A few audience members had tears streaming down their faces when Kimi Werner took to the stage at our second annual EVOLVE Summit. We had just shown Kimi’s newest film, Three Hearts Home, a project that’s deeply personal to her, as she shared with us in the weeks leading up to the big day.
The film documents Kimi’s reunion with her brother, Dr. Randy Kosaki, who grew up in an entirely different household. Kosaki ultimately became a chief scientist at NOAA, and the two have made profound contributions to ocean advocacy in their own respective ways, and have a mutual respect for each other’s skills.
“I wanted to find a way to combine the work I was doing to honor my mom,” said Werner. “Before my mom leaves this world, I want to honor her. I want to take a chapter of my mom’s life that she was most shamed about, which we don’t really get into in the film, and now have a premiere, tell her story to the world, and have her see what an inspiration it is. And that all the choices she made and was shamed for, really, she was the most courageous person in that whole situation. And to see her story come full circle and now our family be back together, and see what a wonderful, beautiful life my brother had, that’s something worth sharing.”
Our conversation was packed with powerful messaging that ranged from the virtue of family to restoring our connection with our food.
“Not everyone is going to go swim to the bottom of the ocean to pull [a giant fish] out before sunset,” said Werner. “That’s not what I’m suggesting, and everyone’s path is going to be different…but I think the number one thing we should all be doing is just at least owning that human born right. Where does our food come from? Where can it come from, and I have the right to know. I’m going to ask these questions.”
Enjoy Werner’s conversation above, and we invite you to watch Three Hearts Home below.
If you’d like to transform your relationship with food and learn more about Kimi’s philosophy on sustainable cooking, access Kimi Werner’s Guide to Sustainable Cooking at a 10% discount with code INERTIA10 for a limited time.
Special thanks, again, to our presenting partners who made this monumental gathering possible: OluKai, 4ocean, Zola, Caliva, Klean Kanteen. As well as our grassroots partners: Pau Maui Vodka, Qalo, Kindhumans, Rise Brewing Co., All Good Products, Travellers Autobarn, Travel with Meaning, and 805 Beer. Thank you also to STOKE for enabling us to host this event as sustainably as we possibly could.
