When You Fall Back But Still See Up, What Hoda Kotb & Spencer West Taught Me Today 

This week, I had the honor of speaking to ALG Vacations' top producing Travel Advisers at their KINDNESS CONFERENCE. 

The premise of this atypical yet very powerful conference is to promote kindness. This event was designed to inspire a prestigious group of top Travel Advisors that were nominated & selected to attend this event.

In addition to myself, all of the speakers truly live & inspire KINDNESS. 

They all encourage empathy, optimism, and overdelivering for others, because it is not only the right thing to do, it is proven to help make people more successful. 

Most top Travel Advisors proudly claim that their business grows organically by word-of-mouth. 

This happens because they make their clients FEEL a certain way.

How they make their client's feel is very important in addition to the Advisor's exemplary attention to details skills, required to plan their client's Weddings, Multi-Generational Trips, Honeymoons, and World Tours well.

During my keynote presentation, I provided the attendees with a KINDNESS checklist.

Acronyms are easy to remember because they transform complex or lengthy information into compact, pattern-based cues. Our brains are wired to recognize patterns and simplify data, so acronyms act like mental shortcuts that trigger recall of larger concepts.

According to studygs.net, acronyms help memory because they create recognizable patterns that the brain can latch onto. 

For this conference, I used the word KIND as an acronym. 

It's a simple word, that will help the attendees remember what I am teaching them. 

Below are the first two letters only:

 K - Kind over Right

 I  - Include Others.

These letters have been selected to remind you to make these daily choices. 

Let me give you an example, I was sitting in the audience, waiting for the celebrity Keynote Speaker, Hoda Kotb, to take the stage, I noticed someone sitting alone at one of the front tables.

It was Spencer West,  a fellow presenter, who I had the pleasure of getting to know earlier during the conference, he is also this week's Podcast Guest.

Spencer is a motivator. 

He is authentically inspirational.

If you ever have a chance to meet him, you will likely notice his self-confidence and ability to think and take action to do whatever he decides he wants to do, despite the fact that he does not have legs.

I noticed Spencer sitting alone at a table, I joined him. 

I - Include Others. 

We connected.

We talked.

We laughed.

Moments later more people joined the table, and this organic connection expanded as each additional person joined us.  We became a new bonded group of people.  

There were no assigned seats.

Despite Spencer having 4.2 million followers on TikTok, it was obvious that he and others at this table were not posturing by title or celebrity status.

It was pure presence. 

Spencer is the kind of person who turns adversity into action. He was born with a rare condition that caused him to require amputation of both legs at a young age.

He describes "not realizing he was different", thanks to great parenting and great friends who see him for who he is, not what he is physically missing.

In addition climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro on his hands to inspire the disabled community to do what may seem impossible, he continues to elevate others with his authenticity, humor, and heart.

Kindness can be as simple as noticing that someone is sitting alone, and joining them. 

Kindness can be a simple gesture, it doesn't have to be a gift, an upgrade, or a reward.

Hoda Kotb was perfectly selected for this conference.  Wow. 

She lit up the room. 

She connected with the audience.

Hoda Kotb’s Joy 101, launched in January 2025, is a transformative wellness brand and app offering retreats, expert-led courses, and soul-nourishing content designed to help people reconnect with joy and purpose. Her upcoming book, Jump and Find Joy—releasing September 23—deepens this mission, blending personal stories and insights from change makers to celebrate the power of embracing life’s transitions with courage and heart

She took The Kindness Conference Keynote Speaker assignment to heart and understood what stories from her past would strongly resonate with this particular group to inspire them.

I can’t stop thinking about, two particular stories that she shared.  

The first was about falling back. 

She explained how sometimes in life things don’t go as planned, it’s not a failure. It’s the universe’s way of catching us. 

If you fall, she explained, it's important to remember to fall on your back, so you will still be looking up. Then there is still an opportunity for hope and inspiration, rather than an excuse to give up.

“Don’t fall down,” she said.

This is important.

“Make sure you fall back". 

This way you are still looking "Up" and can try again.

She knows from experience and believes that her ability to persevere, despite being knocked down over and over, is what helped her get her dream job.

The second story was about mindset shift. 

Two simple words that can change everything. 

“Why not?”

Why not pursue the dream?

Why not take the chance?

Why not be kind without expecting anything in return? 

Those two stories hit me like a wave.

Both apply to the purpose of this conference too. It helped the attendees understand the value of kindness.

We often hold back, thinking, “Someone else will sit with them,” or “It’s not the right time to reach out,” or “Will this even matter?”

But what if we flipped the script?

What if you "do" choose to act and lead with Kindness?” 

Why Not - Include someone who might feel invisible. 

Why Not - Say something encouraging, even if it feels awkward.

Why Not -  Lead with empathy, even in a world that doesn’t always reward it.

Why Not - Ask for what you want? Even if they say no, you don't have it now anyway.

It's powerful. 

As Ray Snisky, the Group President of ALG Vacations said, "The Best Leader Is The KINDEST Person in the room."

 Most people don’t.

Do you? 

For More Inspiration

Listen to this week’s podcast episode #193: "Redefining Possible: Spencer West on Kindness, Courage, and Walking Mt. Kilimanjaro",

Spencer is a Content Creator, Motivational Speaker, & Author. ⁠

TikTok - ⁠@spencer2thewest⁠⁠

Website - ⁠Spencer2thewest.com

Every week, I have conversations with leaders who share powerful insights to help you Be Better, Feel Better, Do Better, and Live with Greater Impact.

🔹 Find all my podcasts on Apple, Spotify at mostpeopledont.com.

Don't miss out on the chance to be inspired and empowered!

It's another great one! 🎧