My Story

Speaker, Life Coach, Best Selling Author

Hi! I’m Kelley Gunter: a survivor, emotional warrior, connoisseur of comfort food, and the author of You Have Such a Pretty Face. My painful journey to find peace and self-worth began with a 243-pound weight loss included many dark moments of despair that eventually brought me to my knees. Broken and devastated in the aftermath of my own self-destruction, my fractured faith screamed out that somehow, I still had a faint pulse and my shattered heart was, in fact, still beating.

I was born and raised in a small town in Southern Ohio and graduated from a small rural school that combined grades kindergarten through 12 in the same building. Spending summers with my grandparents, I learned the art of true southern cooking from my grandmother, whom I affectionately called “Nonnie.” My grandmother and mother were both avid readers and they passed on their love of reading to me.

My first book, You Have Such a Pretty Face, is a memoir detailing the emotional journey of being obese and the surprising changes brought on by my 243-pound weight loss following bariatric surgery, as well as the emotional factors that contributed to my initial weight gain. I am currently in the process of writing a second memoir, The Homecoming Queen of Crazy Town.

When I’m not writing or studying, I enjoy cooking, baking, and reading. I make it a habit of enjoying all of the sweet magic life has to offer and thanking God regularly for blessing me with the continued gift of life.