Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Andrew Starnes. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Andrew, thanks for joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

I began my fire service journey as a young child by simply accompanying my father on trips to the volunteer fire department. I grew up watching others give of their time in service to others. I began serving as a volunteer firefighter and I grew to love the fire service. I then pursued it as a career. In 1998, I was hired by Charlotte Fire Department and began my journey as a career firefighter. In 2010, my father (Joe Starnes) and his dear friend Shawn Oke founded Project Kill the Flashover. As my journey into the fire service began by simply following my fathers lead, I once again began another an unexpected journey into the world of thermal imaging within this applied science project designed to assist firefighters in providing a better understanding of fire behavior. In 2015, I had been training for five years in this area when I was severely injured due to falling through a floor. Unbeknownst to me, this was starting point of a “career” in thermal imaging. Just as in my earlier life I began as a volunteer and then pursued it as a career due to my passion and curiosity on this topic. While I was recovering from my injury, my wife informed me that our family needed assurance that if I pursued this journey that they would be protected. Therefore out of personal calamity was born the need to found Insight Training. I created the company to provide insurance for my family in case I was ever injured again. Little did I know that this woud be the beginning of a path of intensive education, training, and personal development that led to a company that has now trained in all 50 states, trained firefighters in over 20 countries, and consists of a veteran fire service cadre that are all Level I Thermography Certified.

Andrew, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As I mentioned, I began my journey by following in my fathers footsteps. He gave so much of himself in service of his community that it inspired me to do something more with my life. When my thermal imaging journey began, I studied industry and realized that everyone else that works in this field is required to have a minimum of 32 hours of training whereas firefighters had little to no required training. I found this very concerning. Firefighters enter into the most dangerous and challenging environment with little to no visibility and are expected to perform miracles. Every other industry that works in such an environment uses tools and technology to aid them in their task. Yet, firefighters often failed to use a thermal imaging camera or lacked the proper training on how to use this device to maximize their efforts. Therefore, I initially began by studying industrial thermography and translating concepts that correlated to the world of firefighting. This ultimately led to the first thermography based curriculum for firefighters and now we have a collegiate certificate based program scheduled to release this year that has been peer reviewed by the thermography professionals of Kentucky Thermal Institute and accredited by Western Kentucky University. I am most proud of our collective efforts in assisting firefighters who are the true heroes. They use the training we provide to save lives. And in addition to this, Insight Training has now assisted in developing two thermal imaging cameras. Seek Thermal allowed us to contribute to this project and we have developed two devices that are specific to the firefighters individual needs.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I have struggled throughout this journey. Many people did not believe in my work but thankfully I was surrounded by a great support network whose collective wisdom, energy, and encouragement fueled me to keep moving forward. I have had business deals go horrifically south where my ideas were used without my permission to make large amounts of profits. I have struggled with anxiety and depression through the struggles of not being able to share my passion within my own area due to the challenges of not being accepted in your own hometown. And I was almost disabled due to knee injury. But through it all, I have had my faith, my family, and an amazing support group that has made this the most incredible journey. My wife and daughter are my primary reasons for resilience. I look into their eyes and realize that they are counting on me but they believe in me. I cannot look into their eyes and consider giving up. They have provided me with such a gift of love and support that can only be described as gift from God. Because of the grace of God and all of these supportive individuals, I am able to have such an opportunity. And not only do I have this opportunity, I have the most amazing group of individuals to teach alongside with. My instructors at Insight Training are the ultimate story of resilience. They will be the dividends paid to the future of the fire service by their works. And as an unexpected bonus, I was inducted into the National Fire Heritage Center Hall of Legends, Legacies, and Leaders at FDIC this year.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I literally started with very little equipment consisting of hand me downs (gifts from friends) and old equipment. I had the support of my father and my wife. When my wife retired in 2019, we decided to make this a family business. She became the “chief financial officer” and my biggest investor. She cashed out her 401K and purchased many of the items that we needed to get started. Contrary to popular belief, the items needed for a fire based thermal imaging training company are not given away freely nor are they cheap. We literally started with a computer, an old set of firefighting gear, two thermal imaging cameras, and a computer. I met a dear friend in 2015 while I was injured (Shawn Bloemker-owner of the Max Fire Box), and he was my next biggest investor. He believed in me and we began traveling and teaching fire behavior and thermal imaging. Since then, we have grown to a company of 14 members (2 full-time), a massive amount of equipment, a company vehicle and so much more. Our company continues to grow and we provide training across the United States and several countries. We are working hard every day to provide more thermal imaging resources to firefighters in more economical ways so that every firefighter has access to these resources.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.insighttrainingllc.com
• Instagram: insighttrnllc
• Facebook: Andrew Starnes
• Linkedin: Insight Training LLC
• Twitter: InsightTrn
• Youtube: Insight Training LLC
• Other: Tik Tok: insighttraining

Image Credits
Image Credits are: Insight Training LLC and JB Photo (Insight Instructor Joey Baxa)