Meet The Disruptors: Aunia Kahn Of Rise Visible On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

“Don’t forget to breathe.” Sometimes we get so caught up in being busy that we don’t even take the time to breathe. Taking even 5 min a day to take some deep breaths can shift your mood and calm down your nervous system. This world is busy and chaotic at times, take a moment to find a little peace.

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Aunia Kahn.

Aunia Kahn is the CEO of Rise Visible. She is a highly sought-after website designer, digital marketer, strategist, and public speaker that has been featured on Yahoo, Prevention Magazine, Authority Magazine and Entrepreneur on Fire. Kahn is also an internationally renowned artist and photographer and has been in over 300 exhibitions in 10 countries. She also identifies as a disabled business owner in STEM surviving and thriving with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (Type 3), MCAS, Dysautonomia, POTS, PTSD, etc.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I did not plan to be a disabled woman in tech, that was not where my passions were leading me but I have bumped off my path unto another one which is where I am today.

I still think about being a therapist, but I know I just care too much and would have a hard time keeping distance without emotional investment. So, it is good the other road showed up — as unexpected as it was.

I moved from Michigan to St. Louis in 2001 and was studying psychology. In Michigan, I worked as a dental assistant to pay my bills while in school and applied for dental assisting jobs in St. Louis when I got there.

I had a hard time finding the office since I was new to the area and once inside the medical office, I felt strange. I think most people who start a new job feel a little weird for the first few days or even weeks, as they settle into the new setting.

Within an hour of being there, I heard someone yelling from the breakroom — this was 9/11. As everyone sat watching the TV in disbelief, I became more and more uncomfortable surrounded by strangers. So, I asked to leave and never came back.

Trying for months to find work after was nearly impossible. My health was also failing and I needed to figure out how to navigate that as well.

I started thinking about the secret skills I had that I had never even considered a career path. Back in 1998 I was given a computer with a ton of computer programs on it and learned website design, graphic design, and marketing. I did it for fun and had a pretty extensive portfolio.

I reached out to a few people I knew in the industry and secured an interview at a local agency. It was quick no. I felt crushed. Yet, I still had the fire to find a way to drum this type of work up as something that could perhaps make me a living and help me balance the care I needed to have for my declining health. I asked friends, family and people I knew for referrals and my business started to grow to a tiny solopreneurship.

This brought me where I am today, 25 years later and I could not be happier. This might not have been my original career path, but sometimes the universe takes you off path and puts you right where you are supposed to be. Here and now.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

At this very moment I am shaking up the view of people with disabilities in entrepreneurship and business. It is also important for me to get more visibility in DEI conversations.

As an entrepreneur since 1998 and someone recently diagnosed (2018 & 2021) with a plethora of illnesses that have plagued me for 20 years, it only came to my attention this year that I was actually disabled.

I avoided the term or label and hid my issues partially because I had no answers or diagnosis and doctors told me I was crazy for 2-decades as well as I was in a male dominated field as a website designer/developer and digital marketer.

As I took quite a bit of time to ponder being open about being a disabled entrepreneur and the implications that might come of it. I took the leap because it felt important to be open and vulnerable about my struggles as well as be authentic in my person so that others might get inspired to do the same.

There are so many stereotypes and judgment about people with disabilities that I am working hard to change that narrative that society so easily holds because it is familiar.

People living with disabilities have superpowers — you just don’t know it yet.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I feel for many of us, just starting out in business is much like learning to ride a bike. There is this confidence that comes from removing the training wheels and going at it on your own. People cheering you on, the cool breeze in your hair as the confidence mounts and you lift your hands up off the handlebars into the hair, and BAM! — the reality of hitting your first rock on the road.

As for what is funny, I feel a lot of it is in retrospect. Perhaps not a specific moment but when I think of how many times a project was not evaluated correctly in my early days, or not understanding my value or even the role I played with clients and colleagues — it can be painful but a bit of humor goes a long way.

For me, this is looking back at all those moments of novice errors and saying to myself how big and unexpected the world of entrepreneurship was and how many things I would do differently. Whatever this means to me or someone just starting out, I would say that there are going to be some embarrassing moments, but with those moments come valuable lessons. Just try to keep in mind that perseverance and a little humor will get you through and they may make for a funny story someday.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

As a person who has been quite isolated and just surviving over the last 20 years and only being able to thrive in the last couple years, my mentors have been the most unreachable people.

Meaning, I have not been able to participate in life the same way as others and have lived in lockdown decades before Covid so most of my mentors have been people I have looked to online such as Joe Dispenza, Simon Sinek and Evy Poumpouras.

Reading their books and watching their videos or interviews has been life-changing for me.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

Disruptive right now is a word that most people understand has a positive bent in industry, although in most instances in the past, it has had a negative connotation.

Negative disruption is when people look to shake up the masses and cause drama to get a point across that in the end is often missed. It is not done with care or tact. It is not serving the greater good of anyone and is not helping make the changes or impact desired.

Good disruption in an industry is done with the intent to improve or change something that is typical with positive but powerful actions that are not intentionally hurting people. These disruptions are done with respect, integrity but also with a little grit. It is similar to having hard conversations with a room of emotionally intelligent people.

Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

1. “It is a good idea not to take things personally because it can really wear on you.” It is hard as human beings not to take things personally, but the more we are able to let go of that and let go the happier we are.

2. “You can’t and won’t make everyone happy no matter how hard you try.” Listen, I have tried my very best to go against this advice at many turns and it always leads me back to the truth which is that you can’t make everyone happy. As human beings, if we try to transform all the time to try not to upset the apple cart it is not only exhausting it takes a toll on your health. You don’t like everyone, so why should everyone like you? It’s okay to not be liked, it is actually normal. Normalizing this helped me a ton.

3. “Don’t forget to breathe.” Sometimes we get so caught up in being busy that we don’t even take the time to breathe. Taking even 5 min a day to take some deep breaths can shift your mood and calm down your nervous system. This world is busy and chaotic at times, take a moment to find a little peace.

4. “Don’t speak when you are angry.” I am not typically hot headed, but I have no issues telling you how it is. Over the years, I have learned that in heated times the words that come out of my mouth are not well thought out and I wished I had said nothing until I cooled down. Taking the time to not rush in with words when I am angry has been helpful.

5. “Business is business.” This does not mean being heartless. Being someone who can easily lead with my heart it was important to learn to keep emotions out of business. I am lucky to be both logical and emotional so it was fairly easy for me to grasp this. At times emotions rise up, so it is common to have to check yourself when you start to get the “feel” and make sure that your heart will not lead you astray. Having a solid balance with care and logic will help you go a long way.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

My goal is to keep speaking out about disability visibility in entrepreneurship, business and marketing as well as DEI. I intend to keep a focus on women and girls as well as other marginalized groups in STEM.

Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?

One of the best books that had a huge impact on me was “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success”. This book can be applied to business, school, parenting and relationships. The wide application of this book makes it an extremely important resource for my life. I can’t tell you how many times I come back to it when I am in a challenging situation.

The book discusses how our skills, abilities and talents help us attain our goals, but one of the most important factors that supports those assets is our mindset. With my struggles with chronic illness my mindset has been key to getting up everyday and powering forward — even on the hardest days.

It also impacts me as an entrepreneur, because it helps me see my whole business from another perspective and what an impact mindset has on a businesses success.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Nana korobi, ya oki” is a very powerful Japanese Proverb that means fall down seven times, get up eight. Falling down is inevitable, but where we gain power is when we get back up.

I have fallen down so many times, this quote helps me get back up and keep moving. Life is filled with falls, it is about getting back up or resting for a bit and then getting back up.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Joe Dispenza is one of my all-time heroes. He went from a traumatic injury that could have cost him his life to helping himself heal and has helped others heal. In turn, changing the lives of many people.

With a better understanding of neuroscience and brain plasticity, we are learning that we can heal ourselves in ways we never knew we could — with scientific proof! As well as that we can make ourselves sick but we can change that too.

Just listening to him speak is an amazing experience. He is kind-hearted, smart as a whip, and revolutionary for his time. His book “Becoming Supernatural” is one of my favorite books. He’s remarkable and it would be a dream to spend real human time with him.

How can our readers follow you online?

Rise Visible: https://risevisible.com/

FB, IG & Twitter: @risevisible

Aunia Kahn: http://auniakahn.com/
FB, IG & Twitter: @auniakahn

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!