Introducing: On Fire
Profiles of the World’s Most Passionate People
This post was originally published on Substack. You can subscribe to my new weekly newsletter ‘On Fire’ here.
I’m Krista Stryker, and I’m your guide through the extraordinary lives of super passionate people. I’m also pretty passionate myself — I’m a writer, jiu-jitsu blue belt, bookworm, cold brew fanatic, traveler, animal lover, psychology nerd, EDM junkie, productivity dork, and handstand fanatic.
But what really fires me up is passion itself — and especially the people who put their whole hearts into something. What drives them? What separates the super passionate people from the rest? How does passion change them? And how can we infuse our daily lives with that same fervor? How might doing so change us?
Through stories and actionable takeaways, On Fire explores these questions while bringing to life the most fully alive people on the planet. It will demystify the spark behind some people we already know and love, while amplifying others who are hiding in plain sight.
I’m passionate about passion in part because I know how empty life can be without it. After graduating college, I felt stuck, the spark I’d felt in childhood long gone. But then, while out of a job and unsure how to move forward with my life, I fell in love with fitness — more specifically, high-intensity interval training. That led me to create 12 Minute Athlete, a global platform dedicated to helping people discover their inner athlete through intense, efficient workouts — in 2013.
And since one passion almost inevitably leads to another, my focus on nurturing athletes led me to discover my interest in the broader question of how people nurture their potential. Now, I’m also Chief Performance Coach at the Center for Human Potential, where I get to guide people on their journey toward self-actualization — helping them find their deepest strengths, values, and their sense of why they’re here on this planet.
I started On Fire driven by a core belief: passion is fundamental to our joy and purpose in life. This belief extends beyond our individual passions. By stepping outside ourselves and engaging with the passions of others, we enrich our own lives. Ironically, the more we expose ourselves to other diverse passions, the more vibrant and fulfilling our own lives become. Doing so reminds us just how full of wonder the world is — and it brings us new life if we’re feeling burnt out or ready for a change.
So join me on this journey, where we’ll get inspired together and rekindle our passion for life, one story at a time.
What to Expect?
Every Sunday, when we get a brief pause from the whirlwind of our modern daily lives, I will deliver one story to your inbox — a short profile of a life especially fueled by passion. Think of it as your weekly kindling.
From circus performers to humanistic psychologists and martial arts superstars to specialist chefs, gamers, and everyone in between, “On Fire” aims to be more than just a read. It’s a nudge, a prompt, an invitation to ask: What’s my ‘thing’?
Subscribe and join a growing community of passion-seekers and let’s set the world “On Fire” together.
Fired up,
Krista Stryker
PS. Know a super passionate person whose story must be told? Point them my way! Suggest someone I should profile here.
