Stories That Stay With You
Speaking from the heart about grief, compassion, hope, and what it means to truly show up for one
another.
Keynotes • Community Conversations • Colleges & Organizations • Funeral Service • Grief & Compassion Education
WHAT I SPEAK ABOUT
Stories open doors that facts alone sometimes cannot.
My presentations are rooted in real experiences, honest conversations, and the lessons people have taught me about grief, compassion, hope, forgiveness, and simply showing up.
I speak about the moments that change us.
The ones that make us laugh.
The ones that break our hearts.
And the ones that quietly teach us how we want to live.
CORE SPEAKING TOPICS
Grief & Hope
Understanding grief beyond the funeral, and the small ways hope begins to return.
Compassion That Lasts
What it means to show up after the cards stop coming, the services end, and everyone else returns to ordinary life.
The Five Shovels
A true story about responsibility, pride, forgiveness, and five damn shovels that taught me far more about life than I ever expected.
Ordinary People. Extraordinary Hearts.
Why kindness does not require a title, degree, program, or perfect words.
When a Calling Outgrows a Job
What happens when purpose becomes bigger than a position, and how the lessons we learn in one chapter can lead us toward the next.
I don't speak because I have all the answers. I speak because I believe the right story can help us ask better questions.
FEATURED KEYNOTES
The Five Shovels
Sometimes the smallest mistake teaches the biggest lesson.
A true story born on a bitterly cold January day, when a grieving family arrived at a graveside and no one had brought the shovels. What followed involved a cracked flowerpot, an argument, a year and a half of stubborn silence, and one unexpected conversation that changed everything.
The Five Shovels is a story about responsibility, pride, forgiveness, and the small choices that can teach us how we want to live.
Compassion Doesn't End When the Funeral Is Over
The service ends. Grief doesn't.
A funeral may last an hour.
Grief walks home with the family.
It is there the next morning, six months later, on birthdays, anniversaries, ordinary Tuesdays, and in all the moments when someone suddenly realizes the person they love is still gone.
Compassion Doesn't End When the Funeral Is Over is a keynote about what happens after everyone else goes home.
It explores the power of remembering, checking in, listening without trying to fix, and understanding that some of the most meaningful support happens long after the formal rituals have ended.
Because sometimes the greatest gift we can offer someone who is grieving is remarkably simple:
To remember.
To show up.
And to stay.
Ordinary People. Extraordinary Hearts.
You don't need to be an expert to be kind.
Some of the people who change our lives will never have a title for what they did.
They simply noticed.
They made the call.
They pulled up the chair.
They poured the coffee.
They listened to the story again.
They stayed five minutes longer.
And sometimes, that was everything.
Ordinary People. Extraordinary Hearts. is an invitation to recognize the extraordinary difference ordinary people can make in one another's lives.
It challenges the idea that compassion belongs only to professionals, programs, or people with special training.
We do not need perfect words.
We do not need all the answers.
Sometimes we simply need to care enough to show up.
Because changing the whole world can feel impossible.
Changing someone's world isn't.
WHAT AUDIENCES CAN EXPECT
I don't believe the most meaningful presentations happen when someone stands on a stage and pretends to have life figured out.
I believe they happen when people recognize a little bit of themselves in the story being told.
My speaking style is personal, conversational, honest, and grounded in real life.
There may be laughter.
There may be tears.
There will probably be a story I wasn't planning to tell.
And there will always be room for the human part of the conversation.
I want people to leave feeling something more than inspired for an hour.
I want them to notice people differently.
I want them to remember what matters.
And I want them to believe they are capable of making a difference in someone else's life.
INVITE KIMBERLY TO SPEAK
Every gathering is different.
Every audience is different.
And I believe the best conversations begin by listening.
Whether you are planning a conference, community gathering, college event, professional development program, funeral service event, grief education program, or simply believe one of these conversations belongs in your community, I would love to hear what you are imagining.
You don't need to have every detail figured out before reaching out.
Tell me about your people.
Tell me what matters to them.
And let's start there.
I'd be honored to be part of the conversation.