Kim Strobel

Ignite Your Spark & Unleash Your Potential

In this thought-provoking and compelling keynote, Kim shares how we can reprogram our brains to become more positive and step into our power.  When our happiness and well-being are at the forefront, employees are ten times more engaged, 31% more productive, and three times more creative.
 
Emotions are at the heart of what teachers do and why they do it. Educators come to teaching with dreams of changing the odds for disadvantaged children and inspiring a love for learning. Unfortunately, research shows that 40-50 percent of teachers will leave the profession within the first five years. Stress among teachers has reached unprecedented levels.

Teaching is an emotional practice, and teachers need support in strengthening their social and emotional skills to manage the stress that comes with teaching and stay in the profession for the long term.

Well-being” takes the stage front and center, and how we can create fulfilling lives while also working to improve performance in life and workplace success.
 
Kim unpacks the positive psychology science and research that pivots the crowd towards optimism. She asks, “Would you press a button to increase your happiness levels by 40% and your productivity levels by 31% while also having 300% more creativity on a Monday morning? When people respond, “Yes!” she explains how to achieve this.

Her inspiring stories and practical tips for well-being leave the audience feeling inspired and full of hope for creating their own happiness within their profession and their personal lives.

When you reset your brain toward positive, you become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive in life—including your work life. 

How to Reclaim Your Purpose and Ignite Your Passion

As someone who has experienced moments of powerlessness in my personal life, as well as in my career as an educator, I’m all too familiar with how easy it is to feel helpless. Teachers, in general, are struggling right now. Educators feel they are working in a time of chaos; they are over-worked, overwhelmed, and over-stressed.

Some have lost a lot of their joy.

And what concerns me most is the toll these feelings are taking on them and how it’s affecting their lives, their classrooms, and their students.

But I believe that sometimes it’s out of chaos that solutions cry out. Teachers need to be reminded of their “why” to experience professional growth in education—and they need tools to help them navigate the ever-changing landscape of this profession.



During this keynote, I share the story of a very special student who had a profound impact on my life. Teachers are moved to tears when they hear about this student who faced challenges not just in the classroom, but also at home. I share this story because it drives home how truly important it is for teachers to remember and embrace their “why”—because this student taught me a lot about my own reasons for teaching.



I’m determined to help teachers rediscover their passion for teaching, but more than anything, I want them to reclaim their lives and stand proud on this path they have chosen. I want to empower them, because they are the ones who step in our classrooms 180 days a year and hold great influence on our children.

What they do matters greatly, and the fact that they feel called to teach … well, this is truly a service of the heart

Self-care is an overused phrase that doesn't get to the heart of what educators are facing each day. They are told to practice "self-care" when they are already drowning in a sea of mental and physical fatigue and exhaustion. It’s time to replace the phrase "self-care" with Radical Wellness.

It's radical because it's uncomfortable and messy, and it requires us to examine our lives from the inside out, including taking a step back and making some much-needed moves in our lives. It is not a random, long-overdue pampering with a facial or a walk in the park.

It is restructuring our lives with the understanding that not only do we deserve to feel good physically and emotionally, but also that those around us – our co-workers, our families, our colleagues – need us to be the best versions of ourselves.

When I talk about radical wellness, I’m talking about the thoughts and beliefs we act on daily - sometimes without even knowing they are operating in the background of our minds.

Boosting Motivation and Achievement

Everyone knows that not all change is good or even necessary. But in a world that is constantly changing, it is to our advantage to learn how to adapt and enjoy something better.” –Kenneth H. Blanchard"

Life is always going to be full of hardships, adversities, drama, and disruptions. Roadblocks and tough times are inevitable. How will you respond?  Your mindset has everything to do with this.

When we can learn how to pivot, persist, and adapt rather than crack, crumble, and give up.  We can learn to see stress as a challenge and create new opportunities within our schools, businesses, and organizations where our beliefs become the very center of what we know is possible. 

According to mindset psychology researcher Carol Dweck, “A growth mindset is the understanding that we can develop our abilities and intelligence.” Research has shown that our implicit beliefs about our abilities intelligence can greatly impact our achievement in all areas of our life.

A person’s mindset (student, employee, etc.) and the mindset of those around you will have a significant impact on your life.

In this keynote, Kim discusses how a person's intelligence has a significant impact on their motivation, effort, and approach to challenges. Those who believe their abilities are changeable are more likely to embrace challenges and persist despite failure. 

We all need reminding of the value of productive struggle and feeling safe taking risks to learn something new. We all want our children, students, and employees to have confidence and feel like they can positively impact their community. We want them to believe they have the power to make our world a better place.