“Too Much” Is Your Magic: Kiera Brinton’s Journey to Embracing Uniqueness

In this episode, you're going to meet Kiera Brinton. She is a publisher, an author, a speaker, but you're going to see what happens when somebody with the why of challenge, who's been boxed up their whole life gets freed with a there is no lid, there is no ceiling, there is no nothing to stop her. You're going to hear about the amazing things that she's been able to do when she broke free and got to be herself. I think you're going to really enjoy it.

Welcome to beyond your why podcast, where we go beyond just talking about your why and actually help you discover and then live your why. You see, we believe that knowing your why, that driving force behind every decision you make and every action you take, is the essential first step to really knowing yourself. It allows you to move forward faster and have a bigger impact. If you're already a fan of the show, then you know that every week we talk about one of the nine whys, and then we introduce you to somebody with that why so you can see how their why has played out in their life. This show will be more powerful for you if you've already discovered your why. If you still need to do that, head over to whyinstitute.com and discover your why today. It'll only take you about five minutes. Now, let's meet today's guest.

This week we're going to be talking about the why of challenge. To challenge the status quo and think differently. So if this is your why, then you don't believe in following the rules or drawing inside the lines. You want things to be fun and exciting and different. You rebel against the classic way of doing things. You typically have eccentric friends and eclectic tastes because, after all, why would you want to be normal? You love to be different, think different, and you aren't afraid to challenge virtually anyone or anything that is too conventional or typical for your taste. Pushing the limits comes naturally to you. So today I have a great guest for you. Her name is Kiera Brinton. She is a remarkable force in the world of publishing and transformation, balancing the role of a devoted mother of five children. With the visionary position of CEO and founder of JOA Publishing, Kiera exudes unwavering dedication to her craft. As a gifted book medium, she possesses a unique ability to propel authors into wild momentum and flow state with their writing, guiding them to unleash the full potential of their stories. Kara's fervent belief in the power of authentic authors drives her relentless pursuit of a world hungry for transformative change. Through Joa Publishing. She envisions a sanctuary for bold, fearless and extraordinary authors to thrive and express their voices authentically. With unwavering passion, Kara champions the creation of powerful books that have the capacity to reshape lives, ignite minds, and leave an indelible mark on the collective consciousness. Kiera, welcome to the podcast.

Hello. I'm so happy to be here.

This is going to be fun. I. There's no way that we can have somebody with the why of challenge on the podcast and it not be fun. So that's what. That's what I'm expecting. So take us back in your life. Where were you born? What were you like growing up? What were you like in high school?

Interesting. I was born in Provo, Utah. I was born three weeks early. And I. I hear that I was a very hard baby, that I was super colicky, that I cried most of my life, and that I was too much for most of them, which I would say maybe has been a bit of a theme of my life.

Too much.

Right?

I would say I was actually really shy growing up as a. As a young little girl. But I also was going through a lot of abuse in my life, so I think that is what created kind of the shyness that I had. But once I hit 12, it was like something shifted and I became extremely extroverted. And I also dove deep into the craft of ballet and contemporary dance. So I ended up really finding my. I would say, my soul in dance, and it helped me wake up my passion for life. And I ended up really pursuing dance dancing six hours a day, going to high school. I was always different, though, so I dressed differently than everyone else. I wasn't a cool kid, and I wasn't not a cool kid. I was kind of my own brand. Like, no one knew where I fit. I drove. I was this tiny little, like, probably £100, blonde hair, drove a 1969.

Nova. Chevy Nova. It was the only. It was the only car my parents could afford, actually. It was given to them by their parents. And it was this really gross, I don't know, tan, yellow. And it looked like I was actually. It looked like a gangster car. And so I would drive up to parties and they would. Everyone kind of get quiet, like, who's here? And then I'd pop out and everyone would be like, what is this? So I just. It was like always a surprise for people.

So. Yeah. Interesting.

What did you like so much about dance? What did dance mean to you?

For me.

Dance was a way to escape my. My pain. So I was Going through a lot of sexual abuse as a child. And dance seemed to be where pain didn't live, or I could use my pain to turn into movements. And so I actually believe dance helped me do so much healing, especially when I got into contemporary work and really allowed the music to move through my body. It was like time and space didn't exist. I got to be fully who I was. And also, I do appreciate learning a craft and becoming really, really masterful at it. And so I was. It was like something I could become masterful at.

Did you after high school? So you in high school, you were kind of the kid that was a little bit different.

Very much.

Very much different and kind of known that way. Okay, so graduated from high school, and that was in Provo, and then off to college.

Well, I actually lived in Arizona. I was born in Provo, but then we moved to Arizona. I lived in Arizona my whole life.

At 18, I never planned on going to college. It was, like, not. You know, I. I really didn't want to do the norm. And I was raised lds, Mormon. And so the norm was, you go to byu. And I was like, no, I'm not going to do what everyone else does. And so I moved to Chicago. I didn't know a soul. I lived in an art storm for women. And I danced all day at these multiple studios, and I worked at a pizza place at night. And it was. You know.

It was like throwing the most naive little girl into the world. I remember one time I got. I had this wild hair that I was gonna go down to a thrift store and buy a bunch of china plates because I just watched some, like, I don't know, decor show where they had taken china plates and crushed them all and then made them over into, like, bases, like mosaics. And I was like, I'm gonna do that. So I just. You know, there were no cell phones. I don't think I had a cell phone. I get on the bus, and I just start going down. And then before I know it.

I was in Cabrini Green, which is like the biggest, most dangerous ghetto of Chicago. And I was the only white person on the bus, and for sure, one of the only girls. And there was a moment where I thought, I don't think I'm supposed to be here. And I feel like I was so protected. And I made it to that. You know, everyone just kept looking at me, like, how is she on this bus? Like, she is not supposed to be on this bus. And I made it to the thrift store, and I Took the train back and I just thought, I don't think I should have wild hairs like that.

I think that was a really dangerous thing for me to do. And I was safe and I was protected as, as actually a lot of my life I was protected through some pretty wild hair moments.

Yeah, that doesn't seem like the obvious thing for a hundred pound dancer to go do.

Yeah, it wasn't really my wisest choice but at the same time it was like that's how I've always lived. I've not ever really thought through anything. So yeah, that's what's happening. And boom, I go into it.

So you're now you're in Chicago working at a pizza place and what, what was your next step after that? What kind of caught your eye, caught your attention?

So this is where.

My life took a different turn.

I had really wanted to be a professional dancer and I had started dating a boy when I was, the day I graduated high school I started dating a boy and he had flown up and proposed to me and I said yes. And I came from Arizona. Yeah. So I came home after four months of being in Chicago and ended up getting married at 19 and.

Was married for 20 years and that marriage actually completed 10 months ago. So still pretty fresh.

So what, what was it like for this wild.

Untamed dancer wanting to be a professional dancer to move back to Arizona where there's probably not a lot of dance and be. What did you do when you got back at age 19?

Yeah, I would say that if I were, to be honest, it definitely bridled a lot of my passion and.

It was like putting a wild mustang in a fence, you know. And, and because I was also Mormon at the time, we got married in the temple which meant that I had to start wearing modest clothes and being a dancer. It wasn't that I wasn't, you know, I, I just, you just don't wear a lot of clothes as a dancer simply because you're just always in dance clothes. And so then I didn't even have a wardrobe that fit, fit that modesty regulation. So I remember my mom going to Ross and buying me like 15 shirts and I went from an 18 year old or a 19 year old spunky wild self to looking like a 35 year old mother. And it really just, I mean it just clamped me down but it, you really can't clamp me down. So even though it did, I still chased my dreams. I ended up being a massage therapist. I went to massage school, which I loved, I loved because it fed this piece inside of me that I didn't know I had which was like really hungry for spirituality. And I would, I remember at lunchtime you had the option to take classes and I would take like kundalini classes at lunchtime and I would do all these things that I'd never known before. And so it fed the different piece in me, right? Like I was like, oh, I'm still really different. Like most 90 year old Mormon girls aren't going and doing Kundalini every day at lunch. And you know, like it kind of fed that piece. And I ended up just creating a really great massage practice for 20 years. But in the middle of that I also ended up, you know, teaching myself how to do photography. And I began, you know, I became a professional photographer for a decade. I also learned how to become an energetic healer. I had an energetic healing practice that I would let people come to my house during my kids nap times and I would heal people during nap time and I would massage people at night and then I would shoot weddings on the weekends. So I refused to be normal. I guess that's really the truth, you know. So I'm like birthing babies. I had five kids in 10 years, so I was either always pregnant or always nursing, which was actually like my greatest joy. I mean I would have a million kids if I didn't have to raise them. But.

Raising them is a different story.

So let me ask you something, hold on a second here.

Why did you say yes?

I don't know if we should have this go live.

Oh well, we don't have to.

I think for me.

I was in love with love.

I was a romantic at heart. I did really love him. But also there was some.

There was some level of letting people down. Like my mom had already planted flowers in his parents backyard for a wedding reception that we hadn't even been engaged yet. Right. Like there was just this sense of like this is what everyone actually thinks is happening. How do I let like as a 40 year old I'm like, oh my gosh, they're flowers, they're, they're just flowers, you know. But in my mind it was like this has already been prepped and prepared. Like people are expecting this. And I also was in love with love. And I did, I loved him. And as a 19 year old Mormon girl, it's kind of, it's kind of the thing, you know, it's what you do. It was a bit of culture, it was a bit of like people pleasing and it was a bit of me being A romantic.

Yeah, I could see that for sure. And not knowing that you were going to get put into a box in. In essence.

I can see how that would be challenging for somebody with the why of challenge to be put in that space where you want to be this free spirit. Okay, so you had five kids.

Yeah.

During that time. Lots of different.

Short careers or careers or expert areas of expertise. And then recently that changed.

Yeah. Yeah, about five. Well, I guess it would be seven years ago. Seven years ago. It was February 17th, and like I mentioned, I had had a lot of. I actually had had a lot of sexual abuse as a child. Multiple. Multiple situations for years on end. And I had done a lot of healing work like this. Both my parents are therapists. Okay. So, like, I. I grew up in a world where, like, you get help. And so I did. I'd done a ton of work, but 2017, it kind of all crashed down on me. It was like I could not find my joy. I didn't. I didn't even have any dreams left in me. I couldn't remember a purpose that I had.

Someone I loved had just told me that they had been abused. And it just. It was like. It was like the ingredients for a disastrous storm. And I decided to take my life. And right before I almost took my life, I heard God. And God said, stop. You have work to do. And in that moment that I was so broken, something deep inside of me made a decision that I would do everything I was inspired to do from then on out. If I was going to live, then I was going to do everything God told me to do. And my life changed in an instant. And from that moment, I was guided to write my first book. And after I wrote a book, then I was guided to start a publishing house. And then I was guided to start coaching. And it was like, one thing upon the other has now built probably the most extraordinary life I could ever imagine, which is now what I live.

When you say guided to, what do you mean?

So I have very strong.

Well, because I have gifts of a medium. I see visions, and I can hear. I can hear spiritually very strong messages. And so I could see what needed to be created. Like, a vision would show up. Like, my first book, I saw the front cover. Like, it was here in front of me, and I knew what I needed to write. And I remember hearing a distinct message that said, I need to start a publishing house. And I was like, why would I start a publishing house? Like, that has nothing to do with anything I've ever done. But I had made that commitment that would do whatever I was, you know, inspired to do. And so everything up till this point has been either I've seen visions or I've felt or spiritually heard what I would say is divine messages.

And so what was the title of.

Your first book is called? The Hidden Gifts within the Trauma of Sexual Abuse.

That was, like, intense. When I saw that, I was like, there's no way in hell I'm writing that book. And then it ended up being probably the most healing thing I've ever, you know, written.

Wow. And how did your family react to that book coming out?

My parents are very supportive of me, so they were very supportive of it. And I've actually had a lot of just, you know, it's interesting, at least most families don't really care if you end up writing books and going and changing the world. You're always just the same person they always knew you to be. So when I'm with them, I'm just the Kira they always have known. And none of them have read my books, and I don't really want them to. I'm just kind of like, let me just be Kira here. And. And they're just really supportive in all the other ways.

That's great. Okay, so now you've got. Got your book out, you've got a publishing company, you're helping other people write their books, and then your life took another turn.

Yeah, well, yeah. So it is interesting is that actually I didn't start publishing books for a few years. So, like, I started the publishing house and didn't do anything. And so I just started coaching women. And at one point, the bank account that I had set up for this publishing LLC was at like $14, because I had never put anything into it except for the first amount. And I went to go close it, and when I went to close it, I heard an audible stop. So I threw a hundred dollars in. And I was like, this is the silliest thing I was ever inspired to do. And then it was only like, I don't know, a week or two weeks later, one of my clients said, I wrote a book. Do you know how I could publish it? I was like, well, I own a publishing house. Let's figure it out. And so then we began the process. I began the process of learning how to publish, and it was a mess. And how I built my publishing house has not been because of. I didn't research how anyone else publishes. I just noticed what sucked, and then I just made it better. And then I noticed what didn't work? And then I created a system that made it better. And now I really two feet would say we own, I own the best publishing house out there simply because it solves all the problems that authors deal with. And we do everything differently. Of course. Right.

So those of you listening that know a lot about Yos.

Kara's why is to challenge the status quo and think differently. How she does that is by making sense of the complex and challenging. And ultimately what she brings is a better way. So you just told us an exact example of that. I think different I found figured it all out and I came up with something better.

Exactly.

Which is totally in line with the way that your brain works.

Yeah, it's amazing. It's so cool to see how that and it is really how everything I build is like how do we make it, how do we make it different than anyone else but make it so much better? And what are the things that totally suck about the publishing industry? And we're going to do it so much, so much different, like differently and give authors all the support they need so they're not just like on their own dealing with the ups and downs of becoming an author and feeling so alone, you know.

So give us an example. What sucked that you found, thought differently, made sense of it and found something better.

Okay. So one of the things I notice is that authors, they deal with so much emotional turmoil while they're writing their book, but mostly after they publish. And I've watched even my, I have friends who are huge, huge authors in the world. I watch them, they publish their book and then they tank for three months in depression and, and, and it happens to, I would say most authors. And so what I've done is I've built a 12 month mastermind. You can't publish with me unless you are in my mastermind. It's part of the, it's part of the price. And it's because I'm so committed that when an author writes and publishes, they have all of the community and support to keep them afloat so that they don't ever tank into depression or self doubt. And I would say if there's anything that we've done that there is nowhere, it's this. It's like I refuse to be a conveyor belt for books that authors end up tanking. I'm a champion for the author because if the author doesn't tank, the book will succeed.

I love that. That's a great way to think. I'm in the very last stages of my book I mean, it's gonna come out here soon. Before I met you. And I know some of the emotions that go on because I'm right in the middle of them, right? Is it good enough? Did I, did I, could I rewrite it? Could I make it better? Could I. On and on and on. And how do you help authors with, you know, thoughts like that? Should I, should I say this is good enough or should I keep working on it? How do you know when it's good enough?

So I do everything spiritually, right? That's really where my magic is. And so I invite them to go into meditation and sit with their book and really ask, is this complete? And then I have a very important question that I have them ask inside their heart. So the divine, whoever they work with, I have them ask, is there anything that hasn't been written that if wasn't in my book, would be a tragedy that it wasn't in my book? So that's the question of like, is there one thing that when I'm complete with this book, I'd be like, ah, it's a tragedy this didn't make it in. That's, that's when you're like, that piece has to go in. But if there's nothing like that, you're complete and then you just have to move on because otherwise you could be writing for 19 years. There's no, there's never a full completion in your mind and in your body.

Yeah, my, well, like in my example there'll be. This is just like the first in, in a series. So I, I don't know if I could answer that. Is it complete? Is there anything that hasn't been written? Because there's a, there's a lot that's still coming. But it.

I could con. I would, I would answer that, no, it's not complete because I couldn't possibly write it all in one book. So we'll, we'll see. So, okay, so you help authors write their books and then. But even still during this time.

Felt like you were being put in a box, is that right?

I would say yes. I would say.

Foreign.

It's hard. I'm trying to find the best way to explain it other than I feel like I have no bounds. Like there is no limitations to my energy and to my self expression into what I could create and the life that I was living.

You know, to get married at 19 is to be a totally different person and to be, you know, fully like. I feel like I became fully rebirthed at, on that day when I chose to live and I became a new person, but that's not who my spouse had married. He didn't marry that version of me. Right. Like, I. And. And I. I feel like.

I feel like I was a lot for him. Like, I really do. I. I feel like I was a lot for him. And so I would try and tame it down.

Because I felt like my energy was, like, exhausting and burning him and most likely was. And. And so at one point, it was like I couldn't go back in anymore. I couldn't quiet who I am anymore. And. And our marriage, it. It didn't. It didn't make it. And we did 20 years together. That's a full lifetime. I feel like we really had an amazing 20 years.

And.

To never have to get smaller.

And.

It's changed my life to just be. Oh, probably too much, but like, too much all the damn time. And it's okay to be too much all the damn time. You know, like, that's actually my magic, is that I'm too much all the damn time, you know?

Yes. I remember you said, because this all happened, what, 10 months ago.

Yeah.

Right when I met you, like, the day after or the day before or something. I remember you'd. You stood up and mentioned and said this. And what's happened to you in the last 10 months is unbelievable.

Because you had no, you know, box that you were put in or no limits or no one telling you to be vanilla. I know.

And I. I met a man last week who took me on a date. And he's lovely and wonderful, and he was like, I just want you to be my girlfriend. And I was like, oh, I gotta be. I gotta be really honest with you.

I don't know if I can ever be put into a fence. And so you'd have to be someone where you would just move and breathe with this wild energy all the time. But it was interesting. Like, it was literally like. He was like, I must have you as my girlfriend. I was like, I must not. Like.

You know, you're lovely and let's keep playing. And.

You know.

Yeah. You don't know what you're saying.

So for. For other people that are listening, that have the why of challenge.

And they're feeling like.

They don't fit or they're not. They're being muted.

What advice would you give to them?

Well, I spent most of my life feeling like I didn't fit. I didn't fit in religion. I didn't fit. I still don't fit. I don't Fit with most mothers, right? Like put me in a park, play date, and I want to die if I have to. Like talk about.

Laundry and like the latest reality TV show. Like, I literally like, it's like suffering from my body to be. I cannot fit. But it's also very lonely. So anybody who has this, I want to speak to the loneliness. It's very lonely to not fit. It's very lonely to, to be. Like, why? Like I have had many times in my life, especially recently as I feel so passionate about what I do. Like, it's like, why do I feel like I have to change the whole world? Why, like, why can't I just be the woman who's like super happy, just like making dinner and like watching TV at night? Like I've actually like really beat myself up over that. Like why, like, why can't I just be normal? But the truth is, is like if you have this, it's because you came here to change the world. So instead of wishing that you fit in, embrace your uniqueness. Because it's, it's the flavor that will shift the blandness and the, the, I would say the toxicity of sex sameness.

It will, it will literally shift that in the world. So to clear out the loneliness, you just got to find more people who feel this same way. I run masterminds. Like I run masterminds to attract people like me so I can have communities. I join high priced masterminds like Genius Network to be with others who, who I know my energy will actually activate them and not drain them. So I've learned it. This is not like I'm not most likely going to find a friend at the park. I'm most likely not going to find a friend at a mom group. So I've had to invest money into finding my people.

But it's the best money I've ever spent. Because when you don't feel alone, it's like you're supercharged.

So what's happened to you in the last 10 months? How are you different now than you were 11 months ago?

Well.

Because you've, you've been let out of your cage. 100 let out, unleashed, whatever that word is. You are on attack mode.

I mean my, my business has grown like ridiculously fast in my revenue. My revenue has completely changed. I am actually really, I'm less controlling. So it's very interesting. I was a very controlling mother when I was in that marriage. And when I'm not, it's like I, I don't have a desire to control my children. Anymore. It's like this weirdest, like, freedom, liberation for all of us. And I feel so bad for my older ones, who had to spend most of their lives with a really controlling mother. My last three are going to get a really great mom. The first two had to go through some rough things, but. But I feel so alive. I spend. I spend two weeks a month with my kids. We split 50. 50. So I have built a business that on my other two weeks, I do wild, extraordinary adventures. So I take clients to resorts.

Really beautiful adventures, for six days. And I help them write a book in six days. But while we're there, we're also going to hot springs, and we're hiking and we're playing on the river, and we're dancing and we're doing yoga. And it is literally the funnest life I could ever imagine. So I do that on the weeks I don't have kids or I am traveling to some of my authors. So, like, in one week, I met with an author in her home state of Washington. We wrote her book in, like, a beautiful Japanese garden. Then we went out on the lake at Coeur d'. Alene. I learned how to surf behind a boat, all while in the name of helping her write her book. Right. Then I go to Nebraska with an author, and we go to work all day, and then at nighttime, we go into the forest and watch the fireflies every single night. Then I end up in Georgia that week at an author's farm where I'm going out on dune buggies and listening to frogs and around their pond, and we write their books. And I'm like, holy hell, if this isn't the most extraordinary life I could have ever created. I honestly don't even know. It's so great.

That is amazing. So what. Take. Take us through your thought process in writing a book in six days.

Yeah. So I actually meet with them for probably two months leading up to the adventure. All right. And we meet 30 minutes a week. And what I call it is, like, I help them gather inspiration. That's it. I'm helping them gather ideas. Gather inspiration. They just come with a lot of ideas, a lot of inspiration.

But then we go into what I call channeling, which is where I use my gifts as a medium and I bring in their book, and we get really clear, and we hear what needs to come through, and then we just begin, like, writing. And because I'm very clear, I can feel people's energy. So if I can feel them getting burnt out, like, oh, let's go do Some yoga out on the lawn. Oh, let's go for a hike. But while we're hiking, the book is still coming through. So we're receiving the book while we're hiking. Or we go out on a boat and we've got their laptop and they're writing while we're. We're just always channeling the book. So it's like 12 hours a day. But instead of getting burned out, which normally would happen, where if you're behind a computer 12 hours a day, it's the movement, it's the nature, it's the joy, it's the fun, it's the laughter. Because you better believe I am so damn silly that we are laughing our heads off it. It just creates so much flow state that their book is better than they could have ever imagined. I one woman, I took her to Sun Valley, Idaho six weeks ago, came with not a clue of what she was going to write. Wrote literally one of the most brilliant books I've ever read. And she received inspiration on a healing practice. And we sent out the call. You know, everyone on Instagram's watching us like it's a reality TV show. We are like videoing every second of this. So we put the call out. We're like, who wants to try this thing that Juliet just learned while she was writing her book? We had 15 beta calls that week. All their lives changed, all while we're writing this book. Right? It's marvelous. It's the best. Really.

Wow. What types of books are you typically writing? Are they memoirs? Are they like, what? What? Like, tell us about them.

So my publishing house is called Joan of Arc Publishing or JO J O A but it's named after Joan of Arc. She is one of my spirit guides and she is for me a real change maker. Like she broke this. Oh, for sure. She was a challenge, right? For sure. That was her. Why she broke all the norms. There was never a time that a 17 year old woman led an army of men to save a country. All because angels spoke to her. I mean, she broke all the bounds. And actually I want to say this about her. It is quoted that in her like while she was at trial she said these words. I would have rather been spinning wool like all the other women in my town. But that is not what I was called to do. And I think that we who have this why as a challenge is we feel that like I would love to be the woman who shops at Ross all day and buys pillows, but f that like that's not who I'm. That's not who I am. So wish that all day long. Wish to be spinning wool all day, you know. So she is kind of like, those are the books we help write, books that are going to change the world, books that are going to shift perspectives. We have a whole entrepreneurship line. I'm deeply passionate about entrepreneurship and I believe personally it's entrepreneurs who change the world. So we have a whole line of entrepreneur books. We have healing books, spiritual books. We have yet to have a. We have only like one or two memoirs. It's not really what we have. We have books that come in with new ideas, new inspiration. And we're the first publishing house that has a stamp on every book called the authentic author. Meaning we do not publish any books that have been ghost written or used. AI. It is only authentic authorship that I publish. And I stand so firmly behind that because the books that we write are to change the world.

Yeah, I love it. So, Kira, what's the kind of like our last question. What's the best piece of advice that you've ever been given or the best piece of advice you've ever given?

I don't know. Let me, let me feel into this for a second.

I don't know if there was a piece of advice that I've been given that really made a difference. Anything that's made a difference has come from God for me.

But like, if I were to give advice, it would be to follow the call of your heart with fearlessness, courage, boldness, because it will only open up so much joy. And that doesn't mean that it will be easy. Having a 20 year marriage end was not easy. Having to rebuild a life with my kids on my own, not easy. But following whatever has called me forward has brought me so much joy and expansiveness. So my advice is like, don't quiet that instead stoke that.

I love that. When you discovered when we were together on the, you know, a little bit ago and you discovered your yos, you're in the Y2B challenge, how did that feel to you?

I was like, yeah, of course.

It's like you wrote a biography of me. I was like, yes, this is. Every single piece was accurate for me. And it felt good.

Yeah. And it's what I think I mentioned that my wife has your why? So I have a sense of what it's like to be married to you.

And what she's said a lot is that it gave her the freedom to be okay and say, you know what, I am okay. And in fact, I'm more than okay. I'M really pretty amazing.

Versus feeling like a misfit or out of place. You have something very special that the rest of us don't have. And a lot of that's courageous that most of us don't have to be able to do the things, try the things, experience the things that you have.

And I'm curious if you, if. If it gave you that same sense.

Yeah, it was.

I feel like it was validation.

And also like relief. Like, oh, that's why I am this way, you know, and because sometimes it can feel like.

Why am I a rebel? Why am I like this? You can actually, I feel like this, this. Why? For me personally, I spent a lot of my years beating myself up and shaming myself. So I think it can go both ways. It's like a toggle. It's like for me, I spent years being muted. I spent years not having a voice. I spent years trying to fit in some sort of pattern that was so not who I was. But I was determined to be the really good Mormon wife who raised five kids and did everything right. And I spent most of my life shaming myself for being not that. And then when I accepted who I was and really embraced all of my gifts, I mean, it's like.

The liberation, the freedom, and like the absolute joy to be this way. I wouldn't want to be any other way now. Like this. This is the only way I would want to be, you know, so it was just really a huge validator.

That's awesome. And Kara, if there's people that are listening that would like to connect with you, they'd like to talk to you about writing a book. What's the best way for them to connect with you?

So currently I really do get into most of my Instagram messages, which is just Kira Brenton on Instagram, just send me a dm. Like it's like a text. Just send me a message. Or you could always message my assistant@supportoa publishing.com. those are probably the best ways.

Better spell your name.

Yep, it's K E I R. A B as in boy. R I N T O N. Kira Brinton.

Awesome. Kira, thank you so much for being here today. I was looking forward to this. I knew you would take us in all kinds of different directions. It wasn't going to be typical. It wasn't going to be the same and there's going to be a lot of smiles. So thank you so much for being with us today.

Oh, thank you so much for having me. This was so much fun. Gary.

I really hope you enjoyed today's episode and that through today's guest, you heard how important it is to know your why and how impactful it can be in your life and the lives of those around you. Be sure to head over to why institute.com and discover your why today. Remember, the more you know about yourself, the more you'll know about others. I'm Dr. Gary Sanchez, and I'll see you on the next episode.