BONUS: Kevin Lowe’s Inspirational Story: Turning Blindness into Purpose & Post-Traumatic Growth

Oh, man, I'm excited to be here.

Thank you for having me, man.

Absolutely, absolutely.

So, Kevin, can you share a little bit about your background and where you grew up and share your story?

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01: So I have been blessed to be born and raised in the same town that I live in now.

And so that is Ormond Beach, Florida.

Our little bit more well-known neighbor is Daytona Beach.

So basically, you wouldn't know if you entered one city or the other.

And you know, man, I was blessed to grow up here, a small town, which I mean, now our town's getting way too big and it's kind of ruining the small town feel.

But I had had a great childhood growing up, was real into riding dirt bikes, was my biggest hobby, kind of turned into my biggest passion all as a child.

And other than that, I mean, it was it was one of those childhoods, you know, back before like the kids today who they like never leave the house.

Like we were always outside.

It was outside, you know, riding dirt bikes, playing games, out in the woods, you know, all that crazy stuff that now, like, you know, we think it was crazy that our parents allowed us to do the stuff that we did.

Um, and uh, childhood was great.

And then, you know, coming up to my teenage years, um uh kind of two big moments that I would say kind of encompassed my teenage years.

And and the first was turning 16.

That's always a pretty big year for most teenagers.

And for me, it was huge.

I got literally my dream truck.

So I had grown up always hearing the stories about the truck that my dad got for his 16th birthday, and it was an old, I think I forget what year, but but Ford F-150, and he had it raised with big mud tires and all that.

And so I knew I wanted that same type of truck when I turned 16.

And sure enough, man, one day I was driving with my mom to the grocery store to Publix, and there on the side of old Dixie Highway sat my dream truck with a for sale side of the window, and it was a forest green Ford F-150 raised with big, huge 38-inch TSL super swamper mud tires, and I just knew I like it was the only time in my life I've experienced love at first sight, and um, and it was with that truck, and so, anyways, getting that truck was incredible.

It was the first time in my life that I had like pure and utter freedom just driving down the highway, windows down, country music blaring, had the big CB whipping tinna whipping in the wind, and of course, the big loud hum of those mud tires.

And man, I loved it.

Oh my gosh, I loved it.

And unfortunately, I only got to drive it for one year.

Um, because uh roughly a year after my 16th birthday, I would find myself in my start of my junior year of high school, and junior year started out amazing.

You know, I was a kid who hated school.

I always said that every year I would pray that I would get the flu just so that I could get to stay home.

And finally, come sophomore year, junior year, suddenly school wasn't the worst thing that ever happened to me.

I finally had found like a really awesome group of friends, and so life was going really good for a teenager.

Then I always say that it was going great until it wasn't.

And um, at the same time, here my junior year of high school, I had been having some health issues that had really been plaguing me for almost my entire childhood.

Things like migraine headaches, things like being so thirsty.

My my mom would tell the doctor, she's like, You don't understand, he drinks more than any human you've ever seen.

To the fact that at 17 years old, I still hadn't gone through puberty.

I hadn't begun growing.

I was only five foot three.

And the doctor always just kept telling, you know, us that, oh, I'm just a late bloomer.

Um, you know, give it some time.

And so finally it took my mom and my my grandmother, my nana, both of them finally kind of said enough is enough.

And they got me into a different doctor.

And that's when the ball started rolling.

And so while life, as I said, was going great at school and with my friends, I got the results of an MRI back.

And those results changed everything.

We found out that I had a brain tumor.

Now, thankfully, the type of brain tumor I had was non-cancerous, but it was large.

They compared it to the size of a plum, basically right in the center of my head.

And they literally gave me six months to live if this tumor wasn't removed.

It had completely encased the pituitary gland, was in the crosshairs of the optic nerve, and had begun pressing against the carotid artery.

And so, as devastating and scary as this news was, the leading pediatric neurosurgeon was literally an hour from my home over in Orlando, Florida.

He was the leading doctor in the entire country.

His name is Dr.

Eric Trumbull.

He is my hero today.

And he assured us everything was going to be perfectly fine.

He's like, I do these surgeries all the time.

And so, sure enough, I went into surgery October 28th, 2003, with that very mindset.

Um, I knew I was gonna be out of school for about a month.

Doctor told me I had to stay off of my four-wheeler for six months, which I thought was a little bit unreasonable, but I was willing to work with him.

And anyways, that was my mindset.

It was a speed bump that was happening in my life.

And um instead, that day marked the end of a life as I knew it and the beginning of a new life.

And that is because I came out of that surgery to be left completely blind.

SPEAKER_00: Wow.

Wow.

Did they say that was one of the risks doing the surgery?

SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

So when we met with the doctor the first time and we went over the surgery that we were gonna have, and the type of surgery, they literally the tumor was so large that they were literally gonna have to cut my skull, basically, and kind of like remove the front quadrant of my skull and kind of lift up the brain and get to this tumor.

And so there were all kinds of crazy risks involved, but ironically, looking back now, it's very ironic because the one that stood out the most to me was the very last thing the doctor said.

Is he said that there's a 1% possibility of going blind.

It was the last thing he said, and it was not even in the equation.

No one even thought of it, no one worried, it was a one percent possibility, and yet I was the one percent.

SPEAKER_00: Wow.

Wow, man.

You are a remarkable man.

Things like that, man.

I know that's got to be a lot to deal with, man.

You think about you're going in to get one thing done, trying to get your life saved, and then next thing you know, you come out and then you're blind.

It's like, man, that's tough.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it it it um without a shadow of doubt, has been the closest thing to what I would call hell on earth.

Um because when I, you know, say that I became blind, I I became completely blind.

Now, I didn't know this before going blind, that most people who are blind, they still have some degree of sight, some degree of light perception.

Where again, I was that 1% where I became completely blind.

But the fact is that on top of that, I had to deal with this, all these other medical issues that I still deal with today because of the brain tumor killing off the pituitary gland.

And so the pituitary controls all of your body's hormones.

And so now my body, I have to rely on medications to replace what the brain, the body should be doing naturally, which I always say, I mean, thank goodness for medicines.

But the truth is, I mean, they are a poor alternative to what God designed us to do naturally.

And so as the years would go on, um, and especially many years later, and where I sit today, I can actually tell you that in terms of a quote, like disability, I've actually come to understand that being labeled as a pan-hypo pit, having no pituitary function, is actually a far greater disability than even being blind.

A lot of people can't believe that, they don't realize it.

But I say, I'm like, as much as becoming blind has been absolutely horrible, um, I wouldn't work wish it on my worst enemy.

It has stolen so much from me.

Um at the same time, I have tools that I can overcome it.

Uh as opposed to the other medical issue.

You know, I always say, I mean, when when I wake up one day and my body has zero energy, it's all the effort I can do to lift up my arm.

There's nothing you can do to overcome that, but just to wait it out.

And so that is another aspect that I came out of that surgery with, with not only becoming blind, but with this other new medical issue that we had no idea the impact it would have on my life.

SPEAKER_00: Wow.

That's incredible.

Because out of all things you've been through and all things you go through, you know, you kept pushing and you started uh great grace and inspiration of podcasts.

Can you tell us a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.

So so the podcast came podcast came a long time later.

You know, for the first 10 years after becoming blind, I say that was a period of learning how to love life again, even though I couldn't see it.

And so I did go back to school for the start of my senior year.

So I was out of school the entire rest of my junior year.

I made it back to school for the start of my senior year, in which I only went to school just for one class a day.

And then the rest I did at home.

My mom would drop me off at my nana and papa's every morning.

And I had uh teachers who came who taught me my school subjects, who taught me how to do what I called at the time blind stuff, which I wasn't too enthused about, like learning Braille and how to use a talking computer and all this stuff.

And so I ended up though, um, I still graduated with my class.

That was a huge goal that for some reason, which now I can only know that it was God who instilled that goal in me.

Because as I said, I was a kid who would rather be sick with the flu than go to school.

And yet now I go blind, I'm doing all this stuff, and yet the one thing I keep saying is I just want to be able to graduate with my class.

And so I did.

I graduated uh with my class in in 2005.

And then, like I said, that was you know, basically a year later.

Go through the next nine years of literally just um both surviving through so many different medical issues that I kept dealing with to again learning how to love this life again, even though I couldn't see it.

And it took a really, really long time, up until honestly about 2013.

So basically 10 years later, I had finally gotten an internship.

Well, I'll back up real quick.

Is I had got signed up with a program through our local uh Center for the Visually Impaired, CVI, and they did a job readiness program.

And at the end of this little three-month-long program, they would set you up with an internship wherever you wanted.

And so the two areas that I was interested at the time were travel and radio.

And so lo and behold, I literally did an internship on our local AM radio station, and then I also interned at a local travel agency.

At the end of those internships, neither one was willing to hire me.

And so I was kind of back to square one until I learned about, hey, you know what?

I can start my own business.

And so I opened the doors to Better Days Travel in January 2013.

And I would run and operate a travel agency, booking everything from cruises to honeymoons to you know to all-inclusive resorts to all kinds of amazing trips for people.

I did that for the next seven years up until 2020.

And of course, we all know what happened in 2020, which was not so great for travel.

And so when we were in the midst of 2020, height of the pandemic, my travel agency had all but had every trip on the books canceled.

Literally was gonna be my best year ever, turned to the worst year ever.

And we're sitting at home in quarantine, and uh, I decided to start a YouTube channel, something I had been thinking about for a long time, and so I got excited.

This is my opportunity.

I start ordering stuff off of Amazon, and then it hit me one day.

It was literally like the like the light bulb moment.

The light bulb finally lit off for the blind guy.

And it was if you don't have somebody here to film you, you're not gonna be able to do this by yourself.

And if there's one thing I've learned is that the less you can rely on others, the better off you are.

And so I realized at that moment, I was like, why didn't I think about this before I start ordering all this equipment?

I'm like, I can't do this on my own.

I have to have somebody here.

And so that's when my sister said, Well, why don't you do a podcast?

And my response, of course, was, what the heck is a podcast?

And uh lo and behold, I start listening to podcasts, and then I start listening to podcasts about how to start a podcast.

And I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm like, I found my jam.

I'm like, the world of audio.

I'm like, God designed me for podcasting, the world of audio.

And so I dove in head first.

And the podcast, if you go all the way back to episode one, which I would encourage you not to do because it sounds terrible.

It was actually called at the time, it was the lowdown on life and travel.

So the lowdown, a little play on my last name of Lowe.

And so I talked about travel because at the time I still thought I was going to be a travel agent.

And so I was talking about travel.

I started interviewing different suppliers with the different, you know, cruise companies and tour agencies.

And then, you know, man, I always say that the podcast, I mean, it was it was rough starting out.

I mean, it's way more work than anybody can imagine doing a podcast.

And yet all of a sudden, I realized the podcast was kind of taking over my life.

I was starting to get into interviews with people, not about travel, but about just life.

And I was realizing that I was loving it.

And I can remember so distinctly, so many times being in the midst of an interview and literally just saying a prayer right then, silently thanking God for putting me right here and saying, God, I don't know where this is going.

I don't know where it's leading, what you want, but I know it feels right.

And I thank you for putting me here.

And so, sure enough, I never went back into travel.

I didn't know what I was going to do to make money, but I knew the podcasting thing was where I wanted to go.

And so, uh, two rebrands later, um, so we went from the lowdown on life and travel to then the lowdown with Kevin Lowe, and then finally to what it is today of grit, grace, and inspiration.

And I mean, this year is five years that I've been doing it, which is crazy.

And I love it, man.

The podcast has been probably one of the greatest things that's ever happened to me for the simple fact that I've learned in life that some of the greatest things that we can ever do are the experiences we have and the relationships we create.

And getting to sit down on a podcast and interview somebody from a on the other side of the world, I get to check off both those boxes.

SPEAKER_00: I get to meet somebody and I get to have an experience at the same time.

That's awesome because when you know something is real and it's from God, sometimes he always shifts you to another direction, just like he did with you on the podcast.

You went in and was talking about one thing, just sort of shifting.

It wasn't because of you, it was because God had his hands on you.

And that's very amazing.

So, what pushed you to become a motivational voice to the world?

SPEAKER_01: So again, um trying to figure out what I wanted to do, you know, as far as work, starting to make money, you know, in relation to the podcast.

And so I got into coaching, doing life coaching.

And so I was doing that for a while.

I still do that on occasion.

But really, man, my desire, I mean, I want to help people, but I want to just inspire people.

I love to light people up.

I love to get people excited about life.

I love to just get people motivated in this way of overcoming their own challenges and and you know, turning those obstacles into opportunities.

And so somebody finally said, they're like, Kevin, you should really start getting into doing more public speaking.

And that's what led me into this realm of you know, inspirational and motivational public speaking is through that.

Again, another just kind of natural progression.

As I said, man, I didn't know where this journey was going to take me.

I honestly still don't know where exactly I'm supposed to end up.

But I realized that when you know you're on the right path in life is when it just feels effortless.

I said, you know, my seven years as a travel agent, man, I worked it.

I mean, I loved it, but I worked it.

And it was constantly paddling upstream.

When I started this podcast and started getting into coaching and then public speaking, the stream has felt effortless.

I've been going downstream.

I'm just literally not paddling, I'm floating on my back, going down the stream.

Not sure where the heck it's leading, but I know it feels right.

So I know I'm just gonna keep on following it and trusting God that He's taking me to somewhere that He knows I need to be.

SPEAKER_00: You hit that right on the head.

So, how did you develop the mindset to keep pushing forward despite your obstacles?

Because for you to be doing all the stuff you're doing and the circumstances that you went through and you keep pushing, man, it's crazy to me.

It's amazing.

SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I I would love to to maybe I would love to say, you know, that, you know, oh man, it's just because I did this or that.

I'm, you know, I'm so great.

The honest truth is is God 110.

Is that I believe in all my heart that God designed me to be a person because he knew what was gonna happen when I turned 17.

He blessed me with a natural glass half full, if not overflowing, type personality.

His hands were at work from the beginning because he knew what was gonna happen on October 28th, 2003.

And he knew that I would be a person who would be able to take what happened to me and use it for good and give him all the glory and use this as a testimony to hopefully touch other people's lives.

And so that's how I've been able to do it is a combination of the fact of just the person that God made me to be, and then of course, leaning on the two pillars of my life that have gotten me through the darkest moments over the past, oh gosh, what has it been?

20 coming up on 22 years has been my faith in my family.

I always say that after I went blind, um, I would lay in bed every single night and I would cry myself to sleep, sobbing into my pillow, begging, pleading, screaming at God to please just stop this, to please let me wake up and be able to see again.

And yet every morning I'd wake up and I'd see the same things I did when my eyes were closed.

And I can tell you that I would also pray at times that I just wish God would give me the courage, the strength to just kill myself.

Because I knew if I was in heaven, I'd be able to see again, and all this would be gone.

But it never went further than just that prayer because then, of course, my mind would always turn to my family.

I'd think about my mom and my dad and my sister, my grandparents, and they were struggling too.

I always say, What happened to me didn't just happen to me, it happened to an entire family.

And if I If I was to kill myself, what would that do to them?

And so I always say that it's through my faith and because of my family that I'm here today.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I could tell that faith play a major role in your journey.

Yes.

So let me ask you this, Kevin.

What advice would you give someone that's struggling with unexpected life changes?

You know, it's something bad just happened out of the blue and they wouldn't expect it, and then they're trying to deal with it.

SPEAKER_01: I say the first thing, and the most important thing is to give yourself grace, to give yourself a break.

You're gonna have people around you who are gonna have their own opinions and thoughts on what you should be doing, where you should be at in your journey.

But the fact is true is the only person who really knows is you.

And so I would encourage you to just give yourself a break and to let yourself understand that what I've just gone through is a lot.

And it's okay to be sad, it's okay to be upset, it's okay to not be out into the world pushing forward, making all these other people's expectations come true.

No, it's just up to you.

But realize that at some point in time, you're gonna come to a point when you're ready to move forward.

And so, depending upon, of course, what the obstacle is, is don't hesitate to reach out to get help.

And sometimes, honestly, the best help you can get is just from the people you're closest with.

I mean, yeah, the experts, they're great, they help, but your family, your friends, the people who you can just lean on for that moral support, they're the people who truly matter.

And so if you can find that support system, you're gonna be that much better off as you continue on the journey.

SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.

When you have tough days, what keeps you motivated to show up and continue to inspire others?

SPEAKER_01: My biggest thing, honestly, is my dream for something more, for something bigger.

I'm constantly chasing after wanting to make a bigger impact in the world.

You know, I know without a shadow of a doubt that what happened to me happened for a reason.

And I want to be sure that when I get to heaven, that God can look at me and pat me on the shoulder and say, Kevin, you did it.

You did exactly what I wanted you to do with what happened to you.

And so for me, that's what it is, man.

I just I look at the world we live in today, and I look at all the people who are hurting in one way, shape, or form from so many different things.

And yeah, look at me.

I'm a guy who went blind.

I'm a guy who has these complex medical issues.

And yeah, all I want to do is just to make today a little bit better for someone else.

If I can make somebody smile or laugh or think about things a little bit different, I mean, that's what I want to do.

And that's honestly, that's just what drives me and gives me fuel in the morning, is to wake up and days when maybe I don't feel like recording a podcast, but I always say, I think about that person on the other side of the world who I'll never meet and I'll never hear from.

Yet something I say reaches them and it gives them that little spark to just keep going one more day.

SPEAKER_00: Like that's the kind of stuff that drives me forward.

Yeah, you and I have a lot in common because at the end of the day, out of all the stuff we do and how we try to inspire people, when it's all said and done, we just want to hear God say, Well done, my good and faithful servant.

Yes.

Yes.

At the end of the day, that's the mission.

Yes, absolutely.

So someone's dealing with doubt.

You know, a lot of people, you know, can't get ahead in life because of doubt.

What's the one truth you always remind yourself of?

SPEAKER_01: Oh man, um we are all so much more capable, able, and deserving of I believe having all that we want in this life, we can doubt that that it will ever come true.

But if we get stuck in living in doubt, then yeah, you know what?

We're probably not gonna live out our fullest potential.

We're probably not gonna show up as our best.

Because, I mean, if you think about it, when the team takes the field at the Super Bowl, if they have any doubt in their mind that they're gonna win, no, they're probably not gonna win.

If they're doubting their ability, they're not gonna catch the ball.

They're not gonna show up as their best.

And so I understand that for some people, it's not as easy as it is for me.

I get I'm a glass half full kind of guy.

I understand there's people who view it as half empty.

It's just part of them.

And so I understand that they might have to work at it a little bit harder than I do to not have doubt in their abilities, and not have doubt in something better.

But for myself, I mean, life is really tough.

And if I can't have hope and belief that there's something better waiting for me tomorrow, well then what a sad life that is to live.

And so I would encourage anybody who's dealing with doubt, who's doubtful of what tomorrow will hold, just to try changing up your mindset.

Try to think of the positive.

What if?

What if it all works out?

What if it all comes together?

SPEAKER_00: And I have to believe at some point it all will.

It will, it will.

And that is so, so true.

And I one thing I love about you, I love the vision that you have.

You know, some people in the world that has their eyesight, but they're still blind.

Yes.

You know, and for you to say, you know, when you're in doubt or you have moments of doubt, think about the one chance you have for things to go the right way.

unknown: Yes.

SPEAKER_00: You know, just think about there is a chance that this thing can work.

But you just gotta have faith and believe in yourself and believe in God too.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

So, what's next for Kevin Lowe?

You got any upcoming projects or goals you're excited about?

SPEAKER_01: Oh man, my my biggest goal right now is honestly to start getting on more stages.

I've been working with an awesome coach helping me with my speaking business.

And so that is my biggest goal right now is obviously podcast continues pumping out episodes.

Um, I just love that way too much to ever think about stopping.

But but yeah, the biggest goal right now for me is to grow that inspirational speaking business, getting on more stages, impacting more lives.

And honestly, I mean, just getting to to live out this life.

I every year it's January.

We all have big visions and hopes, and and yeah, I'll be the first to tell you.

A lot of times come December 31st, yeah, the year didn't go as glorious and and amazing as is had thought and planned and hoped.

But again, I have hope and I have a vision for a better tomorrow.

And so right now, my plan, my goal is yeah, that come the end of 2025, I'm gonna be able to look back and say, wow, that was one heck of a year.

SPEAKER_00: Yes, absolutely.

I like that.

That goal, I think you built for it.

Yeah, thank you.

Yeah, you were.

I was kind of nervous.

I thought he was gonna tell me he was gonna drive four-wheelers, but uh, but the goals you got, that's perfect right there.

Stay right there.

SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.

Yes, yes.

We'll stay off of the four-wheelers.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Kevin, man, God, man, I just I'm just overwhelmed with you and the way your heart is, man.

The world needs more people like you.

I mean, absolutely, man.

I mean, if we had more people like you, I mean, it will what a difference this world would be.

You know?

SPEAKER_01: Oh, oh man, thank you so much.

That means the world to me.

It just goes back to what we've talked about today, is you know, I have to be in some ways, and I know this may sound crazy, but grateful that God chose me to be the one.

That He chose me to be the one to go through all of this, to go through this struggle for the simple fact of getting to be a help to somebody else.

And that's what it's all about to me, is just being able to light up somebody else's day to make their life a little bit easier.

SPEAKER_00: Yes, absolutely.

Absolutely.

And um I need to ask you this question because I feel God pulling me on this one.

If someone is feeling stuck or unmotivated today, what's one action step that can that they can take right now to shift their mindset?

SPEAKER_01: Oh wow, I think the biggest thing is you have to have a bigger vision for what you want out of life.

Don't think little, don't put any limitations on it, but you have to have something big in your mind that gives you a reason to keep going.

Because if we just gonna keep going without any destination, I mean it's kind of like setting off on a road trip.

You're all packed, you got the snacks loaded down, the luggage, but you don't have a clue where you're going.

Where are you gonna go?

Probably nowhere.

You're gonna go in circles.

Well, I can't help but feel like it's the same thing in life.

For myself, I mean, I have a vision.

I have a vision of me on stages.

I have a vision of me, you know, in a snowy cabin up in the mountains of Colorado.

All these different little visions that keep me driving forward.

And I would encourage you for the first and most important step is to get clear on what you want out of life.

Get clear of who you want to be, what you want to be known for.

Or maybe it's just as simple as what do you want?

Is it a bank account that has a few more uh commas in it?

Is it a little bit less stress?

Whatever it is, get clear on it.

Understand that it's possible.

Maybe it seems far-fetched right now, but I promise you, you're only a couple of steps away from making it happen.

You just have to start moving forward.

SPEAKER_00: Well said.

Well said.

So, Larson, Kevin, where can the Millessers connect with you and support your work and listen to your podcast?

SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.

So I think the best place to go is head on over to my website, which is gritgraceinspiration.com.

And right there from the website, gritgraceinspiration.com, you can listen to my podcast.

It comes out every Tuesday and Thursday.

And you can also get on my email list, which I send out a weekly newsletter every Friday called Where Grit Meets Grace.

So you can sign up for that right there.

And like I said, I mean, if you're somebody who possibly is part of an organization, association, ever looking for speakers, you can find out more information into what I can offer as a speaker.

So all of it is right there on the website.

It's kind of a central hub.

SPEAKER_00: There you have it.

There you have it.

Kevin Lowe.

Kevin, man, I really, really appreciate you taking the time out to get on the podcast with me.

I really, really admire your story.

I really admire you as a person you are and the person you are becoming.

SPEAKER_01: Oh, oh man, that means so much to me.

Thank you so much.

It has been an absolute joy and pleasure to be here today.

You've made my day, man.

Thank you.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00: Thank you for tuning in with Real Talk with Regina D.

If you enjoy listening to Real Talk with Regina D, please rate and review on Apple Podcasts.

See you next time.