Risa Simon is a fierce advocate who is elevating kidney transplant opportunities at every turn. As a preemptive (live-donor) transplant recipient, Risa understands the importance of proactive patient engagement and self-advocacy.
Repurposing her own health journey to find her best-life’s work, she’s revolutionizing patient education with “tell-it-like-it-is” motivational programs to highlight proactive patient engagement—and inspire a “best-life” mindset.
You can find Risa’s creative thumbprint on innovative brands of champion patient programs and “self-help” books—and her advocacy efforts can be seen behind ground-breaking state proclamations and Senate Bills. Risa’s mission is fairly simple: to empower kidney patients to seek a better and longer life—the life she, and many of her followers now live.
Whether Risa is speaking, coaching, mentoring—or paying-it-forward as an advocate or peer mentor for the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP), or the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation (PKD)—she’s touching the hearts and minds of both patient and professional audiences alike.
A Passion Driven Purpose
Risa thought the success of her 30-year dental practice management and speaking career was set for life until a force bolder than her master plan came into play. The shift occurred when the same genetic kidney disease that took her father’s life in his early 40’s—Polycystic Kidney Disease—started to creep into her world, despite her optimistic vision and passion for wellness.
While exploring this new territory, she uncovered critical “blind spots” and provider reluctance to encourage proactive opportunities that could help patients avoid dialysis. These insights compelled Risa to morph her talents from the dental industry into the renal (transplant) community to create a more powerful engagement platform that promised better outcomes for her fellow kidney patients.
Today, you can find Risa paying it forward with her heart strapped to her sleeves. As the founder and CEO of the TransplantFirst Academy, and Simon Says Seminars, inc.—she’s leading the way to better outcomes by redefining true patient empowerment. Her motivational programs and books The Donor Seeker’s Story Planner & Search Guide for Finding Kidney Donors, Sydney’s Kidney Adventure: Her Big Wish for Mom Comes True, Thriving Post Kidney Transplant, In Pursuit of a Better Life and Shift Your Fate continue to inspire fellow kidney patients relentlessly fight for their best life possible.
What Industry Partners & Consulting Clients are Saying:
“Risa continues to be a valuable partner for us as she is continuously developing innovative ways to engage with patients, and she helps us evaluate our activities from a patient’s perspective and recommends improvements.”
“Thank you for participating in today’s session. It was well-received and extremely valuable. We had additional workshops later in the day and the team continuously referred back to what they learned from the morning. You were engaging, insightful and I loved the passion. We appreciate the partnership!”
“Everybody found your observations invaluable, and your ideas stimulated a great deal of discussion in our later session. I know I can speak for the rest of the team in saying that we would welcome, and be grateful for, the opportunity to ask more questions and gain more insight.”
“I have to say that I really liked the video production. It was clearly directed at patients. The language was clear and each point was succinctly made, and I believe it could really get people thinking about this as an option.”
“Your work is like a ripple in the pond gaining so much momentum. It’s like a tsunami of good things!”
Today you’ll find Risa full-steam-ahead, as the founder and CEO of Simon Says Seminars, inc., and TransplantFirst Academy. Her core purpose is to improve patient engagement and resulting outcomes by empowering kidney patients to fight for their best life possible – the life Risa and her book fans and mentees now live.
This is what she wants for you.
You can contact Risa directly by emailing: risa@risasimon.com
Meet Risa on a Zoom Recording
