The story Katherine Miracle never wanted to tell

Someone’s past can be a shadow to their success. Katherine Miracle tried to hide her illness in junior high but as her eyelid began to droop, her speech became slurred and at moments she could not speak or even breathe well she could not hide anymore. 

Why hide an illness? In junior high if you see double and you slur words you are accused of taking drugs and for Katherine the gossip and rumors hurt her and her family.  Katherine’s parents Betty and Gene Robinson never accused their daughter; instead they took her to every doctor until the diagnosis of Myasthenia Gravis (MG) was found. 

Katherine had surgery and took medicine until 1988 when she met her Miracle, her husband Craig Miracle. As an adult Katherine remembers what is was like to be considered the sick kid and to not want people to ask about the scar on her chest.  Katherine wrote a book called “Discovering Your Dawn’ to help college students and she finally shared part of her story but never spoke about it. 

On Wednesday, February 23^rd, Katherine was awarded Best Speaker by CBC Magazine.  A great honor for a person who at one time could barely speak and who was not expected to have the quality of life to be a  Corporate Motivational Speaker who travels the United States.  

Best Speaker/Meeting Facilitator   www.cbcmagazine.com

Katherine Miracle
Katherine Miracle is the founder and owner of Miracle Resources, an Akron-based consulting, training, and educational resource for businesses and nonprofits. Miracle Resources specializes in the areas of marketing, public relations, advertising, and revenue development. The company creates seminars that help audience members increase awareness and revenue. Miracle is a  Keynote Speaker, University Guest Speaker, Marketing Keynote Speaker and  Corporate Motivational Speaker who teaches  Exceptional Teamwork,  Increasing your Passion and Productivity, she speaks across the United States for corporations and universities, and her client list includes Cleveland Clinic, Westfield Group, US Bank, Delta, and 50 businesses and 20 nonprofits. She and her consultants at Miracle Resources have raised more than 28 million for 10 nonprofits, secured $4 million in free publicity for corporations and non-profits, and created advertising/marketing campaigns that have increased revenue for more than 50 businesses. For more info: katherinemiracle.com or www.miracleresources.com

Thanks to all who voted for me and for those who attended I did plan to share this when I accepted but my parents are ill and I wanted them to be there when I shared this. For those of you who work with me please remember I am MG free I do not have double vision anymore so if I offer to drive do not be afraid !!! 

It is god’s blessing that we can laugh together about this because MG can be fatal and I am blessed with health because my parents made the decision for me to have the surgery.  I hope to speak at MG conference one day so people can see the surgery works and that they can become anything they dream of becoming. I am proof !!!

     To be the one means to be the one person that your clients/customers say “you have to call her/him they will help”  Miracle Resources heard clients say that phrase over and over and we decided to strive for it to be said by all of our customers.  If your mission is to bring value to clients, your purpose is to serve them by sharing your resources, expertise and by building a relationship of trust. 

     A wise woman named Linda Bloom asked me, “Katherine are your clients your best friends”   I quickly replied, “No, we have a professional relationships” Linda then shared the secret to keeping business relationships.  The secret is to build a trust that displays how you can help and to build a bond that is so strong it will never break.  I needed to hear this because my relationships consisted of visiting clients with my staff and I was very formal, always showing perfection. 

     My mistake was that I trying so hard that clients did not get to know me.  As I became accountable, I looked at my public speaking, I was formal and people would often write to me that they learned so much but knew I was very busy and they did not want to bug me after my speech.  How sad, I tried so hard to be perfect that I was unapproachable and did not truly build relationships. 

     As a  Corporate Motivational Speaker and  Marketing Keynote Speaker, I knew I had to open up, tell my truth and treat clients as I treat my friends and family.  I started telling stories about the crazy mistakes I make and I used my mistakes to help others.  Miracle Resources started to have coffee or lunch with every client, no agenda “just come to the table and we will listen”.   As we listened, we saw so many people hurting and carrying shadows that held them back from success.  When I started teaching college and saw students who struggled just as much as clients and audience members at my speeches I tried to find a book that would help but could not find one.  In an effort to help others, I exposed my mistakes, pain and tragedy in my first book   “Discovering Your Dawn”.

     The book has been a wake up call and help people in three countries. Miracle Resources has been amazed at how supportive clients were of the book.  Miracle Resources relationships grew deep and during the tough economy our clients stayed and although the economy made it tough to get new clients we could survive with the clients we had.  It became clear in 2010 that many of our competitors would close and what may surprise you is we did not race to get their clients. Our networking and relationship building led to our competitors sending their clients to Miracle Resources. 

     A note from Miracle Resources:

We have been blessed to belong to The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Katherine was trained by AFP to become a fundraising leader. Katherine built deep friendships with fellow AFP members and they learned to depend on each other.  During good and bad times, Katherine has the support of her AFP members and is honored to be asked to speak Thursday, December 2, 2010 as the Keynote for the AFP Annual meeting. AFP also requested a book signing.  The book signing will be held at Holiday Inn Rockside at 1pm  “The greatest blessing is to be recognized by the experts in my field and to have my book showcased” Katherine Miracle

As a  Corporate Motivational Speaker I meet people who tell me that they are unhappy, depressed and cannot move forward. These people ask me what is wrong and what is missing.  I share that for me I knew something was not right but I buried it until my MBA professor asked us to tell our shadow and that if we did not address it we would never be successful. As each person shared their story (some were CEO’s, VP’s and all were fighting back tears) each person opened up and was honest. Yours truly, Katherine Miracle the same person clients call the one. That is the one who provides them expert marketing strategy and helps them with leadership issues, got very quiet in the class and her wake up call was that the instructor never called on me. Why, because she could see in my face the pain that I needed to overcome and I was not ready to share.  So I wrote a book about my shadow and now I help people address solve their real problems through motivation and marketing.  I wish I could tell you it was easy and that involved no risk but my Wake Up Call was painful, embarrassing and involved me becoming accountable.If I wanted to accomplish my goal of helping others I had to help myself. 

 Increasing your Passion and Productivity and performing  Exceptional Teamwork can only be achieved by waking up and solving the real problem. 

So many times Miracle Resources meets with a company about marketing and the real problem deals with the shadows of the leaders and employees. Step one is realizing the problem and as an inspirational speaker I work to find options that create a strategy.

Step two is finding the motivation to accomplish the goal. As a Motivational Speaker it is my job to find several motivations that will create a mindset for success.

My wake up call on weight loss has led me to lossing 39lbs and I followed the advice of my book “Discovering Your Dawn”  I needed to respect my self and motivate myself to do the work. I asked for help by finding the best personal trainer in Stu Harter and I have maintained balance by ensuring I have time to work out!  My mindset has been to live my life in a new way where food is fuel not an escape or comfort.  If I am every going to hit this goal I have to focus on it as a dominate thought.  Weight loss has been the one goal I have not met but the rest I have accomplished so why has this one been so tough? Because I did not ask for help in the past and my shadow made me feel I was not good enough.  Are you good enough?  If you do not know yourself, believe in yourself and love yourself you can never meet your goals. 

If you want success and happiness, you have to fight for it! Miracle Resources and Katherine Miracle want to help you unlock your potential.

Miracle Resources is a consulting, training and educational resource for businesses and non-profits. Miracle Resources consultants specialize in the areas of advertising/branding, public relations, marketing and revenue development. Miracle Resources consultants have served clients including the Cleveland Clinic, Northwest Mutual, The American Red Cross and Dunkin Donuts. 

When you “Discover Your Dawn” you learn your truth, it is the moment when your mistakes, guilt and regret are clear so you can learn from it and move on. Only when you “Discover Your Dawn” can you learn from your past and combine it with your passion to create your future!

Your goals to Discover your Dawn

Achieve Balance

Strive for Self Respect

Ask for Help

We are here to help you achieve your goals:

Katherine Miracle, LLC

km@miracleresources.com

www.katherinemiracle.com

www.miracleresources.com

330-777-2003 ext 100

The return on investment for “Discovering Your Dawn” 

“This book was my wake up call to realizing the real problems in my life” Brittany, Ashland, OH

 “I could not put your book down because I could see myself through your words” Ryan, Akron, OH

“I suffered an attack 10 years ago and told no one until I read this book. I have been angry and let this shadow ruin my life. Discovering Your Dawn helped me see I must get help and become stronger” Marissa, Cincinnati, OH

“As a Vietnam Veteran, I have survivor’s guilt and your book kicked my butt because it showed me my friends would not want me to life the way I am living. I need to use your journey journal and ask for forgiveness” Frank, Cleveland, OH

“Your book was what I needed to read as a college student because I just went through a break up and your book helped me see I need to ask for help ,respect myself, keep my balance and not overload” Scott, Oakland, CA

“I gave your book to a friend who seemed sad. After he read the book, he came to me and told me everything. My friend had been considering suicide and told me that reading your book helped him see that he will be okay if he gets help. I told him that when I read the book I learned that if you isolate yourself you hurt yourself and others” Ray, Brisbane, Australia

“The relationships in your book show me what I need to learn from my past relationships. Reading your book inspired me and I want to live my life as Dawn did. I want to be bold, help others and stand up for myself and my friends” Katie, Virginia Beach, VA

“Discovering Your Dawn makes me want to be a better person. Your words helped me realize I need to know myself, respect myself and believe in myself  before I become involved in another relationship” Jared, Wellington, New Zealand

“Indeed, this is truly exciting work and evidence of your dedication and enthusiasm for our students and for your field. Engaging our students is an extremely important aspect of what our professors do daily. Thank you for understanding this and challenging our students to achieve excellence.  We at The University of Akron are proud to claim you as one of our own” Luis M. Proenza, President, The University of Akron

Discovering Your Dawn proceeds benefit:

The University of Akron Foundation

The Virginia Marti College of Art and Design Foundation

Alpha Delta Pi Sorority Foundation

     I write with a heavy heart today.  A very dear friend of mine has passed and it is hard to hold back tears.  As I spoke with the family we focused on the fact that he is in a better place, in god’s loving arms, as we reviewed the what if’s ,if he had been in prolonged pain or had to be on life support it was clear that we we striving to see the good in this horrible time. 

     I know that looking at the positives helps us become stronger, motivated and helpful to others.  When I wrote, Discovering Your Dawn, I knew I had to share that when I became negative I created a personal prison. When I share the mistakes I made it has helped others. I have learned that even when I am speaking about leadership people relate to us and learn from us when we share the reality of our lives.

     As a Corporate Motivational Speaker I have seen people hear my message and act on the ways to unlock their potential. My friend who pass ed shared his business struggles with me and helped me see how I would grow my business one day. He also let me share my personal struggles and he and his wife showed me how faith can help you overcome anything.  As a  Christian Speaker I share how God sent people to help me.  My friend Ned and his wife Geri were the first people I ever met who were open about their faith.  They gave me a great gift in my friend Renee.  Renee gave me friendship that changed my life.

    As Renee and I shared our love for her father Ned we remembered how he taught us  Exceptional Teamwork and he always valued his employees and everyone he met.  Ned modeled to me, Increasing your Passion and Productivity and now as a  inspirational speaker I have the blessing to share ways to motivate people and change their world.

    Through my tears I can see the sunset tonight and say “What if I had never met Ned”  he changed my life, believed in me and helped me help others.  God Bless you always Ned you are the very best of what a business owner, a father, a mentor and friend should be.  I am sure God is looking at you saying, “Well done good and faithful servant” 

Love you always,

Katherine

As a business motivational speaker, I was asked to explain how passion leads to productivity.  I shared a story about a student who had tremendous talent but was numb to learning. The student had not found his passion.  As a corporate motivational speaker I meet employees who have lost their passion and become frustrated. 

I am blessed to work with a client this week who needs me to speak to provide resources and motivation to employees.  My speech is called “The power of Leadership, Problem Solving and Positive Attitude”  The client is showing their employees they care about employee retention, motivation and passion.  The first step to taking care of your employees is to give them tools to increase their passion and work smarter not harder.  The result of giving employees tools and resources is employees who are stronger, healthier and productive.

 Passion is gained through not finding exactly what you want but starting a journey to find your purpose and putting your commitment to the test.

Risking, giving up everything and believing in your purpose is tough but living your life without passion means complacency and living a lie. My mentors taught me that you must find your truth!  I call it discovering your dawn, the moment when your truth is known and you learn from your past.

One of my mentors says this is the day when you begin to live. It is not easy and does not mean your life is always happy it just means that you cannot deny what your purpose is and you cannot go back to the way you used to live. 

Some people wait for someone else to take action and I found that I was waiting for someone to write a book to help college students and my mentors pushed me to realize I had the story, the experience and the passion to help college students.  Mentors see potential in you that you cannot see.

Today secure mentor who will help you find your passion and take a risk to find your purpose.  You will unlock your potential!   

Wishing you all the very best!

Katherine

 As a university speaker, I speak on securing mentors and positivepeople in your life but most importantly, finding out what holds you back or what I call your shadow.  I let my shadow hold me back from success and happiness too long and I call my truth about this, my Dawn.  My book “Discovering Your Dawn” is a story of love, friendship, tragedy and hope.  

Please know how grateful I am to you for reading this blog and my book. I never imagined the impact the book would have I just knew I wanted to help people.  At our first book signing January 16th I was shocked over 125 people attended and I signed books from 12:40 to 4pm  it was amazing. 

I really wanted the book signing to be more networking and I wanted to interact with everyone not sit behind a table and sign books but Barnes  and Nobles was packed because my staff marketed the event so well. As a top motivational speaker I want to give my best to everyone I meet and I did not get to spend the time I wanted with each guest so my friend Tom Stephens is hosting the next event.

We are having the second book signing Feb 6th at Liberty Tax in Wadsworth at 1:30pm  this event should be smaller and I will get a chance to talk to everyone.

My book “Discovering Your Dawn”  was written to help people unlock their potential and I am hearing from people across the United States and now from other countries that the book is life changing.  I am so thankful the book helps people that was my goal.  I just want readers of this blog to know  that this book was hard to write and the journey contained many tears. To make an impact I had to share my mistakes and show the reader the reality of my bad choices.  I did not want to publish this book but so many people came to me that needed the book that I could not turn my back on the truth. I begged God so I did not have to publish but he had other plans.  I have learned to trust God and not push my own agenda, please know that is a daily struggle but I love God and trust his will for my life. As a christian speaker I am not perfect and I am a sinner like all of us. I just want you to know that I am trying to be a help to God.

I hope “Discovering Your Dawn” helps you and you share it with anyone who needs it.  The book benefits three charities and I want to thank each of you for inspiring me to get the courage to publish.  Jasmine wrote a nice note to me and I wanted to share that if you want to find me on twitter I am katherinemiracl    no e on the last name.  Jasmine thank you for inspiring me. 

I love marketing and motivating people and businesses to unlock their potential and I hope to see you Feb 6th for our second book signing!

When we fear, we let the fear dominate our actions. I know each decision I made could have a positive and sometimes negative effect. I finally decided that my book may bring up painful memories and it may hurt someone but the thousands of people who have read the book and share that it has helped them let me know I made the right decision. I knew I would have to pay a price for writing “Discovering Your Dawn” and I had to face my fear to show my past and my mistakes in an effort to help people unlock their potential. I used to be afraid to let my scar show and to talk about my friends who were murdered. I realized that my scar is a symbol that my parents love me. My parents made the decision to have an experimental surgery that no one knew would work. My parent’s decision saved my life, what if my parents chose to fear and I did not have that surgery? My friend’s murders have defined who they are and this year I have decided that is not acceptable. I am not afraid anymore because people need to know who my friends were and how important their lives are. My motivational speaking  and my book shows how my friends helped me and our other friends. I will not let fear stop our story from helping people. If you choose to not fear you can have what you desire, enjoy success and even if you fail, you will have no regret because you tried. Sometimes not everyone is happy with your risk but as you consider the risk consider the reward for you and for others. Fear can dominate your life…how long are you willing to let fear hold you back?

Confidence is your tool to overcome obstacles andas a christian speaker I share my testimony and my times of no confidence and I am blessed that my story helps people.  In business motivational speaking I am finding audiences are more open about their struggles than I have seen in the past. The economy, increased debt and relationship issues have made it difficult for people to have hope and be confident.  In 2009 I was blessed to be the womens speaker for several amazing organizations. I felt a connection to the audience when we discussed the following issues about confidence:

Confidence

Is perception reality?

What does confidence look like?

 Standing Tall

  Positive Attitude

Self Motivation and being proud

Good Communication

  Powerful

Dress for success

Walk and Talk

Make others feel good

Unstoppable

Examples of confidence: My college students made this list(remember everyone on this list is being paid to be confident and create a confident image)

 Gabrielle Union

 Beyonce

 Jada Pickett Smith

Angelina Jolle

Jennifer Love Hewitt

Danzel Washington

  Tom Cruise

  Will Smith

  Brad Pitt 

What is the benefit of being confident?

  Success

  Respect is given

More Opportunities

 Gain Trust   Doctors/ Military as an example

  Rubs off on others

  Gives off energy

 Better outcomes if you are confident

When confidence is absent?

  Potential outcome of failure

Bring down others

  Codependence

 Negativity

 Fear

No Trust

Depression

 Reluctant 

Fake it till you make it? Does that work?

 Does this work?

 Do you really look confident when you act confident?

What if you could figure out why you should be confident?

Uncovering your lack of confidence:

 Negativity- do you have a valid reason for the negative thoughts?

Are you allowing someone else’s judgment hurt your confidence?

Are you looking for negativity because you fear success?  Is guilt feeding your negative thoughts?

Consider confidence as a choice: If you wake up look in the mirror and think about your past mistakes, the times you were rejected and anything bad someone said about you, you have set the tone for your day. 

If you wake up look in the mirror and think about your times of success, the nice things people say about you and the obstacles that you have overcome, you have set a tone for the day that helps you be open to challenges that may lie ahead. You confident attitude can protect you and help you! 

I wish you all the best in 2010 and remember my campaign theme for 2010  “Whatever it takes”  make a campaign theme for 2010 and live by it to help you grow confidence, happiness and success! 

What has marketing done for the Christmas season?  I want your comments and I will share that my wish for you this Christmas is that you do not let the marketing of products ruin your holiday.  Start new traditions, talk with your family, buy products from companies that motivate you not bombard you with messages and think about what this holiday means to you, enjoy your friends and take a moment to thank those who have helped you this year!

recover from surgery.  I am stronger everyday and being in the hospital I saw exceptional team work that I

am thankful for this holiday season. 

As you consider the holidays and how you will interact with family, friends and co-workers at holiday parties

you may be experiencing apprehension and have a tough time seeing how people function as a team. 

As a corporate motivational speaker I am asked to work with teams so they can function effectivily and create

success.  When I meet with audience members they tell me horror stories of office bullying, discrimination,

exclusion and workplace violence.  Miracle Resources has created a new product called “Workplace

Bootcamp”  We found experts in all the areas that teams struggle with, communication, deadlines, respect,

leadership, confidence, selflessness, cliques and staying true to the team mission.  The Workplace Bootcamp

rolls out in 2010 and I will be working with companies on the following part of the boot camp: 

“Exceptional teamwork, increasing your passion and productivity” 

 The seminar will help you be an effective team player, create a team charter, manage timing of projects, find

confidence to grow as a leader, create a professional work style and meet deadlines.   This session helps teams

stop gossip and negativity in the workplace. This session builds accountability teams, mentor programs and

breaks up cliques. The interactive and fun exercises break down barriers and build relationships. The results

of this session are increased productivity and workplace harmony.

I am so excited to help organizations, corporations, non profits and small businesses with our boot camp. 

As you approach the holidays consider the topics in our bootcamp. If your holiday was free of negativity,

gossip and carrying past issues you might actually enjoy the holidays and not sweat the small stuff.  2009 has

been a journey for me and it surrounded the publishing of my book “Discovering Your Dawn”  so many people

were included in the book and I was not required to ask their permission but I felt it was the right thing to do.

I need to ask forgiveness for the mistakes I made and the way I treated people during a time of tragedy in my

life.  I call 2009 my radical forgiveness tour, I met or spoke with 26 people who I needed to forgive.  This year

changed my life and I am free of guilt, carrying past issues, negativity and gossip.  I have learned so much and

trust me this journey included many tears and learning the truth about myself.   My wish for you in 2010 is

that you Discover Your Dawn,  what I call the moment in your life when you learn your truth.  When you

discover your dawn you can take your past, combine it with your passion to create your future.  Thank you

for your comments and support of this blog.  Thanks to the corporations and colleges who selected me to be

their corporate motivational speaker or university speaker.   Have a great day everyone and enjoy the

holiday season !