We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kimberly Sechser. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kimberly below.

Kimberly, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

My mission is to Inspire and Empower people with the tools they need for success

I am where I am today because of people who invested in my life. As a teen, I struggled greatly with confidence. I had teachers who worked with me and supported me to help me realize what I was capable of. I also had family and friends who supported me and encouraged me whether I failed or succeeded. These people helped me overcome fears, doubts, and insecurities.

As an adult more and more people have come into my life at just the right times to help mentor and give me tools that have opened doors of opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t have been available to me.

My goal is to be that person who encourages others, mentors them, and helps give them them the tools they need, so they can get their goals and dreams!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started off the same way most kids do: wanting to be a famous superhero. I focused on the superhero part and became a teacher. Later, I realized I loved helping people with their personal lives more than teaching English and soon found myself devouring personal development books with a determination to help more people. Then, I started going to seminars and got certified as a firewalk instructor and later as a ropes course facilitator.

My company name came from doing firewalks. It was a play on words for Fired Up Seminars and Training. I also wanted my seminars to be fun, showing that you can learn valuable information but still have fun at the same time.

Eventually, I settled primarily on doing personal development seminars such as Goal Setting for Results, Breaking Through Barriers, Marriage, Overcoming Fear, etc. I added doing team building activities primarily for youth groups and corporations. Later, I added a special training for those individuals who wanted to learn how to facilitate and run their own team building activities. I am fully portable and can bring my activities to any location. I tailor my training and materials for companies on topics that are important to them with relevant activities. I also tailor my team building activities to any themes or discussion points people want. We always debrief and have discussion no matter what type of event I am doing because that is where the “real” learning or “aha” moments occur. For youth groups it can be general, school, homeschool, church, therapy, etc. I help people get tools that they can apply to help them get out of the ruts in their lives and get what they really want.

I try to do some sort of activity at any event I do because I know that people learn and remember things more when they are actively participating. I don’t want people to just feel good for the few hours or days they are with me, but I want it to become a part of them and carry over into the weeks and months ahead.

Recently, I published a book called The Greatest Investor in the World. It is about a young boy who learns lessons from his uncle that changes his life. It is personal development with a fictional story that is written in a fun and relatable way. It is all the things I wish I had known years before, and I am hoping that people will read this and not have to try as hard as I did to figure them out. It has some Christian themes to it as well, as some of it is from lessons taught in the Bible. It teaches people topics such as money, excuses, taking responsibility, gratitude, passive income, working smarter, communication, affirmations, etc. It is my hope that as people read it, they will pick one or two things to work on that will change some aspect of their lives.

I also have video trainings that will be coming out soon that will allow people to get access to the tools I teach from wherever they are. I am excited about this and the number of people it can reach and help.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I first started out, I had recently received my certification in firewalking and ropes course facilitation. Because the people I trained under both had their own locations and had people come to them for the events, I had it ingrained in my head that this is the way it had to be.

I threw myself into finding land where I could do firewalks and ropes course activities. I figured out all the math and even how to make it cheaper by doing different options with buildings and for a year not much happened. I kept preparing some of the activities and getting things together for activities like arrow breaking with the throat, glasswalking, and low ropes activities.

Then one day, I attended another seminar, and the whole thing was done in a hotel. They had activities and it was a really great experience. I came home and asked another friend what she new about using hotels. Suddenly everything changed. I stopped thinking about having to have land and buildings and started focusing on how I could utilize hotels.

I started doing seminars with my glasswalk and arrow breaks while learning about fear and goals. I saw that some of my other activities, including my low ropes course activites, could be done in larger hotels event rooms, and I started to think about how to use that. I started to do some groups at parks, houses, churches, and schools.

The real change came when I started thinking about how to take some of my activities and tweak them slightly so that the learning and the goal behind them could still be achieved without taking up lots of space. I figured out how to make them portable with many of them being able to fit in my suitcase, so I could take them on an airplane.

If I had continued to wait, trying to get the capital together for everything I wanted to do, I would still be waiting. That mindset was not serving me. When I finally opened up to different possibilities, I found the solution had literally been in front of me, and it didn’t take extra work or effort. This made it so I could get even more business than if I just had one location. The best news is that it isn’t costing me much each month to run it, so I don’t have to worry about losing my business.

I have activities I can do inside or outside, in large or small spaces. If you have been stuck for a while, start thinking of what you could do to tweak your good idea to make it great! Be open to a different way of doing things and definitely talk to others and get their thoughts and ideas.

.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I have read hundreds of books. Some of these were more useful than others. I found working on myself has made all the difference. I will share a few books that have impacted me and why.

The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino. This one is important because I mostly read for fun before this time, but after this I realized reading could be fun and filled with learning at the same time. It is a great book about some tools that can help people in their professional or personal lives.

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. This set a foundation to help me realize what kind of business I wanted to build and to work on building that as I go. I learned the power of leveraging so that I could be freed up to focus on what I am best at and what is most important to me.

Start with Why by Simon Sinek. I didn’t read this book until much later, but it became a huge part of what I thought and how I trained people. I realized that we can get ourselves to do almost anything if we have a reason big enough.

Leadership and Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute. I had so many “aha” moments when I read this book. I finally started to understand what was holding me back and what I could do to change it. I think everyone should read this incredible book. It helps people see the thinking process of the man and ways he saw to apply the tools he learned.

The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann. I learned the importance of seeking to add value to people rather than thinking about what I could get from others. It has great principles to help people in business or in their personal lives.

Hidden Solutions All Around You: Why Some People Can See Them and Some Can’t by Daniel R. Castro. This book is full of people who made success out of seeing the opportunities staring them in the face. Opportunities are all around and this book helps people to look at things differently, to look outside the box, and take advantage of the opportunities that have found us and are waiting for us to use them.

The 3rd Alternative: Solving Life’s Most Difficult Problems by Stephen R. Covey. If you want to learn how to have win/win situation in your life, which should be what you are constantly seeking if you want to be truly successful, then read this book. He gives great examples of people who took two opposing solutions and instead of insisting on the one that would benefit them the most, looked for a way that both sides could be benefitted. Amazing things that have benefitted mankind have come about because of this way of thinking. It produces higher quality output and makes companies look like geniuses. This is a great book to encourage out-of-the-box thinking and to teach people solutions based thinking. Everyone should read this who is a manager or on a team of people working together to improve the world.

I could name many many more books, but I am going to stop here for now. I hope these books help you as much as they have helped me.

Contact Info:

• Website: firedupseminar.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/kimberly_sechser?igshid=MzNlNGNkZWQ4Mg==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.sechser?mibextid=ZbWKwL
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-sechser-74074932/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoB6XgP7kJP48Qf25CAUM4w