June 7, 2022 - In October of 1996, Kaylah was born at the University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis. At about six months old, she was discovered to be profoundly deaf. Later, through family ancestry DNA testing, Kaylah learned her deafness was caused by Connexion 26. Both of her parents are descendants of the Sámi indigenous group in Scandinavia. Her family also came from Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. Kaylah’s parents later divorced when she was less than a year old. Her biological father was out of the picture, and she was raised by a single mother. Her mother later remarried when she was nine years old. She has a half-sibling who is eight years younger than her. Kaylah’s family circle has been her immediate family, aunt, uncle, and cousin from her mom’s side. She is the only Deaf person in her entire family. Throughout her life, Kaylah had a double life, living in the countryside while attending Metro Deaf School (MDS) in Saint Paul.
Kaylah lived an hour away from MDS and could not participate in every after-school activity. Though, when she was in first grade, she participated in the De’VIA Art competition and won. She met MN Governor Tim Pawlenty and his wife. Later in fourth grade, Kaylah played volleyball. To meet her social needs, she grew interested in the internet and technology. As a Deaf person, it has been difficult for her to be seen. She expanded her digital landscape as technology advanced. During Kaylah’s sophomore year of high school, she competed in the Academic Bowl, and her team beat Indiana School for the Deaf. Her team then competed in the National Academic Bowl at Gallaudet University.
She attended mainstream school during her junior and senior years of high school. Upon graduating, Kaylah attended the University of Minnesota Twin Cities with a career interest in becoming an art/creative director. During her junior year of college, the global pandemic hit. She could not attend in-person networking events, and remote networking hosts would not provide ASL interpreters.
Kaylah had a plan B to attend graduate school for mental health counseling. Shortly after the pandemic hit, she applied for an entry-level job at a hospital. She was offered the job, which was revoked when she self-identified as an individual with deafness. Two years later, the staffing agency settled with her. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a federal lawsuit on her behalf against the hospital.
Kaylah was fed up with living a stolen life due to the pandemic. During the pandemic, she worked around the clock to increase visibility for Deaf and Hard of Hearing and people with disabilities. A family ancestry DNA testing company contacted Kaylah to feature her story about genetic deafness. Kaylah agreed on one condition: have her story told in ASL. The company did not agree to do that, and Kaylah stood her ground. The story was not featured for Deaf Awareness Month in September 2021. Kaylah refused to settle for less.
She investigated a local advertising agency’s mural showing the ASL sign for ‘I really love you’ on their building. Their building is located right across from the US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The Blue and Green Light Rails pass by the building on their routes. Kaylah would ride by and see the mural nearly every day while attending U of MN for art school. Knowing the Deaf community is a close-knit community, she instinctively knew the designer of that mural was not Deaf. Kaylah spearheaded the advertising company with a project to take down the mural and make reparations to the Deaf community by hiring a Deaf artist for their new mural. The process took eight months. She watched them closely and redirected them when they were losing their focus. The mural was installed in October 2021. Kaylah accomplished it all behind her computer screen. She has never met any of the company’s employees working on the project. Kaylah says, “it proves a point that Deaf/HH people are capable of doing corporate work and directing a big project. During a global pandemic, to boot.” Kaylah accomplished her goal of adding real value to their mural.
During Summer 2021, Kaylah could not walk to get her Bachelor’s degree due to the pandemic. She was very heartbroken because it had been her dream to walk as a first-generation, Deaf woman. She has sacrificed a lot for her college degree. The University of Minnesota only allowed the School of Business to walk. Kaylah decided that “no one, not even a global pandemic, was going to dictate her life.” She and her partner Ryan booked plane tickets to New York City on the weekend of her graduation commencement. Instead of staying home, she flew around Manhattan in a helicopter for the first time. She decided to fly to NYC to remind herself that a bigger city existed to sustain a passionate person like her.
While Kaylah was completing her senior year of college, she applied to First Aid Beauty’s One Million Dollars contest to pay off student loans. Kaylah had nearly $50,000 in student loans she accumulated to pay for her living expenses when she could not find a job or get promoted due to disability discrimination. Kaylah says that her tuition and textbook expenses were fully funded. Disability discrimination cost Kaylah her life and financial circumstances. Winning the contest “has been a life-changer.”
Kaylah is currently completing a double master's program at the University of Minnesota. The program is called Integrated Behavioral Health (IBH), and it is the first in the nation to offer dual master's programs. Previously, programs in the US provided separate masters in addiction counseling and mental health counseling. The IBH program intertwined both. She is halfway through the programs and expects to graduate in Fall 2023. She has a GPA of 3.9. “I will be the first Deaf woman to graduate from the IBH program in the history of the University of Minnesota as well as the United States of America.”
Kaylah has plans with her partner to move to Austin, Texas, then perhaps eventually to New York City. She is working with Nagish as an app tester, and they are sponsoring her to present about mental health at Deaf Nation International Expo in Las Vegas. She wants to get involved with accelerating technology such as voice-to-text and live captioning. Kaylah and her partner have plans to start a tech company that has a similar concept to Lyft, DoorDash, and other service-based apps. Kaylah knows the app they’re building “will combat the workplace disability discrimination and leave companies no other choices but to start tapping into the disabled talent, in order to remain relevant. The tables will turn.”
Kaylah is driven by her spiritual principles of fearlessness and amplifying voices. In her free time, she enjoys traveling and meeting new people. Discussions about philosophy, religion, technological revolution, and universal human experiences, such as desires for connection and the inevitability of death, enlighten her. She has been to Germany, France, Switzerland, and most states in the US. She still wants to explore the big world and continue to recognize that genuine people exist. She also likes to spend time with her family. She is an artist who is constantly looking to improve her skills and explore aesthetics. Lastly, she has a cat named Nemo, who she loves dearly.”
The #CanDoAnything campaign showcases people who are deaf, deafblind, or hard of hearing at work, giving them an opportunity to share what they do at their jobs and explain how communication access works for them. This campaign shows what our community can do, which is anything!
