We recently connected with Carrie Wilburn and have shared our conversation below.

Carrie , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I– I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

There have been two distinct times where I made decisions that shaped my life in so many positive ways even though they were a risk. The first was when I left my career as a school psychologist to pursue a full time position as a firefighter. The second was when I retired from the Lexington Fire Department with 22 years of service. I had been faced with a choice to stay with the fire department and be in position I was not passionate about or take a leap and do what I love, helping young people prepare for the recruit firefighter physical ability test and interview process. Instead of staying, I took the risk and started my own business, In February of 2021, I started Fire Recruit Prep, to help young people become firefighters.

I made the career transition from being a school psychologist to firefighting in 2000 and never regretted that major decision. I enjoyed being a psychologist but found the number of meetings and the amount of paperwork to be daunting. My main focus was working with children and their families. When I became a firefighter I quickly realized that the thing I loved was having the ability to make a positive impact in people’s lives, without committees, meetings and “red tape.” I spent 10 years as a firefighter and worked with amazing crews. I promoted to Lieutenant and transferred to the Arson Bureau. This position was challenging and exciting and continued to reinforce that I had made a good decision to change careers years earlier. I led the Arson Bureau as Captain and also supervised the background investigation process for hiring. I became very well-versed in hiring standards and after 7 years in Arson I transferred to the Recruiting and Hiring Division. It was in this position where I found a new passion in helping young people prepare for the hiring process. Several people had helped me train for the physical ability test when I applied and it was great to be able to pay this forward. I obtained my personal trainer certification and we established a practice physical ability course. Again I was blessed to work with great people and we shared the same enthusiasm and drive. I spent 3 years working in the Recruiting and Hiring Division and when I promoted to Major and took over as the supervisor. Being able to help young people achieve their goal of becoming a firefighter for the biggest career department in the state was rewarding and fulfilling.

In December of 2020, I was faced with a big decision. The Department was undergoing organizational restructuring and my position and the Recruiting and Hiring Division as it existed were changing. I would no longer be able to have the direct contact with applicants and have more administrative tasks. As mentioned previously, I have never been a fan of meetings, committees, and “red tape” so other positions were also not appealing to me. Should I stay and take a position I knew I would not enjoy to maximize my retirement income or retire and pursue a job I would enjoy? I ultimately decided to take a risk and retire a few years early than initially planned. Instead of staying in a position I knew I would not enjoy. Instead of making a decision purely for financial reasons. I only spent a few weeks “retired” before I started to brainstorm how to make a career coaching business a reality and the best way to do it. I followed multiple entrepreneur sites to get some business knowledge, created a business name, logo, Instagram page, Facebook page and finally put out the announcement of my new business. Fire Recruit Prep was now official. There is a saying in the fire service “Telephone, Tell a friend, Tell a fireman.” I was blessed that many of my firefighter friends shared my business announcement and I quickly had my first clients even before my office was set up! I have helped young people from all over the State of Kentucky prepare for their interview and train for the physical ability test. I have expanded my services to include test prep for the written exam and preparing for promotional testing interviews. There is nothing more rewarding than working with someone and then receiving a text that they received a job offer! I will take that any day over administrative meetings. Sometimes the risky leap is worth the reward!

Carrie , 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?

My background is in psychology and I earned my Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Kentucky. Additionally, I hold a BS and an MS in Education. I was working as a School Psychologist when I first became involved with Emergency Services. I was K-9 Handler and EMT with a Search and Rescue team which led to my interest in becoming a firefighter. I became a full-time firefighter with the Lexington Fire Department and served as a Lieutenant, Captain/arson investigator and Major. I was a Bureau Commander for both the Arson Bureau and the Recruiting and Hiring Division. I am also a certified personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine.

I am the owner/operator of Fire Recruit Prep, a career coaching company. I offer written exam preparation and personal training services for firefighter physical ability tests. In addition, I offer classes to prepare for recruit firefighter interviews and promotional interviews. In cases where applicants are required to submit resumes or applicants, I also provide document review services.

Fire Recruit Prep is able to offer in-depth career coaching due to my background in Recruiting & Hiring, Emergency Services, personal training, psychology and education. I have knowledge of background investigation processes, interview processes, written exams, and physical ability tests.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

“You don’t have to be great to start, you do have to start to be great” aka “Imperfect action”

I have always been the type of person who could get bogged down in making things perfect. When I first began to conceptualize my business and was following some entrepreneur pages and sites, I realized I need to unlearn this tendency. If I did not, I would never actually start my business. I could have easily been caught up in a business name, the perfect website, or logo. Those were not the important things. I needed the framework and a business plan but I needed to take action even if I didn’t feel ready and like things were perfect.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing my clientele for Fire Recruit Prep has been a combination of social media and word of mouth. Immediately upon announcing the opening of the business on Facebook, I had friends share the post and received referrals this way. Additionally, several clients have come through face-to-face interactions with people I know or who know I have the business.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: FireRecruitPrep
• Facebook: Fire Recruit Prep
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/carriewilburn
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits
two photos with me in the blue sweatshirt photo credit to Ericka Cole