Bold Blind Beauty On A.I.R.

Connected & Curious with Andy featuring Anne Mok

• Bold Blind Beauty • Season 5 • Episode 9

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Episode title and number: Anne Mok on Resilience, Blindness, and Building Community 5-#9

Summary of the show:
In this Connected & Curious with Andy podcast episode, Anne Mok—a mom, author, and accidental influencer—discusses her vision loss, motherhood, and finding purpose amid challenges. She highlights everyday joys, her book Resilience and Purpose, and myths about blindness, while emphasizing community support, inclusive design, and authentic representation. Her narrative shows resilience emerging from life's difficulties through empathy and connection.

Bullet points of key topics & timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction 
04:31 – Diagnosis and Living With Cone Rod Dystrophy
09:52 – Misconceptions About Blindness and Representation
15:18 – Becoming the Accidental Influencer and Building Community
19:48 – From Speaking Contest to TEDx Stage
23:26 – Motherhood, Compassion, and Raising Kind Kids
26:03 – Writing the Book: Grief, Trauma, and Reframing the Past
27:38 – Everyday Frustrations in an Inaccessible World
30:13 – Safety, Identity, and Moving Through the World With a Cane
34:02 – How to Support the Blind and Low Vision Community​

Supporting Our Advocacy Work:
⦁ Be a part of the change! Support our advocacy efforts. 

Bio for Anne Mok:
Anne Mok is a blind storyteller, speaker, author, and advocate redefining what it means to lead a purposeful life. Named one of the Top 40 Blind Influencers in 2025, Anne’s influence extends far beyond her platform, engaging audiences and creating meaningful change in the blind and visually impaired community. 

Diagnosed with cone-rod dystrophy, Anne’s journey with sight loss led her to embrace advocacy as a way to educate, empower, and create change. Her work aligns with Bold Blind Beauty’s mission of promoting Access, Inclusion, and Representation (A.I.R.)™, ensuring that blind and visually impaired individuals thrive in their passions and claim equal representation in every aspect of life. 

Anne uses her platform to educate, advocate, and empower others. Through social media and public speaking, she raises awareness about accessibility and inclusivity, sharing heartfelt stories and practical tools that inspire others to turn adversity into purpose.  

Connecting with Anne:

● Instagram: @purposeinview
● Website: www.purposeinview.com
● LinkedIn: @annemokpurposeinview
● TEDx Talk: Blind Sighted | Anne Mok | TEDx SFU
● Book: Resilience and Purpose: Discovering Strength and Connection in Life's Cracks

Connect with Bold Blind Beauty to learn more about our advocacy:

Music Credit: "Ambient Uplifting Harmonic Happy" By Panda-x-music https://audiojungle.net/item/ambient-uplifting-harmonic-happy/46309958

Thanks for listening!❤️

Andy: Let's talk a bit about you, because I want to hear about you. So you're a mom, an author, a speaker. So much is going on. What are the little joys in your everyday life that mean the most to you?​

Anne: My everyday joys, I think it's really just the smallest things. A good cup of coffee to start my day is the biggest joy to start. And just taking things in, whether it's my garden, watching the wind rustle through the blades of grass, or even my daughter's voice on a random text check‑in. Those are the things that I really appreciate. One of the things that I really love is capturing moments on my phone, actually.​

Andy: Oh, I love that. So when you talk about just experiencing the wind and the heart, I feel that on your Instagram.​

Anne: Yeah, yeah. And I hope so. I hope I can convey that it is those little moments that are so special, and just taking the time to stop and enjoy them.​

Andy: I love it so much. So what's something you love to do for fun that might surprise people?​

Anne: I think the thing that surprises people the most is that I do love photography. And it seems opposite when you're visually impaired, but I really love capturing photos and taking the time to stop and capture the moment. Maybe it’s the way the light filters through the trees, or little birds like a crow, and how they’re walking around, and just getting those feelings from my photography. I love architecture. I love looking at old buildings. I love looking at shapes. When I can capture those moments, whether through video or still photos, I can go back to them, zoom in, and take a closer look.​

Anne: Another thing that surprises people is how much I love interior design. I love watching Home & Garden TV. I actually renovated my home using universal design principles to make it more accessible. From the textures to the materials, I designed it all and made it so that we could age in place.​

Andy: Oh my gosh, that's so cool to me, Anne. And again, it just speaks volumes to your social media presence, too, the way you take those colors and you take those pictures. Anyway, let's move on. For anybody that doesn't know about you, can you share with us when you were first diagnosed, what that moment was like for you, and how it changed your life?​

Anne: So I was diagnosed with an inherited retinal condition called cone rod dystrophy, but it really didn't present itself until much later in life, when I was in my 30s and raising my kids. I've always struggled with my vision, and looking back, things make sense—why I was so klutzy, why I was terrible at sports, why I didn't do so well in school. It makes sense now. What I was experiencing was that I wasn't able to see the things that I knew I should be able to see.​

Anne: Cones and rods are the light‑sensitive cells in the retina that help us see. The cones are responsible for sharp central vision, color, seeing in bright light, and they help you read and recognize faces. Rods are the cells that help with peripheral vision and seeing in low light. That's where I have difficulty—navigating in a dim room or spotting something off to the side. With cone rod dystrophy, for me it's cone‑rod: my cones are dying first and then the rods. My central vision is very blurry and patchy, my peripheral vision is very narrow, and I can't see well in bright sunlight because of light sensitivity. I also have night blindness. So while it might look like I am seeing, there's actually a lot that I'm missing because my brain doesn't fill in the gaps. I have blind spots in my central vision, but I don’t see those blind spots; it’s not until I bump into something or trip that it presents itself.​

Andy: Oh my gosh. Okay, so you said you were diagnosed in your 30s. Were there any indications in your earlier years? Because I know you said you struggled with vision.​

Anne: Yeah, so I started wearing glasses when I was three years old. By the time I was about twelve, I was legally blind. My glasses were really thick, like Coke‑bottle lenses. And when you're a teenager, you struggle with how you look. I did get contact lenses. Soft contacts were not good for me because of the shape of my eye, so they recommended hard contact lenses, and that got me through.​

Anne: Our family came to Canada when I was very little. My parents were learning English and trying to fit in. Any struggles that I had, they didn’t question the doctors; they just assumed I needed glasses. The rest of my brothers and sisters had glasses as well, same with my parents, so it didn’t seem like anything was really different. Even though I struggled in school, the answer was just, “Put her closer to the front.” A lot of it was pretending—pretending I could see when I couldn’t see—and I didn’t know any better.​

Andy: Oh my gosh. That experience as a child, how it would shape your adult life.​

Anne: Yes, it definitely shapes you.​

Andy: So, can I ask you this? How did your family react to the news, and what role did they play in helping you adjust and find your strength? Because you know you’re wonderful.​

Anne: My family has been supportive in many ways, but obviously, it hasn't always been easy for them to fully understand what I'm going through. Even though they see me every day, inside the home, I manage really well because I know where everything is. Once I'm out in the world, navigating uneven sidewalks or trying to cross a busy street, it's a different story. That's when they really see the challenges, and that's hard for them to watch. They can be a little overprotective because it all comes from love, but it's hard for them to grasp what it's like to live in that in‑between, where I can see but I can't. I miss things all the time—the blind spots, the light sensitivity—things I don’t realize I’m missing until I bump into them.​

Andy: Oh, yeah. And it's a learning experience. Everybody has to navigate, right? Everyone is going through this and learning with you, figuring out how to help and where not to overstep. I'm sure it's challenging at times and definitely comes with rewards too.​

Anne: Yes.​

Andy: I have a question. What's one misconception that everybody thinks they know about blindness that really they don’t? Set the record straight, Anne.​

Anne: The biggest misconception is that blindness means living in complete darkness. It's really not an absence; it's just a different way of perceiving the world. I still dream in color. I still notice beauty—just differently now.​

Anne: There’s also the idea that blindness has a certain look—that all blind people use a white cane or a guide dog or that we must be totally blind to matter. The truth is that blindness exists on a spectrum. It doesn’t mean we’re incompetent, or that we don’t care about how we look or carry ourselves. I still love fashion and care about how I show up in the world. And honestly, I had these same misconceptions before my own vision loss journey. We get so much of what we think we know from TV and movies, and those portrayals are outdated and one‑dimensional stereotypes.​

Anne: That’s why it’s really important to keep showing up, to keep being myself. Living fully, creatively, openly—that’s how we’re going to change the narrative. It’s not overnight, but one story, one image, one conversation like this is how we change it.​

Andy: I love it, and that's why I'm so excited that I'm doing this. Anyway, I want to talk about your book. What inspired you to write “Resilience and Purpose: Discovering Strength and Connection in Life's Cracks”? What was that spark that pushed you to put pen to paper?​

Anne: I originally didn't set out to write a book. The spark has been, honestly, community reaching out to me and asking, “Can you put out a book?” I had a great opportunity to share my story, and once I started putting those words on the page, it became clear that this book is a love letter. It's a love letter to my husband and my kids.​

Anne: It wasn’t until after I published it that I realized it was also a hug that I needed. I had lost my mom suddenly before my vision loss diagnosis, and writing this book helped me move through all those chapters of my life that I hadn't fully grieved or processed. It was like her reaching back out to give me that hug and let me know her hand was holding mine through all of this. Reaching this other side helped me leave something for my kids as well—to give them that resilience and to help them know that life gets tough, but you can get through it, you will get through it, you’ll carve a new path, and I will always be there for them.​

Andy: Oh my gosh.​

Anne: I think it's important for anybody reading my story—or their own story—to know that there is light. It’s in those cracks of life that it shows up for you. It's not about getting to the other side or the end. It's the journey that makes you stronger and becomes the path that helps someone behind you know they can get through it.​

Andy: Oh, okay. Anne, I'm so sorry.​

Anne: You know what? I appreciate you holding space for me too. So many in this community have held space for me. Without community and the people I've met along the way, I don't know how I would have gotten through this or gotten to the other side to feel that light.​

Andy: Okay, everybody. My voice is a little bit congested now, but I'm gonna go on. All right. I want to go back to the book, but I just want to say this. Your social media presence is very calming, very eye‑opening, and very warm, all right? I know we've spoken about this before, but you became the accidental influencer. So how did that come about—the accidental influencer?​

Anne: When I started social media, it was for myself, to find someone like me—someone going through vision loss, someone going through chronic illness, and someone who also wanted to make a change. I wanted to challenge Instagram to see if I could make content as accessible as possible, and I wanted to support small businesses because we were in the pandemic at that time. It was slowly in showing up and being vulnerable that things grew.​

Anne: It’s the conversations in my DMs or in comments, people wanting to know more about me. I've always been one, in my communications, to support others. I feel like I'm a cheerleader for others because I want to uplift people. I think it's important that everybody feels seen and heard. It just slowly came about, more people started to notice, and I realized I could make a difference in people's lives in how I show up. In sharing my everyday life or the things that I love, it had this snowball effect.​

Anne: I'm so proud of the platform I'm on and what I've created—the community. I have the nicest people. I’ve honestly never gotten much trolling; I had one and shut that down quickly, and after that, I haven’t. I've been very fortunate. I also feel it's important how I communicate and how I show up, because that makes a big difference as well. Every opportunity has been another slight curve in the path, or a door or a window that opened. Saying yes to possibilities and opportunities has been huge, because I’ve been at the bottom—very depressed, bedridden, losing my job. I felt like there was nothing more to lose. Just go for it, right? What does it hurt? That’s my attitude now.​

Anne: When I go out with my white cane and I'm dressed nice, my attitude is, “People are going to look at me; I’m going to give them something good to look at,” right?​

Andy: One hundred percent. I love it.​

Anne: That's how I move about my day. It's been so interesting how I've connected with brands—not just to make an income, but to really change their perspective. They’re asking me, “How can I make my social media more accessible? How can I make my packaging more accessible?” I’ve connected with travel groups asking, “How can we make travel more accessible?” I’ve been on stage, and they’re asking, “How can we make the room more accessible?” Opening up those conversations has been the best part, because I don't have to say everything. I just have to show up, and the curiosity leads to change.​

Anne: I started acting classes, and the same thing happened. I started voice acting, and they’re wondering, “How can we make our programs more accessible? Because we want you in that space, and that’s the representation that we need.” That is the accidental influencer, and I’m glad for it.​

Andy: I know, it’s wonderful. Because even when you were talking about being on that platform, you're a TEDx speaker. You're a TEDx speaker, mate. How did that come about?​

Anne: Oh my goodness. So I had won a contest. First, I did Speak With Confidence with Nasreen, who's part of Bold Blind Beauty. Then I won a speaking contest with Jillian Harris. I was able to have a one‑on‑one with her, got some funds toward my business, and we talked about speaking because I wanted to use my voice to make change. I landed my first speaking gig, and that went really well, and I was on this high. Then there was an application for a TEDx speaker at my local university, and on a whim, I thought I'd apply. I had no expectation that I would get it because I had just started speaking, and I just wanted to know what the process was like.​

Anne: I got through the written part, then the first interview, where I had to pitch myself in one minute, and I got through that. I went through a second interview where I pitched for three minutes, and I got through that. All of a sudden, they were like, “Yes, we'd like to have you as a speaker.” Then I thought, “Oh my goodness, now I have to write a speech.”​

Anne: What I really loved about it was that they provide speaking coaches for you. That was big for me, so I kept working at it. There was a point where I had a mind block and couldn’t get past a certain part in my TEDx talk, and they were starting to sell tickets, and I was thinking, “I don’t have a speech.” I knew it would come to me, but it wasn’t coming fast enough, and I was getting worried. When it did, it finally clicked. I felt like I wasn’t enough to be on that stage because the other speakers were like, “What do you do?” and I didn't have a job; I just said, “I'm a mom.” But I kept working at it because I wanted to do it and prove myself.​

Anne: It was interesting because the others relied on their credentials, so there wasn't a lot of practice going on. Even the day before, there were quite a few who weren’t quite ready. By continuing to show up and keep working on it, I ended up getting the coveted spot of closing the TEDx event with my speech. It was a huge honor, and it showed me that it doesn’t matter if you have all those credentials. It matters that you keep working at it and keep showing up. That is what gets you further, and that was my biggest lesson from it.​

Andy: Thank you for sharing that. That is beautiful. As a mom—and I’m going back and forth—but as a mom, how has being a mom influenced the way you approach your work and your writing and how you send a message to the world?​

Anne: For me, it's about leaving a legacy. It's always coming from an emotional and compassionate point of view. What am I teaching my kids? Am I leading by example? What’s important for them to see? I know I’m not always going to be around, but every foundation that I can leave for them is important. I want them to have compassion for the people around them. I want them to listen and see people as they are.​

Anne: They've had to learn that in hard ways, with their dad having a stroke when they were young. They've had to learn to communicate better, and with my vision loss, they've had to learn resilience. I really see that when we're out in the world, and they're leading with kindness, because that’s something I always want them to do. When my daughter got married, so many of her friends and her new in‑laws said how kind, compassionate, and intuitive she was, and how she was thinking of others and putting them first, thinking of their needs. That was a huge moment where I realized, “Okay, I'm doing the right thing,” because sometimes you don’t know if you’re sending good people out into the world.​

Andy: I love that. You know that means the world. Having kids, you hope that you place that in their hearts. So the book was healing for you, but what was the most eye‑opening part of the process?​

Anne: I think it was mostly healing, and it was powerful to give myself permission to be honest and to revisit those hard seasons, especially grief. That’s something I really buried deep down. It lives with me all the time, but I didn’t talk about it. Being open about it mattered because it has really shaped me in how I see the world and move through the world.​

Anne: Even my husband's stroke, for a long time, I buried that deep inside because it was traumatic. I was just trying to survive—on that hamster wheel, where if I wasn't drowning, I was just treading water. Revisiting those chapters and putting them together into this book showed me they are what shaped me, even before the vision loss. They led me to these moments and where I am today. Now I can look at those moments with a softer vision rather than just surviving, and I can reflect on them and appreciate them for what they've given me today.​

Andy: I just loved how you communicated that and how you expressed that. It's so soothing. But on the flip side, what are some everyday frustrations and annoyances that sighted people might not realize you face?​

Anne: I would say it's not always the blindness itself that's frustrating, but being in a world that's really not designed for people like me. I love grabbing a coffee, but I can't read the menu board, and sometimes I don’t know where the counter is. I visited Japan, and they had their menus right on the counter with pictures, so I could point. That in itself was such a huge thing. They put that there for foreigners to make it easier, but for me, that was amazing.​

Anne: I often say, “I can see, but I can’t.” It's the night blindness, the peripheral vision loss, the light sensitivity. Being in social situations, I'm thinking, “I have to be home by four o’clock,” because it gets dark then, especially in the fall, which is the worst. It’s mentally and physically exhausting. There’s a huge mental load in doing so many things. Before I go anywhere new, there's research, mental mapping, and anxiety. I worry about whether the lighting is decent or the layout is okay. Even if I go to a good friend’s house that I’ve been to many times, it’s happened where I’ve broken things or bumped into things, and I feel like such a klutz.​

Anne: On the social side, I often can’t read facial cues or recognize faces right away. I was walking home once and thought my son was coming toward me, and I like to joke with him, so I called out. It wasn’t my son; it was someone else, and I was so embarrassed. I’d recognized the way that person was walking and carrying himself and assumed it was my son.​

Anne: Going out into the world as a visible minority woman with a white cane, I often feel like I have a target on my back. I worry about my safety. I try to carry myself with confidence, but inside, I’m also very terrified. It’s a lot of layers that many people don’t understand.​

Andy: Thank you for saying that. That’s important, because not everybody understands that. If there’s anything I want out of this platform, it’s the hope of communicating to others so there is awareness. We don’t always think about everybody else; often, it’s just what’s happening inside our own house. So I appreciate that. I appreciate you being transparent. How did you feel when you held your first edited, complete copy of the book in your hands—all done, finished, and you had that book?​

Anne: I cried. Not because I was sad, but because holding that book in my hand was proof—proof that even with vision loss, chronic pain, and all the moments of doubt along the way, I could still create something meaningful. When I lost my job, I lost my identity. I didn’t know who I was or see a future for myself. Having that moment felt like standing in the light again.​

Anne: One important thing was the cover. I really wanted to make sure there was representation there. Seeing it for the first time took my breath away. It was important to have an Asian woman with a white cane standing tall and confident on the cover. I wanted that image to be on shelves, in libraries, and in people’s hands because I wanted people to see themselves, and I wanted others to shift how they saw blindness, identity, and strength. The book isn't just about going blind; it's about the chapters we all go through—grief, healing, relationships, chronic illness. It's about the things that we survive and grow through. Holding that book was like holding that version of myself that got me here and really honoring her.​

Andy: As a sighted person reading the book, and I think we've spoken about this, there are so many similarities and characteristics in our upbringing, even though we're from different places and different ethnicities. Everybody can see a part of themselves in that book, because we all go through experiences. Everybody, “Resilience and Purpose: Discovering Strength and Connection in Life's Cracks”—go out and get it, it’s wonderful.​

Andy: If someone wants to support or connect with the blind and visually impaired community in meaningful ways, what would your advice be to them?​

Anne: I think number one is: start with empathy and don't assume—ask. Hire us. Include us in design and policy. Follow blind creators and advocates for accessibility. See disability as an asset, not a limitation. The biggest thing is to listen, support, and learn.​

Andy: I appreciate you for doing this and being transparent, and taking time out to talk with me. So, where can everybody reach you?​

Anne: The best way is through Instagram. My Instagram handle is @purposeandview. My website is purposeandview.com. I'm also on LinkedIn. Check out YouTube for my TEDx talk; it's called “Blind Sighted.” And I was recently in a Kia ad—check that out as well.



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Nasreen Bhutta

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Stephanae (Steph) McCoy

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Sylvia Stinson-Perez

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