One Step at a Time
Kaleb Stoppel
Author of One Step at a Time, Speaker, and Mental Health Advocate
One Step at a Time: Surviving a School Shooting, Rebuilding My Life, and Rediscovering What Matters Most is a memoir about healing, resilience, and finding peace after surviving a school shooting and rebuilding life after trauma.
Stay Informed About the Release
Life can change in an instant, and sometimes the hardest part is figuring out how to move forward. One Step at a Time is an honest reflection on that journey.
Hi, I’m Kaleb.
I am a school shooting survivor, former teacher and school administrator, husband, dad, and mental health advocate. In March 2022, my life changed in an instant. What has followed is a long and imperfect journey of physical recovery, emotional healing, and learning how to live again in a world that no longer feels the same.
I wrote One Step at a Time to help others feel less alone in their own moments of loss, transition, and fear. This story is not about tragedy. It is about hope, healing, and rediscovering the life that still waits for us after everything changes.
Today, I share this message through writing, speaking, and community work. My goal is simple. To help people feel seen, understood, and more willing to take their next step forward.
Speaking and Impact
At the heart of everything I share is one simple thing. My story.
I walk into rooms carrying lived experience, not polished answers. I talk honestly about trauma, healing, identity, leadership, faith, and the slow work of putting life back together after everything changes. Not as an expert who has it all figured out, but as someone still walking the road.
My greatest hope is that by sharing my journey, others feel less alone in theirs. That something in my story stirs recognition, offers permission to breathe, and provides encouragement in seasons that can feel overwhelming, lonely, or uncertain.
These conversations are not about quick breakthroughs or motivational soundbites. They are about healing in real time. About naming what hurts and discovering that forward often comes quietly, one small step at a time.
I speak in schools, churches, organizations, conferences, and communities of all kinds. Every room is different, but the heartbeat is always the same. To create space for honesty, for hope, and for the kind of healing that never rushes, but endures.