Authenticity- Kimber D Gorton

[00:00:00] Hey guys, Corey Poirier here. Welcome to BluTalks and I hope you enjoy this video.

[00:00:29] Morning, good afternoon, good evening, a good night. How famous are those lines? I'm here today because of a few things. My life, journey, of course. People that I've met along the way. The shoes that I have found that have guided my path and the miles that I've walked in them.

[00:00:53] The one thing that I have found is being real. We are stuck in a world of syntheticity made by products that are constantly poking at us on billboards, magazines, car bumper plates, businesses,

[00:01:13] malls, music, lyrics, people. We have forgotten who we are because we are so busy trying to be someone else's version of who we are because people make money off of that. They have made money off of our education choices. They have made money off of our hobbies. They have made money off of the books

[00:01:42] that we read and the influence that they have. We are in a modern world that's moving faster than the capacity for us to stand in it, let alone comprehend what is going on in it. Our attention span has moved from a two-minute window to eight seconds. You've already heard my first impact in those eight seconds. Now I want you to judge me about those first eight seconds. Judge my outfit, judge my tattoos,

[00:02:09] judge my hat, judge my shoes because to judge me is to judge yourself because you couldn't wear this outfit the same way that I've picked it out, nor could I yours. Along my path of many different things, I went to School of Hard Knocks. Not Harvard, whom I have had the opportunity to now walk along the halls,

[00:02:34] embrace the impact of the checkered squares, the posters, the signage, the lineage, the history that this carries. That was never something that was going to be in my school of hard knocks. It was homeless shelter. It was what's for breakfast. It was a couple of other things and a few years that were really, really good, full of shake and bake, which I was excited about. I knew it was a good week. My mom

[00:03:00] brought that home. Mashed potatoes and gravy, you know, all the good stuff. Y&R on TV. I'm not being endorsed by the way. I love you guys. And all of the other things that come along with that. Tony Robbins made his way into my life on double set recorded tapes that were duct tape that my mom spent three weeks recording. And in between her falling down, getting up, drinking, and everything

[00:03:29] else, I was able to listen to a voice that would motivate me. I have watched many of his videos. I have listened to many of his podcasts and other things and been inspired. And that propelled my world of philanthropy. And I have taken everything that was ever given to me that sucked. And I made it into something good. Even the hard stuff. I lost both my parents during the pandemic, not for pandemic

[00:03:56] reasons, but because of other things in their life that brought them to those choices that they had in fact made. And along that journey, my mom had cancer twice. And my dad had gone through some stuff himself. They both promised me to live my life. What does that mean? I'm an adult, I think. I give it a one star rating on most days. I swear a bit. I get dirty. I hate doing my hair. I hate doing my hair.

[00:04:26] Someone could figure out how to make it wonderful with one product would be amazing. And please, I will pay maybe somebody, you know. So I live authentically, unapologetically. And I don't give two capital F letters in the plural sometimes because I don't care if you like me. And that came with a lot of life living. I don't care if you want to hear about the same story that I've told 10 times.

[00:04:54] I don't care if you like my pants. I don't care if you like my shoes. I don't care if you like my name. Because guess what? It's mine. You have your stuff. I have my stuff. We all have bags of stuff that we carry and a weight to bear. Who teaches us that? Who has ever held your hand and said, this is going to suck really bad. But guess what? You're going to make it. And it's still going to

[00:05:21] suck. But then you're going to do something with it. I'm doing something with it. I started writing. I started writing as a joke, actually. And met some editors at a gym, Working Writers Co. They're amazing people. And I'm happy to connect you if you've got a story you want to write. And they said, you're a writer. Okay? I'm dyslexic. I don't know what writing is. Words look inside out and backwards to me on the best of days. So I make it work.

[00:05:50] I started writing. I published my first book two years ago. It's now going to become a five-book series. I wrote another book. An adult trilogy book. Topics everybody thinks are hot. It's connected to charities. It's going to help a lot of people through a lot of tough times like I have myself. My children's book series is also connected to charities. When I'm gone, these books will continue to go and continue to grow and continue to be something else. That's a part

[00:06:19] of my legacy. Do I want to eat a better meal? Sure. But that's not my why. My why is because of the way that I have come into this world and the walk that I've had to carry, like many. And we are afraid to walk our walk because someone else is going to tell us how to do it. Or we're going to be afraid that they're going to judge us. Right? So someone came to me and said, you're the definition of

[00:06:47] radical authenticity. I wasn't sure if I should have been insulted or aren't. And at that time, I was standing inside of a mascot on my fourth hour in the heat and sweat was rolling down my face. And I had kids and I had seniors and had special needs people in my life that my love at a charity

[00:07:11] event that I also loved. And I couldn't say anything to that. And they vented and they talked. And they knew who I was inside, but they knew I couldn't reply. And it was a safe space. Now I'm vulnerable. What do I do with this information? How do I help this person? I show them.

[00:07:36] I show them. I show them that it's okay to be safe. That it's okay to be who you want to be in an environment. When you meet me, you are safe. You are able to be safe in a place. I'm going to swear. You can swear. If I have a tattoo, you can have one too. You want to wear a hat? Go for it. I'll help you buy one. I'm that person. And it took a lot to get here. Authenticity isn't easy. It's a blessing

[00:08:01] and a curse. It comes with friends who talk behind your back. They don't understand. It comes with judgment. It comes with fear. It comes with unknowing. It comes with the why. What are you doing this for? How are you benefiting? How are you getting paid? Where are you going with this? What's your purpose?

[00:08:27] Never mind. Why is my business all of a sudden yours? Could you imagine the world if we all stayed in our own lane? How many accidents would be avoided if we were staring in front of us, just scanning in the rearview mirror as opposed to staring in it all day long? Worrying about what's coming behind us instead of where we're going and how we're going to get there? Why are we so focused in this world

[00:08:51] about something we can't control? Would I love to sell a million books? Sure. Wouldn't we all? Isn't that what it is to be authentic, trying to fulfill something that we dream about, we care about, talk about? We all want to be better people. Sometimes we just don't know how to get

[00:09:13] there. You have to do it by being yourself. And if you've forgotten, start looking in the mirror. It's who you are. Not the products that you're putting on, not the things that you are wearing, the eyes that are looking back at you on the journey that you've walked to get there. Most mirrors reflect the same light. Some are a little dimmer than others. They're not all equally

[00:09:41] the same. I don't like mirrors. They hold a lot of energy and I'm very sensitive to that person. I've come to that part of my life where I don't need to look in a mirror because I know who I am. And if you want to tell me I got something up my nose or in my teeth, great, thanks, because I probably haven't looked in a mirror for a while. I check it in the morning and I carry on. I know who I am. I know what I look like because I feel it. We have been taught to chase an ideology

[00:10:09] of the human existence for someone else. And it's not okay. I know what he's talking about it. We're being shamed for it. We're not tall enough. We're not bright enough. We don't sparkle enough.

[00:10:32] Or I was told at a very, I was 19. I was in Vegas. Actually, I was 21 to lie. I don't lie very often. I was 21. I remember because I had a drink there. So I was at an oil company meeting. Bunch of hoity-toities, or I call them. They were lovely people. And I was told to sit down and look

[00:10:56] pretty. Don't talk. I was at the height of the beginning of my career, working 12-hour shifts in a group home with adults with special needs. I had been hit, kicked, and spit on more times than I could have shaken a stick at and changed an adult diaper at two o'clock in the morning, more than anybody at that table could have ever dared to look at, think about, or speak about, or experience. And I loved it. And I sat there with them talking about the millions that they were

[00:11:26] making and the things that they were doing. And I thought, holy, I don't even know where I would start with a conversation like that. And I just prayed to God that looking pretty was going to serve me a purpose. And even then, I didn't feel it. So just be quiet. Have a glass of wine. Oh, well. I am the co-founder of the One Drink Drunk Club, kids. And I'll tell you right now, it only takes me one, and I'm wide open. So one of those things in life that just has brought me along my journey.

[00:11:55] I don't need to go to a bar and have a good time. I just need a drink. And even then, I've already had the good time before I've had the drink. So I'm sitting there, beginning of my career. And at the time, I wanted to do something with that. I knew exactly where I was going. You know, 21, young, had gotten engaged that day. And that's a whole other story. Part of this journey, actually. And

[00:12:21] they asked me, what do you do for a living? I panicked. I wasn't one of them. I was sitting at the wrong table. I didn't belong there. My fiance was winning an award for doing a good job job at his work, whom I had to visit after hours and bring dinner. Panicked. I was sweating.

[00:12:48] And it came out. I work in a group home. And I was proud to say that. I was a flexi-staffed. I worked in 12 different homes. I rotated many shifts. I was good at it. I got fired because I took someone out for ice cream when it was hot. But like, I mean, I did it. That was a part of my journey. And we should all have ice cream. And I just want to tell you that

[00:13:14] I love you all. And you need to be authentic. And you can do it. And it doesn't matter how you do it, but just do it. And I'm here to show you the way. Thank you.

[00:14:32] This podcast is a part of the C-Suite Radio Network. For more top business podcasts, visit c-suiteradio.com.