Feature Documentary
Starting at Zero
Reimagining Education in America — my first feature documentary, on what it takes to rebuild learning from the ground up.
I'm Willa Kammerer — founder of Firestarter, and a brand strategist and filmmaker who helps entrepreneurs build magnetic personal brands backed by the tech that lets them scale.
I'm the founder of Firestarter, a premium brand and growth ecosystem helping entrepreneurs build high-caliber personal brands and the strategic tech foundations behind them. I'm the individual out front; Firestarter is the brand and the team of 15+ specialists behind every build. My craft is rooted in brand storytelling, and I run on one belief: magnetic brands and scalable businesses are built when your brand and your infrastructure work together. Today, I bring that to life through the Authority Stack and Firestarter Funnels.
Brand-building is more than strategy — it's self-actualization.
That conviction was forged over fifteen years. Before Firestarter, I was a filmmaker and creative director — I built Firestarter Interactive into a multi-7-figure creative agency serving Ivy League universities, global foundations, and luxury travel brands. I began my career as an intern at New Hampshire Public Radio and studied documentary radio storytelling at the Salt Institute.
After more than a decade finding home in Vermont, Italy, Maine, Manhattan, and Rhode Island, I reinvented my life after divorce and moved to coastal Connecticut with my son — a season that solidified my conviction that the brand you build from the inside out is the one that holds when everything else shifts. I'm currently writing two books, Brand on Fire and Caliber.
A career and a life built the same way — moving toward the yes before the proof arrives, and trusting what I know.
The BeginningI studied at Middlebury, trained in documentary radio at the Salt Institute, and started out at New Hampshire Public Radio. Before I ever built brands, I was learning how to find the true story and tell it well.
2014 · Firestarter InteractiveFirestarter began as a manifesto — a name and a set of beliefs written in permanent marker across a giant sketchpad — long before it was a company. I founded Firestarter Interactive to start carrying that thesis into the world.
The Growth YearsI grew Firestarter Interactive into a multi-7-figure creative agency making brand films for Ivy League universities, global foundations, and luxury travel brands — and was chosen as one of five American filmmakers, the only woman, for a Qantas campaign. I was selected as cohort speaker at the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses graduation.
The Turning PointWhen my son was still a baby, I knew I needed to leave my marriage — and I trusted that knowing before I could explain it. I reinvented my life and moved to coastal Connecticut. That season turned brand-building from a craft into a conviction: it’s self-actualization. When I know something is right, I’m allowed to know it.
Firestarter · The EcosystemI built Firestarter into a premium brand and growth ecosystem with a team of 15+ specialists — home to Firestarter Funnels, the Authority Stack, the Authority Map, and The Firestarter Podcast. The manifesto, finally given its architecture.
What’s Next · BecomingNow I’m writing two books: Brand on Fire, the playbook from my signature talk, and Caliber, the manifesto — the return to that original thesis.
One belief runs through all of it: building something truly your own is the most reliable path to personal freedom — the freedom and flexibility to call your own shots.
Before Firestarter, I built Firestarter Interactive into a multi-7-figure creative agency, telling stories for the world's leading institutions. That craft is the foundation of everything I build today — the full reel lives at firestarterinteractive.com.
Feature Documentary
Reimagining Education in America — my first feature documentary, on what it takes to rebuild learning from the ground up.
Film Portfolio
Fifteen years of stories for Ivy League universities, global foundations, and luxury travel brands — from campus to classroom to the far edges of the map.
Explore the full portfolio →
Whether it's a film, a brand, or the systems behind both — tell me where you are, and I'll help map the path.
Work With MeOr explore the film work & the books.