TL;DR: Yes, when you choose the moment. At the ATI Super Conference in 2018, Richard Menneg who hired me to speak asked me to carry my heavy backpack on stage. I thought it was just my bag. He was showing a whole room what I’d hauled around for years, long before I said a single word.
A few months before an event in Orlando, Richard Menneg who hired me to speak met me in Atlanta to talk through my talk. Then he made a strange request. He wanted me to carry my heavy backpack up on stage. I carried that bag everywhere, so I figured he just meant don’t leave it backstage. I said sure. I had no idea what he was actually up to.
The morning of the keynote, Orlando was supposed to be warm. It was forty degrees. I wore my winter coat to soundcheck, then went upstairs to leave it in my hotel room. On my way back to the conference center, I got lost in the hotel and showed up ten minutes before my keynote with the backpack still on my shoulders.
When I walked out with it, the room saw the weight before I opened my mouth. That was the point. Richard wasn’t hiding what I carried. He was letting the whole audience see it — on purpose — before I even said a word.
I’ve spent the last ten years as a corporate keynote speaker, and I hid my differences for most of my life before that. Somebody announces, “Please welcome Kelsey Tainsh,” and I walk out now with the very thing I used to keep tucked in a pocket.
That day taught me something I’ve never forgotten—that what we carry can either weigh us down or lift us up, depending on what we do with it.
— I’m Not Limping. That’s Swagger!, Chapter 5
I carried it in. I didn’t hide it. The room leaned in. Then, with Richard’s help, for the first time, I set it down.
There’s a lot more of this in my book, I’m Not Limping. That’s Swagger! — including the years I spent hiding the very thing I now use to help others. If your team or conference is ready to talk about what people carry into work, that’s a good conversation to have with a corporate keynote speaker.
Book: https://kelseytainsh.com/kelseys-book/ · Speaking: https://kelseytainsh.com/corporate-keynotes/
Quote Q19 pulled from Chapter 5. Confirm against print edition before publishing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should people talk openly about personal challenges at work?
Sometimes, but disclosure should be a choice rather than an expectation. Sharing a challenge can create connection when it has a purpose and the person controls the timing. The useful question is not ‘Should I reveal everything?’ but ‘Would sharing this help people understand something meaningful about the work, the team, or the lesson?’
Why can vulnerability make a story more powerful?
Vulnerability gives an audience access to the part of a story that feels real rather than polished. When people can see some of the weight behind an accomplishment, the outcome often becomes more credible and relatable. The strongest vulnerability still has boundaries; it serves the message instead of becoming the entire message.
How can you share adversity without letting it define you?
Frame the adversity as part of the story, not the only identity available to you. Explain what it changed, what you learned, or what you did with it. That keeps the focus on agency and meaning rather than asking the audience to see only the hardship.
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