Our Story
It started on
a volcano
In 2023, Brian Tiell traveled to Guatemala with Kidney Donor Athletes to document something remarkable — a group of living kidney donors hiking three volcanoes to raise awareness for those waiting for a second chance at life. He went to tell their story. He came home with a mission.
The moment everything changed
Ordinary people.
An extraordinary choice.
It wasn't the altitude that stopped him. It was a quiet moment.
Huddled in a tent near the summit of Volcano Atitlán, clouds swirling around the climbers, Brian watched these ordinary people — teachers, parents, neighbors — who had made an extraordinary choice.
Not athletes chasing a record. People chasing purpose.
"These weren't superheroes. They were just people who said yes."
.jpg)
Kidney Donor Athletes summiting Atitlán
Eight words came to him like a lightning strike:
Take the Next Step
Be the Next One
From a spark to a movement
Stories, not statistics
Back home, Brian partnered with public health strategist Abbey Collins to turn that moment into something lasting.
In October 2024, they launched Next Step Next One — a social media campaign built not on statistics or medical jargon, but on the one thing that actually moves people: real stories.
Thus began our initiative to interview over 100 people: living donors, recipients, those currently searching for a living kidney donor, and experts in the field.
The social media campaign reached over 1.5 million people within our first year.
We don't ask anyone to make a decision. We only ask one thing first — start at Step Zero. Just learn. Just listen.
Our very first post in the social media campaign!
The next evolution
How A Kidney Convo was born
In May 2025, the wife of a former NYPD officer — a man desperately in need of a kidney — reached out to Next Step Next One. She and her support system were planning an event in his honor and wanted to know if they could use some of our content.
Abbey Collins had her own lightning strike moment that day.
What if we took everything we'd learned about what moves people on social media — the stories, the honesty, the humanity — and curated it into something you could experience together, in a room, with other people?
They got to work and in June 2025, they hosted the very first A Kidney Convo in a small theater in Bedford, New York.
And it worked.
They knew immediately they had something. The question was how to make it better — more accessible, available virtually, scalable enough to serve patients across the country, with a direct path for attendees to start the donor intake process right from the program itself.
A Kidney Convo in Denver, CO on Oct. 18th, 2025
Our Mission
Reducing the kidney transplant waitlist, one conversation at a time.
The next evolution
Next Step Next One exists to reduce the kidney transplant waitlist by inspiring living kidney donors through storytelling, education, and community engagement that empowers people to take life-saving action.