Ep 87: How To Overcome Seemingly Insurmountable Obstacles with Katie McKenna

In this episode, Matt interviews captivating speaker and author, Katie McKenna. Katie shares her story of how a life-altering accident shifted her thought process and led her down a path of writing and professional coaching.

Katie and Matt dig into the various mental states that people have in life-changing events, how to make small and attainable goals and then celebrate them, and how to shift our thinking when things happening around us may leave us feeling worried, concerned, or anxious.

Katie shares how you can take anything you’ve dreamed of coupled with support and accountability and push forward even when you feel like giving up.

About Katie McKenna:

Katie McKenna is a professional speaker, leadership coach and bestselling author, living in Vermont.

People often say, “I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck.” Katie actually was. On a sunny morning bike ride in Brooklyn, 24-year-old Katie McKenna was forever changed when she was run over by an 18-wheeler. Being crushed under a massive semi wasn’t something Katie should have survived. After 10 hours of emergency surgery, she woke to find herself in a body and a life that would never be the same.

What began as a journal entry on a borrowed laptop during her extended hospital stay, became the best-selling memoir, How to Get Run Over by a Truck. Katie now travels the country, speaking to a vast array of audiences on how to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles with resilience, hope, humor and gratitude. As a professional coach, Katie has made it her mission to use her life experience, insights and passion to inspire and support others. Through her talks she gives audiences the tools to tap into their grit, personal courage, and joy to overcome challenges big and small. Her story inspires others to see how kindness can change the course of a person’s life, to delight in the beauty of the everyday, and to see the strength that lives within themselves.

Katie’s work has been featured in Health Magazine, Brooklyn Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and the Daily Mail as well as many other publications. Katie has spoken at Fortune 500 companies, and Hospitals, Medical Schools, Conferences and Universities across the country. Most recently, Ellen DeGeneres and the writers of the award-winning Broadway musical “Come from Away” have teamed up with Warner Brothers to develop a 1-hour drama based on Katie’s story.

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About the Show

Bridging the Gap is a financial podcast hosted by CEO Matt Reiner focused on bringing together leaders from the finance and the technology industries to focus on innovating the financial services industry.