Turn Life’s Curveballs Into Your Competitive Advantage.
When you book Kristin, you get more than a keynote—you get a powerful storyteller who makes your event unforgettable and equips your audience with real tools to thrive.
Meet Kristin
Kristin Smedley is the award-winning author, TEDx speaker, and mother who defied every grim prediction by raising two blind sons who became champions on and off the field.
Her signature strategies—developed in the face of the impossible—now fuel Fortune 500 companies, universities, and global conferences with tools to thrive, innovate, and win.
Audiences don’t just leave inspired—they leave equipped to transform setbacks into breakthroughs and achieve extraordinary success.
Kristin’s participation in ACRP’s panel discussion opened the minds and hearts of our members and conference attendees. She helped to raise awareness for the critical topic of accessibility and was able to make a direct connection between her advocacy for disabilities and our industry’s opportunity—and need—to be more inclusive.-Susan Landis, Executive Director, Association for Clinical Research Professionals
“Sharing her personal stories not only kept my attention, it made this talk relatable. Kristin’s journey has given me great insight for my work.” – Mississippi Association for Education and Rehabilitation
PaTTAN Conference at Penn State University, July 2025
Turn Life's Curveballs into a Competitive Advantage
Kristin turns your stage into a standing-ovation moment—leaving your audience equipped to thrive and making your event the one everyone talks about.
DEI Keynote Panel, Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP)
Kristin's Upcoming Feature Film: Curveball!
"Kristin is a passionate advocate for rare eye diseases. She is a recognized leader and often sought after for her insights and guidance. She has moved mountains for her community and continues to inspire many others that are working to achieve similar success." Nicole Boice, Founder, Global Genes
The Book that started it all…
Thriving Blind
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
