As the Founder and President of New Day Education and Motivation, Chief Rebecca Strobl has dedicated her life to serving her community since 2007 through Fire and Emergency Medical services as a volunteer.
Rebecca’s qualifications include being a licensed State of Georgia EMT-Intermediate and a certified Health and Safety Institute (HSI) instructor. She has also contributed as an Advisor for Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services Explorer Post 469 since 2012. In addition, she made history as the first female fire chief in the Lake Arrowhead Volunteer Fire Department’s and Cherokee County’s history. Rebecca’s dedication to serving her community and fellow volunteers remained steadfast until she retired from the volunteer fire department in 2020.
Rebecca’s professional background extends beyond emergency services with over two decades of experience in new business development, client retention, employee engagement, training, team building, and motivational speaking. She has captivated audiences worldwide with her ability to weave knowledge, enthusiasm, and humor together in an engaging manner. Her various skills in Corporate America and grassroots volunteerism have honed these skills. Her passion lies in inspiring others to embrace learning and personal growth. 
She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree and has completed FEMA – Incident Command and Management Systems Courses 100, 200, 300, 400, 700, 701, 702, 703, 704, 706, 775 and 800. Over the years, she has been recognized with multiple awards and honors for her contributions to training, new business development contributions, and exemplary service as a volunteer firefighter.
Furthermore, Rebecca holds the prestigious Certified Protection Professional (CPP) certification from the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS). This global “gold standard’ certification demonstrates her expertise across the seven key domains of security. Rebecca has the privilege of serving as the Chair of the Greater Atlanta ASIS International Chapter, where she continues contributing to the security management profession.
Connect with Rebecca on Facebook.
Austyn Guest is a young entrepreneur from the The Kid Biz Expo program.
Layla Dierdorff is a young entrepreneur from the The Kid Biz Expo program.
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Kid Biz Radio. Kid Biz Radio creates conversations about the power of entrepreneurship and the positive impact that journey can have on kids. For more information, go to Kid Bispo. Com. Now here’s your host.
Layla Dierdorff: Hello. Welcome to Kid Biz Radio. I’m Layla.
Austyn Guest: And I’m Austyn.
Layla Dierdorff: And today we have an awesome guest with us in the studio, Rebecca, with New Day Education and Motivation.
Austyn Guest: Hi, Rebecca. Thank you so much for being with us here today.
Rebecca Strobl: Thank you very much for having me. I really appreciate it.
Layla Dierdorff: Of course. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your business?
Rebecca Strobl: Yeah, absolutely. So again, Rebecca, I am an actually retired volunteer fire chief. I’ve made history in this county by becoming the first female fire chief. So my volunteer department up in Lake Arrowhead in this county, little did I know, I was making history. I. Yeah, I just raised my hand to help my community. And the next thing I know, I’m getting letters of accommodation from congressmen and all these other people telling me. So that was cool. And then I also have been in the physical security world for the last 20 years. I’m a licensed security professional. So when you think of security guards, you think of cameras. Yeah, I’ve been selling those services, running sales teams that sold those services. So I’m just all I’m also an advisor for the Cherokee County Fire and Explorer Explorer program. Okay. So all kinds of different hats.
Layla Dierdorff: All kinds of things.
So how did you get started in this business?
Rebecca Strobl: So with my current company, New Day Education Motivation, I actually started that because on a sales call cool story I love this. So I was on a sales call, I was working for a staffing company, and I was trying to convince him to use our staffing company to get him forklift operators and those types of people very quickly. In a conversation, I realized that that really wasn’t going to go anywhere and we weren’t the right fit for him. So he started talking about his workers. And I had mentioned at the time I was running the fire department, I was a fire chief, and I was doing CPR and AED and first aid classes for my community. So he’s like, oh, you do those classes? I said, yeah. And he goes, well, the people we have suck.
Rebecca Strobl: He’s like, well, you know, again, these this is like, you know, construction HVAC industry. They don’t beat the bush. So he said that they had had some incidents and he didn’t feel people were prepared. So he’s like I would love for you to teach us. And I was like, well, number one, we technically shouldn’t be having this conversation.
Rebecca Strobl: Because I’m supposed to be trying to get you to sign a staffing contract.
Austyn Guest: Yeah.
Rebecca Strobl: And I’m like, I would love to, but it would have to be on a Saturday because the full time commitments. And so he basically told me, well, I want you to do it. And are you available on this Saturday? I’m like, sure, you okay? So I’m going to have you do it. I’m going to have you teach my guys. And by this date, I need you to be a business. I need you to have your tax ID number. I need you to be registered with the state of Georgia.
Layla Dierdorff: Very, like, direct?
Austyn Guest: Yes, very.
Rebecca Strobl: So I did it. So that’s how I started my business. And I’ve still maintained as a client. And then I picked up a couple of more and maintained those for the last six years.
Austyn Guest: And that’s really impressive. Yeah.
Rebecca Strobl: And then last August I decided that instead of just doing this as a Saturday business, I realized after the last 20 plus year journey started my working career at 16, working at McDonald’s. Yeah, yeah. So I’ve been working for a long time.
Austyn Guest: Yes.
Rebecca Strobl: What I realized last fall is that I’m good at sales, but I’m passionate about educating people to be prepared in emergencies. Yeah, and to make a difference in their life and others. Yeah.
Layla Dierdorff: So on this journey, what have you done that has helped you become a successful entrepreneur that you are today?
Rebecca Strobl: Having conversations with other entrepreneurs?
Austyn Guest: It always helps. Yeah.
Rebecca Strobl: And being in the security industry the last 20 years, there’s a bit of a progression in that world where you get into it because you just got out of the military, or you just got out of law enforcement, and then you do that for a while. You work for somebody else, you work in a security company, and then you get to the point where, you know what, I have enough experience.
Austyn Guest: Certifications, do it myself. Let me do it myself. And so there’s like.
Rebecca Strobl: A plethora of people to talk to that have started their own companies. And it was actually one of my good friends that when I was running a sales team, I managed people that reported to his business unit. Okay, he’s the one that encouraged me to start, you know, to really focus 100% of my efforts. And after that conversation, he’s like, you need to go for it.
Austyn Guest: Just do it. You know, you’re.
Rebecca Strobl: Getting to the point where, like, you’re getting to that age where if you don’t, you’re not going to do it. So just jump off the cliff.
Layla Dierdorff: And yeah, I like that.
Rebecca Strobl: And he connected me with his marketing person that set up my website and then other people. So really it was those relationships that I’ve been developing over the last 20 years, okay, that I was able to reach out to and bounce things off of.
Austyn Guest: That’s very cool.
Layla Dierdorff: Love it, love it. Okay.
Austyn Guest: We have had several different kinds of answers to this question, but what do you define success as?
Rebecca Strobl: I define success as doing what you absolutely love and making a difference in other people’s lives. And I firmly believe that when you do that, the money and the finances will follow. But ultimately, I can tell you, running emergency calls and having to face death and see things that in those final moments of people’s lives, they are not asking us as EMTs and firefighters and telling us what’s in their bank account. No, they’re calling out for loved ones. They’re running through their mind what they did or what they didn’t do. Mhm. And that’s how I want to live my life. That in my last moments there’s not going to be regrets because I might not have a penny to my name, but by God I.
Austyn Guest: Know that I gave it my best.
Rebecca Strobl: And I helped as many people as I could.
Austyn Guest: That’s a good way to go or.
Rebecca Strobl: Decide what happens on the end. That’s a good.
Austyn Guest: I mean, if you do what you love, you don’t work a day in your life, or so they say. But yeah. So speaking of some regrets you hope not to have in the future. Do you have any regrets, um, in your journey to becoming an entrepreneur or maybe like setbacks that you had?
Rebecca Strobl: One of the regrets I would have is that when I decided to jump in and focus on this full time, I wish I would have prepared a little bit better before I just jumped off, because I had been working for a security company and I resigned from that position in April. Then I went to work for another one for a little bit, and then all last summer I was like, oh, I’ll just get back on the hamster wheel, I’ll work for somebody else. And then last fall I decided to do it. So I really wish, looking back, that I had taken those months and.
Austyn Guest: Built a little bit more of a pipeline for myself. Yeah. That’s fine.
Layla Dierdorff: That’s smart. Um, do you have any advice for any aspiring entrepreneurs to help prevent some of those regrets, or just any advice in general?
Rebecca Strobl: Talk. Find people that are doing what you want to do and that love what you want to do.
Layla Dierdorff: Yeah.
Austyn Guest: So story does help. Yes. So yeah.
Rebecca Strobl: Don’t find an entrepreneur that’s like hating life.
Austyn Guest: Yeah.
Rebecca Strobl: And it’s like, you know, Oscar the Grouch is like a positive person compared to this person you’re talking to. Okay. Find someone that really loves it and is story time about that is when I was elected to be the volunteer fire chief of Lake Arrowhead. Again, my background is sales, security, sales. Before that, I was had a nursing background. I worked as a CNA and I was on that. My my dream as a little tiny thing was to be a medical missionary to go overseas somewhere. Africa, India somewhere. Yeah. And just plant and help a bunch of people. Yeah. You know, so I’m doing that in a different way.
Austyn Guest: I’m just not in a village in.
Rebecca Strobl: India right now. Yeah. You know.
Austyn Guest: Yeah. It’s more local.
Rebecca Strobl: Yeah, exactly. So when I was elected as a fire chief, I thought to myself, I don’t know anything about being a fire chief. I mean, I know how to be a firefighter. I know how to be an EMT. I know how to train people. I know how to train my firefighters. So I actually started reaching out to my former instructors that put me through fire school and EMT school, and then just started looking on the internet for other female fire chiefs. So I started making phone calls and emailing and getting anybody to talk to me. And so the few ladies that did call me back, I’m like, hey, hello, honey.
Austyn Guest: Yeah, this is this.
Rebecca Strobl: Is what I’m doing, what advice you can give me. And so I literally I filled, uh, notepads full of notes from these ladies as far as what books to read, what to do. And they were a tremendous help.
Layla Dierdorff: I like that a lot. Yeah. So we’ve talked about the past and the present. Let’s talk about some future things. Um, do you have any future goals for your business? Short term, long term, long term anything?
Austyn Guest: Yeah, I.
Rebecca Strobl: Would say a long term goal that I have. And depending on how hard I work and what happens, it may not be long term. But the one goal I have is to get to a point where I’m so busy with CPR, first aid, bloodborne pathogens, fire safety classes that I have to hire other instructors to keep up with the demand, and then I can move over to the more motivation part of my.
Austyn Guest: Company.
Rebecca Strobl: And do more speeches and be in more media opportunities like this to inspire others. Because I can tell you that when I was in your shoes and your age, um, there was very few people, if I can think of maybe one individual, but I had nobody in my life that was encouraging me and inspiring me to be my best being an entrepreneur. Oh lord. No, that was yeah, that was not. That wasn’t an across the ocean.
Austyn Guest: Yeah, my mom always said that. Like, as her generation growing up, it was always the one thing you had to do was go to college. That’s how you’ll be successful in life. That’s what you were supposed to do. And now here she is running kid biz with Renee. So.
Layla Dierdorff: Yeah, my mom’s always talked about how she just regretted regretted not being an entrepreneur sooner because of just the pressures that was put on her. So she’s like, made sure to never put those on anyone like me or Harper.
Austyn Guest: So that’s incredible. Okay, so these are kind of more in depth questions. So take your time with answering. Um, if you had the attention of the whole world for five minutes, everyone was paying attention and listening to what you were saying, what would you say?
Rebecca Strobl: I would say every single person that’s on the planet. You were designed for a purpose. You have unique talents, you have unique skills, and you have the power to make a massive difference and bless other people’s lives. So use those, figure out what those are, whatever just excites you and you’re passionate about and use them. Don’t let anybody tell you that it’s it’s wrong or anybody tell you that, well, you’re not good enough. Yes, you are good enough because you have a talent I don’t have. You have a talent I don’t have. And that’s what I would do because I see that time and time again. Especially being an advisor with the explorer posts is everyone has so much potential, and we spend too much times in our lives telling ourselves and letting other people tell us about how all this isn’t right. And you can’t do this and you can’t do that. Yes, we can, but we can do what we were designed to do.
Austyn Guest: Yeah.
Layla Dierdorff: Um, another question. If you woke up tomorrow without your business, what would be your first steps to recovery if you even wanted to recover?
Rebecca Strobl: I would figure out why I don’t have a business anymore.
Austyn Guest: It just disappeared out of thin air. You have no idea where it went. It as if it never existed.
Rebecca Strobl: Well, I would be doing a lot of praying.
Austyn Guest: And I would.
Rebecca Strobl: Reevaluate, think. Okay, well, I thought that that was a good business plan, but maybe not. And sort of like what I did when I became fire chief. Start making a whole lot of phone calls and talking to people. Yeah.
Layla Dierdorff: Communication, networking, all the things.
Austyn Guest: That always helps. Mhm. Okay. So after said deep more in thought questions. We have a quick this or that answer as quick as you can. It’s going to be just simple this or that. All right. Cats or dogs.
Layla Dierdorff: Cats Spider-Man or Batman.
Austyn Guest: Batman books or movies. Books.
Layla Dierdorff: Waffle or curly fries.
Austyn Guest: Curly fries. Mountains or the beach.
Rebecca Strobl: Oh, man. That’s a mountains.
Layla Dierdorff: Sweet or salty?
Austyn Guest: Salty chocolate or fruity candy?
Layla Dierdorff: Chocolate cake or pie? Pie.
Austyn Guest: Okay. This question every time. Lower high rise jeans.
Rebecca Strobl: I don’t even know the difference, so I’ll just take one. Low rise jeans.
Layla Dierdorff: Comedy or.
Austyn Guest: Horror? Comedy? I personally would have said horror, but that. Okay. Well, thank you very much, Rebecca, for hanging out with us today. We really appreciate it. Can you tell everyone how they can get in touch with you and check out what you’re doing in the future?
Rebecca Strobl: Absolutely. You can go to my website. It’s newday education and motivation.com. And if I want to tell everybody that’s listening, if you’re having a rough day and you’re feeling discouraged with life or you need to pick me up, go to my website newday. Education and motivation. Com go to the Be Inspired page and you’ll see some of my poems and motivational quotes.
Layla Dierdorff: Very nice. Well, fantastic! We really enjoyed our time with you today, and we know our audience will get so much out of hearing your story. Thanks for listening and we’ll see you on the next one.
Austyn Guest: Awesome!
