A Brain Tumor Took His Smile — But a Pocket Square Named Henry Gave Him His Life Back

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SPEAKER_03: What if the very thing that makes you feel broken in fact become your superpower?

Today's guest, John Kippen, he would end up having a brain tumor.

You're gonna hear about that story.

But what happened next is where the story takes a turn.

It's after the discovery of the brain tumor.

It's after the surgery.

It's the realization that half of his face was left paralyzed.

And for the next 12 years, John Kippen would stay hidden from the world, convinced that the rest of the world wouldn't be able to see past his face, his smile that he no longer had.

The person he was, he felt was gone.

But then thankfully, a twist of fate would lead him back to a childhood fascination with magic.

And that would change everything.

Today's conversation is going to challenge how you see yourself.

It's going to challenge how you define beauty, success, and strength.

This is a journey through trauma, through transformation, and the healing power of finding your purpose.

So whether you've ever felt judged, held back, or maybe even hidden by something you can't change, today's conversation is going to show you what's possible when you stop hiding and you start showing up to the world as your true authentic self.

Because my friend, no matter what you think is holding you back, no matter what you may think is wrong with you, my friend, the world needs more of you, just as you are.

That is what I want you to gain out of today's conversation with John Kippen.

So with that, my friend, this is episode 402 of Great Grace and Inspiration.

I'm of course your host, Kevin Lowe.

And in the most sincere way possible, I want to thank you for being here.

Because you chose to click on today's episode, it tells me that you care about yourself.

That maybe you have something that you've been hiding from the rest of the world, that you've been thinking it makes you less than.

But today is going to show you, no, it's actually completely opposite.

It makes you greater than him.

So, my friend, with that said, this is my interview with none other than John Tippen.

SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I got great grays and inspiration on my what's going on, and welcome back to Grit Grayson Inspiration.

SPEAKER_03: Today I am in the studio with none other than the man himself, John Tippen.

John man, pleasure to have you here.

Welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_05: Hey Kevin, it's my ultimate pleasure to be here with you, my friend.

SPEAKER_03: Oh man, well, I am so excited.

I'm excited to get to explore so many different areas of your story.

And of course, we're gonna have this through line of magic.

When when you say the word magic, I don't know that you can help but not start us smiling.

And um, I would love to know if we could going back.

Where did your first kind of memories of magic come from?

Maybe was it on television?

Was it a relative?

Like, where were you first introduced to magic?

SPEAKER_05: I had an uncle named Uncle Milton, who is my grandmother's brother, and he would come into town to visit my grandma.

And I would visit my grandmother once, once or twice a month.

And one day he was there and he saw me and we met, and he pulled a quarter out of my ear.

And from then on, I was hooked.

And he saw my love for magic.

And then every year on my birthday, he'd send me a trick to learn.

And every time he'd come into town, I'd pull out that trick and we'd do it together, and he'd show me the nuances and help me with the presentation and the batter.

And that continued until he passed away when I was 15 or 16.

Wow.

SPEAKER_03: Wow.

How awesome that it came from your uncle.

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_05: Yeah.

And then I grew up watching all of the famous magicians on TV, Doug Henning and Mark Wilson, and Bill Bixby and Siegfried Roy.

And so magic became part of my life early on.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, amazing.

Did you ever think as a kid, though, that magic would end up being such a big part of your life later in adulthood?

SPEAKER_05: I hoped it would be.

You know, magic was who I was.

It's how I shared my personality.

I always enjoyed fooling people.

As a kid, I had a summer job in a magic shop where I would ride my bike and go in and get behind the counter and demonstrate magic for people who were coming in to buy a trick.

So I got to be really good at presenting peak magic and learning magic.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, amazing.

Now, in school, I guess, like I'm thinking of like drama class and stuff.

Were you ever like involved in any other type of acting or singing, anything like that?

SPEAKER_05: Yeah, in high school, I was uh first in the band and I learned how to play the clarinet and then became part of the their orchestra, which was uh a lot of fun.

They they put on a spring musical every year, and I was good enough to be in the orchestra for the musicals.

And then one day I was walking across the multi-purpose room, which was also had the stage, and and I was going to do some clarinet practicing.

And the theater teacher was also the music teacher, saw me walking across the room and said, Hey John, come up on stage.

So I put my stuff down and walk up on stage, and then he introduced me to the rest of the cast of Annie Get Your Gun as Chief Sitting Bull.

And I was like, um, okay.

I started my acting career and I was seated to act in almost every production after that.

SPEAKER_03: Wow.

Wow.

Now I asked the question, but I I kind of almost assume there has to be a an element of acting in with being a magician.

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_05: You know, I actually coach magicians.

So what I'm all about is letting the audience see who you are as an individual through your magic, letting your life stories be a part of your illusions and custom tailoring tricks that you might be able to buy online or buy at a store, but turn the presentation into something that really represents who you are and your life experience.

Because I find that when you make it about your passions, audiences can't help but be attracted to it and enjoy it.

Yeah.

And uh a magician will sit down, and and the first thing he does and reach into uh his bag and pull out a deck of cards.

And I say, Oh, um, sorry, uh, we we won't be using those today.

And he looks at me and goes, Oh, okay.

And then he puts the cards back and he pulls out a set of coins.

And I kind of smile and I go, well, um, sorry, we uh we we won't be using those today either.

And then I start getting looked like, what am I paying you for?

Why are why am I here?

And I said, No, we're gonna talk about why you chose magic as your art form.

What do you want audiences to learn about you?

Tell me the things you're passionate about in your life, as hobbies or locations or whatever that brings you joy.

And we're then gonna take that and find illusions that are gonna help you as a metaphor for those ideas of yours and those things that you love to do to help you make a connection with an audience.

And that's how I approach magic.

Wow.

SPEAKER_03: Wow, okay, amazing.

Okay, so I have a lot of questions about magic, but before we get to magic, there's another kind of aspect of your story that I don't really understand how the two are going to blend together.

So you're gonna fill in the gaps because you like out of school, you would actually end up somehow getting into the technology space, which seems totally different than acting or magic.

SPEAKER_05: You know, music, which I was into, has logic to it.

Okay.

Matt has critical thinking.

And I was always a techno dweeb.

I would watch all of the mission impossible shows and get smart because I like gadgets.

And my school, elementary and high school, was very applied.

And so they had the funds to buy computers.

So I got to touch a mainframe computer at the age of 12, I think, and start working on a mainframe and started working on personal computers really early on, and I understood how they worked, so they weren't intimidating to me.

You know, as a computer consultant now, I do a lot of teaching of people on how to use a computer.

And oftentimes people make it more difficult than it is.

And once they understand how a computer thinks and how a computer, what a computer assumes they're gonna get, what kind of input they're gonna get for you, and what they're what it's expecting, it really helps people uh embrace computers.

People are fearful of computers because they don't understand them.

So in high school, in college, I was very involved with IT computers.

And I was working on a playwright festival in college.

I was technical director, and the lighting designer was brought in from being a professional lighting designer.

And her day job, she worked for a commercial production company.

And we got to be friends, and I shared that I was good with computers, and she invited me down to their offices because their computer system wasn't working very well.

And I said, sure, if you'll pay me my rate, I don't mind.

And so I drove down to Burbank, which is you know, a 15, 20-minute drive, and I was able to solve their IT issues quickly.

And they were like, holy cow, where have you been all our lives?

And hired me.

And then, you know, the commercial production industry is an interesting being.

It's run by freelance individuals, producers, production managers, go from company to company when there are jobs to produce.

And Apple had just came out with their first Apple laptop.

And all these producers had the money to buy these computers, but didn't know how to use them.

So I made a deal that I would teach them how to use them, I would give them forms that would help them do their job better on the computer if they took my business cards and passed them out at the companies that they would get hired to produce more.

And before I knew it, I had 70 to 80 percent of the commercial production companies in LA as clients.

SPEAKER_03: Wow.

Wow.

And that's incredible.

Now, at that point, about how old were you?

SPEAKER_05: I was 24, 25.

SPEAKER_03: Wow.

SPEAKER_05: Wow, that's I mean, man, that's incredible.

You know, I was uh, you know, I had some formal computer training in high school.

Um, but in college I just played with them.

I owned one, I took them apart, I built them, I put them together, I loaded software, I screwed up, I erased the machine, I reloaded the software, I screwed up, I erased the machine, I reloaded the software a different way.

It worked.

I was like, yay! So I learned by trial and error.

That was long before there was Google or any of the search engines.

So I just had to be a creative problem solver.

And that is really what I think I am.

In my theater career, in my magic career, in my IT career, I am a creative problem solver.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, well, well, I, on behalf of me and everybody else who are not creative problem solvers in the world of computers, we applaud you because the best piece of advice I have ever been given as it regards computers was told to me by one of my uh blind instructors.

So after I went blind and she was teaching me how to use the computer with talking software, and she gave me the very wise piece of advice that before I throw it out the window, remember to open the window first.

So, yeah, as I say, me and computers is a definite love-hate relationship.

SPEAKER_05: So and actually, you know, doing theater, doing magic, becoming a consultant allowed me to hone my people skills.

One of my favorite stories was I get a call from a client, and he was a location scout, and his wife was his partner.

And he called me one day and said, John, I'm having trouble with my computer.

Will you come out and help me?

And I said, Sure.

What's the problem?

He said, Well, there's there's a problem with the screen.

And I and I sense some hesitation.

So I said, Well, what's what's wrong with the screen?

He said, Well, just come out and and you'll see.

And I was like, All right.

So I go out and uh I knock on the door, and he opens the door, and I he leads me to the dining room.

And there on the dining room is his laptop with a two-inch hole through the center of the screen.

And I'm not going to use his name, but I'll I'll substitute yours.

And I said, uh, Kevin, what happened to your computer?

Did you shoot your computer?

And he said, John, I must admit, I took out my 45 and I shot my computer.

And I said, and the rest of the story?

And he said, Well, my wife was my business partner, and I was going through emails, and I stumbled across an email that she sent from our business account to someone she was having an affair with.

And that person ended up being my biggest competitor.

And I got so angry, I reached for my gun and shot the messenger.

And I said, Kevin, when I had you on the phone and I asked you what was wrong with your computer, why didn't you tell me that you had shot your computer in the face?

And he said, John, come on.

If I had told you I pulled out my 45 and shot a hole through the center of my screen, would you even even come?

And he went.

You have a valid point.

Just, just an amazing uh and then you know, we just talked and I pulled out his hard drive and got his data off and transferred it to a drive so that he could have his data.

And and then he went out and bought a new machine, and uh I never saw him again.

SPEAKER_03: Oh my goodness.

Wow.

Well, who knew being in technology could be could be so so interesting as a story about that?

SPEAKER_05: We don't have time for all my type stories.

unknown: Yes.

SPEAKER_03: Oh wow.

Okay, so you you're in the tech space, you have a thriving company in your 20s.

So I guess I'm kind of curious where do things go at that point that ends up leading you back to magic?

SPEAKER_05: In 2002, I started having symptoms.

First of all, I couldn't hear men's voices in my left ear.

So I went to an audiologist who was recommended to me by my dad.

And he's one of these beverly ill doctors who don't take insurance, right?

So I had to pay cash, and he was very expensive, and he did all the hearing tests and said, John, I don't see anything wrong.

And I was like, okay.

So I went home.

And then all of a sudden, I started getting dizzy to the point of every standing or walking moment I had to hold on to something.

It was very difficult to concentrate.

So I saw my primary, I saw a whole bunch of specialists, and none of them really understood what was causing the dizziness.

I then found a ENT as part of my medical plan, knowing that I was going to have to go get an MRI to see if I had anything between my ears.

He did a prescription for me to go get an MRI.

And upon getting the films, I was pretty anxious at that point.

So I remember going to the lady at the front desk and I said, How much for that set of films?

And she said, Oh, no, no, you don't get these.

These go to the radiologist.

And then the radiologist will read the films in a couple days.

He'll write a report and send it to your doctor.

And I said, No, you I don't think you heard me right.

How much do I pay for that set of films?

And she got on the phone and called around and said,$300.

And I pulled$300 out of my wallet and I walked away with those films.

And I drove back to my ENT with the films in hand without an appointment.

I walked in and I saw my ENT standing behind the reception window, and I held up the films.

And fortunately he had a little time, so he motioned for me to come in.

And we went in an examining room, and he he pulled one of the films out and put it up on the little whiteboard so he could read the the MRI and the color drained from his face.

And he pulled that one piece of film down and he said, John, um, I I uh I see something.

Wait here.

Uh, I want to make a few phone calls.

And he disappeared, and I don't remember how long it was, but he came back and he said, John, um, I have made an appointment with a specialist at an earring clinic downtown LA for you, and they're squeezing you in tomorrow morning.

Take your films down and get them to look at these films and see how they can help you.

So I left the office feeling pretty worried.

But fortunately, the appointment was the very next morning.

So I drove down and walked in to an examining room, and the doctor came in and put up my films and looked at them for a minute, and then got on the phone and called a neurosurgeon in, and the neurosurgeon came in and looked at the films, and they conferred.

It's like I was sitting there watching a movie.

I was completely detached from any kind of conversation.

And the neurosurgeon left the room, and the other doctor turned around and said, John, you have a four and a half centimeter acoustic neuroma brain tumor.

It is displacing your brainstem and killing you.

I have arranged to push another patient, and you are having brain surgery a week from today.

You will go deaf in your left ear completely, and there is a small chance of some residual facial paralysis.

We will do whatever we can to preserve as much facial function as you can.

And then he left the room.

Remember sitting on you know the table with the tissue paper and and just going, wait a minute, what what did he just say?

And I realized at that moment, and I want to share this with your listeners, if you're ever going to a doctor where you suspect there might be some bad news, bring someone with you.

Yes.

Because what he said went in one ear and out the other.

And I immediately met my parents for lunch, and they were like, What did you say?

And I'm like, I I don't know.

I have a brain tumor, and they're gonna take it out a week from today.

Well, what's the recovery gonna be like?

And what what and my parents are grilling me?

And I'm like, I don't remember what he said.

I just know I'm scared and I'm getting operated on.

I'm having brain surgery.

So I got my affairs in order and talked to my main consultant guy who worked for me and asked if he would cover from me because I didn't know how long I'd be left.

I'd be out.

And uh my parents and I went to dinner the night before downtown at a great steakhouse, and we had another.

meal and then they dropped me off to the hospital and I spent the night at the hospital not getting any rest.

And an orderly came in at 6 a.m.

and said, okay, John, hop on the, you know, first foot put on the gown and then hop on this gurney and and we're going to take you to the operating room.

And so I remember hopping on this gurney and it was cold to my skin.

I just remember it was I was shivering.

And they rolled me down the hallway, into an elevator, down to another floor, into a pre-op area.

And I remember the surgical nurse saying, John, we need to shave half your head.

Would you like me to do it now or after you're under?

And I said, after I'm under.

And then as I'm laying there with millions of thoughts going through my head.

And then a woman wearing a surgical mask came over and looked down at me and said, Oh John, my name is so-and-so.

I'm your your anesthesiologist.

And I have a little distressing news.

My office just notified me that my services are actually not covered by your insurance policy.

So here is a form that you need to sign before I can put you under.

Now fortunately both my parents were attorneys.

And I learned a lot about the law even though I didn't follow in their footsteps.

So I knew that her asking me to sign that document was signing under duress.

So I happily signed that document knowing that I would never have to pay one dollar for her services.

They rolled me into the operating room and the they put the mask on the face and counted from five and I was out.

And the next thing I know I'm trying to regain consciousness.

It was like I was 30 meters in a pool and I could look up and I could see the surface but I couldn't get to the surface and I was just trying to swim, swim out of the surface and finally came to and I found my dad sitting on my bedside holding my hand.

And I was starting to hear people calling my name John are you there?

John, wake up and I wore glasses the time so once I had become mostly conscious I asked for my glasses and looked around the room for my mom.

And I looked across the room and my mom was standing there.

And the look on her face was one of horror.

I could tell what she was thinking later on was, what did these butchers do to my poor son's face?

But at that point I didn't really understand why she was so had such a horrific look because I have full feeling in my face I just can't move the left hand side.

So when I was strong enough to get out of bed I went to the mirror and looked in the mirror and I went oh my God I look like Frankenstein with staples going from one side of the head to the other and my face is paralyzed.

And that's I think when my self-image was shattered when my mom the person who was to love me unconditionally no matter what reacted so honestly to see my new face.

So I went home after spending a week in the hospital and started sitting on the couch and okay I'm ready to heal.

And then I coughed and I realized the back of my neck was wet and I was like what is it's not blood.

What is so I called the doctor's office and they were like oh no you need to come back right away and it was a spinal fluid leak when the base of the incision so I went back and forth two or three different times to the hospital.

But because of where the incision ended right behind my ear on the bony part of my skull they weren't able to fix it with pressure bandages.

What they did was because they pulled out a very large tumor they take belly fat out of your stomach and they shove it in the hole so that your brain doesn't hit the side of your skull the brain slowly assimilates the fat.

I remember when they told me they're going to pull fat out of my belly I said well if you're in there can you take it all?

And the doctor said no my yab and uh I said damn but I said so how are we going to fix this?

And this time I brought my attorney parents my dad who is my attorney because we both felt that they didn't do a proper job of closing the incision.

And they said well we're going to uh readmit you to the hospital and put you on your side and put a needle in your spine and we're going to drain the excess fluid until the incision heals.

And it'll be about a week.

And I said not a chance in heck am I laying here for a week on my side and they went well the only other option is to take you under, put you under, take more belly fat out and uh redo the incision.

So that's what happened.

And so I was only in for one day after that second surgery and then started healing.

And uh boy brain surgery as you know full well Kevin knocks the wind out of your sails.

Your energy level is just nowhere what it was like before surgery.

No.

The healing takes so much longer even after the physical scars of the incision have healed and the hair has grown back I still needed to take naps I was still you know unsteady on my feet.

I would walk down a hallway and if I was tired it was like I was drunk.

I was bouncing off the walls because the balance nerve was severed as well but I started to heal and get stronger and learned how to deal with being deaf in one ear.

You know the the doctor said hey you're going to be deaf in your left ear.

Okay.

But they didn't really tell me what that was going to be like that wasn't going to be preparing me for the habit of picking up the phone and putting it to my wrong ear and go, oh shit, okay, put it to the other ear so I can hear someone talking or it didn't prepare me for having uh going out with a friend to dinner and then sitting on my left hand side and talking in my ear and I'm like I have no idea what you just said or walking down the street with a friend and then standing on

the left side of me.

And literally I would stop, I would grab them by the shoulders, I would navigate them to my right hand side and then we'd continue walking because they would forget that I was completely stone deaf on my left hand side.

You know I shared this story about the first time in my home after my brain surgery and losing my hearing about 2 a.m I heard a chrp and I knew immediately that that was the indicator of a low battery in a smoke detector.

Well I had five of them in my house.

So I got out of bed and went to the first one and waited and waited.

No it's not that one then I would run to the kitchen and I would stand and I would wait and wait.

SPEAKER_03: No it's not that one and I would run to and I would be running around the house going to every smoke detector standing trying to figure out which one was low on battery to the point where I got so frustrated I called my neighbor and said please come over and tell me which smoke detector it is so I can get some sleep wow you just don't they don't doctors don't prepare you for healing and what it's going to take to survive and thrive despite the trauma well 100% and I mean honest to goodness I know for myself I mean they they told

me that with when they removed my brain tumor that you know that I'd be back to school in three weeks.

Well forget anything about going blind you know losing sense of smell what about like I suffered like short-term memory loss.

I had the same thing you talked about I mean I I couldn't stay awake all the time I was constantly sleeping all these things that I'm like even without going blind there's no way I would have gone back to high school in three weeks after brain surgery yeah yeah in a different human being you're a different person.

Yeah absolutely how long would you say that it took you to recover physically from the brain surgery to get back to a place where you could even begin to think about going back to work I worked for myself and I worked out of my house.

SPEAKER_05: So I was back to work in in days.

Oh wow leading emails and listen talking to clients and talking to my team but before I really felt strong enough to venture out and get in the car and drive that that's another funny story.

So I uh I'm sitting in my house and I live alone and and I'm bored stiffness and I love playing poker.

So I decided to drive to a local casino about 20 minute drive and I was still had a bandage around my head and facial paralysis and I would sit at a poker table and and uh I realized that the people the other people at the table could care less about my facial paralysis.

They just want me.

And I started making friendships with these semi-professional gamblers and I realized that that's not the people that I really wanted to establish lasting friendships with.

One of my favorite stories I'm sitting at a poker table and and in comes a gentleman he sits down and he has a caregiver with him and I I look at him and it was Don Adams from Get Smart.

Oh wow the 70s TV show.

And I was a huge get smart fan.

But everyone would try to engage with him and he was quiet.

He was just there to play poker wasn't there to talk about his career wasn't there to really socialize.

But there was one time we were in a hand together and I had top two pair playing Texas Holden and he had four cards to a straight and the final card came on the board and he didn't get the card that he wanted.

And so I won the hot thought but I turned to him and said Don miss chip by that much and he started screaming laughing expressing one of his most famous lines in the TV show and I know a lot of your listeners are go Don Adams kid smart who the heck what is that look it up on YouTube.

SPEAKER_03: It's an amazing show but anyway we became fast friends then oh wow because I wasn't able to just make him laugh yeah wow will you talk to me a little bit more about the facial paralysis as far as what exactly that means and how did you deal with that because it's one thing to be deaf in your your one ear that's not something that people can see but facial paralysis is something that people can see.

SPEAKER_05: The left hand side of my mouth droops it many people think that I had bell's palsy it's a very similar reaction and the the fatter I get the more pronounced the drooping get and gravity takes a toll because there aren't muscles being activated to hold the side of my face its symmetry at rest.

So the droopiness gets a little bit more pronounced.

I had to learn how to drink out of a soda can again I use a straw because every time I drink out of a soda can or a beer can, it half always end up on my shirt because I'm not able to close my mouth properly.

One of my ironic things that I talk about in my TED talk that I did in 2019 was the one syllable in the English language I have trouble saying was two consecutive Ps, like in the word pepper.

Ironically enough in my own last name, Kippen.

So I had to learn how to consciously form my lips to be able to enunciate so people didn't think I was a cat.

They would say oh John Kitten I said no no no John Kippen.

Oh that's what I said you're you know like a like a young cat.

I'm like no I'm not a young cat I'm a kippen you know I slowly got rid of all the mirrors in my house because I didn't want to remind be reminded I uh refused to pose for photographs with people.

I refused to socialize with friends that knew me before my surgery knew how I used to look and this went on for 10 to 12 years where I was a recluse and I could just see really really close friends.

I remember going to a restaurant by myself and sitting and having dinner it was a Tony Ramos and I think they're all gone now.

But there was a family in the booth in front of me and they had a six year old kid who was fidgeting at the table and turned around and was looking over the back of the the bench seat at me.

And he kind of looked at me like huh and so he got up on the table and his parents went on talking and he came over right to me and he said mister what's wrong with your face and that was the first time someone actually acknowledged it and was curious and wanted an explanation.

Most of the times adults would just do a look do a double take and I never knew what was going through their mind.

But this little five or six year old was inquisitive and as I started to I got on my knee and and got to his level and I started to explain to this young boy why my face was like it was his mom saw him and immediately stood up and grabbed him by the arm and said don't bother the nice man he has enough troubles already and took him back to the table.

And then at that point I knew this could be a really good teachable moment.

So I approached the table and I turned to the boy and I said hi my name is John what's yours?

You know you had a really good question.

I had a medical procedure that caused me not to be able to move my face but it's my new face and I like it because it's cool.

It's cool it's different it's different like yours.

And the kid kind of looked at me acknowledged what I told him shrugged his shoulders and went on playing with his toys and finishing his dinner but I remember making eye contact with his mom and her expression was one of holy crap I'm sorry because she interrupted her son's learning what someone who is different looks like and squashed his desire to truly understand what I was going through and why my face was like that.

And I could tell she acknowledged that as a life lesson they the entire family could could appreciate yeah so you know it's the kids can be cruel you know because they don't have a filter adults just go on they ignore they they make assumptions oh john had a stroke oh joe's policy they never ask why my face is paralyzed so anyway so that those kind of experiences gave me the courage and I started doing magic again and I joined uh the Magic Castle which is a private magician's

club in Hollywood very famous place and I started performing magic little by little and as I would sit behind a table dressed in a suit and I would be sitting with a group of five six ten fifteen strangers and they were there to see magic and I would all of a sudden see their faces forget about my facial paralysis look beyond my mask and see into my heart as I shared my passion for making the impossible possible.

You know I start my magic show every time I do it hi guys my name is John I've been doing magic all my life in 2002 I had a brain tumor and when I when I recovered I realized that something happened to me when I was on that operating room table.

I'm not sure what it was but all I know is I recovered well I realized I had acquired some new skills and then I pause and I wait for the audiences to get on the edge of their seat wanting to know what possible skills I acquired by having brain surgery.

And I look to my right and left like it's the biggest secret and I lean forward and I whisper in a loud voice guys I am able to visualize people's thoughts.

And then I go on to do some mentalism or mental magic.

And I'm immediately at that point done a couple things.

Number one, I've answered the question that was distracting them that they never had to ask why is this guy's face like it is so now they can focus on the magic.

And the second is I shared something uber personal that happened to me.

And when you share something that a journey that you have conquered people find strength from that they sense your resilience and want to drink from that pond.

They are inspired by you even if they don't realize it emotionally they fall in love with you.

Just because you have the courage despite your trauma you go on living and celebrating your differences as opposed to hiding on them.

And that is really my life's mission now is to teach people how to treat people who are different with the respect and compassion that you would want for yourself.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah wow wow you know John what what I love about you and one of your many superpowers but is the superpower that I see in the way in which you have have this amazing way of putting people at ease in an uncomfortable situation by simply addressing the fact.

And I think it goes back to what I believe we can all learn from children is that exactly as you talked about, as adults we feel it's better to not say anything.

We don't want to say the wrong thing we're afraid to do something that's going to offend somebody so we do nothing which oftentimes more times than not is absolutely the worst thing you can do.

Instead learning from a child where you just have their own innocent curiosity of the world there's so much to be learned by that in listening to you how you're able to take that and use that to put grown adults at ease I think is really remarkable.

And in with that I would love for you to share the story because I think it's another one of these tools that you've discovered that you've created in with your magic stuff you actually had a friend named Henry who helped you out.

SPEAKER_05: Yeah so I was at the Magic Castle and I was sitting in one of the bars having dinner my back was to the entrance and this couple came in and they had seen me perform and I was one of their favorite performers and they wanted to know if I was there that night but they didn't remember my name.

So one of the managers was standing there and they went up to the manager and I could hear this conversation.

And he said you know we're looking for this magician God we saw him last time we're here and he was amazing.

Boy I don't remember his name you you know who I'm talking about he's the big guy with the paralyzed face and I overheard this couple describe me that way.

And I thought to myself I don't want to be known as the guy with the paralyzed face.

So I got on my phone and started Googling and I found a guy who makes these pocket squares with a jacket pocket.

And they're they have lights in them.

So I love blue so I bought a Blue one.

And as soon as I got it, I started wearing that pocket square.

And like magic, instead of people saying, Oh, you're looking for John, the guy with wear last face.

No, you're looking for John, he's the guy with the blue, lit blue pocket square.

Changing that from a negative to a positive got to be the point where you know I would see regular members, and I'd be walking down the halls.

And instead of saying hi to me, I named my I named my pocket square.

I gave it an identity, and he became an integral part of my show.

And I named him Henry.

Well well, Hank was short.

Hank A.

Kirchup is his given name, but I call him Henry.

And I would have people walking down the hallway and see me and say, Hey Hank, how are you doing today?

They'd ignore me and ask how my pocket square was doing.

But I I involved him in my magic.

You know, I reached out to the guy who made him for me and I asked, can you make one that I can change the colors?

And he said, sure.

So$700 later and three prototypes, Henry was born.

And I would do a mentalism routine where I would hand a spectator a cube with six sides, with a different color on each side, and a blue plastic box that would hold the cube.

And I would ask them to take the cube below the table and choose a color and put it face up and cover the box.

And then what I ask them to imagine the color that they had chosen.

And then I would reveal that color.

And they were impressed.

But then all of a sudden I would be distracted.

I would make Henry start blinking.

What?

What?

Oh, Henry, you oh, you you want to try?

All right.

Okay, guys, I'm sorry.

My assistant here wants to try.

If you don't mind, we're gonna do it one more time and pass the box to someone else.

And take the box, take the QB on under the table, and make sure I don't see, and choose a different color and bring it up.

And then Henry's gonna try to read your mind.

And so they would do that and they fling the box and they set it on the table.

Understand it's completely opaque.

You can't see through it, the lid's on the box.

I haven't touched it.

And I turned to Henry and I said, Okay, Henry, it's your time to shine.

And he would start glowing the color that they selected.

And Henry would get a bigger applause than I would.

But it was just a matter of taking people's perceptions and turning them upside down.

You know, we all have these preconceived notions that limit us.

And in my life coaching, my resilience and environment coaching and my motivational speaking, I really hone in on limiting beliefs.

We always grow up and we get our belief system from the people who raised us, our parents or our grandparents.

And so many of us don't challenge them as we grow and evolve into human beings.

And I encourage people to constantly reevaluate and start dreaming again.

You know, as a kid, you meet you had where friend Brendan has a friend over, and they turn to you and they say, Johnny, what do you want to be when you grow up?

I want to be a fireman.

No, no, I want to be a policeman.

No, I want to be an astronaut.

No, I want to be a rock star.

And you go off as a kid and you imagine what it's like.

You pull out your air guitar and you start grabbing kitchen utensils and start banging on things like you're in a band and you're you become a rock star and you start dreaming about it.

And then at some some point in your life, you grow up and you stop dreaming of what life could look like.

What would bring you joy?

And many of us get stuck in a career that we get stuck, it pays the bills.

We don't particularly like it anymore, especially when you go through that midlife crisis in your mid-50s and 60s.

But the thought of dreaming again and starting a new path scares the crap out of us.

But I encourage people to stop and evaluate their belief systems and start dreaming again.

Pretend they win the lottery and they have more money than they know what to do with.

What is going to bring you joy?

What is going to fulfill your day that you're excited to come home and tell stories to your loved ones about your experiences from the day because you're doing something that you're passionate about.

You know, the old adage, you don't work a day in your life if you love what you do, couldn't be further from the truth.

I mean, it's just but people don't dream anymore.

And so I really encourage people to take time and fantasize about how they can use their passions in their day-to-day living to communicate who they are and what their value systems are.

Because that's how you really build long-lasting friendships and relationships.

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah.

Wow.

Man, so remarkable.

John, what exactly do you do today in terms of somebody listening today and they're in awe as much as I am?

As far as do you have openings that you work with clients in coaching right now, or how can people just stay in touch with you?

What I'm I'm curious because I'm thinking if anybody else is kind of sitting there with their kind of mouth open right now, listening to you in awe of this guy who's who's told us this crazy story from brain tumors to being a magician to then having such amazing insight on life.

I can't be the only one who thinks, wow, how can I tap into more of this guy's life?

So, John, where is the best place for somebody to learn more about you, whether it's speaking to even find different things online, any in every way possible to connect with you, where can we send them?

SPEAKER_05: I have two websites.

I have a master website, which is johnkippen.com, just spelled like it sounds.

But remember, no T's, P's.

I also have kippen.coach is specifically for my coaching website.

You know, as I got trained to become a life coach, I needed to find my niche.

And a lot of people who get into coaching, most people are fitness coaches or they're they call themselves life coaches.

And I didn't understand what the term life coach meant.

So now I position myself as a resilience and empowerment coach.

I guide people to find their own resilience within themselves and to forget about why they're in their current situation and live each day like it's their last and take the opportunities that they see that all of a sudden appear from in front of their eyes once they're open to it.

And I spend a lot of time coaching, although I have, you know, I do a six to twelve or twenty four-week program, and then they go, excuse me, they go away.

And so I'm constantly needing to fill my days with coaching clients.

So you can certainly go to kibum.coach and uh sign up for a complimentary call where we can discuss your challenges and see if I can help you.

But uh, if you go to johnkibbling.com, you'll also see my TED talk that was voted by Los Angeles magazine as one of the most profound TED Talks of the century.

It has over a million views.

They'll see the documentary that I produced, co-starring Jamie Lee Curtis called John's Ultimate Illusion.

They'll be able to see my book that I recently published and buy a copy called Playing the Hand You Were Dealt.

I'm really proud of what I've accomplished.

And all of it is geared towards helping people get through their adversity and find joy on the other side.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I love it.

John, man, it's been a pleasure getting to have you here today.

More than anything else, it's been a pleasure just getting to spend time with you to hear your story, all the things that you've overcome.

And yet at the end of the day, you just want to be able to help somebody else.

And um, I think you're an amazing guy, and it's been an absolute joy to have you on the podcast.

So thank you so much.

SPEAKER_05: Oh, thank you for allowing me to share my messages with with your amazing audience.

And uh my my my final thought is that using your passions to communicate who you are to people is the best way to build long-lasting friendships and relationships.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, absolutely.

I love it.

For you listening today, please be sure to check out today's show notes where you can find all of the links mentioned and additional resources.

But more than anything else, if today's interview has you kind of lost in thought as much as it does me, thinking a little bit bigger, maybe thinking a little bit differently, I encourage you to take action on it today and make this mean something to you in your life.

And maybe it's you giving back to somebody else by making their day, by sharing today's episode with them.

So, my friend, whatever you want to do, just be sure that you're doing something that lights you up, that makes you smile, it makes a difference in the world.

I'm Kevin Little, and this, of course, is Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

SPEAKER_06: I've got grit, grace, and inspiration on my Kelly Clarkson here with Wayfair.

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