Emilie Kiser EXCLUSIVE: The Loss That Changed Her Forever

**Emilie Kiser** (0:03)
I got a phone call from my husband that our son, Trigg, had fallen in the pool and that he wasn't breathing. Our whole world fell apart.
There is no way to describe to someone what it's like losing a child. We did not think we would make it through that.

**Jay Shetty** (0:27)
Hey, everyone, welcome back to On Purpose, the place you come to become happier, healthier, and more healed. You know, the thing that's most important to me is sharing real stories that allow individuals to express their journeys, express their challenges, express the lives that they've lived in a way that uplifts, inspires, and most importantly, heals all of us. Today, I get to sit down with Emilie Kiser.
Emilie has invited so many people into her life with honesty, warmth, and openness. And over the past year, she's walked through a life-altering experience, one that reshaped her world in ways no one is ever prepared for. Please welcome to On Purpose, Emilie Kiser. Emilie, so wonderful to meet you.

**Emilie Kiser** (1:11)
You too. I'm really grateful to be here.

**Jay Shetty** (1:13)
Your energy since you walked in this morning is so warm and cozy and comforting, and I felt like I'd known you forever.

**Emilie Kiser** (1:21)
I appreciate that.

**Jay Shetty** (1:22)
It was just so sweet, but I wanted to start off by just asking you, how are you today?

**Emilie Kiser** (1:26)
I'm nervous. I'm honored to be here.
Yeah, I feel okay.

**Jay Shetty** (1:32)
What is your normal day to day look like right now?

**Emilie Kiser** (1:35)
I'm a mom, so my priority day to day is taking care of my younger son, Teddy. So my day to day is pretty normal. I wake up, I work out, I try to work out every day, just because I know those good endorphins will help me mentally throughout the day, and I notice a really big difference if I don't do that.
And then I kind of just spend the rest of my day with my son and just wherever it leads me. I've learned throughout a lot of my group journey that I just can't have too many expectations for myself, so I just have to set small intentions and go where the day leads me.

**Jay Shetty** (2:08)
And what was your intention for coming here today? What was going through your mind to want to come and share now and today?

**Emilie Kiser** (2:15)
I have a large platform and going through what we've been through this past year, just honestly nothing has felt like an appropriate place to talk about fully in-depth what happened, what our family's been through, just how much we miss Trigg, how much we love him. It just honestly hasn't felt right. And I feel like when you asked me to come, I really felt like, okay, yeah, this is like a person that I can sit down with and have a really in-depth, meaningful conversation that will hopefully help people spread awareness, help me to maybe heal in a way.

**Jay Shetty** (2:57)
Yeah, I really hope that this conversation is healing for all of us and kind and healing for you as well. We'll talk about the loss in a moment, but talk to me about what life was like before the loss. Talk to me about creating or sharing your life online in 2021
What did it look like? What was the motivation behind that? What was the inspiration behind all of that?

**Emilie Kiser** (3:18)
The whole motivation always behind starting social media was honestly that I just needed an outlet. I think that's why a lot of people start. I think that we crave human interaction, human connection. And I had lived in Utah at the time for already about, I think, maybe three or four years. But when you become a mom, your whole world shifts, your life changes. Nothing can even prepare you for that journey. And I was just really deeply craving something to fulfill me in a deeper way.
Obviously, motherhood fulfills me so much, but I felt like I needed my own thing. And I think that's so healthy and important. And I was like, I think I should just start sharing my day to day. Like maybe people will relate to that. So I was sharing morning vlogs, day in the life vlogs, cleaning vlogs, and honestly, it deeply motivated me. I was home alone most days with Trigg. And so it really just helped me to like get out of the house, get stuff done. Like that was my motivation was just connecting with other moms and people.

**Jay Shetty** (4:18)
Yeah. And I know our team here are huge fans of yours.