KATE ELIZABETH HALLAM is a British model, actress, and musician, who has been Miss Great Britain Photogenic, Miss England Intercontinental, and the Face of Aintree 2004. Kate is also a humanitarian and works for various charity projects. Her TEDx talk about her life journey has turned into a viral Internet sensation. HereKate shares with us what inspires her passion to help people.
I was born and raised in a beautiful town called Buxton, Derbyshire, with farmland and beautiful green fields. My brothers and I had a very humble upbringing, and our childhood was fun. We would create our own magic, make tree dens, and run through the fields. When I was 14, my brother Chris was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia. He needed a bone marrow transplant, and I was a match for him. So we underwent the transplant, and Professor Huen helped us through the process. He is an amazing man who helped cure Chris of cancer.
It was a crazy time, because I was only 14 and scared for my brother, who was 27. But with things like that, especially with your loved ones, you just get on with it and do what you can. Luckily, he was cured. Since then, he’s gone on to have a happy family life and a beautiful daughter.
My brother’s recovery inspired me to raise money for cancer charities, and I became an ambassador for the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust. We raise awareness for Leukemia sufferers who needed donors. At the time when I donated, a bone marrow transplant was a complicated operation. They had to drill into the sternum and hips to take the bone marrow. Nowadays, donating good bone marrow is just a blood test away. I get people to join the bone marrow donor registries to give Leukemia sufferers a better chance of survival. That work gives me a lot of joy because it is a personal subject.
Travel to India
I have always been a traveler and love exploring new places. I was in Dubai when I was asked to shoot a Kannada movie in Bangalore, and jumped at the chance because I had never been to India, and I had heard beautiful things. I instantly fell in love with India and it carries a very big space in my heart to this day. I met my husband there – a lot of you will know him, Lucky Ali. I had the most wonderful experiences traveling in India and I can’t wait to go back.
Dealing with Stress
While pursuing our dreams, we all have days where we feel too stressed or overstimulated by external things and situations. Eventually, we realize we’re wanting to rush to get to that point of happiness and success, so we try to do everything. By the end of the day, we’re puzzled and tired. The key is to learn to slow down, and that comes with age.
We can still achieve while going at a slower pace, realizing the blessings of each day: taking moments to breathe; remembering to be present in each moment. I have been focusing on that for the last five to six years and it works wonderfully. There are still stressful days, we all have them, but we learn to manage those days and not be reactive. If something’s meant for you, you are going to get there anyway.
Success and Joy
Success is an interesting journey. A lot of things in life can make us feel less, e.g. getting turned down for a job, and we take them to heart, but the key to success is to keep going. There’s a famous saying that “Sometimes you give up when you are just about to break through,” throwing away whatever you have been working on, however long it’s taken you. It’s good to keep going, to keep positive, to be joyful, to breathe, and not always be stressed by getting overstimulated.
People tend to look at other people’s lives and think, “Oh my God! It’s not fair. Why isn’t my life like that?” Instead, just enjoy your life. It is magnificent, and it’s you who is going to make it better.
It’s important for me to know that I am giving back to people. It could be raising awareness for Leukemia sufferers, or simply putting a smile on someone’s face. You never know what other people are going through, and a simple smile can give so much to somebody. I try to work everyday in a state of giving rather than taking. It’s much better to give, and to give joy and happiness to other people.
I think fitness is the key to joy. Your body is your temple. Take a little time out each day for your body – whether you are meditating or going to the gym. It’s that workout that brings you joy and good vibes. My three boys keep me very busy, but I still go to the gym.
Your body is your temple.
Take a little time out
each day for your
body – whether you are meditating
or going to the gym. It’s that
workout that brings you
joy and good vibes.
I take time out and there is no excuse for not doing that. Everybody’s got time to do something for themselves: whether it’s mental meditation or physical exercise. Exercising can help release endorphins, which keep us positive and lets us strive for success.
Managing Relationships
I have been married twice and my second marriage is to David. He is a well-known music producer, we have 2 boys together, and I have Dani from my ex-husband Lucky Ali. Life is good. Everybody is happy. Everybody is peaceful and we all get on well.
I think that is the key – when you have children, it’s important to make relationships work. After what I went through with my brother, when you overcome adversity at a young age, you realize that life is short and transient. It puts things into perspective. I realized that you have to treasure everything.
Not everything is going to work out for you in life, but it doesn’t mean you have to destroy it, or argue about it. You can walk away from things that are not meant for you, or that may have run their course. You can end a relationship and continue with a friendship. That’s what I have with Lucky, and it’s been especially important for Dani, our 10-year-oldson. If you work on the relationship, in the long run it works better for everybody.
Just keep things positive and breathe. Take a breath before you react to things. I hope everybody out there manages that.
Managing Kids, Hobbies, and Personal Care
I get up early – that is the key. It is challenging with three boys. I love getting into nature and I take time to go into the woods. Trees calm me down from the energy of the day. Taking little hikes helps me survive the day, and the busy-ness with the boys, as I don’t have any help. We make it work as a family, we are a team, and it’s good to remember that. I take time out for my boys, and for my hobbies, while I nurture my career.
I also take time out for myself. Meditating and going to the gym set me up for the whole day: fitness and a positive mind. When it gets tough, just remember that our parents did it for us, and we are doing it for our children; it’s the way it happens. Look at the joy we get from our children. We do a lot of running around for them, but they are going to grow up into love itself.
Kate Elizabeth Hallam
