We recently connected with Shawn Simons and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Shawn, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Being a burn survivor of a fire that occurred on a college campus when I was a 18 year old freshmen student, I saw that there was a void or lack of education provided to young adults across the country that was relatable or resonated with them. While school administrators or fire department personnel can come in and say pretty much the same things I say, I saw that the students wanted to hear from a live source not one who never actually was involved in an emergency incident. The passion I have to prevent tragedy like what happened to me ever occur again keeps me motivated to keep sharing my story.

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

I am the survivor of a college dormitory fire that occurred at Seton Hall University in New Jersey when I was a freshmen. The fire was a result of a fraternity prank gone wrong where three of my classmates were killed and 58 others were injured, four requiring lengthy hospitalization and rehabilitation. Myself and my roommate were severely burned and our lives were forever changed because of the incident.

After years of recovery and learning how to live in my new burned skin and be confident and comfortable with my physical and mental change, I decided to start my own motivational speaking business where I would go around to colleges and high schools and share my experience with young adults who were preparing to either go to college or currently living on college campuses about the importance of not only their safety but how to use your adversity to your advantage to grow and be a stronger person because of it.

I have been the subject of a New York Times Best Selling book “ After the Fire: A True Story of Friendship and Survival” that follows the road to recovery with my roommate and I which was later made into a documentary titled “After the Fire: A True Story of Heroes and Cowards.” I have traveled all over the country as well as throughout Canada speaking to not only young adults but also members of the fire industry about how important peoples jobs are to make sure students are safer on college campuses and in off campus housing.

I am truly blessed to have survived this tragedy but I am even more blessed to be a vessel to educate and inspire so many people annually. I have the opportunity to do somewhere between 150-200 presentations a year annually and reach thousands and thousands of people who may think nothing like what I endured can happen to them.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social media plays a huge part in my business as it gives me the opportunity to focus one on one with those that have been able to be a part of my program. Sometimes I can be speaking in front of an audience of 1000 people and because of time constraints, I may not be able to answer all questions. Offering not only the opportunity for the audience to follow me on Instagram but encouraging them to leave a comment about what they just saw and to offer words of inspiration or even something they didn’t like about it gives them the platform to communicate directly with me. It is also very important to make sure that you respond back in some fashion whether it’s to like their comment or offer a response because they may feel like I didn’t just brush them off. I have over 30,000 followers on Instagram and while it is impossible to interact with them all, you have to take time to be in their lives too. Commenting on a post or sending a clapping hands emoji when they put something up that they accomplished creates a bond that they can think back to when they saw me during one of my presentations.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think the best way that I have built my reputation and has increased my clientele base is to be fully transparent. Telling my potential clients that what I have to offer may not reach every single person in the audience but I’m positive it will make an impact on the vast majority of them. My subject matter in talking about safety isn’t the “sexiest” or “coolest” topic to talk about especially to young adults but the way I deliver it to them. The references that I use. Even the way you present yourself in the way you dress can be the difference in a successful program or not. Learning these things early on has helped in building a strong reputation that I can stand behind and pitch to clients who are thinking of bringing me in.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.alandshawn.com
• Instagram: Alvaroandshawn
• Linkedin: Shawn Simons