Episode 8: Sara Kooperman – Trial by Fire

THE ILLUSTRATION

I have been presenting in the fitness industry for almost 10 years now. A few years ago while presenting at the IDEA World conference I met Sara Kooperman. You might say I got discovered by Sara Kooperman. I think she was on a scouting mission at a session I was presenting at and she came up to me afterwards to tell me that I should present for SCW. A few years and a few SCW conferences later here we are today.

I am always honored to take part in the SCW conferences. Their diverse education and awesome support TEAM makes every conference amazing.

Sara has achieved many things. She is a successful business owner and advisor, she is a keynote speaker, published author, webinar host, podcast presenter and sought-after industry trail-blazer. SCW has been in business for 38 years. Sara is in the Fitness Hall of Fame. That being said, wherever there is success there is also struggle and that is why we asked Sara to be a guest on the Overcomer’s podcast.

In this episode Sara shares about her first business failure, lessons learned, losing everything in a fire and how she overcame these things. Sara shares her stories in ways that are sure to make you laugh.

One of my favorite parts of the interview happened when Sara shares about bouncing back from losing everything in a fire. As I listened to her tell her story about rebuilding in silence I was reminded of the Rudyard Kipling poem “If”. Here is the excerpt that I thought of

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

Sara demonstrates what it means to be an Overcomer. She does this with her persistence, resourcefulness and Never Give Up attitude.

I hope today’s show brings you hope, inspiration and wisdom. If you enjoyed it, please make sure you share it with your friends, co-workers, and family on your social media.

MORE ON THE EPISODE

7:36 – 8:14 – Sara gets shot in the butt by Macaulay Culkin

9:43 – 10:35 – In this clip Sara shares how SCW originally got its name. It’s a great story on the humble beginnings of small business.

10:45 – 11:45 – You just never know where your inspiration will come from. Sara Kooperman shares in this clip that there is bar crawl in Chicago called Midnight Mania that was the inspiration for naming the conferences which she founded Mania Conventions.

17:14 – 20:17 – Many business owners have suffered losses especially in this past year but do you know that it is always part of the process? SCW Fitness Education was founded by Sara Kooperman and has been in business for 38 years. It is the largest provider of continuing education conferences in the world but in order to still be in existence that had to overcome a fire that literally took everything from them.

21:31 – 22:35 – What would you do if you lost everything and you did not have the money necessary to keep your dream alive. Sara lost her entire Mania conference business in a fire and did not have the money necessary to rebuild but she did not give up. Instead she got resourceful and figured out how to do things on her own and with the help of her TEAM.

29:16 – 32:22 – The person with a strong enough why will always figure out the how. Viktor E. Frankl who survived a Nazi Holocaust prison camp said it this way ‘Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’. Sara of SCW shares in this clip her why for being the Overcomer that she is.

36:30 – 38:01 – Sara of SCW says it can be kind of fun with the struggles. You have to learn to enjoy the Journey even the adversities and stay on the path that you are supposed to be on despite the obstacles because no path is without obstacles and on the wrong path the obstacles could be worse. “It may be raining today but it will be sunny tomorrow”