Photography by Mission Specific Ventures
Photography by Jim O’Dell, First Five Photography
Photography provided by Kimiko Donahue
Arizona agency-owner-turned-consultant goes from motorcycle
racer to 3-Gun shooter to metal cover band vocalist inside careers
By Christopher W. Cook
In the insurance industry, certain dedicated young professionals stand out among
their peers and are members of an elite squad of individuals. These are their stories. “Dun dun.”
From a young age, Kimiko Donahue, sales director at Premier Strategy Box, has liked going fast. Whether it be from one business venture to the next or one extracurricular activity turned side-career to another, she’s always on the move.
But like many in the insurance industry, Donahue “fell” into it. “I was a young, soon-to-be single mom in my 20s working at a car wash doing ticket sales, and had just transitioned from motorcycle sales,” she says. “I took a role with my parent’s insurance agent as a CSR when I was six months pregnant in 2009.
“I fell in love with the industry, and it blessed me to be able to achieve many personal and professional goals. A huge thanks to the State Farm agents who helped mold me into who I am today in insurance.”
From her CSR role, Donahue transitioned to a sales position before opening her own American Family Insurance captive agency in 2012. She followed that venture with a brief stint as a broker with Pacific International Insurance before starting an independent agency, Stratton Everything Insurance, from scratch in 2019.
In 2021, Donahue earned her Certified Insurance Counselors (CIC) designation from the Risk & Insurance Education Alliance. Outside of insurance, Donahue is a certified Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) Trainer and a Master Practitioner of NLP and Mental & Emotional Release.
“After a successful exit from my agency in 2022, I joined an amazing home insurance insurtech, Openly, then I hopped into consulting and coaching in 2024,” Donahue says. “The cool part about consulting on the outside and not being in the daily grind is I get to help people work on their business instead of in their business.”
In 2023, she also co-founded BizFit Meal Solutions, a meal prep company offering delivery and pick-up services of pre-prepared meals in the Tucson area. “When I started working from home, I wanted a nice meal delivery service because I wasn’t a good cook,” Donahue says with a laugh. “There weren’t any meal prep services near my house, so I ended up starting one.
“I got super lucky that my boyfriend’s little brother used to work for a meal prep company in the kitchen, so he knew all the ins and outs. That’s who I partnered with; he runs and operates the majority of it.”
Involvement, accolades, and advice
Having been diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome when she was in fourth grade, Donahue has followed and been a supporter of the Tourette Association of America (TAA). “I am a huge advocate for anti-bullying and being a voice for the neurodivergent community,” she says.
“Growing up with Tourette’s was difficult, especially when you’re a kid and don’t understand people’s perceptions,” she says. “I was lucky to have parents who were super supportive. They sent me to a private school in my middle school years, so I got to be around other kids with all kinds of learning differences and grow up around the neurodiverse crowd.”
While she currently isn’t involved with the TAA, Donahue hopes to begin doing speaking engagements around neurodiversity.
“[R]emember to celebrate your wins, even the little ones. It’s easy to keep on keeping on but when you celebrate your wins, it allows you to reflect, enjoy, and then set new ones. Be sure to teach this and share it with your team, too.”
—Kimiko Donahue
Sales Director
Premier Strategy Box
“I am also currently involved in a pro bono coaching program through Empowerment, Inc. (an organization specializing in alternative and integrative approaches to psychology, human understanding, and personal growth). I enjoy helping others release any baggage they have around money and wealth, so they are aware of their values and goals.”
Donahue has had several mentors and coaches throughout her career. Thanking all of them “could be an entire book, and one day may be,” she says with a laugh. “One who really sticks out to me to this day is a corporate co-worker who encouraged me to open my own agency. He reminded me that my résumé building would be me starting and growing my own business.
“Also, a big thank you to Brad Wright [president of Kovach] for being you. You made a huge impact on my career within a small window.
“I would also like to give a big shout-out to [thought leader and author] Jeff Arnold; he’s been a fantastic mentor and sounding board throughout the years, as well,” she continues. “I enjoy his empathic and creative thinking. ADHD friends for the win!”
For young professionals starting out their careers, Donahue advises to “own the fact that you’re young,” she says. “I started when I was 20. I was young, looked young, and probably sounded even younger. Model professional speakers, shadow other agents you want to sound like, and while some may challenge this: dress professionally. It helps alleviate the initial ‘you look really young’ comment. Because it will happen.
“When it does happen, just address the elephant in the room. You’re young, but you’re offering a fresh set of eyes. You are intentional. You are on top of your education. You are the licensed professional.”
Donahue also stresses the importance of celebrating wins as a team. “I always enjoyed winning trips as a captive agent. We got fun plaques and awards to show for it. It was very rewarding when our agency won ‘insurance agency of the year’ in our local Tucson newspaper.
“When you’re a business owner, it’s important to create rewards for yourself so that you remember to celebrate your wins, even the little ones. It’s easy to keep on keeping on but when you celebrate your wins, it allows you to reflect, enjoy, and then set new ones. Be sure to teach this and share it with your team, too.”
Side careers and family
When she isn’t doing “insurance” stuff, Donahue has kept busy over the years with a variety of passions turned into side careers. “I am creative at heart, and grounded in taking action,” she says. “Insurance has allowed me to do many things I’ve always wanted to do.”
While this rings true, Donahue started her first activity before beginning her insurance career.
“I was into motorcycles in high school so, during my senior year, I wrote a paper on how I was going to get my motorcycle license and did such a good job on the plan and action steps that for graduation my parents got me a Ninja 250 and I started riding around town,” she says. “I learned at a young age that I liked to go fast, but being on the streets was not the place to do that, so I ended up getting into track riding. As I got better, people said, ‘Hey, you should look at racing.’ I fell in love with it.”
Donahue started competitive racing in 2011 and would race at least twice a month all over the Southwest United States, including Arizona, California and New Mexico.
“In 2014, I crashed in a race, got a concussion, and decided I probably didn’t want to do that again,” she says. “I was in second place, trying to fight for my second-place position, and I just made a rookie move and grabbed too much front brake and went over the handlebars. That was all she wrote.
“In racing, I had a thing for finishing second place. I won a beginner race, but I never counted that. I achieved a lot of podiums for individual races.”
After her racing days came to an end, one day while surfing through the TV channels, Donahue stumbled upon women participating in a 3-Gun competitive shooting event. Intrigued, she sold her motorcycle, purchased some firearms, and hit the range to receive some pointers.
“In 3-Gun, you’re using three different kinds of guns; you’ve got two long guns, your rifle and shotgun, and a pistol,” Donahue says. “Typically, in the stages of 3-Gun, they require two or all three guns to be fired, and it’s measured by accuracy and time. Basically, whoever finishes the course in the quickest amount of time with the least number of penalties is the one who wins.
“There’s a lot of moving around; it’s also known as Run-N-Gun. It’s not like precision rifle, where you’re lying prone on the ground; it’s a lot more diverse.”
Donahue began shooting competitively in 2015, with her last match in 2022.
“I was shooting at least once a week for local matches just to get my practice in, and had practice sessions as well,” she says. “With 3-Gun, it was national, so I would travel all over the country, maybe every other month, everywhere from California to Pennsylvania.”
In pistol-only disciplines, Donahue won several “High Lady” titles—in other words, she was the best woman of the match.
“And that could have been out of hundreds of competitors,” she says. “At one point, I was ranked third in the country for the ladies’ Single Stack division, which is named for the type of gun I was shooting.”
Nowadays, Donahue has traded the sports competition podiums for a different stage, performing in two musical groups.
“I’ve always loved music since I was little,” Donahue says. “My parents were big music nerds; my mom played piano, and my dad loved rock music. I sang at home and in some choirs and a couple of musicals as a kid.
“In 2022, I started singing with one of the guys who I worked with in my agency at the office. He’d bring his guitar; I would sing, and we recorded a couple things and shared it on Facebook. Eventually it got noticed.”
Donahue joined an AC/DC tribute band in the Tucson area that was looking for some fill-in vocalists on stage for a charity event, which led to auditions with other bands.
“I never thought I would be in a rock band,” she says. “I joined a couple other bands to get my feet wet, and ultimately started our own tribute band called Iron Priestess [which plays covers of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest].
“Even though I’m singing old-school metal, it brings in people who wouldn’t normally listen to that music,” she continues. “I think it’s because it’s a female voice, so that softens it a little bit. I’ve had women come up to me after a show saying, ‘Hey, I never thought I’d like Iron Maiden or Judas Priest, but I like the way you sing it and now I’m listening to them.’”
Donahue also performs as part of the Kimi & Mike Acoustic Duo with guitarist Michael Charron, singing a variety of pop, rock, country and oldies in restaurants, bars and corporate events in the Tucson area. “We get to play a little more variety; we can play softer stuff,” she laughs.
Outside of her extracurricular ventures, Donahue spends time with her 15-year-old daughter and her 5-year-old adopted Pitbull. “My daughter is the polar opposite of me,” she says. “I’m bubblier and more eccentric, and she is an introverted bookworm. She’s so intelligent and has a huge vocabulary.
“Over the past few years, we’ve discovered our big connection through music. It was hilarious. She came home from school one day and said, ‘I just heard this band called Slipknot.’ And I’m like, ‘Honey, that’s the kind of music I listened to at your age.’ We’ve been able to go to a lot of concerts together and she’ll come to a lot of my gigs that are at all-age venues,” Donahue concludes.
