11/22/2025
Yall! Kelly talked about how wonderful our kids are! We already know that but oh my goodness what an honor!
Huge thanks to Kelly for the eye-tearing laughs and energy! Canāt wait to see her speak again ASAP!
Yāall⦠I just had the absolute honor of speaking for the Commonwealth of Kentuckyās Vocational Services program ā a room full of blind youth ages 14 to 22.
And listen⦠before I ever rolled my suitcase in the building, I had already written one million stories in my head:
āKelly, this is gonna be hard.ā
āTheyāre teenagers⦠they wonāt laugh.ā
āWhat on earth do you have to say that a 14-year-old boy cares about?ā
āShould I just open with a TikTok dance?! Because thatās about all Iāve got left in the tank.ā
But hereās the thing about stories ā especially the ones we tell ourselves:
Most of them are flat-out wrong.
Because the second I stepped on that stage, those kids proved that humor and story donāt have an age limit, an eyesight requirement, or a barrier of any kind.
Story shows up, taps you on the shoulder, and says, āScoot over, honey ā connectionās sitting here.ā
And these kids?
Smart. Funny. Insightful.
They see the world in a way most of us completely miss ā which, if you ask me, is one heck of a superpower. Meanwhile I canāt even find my glasses and theyāre already on top of my head.
I think I may have walked out with a brand-new fan club.
(And Iām absolutely down for a logo, matching jackets, and a secret handshake. Just tell me where to stand.)
Bonus joy? Some of my dearest speaker friends were there too, which was just icing on the storyteller cake⦠and trust me, I do not turn down icing.
What a day. What an audience. What a reminder that the stories we write BEFORE the story even begins are usually the ones holding us back.