Become the Fire:
Transform Life's Chaos into Business and Personal Success
By Elisa A. Schmitz
A trailblazing Latina entrepreneur shows how to turn the obstacles that can especially block the progress of women and BIPOC into the unstoppable fuel of fulfillment, accomplishment, and success
What does it mean to become the fire? It means not allowing yourself to be in the fire, getting burned, but instead using the fire to ignite your motivation and drive, passion, and grit. It means not focusing on what you don’t have or can’t do, but instead leveraging what you do have and what you can do. It’s about seeing life’s fire as fuel to propel your success.
Elisa Schmitz is no stranger to life’s fire. The child of a Puerto Rican mother and a Yugoslavian immigrant father, Schmitz knows what it means to feel like an outsider, and she learned to use her “differentness” to make a difference. As a child, she lived in Puerto Rico; war-torn Beirut, Lebanon; and finally, suburban Chicago. All along, she created what she needed to survive and thrive. She learned to read whatever situation she was in — one of the skills that led to her success as an entrepreneur and one of the ten lessons she teaches here, which also include:
- becoming visionary and owning your authentic self
- getting comfortable with being uncomfortable
- being gritty and courageous
- making friends with failure
- being your best, despite your circumstances
These practical, actionable lessons will propel anyone who wants to start something, grow something, or become something they’ve always wanted to be. They provide a road map for dreamers who want to be doers, and for doers who need help turning their spark into a flame.
Elisa A. Schmitz is an award-winning entrepreneur and professional journalist. She’s the Latina founder and CEO of 30Seconds.com, an inspiring digital media platform that makes the world a happier, healthier, and more delicious place — 30 seconds at a time. She’s also the founder of iParenting, a “Best of the Web” digital media company that was acquired by the Walt Disney Company. After the sale, Elisa worked for Disney as director and executive editor of the Disney Interactive Media Group. She has been a newspaper columnist, magazine editor, radio and video host, and creator of content and marketing programs for Fortune 500 companies. Elisa earned her bachelor’s degree in communication arts from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and her master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University. She lives in the Chicago area. More information at www.ElisaSchmitz.com and www.BecometheFire.com.
