Episode 61: Moving from Broken to Brilliantly Resilient with guest Kristin Smedley

Join us this week as we chat with Kristin Smedley. A single mom of 3 kids, which 2 of them developed blindness. In 2011, Kristin launched a nonprofit to fund research and resources for children living with the rare eye disease her sons have, CRB1 LCA/RP. In just nine years, the Curing Retinal Blindness Foundation has raised over 1.4 million dollars and achieved a National Rare Eye Disease Awareness Day. That legislation, H.R. #625, was the first in US history to be submitted in Braille and it advocates for better resources for blind and visually impaired Americans. Kristin partnered with Spark Therapeutics to help achieve the first ever FDA approved gene therapy to treat an inherited retinal disease in the United States. She has done a TEDx Talk in New York City to change perceptions of blindness and she partnered with Comcast media to spread awareness of the inclusive X1 product. In 2019, Kristin published her first book called Thriving Blind: Stories of Real People Succeeding Without Sight. It achieved #1 New Release on Amazon for paperback and kindle. Kristin partnered with TMobile and the National Braille Press to make the book available in Braille. Kristin recently received one of the highest honors in the rare disease community: The Champion of Hope Award from Global Genes. During the COVID19 pandemic Kristin and a friend launched an online show/podcast called Brilliantly Resilient where they help their “tribe” Reset, Rise and Reveal their Brilliance after life’s sucker punches. https://brilliantlyresilient.net/ Podcast Promos The Derek Duvall Show https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-derek-duvall-show-derek-duvall-NPO48BHytWQ/ Podbreed https://www.podbreed.com/ www.krisandkristineshow.com Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE, rate and review, we love those five star reviews! Thanks for tuning in and until next time…keep moving forward! Twitter:https://twitter.com/k2showsandiego Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thek2showsandiego/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/k2showsandiego Support us on Patreon at: www.patreon.com/thekrisandkristineshow Email us at: [email protected] The Kris and Kristine Show Podcast is recorded in Audacity https://www.audacityteam.org/ Post-production editing is completed using Levelator which can be found at: http://www.conversationsnetwork.org/levelator Remote podcasts and interviews are completed using Cleanfeed which can be found at: https://cleanfeed.net/