Meet Kelley Coleman

We recently connected with Kelley Coleman and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kelley , really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

I think we all have the same purpose: our purpose is love. We lean in to and support and elevate the things we love. I serve my purpose by doing things that I love and that serve the people and things I love. I write, I create, and I advocate. Because one of my children is disabled, I didn’t take on disability as my purpose, but instead I leaned in to love – I love him, so of course I’m advocating for inclusion, for caregivers, and for individuals with disabilities. Even the hardest things feel doable when you’re coming from a place of love.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

My book Everything No One Tells You About Parenting a Disabled Child: Your Guide to the Essential Systems, Services, and Supports was released in March, and it’s been amazing to have it out in the world. It’s the book I desperately needed a decade ago when I started on this journey with my own son. I believe that parent caregivers can stop reinventing the same wheels, and can enter the space of parenting a disabled child from a different place. We need to shift the narrative and equalize access to usable, understandable information so that both our caregivers and our children can thrive. Combining my prior professional experience as a creative writer with over 40 expert interviews, plus all the templates and checklists that had been sitting on my computer for the past decade was incredibly rewarding. Moving forward, I’m focused on caregiver education and empowerment, with workshops and speaking and future books focused on the job of caregiving, as well as caregivers telling their stories. The book closes with my interview with disability rights legend Judy Heumann, where she ends by saying “We need more people to tell their stories.” By elevating the stories of caregivers and individuals with disabilities, we can change the narrative around disability, and we can better serve ALL of our kids. I’m partnering with many great organizations for workshops and speaking, and am passionate about expanding visibility for organizations doing important work in this space.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The advice I most often give to others is this: follow your passion. Your passion will carry you through when the work gets hard. And it will get hard. Do you want to write a book, or do you want to have written a book? Many people want to have written a book. But, ask yourself what it would actually take to do that and if you are willing to put in that work. If your passion is driving you, you’ll do the work.

I always follow that advice with this: lean in to your strengths and start from there. I’m funny and weirdly good at making boring things interesting. So, I wrote a book about how to do all the paperwork and planning that goes into accessing the services and supports disabled children need to thrive. But, I leaned in to my own voice, so the book is conversational and a fun read – people often tell me they laughed during the insurance chapter, which I feel is a great accomplishment. I paired my unique writing style with my skill at storytelling, and my ability to create a writing schedule and stick to it. My passion for this material and for narrowing the gap in access to information carried me through. The process felt more fun than hard – because I ran with my strengths and my passion, rather than writing a version of this book that is more clinical. Now that the book is out, the feedback has validated that: people feel empowered to do all the things because they understand the information AND they connect on a personal level.

If you’re looking to develop your voice or to learn more about storytelling, always start by reading things you love. And schedule time to do the work. Turn off your internet and do the work. People see the final product, but what they don’t see is all of the work that goes into it. People ask me how I wrote a book, and my answer is: “Very slowly.”

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

I can’t emphasize enough the importance of connecting with others and being surrounded by a community of people who lift you up, who give you feedback, and who support your growth. For my writing, I have been meeting with my writing group regularly for years, and we hold one another accountable for doing the work. In my parenting journey, I wish I had connected with other parent caregivers sooner – having a community of fellow parents this journey is everything. In learning about and being an ally to the disability community, listening to, learning from, and following disabled friends and leaders has allowed me to ask questions, to examine my own preconceptions, and to do better. None of my work happens without a team of supporters. We all need that. We all need community, and to be that team to others. We all have so much to contribute, and we need to remind one another of that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kelleycoleman.com
• Instagram: @hellokelleycoleman
• Facebook: kelley.coleman.56

Image Credits

author photo/pink background: JTC Photography
group photo: JTC Photography
me standing next to dog photo: JTC Photography

all others are my personal photos 🙂