We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kainoa Spenser. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kainoa below.

Kainoa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

This moment comes quickly and often to my mind when I’m just rolling around my house. I was a recent quadruple amputee due to a flesh-eating bacteria back in August of 2017 when I was finally released from the hospital. During this time my family and I were looking for new a home and ways to adapt to the house we are moving into so that it should be the easiest transition for me possible. Even though there are many ways to make the loss of all four limbs easy but this was a moment in time in which it made me feel that there was light at the end of the tunnel. It was my friend, Nick Springer, another quadruple amputee met my family at the house we were going to move in and roll through the entire house seeing how adaptive it was for me and how this is going to be a new space of recovery for me. The reason this was so important is that that was the only kind to me but kind to my entire family, a family in desperate need of hope for their son to have an independent future. It was from his time, grace, and attention that he gave that peace of mind to not only me but my entire family.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

For you to understand how I got into the realm of public speaking one must go back to May of 2017. I was a sophomore in college just finishing up the last round of finals. It was during my last two days on campus that I descended very quickly in health and even visited an emergency room the night before I was supposed to leave because I was feeling so ill that it felt like a needle going through my chest whenever I laid down. After flying home from New Jersey and landing in Arizona, I was rolled off of the plane in a wheelchair into the arms of my parents. It’s over the next 3 1/2 weeks that I would descend immensely in health, be placed in a medically induced coma, and wake up to the amputation of my legs already having taken place. Being only 19 when all of this was happening, it was a dramatic life-altering moment that shifted my trajectory for my future. One of the first decisions I had to make when waking up out of the trauma was to decide to amputate my hands as well.

Being left with just half a thumb on my hands and a knee on my right leg, I found out this 3 1/2 month journey in the hospitals of Arizona was just the beginning. It was once I was released from the hospital that I was welcomed with open arms into a loving and giving community. After two states, 3 1/2 months in recovery, and four hospitals, I realize that my journey of recovery was just beginning.

I was asked to speak at different charity events regarding those living with limb loss and limb difference, and all people living with a disability. It’s in the spaces that I was given a chance to share my story and grow in confidence in myself. I now speak in many different settings from third-grade classrooms to corporate events, and especially nonprofit events. What is in these moments that I have a chance to tell my story of losing my legs and hands has actually taught me to stand taller than ever before and to see all that I have in front of me, not to focus on all that I have lost?

Some of my favorite moments come from speaking to the kids regarding people looking a little bit different, speaking a little bit different, or even moving just a little bit different. You see their childlike curiosity shine through when they ask beautiful and innocent questions. In other moments being able to work with different corporate teams to have people believe in themselves again and see that internal spark turned on is one of my favorite things to see in a person after having the chance to share my story. And it is in the moments of speeches in front of great audiences raising money for incredible foundations that are truly changing the face of what it means for people living with a disability. It was through learning how to rebuild and pick up the pieces of my life forward and what I wanted to be, that I realize that we all have that ability within ourselves no matter which is one of the main lessons that I speak about no matter the audience.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

One of the most important things that I’ve learned in the realm of public speaking is that none of your speeches or lessons are going to land with an audience if they sense inauthenticity or a lack of vulnerability from the speaker. Having the strength and courage to be vulnerable up on stage is one of the hardest things to get past but it is one of the best ways that allows a speaker to connect with each audience member through vulnerable experiences that showcase the speaker as a person, not someone up on stage talking down to an audience. It is from these moments of authenticity that a speaker is able to reach into the heart of an audience member, did them to connect with your lesson, and walk out of that experience a changed person but none of that will happen if vulnerability and authenticity aren’t felt from the speaker. It allows barriers to be broken down and showcases how real human experiences reach everyone no matter where they sit in their personal life, identity, or lived experiences.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

One of my favorite books that I was first gifted after being released from the hospital was The Noticer by Andy Andrews. It is a shorter book that tells different experiences in short parables that can be read chapter by chapter. It talks of a man named Jones who comes into people’s lives and allows a shift in perspective to take place so that they can re-orient themselves in their lives.

This was a perfect book for me to be given in which I had to re-orient myself from latching on to the life that I thought I was going to live rather than looking forward to the life that I was given. There’s a line in the book that has always stuck with me, “you’re either in the middle of a crisis, coming out of a crisis, or heading towards a crisis”. I never took this as always living in a constant state of crisis but rather to see our lives as something that is not complete control of ours so that we were able to best adapt to the situation that we are given. We do have a huge amount of ability to mold our lives how we want but at the same time, we must understand that life is going to throw crises in the path that we did not account for. And for me, that line and the whole book are s a constant reminder of that.

Contact Info:

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• Facebook: Live Like Kainoa
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/
• Twitter: Kspenser97
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzpRIcGLGb8&t=18s