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 the community.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kristin co-founded Brilliantly Resilient to help people come through life’s challenges and setbacks brilliant, not broken.
The Book
This book will transform your idea of what is possible for people who encounter a devastating life event and will catapult your motivation to set extraordinary expectations for your own life.
Hey there! I’m Kristin. You’ll see around my website here that I smile a lot. It’s kind of my thing. I can find happy no matter the hell that is happening. I’m wired that way. However, there was a time that I couldn’t find happy anywhere in anything. It was when I heard the words, “Your son is blind.”
That little sentence was a sucker punch to my heart that knocked me down for a while. I was scared. Terrified actually. And honestly, I was pissed off. Blind? Are you kidding me? As if that wasn’t enough, my second child was diagnosed with the same blindness three years later.
A double dose of darkness.
Well, not exactly. Once I learned to SEE blindness differently, my life filled with light and joy… and my smile returned! When I stopped seeing blindness as a barrier and instead focused on addressing the real barriers (access to the right tools, etc) my fear, anger, and grief disappeared and I was able to enjoy the journey of raising three humans with unique purposes in this world.
I will help you through your challenge too.
I know what that unexpected sucker punch to your heart feels like. I can’t take your challenges away, but I can walk with you and give you the tools I use to come through that stuff brilliant, not broken.
NOTE: This site is being reconstructed to make your access to my tools a much easier experience! Please be patient with the construction process! If you can’t find what you need, please send me an email at SmedTalk@gmail.com
