Move Over Kim Kardashian, It’s Time for the #ImpactInfluencer

An Empire with a vast following and great riches. A multi-year epic spanning many lands. A family saga filled with fighting and drama, but also with triumph and love.

The end of an era.

By that description you would think I am talking about the fall of the Roman empire, but of course I am instead describing the end of Keeping Up With The Kardashians- the 20 season reality TV show that ushered us into the era of “The Influencer”.

Influencers are now everywhere. They fill our social feeds with videos of a life well lived, whisper must-haves from podcast perches, peek out at us from products. A single Tweet can cause a stock out in mere minutes, a single Instagram post setting off a Tsunami of tourism to some little known destination.

And then came the pandemic… life changed, but the Influencers remain. We binge watch their shows, we scroll our social feeds for hours on end dreaming of shopping again, going to dinner at a restaurant with friends again, a trip to just about ANYWHERE! Sure we were mad when one of them rented a private island for a birthday bash defying the new Covid norms and spitting in the face of safety- but secretly we were mostly just jealous.

Another thing happened too: we realized that we didn’t need so much stuff. We settled into life, and work, and sadly even death with a pane of glass between us and all the rest. We nested in our homes finally forced to inventory and appreciate the things of greater importance we could no longer have: time with friends around a dinner table, our beautiful earth, a little league game, a gem of advice from a coworker over a coffee, a hug from a beloved family member.

In making that inventory of important things, something else loomed large: our HEALTH. Yes we bought up every Hydrow (my favorite!) and Mirror, and Peloton on the market, but we also did something else: we signed up by the thousand to participate in clinical trials for investigational treatments and vaccines. Our top Influencers? Our friends, our families, our communities.

In record time, effective vaccines have ignited the spark of hope that soon we might go back to something akin to “normal” and that success is a tribute to the scientists and the participants. Science is winning! I did this! YOU did this! We did this!

And now, YOU can be an Influencer too …and not the type that sells us clothing or makeup or vacations, the type that SAVES LIVES. Saving lives not enough for you? Consider this…

Once Kim Kardashian had amassed a following of millions she leveled up her impact by using her platform for important causes like prison reform.

…what if you could also level up your impact?

• What if you knew that your influence could stop someone’s child from sudden death in the middle of a basketball game?
• What if you knew that your influence could reduce suicide rates and homelessness?
• What if you knew that your influence could contribute to improving racial equality?
• What if you knew you could give even one mom or dad with cancer another 10 years with their children?

How would you use your influence then?

I have participated in 5 clinical trials, three currently. Two of them don’t even require me to leave my home (more the the movement toward decentralized trials here).

• One of them helped add to the body of knowledge on a cardiovascular condition that caused sudden death for my younger brother.
• One of them helped doctors learn more about how to treat bi-polar disorder, a condition that contributes to both suicide and homelessness.
• One of them will help change the way we create medicines for people of all races and improve health equity. (the All of Us Study)
• One of them will help us understand more about how to prevent and treat breast cancer (the Wisdom Study)

and…

One of them helped to create a vaccine for this awful pandemic (Thank You Pfizer!)

It may be the end of an era for the Kardashians- but the era of the #ImpactInfluencer is just beginning.