Watch the Episode https://youtu.be/PQrt-ZTduvw What happens when other people see you differently, but you are still the same person? Kijuan Amey spent ten years serving in the U.S. Air Force as an in-flight refuelling specialist. He loved the work, became an instructor and was working towards a future that included becoming a pilot. Then, at …
Watch the Episode
https://youtu.be/PQrt-ZTduvw
What happens when other people see you differently, but you are still the same person?
Kijuan Amey spent ten years serving in the U.S. Air Force as an in-flight refuelling specialist. He loved the work, became an instructor and was working towards a future that included becoming a pilot.
Then, at 25, a motorcycle accident changed his life. Kijuan woke after a month in a medically induced coma to discover that he was blind.
But this conversation is about much more than what happened to his sight.
Kijuan talks with me about the people who disappeared from his life, losing the career he loved, and what happened when other people began making assumptions about what he could and could not do.
“I’m still an adult, so don’t treat me like a child. I just need to learn how to navigate without sight.”
Today, Kijuan continues to pursue the things that matter to him. He plays drums, competes in adaptive sport, has tried archery and downhill skiing, steered a sailboat and still has ambitions to fly a small plane.
His circumstances changed dramatically. That did not give other people the complete story of who he had become.
What’s Brewing?
In this conversation, we explore what happens when one part of a person’s story becomes the thing others see first.
Kijuan shares what it feels like when people step in to help before asking whether help is needed, why apparently simple directions such as “it’s right there” can become meaningless, and why he wants people to give him the opportunity to show what he can do before deciding for him.
Towards the end of our conversation, Kijuan puts it simply:
“I want you to allow me to show you what I can do first. If I need your assistance, trust me, I will definitely tell you.”
Meet Kijuan Amey
Kijuan Amey is a U.S. Air Force veteran, professional resilience speaker, bestselling author of Don’t Focus on Why Me, founder of Amey Motivation, host of the No Sight No Excuses Podcast, resilience coach, adaptive athlete and mentor.
After a motorcycle accident in 2017 left him blind at 25, Kijuan rebuilt a life that continues to include sport, travel, music and new challenges.
His work draws on his experience of military service, disability and rebuilding his life to speak about resilience, identity and the assumptions people make about capability.
Brew the Change
This week, notice someone you normally recognise only by a role, a label or a first impression.
It might be a cashier, a person using a wheelchair, someone whose English is different from yours, a neighbour you have never spoken to, or someone you simply pass every day.
Start one genuine conversation. Ask one question that invites them to share something about themselves. Listen without trying to fix, compare or assume.
Then, at the end of the week, ask yourself:
Did I discover something about them that I never would have known if I’d stopped at what I could see?
Because every person has a story that begins beyond first impressions.
Watch the conversation
Pour yourself a cuppa, grab your favourite chocolate and join the conversation.
Let Love Be the Loudest Voice.
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