Hello, my name is Iris Grimm and my mission is to provide my audience and clients the inspiration and tools to tear down walls, expand their boxes and experience more the rewards of an active life.

I grew up in East Germany behind the iron curtain, just 30 miles away from a land mined, barbed wire border that separated thousands of families and friends.

My life in the little village Frauenwald was peaceful and fairly predictable. At the age of 6 years I joined my schools cross country team. As probably all kids at that age, I just did it for fun but by the time I was 10-12 years old, I was involved in almost daily practice, regular training camps and weekend competitions. It felt good to compete, give your best and bring home the trophies!

In East Germany students learned 2 foreign languages, Russian starting in the 5th grade and English in the 7th grade. I tremendously enjoyed learning foreign languages and so at the age of 14 I quit sports to pursue my passion for foreign languages. I enrolled in a foreign language specialty school and moved to a boarding school away from home.

November 1989 was the month that changed our life - well the world - altogether. The communist government in East Germany succumbed their power which opened unimaginable opportunities for me. At that time I was a student at the university. Even though the situation in Germany was unclear and unpredictable at that time I decided to be proactive and take my life in my own hand. With just 2 suitcases I moved to West Germany to find a job and go to college.

In 1994 I graduated from college and my next dream was to live in a foreign country. Therefore I moved to the US in 1995.

My life has taken turns that I never imagined. As a citizen of East Germany life was pretty much preprogrammed and words such as living your dreams or experience the richness of life were foreign vocabulary. But once the iron curtain came down, suddenly people had to adapt immediately to the new situation and act proactively by tearing down their own walls and taking actions.

The lessons, stories, and inspirations that I share are designed to tear down walls - walls of fear, prejudice, and inactivity. I am an expert at tearing down walls, taking risks and accomplishing goals.

I have learned that life is up to me. The biggest rewards happen to me when I take risks and step into the unknown. My theme has become, "I am not afraid of dying, I am afraid of not living."

The journey has never been easy and setbacks have been common. I share my knowledge and my expertise with others. My mission is to inspire, empower and encourage my audience to tear down their walls as I have been doing and I want them to say, "I can do it too."

I live by what I teach and I share real life examples both from my own experiences and from others I have surrounded myself with.

I have made major mistakes in my life. I was 30 pounds overweight and I know the effect this has on one's self-esteem and overall well-being.

I have worked in jobs where I was underappreciated, underpaid and unfulfilled. I have lived to please others and put my needs second. I have been locked in fear of failure, fear of rejection, and fear of loss. I missed many opportunities since I felt too overwhelmed to make a clear decision. I live far way from my family and have felt that I am not the good daughter who is there to support them. I experienced many business setbacks due to my belief that my programs weren't perfect yet.

Can you relate? Do you face a similar challenge right now?

I am not here to talk about uncalculated risks but instead entering a closer relationship with you and feeling empowered to tear down the walls that hold you back.

It isn't always easy but it is worth it and so are you.