Shelli Varela is a Story Alchemist, Author, 2x TEDx speaker, and host of the Forbes-featured podcast The YES Effect. She has also served as a front-line Fire Captain with almost 3 decades of service.

As a 3rd generation storyteller of Native American descent, Shelli teaches how to use story as a catalyst to build a “Bridge of Possibility” for both the storyteller as well as the listener.

Utilizing her own story which follows her from a 108 lb manicurist, transforming her mind, body, and skillset to become her city’s first female firefighter in 1162 days, Shelli shows how story—and in particular our inner story—can be the catalyst to enable us to accomplish the inconceivable.

A recipient of the Firefighter of the Year Award (twice), and a former traveling member of Firefighters Without Borders, as well as the founder of Camp Ignite—a bootcamp teaching teen girls about firefighting and possibility—Shelli uses her voice and the power of story to inspire, empower, and remind others of their greatness.

While a well-told story serves, spreads, and sells… it also reminds us that we are not alone and provides a space where we can all Believe, Belong, and Become.