Impact Story: Kendra L. d’Eon
KLD Law
Winnipeg, MB
Small Business Lending Program
Image
Only three months after landing her dream job as in-house counsel at a large insurance company, Kendra L. d’Eon’s life was irrevocably changed in an instant.
“I was rear-ended on my motorcycle by someone playing on their phone,” she says. “Overnight, I went from a confident litigator to someone who struggles daily with [post-concussion symptoms] and chronic pain.”
Kendra’s injuries made a traditional lawyer’s schedule all but impossible. As an example, she says, “I spent years trying to rehabilitate so that I could read and use computer screens enough to even consider returning to work.”
She did try to go back, eventually. Twice. But both times, she was incredibly frustrated and hindered by the lack of accommodations her company offered.
“I began to give up hope,” she says. “During that period when I couldn’t function, I started to say I was a lawyer.” Past tense.
Realizing the pace of litigation was unsustainable, Kendra decided to chart a new path for herself. She began writing a business plan to start her own firm.
Five years after her life-altering collision, she launched KLD Law, where she focuses on Indigenous Law and estate planning.
But going it alone is no small feat—especially running a new law firm while facing symptoms that vary daily. To help her manage, Kendra applied to the Small Business Lending Program.
“The loan I received through Rise … released some of that pressure and stress so I could focus on actually practising law,” she says. Which is something that looks very different for her now.
“Some weeks, I can work five to 20 hours, other weeks I can’t work at all … [But] I love that I can challenge myself when I need to, and I can stop when I need a break.
“Nobody decides my fate but me now … I’m not willing to let someone else have control over my disability [again].”
That resolve is the product of Kendra’s resilience—something she’s both proud of and, at times, exhausted by.
“Often on this journey, I’ve said, ‘I’m tired of being resilient,’ but without my resilience, I wouldn’t be here now.”
She says there are moments when entrepreneurship “is absolutely terrifying,” but that it has also bolstered her self-confidence.
“It’s been so difficult starting this business in a profession of highly intelligent, capable people; skills I felt I lost as part of my injuries … [But] I feel like I’m a lawyer again—not that I used to be, or that I’m a broken one. I have the skills and the brain to do this; I just needed the right tools and support.”
It’s a lesson she wants to bring to the broader law community, where she’s met students already terrified at the prospect of joining a big firm and the potential impact on their mental health.
“I want to share my story to show that you can do it a different way,” she says.
A more mindful way.
That’s also the ethos at the heart of KLD Law. Kendra is focused on providing tailored legal services, mindful of the unique challenges her diverse clients face. As an Acadian Metis person, she says it’s an honour to work with Indigenous communities and provide highly personal, compassionate support to help them access the justice system. She brings equal commitment, care and curiosity to estate planning. After all, she’s had to think about life’s “what ifs” quite a bit for herself.
“Mindfulness is built into my business’s mission statement because it has driven me throughout this entire process. You have to be mindful of everything you do, but also be mindful of yourself. So, it all kind of fits together, and I love it.”
Kendra L. d’Eon was our 2023 Dr. Paul Garfinkel Resilience Award recipient.
