blind: Stories of Real People Succeeding Without Sight https://www.amazon.com/Thriving-Blind-Stories-Succeeding-Without/dp/173206640X Nonprofit: www.ThrivingBlindAcademy.org My speaking/author/everything site: www.KristinSmedley.com Podcast: Brilliantly Resilient Twitter @KristinSmedley LinkedIn @KristinSmedley Instagram @KristinSmedley TikTok @KristinSmedley

From the archive: This episode was originally recorded and published in 2021. Our interviews on Entrepreneurs On Fire are meant to be evergreen, and we do our best to confirm that all offers and URL's in these archive episodes are still relevant. Mary Fran Bontempo and Kristin Smedley know their brilliance. But they didn't always. Both Kristin and Mary Fran know what it feels like to be sucker punched by life. But they refuse to let those sucker punches define them. Together they created Brilliantly Resilient - a show, podcast, program and now a book to teach others how to Reset, Rise and Reveal their Brilliance to the world! Top 3 Value Bombs 1. Do not be married to outcomes. There's always going to be something that pushes you off course, but the beauty is there's also opportunity in that. 2. When you are executing your brilliance, everything is aligned and you're feeling good. But don't assume that it will get you to exactly where you want to go. 3. There are core values in how you live your life - once you align the things you do with your core values, then exponential success happens. Get $100 off with promo code FIRE - Discover your Brilliance Sponsors HubSpot There's a better way to win, and it all starts with the new HubSpot Sales Hub. It's smart software for smart sales teams that feels good to use! Try it for yourself at HubSpot.com/sales Thought-Leader Ever thought about giving a TEDx talk? Visit Thought-Leader.com/fire to join a free training and learn how to land a TEDx Talk and spread your message to millions Policygenius Your loved ones deserve a financial safety net. You deserve a smarter way to find and buy it. Visit Policygenius.com to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save  

From the archive: This episode was originally recorded and published in 2021. Our interviews on Entrepreneurs On Fire are meant to be evergreen, and we do our best to confirm that all offers and URL's in these archive episodes are still relevant. Mary Fran Bontempo and Kristin Smedley know their brilliance. But they didn't always. Both Kristin and Mary Fran know what it feels like to be sucker punched by life. But they refuse to let those sucker punches define them. Together they created Brilliantly Resilient - a show, podcast, program and now a book to teach others how to Reset, Rise and Reveal their Brilliance to the world! Top 3 Value Bombs 1. Do not be married to outcomes. There's always going to be something that pushes you off course, but the beauty is there's also opportunity in that. 2. When you are executing your brilliance, everything is aligned and you're feeling good. But don't assume that it will get you to exactly where you want to go. 3. There are core values in how you live your life - once you align the things you do with your core values, then exponential success happens. Get $100 off with promo code FIRE - Discover your Brilliance Sponsors HubSpot There's a better way to win, and it all starts with the new HubSpot Sales Hub. It's smart software for smart sales teams that feels good to use! Try it for yourself at HubSpot.com/sales Thought-Leader Ever thought about giving a TEDx talk? Visit Thought-Leader.com/fire to join a free training and learn how to land a TEDx Talk and spread your message to millions Policygenius Your loved ones deserve a financial safety net. You deserve a smarter way to find and buy it. Visit Policygenius.com to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save

In this episode of the SolFul Connections podcast, Kristin Smedley shares her journey and the tools she has implemented to oversome seemingly insurmountable odds. Kristin is the founder of Thriving Blind, a three-time author, co-host of the Brilliantly Resilient Podcast, Tedx Speaker, Public Speaker & Advocate, and that is tip of the iceberg stuff. I don't know if she is aware of this or if it's simply a byproduct of who she is, but she spreads kindness, light and empowerment all over the globe. Her dedication to reshaping the future of her family and the world in which her family lives is boundless. She will make you laugh. She will make you cry. She will leave you inspired. Join us for this very special SolFul Connection. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/solfulconnections/support

Kristin Smedley is the best selling author of Thriving Blind: Stories of Real People Succeeding Without Sight and Brilliantly Resilient: Reset, Rise and Reveal Your Brilliance. A recognized expert in the blindness and rare disease communities, Kristin won the highly regarded Champion of Hope Award and was named an Ambassador for the National Organization of Rare Disorders. Kristin is a popular, in demand speaker who has been invited to share her message internationally. As CEO of a global patient organization, she coordinated legislation (H.R. #625) that became the first in US history to be submitted in Braille. Kristin spoke at the FDA to help achieve the first ever FDA approved gene therapy to treat an inherited retinal disease in the United States. Her TEDx Talk, book and international summit change perceptions of blindness, and sparked a global movement, Thriving Blind Academy, that is solving the unemployment, literacy, and financial crisis in the blind community.

Your facial nerve allows you to close your eyes when you need to. And so does hope. Good morning my friend! Today's dose of hope is a story from my new book, Hope Is the First Dose. Click on the button above to hear the audio version. Paid subscribers can also check your email for a video version of the episode. If you don't like to listen, here's a link to the PDF transcript you can read. (Note: these transcripts are computer generated and aren't perfect. I noticed it transcribed Kearney, Nebraska as “Carney,” but it's pretty close overall). In the transcript and the episode, you will learn that the facial nerve allows to make most of your facial expressions, and allows you to close your eyes and smile. Here' why that's so important after we face TMT in our lives. Here's a few other doses of hope for you this week!* A great reflection on hope from our friend, the wonderful podcaster/blogger Katherine Singer. * A terrific post about the threads he saw in the arc of my three-book journey from the Iraq War to Hope from Dr. Jon Swanson.* An opportunity to sponsor or spread the word about our friend Kristin Smedley's powerful children's book, What I Can Be Is Up to Me.* Our friend Tommy Walker has released the epic, orchestral masterpiece he's been working on for over two years! Spend 7 minutes with Tommy today worshiping with He Is the Lord! Hey- you can now order tee shirts and other gear from the podcast and my books! Check out the store here:And we have a new YouVersion/Bible App 5-Day Bible Study available now!Finally, my new book is here! You can get it anywhere books are sold, Hope is the First Dose: A Treatment Plan for Recovering from Trauma, Tragedy, and Other Massive Things! There are major bonuses that are only available if you buy before July 25, including a great playlist of hopeful songs, three chapters of the book, lock screens for your phone, and more!It's a fact, friend: life's going to bring you trauma and tragedy and other massive things, but it's also going to offer you hope, healing, and happiness. You can have both. And I'm going to teach you how. The good news is, you can start today!Remember, friend: you can't change your life until you change your mind. I'm here to remind you that there is a treatment plan. And hope is the first dose.Lisa and I are praying for you.Dum spiro spero (while I breathe, I hope),LeeW. Lee Warren, MDNorth Platte, Nebraska, USAAs for me, I will always have hope… Psalm 71:14Hey- you can get up to six months of free access to all my paid-subscriber-only content on Substack by referring friends to sign up for my free weekly Self-Brain Surgery letter! Click the button below for more information.Self-Brain Surgery with Dr. Lee Warren is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Website | Books | Podcast | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube |YouVersion | MyBridge Radio This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drleewarren.substack.com/subscribe

  Don't operate from a fear mindset, operate from a growth mindset. Look at life from a Brilliantly Resilient lens. ~ Kristin Smedley and Mary Fran Bontempo Happy birthday to us!!! We can't believe it, but this week–March 7th–marks the 3rd birthday of Brilliantly Resilient! When we started Brilliantly Resilient, we planned a “world tour” of speaking on stages, sharing our process to Reset, Rise and Reveal Your Brilliance to the world. We prepared, we created, we dreamed and then, on March 7th, we had our first Brilliantly Resilient live event! It was amazing!! We couldn't have asked for more and we were so excited for the future of Brilliantly Resilient. Then, on March 14th, 2020, the entire world shut down. And so did all of our plans. Given what we preach, you'd think we immediately started to Reset with Resilience. Instead, we cried, we complained, we shook our fists at the heavens…and then we got over ourselves. We realized that we couldn't control anything that was happening in the world, but we could control our response. So, we decided to practice what we were preaching and started to look for ways to share Brilliantly Resilient–when we couldn't leave home. Fast forward three incredible years, and we have a top-rated podcast, a book, we've traveled around the country, both in person and virtually–all to share the Brilliantly Resilient program with thousands of others. As we often say, we are our own best case study, and have implemented each step of the Brilliantly Resilient process over and over again–proving that it works. We work the Brilliantly Resilient steps every day, and we've moved from a fear mindset to a growth mindset. Simply put, that means that instead of crashing and burning with challenges, we acknowledge them, make values-based decisions, check our perspective and see what's in our control. We can then take imperfect action (we've learned that nothing is perfect, and that's okay) and evolve with what happens next. Sharing Brilliantly Resilient has been a joyous opportunity, and we're incredibly grateful for those of you who have learned, laughed and discovered your resilience and brilliance with us. Thank you is not enough, but a heartfelt thanks to you all for your support. We're just getting started! Tune into this week's podcast to hear more (from us!), and be sure to listen for these additional bits of brilliance: When everything is taken away, you get to go back to your basic values, figure out what's important, and make decisions based on that. You can create a process for managing things. I look at life through a Brilliantly Resilient lens now, not as a victim or in anger. Now I know how I'm going to show up when a sucker punch comes along.  You can bring your transferable skills to every experience. Figure out what your Brilliant skill set is and bring that to every experience and see what happens. Then find others with complementary skill sets to add to your tribe. Kids don't look at failure as failure. They look at it as a learning opportunity.  Let's be Brilliantly Resilient together! Kristin and Mary Fran  

Kristin Smedley is our guest for today's Self-Brain Surgery Saturday Conversation!Kristin is an author, podcaster, advocate, thought leader, and highly sought-after public speaker (including an incredible TEDx talk).This conversation will inspire you, challenge you, perhaps make you cry, and leave you wanting to do more in areas of need all around you. “I don't wish blindness or adversity on anyone, but I've learned that it's not your job to direct your kids. It's your job to guide them and be there for them.”Kristin Smedley, from Real Woman MagazineKristin's new children's book is What I Can Be is Up to Me, and it is available for pre-order now!Official Bio from Kristin's website:Kristin Smedley is the Best Selling author of Thriving Blind: Stories of Real People Succeeding Without Sight and Brilliantly Resilient: Reset, Rise and Reveal Your Brilliance. A recognized expert in the blindness and rare disease communities, Kristin won the highly regarded Champion of Hope Award and was named an Ambassador for the National Organization of Rare Disorders. Kristin is a popular, in demand speaker who has been invited to share her message internationally.Click on the photo to read an incredible article about Kristin in Real Woman Magazine!Self-Brain Surgery with Dr. Lee Warren is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drleewarren.substack.com/subscribe

When Life Hits You Hard, What Do You Do Next?Click here to download the pdf transcript of this episode!When life hits you hard, sometimes you don't know what to do next. In this episode, we'll find out. Music by Tommy Walker (Music shared on The Dr. Lee Warren Podcast is authorized under BMI license #61063253 and ASCAP license #400010513 )Also check out our friends Kristin Smedley and Mary Fran Bontempo's great podcast, Brilliantly Resilient! (I was a guest on their show in August of 2020!) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drleewarren.substack.com/subscribe

What people trust you on is essential. We trust that what Public Media puts out there will be beneficial, trustworthy and real.  ~ Kristin Smedley and Mary Fran Bontempo How much do you trust what the world is saying to you? In a world of fake news (often driven by people promoting falsehoods), disrespect and fear as a driving force, it's almost impossible to know whom to trust. But the folks behind public media–think Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, RoadTrip Nation and more–know the value of trust, and deliver it consistently through their programming and educational offerings. This week's show offers a recap of some upcoming episodes with a few of the Brilliant people working in public media. Honored to speak at the NETA (National Educational Telecommunications Association) Conference, we met amazing individuals in public media who shared their own professional and personal journeys, and their Resilience and Brilliance when navigating and growing through challenges.  Their commitment to values, service and steady evolution and improvement underscores points to the reason we trust public media. Stay tuned for these upcoming, Brilliant episodes! Let's be Brilliantly Resilient together! XO, KS & MFB

Let go of what should be to make room for what could be. ~ Kristin Smedley and Mary Fran Bontempo Where would we be without our goals and plans? For many of us, it's essential to have plans, even to begin a day. Without them, we can feel adrift, unsure of where we're headed or what we're doing. But how many times do your plans actually work out? Sometimes, when we tie ourselves to what we want and expect, especially if we've worked hard to get it, we're crushed when things don't work out. Occasionally, we get so stuck on our idea of what “should” be, given all of our planning and work, that we keep after a goal or plan that's not coming to fruition–even if it means running into an imaginary brick wall again and again. Here at Brilliantly Resilient, we know what it feels like to refuse to let go of what we think “should” be. In Kristin's mind, her children should not have been blind, and she was unable to see a future in which they lives successful, happy lives.In Mary Fran's case, her son should not have been an addict, and she refused to accept a reality that was directly in front of her until it was almost too late. Once we both learned to release what we thought our lives “should” look like, we were able to see the possibilities of what could be. Kristin was able to equip her sons with the tools to build bright futures, and Mary Fran was able to see her son's illness and get him treatment. Life evolves. And although plans and goals serve a purpose, it's essential to recognize that there are opportunities for growth and joy, even if we don't get what we think we “should.” Tune into this week's episode of the Brilliantly Resilient podcast to learn more as we launch a new season of amazing guests! Let's be Brilliantly Resilient together! XO, Kristin & Mary Fran

The statement "God works through people in our lives" could be thought of as just a cliche—until we start to really take notice of the people around us and begin to identify what they bring to our world. This realization provides a comforting perspective that shifts us from feeling alone in the world to a grateful understanding that God shows up through the people he uses to walk alongside us through the worst and greatest times of life—and in that, we see a little bit of the divine in the faces of our friends and family. Our guests this week articulate with great clarity how special people have helped them find their paths forward when it didn't seem possible to get there on their own. Kristin Smedley became an advocate within the blind community after becoming a mother to three children, two of whom are blind. She has given a TED talk about her experiences and also hosts the podcast  Brilliantly Resilient. Donovan Carter is a former NFL player turned actor who makes it abundantly clear that his successes would not have happened without those who stood by him before he ever threw a football or landed an acting role.   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview: Derek Evans Upcoming interview: Gary Chapman   Kristin Smedley Brilliantly Resilient Podcast LCA CRB1 Braille Literacy International Challenge Jesus Calling for Moms  www.kristinsmedley.com Thriving Blind: Stories of Real People Succeeding Without Sight   Donovan Carter  Dwayne Johnson Philippians 4:6-7 NIV www.donovanwcarter.com   Interview Quotes: “I was raised in a firm foundation of faith and that God is good and He wants good things for you in this world. And I thought to myself, What kind of a god does this? This is hard. And honestly, I thought, It's mean. I mean, I'm looking at this perfect little person and all of my hopes and dreams for him were extinguished.” - Kristin Smedley “It was like God took a freight train and hit me in the head and said, ‘Kristin, look at this little person. Blindness is not bothering him. It's bothering you. He is figuring everything out.'” - Kristin Smedley “I was just trying to figure out how to make it. And I just kept staying in the Word, kept praying, kept talking to God, you know, ‘Whatever you got for me, Lord, just let me know.'” - Donovan Carter “God made me fearfully and wonderfully. I could do anything in this world if I wanted to and if I had the right mindset, and I'm just so appreciative of Him in my life.” - Donovan Carter ________________________ Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PrbuwH Video Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PsmEkJ What's Good? Playlist: https://bit.ly/3i7VUlZ ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website

We humans are, by design, creators. We build. We write. We cook. We adapt. We learn. Hardship tends to bring out the best in our creative abilities. The first book of the Hebrew Bible describes in poetic brilliance the story of God creating order out of supreme chaos, bringing light out of darkness, and life from lifeless spaces. We praise our Creator in no greater way than when we take what is before us in our skills, our desires, and our time to create beautiful things where there was nothing. Today's guests found that difficult times and their unique life stages gave fertile soil for their creative ideas. The husband and wife team of David and Tamela Mann turned to their music and comedy sketches to bring joy and hope; Laura Story turned to writing and penned a book about courage not being the absence of fear but the strength to take another step.   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview: Alex Seeley Upcoming interview: Kristin Smedley   David and Tamela Mann Willie Stewart James Moore Mattie Moss Clark Twinkie Clark Overcomer “Help”  Tyler Perry show Assisted Living on BET   Laura Story “Blessings” Casting Crowns www.laurastorymusic.com So Long, Normal: Living and Loving the Free Fall of Faith   Interview Quotes: “I thank God for Him living in me and giving me the opportunity to represent Him, and my thing is always to represent Him well.” - Tamela Mann “I try to use my platform to bring more light to [God]." - David Mann “A lot of us need help, but we're afraid to ask for help, and we all need a touch from the Lord.” - Tamela Mann “I'm just praying that we can all just unify somehow, see each other as people and not skin color and not political affiliation.” - David Mann “Don't seek to be famous. Seek to be faithful.” - Laura Story “I'm great at being a person of faith until whatever chapter of my story actually requires faith.” - Laura Story “God didn't create us for normal. He created us for extraordinary lives that are completely and utterly dependent on Him." - Laura Story ________________________ Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PrbuwH Video Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PsmEkJ What's Good? Playlist: https://bit.ly/3i7VUlZ ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website

What would you do if the doctor told you your newborn son would be blind for the rest of his life? Or as a mom, finding out that your son was a heroin addict? Kristin Smedley & Mary Fran Bontempo had to answer the big questions in life when their children forced them to change direction, and shift all hopes and dreams. "This is a parent's worst nightmare, and I was living it." If you are a parent, this is a heartwarming episode on resilience, parenting, and learning to shine despite every setback possible. How these two souls found each other to do the work they do, it a gift from above. Authors of Brilliantly Resilient: Reset, Rise & Reveal Your Brilliance! Kristin and Mary Fran will make you laugh and cry at the same time. https://brilliantlyresilient.net/ About Kristin Smedley With two of her three children born blind, Kristin Smedley was thrown into a mother's nightmare with her dreams for her sons' futures torn apart. Determined that her boys would become productive, vital individuals, Kristin dove headfirst into uncharted waters to equip her sons with the skills and tools they needed to build successful, happy lives. Kristin partnered with Comcast to encourage and promote equipment for the visually impaired, testified before the FDA for legislation for better services for the blind, founded a non-profit for genetic disease research, delivered a TEDx talk centered on setting Extraordinary Expectations, and wrote a book showing both blind and sighted readers the possibilities that exist with imagination and determination. Kristin's boundless energy and generous spirit allow her to carry her message of empowerment and hope to audiences beyond the blind community through her motivational speaking and programs. Find her at: www.kristinsmedley.com. About Mary Fran Bontempo Mary Fran Bontempo is an award-winning 2-time TEDx speaker, author, humorist and podcast host who teaches audiences to uncover their brilliance and resilience 15 minutes at a time. A sought-after presenter, Mary Fran is author of The 15 Minute Master and The Woman's Book of Dirty Words and co-founder of the Brilliantly Resilient LIVE show and podcast. Mary Fran proves small changes can create life-altering transformations, allowing individuals to be positive and successful in a rapidly changing world. A Huffington Post, Thrive Global contributor and columnist for numerous websites, Mary Fran created a life-affirming brand of wisdom and wit after meeting the challenge of her son's heroin addiction. A frequent media guest and speaker for corporate, faith-based, and educational organizations, audiences of all ages delight in her empowering and entertaining message. Find her at: www.maryfranbontempo.com. Awakened Nation® Host: Brad Szollose: Fueled by the passion to ignite game-changing conversations, award-winning author Brad Szollose created Awakened Nation®—a podcast dedicated to deeper conversations with today's cutting edge entrepreneurs, idea makers and disruptors, bestselling authors, activists, healers, spiritual leaders, professional athletes, celebrities and rock stars...conversations that take a deep dive into the extraordinary. This podcast will challenge your beliefs and make you think. Think Art Bell meets Joe Rogan. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/awakenednation/support

Do you know someone who is tired dealing with life's obstacles?Sometimes, life can be too overwhelming. It is filled with many ups and downs that test your character. Would you like to learn how to handle your challenges without being so stressed? Then watch this video.In this program, our guests, Mary Fran and Kristin Smedley discussed how to strive and thrive as they deal with their life's challenges. Mary Fran Bontempo and Kristin Smedley are Resilience experts, TEDx speakers, best-selling authors, media hosts and co-founders of Brilliantly Resilient. As a young mother, Kristin found herself raising two blind sons; Mary Fran navigated her son's crushing heroin addiction. With few resources, they were determined to survive and thrive. They founded Brilliantly Resilient to teach others to come through challenges, reset with resilience, rise and reveal the brilliance within us all. THREE WAYS TO GET THE FREE RESOURCES SHARED IN THIS PROGRAM SIGN UP AT https://bit.ly/HHMGSUTEXT: Word "Joyful" to 38470. JOIN FB Group: Happy and Healthy Mind with Dr. Rozina: http://bit.ly/HHMwDRGLOVE THIS VIDEO and CHANNEL? HERE are YOUR NEXT STEPS!1) SUBSCRIBE to my channel! https://bit.ly/RozinaYT2) SHARE THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND3) GRAB YOUR FREE AUDIO GUIDE: “Relax on the go” https://www.stresstojoy.com/newsletter 4) SIGN UP FOR YOUR FREE Stress to Joy AUDIOBOOK on AUDIBLE: https://adbl.co/2w9LL5W 5) GET MY BOOKS/GUIDED GRATITUDE JOURNAL/AUDIOBOOKShttps://drrozina.com/books/ 6) ENROLL IN STRESS TO JOY ONLINE COURSEhttps://www.stresstojoy.com/onlinecourse 7) BOOK ME FOR YOUR SPEAKING, LEADERSHIP TRAINING, CORP. CONSULTING:  https://drrozina.com/ 8) MAKE AN APPOINTMENT FOR TREATMENT: https://shifahealth.org/request-an-appointment LET'S CONNECT!

We are Mary Fran Bontempo and Kristin Smedley, and we know our Brilliance. But we didn't always. In fact, we know what it feels like to be lost, afraid, unproductive, unsuccessful and unhappy-in other words, BROKEN. That's a lot of yuck, but without it, there would have been no need for RESILIENCE, the key to uncovering your BRILLIANCE. We've learned our lessons the hard way, with few resources and little guidance. And while the road was rough–like ugly crying rough–we also managed to come through with skills, tools and strategies that helped us not only survive, but thrive, in crisis and beyond. Connect with them:Email: howdy@brilliantlyresilient.netWebsite: https://brilliantlyresilient.net/Facebook: @BrilliantlyResilientInstagram: @brilliantlyresilientYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUu4adubD7za8um9SEEpxZA Do you get yourself in your way of your success story? Check out our free webinar at https://event.webinarjam.com/channel/TWT

Kristin Smedley and Mary Fran Bontempo faced devastating challenges as young mothers.  Kristin found herself raising two blind sons and Mary Fran navigated  her son's heroin addiction. Refusing to be defined by their challenges and determined to survive and thrive, Kristin and Mary co-founded Brilliantly Resilient offering skills, tools, strategies and action plans to help others navigate through challenges and reset with resilience to rise and reveal the brilliance within.  Kristin and Mary Fran are resilience experts, TedX speakers, best selling authors, program creators and presenters and media hosts, with over 250 interviews conducted and followed in 700 countries.  Their latest book, Brilliantly Resilient, is an Amazon Best Seller. What You Will Hear in This Episode:  Kristin Smedley and Mary Fran personal stories What Kristin learned about herself when she found her first son was blind The dangers of assuming challenges What Mary Fran learned about herself when faced with her son's heroin addiction Letting go of the things that don't matter and focusing on the things that do Lessons learned by Kristin and Mary on women dealing with resilience How Kristin and Mary met What they have learned from each other Quotes “When you are faced with a challenge or a crisis, you have a decision to make. Either visit the place of crisis or live there.” “We do the best we can with what we know at the time we are going through it.” “We need to look at how we are looking at our challenges. Look for the possibility and potential of a way out.” “Life is not perfect. We will face challenges every day.” “Surrender is not a defeat. It is an action step.” Mentioned: brilliantlyresilient.net The 15 Minute Master Amazon Brilliantly Resilient Podcast Apple Podcast  https://bonniemarcusleadership.com/  Gendered Ageism Survey Results Forbes article 5 Tips to own the superpower of your age Not Done Yet! Not Done Yet! Amazon Bonniemarcusleadership.com The Politics of Promotion Fb @Bonnie.Marcus LinkedIn: @Bonniemarcus Twitter: @selfpromote IG: @self_promote_

Gratitude is a tool that connects us to our happiness, success and power. ~ Kristin Smedley & Mary Fran Bontempo Has it ever occurred to you that gratitude can help you tap into your power? We don't often think of thankfulness as a powerful thing. In fact, some of us feel that being grateful may make us seem weak. Here at Brilliantly Resilient, we are card-carrying members on the gratitude train. Even in our darkest hours, we were thankful for those slivers of light that held us up and gave us hope, whether they came from friends, family, or the experts who helped guide us through our crises. Training the mind to focus on blessings instead of lack opens up the spirit, and okay, we're going a little woo-woo here (with Mary Fran's blessing), the universe, to provide opportunities, connections and the strength to move forward instead of stewing in a pot of blech. Gratitude provides focus, as well as the positive energy necessary to make decisions and take action. This Thanksgiving, remember to be truly grateful for blessings both big and small. Live with an open heart and mind and use gratitude as a tool to live a Brilliantly Resilient life! Happy Thanksgiving! XO, KS & MFB

When Life Hits You Hard, What Do You Do Next? Click here to download the pdf transcript of this episode!   When life hits you hard, sometimes you don't know what to do next. In this episode, we'll find out.    The Dr. Lee Warren podcast is brought to you by I've Seen the End of You: A Neurosurgeon's Look at Faith, Doubt, and the Things We Think We Know, available from Waterbrook/Penguin Random House for pre-order now everywhere books are sold. Don't forget to support your local booksellers!   Go to my website www.wleewarrenmd.com for more information about my letter, this show, my books, and more.   Music by Tommy Walker (Check out his video and devotional here   Also check out our friends Kristin Smedley and Mary Fran Bontempo's great podcast, Brilliantly Resilient! (I was a guest on their show in August of 2020!)   (Music shared on The Dr. Lee Warren Podcast is authorized under BMI license #61063253 and ASCAP license #400010513 )

Stephanie Olson talks to co-founders of Brilliantly Resilient. Mary Fran Bontempo and Kristin Smedley are Resilience experts, TEDx speakers, best-selling authors, media hosts, content creators and presenters who have been featured on Entrepreneur.com, Thrive Global, Medium and others, co-founders of Brilliantly Resilient, and pretty darn funny. But, as a young mother, Kristin found herself raising two blind sons; Mary Fran navigated her son's crushing heroin addiction. With few resources, they were determined to survive and thrive. They founded Brilliantly Resilient to teach others to come through challenges Brilliant, not broken, with tools, strategies, and an action plan to Reset with Resilience, Rise and Reveal the Brilliance within us all.https://brilliantlyresilient.net/https://www.facebook.com/BrilliantlyResilienthttps://www.instagram.com/brilliantlyresilient/https://stephanieolson.com

Show Notes, Episode 29, Kristin Smedley Interview Co-hosts: Cheryl McNeil Fisher and Kathy King An extraordinary interview with an author who's mission is to change perceptions of blindness around the world. An effervescent advocate, author and innovator, Kristin Smedley, author of the popular book on NLS/BARD “Thriving Blind,” joins Cheryl and Kathy for a unique author interview on Writing Works Wonders. Kristin is the mother of two young men who are blind. The success of her book has led to a worldwide community of those affected by blindness including parents, children and more. In this interview, you will also discover more about the newest initiatives regarding navigating college, and entrepreneurship, and the upcoming release of her newest book. About Kristin Smedley With a fun-loving spirit and energetic personality, Kristin Smedley has guided her life in the direction of a career in teaching. However, when her two sons were born blind, Kristin walked away from the classroom to teach her sons how to navigate a world they could not see. This is part of the reason Kristin's mantra is “Life is funny… sort of.” With the right foundation and a multitude of resources, her children have achieved more than most sighted children their age. Kristin has seen first hand that the grim statistics in the blind community, 70% unemployment rate, 14% college graduation rate, and 60% living in poverty, are a direct result of lack of access to the right tools and resources. She has dedicated her life to changing those statistics and making sure no other Mom has to sit isolated in devastation over a rare eye disease diagnosis. In 2011, Kristin launched a nonprofit to fund research and resources for children living with the rare eye disease her sons have, CRB1 LCA/RP. Her efforts have sparked international research, OSA legislation, and support communities, Kristin has done a TEDx Talk in New York City to change perceptions of blindness. In 2019, Kristin published her first book called Thriving Blind: Stories of Real People Succeeding Without Sight. It achieved #1 New Release and Best Seller on Amazon for paperback and Kindle and morphed into vi rant online support communities, Resources for this Episode KristinSmedley.com Thriving Blind book on Kindle, Amazon, NLS Talking Books, & BARD, Kristin's TEDx Talk Writing Opportunities Writing prompts, contests, Open Mic events, and more from Writing Works Wonders! Oh My! All details available at our Contact Us Portal Contact Information: Website www.WritingWorksWonders.com Podcast email WritingworksPodcast@gmail.com Phone or text 347-467-0221 (Not a toll-free number) Writing prompts, Zoom links, contest and special events! Sign-up for our Email List Support this podcast through our Tip Jar or Patreon. Please Follow Us - We want to be social ;) Facebook @WritingWorksWonders Twitter @WritingWksPod Cheryl McNeil Fisher - Author, Keynote Speaker, Educator and Coach. Seminars and Workshops Adults and Children. https://www.cherylmcneilfisher.com/ Submit your work for publication on our site. Guest blogging, poetry, short stories at: https://www.livinginspiredfullyeveryday.com/ Dr. Kathleen P. King- Author, Author Coach, Speaker & Professor (Ret.). http://www.transformationed.com/ Interested in technology and adult learning? Check out Dr. King's newest book from Wiley: http://bit.ly/King2017 We are proud to be hosted by ACB Community and streamed live on ACB MEDIA Community Channel Find more resources and episodes for this podcast at https://writingworkswonders.com/ Support Writing Works Wonders: Advancing Beyond Barriers by contributing to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/writing-works-wonders Check out our podcast host, Pinecast. Start your own podcast for free with no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code writing for 40% off for 4 months, and support Writing Works Wonders: Advancing Beyond Barriers.

Kristin Smedley Knows How Life Can Knock Us Down But she also knows how sometimes those "sucker punches" can create amazing opportunities for personal growth. Join us for an inspiring conversation with TedX speaker, author, and resilience rock star Kristin Smedley. Kristin's website Kristin's book, Thriving Blind Kristin's latest book, Brilliantly Resilient (with Mary Fran Bontempo)

Oh, say it isn't so!! It's just about the end of summer, and this is week 10--the last week--of our Summer of Giveaways Reading Contest!  We've been blessed to feature some amazing authors and friends to help you on your resilience journey. Now this week, we're getting back to basics--US! Our week 10 giveaway features a copy of Brilliantly Resilient: Reset, Rise & Reveal Your Brilliance, as well as a copy of The 15 Minute Master by MFB, Thriving Blind by KS, and maybe a surprise or two! There's no better way to jump into fall than by renewing your committment to your own Resilience and Brilliance--and we'll show you how in this easy-to-read (did you expect anything else?) gem chock full of Brilliantly Resilient wit and wisdom. Head over to Instagram and the Brilliantly Resilient Facebook Community to enter for your chance to win! Let's get Brilliantly Resilient together! XO KS & MFB

Kristin Smedley, bestselling author of Thriving Blind and creator of the Thriving Blind Movement, stops by to share the story of her introduction to blindness and how she found her way out of the darkness to help her family and countless others discover how to see differently.  For show notes, photos and more information, connect with Ambiguously Blind  Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin Get the book: Thriving Blind Visit: KristinSmedley.com  

How do you go from the dark pit of blindness and the death bed of heroin addiction to sitting next to Deepak Chopra with raving fans around the world? That's the journey Kristin Smedley and Mary Fran Bontempo share in their programs, podcast, Best Selling book... and on live stages, podcasts and shows. Website: https://brilliantlyresilient.net/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BrilliantlyResilient Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinsmedley/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinsmedley/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/KristinSmedley Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUu4adubD7za8um9SEEpxZA Brilliantly Resilient on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Brilliantly-Resilient-Reset-Reveal-Brilliance-ebook/dp/B08NTRL2LN/ref=sr_1_1?crid=75LMT0U796C8&dchild=1&keywords=brilliantly+resilient&qid=1627065343&sprefix=brillantly+res%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-1   To learn more about James, visit Professor of Perseverance. You may also contact him through email, James@professorofperseverance.com or call 615 – 336 – 2181

Kristin Smedley was on her way to having a thriving career in education. When she became pregnant with her first son, little did she know that her world and her family's world was about to get turned upside down. Her son was born with a rare eye disease and that changed everything for Kristin. Later, she became pregnant with her second son, who also was born with the same eye disease as her first son. Kristin's story of raising two boys who are blind shows how her strong faith in God has guided her and her family through the valleys and to the tops of the mountains.

On the AccessAbility Works podcast, meet Kristin Smedley, a fierce advocate for authentic inclusion and digital equity, thanks to both her sons being born into the blind community. Kristin helps parents learn how to advocate on behalf of their kids who happen to be blind and works to empower kids to self-advocate through her brainchild The Thriving Blind Academy.

In this episode, we talk with Kristin Smedley. She wrote a book called Thriving Blind, and also has a challenge coming up! You can visit her site here and sign up for the challenge!   Want to Support Our Mission? If you’d like to support what we do, which is not only the podcast but other hope-encouraging projects, you can ... Read More The post MPP 149: Thriving Blind with Kristin Smedley appeared first on Christopher Duffley.

Kristin Smedley, author of Thriving Blind and founder of the new Assistive Tech Tank accelerator program, has a simple message: It's not blind peoples' responsibility to make the world more accessible, it's the responsibility of everyone to be inclusive. Kristin raised her two boys, Mitchell and Michael, to play sports, perform at a high level and never take "you can't because you're blind" as an answer. Today, Michael is in college and Mitchell is finishing high school, and they've benefitted tremendously from both having a parent who never doubted them and a technology landscape that's more powerful and inclusive than ever. In this episode, Kristin, Michael and Mitch join Will to share stories from childhood, recount their journey to blindness and inclusion advocacy, and get in plenty of good natured ribs at each other along the way.

Are you ready to see things differently? In this episode, Liza interviews Kristin Smedly, a relentless optimist. Kristin is a two-time best-selling author, TEDx speaker, advocate, and co-creator of Brilliantly Resilient. She is also the mother of three kids and two of them are blind. Kristin shares her story of how her then three-year-old son helped shift her mindset. At three years old, her son saw the world to be a joyful and beautiful place. She also talks about the need for tools and access, and how extraordinary and remarkably capable her sons are today by having the right tools. Most of all, Kristin reveals how her children helped her become the mother she always wanted to be, by prompting her to ditch the hopes and dreams she had for them and allowing them to build their own dreams and future. Listen to this episode and start seeing things in a different way. This Episode is sponsored by Ryze Superfoods Coffee Order here: https://www.ryzesuperfoods.com/?ref=5bO_H6dIZGAK1 15% Discount Code: veryhappystories Follow Liza and Very Happy Stories on Facebook and Instagram  Download Liza’s free Thrive Guide for more of Liza’s best practices on empowerment and happiness. Subscribe to Liza’s newsletter on VeryHappyStories.com. Find out if Liza can help you by clicking here and schedule your free consultation through her calendar.   Learn more about Kristin Smedley at www.KristinSmedley.com Facebook: www.Facebook.com/ThrivingBlind https://www.facebook.com/groups/BrilliantlyResilient Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinsmedley/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/KristinSmedley LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinsmedley/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUu4adubD7za8um9SEEpxZA

Today on Feminine Roadmap we talk about the process of living brilliantly resilient. Guests Mary Fran Bontempo and Kristin Smedley share their mission to help others live brilliantly resilient so that they can come through struggles and setbacks brilliant and not broken. Resilience, it turns out, exists in everyone, we don't have to go look for it but only to activate it. Both women learned this when they experienced major personal setbacks that were catalysts for them to activate their own resilience. When the women met they realized that they shared intense sucker punches from life that they were both able to overcome. Together they decided to create a platform to help others activate their resilience just as the world was collectively experiencing shut down due to the pandemic. Join us to hear about their amazing journey and the powerful process that they developed to empower people to be brilliantly resilient. Grab a cuppa something wonderful, a friend in the trenches with you and press play!

Welcome to The Big Impact Ep 208 as we welcome the co-authors of the best-selling book, "Brilliantly Resilient: Reset, Rise and Reveal Your Brilliance" - Kristin Smedley & Mary Fran Bontempo. With two of her three children born blind, Kristin Smedley was thrown into a mother’s nightmare with her dreams for her sons’ futures torn apart. Determined that her boys would become productive, vital individuals, Kristin dove headfirst into uncharted waters to equip her sons with the skills and tools they needed to build successful, happy lives. Kristin partnered with Comcast to encourage and promote equipment for the visually impaired, testified before the FDA for legislation for better services for the blind, founded a non-profit for genetic disease research, delivered a TEDx talk centered on setting Extraordinary Expectations, and wrote a book showing both blind and sighted readers the possibilities that exist with imagination and determination. Kristin’s boundless energy and generous spirit allow her to carry her message of empowerment and hope to audiences beyond the blind community through her motivational speaking and programs. Find her at: www.kristinsmedley.com. Mary Fran Bontempo is an award-winning 2-time TEDx speaker, author, humorist, and podcast host who teaches audiences to uncover their brilliance and resilience 15 minutes at a time. A sought-after presenter, Mary Fran is author ofThe 15 Minute Master and The Woman’s Book of Dirty Words and co-founder of the Brilliantly Resilient program, show and podcast. Mary Fran proves small changes can create life-altering transformations, allowing individuals to be positive and successful in a rapidly changing world. A Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, and Thrive Global contributor and columnist for numerous websites, Mary Fran created a life-affirming brand of wisdom and wit after meeting the challenge of her son’s heroin addiction. A frequent media guest and speaker for corporate, faith-based, and educational organizations, audiences of all ages delight in her empowering and entertaining message. Find her at www.maryfranbontempo.com. --------------- BECOME A BIG IMPACT "INSIDER" We need your help to continue presenting the Big Impact each week. You can now share a MONTHLY gift via PATREON  or make a ONE TIME donation via PAYPAL BIG IMPACT VIDEO CHANNEL - You'll find free VIDEOS of our podcast interviews HERE SUBSCRIBE to the Big Impact Podcast for free! Apple - Google - Stitcher - Spotify - iHeart

Get ready to laugh and learn as Kristin Smedley and Mary Fran Bontempo share their train wrecks and how they came through it stronger.  They show us how to uncover our resilience when life hits us hard, and then discover our brilliance to take our journey in a new direction.  Kristin and Mary Fran guide us through their formula of Reset, Rise & Reveal, with actionable steps they used to achieve their success.     Description: Courage Up Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1526947990801218/ Courage Up Show Notes https://www.mingshelby.com/podcast Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/mingshelby/

Resilience, Courage, Relationships, Family, Change Summary   Devastating life events can happen. The question is: If or when they do, can we be resilient enough to overcome them and thrive? We'll look at that in our Thought of the Day. And in our interview segment, Kristin Smedley and Mary Fran Bontempo, two women who have had to be resilient, will share with us how to be brilliantly so. That and more on today's show.   Bob's Thought of the Day   We'll explore:   A fascinating question: How is it that some people are able to live fruitful and productive lives despite going through traumatic situations, while others are never able to recover? The inspiration that comes from seeing others turn a catastrophic situation into something positive.   Interview with Kristin Smedley & Mary Fran Bontempo     You'll discover:   Kristin and Mary Fran's story of creating Brilliantly Resilient. Why it is not helpful to say to someone, “everything happens for a reason.” How small, intentional steps can help you get out of a big crisis. Three steps to becoming brilliantly resilient: reset, rise, reveal. A success story from someone who'd been sucker punched but was brilliantly resilient. The importance of not being married to outcomes.   Click to Tweet   “We wanted to be the resource we didn't have.” @MaryFBontempo @KristinSmedley #resilience On this episode of The Go-Giver, discover the 3 steps to becoming brilliantly resilient. @MaryFBontempo @KristinSmedley #resilience “What can you actually do in this moment to effect change?” @MaryFBontempo @KristinSmedley #resilience   Interview Links   BrilliantlyResilient.net Brilliantly Resilient: Reset, Rise & Reveal Your Brilliance! by Kristin Smedley & Mary Fran Bontempo Thriving Blind: Stories of Real People Succeeding Without Sight by Kristin Smedley The 15 Minute Master: How to Make Everything Better 15 Minutes at a Time by Mary Fran Bontempo Brilliantly Resilient Podcast Brilliantly Resilient Programs Free Resources Connect with Brilliantly Resilient on Facebook Follow Brilliantly Resilient on Instagram Brilliantly Resilient on YouTube   Connect with Mary Fran Bontempo on LinkedIn Follow Mary Fran Bontempo on Twitter   Connect with Kristin Smedley on LinkedIn Follow Kristin Smedley on Twitter   Resources   Endless Referrals: The Go-Giver Way  Order The Go-Giver Order The Go-Giver Leader Order The Go-Giver Influencer GoGiverSalesAcademy.com Endless Referrals: The Go-Giver Way 2-Day Workshop TheGoGiver.com GoGiverSpeaker.com Burg.com  How to Post a Review

Mary Fran Bontempo and Kristin Smedley know their brilliance. But they didn’t always. Both Kristin and Mary Fran know what it feels like to be sucker punched by life. But they refused to let those sucker punches define them. Together they created Brilliantly Resilient--a show, podcast, program and now a book, to teach others how to Reset, Rise and Reveal their Brilliance to the world! Top 3 Value Bombs: 1. Do not be married to outcomes. There’s always going to be something that pushes you off course, but the beauty is there’s also opportunity in that. 2. When you are executing your brilliance, everything is aligned and you’re feeling good. But don’t assume that it will get you to exactly where you want to go. 3. There are core values in how you live your life - once you align the things you do with your core values, then exponential success happens. Get a FREE 15-minute call to hone in your value system and begin to discover your brilliance - Brilliantly Resilient  Sponsors: ZipRecruiter: Let ZipRecruiter take hiring off your plate so you can focus on growing your business. Try ZipRecruiter for free at ZipRecruiter.com/fire! Thinkific: Get on the fast track to launching a course that will sell! Sign up for Amplify 2021 for free at Thinkific.com/amplify!

Join us this week as we chat with Kristin Smedley. A single mom of 3 kids, which 2 of them developed blindness. In 2011, Kristin launched a nonprofit to fund research and resources for children living with the rare eye disease her sons have, CRB1 LCA/RP. In just nine years, the Curing Retinal Blindness Foundation has raised over 1.4 million dollars and achieved a National Rare Eye Disease Awareness Day. That legislation, H.R. #625, was the first in US history to be submitted in Braille and it advocates for better resources for blind and visually impaired Americans. Kristin partnered with Spark Therapeutics to help achieve the first ever FDA approved gene therapy to treat an inherited retinal disease in the United States. She has done a TEDx Talk in New York City to change perceptions of blindness and she partnered with Comcast media to spread awareness of the inclusive X1 product. In 2019, Kristin published her first book called Thriving Blind: Stories of Real People Succeeding Without Sight. It achieved #1 New Release on Amazon for paperback and kindle. Kristin partnered with TMobile and the National Braille Press to make the book available in Braille. Kristin recently received one of the highest honors in the rare disease community: The Champion of Hope Award from Global Genes. During the COVID19 pandemic Kristin and a friend launched an online show/podcast called Brilliantly Resilient where they help their “tribe” Reset, Rise and Reveal their Brilliance after life's sucker punches. https://brilliantlyresilient.net/ Podcast Promos The Derek Duvall Show https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-derek-duvall-show-derek-duvall-NPO48BHytWQ/ Podbreed https://www.podbreed.com/ www.krisandkristineshow.com Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE, rate and review, we love those five star reviews! Thanks for tuning in and until next time…keep moving forward! Twitter:https://twitter.com/k2showsandiego Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thek2showsandiego/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/k2showsandiego Support us on Patreon at: www.patreon.com/thekrisandkristineshow Email us at: krisandkristinepodcast@gmail.com The Kris and Kristine Show Podcast is recorded in Audacity https://www.audacityteam.org/ Post-production editing is completed using Levelator which can be found at: http://www.conversationsnetwork.org/levelator Remote podcasts and interviews are completed using Cleanfeed which can be found at: https://cleanfeed.net/

Kristin Smedley had the perfect life with a great job, wonderful home, nice car, and then children. But just a few months into motherhood, a doctor explained that her baby boy was blind. She believed in that moment that all the dreams she had for him and for the family were gone. Listen to her story of bouncing back from a “sucker punch,” as she calls it, and leading her kids to live inspiring lives without limits.

Kristin Smedley learned to see life differently when her sons were born blind. She impacts the world with her energy & message that we are all Brilliantly Resilient. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinsmedley/

Note: We're planning a special episode for #150 and you can have a chance to participate! Just record your question (QuickTime is great for this), send it to us and if it's chosen, we will play your question and answer it on the show. What happens when you get so attached to a specific outcome that you become blind to other possibilities?How to get to those epiphany moments that will open you up to experience a break-through.Building resilience by looking to your past experiences and applying your existing learning.How to find the tools, resources and role models to create extraordinary outcomes, even when the deck is stacked against you.Using serendipity to push your agenda forward (and the plus side of a coffee addiction).The benefits of getting engaged in your various communities across geographies.Quotables“It’s never a full 180 (pivot)—there are always whispers, signs, intuition leading up to that. ”—KS “I’m fueled by being in service to the world. So that’s what I do when I’m in one of those pits.”—KS“I was going to take those boys by the hands and guide them to the greatness that I knew they were destined for.”—KS “I learned to develop relationships—not just asking for, but giving first.”—KS Related LinksWebsiteThe BookTwitterInstagramFacebook

Thriving Blind, Stories of Real People Succeeding Without Sight, by Kristin Smedley. Let's Talk Low Vision This podcast is a monthly series, recorded on Zoom and distributed in many formats. It is a vibrant discussion featuring Dr. Bill Takeshita as the host and Jessie Wolinsky as co-host. The shows include guest speakers, resources and special topics related to adjusting to low vision. Website –  https://cclvi.info/events/ltlv/ General inquiries –  CCLVIWebmaster@gmail.com Copyright, Council of Citizens with Low Vision International, 2021. All rights reserved

Life will throw us all some major sucker punches at one point or another. We will get knocked down. Mary Fran Bontempo discovered that her son was a heroin addict at about the same time her career in the newspaper industry was facing major cultural shifts and an uncertain future. Kristin Smedley's first son was born blind. Then, her second son was born blind as well. Today, Mary Fran and Kristin co-produce the Brilliantly Resilient Podcast in addition to leading other advocacy groups. On this episode, they share their personal stories, and teach us a think or two about resilience and hope. Go Phils!

Kristin Smedley Knows How Life Can Knock Us Down But she also knows how sometimes those "sucker punches" can create amazing opportunities for personal growth. Join us for an inspiring conversation with TedX speaker, author, and resilience rock star Kristin Smedley.

Kristin Smedley is seeing through the darkness and changing perceptions of blindness. About Kristin When Kristin Smedley's two sons were born blind, she had to give up her dream career teaching 3rd grade and figure out how to survive and unknown world. After figuring out how to raise her own unsighted children, Kristin dedicated her life to making sure no other mom has to sit isolated in devastation over a rare eye disease diagnosis.  She is on a mission to change the perception of what it means to be blind. In 2011 Kristin launched a non-profit to fund research for children living with the rare eye disease her sons have, CRB1 LCA/RP. CRB1.org is not only providing support for parents of blind children but raising awareness and funds for rare eye disease research. She has done a TEDx talk in New York City to change perceptions of blindness and recently published her first book in 2019; Thriving Blind: Stories of Real People Surviving without Sight. Kristin is a popular keynote speaker with her message “I'll Teach You to See: Set Extraordinary Expectations”. First Phase During her first phase Kristin was a 3rd grade teacher.   She had it all.  The husband, the big house, a great job!  And then came the baby!   Life was perfect until it wasn't. Second Phase Kristin's first child was born blind.   At the time, there were limited resources available for parents with non-sighted children.  The perception of blindness was so negative.  Kristin lost hope in the future for her son. Then along came her second son.  Also, blind.  A double whammy to some, but extraordinary blessings to Kristin, especially once she accepted their blindness. About Blindness Blindness is the second most feared thing next to death.   Just one reason for Kristin to be a champion in the blind community.  Twenty million people in the US are blind.  The unemployment rate for people who are blind is 70%.   More fuel for Kristin's fire of desire to change the perceptions of blindness. The Perfect World If everyone had a good perception of blindness and blind people were treated with the same respect and given the same opportunities as sighted people, there would be no need to fight for a cure.  Kristin's mission to change the perception of blindness is fueled by the lack of expectations, the misunderstandings and the lack of opportunities offered to the blind vs. sighted communities.  If perceptions were great, research wouldn't be necessary.  If parents of blind children just sit on the couch and cry, and don't advocate, the unemployment rate and the perceptions will never change. Lessons Learned You are given experiences so that you can learn from them and then help others who are experiencing what you went through, or something similar. It's important not to put your dreams on your children. Get them what they need and follow their lead.  Let them go after their own dreams, not yours for them. Get to know the things that you fear the most because it is the things that you fear that are often the most powerful. Surrender the control and move forward because everything is “figureoutable”. Don't try to do it by yourself! Book Recommendation Touch the Top of the World: A Blind Man's Journey to Climb Farther than the Eye can See: My Story by Eric Weihenmayer Favorite Quote Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.  – Ralph Waldo Emerson Learn more about and connect with Kristin Website Instagram Facebook Twitter About the Host, Robyn Graham: Learn more about your host, Robyn Graham, click HERE.  To learn about The Brand Marketing Insider by Robyn Graham, click HERE.  Book a Brand Marketing Strategy Session HERE. Ask Me Anything HERE. Connect with me, Robyn Graham: Website | Instagram | LinkedIN | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Pinterest  

Kristin had the picture perfect, scene out of a Hollywood movie life, and it came crashing down… or so she thought.  “Perception of our “crisis” is really the key to changing our story.  AND EVERYONE can change their story at ANY point in their journey!” Show notes can be found at ShapeItUpFitness.com

In part one of my conversation with Kristin Smedley, we talked about how she learned the importance of resilience as she adapted to life as a mom of two blind children. In this part, Kristin dives a little deeper into what this aspect of her life is like, and how she copes and the perspective her family lives by that helps them succeed and thrive in whatever they close to do. Enjoy!

In part one of this two-part episode, I talk to Kristin Smedley, author of “Thriving Blind: Learning To See Without Sight.” Kristin’s dream in life was to be a mother but found herself devastated and angry when she learned that her son was blind. Now the mother of two blind sons, Kristin shares with us her journey of cultivating and maintaining resilience as her family learned to overcome their challenges. Her sons are now accomplished athletes, lead meaningful lives, and are filled with vision despite their lack of sight. I thought Kristin's wisdom would be especially relatable and helpful to anyone who may be struggling during this time due to the coronavirus pandemic, so please be sure to take a listen!

Welcome to the Brilliantly Resilient podcast with Mary Fran Bontempo and Kristin Smedley! Our usual line is "What's your train wreck?" But as of this launch, we've got a global train wreck on our hands, and it's the perfect time to uncover our Brilliance and Resilience. On this first episode, we're blessed to have one of our favorite friends with us--Chip Baker of The Success Chronicles! Tune in and listen as Chip sprinkles us with his wisdom and positive energy. Time to get Brilliantly Resilient!!!

Vulnerability is the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally. Sounds pretty frightening, doesn't it?   Yet, we have to allow ourselves to be vulnerable if we want to create a life we desire.  Courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to act anyway.   We all live with fear.   It isn't an emotion that we can suppress completely, but what we can do is talk to ourselves and change our mindset surrounding it.    Join me as I share my journey with embracing vulnerability, overcoming fear through courage and leaning on my tribe, and how I am now able to do things I couldn't do in the past.     I didn't do it alone.  I was blessed to have a support system, my husband and my tribe, Mary Fran Bontempo, Kristin Smedley and Kathy Marcino, my co-hosts at 4 Chicks Chatting.     Brene Brown and her book, The Gift of Imperfection was a big influence for Robyn.     To learn more about your host, Robyn Graham, click HERE.     To learn about The Brand Insider by Robyn Graham, click HERE.     To connect with me, Robyn Graham: Website | Instagram | LinkedIN | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Pinterest

In this episode, Kristin Smedley sits down with President of WCG Patient Advocacy, Steve Smith, to talk about the journey her two children with retinal blindness have experienced. Known as the “happiest mom of two blind kids” and a powerful TEDx talker, Kristin highlights the CRB1 rare genetic degenerative disease both of her boys are affected with. She underscores the importance of genetic diagnosis and shares the impact clinical trials and patient advocacy groups have had in finding a cure for this disease.

Philadelphia is riddled with history. There is one family there that is adding to the long list of historical happenings. This episode is a conversation with Kristin Smedley, TED Talker, author, President of Curing Retinal Blindness Foundation and recent Award winner. She’s Mom to two young men who defy the term “blind” and a beautiful daughter who is blessed with vision beyond her years. Sit in with us as I get one on one time with all four family members.  Kristin Smedley is a rising star in the blindness community and making inroads with geneticists, politicians and CEO’s. I don’t stop with Kristin, I had the good fortune to meet with her two sons, Michael and Mitch, who both are blind and defying all boundaries (because they don’t see any). But wait! There’s more! There’s a fourth Smedley, Karissa, the youngest who holds her own and is sighted. Find out more at www.CRB1.org and www.ThrivingBlind.com. You can get her book, Thriving Blind: Stories of Real People Succeeding Without Sight on Amazon.com. Enjoy this beautiful family.

Overcoming the fear of being your authentic self. Life is Funny...Sort of. She believes that if she can find the fun in her fundamentally challenging life, anyone can in theirs! Kristin is a single Mom that has bounced back from hearing 'Your son is blind' TWICE. Two of her three children are blind and she is their full time caregiver - with a kickass tribe! Kristin will ignite the audience to Live Unconditionally - stop all the IFs and IF ONLYs, and realize happiness now!

Overcoming the fear of being your authentic self. Life is Funny...Sort of. She believes that if she can find the fun in her fundamentally challenging life, anyone can in theirs! Kristin is a single Mom that has bounced back from hearing 'Your son is blind' TWICE. Two of her three children are blind and she is their full time caregiver - with a kickass tribe! Kristin will ignite the audience to Live Unconditionally - stop all the IFs and IF ONLYs, and realize happiness now!

Overcoming the fear of being your authentic self. Life is Funny...Sort of. She believes that if she can find the fun in her fundamentally challenging life, anyone can in theirs! Kristin is a single Mom that has bounced back from hearing 'Your son is blind' TWICE. Two of her three children are blind and she is their full time caregiver - with a kickass tribe! Kristin will ignite the audience to Live Unconditionally - stop all the IFs and IF ONLYs, and realize happiness now!

This week on OA on Air, Cosmo and Cayenne reflect on 9/11 with former journalist from the Boston Herald Tom Farmer. Then, Ann speaks with activist and author Kristin Smedley. As a mother of two blind sons, Kristin Smedley is a fierce advocate for the blind and visually impaired. She is also an advocate for braille literacy, which is also the mission of Boston-based National Braille Press which published her book in braille, Thinking Blind. Ann Murphy sits down with Kristen to talk about her life's passion. Lastly, in 2 Minutes with Tom, Tom offers his thoughts on the closing of the infamous Doyle's Pub in Jamaica Plain.

Kristin Smedley is an award-winning nonprofit leader, TEDx speaker, and author. She never planned any of that. But then two of her three children were diagnosed with a rare disease that causes blindness, and she had to learn how to use tools to help them. Kristin’s two blind sons are now thriving as gifted high school and college students. She is the founder of the Curing Retinal Blindness Foundation, the only patient organization in the world for her sons’ blindness, CRB1 LCA/RP. Her book, “Thriving Blind: Stories of Success Without Sight” is available in all formats, including electronic Braille and large print. Kristin speaks internationally on the topic of “Setting Extraordinary Expectations” for your personal journey, and she’s also a co-host of the 4 Chicks Chatting Podcast. In this podcast, Kristin shares her inspiring personal journey and the simple steps she took that elevated her Twitter presence. That success has helped her advocate for her two blind sons and launched her role as an advocate for the blind and visually impaired community. Podcast show notes available at https://madalynsklar.com/twittersmarter58

Kristin smedley was a new mother with a dream life when she found out her baby was blind due to a rare disease.  Then she was dealt a second "dose of blindness" a couple years later when her second son was blind too.  All the hopes and dreams she had for her life were crushed. It took several years but she learned to follow her kids' lead to navigate the world of blindness.  And she learned to Set Extraordinary Expectations through her experiences.  

Kristin smedley was a new mother with a dream life when she found out her baby was blind due to a rare disease.  Then she was dealt a second "dose of blindness" a couple years later when her second son was blind too.  All the hopes and dreams she had for her life were crushed. It took several years but she learned to follow her kids' lead to navigate the world of blindness.  And she learned to Set Extraordinary Expectations through her experiences. Kristin's website: kristinsmedley.com Kristin's new book Thriving Blind: http://kristinsmedley.com/about/book/ https://youtu.be/Rdar-vklzeE

Full Transcript Below Show Summary: Life is funny… sort of.    That’s how Kristin sees it! Kristin Smedley is an award winning non-profit leader, TEDx speaker, and author – but she never planned on any of that. Image of the Thriving Blind Book Cover however her personal path to greatness took an unexpected turn when two of her three children were diagnosed as blind. She had to learn the tools of blindness and build a team of experts that would help her navigate this path that she had not been trained for. Kristin’s two blind sons are now thriving. (taken from www.KritinSmedley.com) Blind Abilities Teen correspondent, Simon Bonenfant, sat down with Kristin to talk about her book Thriving Blind. Kristin shares her experience from raising 2 sons who happen to be Blind, and how she found confidence from  others who were living successful lives without sight. Her journey through education and meeting parents who faced the limited expectations gave Kristin  the incentive to do more.  Learn about the foundation she created and what led her to write her first book, Thriving Blind. You can find Thriving Blindin paperback , and in Large Print, as well as in Kindle Edition. You can also go to www.KristinSmedley.comand get the Electronic Braille format. Contact: Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Storeand Google Play Store. Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Job Insights Support Groupand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.   Full Transcript: Full Transcript Meet Kristin Smedley: Author, of Thriving Blind: Stories of Real People Succeeding Without Sight. Interview by Simon Bonenfant Kristen Smedley: I was pretty much told, "They might have to know Braille, they'll have to learn how to use a cane, and good luck." Jeff Thompson: Introducing Kristin Smedley, author of the new book Thriving Blind. Kristen Smedley: Nobody told me what was possible for them. I had no education on blindness whatsoever. I spent 19 years going out and finding people that were literally succeeding without sight. Jeff Thompson: Thriving Blind on Amazon for paperback and Kindle, and large print, and you can go to kristinsmedley.com for the electronic Braille version. Kristen Smedley: And how about this? I told our principal about it, and he sent Michael's entire IEP team to that high school to hear Eric talk. Jeff Thompson: Kristin is an advocate for parents of blind children, and herself is a parent of two sons who happen to be blind. Kristen Smedley: "I'm kind of nervous and all," and she goes, "Are you kidding? I was so happy to be invited because the first book I was in, it was about being a failure." Jeff Thompson: An interview conducted by our teen correspondent, Simon Bonenfant. Simon Bonenfant: We all have our cross to bear, and we all have something that's going on, and there's two ways to look at that. We could either get down about that, or we can find encouragement in each other through our sufferings, and turn into something good if we stand together through that. It sounds like your book promotes that as well. Kristen Smedley: I love that, Simon. Kristen Smedley: Whether they were blind from birth or came into blindness later in life, they all had a different strength that they found in themselves. Jeff Thompson: For more podcasts with the blindness perspective, check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com, on Twitter @BlindAbilities, and download the free Blind Abilities app from the app store and Google Play store. That's two words, Blind Abilities. And be sure to enable the Blind Abilities skill on your Amazon device just by saying "enable Blind Abilities". Jeff Thompson: And now, please welcome Kristin Smedley and Simon Bonenfant. Kristen Smedley: When you're first told that you think you're going to have this life plan, and now you got to rethink your whole thing, it kind of stinks. Simon Bonenfant: Hello Blind Abilities, this is Simon Bonenfant here. Today I got a chance to talk to Kristin Smedley. How are you doing, Kristin? Kristen Smedley: I'm good, thanks. I'm so happy to be here, Simon. Simon Bonenfant: And you are the author of a book, Thriving Blind. Kristen Smedley: That's right, that's my new book. First book, new book. Simon Bonenfant: Very good, congratulations. Kristen Smedley: Thank you. Simon Bonenfant: And what is your book about? Kristen Smedley: So Thriving Blind is stories of real people succeeding without sight. It highlights 13 people that are chasing their dreams, living in the careers that they choose to have, regardless of vision loss. And I say 13, it's actually 12 interviews that I did, and the 13th person is Erik Weihenmayer, the blind mountain climber and adventurer extraordinaire that wrote the forward for the book. Simon Bonenfant: Very good. Simon Bonenfant: Let's just go back a little bit. How did you get the idea for the book, and what is your past interactions with blindness? How did you get in the blindness field? Kristen Smedley: I came about this by accident. Two of my three kids were diagnosed as blind 19 and 15 years ago. I was pretty much told, "They might have to know Braille, they'll have to learn how to use a cane, and good luck." Nobody told me what was possible for them. I had no education on blindness whatsoever. I spent 19 years going out and finding people that were literally succeeding without sight, because I wanted my boys to do that. I didn't want to just be that we would go home and be blind. Simon Bonenfant: What was their journey like throughout school? Kristen Smedley: They did all of the regular public schools. They were even on baseball teams and the swim team. All kinds of stuff in our town. I've worked myself silly to make sure that they could do everything that they wanted to do. Honestly, I never would've anticipated all of this, and I didn't think all of this was going to be possible when those first diagnoses came, until we met Erik Weihenmayer. Kristen Smedley: He had just come off of Everest and was climbing the other seven summits, and I thought, "Well... " That was when Michael was six. I thought, "Well, if he can do it, we can do it. We just have to find all the tools and resources to do it." Which has been an interesting journey with getting some things and fighting for others, as I'm sure your family can attest to. But we've made it work. Simon Bonenfant: And how did you meet Erik? How did you first meet him? Kristen Smedley: You know, somebody sent me his book when Michael was a year old, I believe, and then... I have to remember. Through happen circumstance, I found out he was going to be speaking at an event in my hometown of Philly, and there's the Associated Services of the Blind of Philadelphia— Simon Bonenfant: Yep. ASB, yeah. Kristen Smedley: Yeah, they put on an awards banquet every year, the Louis Braille Awards, and Erik was being recognized. Somehow I was able to get ahold of Erik's dad Ed. I got him on the phone and said, "Listen, while you're here, we'd love for Michael to meet Erik," and it turned out that Erik was speaking at a high school right near my house. And how about this? I told our elementary school principal about it, and he sent Michael's entire IEP team to that high school to hear Erik talk. Simon Bonenfant: Wow, that's incredible. Kristen Smedley: Yep. And I really credit that moment with, when they came out of Erik's speech, their minds were wide open to all the possibilities for Michael, and then eventually Mitchell when he went to that school. Simon Bonenfant: That's great. And I've heard you speak before [inaudible] and I've always taken away that you're a big advocate for the blind doing whatever they want to do. Kristen Smedley: Whatever they want to do. Yeah. Simon Bonenfant: It sounds like Erik really inspired you to get that way. Kristen Smedley: He was the number one inspiration for that, and the second person along those lines was a woman by the name of Kay Lahey who's a mom of a blind man, because he's now in his late 20s or early 30s on Capitol Hill, but she was the first mom that I met that said, "You can still have them do whatever they want, you're just going to have to do a lot of work behind the scenes in the early years to get them the tools that they need, and then watch them soar." So I was lucky. Simon Bonenfant: Very good. Simon Bonenfant: And when did you have the idea first to seriously pursue the book and chronicle your experiences and other people's experience? When did you first get the idea to say this is something that you're going to seriously pursue? Kristen Smedley: That's a great question. Right around 2011, I started the patient organization for our specific blindness. Initially it was set up to fund research for a cure, but then I was meeting all these parents through that organization that were pretty much, for the most part, sitting on the couch and crossing their fingers for that cure, because they still had no idea how to get out there and get the kids the tools and resources. A lot of schools were telling them that they didn't have the resources, and they were giving them some bad information in terms of Braille and activities and options and stuff like that. Kristen Smedley: So then I started sharing all the stories that I knew of these folks that I was meeting, blind architect and mechanic, all the possibilities that were out there, and I thought, "Okay. We've got to get this to everybody." It was going to be either a website or a pamphlet for doctors to hand these families so that they knew there was some potential. And that pamphlet and website evolved into a book. Simon Bonenfant: Wow, that's great. Simon Bonenfant: Just going back to your foundation, what is your foundation called, and how did you get the idea to start that up? Kristen Smedley: So crb1.org is the Curing Retinal Blindness Foundation, and like I said, it specifically started for kids like my boys that are, it's a mutation in the crb1 gene that causes their Leber's congenital amaurosis. We did initially start because there was work being down in the field that was using gene therapy to restore some vision, and initially that was my hope, that a miracle would come and they'd be able to see. All in a day's work, right? But then we quickly had to diversify the mission to realize that that's how we were going to help people get tools and resources to raise these kids. Kristen Smedley: Because honestly, there's a lot of people out there that are blind and happy with their lives that way. Simon Bonenfant: Oh, absolutely. Kristen Smedley: And honestly, in my house right now, one of two is saying, "I'm good. I'm fine. This is me, and this is my life, and I'm just fine." The other one's saying— Simon Bonenfant: That's the way I see it. Kristen Smedley: Yeah. And there's a lot of people in the blind community that are like that. And then the other half is saying, "Well, if I have an option to do some things that I can't do without sight, I'd like that option." Simon Bonenfant: And that's okay as well. Kristen Smedley: Yeah! Yeah. But you know, for a while there, the blind community wasn't open to... one side of the fence wasn't open to the other camp's way of thinking, and I think that we can all live in the same world with those two different options and be cool with that. Simon Bonenfant: Exactly. Because until that day comes, they're blind, and we can all learn from each other. Kristen Smedley: Yep. Simon Bonenfant: That's the way it works. Simon Bonenfant: So going forward to your book, how did you get the people that you were wanting to get? When you first started it, did you have instantly in mind these 13 people, or did it kind of evolve? Kristen Smedley: That's a great question. I just reached out to the people that I had met, and there's a few that I had not met at that point. It was just through conversations with the IEP team and other people. When I was saying, "I'm putting this book together," people said, "Oh you got to interview this person, and you got to interview that person." But for the most part, I met them all and they all jumped on board with it and said yes. Simon Bonenfant: Very good. Simon Bonenfant: So how did you conduct the interviews? Did you go to where they lived? [crosstalk] Kristen Smedley: It was all on the phone. Simon Bonenfant: Oh, on the phone. Okay. Very good. Kristen Smedley: Yeah, I found an app called... if I remember right, it was called Tape A Call, and I was able to record all the interviews and take notes, because my mind can't do one or the other, I have to do two things [crosstalk] And then I transcribed all of those interviews, and interestingly enough, initially I was writing the book in my take on their interview. And then a friend of mine said... I was in this Mastermind group where we all got together on Skype and talked about our businesses and our ideas and help each other work through stuff. And my Mastermind group said, "Wait a minute. People are going to want to hear their own words. From your people that you interviewed, do it in their words." That actually made it way easier. I just edited it down to fit in the book. Kristen Smedley: So it's totally written in, it's their own words, each of the people I interviewed, and you can tell one of my editors emailed me and said, "Is this guy that I'm going to... " it was Simon Wheatcroft... she goes, "Is he from the UK? Because he talks differently." The way I wrote it, I wrote it all in his voice. I said yeah. She's like, "Okay, I need to know that as an editor." Simon Bonenfant: Wow, so how long did it take you from the time of the interviews to the writing? Kristen Smedley: It was a few years, because I did all those interviews, and then it was trying to figure out what was the best mechanism to get it out there, and then it was... There was a lot of stuff that happened in my life, and kept getting put on the back burner, and the foundation was really taking off. Kristen Smedley: If I'm being perfectly honest, one of the biggest issues I had was fear. I was really nervous about; I had never written a book before and I wasn't a writer. I'm very good at speaking and— Simon Bonenfant: Yes you are. Kristen Smedley: I'm used to parties and stuff, but writing was one of my least talents on the list growing up, and in my adult life, and I was so nervous about putting a written work out into the world. And then my life just happened that I had to do something, I had to start getting some income, and it was also... This mission just had to get out there. I was meeting way too many moms that were struggling, and I didn't have this resource to hand them yet. Kristen Smedley: "You know what, Kristin? Get over it. You've got to get over yourself and your fears," and I went and talked to a lot of authors that had similar fears early on. Talked to people that published successful books, listened to a zillion interviews and podcasts, and just went for it. Simon Bonenfant: Wow. And who are the 12 other people? You mentioned Erik is the 13th person, but who are the 12 other people that you got? Kristen Smedley: Oh gosh, now I'm going off the top of my head. I'll give you a few highlights and then people can dive into the book. Kristen Smedley: One that really stuck with me, especially when I was editing and going through some stuff in my life, was Monty Bedwell. Did you ever hear of him? Simon Bonenfant: No, actually. Kristen Smedley: He's a good friend of Erik's. He kayaked the Grand Canyon and his book is called 226. That's how many miles are in the Grand Canyon. Simon Bonenfant: Wow. Kristen Smedley: But his story... I should mention that half of the people in the book... I didn't intend it this way, but half were born blind, and the other half went blind as adults. Simon Bonenfant: Oh, that's interesting. That's a good mix, then, I guess. Kristen Smedley: Right? And I didn't even intend that. But Lonnie is one of the ones that went blind as an adult, and the stuff he went through in his life, and being in the service, and all this stuff, and he goes blind from an accident that was caused by one of his best friends. Total freak accident. And the fact that Lonnie came through that, and his life is incredible now. His whole story, the undertone is loving and forgiveness and friendship and kindness. It got me through so many of the struggles in my own life. I always go back to Lonnie's chapter, and I talk with him every now and again, because he's just a cool, nice guy. He's a single parent, and his stories of how he handled... Kristen Smedley: It was actually his five-year-old daughter that was the pivotal moment of him handling his blindness. The story's hilarious of him... Let me just tell you, it involved driving a lawn tractor. Simon Bonenfant: Wow. Kristen Smedley: And his five-year-old putting her hands on her hips and telling him to get over himself and get on with his life. It's a hilarious story. Kristen Smedley: But Lonnie, that was a really cool one for me. Kristen Smedley: Chris Downey is another one that went blind as an adult. He was a very successful architect. Again, had a medical issue that there was something that saved his life, a surgery, caused his blindness, and when he woke up, totally blind. He said everybody came in and took his life away. Even his phone, because they said, "Your life is going to be different now. You're going on disability. You're not working anymore," and he said he had a 10-year-old son at home that he needed to set an example for. He got back to work as an architect within a month of that surgery, and he's more successful now than he was then. Kristen Smedley: That is a TED Talk that you should watch. Chris Downey on if we would design communities with the blind in mind, how much better those towns would be. Simon Bonenfant: Very good. Yeah, we could probably put that in the show notes. Kristen Smedley: Oh, that would be great! Simon Bonenfant: We have a show notes portion we put that. Simon Bonenfant: Getting on to TED Talks, you actually did a TED Talk. That's a good segue, right? You did TED Talk? Kristen Smedley: I did. I did. It was the hardest thing I ever did. Simon Bonenfant: Wow. What was that about, the TED Talk? Kristen Smedley: That was about how my perception of blindness changed, and it was from my two boys. Mainly Michael, because he was the first born. Kristen Smedley: For a long time, I wasn't proud to mention how horrible I was in dealing with the blindness diagnosis. I mean, if you want to see an epic example of how not to handle a blindness diagnosis, that was me. Kristen Smedley: But Michael changed my perception on that when he was three, and when I finally looked at the situation differently, that's when our journey just exploded into amazingness, and the talk is trying to teach the lesson that if you look at things differently, especially blindness, how much your life can open up. Simon Bonenfant: I'm sure you learned a lot from the book. What was the biggest takeaway that you learned from all the interviews that you apply to your own life? Because a lot of these stories can apply to anyone, really, not blindness. Just the idea of overcoming obstacles, whatever that is... that means blindness to some people, maybe it's not, maybe it's just in the mind for some people, overcoming fear and things. So what was your biggest takeaway that you apply to your own life from your interviews? Kristen Smedley: Oh my gosh, you have the greatest questions. Kristen Smedley: So I could probably talk for hours on this, but I think... I went into this to teach people about changing their perception of blindness, and that was the goal of each interview. But I'm telling you, when I was going through the process... remember I told you it took a couple of years to get it written and everything... every time I was going back to these chapters to rewrite and edit and get them perfect, something was going on in my life. Kristen Smedley: One of the biggest ones was when I got divorced. And then I was going through and editing these chapters, and I was taking stuff away from them, like Lonnie with forgiveness and friendship, and Diane Berberian is the iron man competitor, and her thing is just finding the fun in everything, and the joy. And her stories, you know, so much happened with her. She went through a divorce, too, and she went through a bunch of stuff, but she made me laugh through the entire interviews, and even when I was editing her chapter. Kristen Smedley: So I guess it's hard to pinpoint just one thing, but each person gave me a different takeaway, most of them being resilience, and everybody's got something. Everyone has something they struggle with. And even all these people, whether they were blind from birth or came into blindness later in life, they all had a different strength that they found in themselves along their journey somewhere. Simon Bonenfant: I always find that we could have encouragement from other people having struggled, because we all have struggles in our life. No one's perfect. I always say, "We all have our crosses to carry," and it's true that we all have our cross to bear, and we all have something that's going on, and there's two ways to look at that. We could either get down about that, or we could find encouragement in each other through our sufferings, and turn it into something good if we stand together through that. It sounds like your book promotes that as well. Kristen Smedley: I love that, Simon. That's... how old are you? Simon Bonenfant: 17. Kristen Smedley: Oh my god. That's an incredible way to look at this world, and let's promote that perspective more, because if people would do that, could you imagine? If people would realize everybody's got something going on, and let's see what we can do to help the other person out, that would be an incredible way for things to not be such big things in this world. Simon Bonenfant: Exactly. Simon Bonenfant: And going back to the book, when you were doing interviews for the people, did you have a set of questions, or did you kind of make it go as the conversation flowed? How did you end up having a method, too, to where you asked the questions and things? Kristen Smedley: You know what? I was so nervous about it, because I had never written a book before. So to that point, I had a list of questions, and then I'm like, "Nah, that's stupid. Let's do it this way. Nope. Let's do it this way." And then I was putting off all the interviews because I wanted it to be perfect. So then I'm like, "Okay, here's what I want people to get out of this." I went back to my, when I was trained to be a teacher, a lesson plan. What do they know? What do they need to know? What are the objectives? And how will I know that this will see success to measure it? Kristen Smedley: So I figured, all right, I want people to know what this person's condition is, what the blindness is. Were they born blind or did they go blind? What are their big tools and resources that are going to be helpful to everybody else to know about? But the biggest thing that I wanted to come out of this, and that's in each chapter, there's a section at the end called The Bright Side, because I didn't want this to be a downer. I didn't want it to be heavy. So I asked every single person... We call them blind perks in our house. Hey, let's face it, when you're at Disney World and they see the cane and they go, "Do you want to go to the front of the line?" We're like, "Yep." Simon Bonenfant: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kristen Smedley: "It's 100 degrees and I'm standing in this line." Simon Bonenfant: I always do that in the airport with the security. That's a nice little perk, too. Kristen Smedley: And you know what? There's several people in the book that highlighted the airport as one of the biggest perks, that they just get to be treated like the red carpet. Kristen Smedley: Do you know Bill McCann? Simon Bonenfant: Yeah, I know him very well. Yep. [crosstalk] Kristen Smedley: So he's in the book, and he says that his partner Albert called— Simon Bonenfant: I know him, too. Kristen Smedley: Yeah, so Albert calls the cane the parting of the Red Sea. He's like, "Here we go. Stick the cane out," and everybody gets out of the way, especially when they're in a hurry. All that fun stuff. Kristen Smedley: But yes, I did go through... I had a list of questions. I was still nervous, though. And actually, I talked about Diane Berberian being all about fun. She was my first interview. I was so nervous, and then we got to talking on the phone, and I said, "I'm so happy that you agreed to do this. I'm kind of nervous and all." She goes, "Are you kidding? I was so happy to be invited because the first book I was in, it was about being a failure!" I said, "What?" She had trained for a triathlon and totally messed it up. She was awful. I don't even know if she finished. So somebody wrote a book about what not to do, and she was highlighted in that book. She's like, "I'm so excited that I'm involved in a book with the success word in it." Kristen Smedley: So then I had the questions and just kind of followed that format, but each of the interviews kind of took on a life of their own, and everyone's personality came through in those chapters. It was cool. Simon Bonenfant: Very good. That's the way I do my interviews. I don't really come up with a set question. I have obviously a topic that's going to come up, but as the conversation flows, I think up questions in my head and I ask them and answer them and it kind of segues in [inaudible] follow a strict format, it's not a from-the-heart conversation. It's so strict and rigid. It's got to come from the heart, and it's got to be a natural conversation. And those are the best ones. Kristen Smedley: Yeah. Simon Bonenfant: That's with podcasting, interviewing, writing, that's really what that's about, is the conversation. Kristen Smedley: Yeah. Again, your age and being able to do that, because that also takes a lot of... You have a very good talent for listening, then, because you really have to be a good listener to then know what you want to draw out of what that person is saying. That's cool that you can do that at 17. Simon Bonenfant: Thank you. Simon Bonenfant: Who is your biggest, or at the time was your biggest supporter when you were writing the book, and who really supported you in saying, "This is something that's going to be good," and supported your effort all the way through? Kristen Smedley: I'm extremely lucky, and I say it all the time, that I know how blessed I am to have the team that I have, in terms of family, friends and whatnot. I know a lot of people don't have that. Some of it I built through a network and all of that, and some I'm just blessed with, with my parents and I have a really big family, and then my kids. Kristen Smedley: But I would say, if I had to say who the number one person was, it was my three kids. They thought it was the coolest idea in the world. They knew that it was taking a lot of time and effort to get it together, and there was a lot of nights where they had to just... especially when I was doing the interviews, you know, you can't have anybody bursting in and yelling for something, and they'd have to sit outside and wait for me to finish that. But they had a lot of patience through the journey, but a ton of cheering, and now they're the ones out there helping me at book signings and interviews on Facebook and all that kind of stuff. Mitchell's here taking pictures and video for my social media. I mean, they're part of the book team, the launch team, and Team Kristin Smedley, I guess. Simon Bonenfant: That's great! I'm sure it's been good for them to see all the blind role models, and luckily they're going to have a network when they get into working. They're going to have a network of great people that they can tap into. And you're going to have that as well. [crosstalk] Kristen Smedley: Yeah. It's been cool. Of course, I guess they probably don't like it on the days where I'm like, "Really? You're acting lazy today? How about when this one had this issue," and I start quoting the book. They're like, "All right, get away." Kristen Smedley: Yeah, no, it is cool. They have a very big network of support and inspiration, for sure. Simon Bonenfant: Good. Simon Bonenfant: Yeah, I know you have a very big network. I was at your event back in March you did. Will you describe all about that event, and what was that event for? Because I was actually there, and I did a comedy act. I was telling jokes that night. But what was the broad scope of that night? Kristen Smedley: I'm still getting messages about how fun you were at the event, because we tend to always try to do something a little different than everybody else and you just really enhanced that that night. It was great. Simon Bonenfant: Oh, thank you. Kristen Smedley: So that's Cocktails for the Cure, and that is our big launch each year for the Cure Retinal Blindness Foundation. It wasn't actually designed in the beginning to be a fundraiser; it was a celebration of all the work that we've done. It's pretty much a gratitude party where we say thank you to everybody that's helped us, and get everybody geared up to do fundraising and outreach and help us build a network. The model of it has worked tremendously to grow that mission really far, really fast. Simon Bonenfant: Yeah, I got to meet some good people. I got to meet a friend of yours, [inaudible] that night, who actually was a teacher who taught your son Michael. Me and her got to meet up and talk, and that was great talking to her. I've actually reached out to her since, so she gets a little shout out in the podcast. Kristen Smedley: She's helping get book signings, too, for me. Simon Bonenfant: Very good. Simon Bonenfant: We ask this question a lot. It's sort of like a winding up question here at Blind Abilities. What advice would you give to either parents of blind children who are new to this blind world kind of thing, or blind children, or blind adults themselves who are trying to rebuild? What advice would you want to leave them with, listening to the podcast? Kristen Smedley: Here's the thing, I don't sugarcoat that diagnosis day. When they're handed something that is not anything that they had ever thought, like blindness, it stinks. When you're first told that you think you're going to have this life plan, and now you got to rethink your whole thing, it kind of stinks. Kristen Smedley: However, and I would say sit with those feelings for a little while. A lot of times, we say brush the feelings off and keep on going. I would say sit with it, find at least one person that you can talk to about all of your feelings around it, and then of course get Thriving Blind, and take a look at the different people in that book, and I would bet that each person that reads Thriving Blind will find one person, one chapter that is a person that's like them and start there. And then read through the stories where, because you'll see in every story, everybody grappled with that moment when their life changed, and then how they moved on. Kristen Smedley: The biggest piece of advice, though, is besides changing your perception and your attitude and your mindset, is get the tools that you need. You can have all the positive thinking in the world and all the role models and everybody cheering you on, but let's be honest. If you're a blind person in this world and don't know the tools of mobility and independence, like the cane or a guide dog, or literacy with Braille— Simon Bonenfant: And technology. Kristen Smedley: And audio, and technology, if you don't learn those things... Even if you're scared. I hated the words "Braille" and "cane" when I first was on this journey, because they meant my life was looking different. A lot of people go through that. Kristen Smedley: Once we embrace those, that's where it was Braille that Michael and Mitchell could sit in their school classrooms right alongside everybody and not only beat that 70%... they were expected to achieve a 70%... they not only blew that 70% out of the water... Michael was the class speaker at graduation, and stood up there surpassing everybody. That was Braille, that was confidence, and that was pushing the limits of what people expect you to. Kristen Smedley: I would say the number one thing is get those darn tools of what it is you need to succeed. Simon Bonenfant: Very good. Simon Bonenfant: I'm sure you've had to deal with people saying that your children could not do something. When someone said that to you, did you rise to the challenge? And what did you make sure that you did so that they would be able to do it? Kristen Smedley: I researched it, honestly, and I'll tell you a funny story real quick, if we have time. When they said at the kindergarten IEP meeting that Michael would only find his cubby... you know, the thing where you hang the jacket in? The hook? Simon Bonenfant: Yeah. Kristen Smedley: They said he would only find his cubby 70% of the time, that meant success because he was blind. And I said, "Hold on a minute." And we moved to a really nice school district, and I had been out of the classroom for years, and I knew that there was new technologies. I said, "Hold on a minute. The cubby. Does it move every day? Do cubbies move now? Or are they still the hook on the little closety thing?" I'm thinking maybe they circulate around the school or something, and they'd never be able to find it when they're blind. They're like, "No, it's attached to the wall." Kristen Smedley: So my question became, "What's expected of the sighted kids in this classroom? If the sighted kids are expected to find their cubby every day 100% of the time, Michael is expected the same," and they said, "You can't do that because he's blind." I said, "If he's missing it 30% of the time, then we're not doing our job, because that's an easy one." Simon Bonenfant: Yeah. Kristen Smedley: It's not driving a car. It's not looking across a room and seeing something. It's doing what other people do that really does not require vision. There's other ways to do it. So that was the mentality. Kristen Smedley: And honestly, I told you that it was right after that when I said that the principal took the IEP team to see Erik Weihenmayer. That sealed the deal for them that Michael could do all of that. So that was a game-changer for us. Simon Bonenfant: And I'm sure you've probably impacted countless other people who maybe wouldn't have their expectations changed about blindness, and when they met you, probably even raised their expectations for themselves and the sighted people around them as well. Kristen Smedley: Yeah. You know what? I just did a keynote for the Association for Clinical Research Professionals down in Nashville, and my one-hour speech was about setting extraordinary expectations and how I had to do that for Michael and Mitchell, and look where they are now. And usually people come up to me after my speeches and say, "You're such a great mom." Which is wonderful, everybody wants to hear that. This time, though, people said, "You just changed my life." And it had nothing to do with blindness. It was more what they're dealing with in their own lives, opening up their minds, changing their perception of it, and expecting a different journey than everyone anticipated for themselves. It's cool. Simon Bonenfant: Good. Simon Bonenfant: If someone wanted to find you on social media, what would they need to look up for you? Kristen Smedley: So first of all, when you say "Kristin Smedley" and "social media", all three of my children will roll their eyes at the same time because they're just thrilled that I'm on there and their friends follow me now, too. Karissa gets so mad. She's 14. She gets so mad when her friends comment on my posts. It's hilarious. Kristen Smedley: But anyway, my main ones are, on Facebook we have a Thriving Blind community, and it's just Facebook.com/thrivingblind. That's where you can follow stories of Michael and Mitchell, and now videos of the people in the book and then some. On Twitter, I'm @KristinSmedley. Same on Instagram, although Instagram is driving me crazy. I keep trying to learn it and it keeps surpassing me, but whatever. Kristen Smedley: Linkd.in is my big one now. Linkd.in has a lot of connections on there. Simon Bonenfant: Good. I always thought you do some Facebook live. Kristen Smedley: Oh man, Facebook live is a cool tool, man, because Facebook loves to push out that content, because it's their platform only. Kristen Smedley: Actually, Mitchell is my big Facebook liver. He does, on Thriving Blind, tech Tuesdays where he just highlights the technology that he's using. And the funny thing is, half the audience is moms and dads of blind kiddos that are watching it together to know what they should be asking for in their IEPs, but the other half is the sighted community. It just loves finding out this information, because they had no idea. Kristen Smedley: Did you see that campaign that went around about the blind people using phones? Somebody had an attitude, they put some negative things... "That woman must be faking being blind. She's got a cane and she's looking at an iPhone." Simon Bonenfant: Oh wow. Kristen Smedley: So then they were trying to do this whole educational piece to combat that of blind people do use phones. Well here on our little Thriving Blind community thing on Facebook, we're showing people every week the different things and how you use the phone and Braille and all that, so it's pretty cool. Simon Bonenfant: Oh yeah, technology has been a very, very big effort for the blind community. Well, for the sighted community, but also for the blind community in general, just open up a wide range of doors for us. Kristen Smedley: Oh, it's huge. And you know, did you ever meet Tom Lukowski at Comcast? Simon Bonenfant: No. Kristen Smedley: We'll have to get you guys together. He's right at Comcast in the city. He's their head of accessibility. Simon Bonenfant: I've heard about him, actually [crosstalk] Kristen Smedley: Yeah, he's cool. He's in the book, too. He actually, I think he went to college with Erik. And they were completely different, it's pretty funny. Kristen Smedley: His thing is, because he helped develop that X1 on Comcast where you talk into the remote, so his thing is don't build a technology product for the blind. Build it with all abilities and disabilities in mind, one product for everybody, and how that is such a positive impact on everybody is huge. Just like the X1. I mean, Karissa and I use that in our house and we can see just fine, but we're always yelling into that remote to change channels. Simon Bonenfant: Yeah. That's a nice feature. Comcast have always done a lot of good stuff. Simon Bonenfant: Yeah, and if someone wanted to buy your book, what formats do you have available, and where could someone find it, and what's the price and all that? Kristen Smedley: So right now on the print, the paperback and Kindle version are on Amazon, and a little plug for ourselves here, we hit #1 new release for both of those when they came out. They're on Amazon. Just search "Thriving Blind" on Amazon. Large print will be available, as of the recording of this interview, it'll be available in a week on Amazon. Then the super cool one that was one of the reasons that I started this whole journey in a book is the electronic Braille. That's coming out in, actually, while we're recording this, it'll be out in I think two weeks. And we have a whole team of blind youth around the country that are going to be doing a social media campaign that'll be really cool to follow on Thriving Blind on Facebook. Kristen Smedley: The e-Braille, the BRF file for that, was made possible by the CEO of T-Mobile, donated the money to National Braille Press to have that made. Simon Bonenfant: That's great. And the time of this recording, for the folks who would like to know, is May 4th today. Kristen Smedley: Hey, May the 4th be with you. Simon Bonenfant: Yeah, there you go. May 4th, 2019. So for those who are interested in getting the Braille version, that should be out in about two weeks. Kristen Smedley: And that'll be available at kristinsmedley.com. Simon Bonenfant: Oh good. So once this podcast is published, it'll be up there on the website so everybody can go grab it. All the Braille readers. That's great. Simon Bonenfant: Well Kristin, you're a very inspiring person, very inspiring advocate for the blind, and I truly want to thank you for the work that you do. Keep up the great work, because you are very inspiring and I know that your work is going to live on hopefully long past you. Kristen Smedley: Wow. Well thanks, Simon, and right back at you, dude. You've got some great stuff going on. It's fun to follow you. Simon Bonenfant: Oh, thank you very much. Simon Bonenfant: Well this is it. Reporting for Blind Abilities again, I'm Simon Bonenfant. Jeff Thompson: Be sure to check out the book Thriving Blind on Amazon and kristinsmedley.com. Jeff Thompson: Such a great job by Simon Bonenfant on doing this interview, and thank you so much to Kristin Smedley for sharing with all our listeners your story, your book, your experiences, and your passion. Jeff Thompson: A big shout out to Chee Chau for his beautiful music. You can follow Chee Chau on Twitter @LCheeChau. Jeff Thompson: I want to thank you all for listening. We hope you enjoyed. And until next time, bye-bye. [Music]  [Transition noise]  -When we share -What we see -Through each other's eyes... [Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence] ...We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities. Jeff Thompson: For more podcasts with the blindness perspective: Check us out on the web at www.BlindAbilities.com On Twitter @BlindAbilities Download our app from the App store:  'Blind Abilities'; that's two words. Or send us an e-mail at: info@blindabilities.com Thanks for listening. Contact: Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Storeand Google Play Store. Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Job Insights Support Groupand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Super Chick, Kristin Smedley, set out to find inspiration for her two blind sons after being faced with their devastating diagnosis when they were each four months old. Her new book, "Thriving Blind," does that and more by detailing amazing stories of individuals thriving without sight in a sighted world. Even sighted readers will find themselves empowered by these tales! Tune in as we discuss Kristin's amazing journey and inspiring new book, available on Amazon!

The 4 Chicks Chatting are a power group of women involved in lots of cool things. They have a podcast where they talk about business and personal development, humor, inspirations, empowerment and whatever comes to mind. The 4 Chicks consist of Robyn Graham @robyngrahamphotography, Kristin Smedley @kristensmedley, Kathy Marcino @kmmdisc and Mary Fran Bontempo @maryfranbontempo.

In this episode, Art and Kristin discuss: · The story of Kristin’s sons, Michael and Mitchell, and how it has changed her life. · Epiphanies are the precursor to our expectations. · How other people’s expectations can affect your life. · Flipping the switch in your brain to change the progression of your story. Key […]

“There's the word remarkable …that's why our life looks so different from other people.” –Kristin Smedley   Don’t let your limitations limit what you can do! What you can achieve depends on how you make choices. The key to your epiphanies lies on slowing down and allowing yourself to walk down that path. Having limitations does not mean your journey has come to an end, rather, that it is taking you to somewhere better. Listen to these real life experiences and be ready to make your story different.   Join the Shower Epiphanies Today        Expectation Therapy       Facebook       Twitter       LinkedIn       Instagram   Highlights: 02:18 A Glimpse of Perfection in the Eyes of a Child 09:48 Slow It Down 17:52 Leave the Limits 24:23 Like Everybody Else 34:02: The Power of Good Labels and Choices 37:37 Make Your Story Different

Kristin Smedley is an award winning non-profit leader, TEDx speaker, and author - but she never planned on any of that. Kristin did plan to be a great third grade teacher, however her personal path to greatness took an unexpected turn when two of her three children were diagnosed as blind. She had to learn the tools of blindness and build a team of experts that would help her navigate this path that she had not been trained for. Kristin’s two blind sons are now thriving as gifted high school students, elected student council officials, baseball championship winners, International Braille competition finalists, and social butterflies. CONNECT with Kristin HERE LISTEN to Kristin's TEDx talk HERE   BeTheTalk is a 7 day a week podcast where Nathan Eckel chats with talkers from TEDx & branded events. Tips tools and techniques that can help you give the talk to change the world at BeTheTalk.com !

Kristin Smedley is an award winning non-profit leader, TEDx speaker, and author - but she never planned on any of that. Kristin did plan to be a great third grade teacher, however her personal path to greatness took an unexpected turn when two of her three children were diagnosed as blind. She had to learn the tools of blindness and build a team of experts that would help her navigate this path that she had not been trained for. Kristin's two blind sons are now thriving as gifted high school students, elected student council officials, baseball championship winners, International Braille competition finalists, and social butterflies. CONNECT with Kristin HERE LISTEN to Kristin's TEDx talk HERE   BeTheTalk is a 7 day a week podcast where Nathan Eckel chats with talkers from TEDx & branded events. Tips tools and techniques that can help you give the talk to change the world at BeTheTalk.com !

What happens when life throws you a curve ball? Our guest today, shows us that you can not only learn to cope - you can thrive by rising to the occasion and helping others set extraordinary expectations for themselves. Speaking and writing can play a big part in this process.  

I never expected to launch a worldwide organization. Never ever thought I'd have to know about braille, or retinas, or genetic mutations. And I had no idea I would be dealt a double dose of darkness.... It was a one-two punch to the gut: both of my boys were diagnosed as blind when they were each 4 months old. I had never even met a blind person, yet I quickly learned how to find the tools blind children need and got them in the hands of my boys, literally. With the right foundation and a multitude of resources, they have become accomplished athletes, high achieving students, talented musicians, and social butterflies. Oh, and international Braille competition finalists too. In May 2011, I connected with other families living with the same rare disease my boys have, and launched a mission to fund a cure. No advanced degree. Never created a website before. Had no idea about grants, or IRB's... the list goes on. I learned how to build a team, nearby and remote, of people that know how to do the things I don't. I spend nearly every minute of every day networking with people that can help either medically, financially, or otherwise. No connection is too small, as I have found some of the greatest resources in the oddest places. In just six years, I've led our Foundation to make progress we thought would take much longer and people are calling on us daily to be a part of a miracle that seemed impossible less than a decade ago. We've raised over one million dollars, made history in the US Congress with the first ever rare eye disease resolution submitted in Braille, and have skyrocketed our little rare disease to the top of mind of many industry leaders - and I am just getting started. If you can help my mission to give options and resources to CRB1 LCA/RP patients, or if you need a dynamic speaker for your event, email me at curingretinalblindness@gmail.com or smedtalk@gmail.com http://kristinsmedley.com https://twitter.com/KristinSmedley https://www.facebook.com/thrivingblind/

In this episode, hear from newly crowned TEDx speaker, Kristin Smedley on how the universe provided much sooner than she expected.