I’m Katherine.

a living survival guide and truth-teller to suffering souls.

I’m disrupting the myth that joy can only be found in a pain-free life.

I always knew I’d have a story to tell, I just never imagined it would be this one. Or that I’d be telling that story from a wheelchair. When I was 26, out of the clear blue, I suffered a massive stroke.

Until that point, I’d lived a charmed life in a typical body. After being lovingly raised by a stable family, I went to a small Christian college where I met my husband, Jay. After our quintessential Southern wedding, we set off for Los Angeles in pursuit of grand career dreams. Amidst a whirlwind of acting gigs for me and law school classes for Jay, we welcomed an unplanned but beloved baby boy. Just six months later, my charmed life was nearly cut short.

On an April morning in 2008, without warning, I collapsed in my kitchen while my infant slept in the next room. I was rushed into a sixteen-hour brain surgery that would save my life and take away nearly every one of my physical abilities.

I spent forty days on life support in intensive care and another two years at a brain rehab facility learning how to walk, talk, and eat. To this day, nearly two decades later, my body and brain are nothing like they used to be. Communicating is different, walking is difficult, and driving is altogether out of the question.

I went on to have a second biological son after my stroke—my miracle baby, John. There’s so much good in my family’s story, but the story is still hard. We’ve been able to flourish within our constraints because of the spiritual resources and social support we were given. But our story is the exception, not the rule. Most individuals and families affected by disabilities feel isolated, depleted, and hopeless as they struggle to live in a world that’s not made for them. I wanted to use my second-chance life to do something about that.

Since 2013, I’ve been telling my story to people with broken bodies, brains, and hearts around the world. I’ve been proclaiming the truth that life can be good and hard at the very same time. My speaking opportunities, books, and online community have evolved into the glorious and widespread work of my non-profit Hope Heals. Through our sacred spaces—which range from family camps to a coffee shop to local inter-ability communities—I’m inviting a generation of hurt-yet-hopeful people to do their creative best within the limitations of their lives.

This is a story I never could have imagined for myself, but I couldn’t have written a better one.

SPEAKING

My story is deeply personal, but it’s also full of universal truths that have motivated and encouraged millions of people through conferences, corporate events, universities, and churches around the world.

Book Me to Speak

BOOKS

My wisdom has come at the highest cost, which is why I’ve poured it all into three big-hearted, best-selling books, just for you.

Read my Books

PODCAST

The GoodHard Story Podcast is like a weekly voice memo between me, you, and some of my most-trusted friends. We’re talking honestly about learning to love the lives we’ve been given, limitations and all.

Listen to my podcast

HOPE NOTES

I’m on a mission to #RedeemTheInternet with my beloved Hope Note, a (free!) once-a-month digest of what’s on my heart lately plus all the links I’m loving right now.

Get it in your inbox

The Full(ish) Story

1982

Jay and I are born in the deep South as the Type A firstborns of families with lots of little sisters.
2000-2004

We meet in the college cafeteria—an appropriate meet cute for two lifelong foodies! We begin as great friends, but end up in love.
November 6, 2004

We marry on a gorgeous fall day with 600 of our closest friends. We don’t fully grasp the reality of what we are promising, but we offer the sweetest words any human can: for worse, for poorer, in sickness, ‘til death.
2005

We set off on a grand adventure to Los Angeles with our sights set on the entertainment industry for Katherine and law school for Jay, though Jay doesn’t actually get his acceptance letter until we are driving the UHaul through Texas!
2005-2007

Early years in LA are full of making a life in one of the world’s most vibrant cities. We find a new depth of Christian community and an ownership of our faith at Bel Air Presbyterian Church.
2007

In Jay’s final year of law school (and years ahead of our schedule for having a baby—but right on time) our first baby James Wolf is born.
April 21, 2008

Katherine collapses in our kitchen while James naps in the other room. She is rushed to UCLA Medical Center, where Dr. Nestor Gonzalez chooses to operate on the largest AVM he has ever seen. Her survival will take a miracle.
April 22, 2008

Over half of Katherine’s cerebellum is removed and many vital intra-cranial nerves are sacrificed, risking a vegetative state. After 16 hours of micro-brain surgery, Katherine lives.
2008-2010

Katherine spends 40 days in ICU and almost two years in brain rehab. She re-learns to talk, walk, swallow, and navigate the world with a newly disabled body.
2012

We begin sharing our story publicly.
2015

Against all odds (but with approval from all her doctors), Katherine gives birth to a second son, John Wolf. Instead of arriving via the planned C-section, John makes his debut in the triage room of the emergency department.
2016

We release our first book, Hope Heals. Tangible redemption begins forming in our suffering as our story encourages hundreds of thousands of people around the world.
2017

We host our first sessions of Hope Heals Camp, a week-long camp experience and year-round community for families affected by disabilities. Camp affirms the calling that suffering people are our people.
2018

After almost 15 years in Los Angeles, our family moves across the country to Atlanta, GA, where we are warmly welcomed into a supportive community of friends.
2020

We publish Suffer Strong, a playbook for surviving anything by redefining everything.
2024

Treasures in the Dark, our first collection of devotionals, is released.
2024

We open MEND Coffee and Goods, our coffee shop where hospitality meets accessibility through ability-inclusive staffing and universal design.