After surviving life-threatening injuries from an accident, Deputy Chief Peter Cutrer faced a pivotal moment. His injuries meant the end of his firefighting career—but not his passion for the fire service.

Determined to continue making an impact, Cutrer turned to teaching. “I was always interested in teaching in the fire service, and often taught classes on how to be a better and safer firefighter,” Cutrer tells Thinkific. “I decided that although I had physical limitations, I could still help others.”

Initially, Cutrer taught in-person classes, but like many educators, he transitioned to an online format during the pandemic in 2020. Despite looking at other learning management systems, he found Thinkific to be the most user-friendly. “Having a canvas like Thinkific really helped because it’s an easy interface to use,” continues Cutrer. “The platform made it easy to upload high-quality videos and create a polished look.”

“When I teach a class in-person, I can put on a crisp uniform, have polished shoes, and be interactive,” he adds. “You can’t do any of that online, so you need to choose an LMS with a professional interface—where it doesn’t look like you’re just teaching out of your basement office.”

In 2020, he launched his online education platform, Virtual Fire Academy, where he teaches fire and life safety classes for fire inspectors, fire marshals, fire investigators, loss insurance professionals, and other public safety agencies. Since creating the brand, Virtual Fire Academy has developed 39 courses, garnered over 1,000 enrollments, makes six-figures a year in online course sales, and works with well-known clients like Disney, Paramount, Toyota, Emirates, Hilton, The International Atomic Energy Agency, NASA, and more.

Here’s how he made the best out of an unfortunate circumstance, demonstrating to others that you can still be of service—even in the aftermath of a crisis.

Skip ahead:

• He stood out in a competitive market
• He practices the art of engagement
• He stays humble
• He honed his on-camera skills through YouTube
• He embraced automation
• He catered to a global audience
• He priced his courses competitively
• He built his business one step at a time

He stood out in a competitive market

Most people would think that Cutrer’s range of high-calibre clients was the result of a robust advertising and marketing strategy. However, this wasn’t the case. 

Cutrer leaned entirely on word-of-mouth marketing to grow his business—as well as standing out from his competitors. “In any field, you have to set yourself apart by being the best at what you do,” he shares. “If you’re the best at what you do, then you’re going to go places and you won’t have to get there by dishonest means—it will simply happen.”

“It isn’t a complicated or cryptic strategy; it’s an easy algorithm,” Cutrer continues. “Treat people the way you want to be treated and be passionate about what you do.”

He practices the art of engagement

Part of becoming the best at what he does involves teaching his students in an engaging manner. “Make engaging content and people will keep coming back,” he says.

According to Cutrer, he’s sat through terrible classes and has watched boring, monotone training videos in the past. Set on teaching in a different way, he aims to connect with his students’ emotions and have his material spark students’ curiosity. 

To teach in an engaging way, Cutrer has some advice. He suggests that creators should be able to simplify complex problems into easily-understandable content—content that even a child can grasp.“You lose people if your class and instruction isn’t easy to follow,” he says. “You have to engage people’s emotions so that they understand why it’s important and why they need to pay attention.”

“If you can cater to your students’ emotions first, then they’ll latch onto what you say,” continues Cutrer. “Bring yourself down to the level of your students; this helps them get from where they are now to where they want to go.”

He stays humble

Cutrer believes that he teaches for the right reasons: to enhance his students’ knowledge, not to boost his ego. 

In fact, staying humble amidst success is an essential task for a digital creator, according to him; He believes that empathy and humility go a long way. “There are tons of instructors who are full of themselves and want to hear themselves talk,” he says. “That is the worst thing you can do as an instructor because students immediately pick up on it.”

“A lot of people that teach are just doing it for the accolade of being an instructor,” Cutrer continues. “For me, I’m passionate about it, and this comes across in my material.”

The key to staying humble? According to Cutrer, it’s all about demonstrating your passion for  what you teach—and keeping your ‘why’ in the forefront.

He honed his on-camera skills through YouTube

Before launching Virtual Fire Academy, Cutrer honed his video production skills through two YouTube channels he created with his son. These hobby channels—one about barbequing, the other about motorcycles—helped him build confidence in front of the camera and refine his video editing abilities. “Knowing how to produce quality video content made transitioning to online teaching much smoother,” he says.

“Public speaking for me is easy because of my background, but being on-camera took some getting used to,” Cutrer continues.

Since refining his video skills, he’s been able to create high-quality, pre-recorded material for his online academy. Aside from offering engaging video content, he also makes himself available for student questions. “I tell students in the first lesson that there’s a lot of information in each video, and they can pause and rewind as much as they like. If they’re still stumped, I encourage them to reach out.”

To record his content, he uses a DJI Osmo Pocket 3. Then, he edits his content with the Final Cut Pro program.

He embraced automation

To streamline operations, Cutrer leverages Thinkific’s automated tools, including its automated certificate generator, which issues state-accredited certificates upon course completion. “I’m a one-man show, and I need as many tools as I can get to help me be able to do what I’m doing,” Cutrer reveals. “I can’t manually manage issuing certificates to hundreds of students—I’d have to hire someone just to do that.”

He’s also transitioned from using Stripe to Thinkific Payments, making for a seamless payment process and further reducing administrative burdens. “I’m happy Thinkific developed their own payment system,” he notes. “Stripe was just one more thing I had to manage.”

He catered to a global audience

Cutrer’s students span the globe, with 75% based in the U.S. and the rest in countries like Canada, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. 

While his primary growth has been organic, LinkedIn has proven a valuable tool for visibility. “Whenever I post on LinkedIn, I see a spike in inquiries and enrollments,” he shares.

Aside from Linkedin, he hasn’t leaned on social media for marketing or advertising. Eventually, he hopes to get help in this arena, but for now, word-of-mouth marketing has proven successful. 

He priced his courses competitively

To determine his pricing, he looked at his competitors and charged less. “I watch the market and what classes will bear the pricing. I don’t need to be the most expensive, and I also don’t want to undervalue the quality content that I’m putting out.”

“I’m told all the time that I’m undercharging,” he laughs. “But my focus is on creating accessible, high-quality education that engages students and keeps them coming back.”

He built his business one step at a time

Cutrer’s journey shows how resilience and passion can transform adversity into success. Despite life-altering injuries, he built Virtual Fire Academy to educate and inspire others, reaching a global audience with engaging, accessible courses.

His advice for aspiring creators is simple: stay passionate, connect with your audience, and build your business step by step. “Building an online business can feel overwhelming,” Cutrer empathizes, “but you don’t get there overnight. Build it one piece at a time.”

Cutrer’s story is a powerful reminder that setbacks can lead to new opportunities to make a lasting impact.

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