>> Produced by women about women, Powerful Women: Let's Talk is a series of interviews with women who are trailblazers and have helped shape our world transforming who we are and how we live.

>> Well, this powerful woman certainly has a story to tell, not only on how and why the loss of over 100 pounds and keeping it off.

But how does she manage motherhood of 8 athletic competitions?

Plus, a near death of a child.

Welcome, Elizabeth.

Fanco This edition of Powerful Women: Let's Talk.

Not sure where to start.

I want to get the elephant out of the room.

How much weight did you lose?

>> About 120 >> I knew I was somewhat Accurate.

We'll get back to that.

8 kids.

There's a farm involve obviously a husband and more marathonor at least.

But I want to go right back to that childhood.

Elizabeth, take me back to your kiddie days.

>> All right.

Well, I did not grow up in the Midwest.

I'm a New Englander.

I grew up in New Hampshire in the seacoast area.

So I definitely still prefer the ocean to the Great Lakes.

I'm sorry everyone who prefers fresh water.

But give me the ocean anyday.

>> Can't change you.

>> grew up in I have 4 brothers no sisters so grew up heavily into watching sports, but not doing sports.

My brothers, all did them.

And so I went along to a lot of games, but was I always say I was never or a non athlete, but not only a non athlete, never athlete.

There's a difference.

Yes, well, but just family really big growing up.

My my mom came from a farming family, spent a lot of summers of my grandparents farm and really my and my mom was a U.S. Forest Service ranger and so really grew up loving the outdoors, living being outdoors, walking, hiking, things like that.

>> So 8 kids to me about this journey.

>> Yes, my husband, I have a kids.

We have 5 daughters, 3 sons.

They range in age from 9 to 24.

I have to stop myself because the birth dates throughout the year.

So make sure what month is it?

>> always have a present ready?

>> Yes, yeah.

Well, and just age wise, one of my daughters, Felicity is going have a birthday in 3 days.

So it's all as people ask me with ages, just shoot where are we in the year to figure out who's what age but ages 9 to 24.

So we have one out of college.

owns her own home lives out by St. Louis, one in college, 3 in high school right now, one at the middle school, one of the intermediate school and one in elementary school.

So we're kind of in every phase except baby and toddler.

Right now.

We hear kind of are our parenting every phase.

Yeah.

>> In general, what's the energy of a family of of 8 kids?

>> I tell people it's like herding cats.

Our house is never quiet and I love it that way.

And then the benefit of a big family is if you have one sibling and you're not getting along with each other, you've got nobody else in the house to talk to my kids on any given day, even if they're not getting along with a few of their siblings, have other people talk to other people play with and when they're all getting along.

It's great because we have a soccer field line at the farm.

They got time split the teams and play soccer.

Let's change gears back to mom.

What was your maximum weight just over 300 pounds was when I stopped getting on the scale.

So I don't know what the actual number was.

I know it was over 300.

My maximum clothing size was 24.

26.

Depending on the clothing brand, I still have a pair of size.

24 jeans at home that I can now fit two kids in with me.

>> When did you know it was time to make a change?

I wanted to make a change for decades.

Nobody ever sets out to be obese.

Nobody ever says this is this is how I want to be.

And I I think this time of year, especially we see everybody making New Year's resolutions and saying that this is going to be my year this year make the changes.

This is the year things are going to different.

And I'm going to, you know, chart a new course for my life health wise.

And I was definitely in that boat every year, OK, this is going to be I want to make this change.

I want to I want to be healthy for my kids and want to set a good example for them.

So there's not necessarily a year where I said this is going to be it.

In fact, it the change didn't happen until I didn't make that a resolution upon yourself.

>> Make that pressure on yourself, right?

>> Definitely.

Because instead of saying going to get thinner, I'm going to lose weight and get healthier.

Instead, I had already started running with team World Vision.

So I had a reason for running >> because that was a fundraising opportunity.

>> Yes.

Yeah.

So our family runs with Team World Vision.

We raise money for for clean drinking water around the world.

World vision is an >> So you were running with a heavier weight.

>> Yes, yeah.

I was doing half-marathons at 300 pounds.

Took me over four hours to do them.

They were not comfortable.

They were from very painful training was very painful.

And at that point, I was putting in hundreds of miles a year of training and still weigh 300 pounds.

So anybody that says you just need to exercise a little more to lose weight.

I was exercising and I was so 300 pounds.

It's more than just exercise a little more in 2021.

I decided if I can't lose weight, something needs to change.

I want to hate running less.

So I didn't make the resolution to get healthy.

I didn't make the resolution and I was going to drop X amount of pounds.

I said I just want to hate running less.

And that is when the change started >> what came along with the change.

>> So in January of 2021, we went to the Mary Free Bed sports performance >> Which was just 2 years ago.

>> It was 2 years ago.

>> So it doesn't happen overnight >> and it does not happen overnight.

That was almost exactly 2 next week will be 2 years since I sat across the desk from Todd Buckingham and the performance lab.

And I said, OK, My goal is just a hate running less help me if I'm I'm going to keep moving my feet for clean water until the global water crisis is solved.

But it's a lot of miles and I'm miserable and I want to hate this last help me fix my running.

Help me do something to hate running last and that's when he introduced me to the Alter G treadmill and the Alter G treadmill is it was developed a NASA technology you put on these neoprene shorts with a zipper on the top and use it yourself into a bubble from the waist down in that bubble pressurizes.

It lifts you off your feet and it can take you down to as little as 20% of your body weight.

All of the sudden I wasn't running at 300 pounds anymore.

Todd asked what weight I wanted to be put back for the first time I got on the treadmill and I said I picked a number from high school that the lowest number.

You know, my ideal weight.

I said 180 pounds.

I want to know what it feels like to run at 180 pounds.

And he put it down 180 pounds and he's kept picking up to speed.

And I started running and in that's moment.

I I understood everybody who had ever run pass on the trail who was smiling and talking with a friend when I had been out there on that same trail, gasping and hating every step and feeling every pound on my body jar and my joints ache.

And in that moment when I was 180 pounds and running and like a 10 minute mile pace or an 8 minute mile pace numbers that I could even fathom at that point, take this.

This is what people are talking about.

People that say they love running or lying like it.

It's actually possible to do this and enjoy it.

And for me, that was a life changing moment because it wasn't just if I lose weight, I'm going to feel better and running is going to feel better.

If it wasn't just a hypothetical that I was aiming at, it was a concrete thing.

I could feel what my body felt like to run that fast at 180 pounds and to feel that most incredible motivation ever because I wanted that it gives you at a hunger for that.

And I started training on the Alter G treadmill with Todd 3 days a week.

I started going in there.

He connected with me with a nutritionist at Mary Free Bed.

Found out I was eating too little, not too much because I kept thinking, well, surely lose weight if I, you know, cut my calories back and back and back.

And so I learned I learned how to fuel my body properly, which is not something I ever really paid that much attention to.

I just always side, you know, 2000-2500 calories on the bottom of the nutrition information box on the side and always tried to keep my my color can take, you know, within that as an adult, there's a whole lot more to it than that.

>> Take one more half-step back to 2022. share an inspiring story.

Thank goodness.

It's inspiring story.

You did almost lose a child.

In an automobile accident can you share it?

Inspire others who are going through this now.

>> So in on June 10th of 2022, dates are important.

Yes, our daughter Anna was 17.

She was driving our son Timmy, They were going to pick up snacks at Walmart before they headed off to summer camp in a few days and she took an unfamiliar way home and missed a stop sign and went right out across a major state highway and was t-boned at 55 Miles an hour.

T-Bone right where Timmy was sitting in the car.

He was they had cans to return in the back seat.

So he wasn't sitting back.

He was sitting up front and he was not have enough to set off the air bag.

So he took a direct hit from the car that the whole compartment of his side of the car crumpled in around him when paramedics got there, when first responders got there before, even the ambulance got there, they assume that he was already gone.

His head was open and, you know, brain expose both legs broken.

Anna was in and out of consciousness.

And she kept saying, help my brother, help my brother help.

My brother in somebody finally got in and found out.

He still had a pulse and they it was firefighter there that worked for almost an hour to get him out of the car.

They didn't think he was going to make it in the helicopter between Hastings and in the hospital.

But he did.

He survived.

We had about 72 hours in the hospital where they couldn't tell us definitely whether or not he would live.

And once they told us that it looked like he would live, they said he's probably going to be in a vegetative state.

He had a a grade 3 traumatic brain injury, diffuse axonal brain injury with scheering and pretty much it essential that type of brain injury involves your entire brain.

He was in a coma for 2 weeks.

Transfer to Mary free bed still had just technically just out of the coma based on scoring, but still minimally responsive, steering off in the distance, not responding to to people or speech >> and all this time and not to dwell too much on this, Elizabeth, because it has a good ending.

But your journalings in the social media style, you're keeping your your followers in tune to daily happenings.

Was that important to you?

>> It was I I tell people you're going through a crisis.

One of the things that I've learned is you bring your inner so circle really close you.

You figure out who's in that inner circle and you keep them close to you but expand that outer circle as much as you can.

We had thousands of people praying for Timmy and Anna we had two kids in the in the pediatric ICU at the same time.

And then two kids at Mary Free Bed Rehab hospital at the same time >> because of Anna's injuries.

>> Yeah, they were both med flighted from from the scene and both had a long recovery and there are still recovering.

But it was important to me that people see the honesty of what was going on.

The honesty of the situation.

I think social media, we have a tendency to just poster highlight real.

Nobody learn from the highlight reel.

Nobody can identify with the highlight reel.

And I had already been very up front in terms of my athletic journey saying I want to be honest about the highs and the lows so that if somebody comes behind me and is trying this for the first time, I want them to know that not everything is sunshine and roses.

So the first day they have a miserable run the first day they have a race where everything just falls apart in the wheels come off.

They don't feel like they failed in their the first person to experience that.

I want them to know that we we've all been there.

>> But even that Todd Buckingham still has some tough races.

Again, the journey has so much more to offer.

But Anne and Timmy are healing.

>> They are.

Yes.

So Timmy is it about 98% back to where he was before the accident His pediatric neurologist said looking at his most recent CT scan, he has a brain of a normal 12 year-old you don't.

You don't see the the traumatic injuries and the bleeding in the bruising and everything that he had after the accident anymore.

He still has rods in both of his femurs, but he has he has come back like Gangbusters says grants are back up.

He is.

He's a normal little 12 year-old boy in here and the the Grand Rapids half marathon with our family back in October, which was a huge goal for him.

You know, a kid that we were told we would probably bring home around Christmas time in a vegetative state.

Instead cross the finish line of 13.1 miles, his 4th, 5th half-marathon that he's done.

And Anna just watching her go through her senior year knowing she could she had 11 broken bones and a skull fracture and brain bleed.

And so watching her thrive in her senior year has just been wonderful.

Knowing that you stay with those kids is a huge blessing.

>> Well, thank you for sharing every day improvement to them.

Elizabeth Fanco thank you for this edition of Powerful Women: Let's Talk you are inspiring.

>> thank you so much.

>> Hello, everyone.

Time for powerful women.

Let's talk.

Thanks so much for joining us today.

I'm Jennifer Moss and it is a pleasure to bring you today's powerful woman.

Kristian Grant.

Kristian was born and raised in Grand Rapids in the Heart of District.

82, she's dedicated the last 15 years or more for life to public service and community building.

And during that time, she's founded organizations.

She's volunteered for causes.

She believes in started businesses and invested in the growth.

The Grand Rapids community.

Now in 2016, Kristian joined the Grand Rapids Public School board as the youngest member to be elected.

She served as president for the Board of Education for 2 of what she calls groundbreaking years, which included the hiring of a new superintendent and the beginning of COVID.

She says that her goal has always been to provide tools and access and exposure for students who are brilliant but often overlooked.

And that's got powerful woman written all over it.

Kristian, thanks so much for joining us today.

Thank you so much for having me.

So I am thinking about, you know, this, this journey that you're on, you have done so much.

You're very busy, very accomplished.

What motivated you to start to become so involved in your community?

>> I I don't think I ever saw it being here.

A me me being here today.

I think I'm still kind of taking that all in.

But you just you see a need you see what you wish you had access to and you get involved.

And that's really how it started for me at Michigan State even before then at Ottawa Hills.

Well, I was in high school.

My friends and I were creating mentoring programs for students in middle and elementary school.

And it was a way to pass time, but also to address in need that we saw and it's grown from there.

>> OK, and so how are you feeling after your election victory is a very close race.

Yes, that primary race was very close.

I think that I feel, you know, it feels good to win, but it also the process of running, especially in a primary in a close knit community.

It's really intense.

And you begin to see what are the needs of your community.

And I think it's also when once you get to the state level of politics, it's very eye-opening, too, to the work that you want to do and the politics that are involved with it.

So it's been quite a learning curve for me.

>> I bet it has.

And then it's a lot of work to admit it is going to.

Absolutely.

It is definitely a commitment as well.

Yes, yes.

So one of the things I like best as you look at what you've done, where you're going, are you enjoying your journey?

You've done a lot.

I mean, you and and we talk about, you know, you were the first and the youngest school board member then be became president, the Grand Rapids, Public school board.

I'm doing those types of things.

Are you enjoying this journey?

>> You know, I just had a conversation yesterday where I was saying a lot of times women and women of color.

We show up where we're needed and we take all that is included in that.

And so had a really tough primary race.

And I promised myself that I would enjoy the rest of this.

So there were a lot of lessons, but a lot of bumps and bruises.

And I I think as women, we have to remind ourselves that everything doesn't have to be hard.

We don't deserve to always be fighting for ourselves or for others, but we also should be able to enjoy the process.

So that is definitely a goal of mine to enjoy the rest of this journey.

>> And as we talk about powerful women and you just talked about the bumps and the bruises along the way, what are some of the barriers that you've encountered as you are traveling along your careers path as you're on your life path?

You know?

>> I think that the biggest thing that is set out to me in all the different titles are roles that I've played is that privilege is always present.

And we have to find ways when we gain some privilege to negate that and to extend grace and opportunities to of theirs the way that systems are created.

So even in running for the state House seat being a business owner, I'm being a single mom.

You know, who's running the business?

Who's paying the bills, you know, who has time to run across the state and still fulfill all of the everyday needs that are there.

And so I've seen other colleagues in other races who, you know, they've been groomed for this.

They were trained for this.

They knew to have a year's worth of salary sat to the side or to have a spouse that would take care of things, have mentors who were there.

And so whenever I found myself at a new level, I take note of new new things like, oh, I didn't realize this, but I tried to remember it.

So when someone is coming behind me, I can say here, here's something I wish I knew.

Here's how you can prepare for that, you know.

>> And you share that information with other says that they can and benefit from that.

And the walk you've been on.

And as we look at the road in our journey and you move forward, you know, we do face those obstacles, as you just mentioned, that and some of the challenges so far, listers and viewers, what has it taken for you to kind of find your own voice and be comfortable in your own skin?

Kristian Grant skin.

>> Think you have to stay grounded.

You have to have people around you who are willing to be honest with you.

You have to take criticism and be able to find the truth in it.

So there's this balance of I can be really hard on myself sometimes.

And I have to acknowledge the hard work that I've put in the commitment.

But then you also have to be honest about this is where I can still grow.

And that keeps that keeps us grounded in balance.

And it was something that I learned very early on at the school board.

You know, someone told me coming, right and you're going to have hard decisions said in front of me.

And you have to remember every single time you come to this table who you're here to represent.

And so in in that atmosphere, when we're talking about other things that affect adults, I've been able to say, OK, was best for kids.

We're clearly know what's best for adults.

Everyone here can speak to that.

But what is best for the people that we're here to represent?

And that is something that has really kept me on track because when we had to make the hard decision, it was easy to explain and stand by because it was what was most right.

And it wasn't about you.

It's about the kids.

Exactly.

>> Absolutely, Kristian, some of your hopes and aspirations for your future, I hope to really make an impact on the 82nd district.

And so the 82nd district is the heart of Grand Rapids.

It's a major it's the majority of the southeast side, a small portion of Wyoming as well.

And I hope to create a space where people are proud to live.

You know, that there are pockets of the district that have had a lot of investment and development.

But then there are other parts of the district where people will talk about it as a place that you can achieve out of.

If I work really hard, my achievement can be leaving here and that district doesn't deserve that.

The 82nd district, the southeast side of Grant app, it should be a place where you are proud to stay where whether you're making $60,000, you have a home.

But when you make $600,000, you can also have a home.

And so we see a lot of that community's wealth leave once it's created.

And I wanted to be a place where people stand.

Invest.

>> Yeah.

Making it home for real.

Yes.

>> You know, a lot of women deal with the daily pressures of getting it all done.

We talked about the journey and the like you are a teen mom, you persevered.

How did that impact your journey?

What advice or what word of counsel do you have to other young moms out there who had part of your journey or are experiencing it now?

>> Being a teen mom totally shaped my entire perspective on life.

For me, it has been my number one motivator.

So when things were hard, you know, I can't stop.

Now.

It's not a it's no longer about me.

My grandmother sat me down early and she said it is no longer about you.

You have someone notes to think of and take care of at the same time looking back because my daughter just turned 18.

She just graduated >> so hard to really my goodness.

I we have, you know, college and looking back.

I think I worked so hard to prove to show her what was possible.

I wish that I would have taken moments to be a mom and to be there because we were growing up together.

Right?

And so there is there's beauty in that.

But I encourage people who are growing with their children to the biggest thing is time and experience is you can't get that time back.

So that's something I look forward to in the future having more time with her.

>> Absolutely.

And those as part of the program aims to programs to that you helped developed as a young person through GRPS back in the day.

>> Yes, so.

When one thing I realized when it was no longer about me, it was all about this baby was that my peers had time to develop themselves from 16 to mid 20's.

They had time for self investment.

And that was something that you just have to fast forward ahead.

And so I was really blessed to have a family that is just amazing in there for me.

But when I went back to work with other teen moms, I saw that there were some core skills that they were going to need, not only for their child's success, but their own that we were missing.

And so that program was really about, yes, it's about your child.

But today, when we have this hour together, it's about you.

And that's not a space that really exists for for teen parents or parents at all, you know, want once you have that responsibility.

So it was really wonderful to have those 60 minutes.

It's about you would do we need to do here?

>> What are some of the thoughts or favorite quote or favorite saying or something that you used to encourage yourself scripture, any of that that you use as your model for encouragement?

>> This isn't some brilliant term, but I would say something mascot me grounded this year of when you have when you're, you know, glued to social media, there's for every something that you want to comment on or someone has commented on.

They've taken your thoughts out of context.

And so social media is really A place for conflicts.

You know, it's a place to connect and communicate.

But there's also a conflict there and win one thing that has kept me in line, this year's remembering something my grandmother would always say was she says from a distance, you know, when you argue with a fool from a distance, no one knows who is the fool.

And so I have really learned to you don't always have to over- explain yourself.

You know who you are speaks for itself sometimes trying to argue your point just makes it worse.

You just have to a ride.

Some things out.

Let some things go.

It will be okay.

Kind of live in your own truth.

Yes, absolutely.

Kristian Grant, thanks so much for joining us.

I so enjoyed this conversation.

So nice catching up with you.

Want to appreciate you joining us today on powerful women.

I'm Jennifer Moss and thank you for joining us as well.

We'll see you next time on Powerful Women: Let's Talk