Q&A: Amanda Lindhout shares her perspective on adversity

Amanda Lindhout plans to share “a pretty extraordinary story of overcoming adversity” with a Yellowknife audience next week.

Lindhout, from Alberta, was working as a freelance journalist in Somalia when she was abducted in August 2008. She was kept hostage for 460 days before she was released in November 2009 after her family paid a ransom with the help of the longtime co-owner of the Calgary Flames.

Lindhout has since written a memoir, A House in the Sky. She is set to deliver the keynote address at the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce’s 2026 Trailblazers Symposium at the Explorer Hotel on March 6.

Lindhout said she will share the “extraordinary mindset framework” she developed from her experience in Somalia and as she rebuilt her life once returning home. It features four pillars: gratitude, connection, presence and purpose.

“We can all relate to this feeling of darkness that is just a part of the human trajectory of experiences,” she said.

“I hear from people again and again that if I can get through what I went through and come out the other side as I have – to have such a full, and vibrant, and thriving life as I do now – it makes people feel empowered that whatever it is that they’re facing on their path, they’re going to be able to navigate it.”

 This interview was recorded on February 25, 2026. The transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Emily Blake: What can people expect from your keynote?

Amanda Lindhout: I was, as a young woman, a journalist who worked in different conflict zones. And doing that work, I was kidnapped and held hostage for 460 days in Somalia. So a very difficult and dark experience that required a lot from me. It required a lot of mindset tools and training my focus. And then ultimately, I was released through an extraordinary story that I’ll share a little bit more about that day, but community across Canada coming together helped facilitate that.

And then I had to rebuild my life in the aftermath with a diagnosis of complex post-traumatic stress disorder. In many ways, that part was even more difficult than the year and a half in Somalia. I really had to learn how to navigate the world again with that diagnosis and, having lost so much, I had to rebuild a career with this health crisis at the same time. I learned through that chapter perhaps more even than I learned in a pitch black room in Somalia.

Basically I’ve distilled what I’ve learned, and this is what I share with audiences. This is what I’ll be sharing in Yellowknife, an extraordinary mindset framework that anyone can apply to whatever kinds of challenges they’re faced with in life, big or small, personal or professional, this framework will work. There’s four parts to this framework that are gratitude, connection, presence and purpose, and I will be unpacking all of those in Yellowknife.

It really leaves people with practical and actionable takeaways that they’re immediately able to apply. It leaves people certainly with fresh perspective, because when you hear a story like mine of such extreme adversity, it really does put a lot of things into perspective. I know I hear from people again and again that if I can get through what I went through and come out the other side as I have to have such a full, and vibrant, and thriving life as I do now, it makes people feel empowered that whatever it is that they’re facing on their path, they’re going to be able to navigate it.

How did you make that transition from being a journalist, to going through this traumatic experience, to developing what you learned into this program and then sharing it with people?

It’s been such an incredible journey. I feel like I have worn so many different hats in my life. I’ve lived a lot of lives in this one lifetime. I’m sure other people can relate to that too.

You know, as a young person, I was passionate about other people’s stories. That’s why I wanted to be a journalist. That’s why I was drawn to the parts of the world that I was, these places where there was a lot of conflict. I was curious about how people survived the unimaginable in places like Afghanistan, and Iraq, and Somalia – where I was kidnapped.

But after I was kidnapped and emerged from that, I just, I did not have it in me anymore to continue to tell other people’s stories. I really needed to turn my attention towards myself, because I was not well. My diagnosis of complex post-traumatic stress disorder required me to really turn the majority of my attention towards my own healing process and to really begin to untangle and unpack that huge experience, trauma experience I had.

It took many, many years, but the process of doing that gave me these really tangible lessons, pieces of wisdom, insight that I was sharing with the people around me who found great value in my perspective.

And I wrote a book about my experiences, A House in the Sky, which became, and continues to be, a big bestseller in the world, New York Times bestseller. Through that platform of people reading my story and seeing some of what I had learned in the pages there, I began to get invitations from companies to come and share what I’ve learned.

As a speaker, it really has become such a meaningful part of my journey. I think it’s a natural part of healing, where we go through a process of meaning making, trying to make meaning of the things that have happened to us. For me, because I had this unique platform, part of that involved sharing what I learned with others. And because it’s been received so well over what has now been almost a decade, it has really grown exponentially where I just, I pinch myself sometimes for the blessings, the opportunities that come my way.

I have spoken in 28 countries around the world. I, at last count, it was well over 500 keynotes that I have given. And I feel so passionate about it because it’s not just the telling of my story, it is really about empowering and uplifting the audience and giving them tools to leave feeling like they can face whatever challenges are on their path.

You talked about how telling other people’s stories is what had you interested in journalism, but what made you want to go to countries where war was happening, specifically Somalia?

I think at that time in my life – you know, I’m looking way back now because that feels like a lifetime ago – it was partly because I had grown up in a household where there was a lot of chaos. There was a lot of abuse, actually, in the household that I grew up in. And so I always say I grew up in a kind of war zone.

I think that going out into the world to these places like Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, other parts of Africa that most people would go to great lengths to avoid, there was a part of me that was drawn to these places because that was familiar to me in its own unique way. I was very familiar with having a lot of adrenaline and cortisol in my system because of how I grew up. So I didn’t react to those environments in the way that many other people would have. It felt somehow familiar to me.

I was very interested in people’s stories of how they survived and how they navigated these incredible challenges like living in the middle of a war zone. It’s kind-of ironic looking back on that piece now that I am standing on stages and sharing what I know about overcoming with others because, as a young woman, I was just deeply interested in that myself. I think that harks back to my childhood too. There was a part of me that was just always seeking to understand resilience and survival, and that was part of what oriented me out into the world, into these places that most people would be going to great lengths to avoid, I was drawn right into the middle of.

What are the things that you learned or developed from what happened to you that other people can also learn from?

I think learning the importance of training our focus at any point in our life, particularly when things are really challenging, is such a useful skill to learn. It can often feel, in today’s world especially when there’s so much going on, so much that feels outside of our control, you know the state of the world and what’s going on across the border. But really learning that you can always control where you place your attention, because what you put your intention on will grow in its influence over your life.

I’ve learned this through the difficulties that I face again and again, just the truth of that. Even when I was in a dark room in Somalia and I really truly had control over nothing in my environment, I realized I always had control over where my thoughts would go. I could easily go into the downward spirals of despair, that was easy, but I could also, with a lot of determination, redirect my attention on remembering my why, my purpose in life, the good memories of the life that I had accumulated, all the reasons why I needed to survive that and get out of there. So I share that piece with people because I think we all need to remember that.

I think another piece that we are desperate to remember in this moment in human history is the power and importance of human connection. I certainly would not be alive if it were not for people coming together as a community to assist my family and to help me be released. I wouldn’t have been able to go through the recovery and truly heal from post-traumatic stress disorder if it hadn’t been for the large number of people, friends, family and professionals that were there to help support me.

We are desperate to remember the importance of human connection right now because when we turn on the news, the world out there really feels like a scary place. I believe, and my belief is supported by the statistics around this, that we are beginning this withdrawal and retreat from each other. We are living in a world that’s very connected through technology, but we are isolated right now. It is important now more than ever to remember that we’re wired for human connection and it is critical that we find ways to enable that.

To build a resilient community, it’s always going to emerge out of human connection first. So that starts with each one of us individually and recognizing a pattern of withdraw and retreat, and isolate, and I’m just going to stay home with my couple of people because I can’t trust the world out there. We have to find ways to believe in the goodness of humankind, which is not hard because if you actually look around, you can see so many examples of how we come together when times are tough. You know when there’s a fire in Jasper, or a storm on the East Coast and people lose everything, we come together to help each other. And so remembering that is important because it helps us believe in the goodness of humankind and re-establish those much needed connections.

Those are just two examples of many of the lessons that I have learned, some of which I’ll be just overjoyed to share with everyone.

It sounds like what you speak about and the lessons you teach can really apply to a lot of people in a lot of situations. What’s maybe the business context that folks can take away from it?

I don’t see it as separate, like business and personal, because I do a lot of work with CEOs and people that are real leaders in their community or their business. And you have to do the work first as an individual to be an effective leader.

So when I talk about the framework for an extraordinary mindset, and it is these four things: gratitude, connection, presence and purpose. When you as an individual are practising and living by these things, it changes your leadership style. You have to go first where you want others to follow. So for people in a business context, every one of these lessons that I’ve learned, these pillars of an extraordinary mindset, are totally applicable to the individual. And then, for those within their world to see and replicate, we are inspired by what we see others doing, particularly those in a leadership position.

So it is enormously valuable to people in those kind of positions, but again, to anybody, really truly to anybody, because it is applicable to your personal life, your professional life, and really situations that are big or small.

Having travelled to so many places and worked with so many people, what do you think it is about your experience and what you have to say that really resonates with so many different people?

I think it surprises people how relatable and resonant my messaging is because if you just look at the broad strokes or the headline of what happened to me, you may think, what would I have in common with a woman who spent a year and a half as a hostage? But the way that I’m breaking this down for everyone is that we all go through periods in our life of real darkness where we don’t know what’s next. We don’t know what the next step is. We don’t know what’s around the next corner. And that can lead us to feeling very out of control.

So for me, I was literally in a pitch black room in Somalia. And most people, thankfully, will never be in a pitch black room, but we can all relate to this feeling of darkness that is just part of the human trajectory of experiences. We’re all going to go through times like that. So what I share – through a very dramatic example – becomes profoundly relatable to people as they’re navigating something that is much different, but in its essence, as they’re going through despair, or are overwhelmed or being totally burnt out and totally lost in the uncertainty of their own trajectory, that becomes very relatable. Sometimes for people, it’s the perspective that I’ve gotten through something that is so dramatic that helps them look at what’s in their path with a fresh lens. And so that becomes very valuable to people.

How have you been able to be so positive and come out with such positive lessons from something that was very difficult?

Well that is the training of my mind to orient to what is still working well. That is a practice that I started doing in Somalia when I was chained to the floor in a pitch black room. I started doing this and looking literally around me in the environment for things to be grateful for, if it was like hearing the birds outside, small things, but feeling grateful for that. That looking for, seeking for what is good, begins to train your mind, the neuroplasticity of your brain, to see more of what is good.

Then I was released and I had to continue that practice only now I was able to utilize all kinds of assets that we all have available to us. Like how do I feed my brain positive and inspiring content so that I can keep myself uplifted? That’s a choice and it’s a practice that I apply every day.

So whether it’s inspirational books, or podcasts, or walks in nature and silence but listening to the sounds of nature, but that make me feel a certain way, that give me that uplifted feeling. I, throughout my recovery, prioritized those experiences of what makes me feel uplifted. If it’s movement in the gym, moving my body, going for a swim, going for a walk, listening to something, that has to become part of my daily practice.

I really encourage people to do that because our world, our worldview, is shaped by what we put into our minds. So I am not someone, the way I once worked in the news world, who spends very long each day soaking in the difficult headlines of the world. I think it’s important to know what’s going on, but then there is a point where you need to turn that off and orient, again intentionally, to what is still good in the world, and to have that actually be the bigger part of the day so that you’re able to keep yourself uplifted and positive. And those are things that we can all do and choices that we have to make every day.

Is there anything particular you’re looking forward to from the event in Yellowknife?

I always love the opportunity to connect with people in person. I mean, we all lived through the pandemic experience where we were very isolated from each other. As someone who does this work professionally, of speaking at events, I really missed for a number of years the opportunity to do this in person. Because there is something so special that happens when people come together as we’re going to in Yellowknife and we spend this hour together.

Really, though the broad strokes of the story might seem like a difficult, perhaps even depressing story – I was kidnapped for 460 days –ultimately, that time spent together is so inspiring for all of us, me included. There’s a collective energy in the room that happens when we all come together like this.

And then afterwards, I get the opportunity to meet people and to hear the impact and to hear people’s stories. So I always look forward to the opportunity to have this time with people, and particularly in such a beautiful place like Yellowknife, which I have not revisited in so many years. So I just couldn’t be more excited about it.