She's already a published author and an entrepreneur, and she hasn't even graduated from high school yet. She's also a 2nd-degree black belt and a certified martial arts instructor.
And 17-year-old Kailee Billerbeck is just getting started.
Billerbeck, a senior at Monroe High School, started her teen-mentoring business, l.a.f.s., during her sophomore year of high school. The acronym stands for "learning about friends, family, future and schoolGÇ¥ and involves working with younger girls to provide them with a comprehensive skillset to help them successfully navigate through life's trials and tribulations.
L.a.f.s. meets on a weekly basis for interactive sessions facilitated by Billerbeck which are usually oriented towards a specific lesson or theme. One week she invented a life-size game board for the purpose of demonstrating that humans will always encounter setbacks in life, as well as things that push them forward.
As her clients navigated the game, things would pop up like "you got a bad grade on a test, move back three spots.GÇ¥
Sessions usually wind down with her "question jarGÇ¥ which is a way for her clients to ask for advice on different things that are happening in their lives. Questions can be asked anonymously based on client preference.
Her new book, "Your Jar of Wisdom: Learning how to fill your jar,GÇ¥ is available on Amazon.com and is basically an extension of the principles she teaches within her business. Billerbeck offers different bits of wisdom that she has picked up while dealing with both adversity and success in her life.
She was inspired to write it during her junior year, while she was temporarily laid up with a foot injury.
"In that time period I wasn't able to do l.a.f.s. as much because I couldn't drive myself to get the supplies,GÇ¥ said Billerbeck. "But I still wanted to do something to help people.GÇ¥
She also realized that after graduation, she would be going away to college, and she wanted to make sure her l.a.f.s. clients had something that they could rely on in a pinch.
"I won't be here with these girls I've been mentoring since they were in 6th and 7th grade,GÇ¥ said Billerbeck. "I wanted to leave them with something concrete and tangible.GÇ¥
The book includes topics like "how to handle social mediaGÇ¥ and "how to be a leader,GÇ¥ interspersed with advice on time management, goal setting, stress relief and much more. It's essentially broken down into two primary sections; the first part of the book deals with specific emotions that adolescents may encounter in their day-to-day lives, and the second part offers guidance on how to accomplish particular goals.
"I wanted it to have a unique structure to it, so it wasn't like a regular book,GÇ¥ said Billerbeck.
The idea is not to necessarily sit down and read the book from cover to cover, but to use the lessons as they become relevant in the reader's life. In the first part of her book, Billerbeck offers advice on how to negotiate feelings of fear, jealousy or inferiority. In the second section, she offers instruction on how to enjoy life, how to get good grades and how to be a good leader.
She recommends that people read the book to gain specific insight when they encounter a particular struggle. Of course, if someone wants to sit and enjoy her book straight through, she has no objections.
The book, which she started working on in December of last year, was published on June 14.
Billerbeck attributes much of her success in life to her parents, Jason and Renee Billerbeck, as well as her younger sister, Mariah. She also credits her training in martial arts which has helped her learn how to set and achieve goals, and has also served to instill in her a sense of perseverance and determination when it comes to moving forward in life.
Becoming a martial arts instructor was the perfect opportunity for her to pursue another one of her passions. Billerbeck recognized that she wanted to seek some sort of employment which would serve to both fund her endeavors with l.a.f.s. and also enhance her resume' for her upcoming college applications.
A client at Active Martial Arts in Monroe since she was in the 4th grade, Billerbeck became an instructor at the Mill Creek facility. She is certified to teach all ages and all levels.
"It's a lot of fun,GÇ¥ said Billerbeck. "I love my job.GÇ¥
Billerbeck is excited for her senior year, and is looking forward to continuing to pursue her educational goals. With her entrepreneurial spirit, she naturally felt inclined towards marketing courses and thought that perhaps she would attend business school in the future. While she found that she enjoyed the competition aspects of marketing, her aspirations toward business school underwent an important shift.
"To me it feels like they're teaching you how to get money out of people rather than implement a passion,GÇ¥ said Billerbeck. "So I kind of realized that business school wasn't necessarily for me.GÇ¥
Instead, Billerbeck is considering college in either California or New York. Schools on her radar so far include Stanford, the University of San Diego, New York University or Columbia. In the future, she hopes to be able to continue to cultivate the work she does with l.a.f.s. in order to be able to help girls on a larger scale. Billerbeck wants to be able to give back all that she has received.
"I had a really good upbringing from my parents and they instilled a lot of wisdom in me,GÇ¥ said Billerbeck. "My passion is making sure that teenage girls develop the understanding that they have unlimited potential and can achieve whatever they set out to do in life.GÇ¥
Billerbeck will be at the Uppercase Book Shop in Snohomish from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 2 for a book-signing event. Uppercase is located at 1118 1st St. in downtown Snohomish.
To read her blog or to learn more about l.a.f.s., please visit: http://clublafs.com/.
"Remember that you are special. You are loved. You are unique. And you are meant to be on this planet to serve a purpose, a purpose nobody else on this planet can serve because you are you, and nobody is better at being you than you yourself. You can't be anyone else. Take your passions and create your own destiny.GÇ¥ GÇô Kailee Billerbeck
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