As 28-year-old Kim Hamilton sat in her hospital bed cradling her infant son Khalen in her arms, Kameron, her four-year-old son, lightly caressed his baby brother's brow. Witnessing the delicate gesture, a single thought ran through the young mother's mind: no matter what happens, it's the three of us against the world. Admiring her sons with overwhelming love in her eyes, Kim never could've anticipated who they'd eventually grow up to be: Kameron, a professional dancer and sought-after choreographer, working alongside the likes of celebrities like Taylor Swift, Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell, and Khalen, a 2x world Champion defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). Truthfully, it never mattered. Kim didn't care if her kids became lawyers, bus drivers, or underwater basket weavers. From the very first moment they each entered her life, she made a vow to love and support them unconditionally; something she'd never been able to do for herself. But throughout a lifetime of keeping that promise, something unexpected and glorious happened: Kim finally learned how to love herself, too.

Taking Center Stage: A Mother's Journey From Survival to Spotlights and Super Bowls is the extraordinary tale of Kim's steady journey towards self-acceptance, and how she finally found the strength and resilience to turn the compassion she held for the rest of the world inward-where it was meant to be. Through unimaginable hardships, and heartbreaking trials, Kim's story traverses her life from an unconventional childhood growing up between the violent streets of South Central, Los Angeles and the tranquility of her grandmother's home in St. Louis, Missouri, to an adulthood riddled with moments of abuse, disease, addiction, and the seemingly endless challenges of being a single parent. Yet, throughout it all, she maintains an unwavering sense of humor, and a deep spirit of love for her family, even when faced with the impossible. In recounting a lifetime of choices, Kim reflects on her life's most heart-shattering moments-dropping out of engineering school, gambling her money away, leaving an abusive decade's long marriage, to even kicking down her ex-husband's mistress' door. Taking Center Stage is a captivating story that shows how trauma, when entwined with love, tragedy, and humor can be woven together to create a beautiful tapestry of life. It tells the story of what it truly means to be human, the power and impact of the love of your children, and the freedom that comes with finally choosing to accept yourself, no matter how old you are.