She Lost Her Sister, Then Her Mom: Finding Hope After Grief with Kate Gladdin (Encore)

Everything you thought you knew was now gone.

I'm sure you've been there.

I'm sure you've had a moment in your life when you've said to yourself, This can't be happening.

And yet then something else hit.

And you find yourself asking that question why?

Why is this happening?

Again.

Today's interview is a truly heartfelt, emotional journey of a woman who's endured the pains of life, losing not one but two of the most important people in her life.

My hope with today's uh interview, today's conversation with Kate Gladden is that it can bring a little bit of hope to you, though.

Because what Kate has done on the other side of tragedy, I hope inspires us all.

That after every storm, there is a rainbow.

There is a rainbow after the rain.

It doesn't mean that it comes easy.

No, but there is one.

Sometimes we just have to keep going though to find it.

So there is a time when tragedy strikes to be sad and to cry.

But there's also a time to find hope, to find peace, and to start moving forward.

Now, my friend, today's interview is just the start of what I hope to be one of the best months ever here on Grit Grace and Inspiration.

This is kicking off the month of October, October 2025.

And in this month of October, I have stacked up for you three of the most amazing interviews I think that you'll have ever heard.

Today is Kate Gladden.

Next week is Amber Smith.

A woman, a mother, a wife who has a story that I'm here to tell you you do not want to miss.

The week after that, well, it's a woman who I've actually had on the podcast before, but this time you're going to hear her story from a different perspective.

Her name is Teresa, and I'm lucky enough to get to call her mom.

And she happened to be a guest on another podcast called the Mom's Day Bunker podcast.

And I felt her interview, it was so amazing that I wanted to share it here with you as well.

So that's coming up the third week of October.

All of this leading up to the fourth week of October, specifically October 28th, which just so happens to be the 22nd anniversary of the day that started it all.

That was the day that my life was saved, but also the day that I became blind.

But if it wasn't for October 28th, 2003, I don't think any of this would exist.

I don't think that I'd be the person I am today.

I don't think I'd have this podcast.

So in a big way, have to be grateful.

Grateful that it's all gone the way it has.

And I'm grateful because I just hope that something I say that my guest says here on this podcast that I've created, that it can be a help to you.

So, my friend, this is my interview with Kate Gladden that kicks it all off.

This is episode 414 of Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

My friend, I hope you love it.

I hope you enjoy it.

And if it does hit you hard and it makes you think of somebody you love, well, please be sure to share today's episode with them.

That would mean the world to me.

So with that, I turn it over.

Here is my interview with none other than the absolutely phenomenal Kate Gladys.

What is happening, my friend?

And welcome back to Great Grace and Inspiration.

Today I have the absolute pleasure, the honor of getting to be in the studio with somebody who I have been looking forward to this for such a long time.

Because as you're about to realize, she is an absolute just beautiful ray of sunlight coming to us with a beautiful accent.

It's none other than Kate Gladden.

Kate, welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_03: Oh, geez.

Thank you for the uh very warm intro, Kevin.

I'm excited.

It has been a long time getting to chat together.

I'm excited because I really thoroughly enjoyed having you on my show and was very inspired.

So it's great to be back uh collaborating again.

SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.

I agree a hundred percent.

Yes.

Well, well, Kate, wanting to dive right in, your story has many different elements that we're gonna get to today.

And I believe there's a lot of it that's gonna help somebody in many different assets of life who are maybe struggling, who are in the thick of it.

They're they're going through some stuff, and you have life experience that I know is gonna be able to help them.

But before we get to all of that, where I would love to start is getting to kind of better understand where things started for you.

I know you're from Australia.

And so I would love to know what was life like for little Kate growing up in Australia?

If if you wouldn't mind, I would just love to hear about that, whether it's a favorite story, a memory, just a snapshot, just to give a little bit better context of of where you've come from.

SPEAKER_03: Ooh, good question.

I love it.

Little Kate, gosh.

Uh I think, you know, I grew up surrounded by a whole lot of love and a whole lot of beaches.

So I guess you're from Florida, right, Kevin?

For some of you.

Yes.

Yeah.

So it's probably similar, less human, thankfully.

I think if you were, when you said favorite memory, I think, you know, I grew up, I was the youngest of three.

So I have my sister who was four years older, and then my brother six years older than me.

And I think it was Sunday mornings.

We lived by a bay and we'd walk along the bay, and the sun would be shining, and we'd go down to my pop's place and we'd have bacon and eggs and a family brecke, as we'd say, or breakfast together.

And I look back now, and that some of my fondest memories, just my pop just hanging out down the road and walking by the bay, sunshine.

You know, Australia does get cold.

I'll give it that.

I think a lot of people think it's stinking hot all the time.

But yeah, that's uh I had a really yeah full life and and lots of happy family memories, which especially now I'll I'll hold close to my heart.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.

Now, did you have extended family as part of your childhood as well?

Or was it just pretty much your siblings and your parents?

SPEAKER_03: I've got cousins, particularly on my mom's side, that I'm really close with and and we're still uh very connected now.

But yeah, we'd all, particularly, you know, Christmas and those times, we'd all come together and play in the pool.

So that's the fun thing.

I guess actually Florida's probably pretty warm at Christmas too, but I tell Americans that we have Christmas in summer and they're like, why do you have Christmas in July?

I'm like, no, it's summertime.

SPEAKER_00: Hey, that was kind of confusing me too.

So yeah.

SPEAKER_03: But yeah, so Christmas, you know, I'd be on my, I think they're called, are they called noodles?

Those uh do you did you ever did you spend much time in the pool growing up where you'd have those little like noodle pool toys and you'd float around them?

SPEAKER_00: The little foam, the foam thing that you would flip.

Yes, of course.

SPEAKER_03: You know, we'd have noodle walls in the noodle walls in the pool, and uh yeah, then you'd have your your dessert and you know your ice cream running down your arms because it would be hot and melting.

That was Christmas in Australia for you, but yeah, that's particularly when all the cousins would would come together and uh you know, I just I don't know about you, Kevin, but I'd I'd give anything for a a day to go back and just enjoy some of those memories all over again for sure.

SPEAKER_00: Oh, if that is not a summary of the thoughts that I have way too much of how nice it would be sometimes to just get to go back to when we were just little kids.

And you know, we we always thought growing up, we always thought growing up is what we wanted to do.

And then we get there, we're like, nope, please somebody hit the rewind button.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, take me back where the biggest, you know, thing of my afternoon is beating my cousin at you know the noodle wall.

It's like I uh yeah, there's so much, you know, to get that innocence back would be a beautiful thing, but you know, we we can't turn back time, all we can do is continue forward and and enjoying the the present moment.

But I do hold very dearly, you know, I just I had such a an amazing family-filled childhood, and that that means a lot to me.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.

I love it.

Now, as you grew older and stuff, did you ever have any type of dreams for the future, like any dream careers or or specific plans of like going to college after high school, anything like that?

SPEAKER_03: Well, if you looked at my, I think it was like year one, so that's kind of like first grade year book.

It says, what did you, what do you want to be when you grow up?

And I said I want to own a dog farm and I wanted to house my hundreds of dogs.

That was what I put.

So I don't quite have a dog farm.

I've got two beautiful dogs now though.

So I'm somewhat there.

And I live on a few acres, so maybe a little bit of a dog farm, but uh I, you know, I always really loved surprising now, given my sorry, not surprising now given my occupation as a speaker, but I always really loved speech and drama, public speaking, expressing myself, taking a message and using it to connect with an audience, move an audience.

I remember like third grade, Kate used to get pulled out of class to go learn poems and monologues for competition.

So I did always really love connecting through speech, but I didn't really know what I wanted to do with that.

I remember telling dad, I just want to be like a public speaker.

He's like, What are you gonna talk about?

I'm like, I don't know.

Because leaving high school, I didn't really yet have a story.

And I always tell students who come up to me now and are like, I want to do what you do.

I'm like, let life kind of happen and unfold for you.

You you never know where it might lead you.

But I did end up going into, I got a business degree and I was planning on specializing more in like marketing and PR.

Because I'm like, you know, then that way you're kind of constantly pitching and bringing ideas to life, which I I really love.

So I had a corporate job actually straight out of university, and I did that for about six weeks to like quit and really discovered it wasn't for me.

But that's because between getting that job and uh starting it, there was a pretty big life quake, I like to say, you know, kind of shattered my family and I in the lead up to that.

And I realized I really wanted different things out of life than just sitting at a corporate desk all day.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, understandable.

Before we get to that life quake moment, would you mind sharing with me a little bit more about your siblings as far as who they, who they were, y'all's relationship growing up, if you were, if you were close, remain close even as you got older.

Was kind of curious about that.

SPEAKER_03: Oh gosh.

So my sister and I shared a room up until I was about 12 or 13.

So, like she, from the moment I'd wake up to the moment I go asleep, go to sleep.

Like my sister was always around.

So we were super close.

We didn't actually fight that much for sisters, which was nice.

Um, but I just I always looked up to Nicole.

She was uh four years older than me.

So there was this age gap where I just wanted to be her.

She was the most beautiful ballet dancer, so I did ballet and was maybe the beautiful didn't quite match me, but I tried.

She was very loud and just like you'd hear her from a mile away.

So I just always really admired her energy, her love for life, her courage to go after things.

And my brother and I, you know, I look back and we he um him and I used to play a lot of Xbox together.

So I used to love car racing and all those kind of games.

And so we'd play those.

And I always looked up to just my brother was a more studious one, very hardworking.

And so I kind of, as the little sibling again, looked up and wanted to do well academically like he did.

My sister was very bright, but can't say she loved her schoolwork.

If that's what she put her mind to, she'd, you know, she could do it, but she had to make sure she liked what she was learning, otherwise she wasn't that interested in it.

But yeah, so I um, you know, we go on uh family trips together, and and I really I'm grateful that I had two siblings to look up to.

And now my brother and I, you know, we live in opposite ends of the world now, but he's got three beautiful boys, so I'm the auntie to three nephews now, which is awesome.

And, you know, we always catch up when I go back home and and everything like that.

And I guess my sister and I uh are still very close, uh, I guess just in a way that I never really imagined.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.

Well, well, Kate, talk to me about your sister and talk to me about that that life quake moment, I think you called it.

If you wouldn't mind, take me, take me back to to that day, to that time period, and uh share with me what what happened.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, for sure.

I uh I guess I should note, like, I remember going to bed the night before, and it just I feel so that person who I was feels so foreign to me now.

But, you know, I was very perfectionistic.

I was quite an anxious person, very high achieving, very much like I need to try and control all the things I I can because I need to try and be really smart and well-liked and successful.

And so success for me was very externalized, you know, what people thought of me and all this kind of stuff.

And I think I just wanted to mention that because it's what happened next really made me rethink all of my priorities in life.

But I do remember going to bed and I was very stressed about my university exams that I had coming up.

Um, it was a Friday night, so I also think I was stressing about what I was gonna wear to the party the next day because you know, all the important things.

And you know, I just went to bed and I I actually remember um I looked on Facebook and my sister had posted up some really beautiful photos because she was on a holiday, as we'd say, but a vacation to Thailand with her boyfriend at the time, Jamie.

And I was just jealous.

I was like, oh, look like they're having the nicest time.

Like I just wish I was lying on a beach reading a book.

And so I I went to I went to bed that night and yeah, I I still can hear that.

Like I noticed my phone was ringing and I normally don't hear it, so it was surprising.

But I I grabbed it and I flipped over and I could see it was like 3:37 a.m.

and I'm like it calls at 3.37, and then I realized it was my mom.

And you know, when your mom's calling you at 3:30, 3:30 in the morning, you know it's not for just a nice little hello chat.

So I answered it, and you know, I'm half asleep, like, what's going on?

And um, it's funny, this is like, you know, only a sister would know this.

Mum's like, do you know your sister's email password?

Like, what are what's what's going on?

It's 3.30 in the morning.

I'm like, what are you talking about?

And I remember at first my mom was just trying to, I think, remain, remain composed to not stress me out too much.

But she's just like, Look, your sister's been in an accident.

Um, we just need to try and get into her travel insurance.

And apparently it's on her email, and I'm just I feel like you'll be able to guess her password, which I did.

Like only a sister can.

So I forwarded that along, and you know, in my head at first, like my sister, despite being a dancer and very beautifully coordinated and like, you know, moving poetry on stage, she also kind of was very accident prone.

Like, I don't know, like she was once on this.

Like, do you guys have the water ride where you like sit in a donut and you just blob around?

It kind of carries you around like a lagoon thing.

And it's yeah, yeah, of course.

I can't remember what it's called.

But so mostly a lazy river?

Yeah, yeah, something like that.

Like the most chill ride in like this is a theme park in Australia called Wet n Wild.

And um, you have one of those.

Okay, yeah.

So we went there a lot as kids because my nan, she lives on the Gold Coast in Queensland.

So we'd go up every year and and spend spend some time with her up there, and we always visited a theme park.

And I remember it just like Nicole on the most calm ride fell off her uh donut, hit her head, and got a mini concussion.

And I just remember she got wheeled out in a wheelchair.

And so I was just like, oh gosh, like she's probably done something just like silly, like the donut ride.

Like, I wasn't too worried, and then it was just as I went to hang up the phone, Mum goes, Look, she's being rushed into surgery with head injuries, and just pray to God she survives.

And those that was the beginning of the the life quake.

That was when the tremors uh started setting in.

Because I was like, What do you what do you mean, pray to God?

She's sort of like, what?

And so that's when, you know, I just that anxiety that the the shaking and everything comes over you.

And so I couldn't sleep anymore.

At by this point, it's probably like four or four thirty a.m.

And so I got up and I went down and watched the sunrise by the beach that morning and just trying to wait for the news.

And that morning was like it was just the most beautiful sunrise coming up over the ocean, and I really I felt like, oh my gosh, this is my sign.

Like Nicole's gonna be okay, it's gonna be so beautiful.

Like I took a photo of the sunrise with the intention of showing the Nicole the photo when I would go and visit her because you know she's gonna be okay.

And then by this point, I'm like, I should probably head back to my parents because I was actually at my boyfriend at the time's house.

And so I you know, I kind of get in the car and I'm like, okay, here we go.

My phone starts ringing, and it's funny how your brain tries to rationalize things.

Like, I saw it ringing, and I'm like, Mom just wants me to get some milk on the way home.

So I answered it just so casually, and you know, my mom just screamed, she didn't make it.

And I just thank God I wasn't driving at the time.

I I remember like I had had not quite even closed the car door yet.

So I just literally fell back out of the car onto the grass, and I just yeah, I I wanted to scream, but you can't like it just felt like all my oxygen was gone from my lungs.

And I'm like, I just I don't remember my I remember running inside and my my boyfriend at the time's dad grabbing me, like you know, they just put me in a car, they drive me home, and then we get home and there's just already people in the house because mum and dad had already booked flights to go and rush to be at Nicole's side in Thailand, and so that was also really so overwhelming because I'm walking in, there's people everywhere.

I know they're trying to help, but really all I want is to hug my mum and dad.

But then, you know, in my hug with mom, she's like, Look, I just need you to look at me like we've booked our flights, we've got to leave for the airport.

Your dad and I were leaving in 30 minutes.

And, you know, I just lost my sister, my best friend, like the the person I thought was always going to be by my side.

And then to physically let my mum and my dad go at that moment when I really needed them was so hard.

But I know that Nicole really needed them more in those moments.

Like sh she deserved and would have wanted, and I wanted for her, for mom and dad to to bring her home.

SPEAKER_00: Wow.

Now, how old were you at this point?

SPEAKER_03: Oh, I was 20 and Nicole was 24.

SPEAKER_00: Wow.

Now, your brother, who had did you call him or your parents call him?

SPEAKER_03: Uh, that would have been my parents, I believe.

I remember he was at the house around the same time, I think.

And then he and his wife moved in back into my parents' house, where I was kind of like half living, half not, like, you know, kind of that 20-ish years old where you just bounce it around the place living life.

But uh yeah, they moved back in and it was about a week or so that mum and dad ended up having to be away because unfortunately the justice system in Thailand, the legal system is to be quite honest, somewhat corrupt.

And so I felt like very quickly it went from, you know, oh my god, my sister's die, like the pain and the grief to just fear and confusion.

Because basically, to describe for listeners what happened, because we actually have video footage of it that we got from the hotel.

Nicole and Jamie had just been out for a quiet dinner one night.

And in all other photos that we've seen of Nicole riding like a moped motorbike, you know, things that people hire in countries like Southeast Asia to get around, she's wearing a helmet.

But this one time, you know, I I can imagine she's been out to dinner, she's got her hair done, she's feeling beautiful.

She's, you know, she didn't put a helmet on this one time.

And they're turning into the driveway of their hotel, like meters from safety.

When you just see this local rider just speed up on the wrong side of the road, like he just cuts up on the wrong side of the road and hits and slams into the back of the bike, um, at which Nicole was on.

So Nicole did take the full impact.

Like her partner, Jamie, who was driving the bike, barely had a scratch.

Um but unfortunately Nicole fell off, hit her head, and yeah, didn't didn't make it.

And I think it was so hard because the the Thai police wanted Jamie to sign something that a statement that he couldn't understand.

He's like, this is all in Thai, I'm not signing it.

So they took his passport.

Um so he couldn't leave the country.

And so my dad, like, my god, like just his strength.

I admire him so much.

You know, his daughter's just being killed.

Um, but he spent at least a day or two with Jamie in the police station, sitting opposite the police, trying to negotiate with them to get Jamie's passport back.

So it was everything from, you know, they even suggested at one point, let's just say Nicole was driving, and Mum's like, no, we're not blaming my daughter for something that was not at all her fault.

And we have video footage of it, and we're just so lucky that the hotel gave the footage to us and not the police, because I don't know.

That was our only bargaining chip to be like, you can't make up a story.

We have the full story here.

But, you know, there's there's ATMs in the police station there, just put it that way.

Um Wow.

Yeah.

So it was intense.

Like I just remember my mum holding the video footage in her hand.

Like, I think it was on like a CD ROM back then, because this is 2012.

So, you know, technology wasn't what it is today.

And she and she was on like a glitchy Skype call and just seeing the fear in her face, like she's like, we just gotta we've got to hold on to this footage to try and get Jamie out.

But my dad stood by him and you know, negotiated, and it ended up being, I think he ended up signing a blank statement.

Like they just like signed this piece of paper and there was nothing on it.

And then we had to pay some compensation to the other driver for damage to his bike.

So it was all really very messy, very unjust.

And I think it's just also the lack of empathy or care that they were showing towards my parents, you know, who've just lost a daughter and was really, it was really challenging.

Um, and I think that's where, you know, unfortunately, I mean, we won't give away the full story now, but just sitting where I am now today, it I can't believe how much a lot of it feels like deja vu.

But yeah, so that kind of is is what happened.

It took about uh a week for them to get home.

And then that's kind of when it finally felt like the reality set in of like, oh, Nicole's not coming home.

I remember we the airline kindly organized just like a private room for us to meet at the airport when they got off the plane.

And I just remember my mum walking in with this huge brim white hat, and it was the hat that I remember Nicole had bought a couple days before she left, and she was like, Katie, look at my hat.

Like she was all excited to take it with her to Thailand, and then just seeing this hat without Nicole being able to wear it any like just seeing that empty hat.

I was just like, oh God, like she really, she really has gone.

So then the next week or two was, you know, I'm 20 years old and writing a funeral speech and yeah, coming face to face with the reality that, you know, if it had been me where my sister was, would I be proud of how I'm living life, how I treat people, how I talk to people.

You know, I um the honest answer was was no.

It really made me reflect how much my fear of value, my fear of what other people think of me really dictated so many of my decisions.

And so that was a big, painful wake-up call, but I stood at my sister's memorial and delivered that speech and made that commitment to now live my life with more passion, more courage, more more compassion for others.

And I've done my best.

I'm not perfect at it, but it's really kind of what's put me towards this path that I'm that I'm now on today.

SPEAKER_00: Wow.

Speaking at your sister's memorial service, was that something that you you immediately knew that you you wanted to do, you had to do, or was that a hard decision?

Because anytime that I've gone to a funeral, somebody who's lost somebody, especially just unexpected, I always have such admiration for the people closest to them who can get up and speak.

How was that for you?

SPEAKER_03: Honestly, it was the the first option that you you mentioned, it just felt like you couldn't have stopped me if you if you tried.

I needed it for my own healing.

Cause as I've said, since a young girl, and I don't know if there's you know, I I hate you looking back and going, this was meant to happen.

I don't believe that.

But at the same time, I've always felt like, you know, when I lost my sister, I felt like I'd lost everything but my voice.

And so I just I had to stand up there for her because she doesn't get to speak anymore.

But I know I knew my sister well enough, and I still feel like, you know, like she's whispering things in my ear is like of what to express and what to say.

And so yeah, I I do look back now, like just seeing little 20-year-old me.

I I didn't feel that young at the time, you know, you're like, oh, I'm 20, I'm so grown up.

But I now I'm like, oh my gosh, I was just a baby.

Yeah, I I I do have ad admiration for my young, my younger self being able to do that.

But it it was like my brother did it, my mom did it, uh, my dad did it.

Like, I think the love gives you strength that you did not know that you had.

You just like I my love is deeper than my pain right now.

So it really, I think it helps you find the find the words and the courage to speak.

And, you know, I even spoke out, and this kind of can pivot a little bit as to what journey it took me on next.

But like I spoke at my gym's Christmas party, it was like four weeks after Nicole died, delivering a message on travel safety, because I had discovered that an Australian tourist was dying in Thailand every two to three days, with a major cause being from accidents where people have taken risks that they wouldn't normally take back at home.

Yeah.

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: That was wow.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah.

In in Southeast Asia and its entirety, it's like an Australian tourist is dying there.

Like I think it's like basically every day.

There are a mix of causes, but a huge part of it is those that part of the world just don't they don't have the same safety standards, they don't have the same care for life.

And so you get over there and you see people riding without helmets and kind of having a few drinks and getting on the road and like just being so carefree, like there's no rules, but without rules, you're also without any protection.

And so many young Aussies love to travel to these places and they are beautiful, and they, you know, they've got so much going for them.

I'm not trying to say don't visit there or the people.

Most people there are really some of the, you know, most beautiful people you'll meet, but you do have to take your safety seriously because split second decisions can change lives forever.

And so that's why I'm like, I can't change what happened.

I can't change the culture over there, I can't change the legal system over there, but I can make people more aware and better prepared for what they might meet abroad in these places and try and shadow the sense of invincibility that it won't happen to me.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

Grief it looks different for for all of us.

How did you handle the grief in the weeks, the months after?

Was there anything that you you did to help yourself?

Obviously, your your life started taking new directions.

Maybe it was as as much as you just having to focus forward and pivot.

I was just kind of curious how was it for you this grief journey of this young woman 20 years old tragically losing your sister and now trying to to live in this world without her.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it I mean, the first uh few weeks and everything, it does feel like such a blur, but I can mention just a few things that I I know will help because the only way through grief is is through it.

Like it it demands to be felt because it comes really.

It comes from love.

Like we we don't grieve people just because we've lost them, but because we love them.

And so I think what I did quite looking back now, I can see really was helpful.

Like, please know at least once a day, every day for the first year basically, there was big meltdowns and crying.

But I think that's actually part of being resilient is letting yourself feeling it and let it out.

Like our body releases endorphins after a big cry.

Like it does help actually be resilient but through crying.

So I think it's allowing myself to feel what I needed to feel.

My little mantra that I had and I still have today is you know, smile and laugh whenever you can and cry and reflect whenever you need to.

It's just like trying to make space for the full human experience.

And I think that's really important because I think too many people are focused on trying to be happy.

I'm like, you don't want to be happy when you lose someone that you love.

You want to feel what you need to feel in order to honor and process the whole experience of grief.

But I did do like, I know, even I think it was like the next day or probably two days after, I think Nicole died.

I got myself into the gym.

And I remember I think I was walking like two miles an hour.

It was very slow.

But that metaphor of just being on the the treadmill and just putting one foot in front of the other and letting my body remind me of my strength and my ability, like it just was a good metaphor of like, this is how you're gonna get through this, just one foot in front of the other.

I did a lot of journaling, like I found it quite helpful to journal to my sister.

So I would write to her each day.

And I remember I'd always give myself the challenge to finish the journal prop, like the entry with something based in like gratitude and love and not just focused on the pain.

Cause I would picture if I was getting the chance to speak to Nicole one last time, I wouldn't just want to sit there and tell her how much pain I'm in and make her feel bad.

I'd be like, I'd want to just remember like the reason this hurts so much is because I had someone I loved so much and brought so much into my life.

And so I would try and find that that balance again in the journaling.

I spent a lot of time outside in nature.

I'd watch sunrises because my sister would always love sunrise.

And it became quite a you know, cathartic time for me because I did watch the sunrise the morning she died.

And looking back at that photo now, you know, I thought it was the sign she was gonna be okay.

But in this way, I feel like it was her way saying, like, I am okay.

This is just gonna be a new beginning for us both.

We're gonna have to learn how to be sisters in a whole new way.

And I've just had to learn how to love beyond what and wow, Kevin, I didn't I realize as I say this, you really know this yourself.

It's being able to love what you can't necessarily see now.

You've got to learn beyond like how to.

I know my sister's still in this world.

I just can't see her, it's not in this tangible way anymore.

And I've just had to learn how to to love her in a different way.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.

You know what?

That's that's how I feel like we all have to get through life when change happens is we have to learn how to love in a different way.

Just like me, I had to learn how to see in a different way.

You know.

Before we continue, tell me again because I loved it, and I want to be sure that the person listening soaked it in the mantra that you said.

It was so simple, but it was so perfect.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, it really is sometimes when we just simplify it all down, it it hits such a truth.

So my mantra for for grief, for life in in in general, really, is you know, smile and laugh whenever you can and cry and reflect whenever you need to.

SPEAKER_00: I absolutely love that.

SPEAKER_03: That's yeah, I think it's good because I I like like whenever you can because it's I don't know, sometimes I feel people think people feel pressured to be positive and smiley and bubbly.

It's like you don't you don't have to every day, but when you can, when you can find those moments, and I think it's uh it's an interesting thing with grief too, and I'm sure many listeners who have had an experience with grief is it it is strange that first time you start smiling and laughing again, and and and some people start to feel guilty for that.

And so I think it's also giving yourself permission to be happy again, to find moments of joy again, and know that that's not saying you're happy that they're not here anymore.

You I always say, like, you know, every day I get on this earth is another day my sister didn't, and it's up to me to make the most of it.

I, you know, she'd give anything to have a laugh, to watch a sunrise, to, you know, hug my dad one more time.

So it's just like I want to experience these moments and now I'm doing it for the for the two of us.

So yeah, that that mantra, I hope it helps someone out there because it really kind of brings it back to the truth of what life is all about.

SPEAKER_00: 100%.

I love it.

I love it.

Well, well, talk to me moving forward, your your career path.

You you briefly mentioned earlier about getting a job, but you're there for a very short time when then this tragic accident happened with your sister, and then life has gone off in this whole other direction.

Talk to me about forming the foundation for your sister and just all the things to follow.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah.

So I feel like the first little spark of my of an idea for of the foundation for Nicole was I remember in the week or two after she died, it looked like we lived in a floral shop.

Like there were so many flowers in the house.

And it was so beautiful, you know, people were just pouring their hearts out.

Like when someone's so young and so loved and you know, dies so suddenly, it really does, you know, send those, like an earthquake through the community.

So the outpouring was unbelievable because my sister was just, you know, she was a dancer and she was involved in so many different things.

So she had friends everywhere, literally around the world, because she danced in London and New Zealand and Japan.

And so it was just like incredible.

But we're like, there's like thousands of dollars worth of flowers in here, and these poor things are gonna die, you know, in about a week.

We want people contributing to something that's gonna live on beyond Nicole and carry forward her legacy.

We had a funeral that was kind of semi-private, only a few hundred people went to that, and then we said goodbye to Nicole there, and then we had her celebration of life at the local football stadium for because my sister was a huge rugby league fan, and they she worked at a TV station at the time.

So we were able to put together just this incredible celebration of life, huge like screens, and over 3,000 people attended her her memorial there.

SPEAKER_00: Wow.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and there were like hundreds and hundreds also streaming online.

And so ahead of that, we're like, let's let people know that we've decided initially, due to Nicole's love of dance and like performing and just love of like watching people go for their dreams, like Nicole would cry watching people win gold medals at the Olympics.

Like she'd be like, oh my God, just imagine how that feels.

Like she was just so happy for them.

And she also, though, um went to a performing arts school that where a lot of the students came from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and they didn't get the opportunities that she had growing up to go to certain competitions.

And she really hated when finance was the thing holding such talented, passionate people back.

And so that's why we decided we'll give grants to performing artists and athletes who are going through some sort of adversity themselves and are financially being held back and could use just that bit of extra support to get to that next step because that's what Nicole was all about.

It's not just about the result, it's about the experience of just going out there and giving life the best of you, regardless of the outcome.

And so that's what started the foundation.

So we launched it at her memorial, the Nicole Fitzsimons Foundation, where I kind of started to find my my next calling and purpose was honestly just through my own curiosity at first.

I remember sitting at the family table and just like feeling so broken.

And I'm like, how many other poor families are going through what we're going through?

Like, how is this my sister just, you know, is this just a senseless accident or how often is this happening?

And so I just went on Google and literally Googled, like, you know, motorbike tourist accidents in Thailand.

And that's when I discovered that alarming statistic I told you of losing an Australian over there every two to three days and in Bali every four days, and you know, Thailand have the second deadliest roads in the entire world, yet it's promoted over there as such a fun thing to do to just hire a motorbike on roads that you have no idea how, you know, it works over there and everything like that.

And so I uh I sat back and I'm like, you know what?

Like, I know I can't save everyone, but if I can save one life, if I can help one young person make a different decision in honor of Nicole, and that helps bring them home safely and smiling to their loved ones, like I'm not gonna stop until I can do something about that.

So that's when I um decided, like, what if I started sharing Nicole's story and speaking at schools and just telling them, you know, sharing some of the video footage.

We don't show the actual impact, but it shows, you know, the split second before it.

And it just felt like I every bone in my body wanted me to do it, but I did have already this corporate job lined up, which was a really big deal to get.

And so, you know what, I'll I'll just give it a go and see.

But very quickly, knew it wasn't quite the right fit.

I'm glad I did it.

Like I, you know, now running my own business and there's hard days with that, I still know I'd be happier doing this than that kind of work life.

Just nothing against the corporate world at all.

It just definitely doesn't suit what I wanted out of a career.

So after about, yeah, uh six weeks, I started in January, and then by I think it was like end of February-ish, I was like, ugh, I I told my parents I need to talk to you, and they're like, oh God, what are we gonna say?

Because I was kind of nervous, you know, I'm 20, I'm still very much looking for my parents' approval and things.

And I was kind of nervous to tell them that I think I want to quit my job.

But my when I told my dad, like, I want to quit my job, I want to take on Nicole's foundation full-time, I want to travel to schools, I want to share this around Australia.

I uh he started crying, but they were just like tears of joy and love.

Um because he's like, Oh my god, I'm so proud.

He goes, I would never ever want to influence your career, I wasn't ever going to tell you to quit.

But he was very proud.

And that's that was great.

You know, I was at, I was 20 years old.

I moved back in with my parents, like, because I wasn't getting paid at first.

This was all pro bono, like just trying to create a movement.

So thankfully I was at an age where I'd already got my degree out of the way, but I wasn't yet bogged down with a mortgage.

So I could be, and I that's what I try and encourage so many young people.

I see so many trying to, they're like 23 and they're trying to race into like certainty over their life and locking in decisions.

I'm like, uh-uh, you're 20 seconds, you know, exploring and messing up and learning and trying and risking and growing.

And so yeah, I'm very passionate about trying to carry that forward because that was the best thing I did.

It's put me on the path I'm on today.

And and to cut a long story short, I ended up, yeah, taking my presentation to all states around Australia, reaching over 300,000 students.

We ended up partnering with the Australian government, who we're still now um proud to be partners with.

They have a like an arm of their government called Smart Traveler, and they promote very similar like travel safety and tips to be aware of.

So I drive a lot of students there.

Like they have at every country you visit around the world, they just have a page of like, hey, here's the risks and things to be mindful of when you're traveling there.

And I also partnered with the like insurance council of Australia because I never thought I'd be 20 years old and passionate about travel insurance.

But I can tell you it saved my family over$50,000.

And they were so caring.

They even sent flowers to be at Nicole's funeral.

Like they really helped us navigate a very scary and overwhelming situation of bringing a body back home from overseas.

So just financially, but also emotionally, the support of having travel insurance was huge, yet so many young people don't even know it exists.

Or why bother paying a few hundred dollars to ensure?

Your trip.

And so just sharing with them how financially devastating it can be if you do require any medical treatment overseas to have that financial protection through the insurance is absolutely essential.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

Wow.

Wow.

Wow.

Wow.

That's incredible, incredible journey.

I think the part of that story that touched me the most is you sitting down with your parents and and your your father crying.

And I think that's such a beautiful thing.

And I I think it just lends its hand to showing how important, meaningful, purposeful the work that you were about to embark on was gonna be.

That's what it's about.

You know?

Because it doesn't need to be for nothing.

And I think that's just really powerful.

So I guess curious about your life then.

You this is all in Australia.

When would moving to America come into play?

SPEAKER_03: Oh yeah, I can certainly tell you it wasn't initially in the plans at all.

But I guess so.

I did the presentations in person for from like twenty and twelve to about 2016.

And I, you know, people would resonate, like love the travel safety message, but then they were really just inspired by exactly what you said, like that ability to not only find the good, but the create the good and find meaning and move forward and be resilient.

And so I'd have these, you know, 17, 18-year-old boys like moved to tears by the story.

And then so many of them would be like, oh my gosh, like I don't know how you're so strong up there.

Like I could never be that strong.

And that's really what ignited my passion when I really pivoted more towards resilience and how to build it during tough times.

Because I was like, oh my gosh, I used to be mentally fragile at best.

Like I was not born resilient.

Everything used to crumble me, like losing a tennis match.

So I really became passionate about okay, I've got my story now, but I really want to learn strategies and how to teach them like to other people because I know that they have this same potential and capacity to be resilient as I do.

So in 2016, I went over to California and I did a week like life coaching program that continued on a few months after that, but the rest of it was virtual.

But that was my first big moment of kind of betting on myself of like it was quite expensive, but I really felt called to do it.

And so I kind of got certified in life coaching back then, like around by 2017, I kind of was also starting to expand into the resilience world and wanting to still do the travel safety talks, but then also begin to talk about resilience and kind of mental strength.

And I done a few schools and put together my first website.

And again, like I found this lady who is now a dear friend of mine, but I loved her websites.

But again, because the Australian dollar does not stack up very well against the US dollar.

So I'm just like barely like any money I was making, I was just pouring into my business at the time.

And so I started my own little like company.

It was in my major, like Kate Fitzsimers Proprietary Limited.

I was going all in and I set up this website, and I remember thinking, like, I've got to think as my future self, as the businesswoman and impact leader that I want to be.

So I created this great website, and it was honestly like the best investment that I made because a few months later, a school principal in Idaho Falls found my website.

Loved it, loved my messaging and everything on it.

So he reached out and invited me to speak with his students that December of 2018 in Idaho Falls.

And so I was like, oh my God, I'm gonna speak in America.

Like that blew my mind.

It's like there's a thing called um poor poppy syndrome.

Have you ever heard of that, Kevin?

SPEAKER_00: Uh I yes, but explain it to me.

I want to be sure I'm on the same page.

SPEAKER_03: Okay.

So uh basically, and God love Australian.

Like, I'm very proud to be an Aussie, but we do kind of have this sentiment.

I think we get it a bit from the Brits, where it's kind of like you can't grow too big for your own boots.

Like they would say, Oh, you can't, you know, people don't make it in America.

The like Aussies can't make it over there.

There's too many people over there to make it big.

Like, we kind of don't really embrace the whole like American dream, aka Australian dream.

Like, I don't know, there's sometimes a little like I always had this glass ceiling of like that wouldn't be possible for me.

So when it came along, it was like I still remember the moment when it all got locked in and I was just like going to America.

And there might have been a double reason why that was exciting, because I might have met a particular American on a trip earlier that year to the US with my mum.

Um, we had spent three weeks, two weeks in New York and a week in DC.

And because my we actually sponsored a rugby league team, the Brooklyn Kings, through my sister's foundation.

They wore the logo on their shirts, and we gave them some funding to get them started over there from someone that Nicole had worked with.

But anyway, we wanted to go watch them live.

And so went over there and it's actually through a podcast, Kevin, that I met my now husband.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, because he has a show or had a show called the Rugby League in America podcast.

SPEAKER_02: Okay.

SPEAKER_03: And the owner of the Brook Brooklyn Kings, Matt, my husband Nate, had reached out to Matt and said, Oh, I'd love to get you on the show about the Kings.

And Matt said, Oh, yeah, you should also just chat with this girl, Kate.

They're doing this really cool thing through the foundation that's really inspiring.

So you should reach out to Kate.

And so he reaches out to me and I find out he's in DC.

And I was like, Oh, we should just meet up while I'm in DC in like a couple of weeks.

So Nate and I and my mum, we all went to dinner when we're in DC, and then I guess the rest is kind of uh history.

SPEAKER_00: Wow, you know, we we knew there had to be a love story in there somewhere.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I like to say my sister was playing matchmaker, even you know, from heaven, because it was through her foundation.

So she's found this American who's crazy about rugby league, which is her favorite game in the world.

And um, yeah, kind of Nate, like I was like, Oh, I'm gonna need a driver while I'm in Idaho Falls because I don't know how to drive in the snow.

But yeah, that's kind of what started my American dream over here, and it was an amazing week.

The students loved it, the teachers loved it, and so much so his name's Bob Devine.

That is the legend that I attribute my entire American journey to.

He's a school principal, but he started up his own company so he could sponsor my visa to come over here and work.

And so I put my head down and got my 01 visa, which was the most expensive and hardest process I've done.

But I wanted to make sure I got to the US on off my own back and my own efforts.

And so that was approved in I think it was March like 16, 2020.

So I was like, woo-hoo, I'm gonna go move to America and then got shut down and stuck in Australia for six months because of good old COVID.

Um yeah, in August 2020 is when I moved over to the States.

And initially my husband was in the military.

I'm very proud of his 23 years of service in the in the Air Force.

But he was we I lived in the New Jersey for three years with him, and then we uh decided we wanted to get off the East Coast and find somewhere peaceful, which is what took us to uh Wyoming.

SPEAKER_00: Wow, that is absolutely amazing.

So we bring us up to speed.

So you move to America, you you find this love, life is is started over not too long ago.

We're not talking about a long time, and and I didn't realize that it has been that recent.

And I would say life has been going good up until the time, honestly, Kate, of me and you first meeting.

Because I was gonna have you on the podcast, and we were gonna be talking about the story of your sister about Nicole.

And then as if life can't be hard enough, tragedy had to strike twice for you.

Would you mind sharing what happened next?

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, okay.

Here we go.

I think this is my first time.

I actually spoke about this on the weekend in my first keynote addressing it.

So this will be my first kind of podcast episode.

So uh I just ask for grace, whatever comes out over the next few minutes, because it's obviously still quite raw for me.

But I um I'm very determined to do the to continue to honor this very special person to me also.

So yeah, so we live in a really beautiful town.

It's called Sheridan in Wyoming.

If you haven't visited it, it's picturesque mountains and a great downtown.

And so my parents came and visited me here last year.

They stayed for three weeks and we had the best time.

And my mum lived felt like history, and my pop loved like cowboy movies, and so that's her dad.

And so she really loved everything around here and the community.

She just, I was so excited when they came and visited again this May.

Trip was off to a beautiful start.

We're out and about downtown, and mum and I went mother-daughter shopping on the weekend, and I just was really loving, like, oh, this is so nice to just have my mum around and get to do these little everyday moments that when you live across the world, you don't get to do with your parents as much.

So yeah, it was it was great.

And mom even went to uh the Memorial Day service was on the Monday for the because she's like, oh, we've got to pay our respects to the troops.

And so mum was always really wanting to be involved in the community, and so she went to the funeral home there and went to their memorial service, and that'll come full circle in in a moment.

But uh yeah, it was a Wednesday, uh the 28th of May, and I'd done some coaching in the morning, and you know, mum was pottering around the house.

And I had a meeting downtown.

My friend does like a boss babes networking meeting for female business owners in the area.

And, you know, I nearly didn't go because I'm like, I've got so much going on.

I was trying to prep for a keynote, but my mom always really taught me, show up for your friends, show up for your community.

So I was like, you know what, I'll go in, I'll just go for an hour and then be home.

And mom goes, Oh, you know what?

I'll come into town too.

I just want to go for a walk, see if I can find some lunch.

And so we drove into town and it was so just mundane.

You know, she called dad and said, get the meat out of the fridge for dinner tonight.

Like it was just like, you know, life was so normal.

We're just going about.

We we parked, I parked the car and I took my dog Jayku into town with me because he loved a ride and I just parked in the shade and he just hangs out in the car.

And mom goes, Oh, you know what?

When I get I'll get back a bit earlier and I'll let Jayku out to uh to stretch his legs and go for a pee.

So I was like, okay, you take the car keys then.

And it's funny.

Uh my last conversation with mom turns out that I was teaching her how to use a dog harness, but a show where I was like, here's how you put it on Jaku.

And I said, All right, love you.

I'll see you back at the car at one.

And I had a great meeting, and I was like, oh shoot, it's a few minutes past one.

So I jumped up, walked out of the house, just went straight around the corner to where the car was.

And immediately like mom wasn't there, and it was like five past one.

I think it was actually about nine past one, something where I'm like, Mom's never late.

And I'm like, oh no, no, she has Jayku, she's taking him out of the car.

And then Jay's head just popped up out of the wind in the window, and I'm like, oh my God, Mom, Mom hasn't made it back to the car yet.

And instantly something fell off.

So I called her phone, she doesn't answer.

I called again, she doesn't answer.

I'm like, okay, she's left her phone at home.

So I called dad, I said, Hey, can you see mom's phone there?

He's like, Oh no, I can't see it.

I'm like, she was meant to meet me back here at one.

And he's like, Oh, I'm sure she just, you know, lost track of time.

I was like, something doesn't feel right.

So I just like I remember just storming straight back up the street where I'd come from.

But I because I hadn't looked to my right, I just turned immediately to my left when I first got out of the house because I was running late and rushing back to the car.

But this time, as I turned the corner and I looked up down the street, that's when I just saw the emergency vehicles, the lights flashing, the roads closed, just chaos everywhere.

And my mind just screamed like, this can't be happening again.

But unfortunately, it did.

My mum was struck down while she was crossing the road at the crosswalk with the walk signal doing everything right when a reckless driver just came zooming around the corner and killed her on impact.

So yeah, it's um it was what like I just remember walking, like fortunately, one of the girls from the meeting walked out as I was just standing there because I was shaking.

I couldn't ever I I froze.

Like I just knew, like, no one needed to, I was like, that's my mom.

And she goes, How do you know?

I'm going, it's my mom.

I really think that's my mom.

And so she held my hand and walked me up to the police.

And, you know, I I was still like, like maybe she's just hurt her hip or something, you know, you still but he told me, um, fortunately, he had her handbag because my dog's locked in the car now.

And I was worried, like, I might need to get my dog out too.

And so it was all just this blur blah blur.

But he's like, I'm like, how is she?

Like, what you know condition is she in?

And he just said she she was unresponsive, like, you need to get to the hospital.

And so it just that moment to then being, I just remember being in front of the surgeon, and you know, I asked him to please wait for my dad to get there, but he just kept talking, and then he's like, we did everything we could.

And he said the injuries were just too bad, and he touched the back of his head, and I was like, I can't believe it.

It's the exact same spot where my sister's head was hit.

And so two out of my five family members have both died from road accidents while traveling.

It the chances of that, and the chance like my mum was so safety conscious because she'd already lost her daughter overseas, and so she waited for the light.

She trusted in, you know, she legally owned that part of the road.

When you're you got your light, that's your spot.

And she was into the crosswalk.

She wasn't walking out on it, like she was in it when this driver came around the corner.

And I think what's even made it more unbearable is just learning about this guy's criminal history from you know, previous DUIs, stalking, registered sex offender, you know, drug use, violating probation, evading police.

And even through the point five weeks before he killed mom, he was in court for domestic battery.

Yet again, the system let him walk.

Uh, he was, you know, legally required to serve three months in prison, didn't do it, let him off on probation, and then five weeks later he's on the road to kill my mum.

And on top of that, the charge is nothing more than a misdemeanor.

SPEAKER_00: Wow.

And I'm sure there's a part of you that thinks, why does my mom have to be the one to go?

When you have this man who has all this history, why does he get to stay?

SPEAKER_03: Yeah.

I just remember sitting in the police room the next day and the officers speaking to us, and um when he said misdemeanor, it just it was like, what the hell?

Like, how is someone's life just worth a misdemeanor?

I thought misdemeanor is like when you shoplift, not when you kill someone.

And you know, I still have images from that day of the blood on the road.

Like I the trauma of which lives with our family, like this has shaken us and changed us forever, and it's a misdemeanor.

And so again, I just I know I know what got us through Nicole's death in such a meaningful, healing way was, you know, what can we create from this?

What good can we do?

Like it's not there is no good in this.

This just sucks and it's wrong and it's unjust.

But what can we do about it for what comes next?

And so that's where um a few things have come.

But the big one I'm fighting for in particular is to change the law.

So I've already started meeting with Wyoming politicians who work in legislation who are open to bringing this into um their next meeting next year, is to change it.

So if you're charged with vehicular homicide, which is what this guy's been charged with, but it still is just a misdemeanor.

It sounds like it's a big deal, but unfortunately it's not.

But to make that charge where if you're charged with vehicular homicide and you have a serious previous driving conviction, such as this guy, he has at least 10 on the roads, but most recently the the big one was the previous DUI resulting in a crash.

So if you get charged and you have a previous driving conviction, it becomes a felony because clearly you are not safe to be on the road.

And it shouldn't, you know, I think that the time needs to reflect the crime of what you're committing and the consequences of that.

So that's what I'm working on to try and um change the law in mum's honor.

It doesn't help our case, but I just don't want another family sitting there hearing that their loved one's death is just a misdemeanor with someone who has such a criminal violent record.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

Yeah.

Do you feel like for you having the purpose to pursue you feel like it it's part of the grieving process for you?

Like, do you do you feel like for you obviously what you're doing is is noble, it's incredible, amazing that that you're able in the midst of the grief to focus on a bigger picture like you did with your sister.

But do you feel like at the same time do you feel like it's something that you almost encourage other people to do to have this mission bigger to focus on?

Like, do you feel like that that has been a help to you?

SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.

I uh in fact, that's like really what I'm learning.

I, you know, I joke that this isn't my first rodeo with grief.

Like, oh, hello, I've done this before.

Uh, but now as I'm, you know, I'm I'm 12 years on, I'm I've learned a lot along the way, and I'm stepping out and I'm like, you know what, resilience isn't built from positivity, it's built from purpose.

Because as long as you have purpose, you have strength, you have a reason why.

You still struggle, get tired, overwhelmed, but there's an energy fueling you, like that gumption to get your feet on the ground and face the day.

And so, you know, the thing is, like, there is no, like, we don't know why things happen, right?

I don't have a crystal ball, I'm not the universe god that can tell you why things just happen, right?

At the end of the day, no one can prove either way.

And so that means we each get to choose the meaning of which we bring to a situation and what we choose to do next.

And so I really do encourage everyone, going through a shitty time, stop trying to fake a smile and force positivity onto it.

Actually step back, see all the broken pieces, and go, what can I create from this?

Like life is never going to be the same.

I can't put the pieces back together the same way they were, but I can create something new and meaningful from this, whether it is even just creating art or music or a podcast show where you get to talk about your experience or advocating for others, mentoring someone, volunteering your time for others that are struggling.

Like we need to tap in to the good that's within us sometimes and bring that to the situation to shape it into, yeah, something purposeful that gives you a reason to keep going.

Like every day still, I'm having a good cry.

I hurt, I ache, but I have a reason why I want to keep moving forward.

And beyond even changing or advocating to change the law and really talk about the injustice surrounding this, because I know we're not alone.

We have now renamed the foundation, the Nicole and Julie Fitzsimons Foundation.

So it now includes my mum because she was such a driving force behind it all, particularly all the grant giving.

Like we've given over$250,000 in grants, and my mum was the one who made so much of that happen.

And we wanted to carry her legacy forward with that, and we're also started a scholarship at the Sheridan College where we've got a legacy fund, the Julia Fitzsimons legacy fund.

So we can sponsor and give a scholarship to a performer or athlete each year at the college who is uh you know financially struggling we can help them yeah take that next step forward in in their career.

SPEAKER_00: Wow wow that's absolutely amazing so so beautiful you talked about picking up the pieces and in building something I feel like you've done an amazing job at that not just from the foundations from the charitable organizations you're talking about but you've also I know you have at least one book you have a podcast of course speaking talk to me a little bit about your decision to to write your book um to start a podcast what what prompted you to do that oh well the podcast it turned seven years old next month which is

crazy oh wow yeah I've kind of pivoted a little so I initially started working just with youth and now I've expanded that to be adults also because hey I'm not getting any younger so but I should better better let my audience grow up with me.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah so the podcast was I just think it's such an amazing way to connect with people and to share stories and to teach things and it's just I just think that it's an incredible platform and it's really helped me grow as a coach to learning so much and having incredible guests like you on.

So that one was kind of easy.

It was a little daunting at at first you know figuring it all out but I I love it now.

And if anyone's been thinking about doing a podcast just do it.

Just stop overthinking it.

Just get a microphone hit record.

I mean I think so many people like how do you do it I'm like just one thing at a time but don't overthink it.

And then the book so my first three books well two are like books and then one's a workbook that they're for teens so I had a publisher reach out and ask me to write those books but with one of the editors that I worked on one of the books with who was like hearing my story throughout it she's she moved to publishers and then she she reached out and she's like I just loved your story like even as an adult I learned so much from what you taught in the teen book.

Would you be willing to share your story now that this is one this is a book for adults going through and navigating through change and the unexpected and so what was quite special about that is that uh like a um email landed in my inbox on October 20 and that is the date of my sister's anniversary.

And so it felt like Nicole nudging me and going, you're ready for this now you're ready for this now because I the idea of writing a book is quite daunting.

And I think I kind of didn't really believe I was ever ready for it but the opportunity came and so last November I did launch my book Okay Now What?

How to be resilient when life gets tough so that's my latest book.

SPEAKER_00: Wow wow you you're absolutely amazing for the person who would love to to read your book to listen to the podcast to look at hiring you as a speaker where where can we send them whether it's multiple places one place you tell them and I'll be sure it's in the show notes for anybody to have easy access to oh you're the best thanks Kevin.

SPEAKER_03: So the best spot is probably just jump on my website kategladden.com and that's gladden with an I.

So that's where you'll find my different services from speaking coaching the podcast my book.

I'm also super active on social media so mainly Instagram it's at KateGladden and LinkedIn.

You're feel free to send me a request or a message or anything I read and respond to it all but would really love to to connect with people.

And if anyone is you know really going through it send me a message on Instagram because I might be able to send you to specific episodes within the podcast because there's like over 300 on there now.

So it can be a little overwhelming to know where to start.

But yeah I really hope people aren't shy.

If they have any questions feedback or interest in yeah my speaking and stuff it would uh I'd be more than happy to uh to connect with you.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah amazing well like I said I will be positive that everything you just mentioned is in the show notes for anybody interested and if show notes still confuse you just go to the website graceinspiration.com and you can find her episode right there with all the links.

Okay you are absolutely amazing your spirit your absolute beauty is is humbling it's inspiring you inspire me in so many ways and getting to have you on the podcast today to get to share your story with with my listeners it means the world to me and um I I thank you in the most sincere way possible for for being here and honestly for just being such a positive light in this world.

SPEAKER_03: Thank you Kevin I can say all of that right back at you.

It's it's been a pleasure to to have you come into my life and hear your story.

I still get mind blown when I think about how you've learned how to see through like the vibrations isn't that right like that's how you see it.

Yeah yeah the actual location yeah yeah I like randomly will think of that like while I'm driving I'm like that is just like the craziest thing it's just like you gotta like think anything is possible.

Like if that's possible like I just really yeah I I think it it gives me inspiration in a lot of ways just yeah so thank you for the opportunity to connect with you and your audience today and you keep being a shining light in this world also because we definitely need it.

SPEAKER_00: Oh thank you so much for you listening today my hope is always is that you heard something today that touched your heart that maybe left an impact that maybe has you thinking a little bit differently about life a little bit differently about your relationships with your family if you haven't told somebody that you love them lately let that be your goal right now is to go out there and give your friend your sister your brother your mom your dad give them a call and just let them know that you love them.

We never know what tomorrow will bring.

You hear that story so many times here on this podcast of when those life quake moments happen we never know when they're gonna be so all we can do is be sure that we're living right now be sure that the people we're doing life with know how much they mean to us and at the end of the day that's all that any of us can do.

So my friend I appreciate you I thank you for being here and again this was Grit Grace and inspiration.

I got great grace and inspiration on my mind Hey awesome you're still here and since you were cool enough to listen all the way to the very end of today's episode I have a special surprise for you the story you just heard I turned it into a song how is this possible for a guy who can't sing nor play an instrument well my friend it's called today's modern technology it is amazing and what I did was I took the essence of the story you just heard and turned it into a full song and that's what you're just about to hear.

SPEAKER_01: Now if you're curious to know how this works and if I can make a song for you well head on over to KLO music.com that is K-L-O-W-E-Music.com to have your own song created but until then I hope you enjoy this song okay now when the worst is coming gone do you lay down in the wreckage or try to carry on life was steady just ruling along then the phone rang on everything was gone your sister's name spoke silence on the line took a bit took a whirl in the bank of an eye thrown on the way to fake to buy the

carnival next one was saying to do three strongly too hard I'll tell her story building bridges from the heart breaks today okay now when the works just come and do you know you know