Debut Memoir

I Never Wanted to Live a Small Life

Kayla Calkin never wanted to live a small life. As a professional campaign strategist, she has had a front-row seat to history - mourning crushing defeats while working on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign or celebrating hard-won victories like shutting down Trump’s offshore drilling plans. Wins or losses, she is always ready for the next big fight. Alongside her long term partner Zac, she explores the world as they try to get pregnant - her life growing bigger every day. But in early 2022, at age 36, just as she was working to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, a once in a generation climate bill, life throws her a massive curveball: a stage II breast cancer diagnosis.

Kayla as Pillamina at the 2012 RNC in Tampa, Florida in Planned Parenthood's pill pack costume

Kayla rallying a crowd as Colorado State Director for the Harris-Walz campaign in fall 2024

Suddenly, Kayla’s world shifts from political maneuvering and preparing for motherhood to chemo infusions and emergency ICU stays. As she and Zac navigate the gauntlet of treatment, they grapple with what this new life entails. Between drug trials, hospital stays, and an emotional IVF roller coaster, Kayla wrestles with what it means to be both an activist and a cancer patient. But most of all, she wants to continue the promise she and Zac made to each other: to live a big life.

Kayla’s journey is about more than just cancer treatment - it’s about the radical act of living big, even when life tries to make you feel small. Raw, witty, and deeply personal, her story is a testament to resilience, love, and the fight for something greater than yourself.

CLICK HERE FOR AN ADVANCE COPY OF KAYLA'S MEMOIR

CLICK HERE FOR AN ADVANCE COPY OF KAYLA'S MEMOIR