Chronic Illness Identity Speaker | Mission Breathe Again

Speaker | Chronic Illness, Identity & Performance

I spent years protecting a version of myself I already believed was true, before I had any proof to back it up. I'm not trying to prove that people with chronic illness can do extraordinary things. I'm trying to answer a different question: what happens when you decide to get the full potential out of the body you were given?

Katie running with a mask at the providence marathon

The Talk

Choose Your Lead: On identity, discipline, and who gets to decide who you are

This talk is about what it actually takes to protect an identity before you have any proof it's true, what happens when protecting it turns into having to prove it, and what it looks like to finally work with your body instead of against it.

It's built around cystic fibrosis and running, but the real question underneath it applies to anyone in the room: who decided who you are, and are you the one still writing it?

What I Bring to Your Audience:

A powerful, relatable story of living with chronic illness without being defined by it
A clear framework: identity → behavior → outcomes
A performance-driven mindset that applies beyond running
Honest, grounded storytelling rooted in real experience — not motivation hype

Past Engagements

Speaking since 2015 — Saint Thomas Aquinas College Tribute Dinner, on life with CF, losing my mom to cancer, and how my scholarship carried my family through it.

Featured runner in 26.2 Miles Apart, a documentary by Chris DeSanty following 10 people with cystic fibrosis running the 125th Boston Marathon — debuted at the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference (NACFC)