Hello and welcome listeners to the Inspired Woman podcast with me, Sam Bell. And this week we are about to dive into an extraordinary journey with my Inspired Woman today. She is a figure of immense resilience, hope and transformation from surviving life-altering burns covering 75% of her body at just two years old to standing proud on the TEDx stage and becoming a best-selling author.
Her story is not just about overcoming, it's about flourishing against all odds. She's on a mission to bring her message of triumph and transformation. And she is here to empower you, our listeners, to achieve your true potential.
Kelly Woodhouse, welcome to the show. Thank you, Sam. You know, every time I see you, like you just glow.
So I was so honored when you asked me to be on your show. I was like, oh my gosh, I can't wait to spend some time with, you know, the amazing Sam Bell. Thank you.
That's so sweet of you. I mean, we had a little bit of a banter just before we started recording. And I think it must have been 2019 that we met.
I don't think it was any time before then, but it's been a few years. And I know that when I met you, you had a profound impact on me. And I wanted to bring you to the audience so that you could inspire them as much as you've inspired me over the years.
So obviously, our theme is inspiration. And I ask all of our guests, what or who inspires you? Oh, my gosh, what an excellent question, because it feels like I can't really nail it down to just one person. You know, I remember, before I became a speaker, I think I would have been in my 30s, early 30s.
Yes, because it was before I had my daughter. And I was taking a social media comprehensive program, like it was like a nine month, I went back to school for nine months. And one of the things that we had to work on was project about who inspired you.
And so I really had to think about that, because I really felt like I was really lost in the world, because it felt like I could only do something for about two, two and a half years, and then I'd get bored and I'd be on to the next thing. And so I could never really focus on one thing. And so my project that I did was on Bette Midler.
Yeah, because I started looking into her and her life and what she did. And I noticed that she could never focus just on one thing. Also, she was an actress.
You know, so she was a movie star. She was a TV star. She was a comedian.
She was a singer. You know, she's a philanthropist, like she was all of those things. And yet she seems to do them all very well.
And, you know, like she might think she's crazy, or some people might think she's crazy. And because she does so many things, and she's got this, you know, cool, really cool sense of humor. And I just love that she could do all of those things.
And I thought, well, if Bette Midler can do all of those things, like multiple things, then why can't I be that person also? Why do I have to be like my, my Nana? She had like one job, and she retired from that company in her, you know, 65 when you're told you have to retire. And I was like, I thought that was the right way to be was to be like my Nana that had one job for her whole life. And I thought, why can't I be that way? Why can't I just have one career for my whole life? And I realized that I didn't have to.
I didn't. And so Bette Midler, back when I was in my 30s, inspired me to just be me. And it's okay that I only have an attention span of a squirrel.
And it's okay that I'm a speaker. It's okay that, you know, I'm an artist. It's okay that I'm a grandma.
It's okay that, you know, I like AI. And, you know, I'm a speaker. I'm an author.
I'm a coach. It's okay that I'm all those things. I don't have to just be one thing.
And so she really inspired me, you know, back when I'm in my 30s. I love that. I love that.
And that's such an important message. Because, you know, I do business coaching as well. I have my mentees and I say it's okay to be multi-passionate, you know.
It's fine, you know. And the most important thing you can bring to a business is your true authentic self. But really that's how I believe we should show up in the world.
Just be exactly who we are. I mean, I grew up so many years trying to please mainly my mother. But then it overlapped into my career.
I needed to please everybody. And I needed to excel at things and be good at it to try and impress people. And it was exhausting.
And now I just love that I can just be me. And I'm multi-passionate. My attention span is probably less than a squirrel as well, you know.
I used to think that it was good. But then I realized that, you know, being, you know, the multitasker is actually an excuse for the fact that you can't, you know, focus on one task for any period of time. But multitasker sounds so much better, doesn't it? Yes, I love that.
I love how you share that because you're right. You know, it's, there's nothing wrong with it. And then, you know, and that's the other thing is that a lot of times we see what's wrong with us.
We don't see what's right about us. And so, you know, my boyfriend pointed out to me, he said, you know, Kel, here's what I love about you being that way. Because I said to him one time, I said, why are you with me? Like, I can't stick to the same thing for more than like three months or six months or whatever.
He goes, Kel, that's what I love about you. Is that when you're inspired about something, you just grab it by the horns and you do it. He said, how many people do you know, where they get inspired by something, they want to do it.
And they're like, no, no, no, I can't do that. But you, you might not know how to do it, but you'll figure out how to do it. And he said, that's what I love about you is that you actually live life.
So if you want to do something, you find a way and you do it. Yeah. And, and listeners know that, you know, and I always look up on my wall, because it's there above me, stop existing, start living.
It was a palliative care patient that first told me, you know, how gifted she was to have been given a diagnosis, because she doesn't just exist in her life, like we did. She actually is living her life and every moment. And, you know, for years, I didn't, it hit me at the time, but for years, it was always in the back of my mind.
And it's only over recent years, it's like, holy, Karidwan was so right. We need to live our lives, not just exist in them. And that's exactly what you're saying that, you know, how many people do you know that come to you and especially Sam with you being a business coach? Like how many people come to you knowing they want to do something, but they don't even try.
And then you're going to get to the end of your life. And you're gonna say, I wish I would have done this. And so that's the thing, like, what is that one thing? And, you know, Sam, you, you've known me, you know, to do my blankets and all that stuff.
And you're talking about that. And, you know, that all came from a whole little whisper in my heart. And what happened was, I wanted to, well, my best friend, Carrie says, tell you need to be a paint, painter, you need to be in.
And I'm like, what, like, I'm not a painter. And she's like, No, like, I see you're making thousands of dollars, being a painter, being an artist, you got to do it. And I'm like, I can't paint.
What are you talking about? Like, you're full of shit. There's no way that I'm an artist. No, do it.
And so anyways, I found a painting on Facebook the next day. And I was like, Oh, my gosh, I want to learn how to do that. And so I found I found the artist on YouTube.
And so I, I watched all her videos and everything. And then, you know, it was like three o'clock, which was nap time for me at that time. Like, that was a phase of my life where I was going through a little bit of a depression.
And so any excuse to go back to bed was a great excuse. And so I was went back to bed. And, and I said to myself, what does my heart say? And I heard it say go paint.
And I was like, Nah, what does my heart say? And it said, get up and go paint. And so I was like, Okay, fine, I'll get up. And I'll go paint.
And what happened was a year before that I had went a paint kit. And it had three canvases. It had all the paints, the brushes, the easel, it had everything in it.
And I was like, okay, so and I couldn't sell it. Nobody wanted to buy it. I had it in a garage sale.
Nobody bought it. My kids didn't want to use it. Nobody wanted this paint kit.
So anyways, I get the paint kit. And I start painting. And so then I go and I put it on Facebook.
And all of a sudden, all these people wanted to buy my painting. And I was like, What do you mean? Like, why? We're saying, Yeah, right. And so some lady said, Can I buy that painting? And I'm like, Sir, she said, How much? And I, and I said to myself, I don't know, I've only been painting one day.
How would I know how much it's worth? Right? Most people don't make money off their paintings till they die. So I don't know how much it's worth. So I said to her, What do you offer? She says, I'll pay you $150.
I'm like, sold. So that week, I made like $1,000 just selling my paintings. So I would paint and put it on Facebook and sell it for $150.
And so that inspired me to then I found a way to get these paintings put on a blanket. And then on the blanket, it says you are loved, you are needed, you are wanted. Right.
And so that led to actually, Wayne Dyer got one of my very first prototypes of my blanket. Wow, I, I signed up to go to one of his one of the Hay House was putting on an event to teach people how to write a book proposal. And so I got to meet Wayne Dyer and Doreen Bertu and I gave them each one of my very first blanket.
That's amazing. It's funny because Wayne Dyer has actually come up twice in in two podcasts now that I've recorded. But the last lady, Michelle Bateman, if you're listening, she used to shower with Wayne.
She used to shower with Wayne Dyer. Okay, there's a story in that. He was actually on the speaker, you know, on the radio, she was listening to his podcast in the shower, but it was just made us chuckle the way that she said, well, I used to shower with Wayne Dyer.
Now we won't forget. But yeah, and then he passed away four months later. Oh, but again, it was it all brings down to the whole thing that a lot of times we don't do something, because we don't think we can or should, or we put it off.
But that little voice says, tells us what we should do. And we met us and it's an angel day and angel convention with my now business partner, Cindy Smith. And, and I remember getting one of your blankets, and it was seeing that blanket, which I still use, it's still, you know, an affirmation, you wrap it around you and you say, I am loved.
And that's when I thought about it. And I thought, I wonder if Cal would come on the show. Of course.
But, but one of the things that Cindy taught me was that listen to your angels, listen to your intuition, listen, just listen. And if you don't listen, then it'll nudge you and keep nudging you until you take notice. And that is exactly what the universe was doing.
You won those painting materials for a reason, but you darn well ignored it. I did. I ignored it.
I did. I said screamed at you do this. So are you still painting? Are you still painting? Have you moved on a little bit? Not as much as I want to, but the goal is to paint in the summertime.
So there's a course that I had signed up for. And I'm, I'm hoping that July and August is going to be my painting month this, this year. Beautiful.
Yeah. So I'm trying to get as many book clients, you know, for the next few months. And then that way, then I'll have, you know, enough money to just like, yeah, I'm taking the summer off and it's just going to be painting.
And you're still speaking and inspiring. I mean, the next question is, how do you inspire others? I know how you inspired me, but it's a good question, isn't it? Because it's an excellent question and ego comes in and says, well, I don't inspire people. Yeah.
And, you know, and I think that's why I was so excited when you reached out to me, because you know, I, like, I know the work I do inspires people, but as a speaker and an author and a coach, a lot of times, you know, being an entrepreneur can be very lonely and you don't always get the feedback when you really need it. And so that's why, like, when you reached out to me, I was like, oh, you know, it's so amazing when you impact somebody and sometimes they don't phone you for a year or two or five years later. Like this morning, I was on a call with a girl and now she's ready to do her book.
Right. So and so we got talking about, like, when did we actually meet? And I thought it was just, you know, five or six years ago. And she's like, no, Kelly, I've been following you since 2012, when you and I met at a burn survivor conference in Calgary.
Wow. And she said, and I've been following you ever since. I've taken a few of your workshops and stuff.
And I know she has. And we have kept in touch with a little bit. But, you know, my social media got disabled.
Facebook disabled my account back in August and I lost 15 years worth of social media and connections and everything like that. Right. And so I really felt like I was losing my community.
So. So, yeah, so I inspire other people with my books, with my speeches, my documentary is called Still Beautiful. And then Goldcast did a video about me.
I think that was like six years ago. And it has over 10 million views. Wow.
I know. It's just incredible. Like I, you know, I, I, I was so shocked when we watched the numbers, me and my daughter, when they we were watching the numbers, you know, when it first came out the very first time and it went to a million views in about six hours.
And it was like, wow. And there was not one single negative comment. Everybody was posting really cool things.
And so it was so amazing to know that my story and me getting burned as a two year old and going through the years of being teased and bullied and and, you know, my scars and all the surgeries I've had and, you know, a lot of the heartbreak and the rejection and all of that stuff has made an impact. And it's and it's it's been worth it. A lot of times we we think something happening to us is something bad.
And that's what I finally begun to realize is that it's not that we go through these challenges in our life. Because they are lessons and things we're supposed to learn so that we can share them with other people. Yeah.
Yeah. So that that tragedy of me getting burnt to 75% of my body as a two year old really isn't a tragedy. When I can say that I have impacted over 10 million people.
And there's proof of that because of the broadcast video. So it could be 20 million people. I don't know.
I don't know how many people but you know, that's that's how I believe I inspire others. And now, you know, I've helped over 600 people to become best selling authors. And so now it's so amazing seeing that these 600 people, their stories are getting out there and impacting millions and millions of people.
I love that. And just as you're talking that I'm, you know, I don't know if you recall, but I started out as a nurse in Wales. And before training as a midwife, I worked on pediatrics.
So there was so many kids that that honestly, when I think back, they inspired me so much in overcoming the disabilities that they had all the situations and diseases that they struggled with. I mean, one boy, I mean, Gavin, I'll always remember young Gavin Taylor. He died when he was eight years old from a neuroblastoma.
But he had a profound impact on me growing up. And I still think about him. And I think about his parents.
And I think about his little brother. But children can be just so inspirational. So I wonder how many nurses you inspired through all of that.
You know, it's not just those people that you've inspired in your adulthood. It's those people that you inspired who were your caregivers. You know, it's pretty humbling when you see a two year old dealing with what you had to deal with, and then all of the surgeries and dealing with that, you know, it's a lot and a lot of adults struggle and can't do it.
But somehow kids have got this resilience, and there's grit, bloody minded determination that they're going to overcome. And I think, do you still connect with that little girl? Oh, boy, you know? Yeah, and I need to connect with her more. I love that you're sharing what what you share.
And because I've had some really cool experiences that have helped me, or that have made me go full circle. One is, I think it was, what, six years ago, I actually got to meet my, my plastic surgeon who saved my life. Wow.
And he was 90 years old. And he didn't know where I was. And he hadn't seen me since I was like 20 years old.
That was my last surgery with him. And so he had no idea where I was. And so I still remember, the hospital had done an event, they wanted to recognize 60 years of the burn unit being around 60 years.
No, no, no, would have been 50 years, not 60. Anyways. And so they invited him to come and speak.
And he was in Victoria, and I was in Edmonton, and they invited me to come and, and it was just such a beautiful experience. I brought my mom with me too, because she wanted to see Dr. Simizu also. And, you know, he could see us coming towards him.
And I see him walking towards us and he's got tears coming down his eyes. And, and I had tears and my mom had tears and, and he started to tell us some stories about, you know, what happened in the operating room and a few times when, you know, I'd almost died and he had to save my life in the in the operating room. And, and then there was another time when I spoke to a woman's group.
And one of the ladies in the audience came up to me and she said, Were you at the University of Alberta hospital? And I'm like, Yeah, I was. He goes, I was your niece. Wow.
She was in the operating room with me. Not so much when I was two, when I was middle years. And she said, Kel, you were so well known there.
We knew who you were, we were happy to see you. But we were sad that we were gonna have to put you in pain. But we knew we had to put you in pain in order to help you.
And then I met a man who came to see, or no, his, he was a firefighter, him and his buddy got burnt the same time I did. And he was telling me how he was trying to find me. Because he would try and make me laugh.
He would see me in the window. Of course, I wouldn't know I was in ICU and in isolation. So nobody could come visit me.
Well, unless you were family and gowned up and you know, all those reasons. And then, yeah, so he found me. And then another lady found me, she was my porter, all the way from when I was two, up till when I was like 16.
And she would tell me how her case manager would told her I was a special patient. So she was supposed to spend as much time as possible with me. And that mostly the fear, right? Fear too.
And, you know, back in those days, they didn't allow your parents to be that, you know, like you were there for, for visiting hours. That's it. You know, and so she would tell stories.
And I kept thinking, what is going on that I met four people in my life, who knew me way back then when I was two, when I first got burnt, and you know, throughout my surgeries, like, it just felt like full circle. And it was like, Is this for me? Or is this for them? Or what is this about? Right? And you're right. Like, they were all so excited to see me and to know that I was still alive.
And, you know, you being a nurse, I mean, you would understand that probably more than than I would. But yeah, it was just such a interesting time in my life where all these people came back into my life. So yeah, it's just so special when you are a caregiver, when you choose to nurse or be a medical professional, to see people thrive, you want to see people thrive.
I mean, there's those sad stories, of course. But it's when you see the successes like yourself that you think, I, I this, I did this for the right reason. And it might be just that one person in years, that makes it all right for you that, you know, this is worth what I'm doing, you know, so you've inspired people since you were that little two year old, you know, profoundly.
And I love that you were able to meet with your plastic surgeon, you know, and he was 90. I mean, just think, though, that you are one of how many that he helped. I mean, what a what a legacy to leave behind in life.
Right? Yeah, yeah, it's a beautiful, beautiful story, for sure. And you know, and even his wife, right, like she gave up so much time with him, so he could go and save everybody's life. And she was there also.
And you know, and I think it made it worthwhile for her to being able to say, Yeah, you know, he, he was an amazing surgeon who saved this little girl's life. Yeah, beautiful. Kudos to you, you must have been one gutsy little girl.
And a feisty teenager. Right? Am I wrong? Oh, no, I know. You're totally right about that.
I know my parents and my family would say, Yeah, I wasn't a quitter. I was like, it doesn't matter if I've got, you know, scars on my body, it doesn't mean that I don't deserve to have a good life, like everybody else. Right? So what if I've got scars on my body, it doesn't mean that I'm any different.
It means that I deserve to do and be whoever I want to be. I love that. And and it's not just people that you inspire who have similar injuries or have scars.
You know, there's so many of us that have no scars, no injuries, but we feel that there's something wrong with us in the way that we look or that, I think more than anything, it's that fear of being judged, right? That you're not good enough, or you don't fit in, or you're not thin enough, or you're not, you know, pretty enough. I mean, I remember with my smile, I was always told that my smile was ugly, because of my teeth. And so in my early days, I was like, trying not to, trying not to smile, showing my teeth.
And yet now, since I've done, I did a lot of therapy. But since then, people always comment on my smile, you know, and I'm just me. And it comes back to that again, doesn't it about how important it is to be your true self and to be true to yourself and show up as you want to show up who you are.
I know it's such a beautiful, beautiful thing to think about. So if anybody's out there listening, just know how beautiful you are. And if you want to find Kelly, where do they find you Kelly? Yes, they come to my website, kellywoodhouse.com. And yeah, and reach out anytime.
We'd love to talk more with with you and your listeners. And yeah, lovely. So we will we will post that in the notes for the podcast, and social media.
Do you have social media now? Or are you one of the lucky ones that said? Um, well, yeah, I do. Like I am on Facebook. So they have to go dig in for me because they, they, what did they do? Oh, they took they disabled my account.
So I had to rebuild my account. So now I used to have like 5000 friends. Now I'm down to like 500.
I think because I don't rebuild it and everything. So but yeah, just check for Kelly Woodhouse. You'll find me there on YouTube, too.
I'm not and no, I'm not really on Instagram. I'm there, but I'm not. Okay.
But there's your TEDx. Your TEDx is on YouTube, right? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I'll find a link to that.
I'll find a link to that and share that with our listeners as well. So Kelly, short and sweet. Thank you.
I love you. And you continue to inspire me. And I know that you'll have inspired our listeners.
Keep doing what you're doing, honey. Thank you. Thank you.
And you know, I love you too, Sam. And you know, you're such a beautiful soul. Like you just radiate.
Oh, thank you.
