We recently connected with Kathleen Kelly and have shared our conversation below.
Kathleen, thank you so much for making time for us. We’ve always admired your ability to take risks and so maybe we can kick things off with a discussion around how you developed your ability to take and bear risk?
My risk-taking ability comes from the mantra, “Fake it till you make it.” I was dyslexic in my school years. Which, in those days, earned you labels like retarded and stupid. So, of course, I believed in the bullies and my disappointing report cards. I admired the Catholic school nuns. They were strong educated women. I wanted to be like that. I entered the convent of the Sisters of Providence right out of high school. They didn’t know my history of academic failure. Furthermore, they took vows to accept the teachings of Jesus and be kind to “the least of my brethren.” I decided to register for what seemed to be the most challenging class available. I thumbed through the pages of The American History book, defeated before I even started. After reading one page, the names, dates, and events meant nothing. I read the page again and began to absorb the information a little more. By the time I read the same page seven times, I fought back tears of joy. I got it! I turned the page with new confidence. This may sound “stupid” to some, but, for me, it was life changing. I learned to work harder when faced with challenges and fake it until…
I grew up in a home with eight brothers and sisters and lived in a convent with five hundred nuns. Every day we face changes, forcing us to risk moving forward. After years as Sister Robert Kathleen, I couldn’t deny it was time to leave the convent. I had never lived out on my own. Talk about “fake it till you make it!” The world had changed when I left the protective walls of St. Mary of the Woods convent and dove into the sixties. The Vietnam crisis chanted “Make love, not war,” bra burning, and women seeking more freedoms. I made it through marriage, raised three children, grieved the loss of my seventeen-year-old son, Michael, escaped from domestic violence, worked hard as a single mom, went through nursing school, and enjoyed my career as an ER nurse. Getting older presents opportunities every day with changes in your body, mind and spirit. My advice to you is “Fake it till you make it.”
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My book, Voices of the ER, invites you to come with me on a journey through true, short stories spanning my career of over three decades as an ER nurse. Listen to the voices that echo from the worlds behind the doors of big city ERs and a country hospital nestled in the mountains of Arizona. Meet every day angels in the form of nurses, doctors, patients, extraordinary people, and spirit guides who hover in the veil between birth and death. The ER is challenging with pressures and stresses. You can’t survive if you don’t find ways to laugh, to listen, and to allow yourself to be touched by the courage and strength of the human spirit.
My new book, “Jimi, Journey of a Wounded Warrior, in the final editing stages, will be published in 2026. I wrote it for my husband, Jim, and his daughters. His wife left him when the girls were young, and he was unable to locate them until forty years later when they managed to find him. It’s wonderful to have a whole new family and the bonus of grandchildren. I can’t imagine not having memories of listening to my parents’ stories or knowing my family history, or to be unable to share my rich legacy with children and grandchildren. I began asking Jim all the questions about his life that I thought his daughters would like to know. Before long, his memories turned into an amazing journey. Jim was born on the kitchen table in a little house on the Cherokee Reservation. He explained the traditions and ceremonies on the reservation as seen through a child’s eyes. It was then that I learned Jim contracted polio as a baby. He reluctantly talked about wearing braces and being confined to a wheelchair. At the age of seven, the Cherokee People faded to the winds when the government pushed them off the reservation. His mother died of a brain aneurysm soon after and his dad sunk into depression and alcoholism. Jim lived in orphanages until he turned seventeen and they put him out on the streets to survive with nothing but the shirt on his back. He enlisted in the Air Force and served in Special Forces in Vietnam. He was honorably discharged and supported his wife and children with his entertainment skills and became one of the best magicians of his time, LEVRAM the Illusionist(marvel spelled backwards). There are treasures in Jim’s journey of survival against odds and uncertainty as he navigates through personal adversity, trauma with resilience. It will touch you in ways that will take you into places in your own heart.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1. Be yourself. Trust that you’re good enough. Write your truth, the way you see it. Don’t write to please others. Fear of disapproval is crippling.
2. We are all intuitive and guided. Practice listening to your inner intuitive voices.
3. Don’t be afraid to take risks. Risk taking is the best teacher
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
My parents made sure we didn’t take ourselves too seriously. When you have eight brothers and sisters, they have a way of knocking you off that pedestal quick. They made sure we treated each other with respect. They never allowed us to be critical of each other. Tattling was not permitted. So,we learned to get along together. That comes in handy these days.
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