#242: Finding Her Voice and Purpose Creates a Path of Opportunities – Kelly Kaur
December 01, 2023Categories: Inspiration, Storytelling, Personal Development
The Toastmasters Podcast with Greg Gazin with Ryan Levesque and Bo Bennett
The Toastmasters Podcast is a talkshow designed to amplify the Toastmaster magazine content, featuring interviews with Toastmasters, contributors and those connected with the articles of this monthly publication. ALL 250+ Episodes can be found at ToastmastersPodcast.com.
[29:58] People find their voice and purpose in many different ways. Our guest today, Kelly Kaur, found hers, amongst other things, through storytelling, writing, overcoming adversity, and Toastmasters speech competitions.
In this episode, Kelly shares many stories, including how she found herself joining Toastmasters and becaming hooked on speech competitions. We also hear how the simple word "No" has had a powerful impact on her life. Starting out as a self-described "immigrant woman with a different accent, and strange stories," today Kelly demonstrates a grounded confidence.
We also hear how her 15 years of Toastmasters speeches helped her realize the dream of becoming a fiction writer, and about her latest novel, 'Letters to Singapore.'
Kelly enlightens us on how she said NO to an arranged marriage, and found herself moving to Calgary, Alberta, Canada from Singapore to pursue an education and Master's degree. Her writing is now finding itself on a Lunar Codex project scheduled to begin its journey to the moon in January 2024.
Kelly is an educator, published author, and poet. She recently curated an anthology of African art and writing for the International Human Rights Art Festival in New York City. She was nominated for the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards, given by Canadian Immigrant magazine.
Her first novel, Letters to Singapore, was published in May 2022, and her children’s book, Howdy, I’m Harnam Singh Hari, about the first Sikh pioneer in Calgary, will be published in spring of 2024.
Kelly's profile entitled: Path of Opportunities: Kelly Kaur finds her voice and purpose through Toastmasters’ speech contests can be found in the September 2023 issue of the Toastmaster magazine.
You can reach Kelly on LinkedIn, at KellyKaur.com or through Mount Royal University in Calgary, Canada where she teaches English.
