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This episode is brought to you by Thorne and I have some incredible news for any of you

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To learn more about Thorn, go to episode 323 of the Behind the Shield podcast with Joel

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Titoro and Wes Barnett.

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Welcome to the Behind the Shield podcast.

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As always, my name is James Gearing and this week it is my absolute honor to welcome on

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the show, wild lamb firefighter and the man behind Wild Fit Life, Justin Mahaffey.

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Now in this conversation, we discuss a host of topics from his challenging early life,

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growing up in a Mexican community, the beautiful elements of Hispanic culture, his journey

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into wild lamb firefighting, the importance of fitness, mentorship, community, family,

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homelessness and so much more.

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But before we get to this incredibly powerful and important conversation, as I say every

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week, please just take a moment, go to whichever app you listen to this on, subscribe to the

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show, leave feedback and leave a rating.

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Every single five star rating truly does elevate this podcast, therefore making it easier for

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others to find.

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And this is a free library of almost 900 episodes now.

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So all I ask in return is that you help share these incredible men and women stories so

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I can get them to every single person on planet earth who needs to hear them.

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One more side note, I had a technical nightmare at the very end of last year, got a brand

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new webcam that ended up glitching.

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It was faulty and kind of corrupted my sound on this particular interview.

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Luckily Justin's is perfect.

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Mine is just subpar.

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It's not bad, but it's not the quality that you're hearing now, for example.

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So just know it's not your stereo.

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It's on my end.

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It was a gremlin that has since been remedied.

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I've got rid of that equipment now, but was completely unknown until I started editing.

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So anyway, that being said, I introduce to you Justin Mahaffey.

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Enjoy.

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Well, Justin, I want to start by saying firstly, thank you so much for taking the time and

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coming on the Behind the Shield podcast today.

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Yeah, thank you for having me, man.

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It's an honor.

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Where on planet earth will be finding you your morning, my afternoon?

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So I'm in Southern California on the central coast.

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Actually, I'm in Santa Maria.

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I'm not sure if you're familiar with it.

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Kind of like right where the state got that little elbow.

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I'm right there.

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Beautiful.

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So I would love to hear the kind of beginning of your journey because I know that you were

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raised in quite a unique environment.

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So let's start at the very beginning.

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Tell me where you were born and tell me a little bit about your family dynamic, what

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your parents did, how many siblings.

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Well, that's kind of an interesting and dynamic topic as far as it goes back.

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I was actually born in Jacksonville, Florida.

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Yeah, all my family is from that area.

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My mom and dad got divorced when I was about five years old and we moved here to Santa

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Maria when I was six.

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So we went across the country and all it was was me, my mom, sister and brother.

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Other than that, I didn't really know any of my family after that.

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I didn't talk to my dad.

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I talked to him about three weeks before he died when I was 11 and he died playing Russian

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roulette.

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And then my mom was remarried and that didn't last either.

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So she got divorced to that guy when I was like 12.

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So I grew up a lot of my own at that time at 12 years old.

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My mom started dating her new boyfriend, who's now her husband.

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And my brother was in prison back in Florida and my sister, she was 18 and lived with her

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boyfriend on the other side of the city.

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My mom started staying over her now husband's place a lot.

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So I ended up on my own on the streets a lot.

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And I got really involved in that.

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My sister came back to live with me a couple of times.

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She was a real influential character in my life.

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She would always be there for me and help me take care of me in different ways.

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We were real close.

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My brother always stayed real close.

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We were always riding each other.

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So that's all we had.

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And me and my mom, you know, like I tell that about my mom, but we were always close as

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well.

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We went through a rough patch, but life was just happening, you know, and I was on my

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own all.

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But all we had was us.

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I didn't really have cousins and other big like a big family like everybody else.

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That's all it was.

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And we're still close to this day.

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My mom at the time, she went from working at Grocery Outlet, which is a little convenience

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store, you know, in the struggle to getting an opportunity to have a better life with

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her now husband in the Beverly Hills of the part of town where we're from, you know, is

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what I call it.

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But so that became her life.

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And she now has a business taking care of animals.

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It's always been a real big passion in our lives is animals.

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My mom, when she was with my dad, they used to breed animals and show dogs and stuff like

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that.

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So it's always been a real big thing for my mom.

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Now she has a business where she takes care of other people's animals and runs her life

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like that.

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As far as anything about my dad, I don't really know too much about him or his side of the

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family.

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He and his entire side of the family are all dead.

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So it's just like I say, it's us.

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I'm in touch now with my cousins from my mom's side, which is cool.

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I didn't know them growing up, but that's a cool part of life now that I'm connected

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with them.

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And social media is awesome for that.

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You know, it's a great way to stay connected like that.

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But when I was a kid, so in my teens, it was all about survival, figuring things out, growing

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up real quick, always wanting to build my own family.

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And that comes from the dynamics of my own, obviously.

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So I always wanted to build my own family.

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I had kids when I was young, my oldest daughter when I was 17, my son just like a year and

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a half later.

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So in my teens, I got in a lot of trouble, a lot.

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I like that part of my life.

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You know, it is what it is.

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And it's just everything I knew at the time.

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But I took a lot from it.

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You know, when I was in boys camp, when I was 16 years old, that's where I got introduced

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to fire and fell in love with it.

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We worked across our camp was located across the street from the hotshot crew.

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And so we would always go work with them.

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And that's where I really got introduced to it.

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I loved it.

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So I got out of the camp.

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I kept getting in trouble, though, is still just what it was.

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But my friend had been doing it for like 10 years fighting fire.

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And later on down the road, he ended up helping me get into fire.

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You know, so that's where I got into that.

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I actually changed everything that was important to me when I was 23, took custody of my kids.

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And what mattered to me was providing for them.

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And every decision that I made was with consideration of them.

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Right.

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So I was in construction.

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That's what I did in my teens, too.

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When I had jobs, I was either doing construction or or kitchen work, you know, just surviving

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the grind.

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And then I got into fire at 25.

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And I've been doing that since I'll be 42 in a couple of months.

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We can dive more into different pieces of that if you want to if any questions struck

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your mind.

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But that's like the basis of it.

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You know?

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Yeah, no, I've got lots, lots of questions.

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Let's go back to 12 years old.

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So you know, as you see your mother kind of spending time with her, you know, to be husband

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and you find yourself on your own.

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What were the male roles?

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Excuse me, the male role models or female role models in your community?

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Was there a pull towards the street life?

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Were there other people out there, too?

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Because this is one of the things maddening, I think, with the judgmental element of society,

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like all you got to do is make good decisions.

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Well, depends on what you're surrounded by.

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It depends on what your environment is.

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So what did you find yourself surrounded by when you were 12 years old?

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Yeah, so the area that I lived in and the role models around were.

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Men who survived the struggle through hardship and came out on top and top being what was

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successful in the world that I saw and was growing up in was just a man about his business

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and and staying righteous through it all.

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And a lot of that, you know.

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In society, standards could be associated as negative.

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But when you come from the struggle and survival, it's a lot different than just making good

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decisions and things being, you know, you made a bad decision here, you know, when it's

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about survival and.

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And doing things that are necessary to elevate and whatever social dynamic you're in.

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Sometimes that's a lot different than what other people may see it as who didn't grow

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up necessarily in that environment.

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So that's a really hard topic, you know, because a lot of people don't understand gangs.

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They they I think have the misconception because of what the news does and stuff.

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There's a lot of rules involved with with gangs and gang life that I think are good.

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But a lot of things that get associated to that lifestyle are really the drug addicts

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that end up robbing people and stealing from random people and doing these things that

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make everybody look from that world bad when it's really not like that.

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You know, so I guess the male role models that were around me were the ones that I saw.

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That had pride in who and what they were and held their morals and values close, whatever

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that was.

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Yeah.

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Why?

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Because I think it's an important thing to underline.

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I mean, it's the same with looking down your nose at obesity in America and going, all

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you're going to do is just get up early.

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Go for a run and eat salad.

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It's like, no, it's your environment.

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Like what is around you?

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Are you being led towards health?

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Are you being led towards ill health?

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And it's the same with this.

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If the young boy is feeling vulnerable and he's going to feel like he's part of something

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in a tribe and that happens to be a gang, you've got to understand the psychology behind

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that.

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Now, are there potentially even more nurturing, healthy groups that you could be a part of?

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Yeah.

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I mean, obviously, all the members of a gang could ultimately be even better persons.

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They could be better persons of themselves if they were given the tools to rise up even

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more.

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But by demonizing anyone who ends up finding themselves in addiction, in crime, in whatever

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label you want to give it is such a two-dimensional, judgmental way of looking at a human being

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because we don't know what that path looked like up until that point.

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And if we judge, nothing gets fixed.

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But if we look at it with compassion and with understanding, then I think we can help raise

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everyone up.

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Yeah.

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For sure, man.

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I used to just be so closed-minded.

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And when I started in fire, I gained so much respect for different men that grew up in

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different ways because I found things that we related to as far as the grit and wanting

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more and doing whatever it takes.

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So there's a lot to that.

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Growing up in the area that I grew up in and how I grew up, it's just set up for failure,

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man.

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The system is nasty.

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I started getting locked up when I was like 12, 13, and they just lock you up for anything.

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They want you to be in that system.

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It feels like you know them.

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And then I stopped going to regular school, so now I'm just in juvenile halls and those

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schools and stuff like that.

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And that becomes what everything's about.

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It's normal.

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They would lock me up.

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I said on the other podcast, well, they locked me up for playing basketball, playing handball.

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And like I said, I knew I shouldn't have been there.

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They told us we couldn't be.

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But that's where I played.

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I was a kid.

239
00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:54,320
And so you just become normal to that.

240
00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:58,880
My whole life, I thought that I was going to be in and out my whole life, and it was

241
00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:00,440
just normal.

242
00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:03,520
I didn't care if I was in there or out here.

243
00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:08,040
And the system, I mean, it's crazy.

244
00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:15,400
It's hard to describe on how bad it is with the revolving door of what the system is.

245
00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:20,960
It's made to break you down and for failure.

246
00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:23,280
Once you're in there, you're in there.

247
00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:24,320
And that was one of the biggest things.

248
00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:28,000
I still talk to some of my old probation officers and things like that.

249
00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:32,000
To this day, I have one of them who's a client that I coach.

250
00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:34,480
And I have a respect for them.

251
00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:35,480
They have respect for me.

252
00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:37,680
And they never thought I would make it out of that.

253
00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:43,360
But when I took custody of my kids, that's when I just took a step back and figured out

254
00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:48,280
how I could beat that system, how I could get out of it, what I needed, the moves I

255
00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:49,280
needed to make.

256
00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:50,280
And it was hard.

257
00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:51,280
It was hard.

258
00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:56,120
You know, there was a lot of because I knew that any little move I made, I have a kind

259
00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:57,640
of funny story.

260
00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:02,800
I had a he was my public defender at the time.

261
00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:06,120
And I had like multiple felony charges.

262
00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:09,440
I think I was like 19 or something.

263
00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:12,240
And so he was my public defender.

264
00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:13,240
All that happened.

265
00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:18,120
Whatever years go by, I think I'm like 27 at this time.

266
00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:19,120
So I'm in fire.

267
00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:20,120
Excuse me.

268
00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:21,120
I'm doing good in life.

269
00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:25,560
You know, I'm trying to grind and trying to do what I need to do for my kids.

270
00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:30,560
And the cops, a specific cop that used to mess with me when I was a kid was trying to

271
00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:32,680
mess with me again.

272
00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:36,840
And he came and started giving me tickets because I had a basketball court in the street

273
00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:38,560
for my kids.

274
00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:40,640
And so he ticketed me for that.

275
00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:41,640
And then he ticketed me again.

276
00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:43,440
And I told him, I'm not going to pay that man.

277
00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:44,440
You're overdoing it.

278
00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:47,240
You know, and anyway, I ended up having to go to court for it.

279
00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:52,040
And when I went to court, my old public defender was now the judge.

280
00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:58,400
And he looks at this stuff and he's like, so you went from getting felonies and causing

281
00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:01,800
havoc to in here for a basketball court.

282
00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:02,800
Case dismissed.

283
00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:03,800
Get out of here, man.

284
00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:04,800
Keep doing what you're doing.

285
00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:05,800
You know, I thought that was pretty cool.

286
00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:06,800
It felt good.

287
00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:13,040
But that's the empathetic, you know, I that I'm talking about, you know, if the system

288
00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:17,360
is broken, they say insanity is doing the same thing again, expecting different results.

289
00:17:17,360 --> 00:17:23,040
Like we have to look at, you know, everything from drug prohibition to the fact that some

290
00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:27,280
of our prisons are publicly, you know, run as a privately run and a profit base.

291
00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:31,800
I mean, there's all these elements that are saying certain groups up for failure over

292
00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:33,800
and over and over again.

293
00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:34,880
Yeah.

294
00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:37,640
So I could even dive deeper into that.

295
00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:41,320
You know, I just there's some stuff going on.

296
00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:47,920
In side, you know, with I can't remember the name of the drug.

297
00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:53,420
You know, they give it to people who it's like, it's supposed to help them do something,

298
00:17:53,420 --> 00:17:56,240
but it's similar to like heroin, you know.

299
00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:02,400
So they're feeding this to these guys that are busted and just keeping them high pretty

300
00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:03,400
much.

301
00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:05,120
And then when they get out, of course, they can't get that anymore.

302
00:18:05,120 --> 00:18:08,800
So then they get the heroin and then they get back on that and then they go back inside.

303
00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:10,080
So they get back on that other one.

304
00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:12,080
It's a nasty endless cycle, man.

305
00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:14,440
And I don't think there's nothing you can really do about it.

306
00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:17,680
You know, the system is what it is, but it's dirty.

307
00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:19,200
Is it methadone you're talking about?

308
00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:21,120
No, but it's something like methadone.

309
00:18:21,120 --> 00:18:22,120
OK, yeah.

310
00:18:22,120 --> 00:18:29,480
I think you watch 13th, which is a great documentary, and you know, and you see how much manufacturing

311
00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:30,880
is done in prisons.

312
00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:35,720
You know, you see how many just forget color and creed and everything, how many Americans

313
00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:38,960
are incarcerated versus the rest of the world per capita.

314
00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:41,680
I mean, it's it's so, you know, off.

315
00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:47,120
We just were supposed to be so affluent and, you know, be free, quote unquote.

316
00:18:47,120 --> 00:18:51,160
Yet there are areas of our society that have created so much crime.

317
00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:53,760
And this is what I talk about, even with the police side.

318
00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:57,520
When do you ever hear anyone defending the police and saying, why are our streets so

319
00:18:57,520 --> 00:18:59,360
dangerous in the first place?

320
00:18:59,360 --> 00:19:03,920
Why is it that I can go to Lisbon, Portugal or Reykjavik, Iceland and not worry about

321
00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:06,600
getting shot in a school on the street?

322
00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:10,880
But you go to Philadelphia or Orlando or Miami or everywhere else, you know, and it's like,

323
00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:11,880
yeah, don't go there.

324
00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:14,120
And you're not going to walk out again.

325
00:19:14,120 --> 00:19:15,360
Why are we not having this conversation?

326
00:19:15,360 --> 00:19:20,720
And that goes way deeper than, you know, being tough on crime, quote unquote.

327
00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:22,720
Yeah, definitely.

328
00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:28,320
I think being a cop is one of the hardest jobs in the world, man, especially here.

329
00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:30,360
And everybody hates you.

330
00:19:30,360 --> 00:19:34,720
You know, it's one of the kids, one of my kids friends, he's becoming a highway patrol

331
00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:35,720
right now.

332
00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:39,840
I just told him, I was like, man, you don't you don't get paid enough to have to deal

333
00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:40,840
with that.

334
00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:42,560
You know, you never know who you're going to pull over.

335
00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:44,880
People are crazy.

336
00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:46,920
You never know who you're going to pull over.

337
00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:50,220
And I just don't think they get paid enough and they don't have enough support all the

338
00:19:50,220 --> 00:19:52,000
way around to try to do the right things.

339
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:57,200
You know, it's I remember some cops that were in the neighborhood when I was a kid who I

340
00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:00,120
remember wanted they wanted to be good, good guys.

341
00:20:00,120 --> 00:20:03,120
You know, I remember one of them always giving pogs to the kids.

342
00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:06,160
I was popular at the time, you know, going around, just trying to be good people.

343
00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:08,560
But it's a nasty world, man.

344
00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:10,240
They don't have the tools.

345
00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:11,800
Yeah, they don't have the tools they need.

346
00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:12,800
They don't get paid enough.

347
00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:14,800
It's a really negative environment, too.

348
00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:18,520
You know, think about everybody that you're going to pull over or in any situation that

349
00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:20,800
you really deal with is a negative context.

350
00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:23,080
So I think it's like a depressing life as well.

351
00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:24,080
Yeah, yeah.

352
00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:27,240
And it's it's a vicious circle that, you know, they're sleep deprived, they're overworked,

353
00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:30,680
they're not supported by the departments and then they have what they interact with on

354
00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:32,320
the street a lot of times.

355
00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:35,920
That's then ultimately going to create worse decisions and more friction.

356
00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:37,920
And it's a downward spiral.

357
00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:40,360
Yeah, that's it.

358
00:20:40,360 --> 00:20:42,440
It's definitely a crazy job.

359
00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:47,080
Well, I want to hear one more thing and then kind of get through your journey to the fire

360
00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:53,280
service, but I heard you talking on another podcast about your, I guess, for lack of a

361
00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:55,240
better word, ethnic background.

362
00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:58,960
You know, when people listening, you sound like you're Hispanic, you look and dress like

363
00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:01,400
you're from a Hispanic culture and you are from a Hispanic culture.

364
00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:07,920
But talk to me about your actual family roots and how you were embraced by the culture that

365
00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:09,920
you found yourself in California.

366
00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,560
Yeah, that's actually a big part of my life and who I am.

367
00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:14,560
You know, I'm Irish.

368
00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:20,920
I take pride in that, but my family history is I've been trying to learn more about it,

369
00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:21,920
actually.

370
00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:30,960
But, you know, I grew up in the Mexican culture and I loved what the family values were around

371
00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:32,320
me.

372
00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:37,960
You know, there's something about that culture that is different than any other one that

373
00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:38,960
I've ever seen.

374
00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:44,480
You know, just the way that they embrace each other, they're always getting together and

375
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:48,080
like I said, I had what I have two siblings and a mom.

376
00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:50,320
That was all I knew for family.

377
00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:53,120
You know, my wife has got like 78 cousins.

378
00:21:53,120 --> 00:21:59,120
She's Mexican, you know, so I just I love what the family values are.

379
00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:07,720
And being white in that neighborhood came with its challenges, obviously.

380
00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:12,960
But I took it as something that empowered me in who I am.

381
00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:20,120
Because a lot, you know, this is a lot of people get their reputations and make their

382
00:22:20,120 --> 00:22:24,080
way off who their cousin is or their family that they come from.

383
00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:25,080
I didn't have any of that.

384
00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:31,280
I had me, you know, so I had to make my own way.

385
00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:38,960
And then the love that I was shown from the families that I grew up around really gave

386
00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:44,120
me a passion for what the culture is and a pride that I take in being a part of that.

387
00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:45,120
You know, absolutely.

388
00:22:45,120 --> 00:22:49,080
Well, what about the the exercise and fitness side?

389
00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:51,600
Obviously, we're going to talk about what you're doing today.

390
00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:54,360
When you were younger, you mentioned basketball, you mentioned handball.

391
00:22:54,360 --> 00:22:58,360
What was your exposure to exercise and fitness back then?

392
00:22:58,360 --> 00:23:00,840
So that's kind of a cool story.

393
00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:07,080
Actually, I played football and and I was really good at it, man.

394
00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:09,840
I got youth football, though.

395
00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:12,760
So I got MVP every year I played in the last year.

396
00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:14,840
I got Co League MVP.

397
00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:19,560
I got offered a scholarship to a local school.

398
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:20,560
That's a really big deal.

399
00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:21,560
We're not supposed to do that.

400
00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:24,640
But they pull people all the time and say, you know, you can come to the school you want

401
00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:25,880
to pay.

402
00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:28,240
And I threw all that away, man.

403
00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,480
Not really intentionally, but I knew it was happening.

404
00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:35,320
I got locked up and I knew I was never going to get to play football again.

405
00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:38,000
I didn't go to that school.

406
00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:39,000
That was just became my life.

407
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:40,000
I threw away.

408
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:41,000
But I love football.

409
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:42,240
I love the exercise part of it.

410
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:44,440
I used to love to lead the calisthenics.

411
00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:49,240
So when I got into juvenile hall and camps, I'd be leading workouts.

412
00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:53,760
When I was in that camp, I got really into the calisthenics side and they had weights

413
00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:54,760
there.

414
00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:55,760
So I got really into that.

415
00:23:55,760 --> 00:24:00,900
And one of my favorite parts of it was always the camaraderie.

416
00:24:00,900 --> 00:24:04,560
You know, when you get together and you work out in a group atmosphere.

417
00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:08,320
So that was my experience with sports.

418
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:10,440
One of the biggest regrets in my life, too.

419
00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:12,200
And I felt it in that moment.

420
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:14,320
I think I was like 14.

421
00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:18,440
I remember being on the field and knowing that I was never going to play football again.

422
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:20,560
You know, but I loved it.

423
00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:24,400
I actually stopped watching football, the NFL and stuff for a few years.

424
00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:25,400
I was so bitter.

425
00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:26,400
Understandably so.

426
00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:27,400
You're just kicking yourself.

427
00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:33,680
And, you know, again, it was where that road had led you up to that point, though.

428
00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:34,680
Yeah.

429
00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:35,680
Yeah.

430
00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:38,840
So what about career aspirations?

431
00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:42,320
When you were in the kind of high school age, were you dreaming of becoming anything specific?

432
00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:44,760
No, I wasn't, man.

433
00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:51,080
That's what's crazy is I always just thought that I would build houses and I love cooking.

434
00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:53,480
So I always kept like a little kitchen job.

435
00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:54,480
Those are the things I loved.

436
00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:56,600
I love building houses.

437
00:24:56,600 --> 00:25:02,320
When I was a kid, like 15 years old, I would walk to the tracks where the track homes where

438
00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:04,760
they were doing construction, building new homes.

439
00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:07,600
And I'd be like, hey, man, can I be a laborer?

440
00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:08,600
Walk around, clean it up.

441
00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:10,520
And then so I'd get a little side job like that.

442
00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:14,720
And it's got into I just thought that that would be my whole life building houses.

443
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:17,080
And that would be it.

444
00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:20,680
You know, and like I said, I went to camp, got introduced to fire.

445
00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:21,680
It's crazy.

446
00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:26,480
I had no idea about wildland fire or what it was until I was in that camp.

447
00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:30,880
And we actually got hit by a wildfire in the camp I was in.

448
00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:33,040
And they were evacuating us in buses and stuff.

449
00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:35,000
So I got really introduced to it.

450
00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:39,800
And I always thought it was something that was honorable to do and something cool.

451
00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:43,640
But when I got out, I just kept kept on life as normal.

452
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:48,680
And like I said, I had that friend who actually he's been a role model in my life since I

453
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:50,280
was like seven or eight years old.

454
00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:52,760
Jason Mitchell, I've talked about him before.

455
00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:56,160
He's actually the captain on my engine now.

456
00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,000
And we've always been just good friends.

457
00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:05,040
We were hanging out one day and I told him, hey, man, what do I need to do to get on on

458
00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:06,720
your crew for a season?

459
00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:07,720
Try it out.

460
00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:13,080
You know, and he told me, he said, you know, go get your GED, go out to the stations, get

461
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:14,220
yourself known.

462
00:26:14,220 --> 00:26:17,640
And if you get on the list, I'll vouch for you.

463
00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:19,520
And I did everything that he told me to do.

464
00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:20,840
I went and I bought the GED.

465
00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:23,480
Like I said, I didn't go to high school.

466
00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:25,640
So I did high school in two weeks.

467
00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:27,240
I bought the GED book.

468
00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:32,680
I read it, studied it, set up my appointment, went and took all the tests in one day and

469
00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:34,640
got and got my GED.

470
00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:39,120
I started going out to the stations, getting to know the guys, doing what I needed to do

471
00:26:39,120 --> 00:26:40,120
and got in.

472
00:26:40,120 --> 00:26:46,000
Now, had you had that kind of passion about other things or because the reason why I asked

473
00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:48,700
that I was a straight C student in school.

474
00:26:48,700 --> 00:26:52,100
And then obviously quite a few years later, I entered the fire service and then become

475
00:26:52,100 --> 00:26:56,640
a straight A student because it makes sense to me, the medical side, the fire side.

476
00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:59,040
It's real world stuff.

477
00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:00,040
Yeah.

478
00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:04,080
No, it's not.

479
00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:06,120
I loved building houses.

480
00:27:06,120 --> 00:27:09,680
I always thought it was cool and fun and I was good at it.

481
00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:13,920
I learned new things, pick them up, become fast at it.

482
00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:19,120
But as far as having the passion for it, no, as a matter of fact, when I got into fire,

483
00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:22,720
I really started learning how I learn.

484
00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:27,960
And it goes with exactly with what you just said, how you went from C's to A's because

485
00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:33,200
I started associating the information I was being taught in the classroom to what I could

486
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:38,560
functionally use in my everyday life to be better at what I want to be good at.

487
00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:44,100
And so I started really learning how I learn and that passion that I had for it.

488
00:27:44,100 --> 00:27:47,960
So I started excelling in that.

489
00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:51,880
Now for some people listening, obviously you're thinking about the criminal record that you

490
00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:52,880
had.

491
00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:56,960
I had a couple of guests on, Brooke Carrasco, who went through the inmate program, ended

492
00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:01,560
up getting hired and she ends up not long after that saving a life on one of the burns

493
00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:02,600
that she was on.

494
00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:07,760
And then Dustin, excuse me, Brendan McDonald, who was the only survivor of the Prescott

495
00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:13,460
19 fire, he was an addict, an opioid addict before he got hired and got clean.

496
00:28:13,460 --> 00:28:18,200
And so it seems like the wildland environment is a little bit more forgiving than some of

497
00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:19,240
the municipal ones.

498
00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:23,280
And I've made this observation several times.

499
00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:27,240
Imagine how many candidates we lose because they're expecting choir boys to enter this

500
00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:28,240
profession.

501
00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:29,920
And there has to be a line, of course.

502
00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:35,520
You can't be a thief recently or God forbid anything to children.

503
00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:39,840
However, some of the stuff that candidates have done in the past, if it truly is that

504
00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:45,000
past, is in one way maybe going to even be an asset as you progress through into this

505
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:46,000
career.

506
00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:51,240
So walk me through your desire to enter the fire service and if there were any barriers

507
00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:52,240
because of your background.

508
00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:53,240
Okay.

509
00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:54,240
A couple of things.

510
00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:56,520
Actually, Donut, the one you were just talking about.

511
00:28:56,520 --> 00:28:57,520
Yeah.

512
00:28:57,520 --> 00:28:58,520
He's in my program.

513
00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:00,240
He's been in my program for over a year.

514
00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:01,240
Oh, excellent.

515
00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:03,480
I just saw him literally six weeks ago in Ohio.

516
00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:04,880
We were at a conference together.

517
00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:05,880
Amazing guy.

518
00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:08,080
Yeah, he's a good guy.

519
00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:14,200
So I have a two sided opinion to what that is.

520
00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:18,720
So Wildland Fire is more rough neck.

521
00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:24,440
It's more oil field construction site.

522
00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:26,040
And I have a couple of felonies.

523
00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,920
I never expunged my record or anything.

524
00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:37,320
My felonies are for sales, basically transportation for sales, stuff like that with drugs.

525
00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:39,360
And that was just the normal way to make money where I grew up.

526
00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:40,360
It wasn't a big deal.

527
00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:45,800
I get it to some people it is, but that's just the grind.

528
00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:51,240
And with Wildland Fire, I just put it down, man.

529
00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:53,040
I just put, yes, I have felonies.

530
00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:54,880
Yes, this is what it is.

531
00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:59,800
The captain at the time gave me an opportunity as a seasonal and then it just never came

532
00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:02,240
up when I did my background check and all that.

533
00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:04,640
I just didn't lie about it.

534
00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:09,480
I put it down and they don't have a rule of not being able to hire you because of that.

535
00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:11,160
So it just was never an issue.

536
00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:17,920
Now the flip side that I'm talking about is with municipal.

537
00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:22,600
That is and should be harder to get into.

538
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:31,040
You know, you got these kids who are making choices at 18 years old to go to academies,

539
00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:36,320
to put in the volunteer hours, to work on their medic, to do all these things that it

540
00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:39,560
takes to get into the municipal side.

541
00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:47,480
So with all these candidates being able to be chosen from, if I'm the hiring official,

542
00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:52,480
I'm not going to hire some 25 year old felon over some 18 year old kid who's putting in

543
00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:56,040
the work, you know, and it has a clean record.

544
00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:57,180
So I get it.

545
00:30:57,180 --> 00:30:59,080
You know, it's harder to get into.

546
00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:05,960
Now with that being said, there is, like you said, a lot of value that can be finding someone

547
00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:11,800
who's gone through struggle and they might have a great work ethic and a desire to be

548
00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:15,500
good at what they're doing, especially because they can understand what the hardship is.

549
00:31:15,500 --> 00:31:20,000
So there is positives to it, but it's harder to get into the municipal because of that.

550
00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:25,800
I had this 18 year old kid who was on my engine from Fresno.

551
00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:27,640
He was staying over here with me.

552
00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:31,360
I rented him a room and he was just doing everything.

553
00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:35,200
He would be doing his classwork at night on the computer.

554
00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:38,940
And that's where I kind of got that impression, like, man, this kid is doing the work.

555
00:31:38,940 --> 00:31:48,440
So there's less people to choose from in wildland because nobody really wants to do it for a

556
00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:49,440
career.

557
00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:50,440
It's hard, dirty work, right?

558
00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:54,780
So, and then with the municipal, you have all these applicants to choose from.

559
00:31:54,780 --> 00:31:58,680
So it's going to be harder to get in because those kids that are 18, 19, 20, you know,

560
00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:01,640
that have been doing the work are going to get it and rightfully so.

561
00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:02,640
Yeah.

562
00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:06,480
No, I agree completely if someone is a better candidate, they're a better candidate.

563
00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:07,480
It's that simple.

564
00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:13,560
But you know, the other side of the equation is an 18 year old kid, you know, may have

565
00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:18,200
some trials and tribulations in their past that's going to set them up for success in

566
00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:23,000
the fire service, or they could be purely academic and actually, you know, not do well

567
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:24,000
in this profession.

568
00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:25,760
We don't know until we obviously give them an opportunity.

569
00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:30,040
But to discount people because of their background, they may also be.

570
00:32:30,040 --> 00:32:35,320
I mean, the Justin, you know, the 25 year old Justin was worthy of a position, you know.

571
00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:40,360
So I think, again, that compassion that we talked about earlier, if someone grew up in

572
00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:46,400
a system that was setting them up for failure, should that basically, should that follow

573
00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:47,680
them the rest of their life?

574
00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:50,560
Should that stop them from getting multiple roles?

575
00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:55,060
Or as long as it wasn't something too heinous, you know, is there a more altruistic way of

576
00:32:55,060 --> 00:32:59,840
looking at it where we can be open minded in the professions and say, okay, you know,

577
00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:06,920
there has to be a period of time between last offense and this and have proven that you

578
00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:09,280
have changed and overcome that.

579
00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:14,160
But to just immediately discount that, which happened to my very first, my very first application

580
00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:15,160
in the fire service.

581
00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:20,120
I was honest about a drug I tried in Japan years prior, and they literally screwed it

582
00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:21,360
up and threw it in my face.

583
00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:22,660
And I'm like, oh, okay.

584
00:33:22,660 --> 00:33:24,160
So you have to lie to be a firefighter.

585
00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:25,160
Got it.

586
00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:26,160
And then I worked for 14 years.

587
00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:28,160
I mean, it's fucking ridiculous.

588
00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:29,160
That's true.

589
00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:34,440
So, you know, especially now is that drug is being used as a very, very effective mental

590
00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:36,440
health drug, MDMA.

591
00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:42,080
Now we're using it to help firefighters, you know, so it's, it's where is that line between

592
00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:48,560
some mistakes that were overcome and obviously, you know, the crimes that you can't overlook

593
00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:50,120
and put someone in uniform for.

594
00:33:50,120 --> 00:33:51,120
Exactly.

595
00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:52,120
I agree with you a hundred percent.

596
00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:56,560
And you know, if like you're referring back to the 18 year old kid who maybe came from

597
00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:02,600
struggle, you know, I would, to me might be a better looking applicant if he's hasn't

598
00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:07,880
had that support growing up and the guidance to do what he wants to do.

599
00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:12,840
And he's the one that's putting in the work and doing the extra.

600
00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:16,960
That would be something more for me that I would look at, you know, absolutely.

601
00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:19,480
Yeah, there's a lot of sides to it.

602
00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:22,200
And I definitely think that we should not judge people.

603
00:34:22,200 --> 00:34:31,160
I think there is some crimes that should definitely rule people out for really anything in life,

604
00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:34,600
you know, but I definitely agree with you.

605
00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:35,600
Absolutely.

606
00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:39,820
Well, you talked about doing calisthenics and in football and those kind of areas as

607
00:34:39,820 --> 00:34:44,880
you enter the wildland fire service, how was your fitness for the pack test and the basic

608
00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:48,840
training that you have and how did that carry you through the rest of your career?

609
00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:53,040
So this is funny.

610
00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:59,520
When I got into fire, the pack test was fine, but the, the hiking.

611
00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:00,520
So it's funny.

612
00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:03,200
I told my, my friend, I don't know, I'll be good, man.

613
00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:04,360
I lift all the time.

614
00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:05,960
I can squat this much weight.

615
00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:11,920
I can do this and that when I got, went on my first hike, man, I got my ass kicked.

616
00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:15,720
I had no idea what I was getting into when I put that gear on and went up the hill.

617
00:35:15,720 --> 00:35:20,040
They beat me up the hill by probably 15, 20 minutes when I got up there to the top, I

618
00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:21,600
was just happy I made it to the top.

619
00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,920
And they're like, nah, man, you got to go a lot faster than that.

620
00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:29,360
And so, you know, my first season or two, I was working on getting better at that, changing

621
00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:31,960
the dynamics of how I work out a lot of that.

622
00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:36,800
I can associate back to what my workout techniques are now and the plans that I make for overall

623
00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:39,280
just functional strength.

624
00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:48,840
But I went from being, so when I went to the hell attack crew, these guys were fast, skinny

625
00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:55,440
little guys, six, three, 150 pounds, you know, I'm five, nine, five, 10, about a two 30

626
00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:56,440
at the time.

627
00:35:56,440 --> 00:35:58,000
You know, I just love lifting heavy.

628
00:35:58,000 --> 00:35:59,000
That was my get down.

629
00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:01,320
So now I'm trying to keep up with these guys.

630
00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:06,840
So I'm just on a tool, but I decided that season, I told my soup, I told him, I want

631
00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:09,440
to be on a salt team.

632
00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:11,920
You know, what do I need to do?

633
00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:14,400
He said, well, first of all, you need to go from the back of the hikes to the front of

634
00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:15,400
them.

635
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:17,320
You carry more weight and this and that.

636
00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:18,320
Right.

637
00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:22,440
So I spent all winter just fucking grinding.

638
00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:27,240
I mean, I'm talking like I'd go to the dunes and I would bear crawl and hike up and just

639
00:36:27,240 --> 00:36:29,640
run as fast as I could up the sand dunes.

640
00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:32,640
I would hike and run on every day.

641
00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:34,760
Fire season comes back again.

642
00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:40,120
I'm in the front of the hike, you know, now I get on the salt team.

643
00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:42,240
Now I spend my season doing that.

644
00:36:42,240 --> 00:36:43,240
I love it.

645
00:36:43,240 --> 00:36:47,200
I fall in love with it even more.

646
00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:51,040
And then I developed my style of working out because I didn't want to cut out lifting weights

647
00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:52,040
and be doing them a whole life.

648
00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:53,040
And I love it.

649
00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:58,040
A lot of guys in fire, especially wildland, they don't lift, you know, it's a lot of just

650
00:36:58,040 --> 00:36:59,040
running and hiking.

651
00:36:59,040 --> 00:37:02,240
You got to, you got to have that endurance and you got to just be able to carry the weight.

652
00:37:02,240 --> 00:37:03,240
Right.

653
00:37:03,240 --> 00:37:08,840
So I mixed it up and I came up with, you know, I started incorporating my burpees into weight

654
00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:15,400
lifting, a lot of circuit training, a lot of running and hiking and boxing.

655
00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:23,000
And so now I've created this style that benefits what I enjoy as far as weightlifting power

656
00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:30,760
stuff and then also incorporated that cardio side of it that I keep on point with it.

657
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:35,840
So that's kind of like what WildFitLife is, is like this whole little mixture of all that.

658
00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:42,720
Now, when I see a lot of your videos, obviously the first image that comes back is, you know,

659
00:37:42,720 --> 00:37:49,440
sadly prisoners, Hispanic usually in prison, but still working out ferociously, even if

660
00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:51,640
they're in a tiny, tiny little cell.

661
00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:53,680
Do you know what the kind of history is?

662
00:37:53,680 --> 00:37:55,960
I mean, when I think of burpee, I think of that.

663
00:37:55,960 --> 00:37:59,880
And then I think of CrossFit, which is the one that really brought it to most of us.

664
00:37:59,880 --> 00:38:07,240
Is there a kind of origin story for that group of people, whether in prison or outside using

665
00:38:07,240 --> 00:38:11,560
that kind of exercise methodology?

666
00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:12,560
The lack of space.

667
00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:13,560
It's simple.

668
00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:16,320
Lack of space and a lack of equipment.

669
00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:21,400
You got to, you know, a little space to be in.

670
00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:29,360
When you're in that environment, taking care of yourself becomes a whole different thing,

671
00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:30,360
you know.

672
00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:32,520
It's all you have.

673
00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:36,720
So that's why you see people, you get people reading books, self-care becomes a huge thing.

674
00:38:36,720 --> 00:38:37,720
You got this little space.

675
00:38:37,720 --> 00:38:42,520
You're going to try to work out in any way you can just from pushups to air squats.

676
00:38:42,520 --> 00:38:43,880
Okay, start throwing in burpees.

677
00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:49,880
Burpees was actually invented by a man with the last name of Burpee back in the days in

678
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:50,880
the military.

679
00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:51,880
Are you familiar with that?

680
00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:54,200
I'm not totally familiar with the origin story now.

681
00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:57,960
It's a long one, but simple.

682
00:38:57,960 --> 00:39:00,040
It's a guy with the last name of Burpee.

683
00:39:00,040 --> 00:39:08,200
He came up with the movement, you know, and then it just gets in the military and in institutions.

684
00:39:08,200 --> 00:39:10,200
A lot of the mindset's the same.

685
00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:14,720
It's structure, discipline, and self-care, right?

686
00:39:14,720 --> 00:39:18,000
And pride for what's important to you and what you're about.

687
00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:22,840
So in there, that's what they do.

688
00:39:22,840 --> 00:39:23,840
You know, you got a little space.

689
00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:29,320
So you do as much work as you can in one space and then staying strong and ready for anything

690
00:39:29,320 --> 00:39:33,240
to come your way is utmost importance.

691
00:39:33,240 --> 00:39:34,800
Yeah.

692
00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:38,960
When COVID hit and all the gyms were closed down, which again, that's an entire other

693
00:39:38,960 --> 00:39:41,760
conversation that you shut down everything that makes people healthy when you've got

694
00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:42,760
a health scare.

695
00:39:42,760 --> 00:39:48,800
But, you know, that's what I always popped in my mind was, well, if someone can be incarcerated

696
00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:54,000
and still work out with no equipment and, you know, whatever it is, six by six cell,

697
00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:56,800
then none of us have an excuse not to work out.

698
00:39:56,800 --> 00:39:57,800
Yeah.

699
00:39:57,800 --> 00:39:58,800
Thousand percent.

700
00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:08,000
And, you know, so I have two people who are the families I've talked about before in previous

701
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:11,000
podcasts, but are very close to me like brothers.

702
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:14,800
One of them right now is in the Corcoran shoe and one of them's in Pelican Bay.

703
00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:19,240
And I just did like, I'm not trying to come out with a podcast, but we just did this thing.

704
00:40:19,240 --> 00:40:25,400
We called it the window and he was talking and he's in Pelican Bay.

705
00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:30,360
So we did it where we did like a FaceTime and I recorded it and it's all positive.

706
00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:33,600
It was just about mindset, mental fortitude, stuff like that.

707
00:40:33,600 --> 00:40:34,600
Right.

708
00:40:34,600 --> 00:40:40,200
And he was talking about in his dynamics, sometimes he gets where to break it down,

709
00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:41,200
simply almost feels helpless.

710
00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:42,920
Like he can't help those people around him.

711
00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:47,520
You know, his loved ones that are out here or he gets stuck in a thought pattern that's

712
00:40:47,520 --> 00:40:49,200
negative or whatever it is.

713
00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:55,480
He'll just start doing burpees, get that blood flowing, get that oxygen to your brain.

714
00:40:55,480 --> 00:41:00,960
And it helps put you in a different state of mind, which can sometimes help you come

715
00:41:00,960 --> 00:41:03,540
and find those answers that you were looking for.

716
00:41:03,540 --> 00:41:06,800
You know, it's powerful to get moving and take care of yourself.

717
00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:12,240
So when all you have is you, then you start taking care of yourself.

718
00:41:12,240 --> 00:41:15,800
Look at now, people out here, man, they, everybody's okay.

719
00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:23,960
Like we're just enjoying a temporary fast comfort and saying, Oh, I'll deal with the

720
00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:24,960
consequences later.

721
00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:29,360
I'm not going to not have my donut and I'm not going to not have my monster every day

722
00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:30,840
or whatever it is.

723
00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:35,320
It's silly, you know, until the doctor tells you, Hey, you need to start focusing on some

724
00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:38,960
self care or you're going to, you're going to die.

725
00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:41,160
You know, so all of that.

726
00:41:41,160 --> 00:41:42,160
Yeah.

727
00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:43,160
Thank you.

728
00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:44,440
It's a powerful perspective and it's true.

729
00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:47,280
I mean, it really is.

730
00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:53,000
As we progress through your, your career in wildland, what was some of the kind of career

731
00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:56,520
fires that you had?

732
00:41:56,520 --> 00:41:57,520
That's a hard one.

733
00:41:57,520 --> 00:42:05,040
I've been on a lot, a lot of fires, over a hundred in my career and where I'm from, a

734
00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:06,280
lot of them are big ones.

735
00:42:06,280 --> 00:42:09,120
You know, we started getting, is that what we're talking about?

736
00:42:09,120 --> 00:42:10,920
Just like big, you know, big campaign fires.

737
00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:13,240
Yeah, I mean, yeah.

738
00:42:13,240 --> 00:42:16,720
Anything that really kind of, you know, maybe shook you a little bit more than the other

739
00:42:16,720 --> 00:42:17,720
ones.

740
00:42:17,720 --> 00:42:24,560
Well, you know, the, there was, I would say most recently, and I was talking about on

741
00:42:24,560 --> 00:42:30,400
the last podcast is what the fires are getting big, you know, in 2008, 2009 here on my forest,

742
00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:33,480
we had fires over a hundred thousand acres.

743
00:42:33,480 --> 00:42:38,560
And after that started becoming normal, you know, before that 30,000 acres, 50,000 acres

744
00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:40,440
was considered a huge fire.

745
00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:42,960
Now that's just, just normal, you know?

746
00:42:42,960 --> 00:42:49,480
And I would say what shakes me about it now to this day is the fact that as an agency

747
00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:59,520
we're imploding and we're losing all our qualified leaders that are decision makers to other

748
00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:00,520
agencies.

749
00:43:00,520 --> 00:43:04,480
So now we're putting situations where sometimes these people who get promoted into positions

750
00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:07,560
that they shouldn't be in just off default are now in that.

751
00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:11,980
So we have to really look at things in a whole different perspective and make decisions based

752
00:43:11,980 --> 00:43:16,080
on that isolated down to just our crew.

753
00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:21,000
You know, we don't have the personnel to get in front of fire and put fire on the ground

754
00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:24,380
and cut it off and fight fire like we normally would.

755
00:43:24,380 --> 00:43:25,440
So we don't have the personnel.

756
00:43:25,440 --> 00:43:30,000
So now the fire is getting the upper hand on us because we have to let it do its thing

757
00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:31,640
before we can do our thing.

758
00:43:31,640 --> 00:43:37,400
It's all that, you know, I've been on fires where I've been, I've been cut off by fire

759
00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:40,720
had to run from fire.

760
00:43:40,720 --> 00:43:43,040
You know, got a lot of good learning experiences like that.

761
00:43:43,040 --> 00:43:44,960
When to be aggressive, when not to be aggressive.

762
00:43:44,960 --> 00:43:49,280
I've never had to deploy my coworker at my station.

763
00:43:49,280 --> 00:43:55,480
He did in this fire that on the Monterey fire blew up on him.

764
00:43:55,480 --> 00:43:57,120
The whole station got burned down.

765
00:43:57,120 --> 00:44:03,560
They lost engines, dozers, and they all had to deploy, you know, and so I guess what you

766
00:44:03,560 --> 00:44:12,120
really learn from that is when mother nature takes its course, you really can't beat that.

767
00:44:12,120 --> 00:44:17,880
But anything and everything that we can do to avoid those situations is crucial.

768
00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:22,880
You know, once I started becoming a leader and having to make those decisions, I noticed

769
00:44:22,880 --> 00:44:26,280
I got a little more cautious than I was before.

770
00:44:26,280 --> 00:44:30,400
I used to be like, let's just go, let's go, let's go.

771
00:44:30,400 --> 00:44:33,120
And then when I started being the one that had to make the decisions that affected these

772
00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:38,200
guys lives, I'm like, well, hold on, let me really analyze this situation before we just

773
00:44:38,200 --> 00:44:40,600
put fire on the ground or do the next thing, you know.

774
00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:42,120
So it's hard to say.

775
00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:49,480
I guess I don't have any specific incident that melts into who I am.

776
00:44:49,480 --> 00:44:50,480
It's all of it combined.

777
00:44:50,480 --> 00:44:57,240
You know, they're all slides and they're all tools that I use to this day and how I fight

778
00:44:57,240 --> 00:45:03,280
fire and continue to grow in what it is, especially as times change.

779
00:45:03,280 --> 00:45:08,920
Well, one thing I've heard over and over again from Brendan, from Ben Strahan, from Jason

780
00:45:08,920 --> 00:45:13,280
Ramos is that the fires are just getting worse.

781
00:45:13,280 --> 00:45:17,380
Some of them talk about global warming and they're seeing everything getting drier and

782
00:45:17,380 --> 00:45:22,160
harder in the season, not being a season anymore, but being almost year round.

783
00:45:22,160 --> 00:45:25,040
Other ones talk about opposition to prescribed burns.

784
00:45:25,040 --> 00:45:29,040
So through your eyes, what are some of the factors that are contributing to such large

785
00:45:29,040 --> 00:45:31,240
fires these days?

786
00:45:31,240 --> 00:45:38,680
Well, you know, they have this thing where you can't burn because the seagulls are close,

787
00:45:38,680 --> 00:45:40,400
you know, whatever it is.

788
00:45:40,400 --> 00:45:41,400
Right.

789
00:45:41,400 --> 00:45:44,440
And that's a factor because we need to be putting more fire on the ground in the winter

790
00:45:44,440 --> 00:45:46,560
and getting rid of these fuels.

791
00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:50,560
But with all this stuff going on, you just can't all the rules and regulations.

792
00:45:50,560 --> 00:45:52,140
We can't.

793
00:45:52,140 --> 00:45:57,360
We try to do work, but we don't have the workforce to go out there and actually be doing the

794
00:45:57,360 --> 00:45:59,360
fuels work all the time that needs to be done.

795
00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:02,380
And then, like I said, you can't burn when you need to.

796
00:46:02,380 --> 00:46:06,720
So we start getting these rains like right now is just putting more grass on.

797
00:46:06,720 --> 00:46:08,420
Enough didn't burn last year.

798
00:46:08,420 --> 00:46:15,120
So all you now have now is more, more, more wick to get to that brush, you know, with

799
00:46:15,120 --> 00:46:16,660
all that grass.

800
00:46:16,660 --> 00:46:21,000
So it's just and then people put their homes in places they shouldn't be.

801
00:46:21,000 --> 00:46:25,520
They don't do the clearance that they should.

802
00:46:25,520 --> 00:46:27,320
People are negligent dragging chains.

803
00:46:27,320 --> 00:46:29,760
I mean, it's just so many factors.

804
00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:34,320
You know, I'm not too informed on the whole climate change and all that.

805
00:46:34,320 --> 00:46:35,440
I don't know.

806
00:46:35,440 --> 00:46:39,280
But I do know that it's hot and dry all year long.

807
00:46:39,280 --> 00:46:43,280
You know, we get two inches of rain and that's cool for a little bit, but it'll pick right

808
00:46:43,280 --> 00:46:44,280
back up.

809
00:46:44,280 --> 00:46:48,420
You know, we get crazy winds here in Southern California all the time.

810
00:46:48,420 --> 00:46:50,200
So that just dries things out fast.

811
00:46:50,200 --> 00:46:55,560
You know, so we're having we check our fuels twice, twice a month.

812
00:46:55,560 --> 00:46:57,800
And you know, it changes pretty rapidly, actually.

813
00:46:57,800 --> 00:46:58,800
Yeah.

814
00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:00,320
I mean, it's just an important conversation.

815
00:47:00,320 --> 00:47:05,240
You can label it however you want global warming or, you know, pink cupcake day, whatever you

816
00:47:05,240 --> 00:47:06,240
want to call it.

817
00:47:06,240 --> 00:47:10,600
But the reality is we are asking our wildland firefighters to do more with less over and

818
00:47:10,600 --> 00:47:11,600
over again.

819
00:47:11,600 --> 00:47:12,600
Every year.

820
00:47:12,600 --> 00:47:15,280
And it's funny, we talked earlier about, you know, municipal having a lot of cannabis.

821
00:47:15,280 --> 00:47:16,280
They don't anymore.

822
00:47:16,280 --> 00:47:17,280
Really?

823
00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:19,600
And I was literally reminiscing with people when I got hired in Anaheim.

824
00:47:19,600 --> 00:47:22,520
I worked in Anaheim for a few years.

825
00:47:22,520 --> 00:47:25,600
I tested against a thousand candidates that were all certified.

826
00:47:25,600 --> 00:47:26,600
It wasn't non-certified.

827
00:47:26,600 --> 00:47:32,000
It was a thousand certified firefighter paramedics and or EMTs with ambulance experience.

828
00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:34,160
A lot of them came from the wildland community.

829
00:47:34,160 --> 00:47:39,040
So we're talking about stacked resumes, thousands of them for 30 jobs.

830
00:47:39,040 --> 00:47:40,640
And so now it's not the case.

831
00:47:40,640 --> 00:47:41,840
Anaheim may still be doing well.

832
00:47:41,840 --> 00:47:45,160
They're a very well-respected department, but a lot of departments are really hurting.

833
00:47:45,160 --> 00:47:52,800
I think it's the same in wildland where people are now able in 2023 to research, you know,

834
00:47:52,800 --> 00:47:55,720
what does the role of a wildland firefighter look like?

835
00:47:55,720 --> 00:47:59,360
And you'll see, you know, the pack test and the camaraderie and only the brave, well,

836
00:47:59,360 --> 00:48:01,840
the brave is a bad example because so many people died.

837
00:48:01,840 --> 00:48:06,240
But you know, the, the, the glory side, the things that we're all proud of, the things

838
00:48:06,240 --> 00:48:07,840
that we love about the profession.

839
00:48:07,840 --> 00:48:12,240
But in that Google search will also come up firefighter suicide, addiction, homelessness,

840
00:48:12,240 --> 00:48:14,960
all these things that, you know, I want to get into in a second with you.

841
00:48:14,960 --> 00:48:20,840
But the other side and then the pay and then the mandatory overtime, you know, and so now

842
00:48:20,840 --> 00:48:24,960
people are able to see the entire picture, you know, good and bad.

843
00:48:24,960 --> 00:48:31,400
And I think that now with that, we've, we've really exposed how poorly a lot of these agencies

844
00:48:31,400 --> 00:48:33,520
support their men and women.

845
00:48:33,520 --> 00:48:36,880
And therefore there's not as much of a demand because people are going, that looks a bit

846
00:48:36,880 --> 00:48:37,880
shit.

847
00:48:37,880 --> 00:48:38,880
I'm not going to do that.

848
00:48:38,880 --> 00:48:44,000
You know, so I think that we are really at a pivotal point in the municipal and the wildland

849
00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:49,400
fire service where if people don't start, start actually bolstering these professions

850
00:48:49,400 --> 00:48:53,920
and supporting them and giving them more staffing so we can give them more time off and rest

851
00:48:53,920 --> 00:48:58,080
and recovery, we're not going to have firefighters anymore.

852
00:48:58,080 --> 00:49:02,520
And you know, a lot of, a lot of cities will suffer what paradise endured, you know, a

853
00:49:02,520 --> 00:49:06,920
few years ago because they just simply won't be, as you said, prescribed burns and the

854
00:49:06,920 --> 00:49:11,160
proactive side or the ability to be reactive and protect communities.

855
00:49:11,160 --> 00:49:12,160
Yeah.

856
00:49:12,160 --> 00:49:15,200
I'm going to give you some, some percent and I got an example for you.

857
00:49:15,200 --> 00:49:20,640
My step kid, he's 24, he'll be 24 in a couple of weeks.

858
00:49:20,640 --> 00:49:25,200
He started expressing interest in what I do and he wants to do something honorable, you

859
00:49:25,200 --> 00:49:30,040
know, and my opinion, his opinion as well, the two most honorable things you can do,

860
00:49:30,040 --> 00:49:33,160
military or be a firefighter.

861
00:49:33,160 --> 00:49:35,760
That's my opinion and he agrees with it.

862
00:49:35,760 --> 00:49:37,480
So he started asking me, what can he do?

863
00:49:37,480 --> 00:49:45,120
So he's 24, he works in solar panels right now and he makes 29 bucks an hour.

864
00:49:45,120 --> 00:49:46,120
Right?

865
00:49:46,120 --> 00:49:50,600
So I told him, well, if you get on the engine or the hand crew, you're going to maybe start

866
00:49:50,600 --> 00:49:52,560
at like 1550 an hour.

867
00:49:52,560 --> 00:49:58,060
And when he was like, well, I can't live off that, you know, it's a thing and how you make

868
00:49:58,060 --> 00:49:59,680
your money in wild man's overtime.

869
00:49:59,680 --> 00:50:05,240
So hopefully you get on a, in an area where there's a lot of coverage needed or, you know,

870
00:50:05,240 --> 00:50:09,440
you're on a crew where it's nonstop or helicopter where there's less resources.

871
00:50:09,440 --> 00:50:13,360
So you get more time, but they don't pay us, right?

872
00:50:13,360 --> 00:50:17,120
We're not going to be able to get these new kids in when you can go work at in and out

873
00:50:17,120 --> 00:50:21,840
or you can go work at, you know, McDonald's and you can make more than you can in the

874
00:50:21,840 --> 00:50:24,640
backseat of an engine on a fire crew.

875
00:50:24,640 --> 00:50:27,120
You know, come on, it's ridiculous.

876
00:50:27,120 --> 00:50:29,320
And I'm actually the union rep on my forest.

877
00:50:29,320 --> 00:50:31,680
I went to Washington DC fighting for it.

878
00:50:31,680 --> 00:50:35,000
I actually got invited to the white house, went into the West wing.

879
00:50:35,000 --> 00:50:36,000
That was awesome experience.

880
00:50:36,000 --> 00:50:38,360
Who would have ever thought I'd been there?

881
00:50:38,360 --> 00:50:41,200
That was crazy.

882
00:50:41,200 --> 00:50:44,360
And then, you know, we went into Congress and talked to them and I just, I really don't

883
00:50:44,360 --> 00:50:48,880
understand the holdup on the buy-in to pay people.

884
00:50:48,880 --> 00:50:49,880
Right.

885
00:50:49,880 --> 00:50:52,440
You know, it's crazy to me.

886
00:50:52,440 --> 00:50:56,600
So unless they fix that and then like you say, all the different dynamics that come

887
00:50:56,600 --> 00:50:59,960
with it, it's yeah, we're going to implode completely.

888
00:50:59,960 --> 00:51:05,760
Well, talk to me about Tim Hart and how that took you to DC.

889
00:51:05,760 --> 00:51:13,800
So the Tim Hart, I think is going to be hard to pass because there's a lot of things wrong

890
00:51:13,800 --> 00:51:15,400
with the forest service.

891
00:51:15,400 --> 00:51:16,400
Right.

892
00:51:16,400 --> 00:51:22,560
And Tim Hart in that whole little bill kind of fixes probably too much.

893
00:51:22,560 --> 00:51:25,520
You know, it would make too many things make sense.

894
00:51:25,520 --> 00:51:26,800
So you're going to get a lot of pushback.

895
00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:28,680
I hope it goes through.

896
00:51:28,680 --> 00:51:33,880
We have some guys who are in Washington daily pushing for it, trying to get, you know, the

897
00:51:33,880 --> 00:51:36,440
signatures they need, trying to talk to the right people.

898
00:51:36,440 --> 00:51:39,200
But it's like a fix all.

899
00:51:39,200 --> 00:51:43,100
And I think with the way our government works is we don't fix all.

900
00:51:43,100 --> 00:51:44,440
So it's a hard one.

901
00:51:44,440 --> 00:51:48,080
And then it's hard to get those bills passed and other things because you put them in all

902
00:51:48,080 --> 00:51:51,240
these other different bills that have too much stuff in it.

903
00:51:51,240 --> 00:51:56,680
You know, I think it'd be nice to have somebody to sit back and do the right thing and be

904
00:51:56,680 --> 00:51:58,680
like, look at all this stuff needs to be fixed.

905
00:51:58,680 --> 00:52:03,720
People are dying and more people are going to die if we don't fix it.

906
00:52:03,720 --> 00:52:09,000
But it's a hard sell, you know, because for some reason the money is the issue, which

907
00:52:09,000 --> 00:52:10,000
it shouldn't be.

908
00:52:10,000 --> 00:52:20,040
When I talk to the congressman about the issues and about what's going on, they have no idea

909
00:52:20,040 --> 00:52:21,720
what I'm talking about.

910
00:52:21,720 --> 00:52:27,640
And I don't know if that's just what they're acting like or if they are really that far

911
00:52:27,640 --> 00:52:31,520
separated from what the real issues are.

912
00:52:31,520 --> 00:52:33,160
You know, it's one of the two.

913
00:52:33,160 --> 00:52:36,800
And it was kind of disheartening for me to be like, you have no idea what I'm talking

914
00:52:36,800 --> 00:52:37,800
about.

915
00:52:37,800 --> 00:52:38,800
What do you mean?

916
00:52:38,800 --> 00:52:40,680
You know, you are a representative.

917
00:52:40,680 --> 00:52:42,720
So the separation is huge.

918
00:52:42,720 --> 00:52:49,640
As far as Tim Hart goes, you know, I don't really know too much of his whole story to

919
00:52:49,640 --> 00:52:56,200
speak on, but he was a firefighter that passed and they put the bill together in his name.

920
00:52:56,200 --> 00:53:03,280
I believe his wife was pushing a lot of the issues with it and it took off and grew.

921
00:53:03,280 --> 00:53:07,600
It sounds like he was a smoke jumper and died in a hard land.

922
00:53:07,600 --> 00:53:13,160
And again, every time I think of a line of duty death, especially when it's someone doing

923
00:53:13,160 --> 00:53:17,480
something that they would have been good at doing, you know, you're not going to be a

924
00:53:17,480 --> 00:53:21,400
smoke jumper and not know how to land with a parachute, for example.

925
00:53:21,400 --> 00:53:27,440
So that immediately then sends me into thinking, OK, what did the weeks prior look like?

926
00:53:27,440 --> 00:53:31,480
Did he get rest and recovery or was he on back to back deployments?

927
00:53:31,480 --> 00:53:34,800
Did that factor into a lack of judgment and his death?

928
00:53:34,800 --> 00:53:38,920
Yeah, I imagine that is something that really does need to be looked at because those are

929
00:53:38,920 --> 00:53:40,720
huge issues now.

930
00:53:40,720 --> 00:53:49,120
The resources window down to even less is going to be less rest and recovery.

931
00:53:49,120 --> 00:53:53,280
People just pushing and pushing the cruiser as there's less hot shot crews, those hot

932
00:53:53,280 --> 00:53:57,360
shot crews are going to be more demand for them to be out even more.

933
00:53:57,360 --> 00:54:01,440
So this is leading to the next thing.

934
00:54:01,440 --> 00:54:08,520
The simple fixes, the pay, all the other stuff that's in the bill that needs to be fixed,

935
00:54:08,520 --> 00:54:12,760
you know, health stuff, the support, all that's important.

936
00:54:12,760 --> 00:54:20,440
But without the pay, we're not going to get the people in the roles that need to be filled

937
00:54:20,440 --> 00:54:22,160
to make all that stuff matter.

938
00:54:22,160 --> 00:54:25,840
So they just need to be like, look, all right, let's pay these people more.

939
00:54:25,840 --> 00:54:30,560
This now we can have more people employed and they get the proper rest and recovery

940
00:54:30,560 --> 00:54:34,280
between assignments that's necessary.

941
00:54:34,280 --> 00:54:36,640
So it all falls back on the money.

942
00:54:36,640 --> 00:54:37,640
It does.

943
00:54:37,640 --> 00:54:38,640
Yeah.

944
00:54:38,640 --> 00:54:42,480
And this is what is maddening in the municipal side, because I mean, their work week is insane.

945
00:54:42,480 --> 00:54:45,720
In a lot of America, they work 56 and they're understaffed.

946
00:54:45,720 --> 00:54:49,680
So now it's 80 hours in a week, you know, and this is, you know, on and off, maybe every

947
00:54:49,680 --> 00:54:51,280
other week they're working that.

948
00:54:51,280 --> 00:54:55,000
And we wonder why they're falling apart, why we're losing them physically and mentally.

949
00:54:55,000 --> 00:54:57,680
And people say, oh, well, if we can't get people now, how are we supposed to fill the

950
00:54:57,680 --> 00:54:58,680
seats?

951
00:54:58,680 --> 00:54:59,680
And it's exactly what you said.

952
00:54:59,680 --> 00:55:00,960
You fucking change things.

953
00:55:00,960 --> 00:55:03,000
So people want to be a firefighter.

954
00:55:03,000 --> 00:55:04,040
It's that simple.

955
00:55:04,040 --> 00:55:07,880
You know, if you told someone, hey, you're going to be a coal miner and I'm going to,

956
00:55:07,880 --> 00:55:11,520
you know, pay you $5 an hour, what would you say?

957
00:55:11,520 --> 00:55:15,200
You know, you go to an accounting job and they say, right, every third day you have

958
00:55:15,200 --> 00:55:18,400
to stay at the office all night and it's $10 an hour.

959
00:55:18,400 --> 00:55:22,520
You'd be like, yeah, you can eat a bag of dicks.

960
00:55:22,520 --> 00:55:26,680
And then they're so fucking surprised when that happens in the fire service and say,

961
00:55:26,680 --> 00:55:28,400
oh, but you love the job, don't you?

962
00:55:28,400 --> 00:55:29,400
Yes.

963
00:55:29,400 --> 00:55:33,760
But that doesn't bring you home when it's your child's birthday party, you know, or

964
00:55:33,760 --> 00:55:37,880
make sure that you're there that day so you can take your wife out on that date that you

965
00:55:37,880 --> 00:55:38,880
promised her.

966
00:55:38,880 --> 00:55:44,320
You know, we have lives outside our profession too and we love what we do, but you can't

967
00:55:44,320 --> 00:55:49,480
ask people to do more with less because you end up in 2023 where you're about to lose

968
00:55:49,480 --> 00:55:54,520
the entire ability to deliver a fire service anymore.

969
00:55:54,520 --> 00:55:57,640
So you have to have a brave decision.

970
00:55:57,640 --> 00:56:03,720
And the irony is the money that cities and counties and, you know, the forestry department

971
00:56:03,720 --> 00:56:08,360
loses from their people breaking, you could put that money into people and you'd actually

972
00:56:08,360 --> 00:56:12,400
save money because they wouldn't break and you'd retain that experience and you wouldn't

973
00:56:12,400 --> 00:56:14,840
lose them to the surrounding cities.

974
00:56:14,840 --> 00:56:18,120
That's been ridiculous for over a decade, man.

975
00:56:18,120 --> 00:56:21,480
We'll send these people to academies.

976
00:56:21,480 --> 00:56:26,640
I think it's like $6,000 a pop, you know, to go to wherever you're going for the academy

977
00:56:26,640 --> 00:56:31,200
for 30 days for wildland, get them all this experience.

978
00:56:31,200 --> 00:56:37,000
As soon as they're done with their apprenticeship, gone to Cal Fire or to a county or something

979
00:56:37,000 --> 00:56:39,040
like and say, he's wasting all that money.

980
00:56:39,040 --> 00:56:40,960
Why just take better care of us?

981
00:56:40,960 --> 00:56:41,960
The people will stay.

982
00:56:41,960 --> 00:56:43,280
Just exactly what you're saying.

983
00:56:43,280 --> 00:56:48,200
It's insane because I'm sure you could have the same conversation with anybody.

984
00:56:48,200 --> 00:56:50,880
It's like the simple fixes.

985
00:56:50,880 --> 00:56:53,680
Why can't we just fix it?

986
00:56:53,680 --> 00:56:54,680
Who's in charge?

987
00:56:54,680 --> 00:56:56,580
You know, it's crazy.

988
00:56:56,580 --> 00:57:00,120
And then at the local level, you know, you get now we're getting people who shouldn't

989
00:57:00,120 --> 00:57:03,480
be in those positions in those positions.

990
00:57:03,480 --> 00:57:07,800
So you know, they're just there for maybe their high three, you know, before they retire.

991
00:57:07,800 --> 00:57:11,640
So they come in with these grandiose ideas and never pulled the trigger on anything and

992
00:57:11,640 --> 00:57:13,620
really just make things worse.

993
00:57:13,620 --> 00:57:15,540
It's a vicious cycle, man.

994
00:57:15,540 --> 00:57:16,760
It really is.

995
00:57:16,760 --> 00:57:19,000
It's upsetting because I'm passionate about my job.

996
00:57:19,000 --> 00:57:20,860
I love wildland fire.

997
00:57:20,860 --> 00:57:25,160
I just had a situation happen to me where I thought about leaving.

998
00:57:25,160 --> 00:57:30,520
I got done pretty dirty for about a year and three months.

999
00:57:30,520 --> 00:57:36,200
I was dealing with this situation where I had these two people make up stuff about me

1000
00:57:36,200 --> 00:57:40,320
and consider me a threat and all this.

1001
00:57:40,320 --> 00:57:44,900
After 15 months, they found out that these were lies and untrue.

1002
00:57:44,900 --> 00:57:48,880
But in that time, I lost out on one hundred and twenty thousand dollars because I was

1003
00:57:48,880 --> 00:57:52,360
restricted from going to assignments or anything.

1004
00:57:52,360 --> 00:57:53,560
And there's no fixing that.

1005
00:57:53,560 --> 00:57:56,080
Now I'm just in a hole.

1006
00:57:56,080 --> 00:57:59,280
And what I ended up getting in trouble for.

1007
00:57:59,280 --> 00:58:03,280
And this is what's funny is you've seen my Instagram, right?

1008
00:58:03,280 --> 00:58:05,520
It's not about being a firefighter.

1009
00:58:05,520 --> 00:58:08,560
It's about working out wherever you can anywhere.

1010
00:58:08,560 --> 00:58:11,200
And being a firefighter is a part of who I am.

1011
00:58:11,200 --> 00:58:14,640
So sometimes I'll show the workouts we do on break or we're going to look at we got

1012
00:58:14,640 --> 00:58:15,640
30 minutes.

1013
00:58:15,640 --> 00:58:17,240
Let's knock out 500 pushups.

1014
00:58:17,240 --> 00:58:18,240
I'll share that stuff.

1015
00:58:18,240 --> 00:58:20,680
Just motivational workout wherever you can, whenever you can.

1016
00:58:20,680 --> 00:58:26,560
I ended up getting in trouble because out of six posts out of over 2000, they were able

1017
00:58:26,560 --> 00:58:30,200
to see the Forest Service logo in the background.

1018
00:58:30,200 --> 00:58:34,920
So they said the Forest Service that could insinuate that the Forest Service promotes

1019
00:58:34,920 --> 00:58:36,560
my business.

1020
00:58:36,560 --> 00:58:39,600
So I got in trouble for that.

1021
00:58:39,600 --> 00:58:45,800
And what's crazy is I literally through my social media try to promote being a firefighter

1022
00:58:45,800 --> 00:58:49,240
to these kids who message me and they're like, hey, man, I really want to do what you're

1023
00:58:49,240 --> 00:58:50,240
doing.

1024
00:58:50,240 --> 00:58:51,920
I'm involved and I'll direct them.

1025
00:58:51,920 --> 00:58:57,280
I've got people on on hotshot crews, engines, type two crews all over California.

1026
00:58:57,280 --> 00:58:59,560
These kids, I help them tell them what to do.

1027
00:58:59,560 --> 00:59:01,440
And now I'm not supposed to do that.

1028
00:59:01,440 --> 00:59:05,040
And that's just trying to bring people in, you know, that come kind of from the world

1029
00:59:05,040 --> 00:59:06,040
that I do.

1030
00:59:06,040 --> 00:59:08,560
And that could fill the seats.

1031
00:59:08,560 --> 00:59:11,400
Yeah, there's some lunacy out there.

1032
00:59:11,400 --> 00:59:12,400
There really is.

1033
00:59:12,400 --> 00:59:14,560
You know, I mean, and there's a fragile egos as well.

1034
00:59:14,560 --> 00:59:16,240
Sometimes it's the person, the individual.

1035
00:59:16,240 --> 00:59:21,840
I mean, I've I've tried to try to push change in a lot of the places I've worked, you know,

1036
00:59:21,840 --> 00:59:25,840
and I've worked in places where that wasn't very hard at all because it was a great environment

1037
00:59:25,840 --> 00:59:26,840
like Anaheim.

1038
00:59:26,840 --> 00:59:30,040
And I've worked some places where they didn't want to hear it full stop.

1039
00:59:30,040 --> 00:59:31,040
Sit down, shut up.

1040
00:59:31,040 --> 00:59:32,040
You're making us look bad.

1041
00:59:32,040 --> 00:59:33,880
You know, so many fragile egos there.

1042
00:59:33,880 --> 00:59:37,960
So but this is what I hear from a lot of the really good firefighters around the country

1043
00:59:37,960 --> 00:59:42,480
is their biggest stress isn't that horrendous car wreck they went to.

1044
00:59:42,480 --> 00:59:49,520
It's the environment that they working and they're trying to be, you know, motivated,

1045
00:59:49,520 --> 00:59:53,160
fired up firefighters and find new training and spread fitness and all those things.

1046
00:59:53,160 --> 00:59:55,760
And their biggest resistance is their own people.

1047
00:59:55,760 --> 00:59:56,760
Thousand percent.

1048
00:59:56,760 --> 01:00:01,760
You know, that's one of the reasons why, you know, we're talking about the stress side

1049
01:00:01,760 --> 01:00:02,760
of it.

1050
01:00:02,760 --> 01:00:06,800
And you had brought up like suicide and and those things.

1051
01:00:06,800 --> 01:00:11,600
One of the one of the reasons and where I started heading with my social media when

1052
01:00:11,600 --> 01:00:15,400
I started it was that camaraderie that we build, right?

1053
01:00:15,400 --> 01:00:19,840
When we work out together during the fire season, we're pushing or grinding, create

1054
01:00:19,840 --> 01:00:20,840
these bonds.

1055
01:00:20,840 --> 01:00:21,840
Right.

1056
01:00:21,840 --> 01:00:25,400
And that's your life for those six, seven months.

1057
01:00:25,400 --> 01:00:30,360
But then these people get laid off the seasonals or even permanence, no use or lose, whatever

1058
01:00:30,360 --> 01:00:31,640
it is you're off your home.

1059
01:00:31,640 --> 01:00:38,600
So now all of a sudden you're in these environments that are different and sometimes depressing,

1060
01:00:38,600 --> 01:00:41,240
especially when you whatever situation you're in.

1061
01:00:41,240 --> 01:00:45,600
But with my social media, I said, look, you can still we can still work out together.

1062
01:00:45,600 --> 01:00:48,760
We can stay connected all year long and support the grind.

1063
01:00:48,760 --> 01:00:53,760
And I think that's one of the best parts of what Instagram or TikTok or Facebook, any

1064
01:00:53,760 --> 01:00:58,920
of that stuff is, is that you can stay connected with like minded people and kind of maybe

1065
01:00:58,920 --> 01:01:03,000
you never know who you're going to help, who's in a bad spot where maybe they see something

1066
01:01:03,000 --> 01:01:08,320
positive or you invite them to do a zoom workout and it changes their perspective or their

1067
01:01:08,320 --> 01:01:10,400
day or wherever, wherever they're at.

1068
01:01:10,400 --> 01:01:14,000
It's one of my favorite things about social media.

1069
01:01:14,000 --> 01:01:22,200
And it's a real thing that when these people who dedicate like on a crew for six, seven

1070
01:01:22,200 --> 01:01:27,520
months and then they go home and start dealing with these real issues and they feel separated

1071
01:01:27,520 --> 01:01:33,080
from maybe their spouse or their other loved ones, whatever it is, and start drinking and

1072
01:01:33,080 --> 01:01:35,080
get just become in this depressing state.

1073
01:01:35,080 --> 01:01:41,040
But that's why I think it's powerful to create these these outlets like social media to keep

1074
01:01:41,040 --> 01:01:44,720
people connected and support each other all year long.

1075
01:01:44,720 --> 01:01:49,880
I think that's something that we don't really understand being in the municipal fire service

1076
01:01:49,880 --> 01:01:52,800
is that seasonal element of the wildland fire service.

1077
01:01:52,800 --> 01:01:58,320
And I think that the deadliest catch, the crab fishing show from years ago kind of gave

1078
01:01:58,320 --> 01:01:59,520
an insight into that.

1079
01:01:59,520 --> 01:02:03,000
These men, you can see that shared suffering, that community, obviously they would bang

1080
01:02:03,000 --> 01:02:07,560
heads sometimes that we all do, but overall they were this tight knit tribe.

1081
01:02:07,560 --> 01:02:14,040
And then the season stops and they all walk out the door and some go home to a healthy

1082
01:02:14,040 --> 01:02:16,760
community and environment and they do OK.

1083
01:02:16,760 --> 01:02:20,220
But some clearly they spiral downward again.

1084
01:02:20,220 --> 01:02:24,640
So what are you seeing through your own eyes of the negative side?

1085
01:02:24,640 --> 01:02:28,680
You've got all the positivity of when we're on the job and when they're wearing the uniform

1086
01:02:28,680 --> 01:02:33,240
and out there working together and suffering together and bonding.

1087
01:02:33,240 --> 01:02:38,240
But that other side, when they're you know, they walk out the door for the last time until

1088
01:02:38,240 --> 01:02:39,240
the following year.

1089
01:02:39,240 --> 01:02:40,680
You see a lot of stuff, man.

1090
01:02:40,680 --> 01:02:45,640
We've had suicide here locally on our forest, you know, most recently.

1091
01:02:45,640 --> 01:02:48,840
I don't get too into it, but we'll call it suicide.

1092
01:02:48,840 --> 01:02:49,840
He didn't.

1093
01:02:49,840 --> 01:02:51,760
And he was just in a bad spot.

1094
01:02:51,760 --> 01:02:57,320
You know, he was actually think he was close to retirement and thinking the end was coming,

1095
01:02:57,320 --> 01:03:00,360
you know, whatever it was, but he was losing what this was.

1096
01:03:00,360 --> 01:03:03,280
And that was all his life is, you know, but you got these kids, right?

1097
01:03:03,280 --> 01:03:09,480
A lot of young men who are living in their trucks because they can't afford to be to

1098
01:03:09,480 --> 01:03:11,640
have a residence wherever they're stationed at.

1099
01:03:11,640 --> 01:03:15,840
So a lot of them sleep in their trucks on the property or get these little trailers

1100
01:03:15,840 --> 01:03:17,120
in a room or whatever.

1101
01:03:17,120 --> 01:03:22,160
So when the fire season ends, they have literally nothing, maybe some money they stacked up,

1102
01:03:22,160 --> 01:03:26,960
you know, so then they go and they don't have that camaraderie anymore.

1103
01:03:26,960 --> 01:03:32,880
I think drinking becomes a real big problem because that's the most socially accepted

1104
01:03:32,880 --> 01:03:34,120
bullshit in the world.

1105
01:03:34,120 --> 01:03:40,120
You know, so, you know, they dive into that and who knows what, you know, some of these

1106
01:03:40,120 --> 01:03:45,720
guys are gone for months at a time, you know, go for assignment, come home for two days,

1107
01:03:45,720 --> 01:03:46,720
go to assignment.

1108
01:03:46,720 --> 01:03:47,720
So then what?

1109
01:03:47,720 --> 01:03:51,560
You're going to lose your wife unless she's a good girl and you're actually decent to

1110
01:03:51,560 --> 01:03:52,880
her, you know, and keep your chick.

1111
01:03:52,880 --> 01:03:57,880
But a lot of time, you know, they lose their wives, now they're on their own.

1112
01:03:57,880 --> 01:04:00,800
So fire season's over, no more support.

1113
01:04:00,800 --> 01:04:02,320
Drinking.

1114
01:04:02,320 --> 01:04:06,640
Drinking is the biggest thing I see and you get lost in it.

1115
01:04:06,640 --> 01:04:12,280
So you know, I don't really know what the, I think hiring people on more full time, like

1116
01:04:12,280 --> 01:04:16,400
I've been permanent and 26 and 0 since I started.

1117
01:04:16,400 --> 01:04:19,560
So I had, you know, I go to work every day.

1118
01:04:19,560 --> 01:04:21,800
So that never ends for me.

1119
01:04:21,800 --> 01:04:25,120
But seeing that and what it does to people, it's a sad thing, man.

1120
01:04:25,120 --> 01:04:32,440
And so trying to just create an environment to support them in some way is all we can

1121
01:04:32,440 --> 01:04:34,280
really do.

1122
01:04:34,280 --> 01:04:40,240
So as you touched on before, you built this community, WildFitLife.

1123
01:04:40,240 --> 01:04:45,480
Talk to me about the genesis of that and then how it's grown to where we are today.

1124
01:04:45,480 --> 01:04:53,080
So the way it originally started was I was on, because I run a, well, me and Jason, who

1125
01:04:53,080 --> 01:04:57,600
I was talking to you about a bit ago, we run an engine and we run a hand crew.

1126
01:04:57,600 --> 01:04:59,480
So we go back and forth running those two things, right?

1127
01:04:59,480 --> 01:05:01,400
So I was on a fire with this hand crew.

1128
01:05:01,400 --> 01:05:07,760
I was actually off social media just because I'm real big on keeping anything negative

1129
01:05:07,760 --> 01:05:08,760
out of my life, you know?

1130
01:05:08,760 --> 01:05:11,800
So at that time, I was just familiar with Facebook and you see your friends and all

1131
01:05:11,800 --> 01:05:12,800
their bullshit.

1132
01:05:12,800 --> 01:05:14,840
So I'm like, I don't even want to look at it anymore, you know?

1133
01:05:14,840 --> 01:05:16,840
Anyway, so now I'm on this fire.

1134
01:05:16,840 --> 01:05:20,200
It's like 103, I think 104 that day.

1135
01:05:20,200 --> 01:05:24,720
I tell this guy, Rob, I'm like, hey, we got to go to this hell of a spot.

1136
01:05:24,720 --> 01:05:25,720
We'll get up there.

1137
01:05:25,720 --> 01:05:27,440
Just you come with me.

1138
01:05:27,440 --> 01:05:28,440
So he goes with me.

1139
01:05:28,440 --> 01:05:32,600
We ended up getting up to the top like a 45 minute plus hike.

1140
01:05:32,600 --> 01:05:33,600
Like I said, it was hot.

1141
01:05:33,600 --> 01:05:37,200
And when we get up there, we have to wait two hours for the helicopter.

1142
01:05:37,200 --> 01:05:40,120
So I tell him, hey, do a thousand pushups with me in an hour.

1143
01:05:40,120 --> 01:05:42,640
And he was like, all right.

1144
01:05:42,640 --> 01:05:47,600
So we do it and in the midst of doing it, he tells me, man, these all these workouts

1145
01:05:47,600 --> 01:05:51,180
that you come up with like this, you should put them on social media.

1146
01:05:51,180 --> 01:05:53,400
Other people could do them for follow alongs and stuff like that.

1147
01:05:53,400 --> 01:05:54,400
And he's a younger guy, right?

1148
01:05:54,400 --> 01:05:57,040
So he started telling me about Instagram and all this.

1149
01:05:57,040 --> 01:05:58,680
I'm like, all right, let's check it out.

1150
01:05:58,680 --> 01:05:59,720
So that's how I started.

1151
01:05:59,720 --> 01:06:00,720
Then I started it.

1152
01:06:00,720 --> 01:06:01,720
Started sharing workouts.

1153
01:06:01,720 --> 01:06:04,520
And then I started seeing the reach that I could have with it.

1154
01:06:04,520 --> 01:06:08,880
One of the most powerful impacts that I thought I could have was on my kids who were at that

1155
01:06:08,880 --> 01:06:12,720
time starting to become young adults themselves.

1156
01:06:12,720 --> 01:06:14,480
And if you have kids, do you?

1157
01:06:14,480 --> 01:06:15,480
Yes.

1158
01:06:15,480 --> 01:06:16,480
Yeah.

1159
01:06:16,480 --> 01:06:18,480
I have my biological son and then my bonus for my stepson.

1160
01:06:18,480 --> 01:06:20,480
Oh, 16 and 22.

1161
01:06:20,480 --> 01:06:21,480
Okay.

1162
01:06:21,480 --> 01:06:26,520
So then you kind of know they start thinking that they know what's up and what you say

1163
01:06:26,520 --> 01:06:29,480
starts becoming pretty irrelevant, right?

1164
01:06:29,480 --> 01:06:32,980
Because they got life figured out and they're going to create their own path.

1165
01:06:32,980 --> 01:06:38,760
So one of the things that I saw is that I could make these posts, these powerful share

1166
01:06:38,760 --> 01:06:44,520
these thoughts that I'm having things that I found powerful share my relentless grind

1167
01:06:44,520 --> 01:06:45,520
every day.

1168
01:06:45,520 --> 01:06:48,520
And no matter what my kids, if I were to die tomorrow, I would be able to look at that

1169
01:06:48,520 --> 01:06:52,500
and I could impact their lives in a positive way through that.

1170
01:06:52,500 --> 01:06:56,040
So that was one of the reasons I kept pushing it, you know, and then the camaraderie that

1171
01:06:56,040 --> 01:06:59,520
I was creating with other people from all over the world that was started tagging me

1172
01:06:59,520 --> 01:07:02,320
in their workouts.

1173
01:07:02,320 --> 01:07:08,000
And then it just kept growing, you know, and I think a lot of it has to do with it's not

1174
01:07:08,000 --> 01:07:09,000
flashy.

1175
01:07:09,000 --> 01:07:10,000
I don't have a lot of money.

1176
01:07:10,000 --> 01:07:13,920
I'm just in the garage or I'm, you know, at work or I'm somewhere.

1177
01:07:13,920 --> 01:07:16,480
I'm just, let's just fucking do more.

1178
01:07:16,480 --> 01:07:17,480
That's it.

1179
01:07:17,480 --> 01:07:22,120
Just do more, you know, and it's someone that whole black and white theme is intentional.

1180
01:07:22,120 --> 01:07:24,320
It's for the simplicity of what it is.

1181
01:07:24,320 --> 01:07:29,800
You know, you don't need all this flashy colors, all this flashy shit, just black and white,

1182
01:07:29,800 --> 01:07:31,800
simple, just fucking grind.

1183
01:07:31,800 --> 01:07:37,560
So it's, it's grown in people that associate to that.

1184
01:07:37,560 --> 01:07:43,960
And I think a lot of people associate with me because I'm just like you, you know, let's

1185
01:07:43,960 --> 01:07:45,440
just fucking go.

1186
01:07:45,440 --> 01:07:48,360
And that's it.

1187
01:07:48,360 --> 01:07:53,600
Now was your wife always working out with you or did she kind of get pulled in?

1188
01:07:53,600 --> 01:07:58,120
So my wife, she's a different story, man.

1189
01:07:58,120 --> 01:08:01,600
She was the type of girl who hated running in school.

1190
01:08:01,600 --> 01:08:05,080
If they wanted her to do a mile at P she would walk that shit.

1191
01:08:05,080 --> 01:08:06,360
She never liked working out.

1192
01:08:06,360 --> 01:08:07,360
She didn't like to sweat.

1193
01:08:07,360 --> 01:08:12,920
You know, she's a real pretty girl into the feminine.

1194
01:08:12,920 --> 01:08:15,440
So she watched me work out in the garage six years.

1195
01:08:15,440 --> 01:08:17,920
She was just watching me had to be that long.

1196
01:08:17,920 --> 01:08:18,920
Yeah.

1197
01:08:18,920 --> 01:08:19,920
And then I would tell her, you want to work out with me?

1198
01:08:19,920 --> 01:08:20,920
She said, no.

1199
01:08:20,920 --> 01:08:21,920
Well, finally she did.

1200
01:08:21,920 --> 01:08:24,720
She was like, Oh, I'll try it out.

1201
01:08:24,720 --> 01:08:29,080
And then, man, she started got into it.

1202
01:08:29,080 --> 01:08:34,880
So obviously I had a roller coaster at first, but then she just got committed and now she

1203
01:08:34,880 --> 01:08:36,520
can't take a day off.

1204
01:08:36,520 --> 01:08:39,160
And it's been years.

1205
01:08:39,160 --> 01:08:40,840
Having that is a whole different dynamic.

1206
01:08:40,840 --> 01:08:46,320
And actually with my program, I, because of what that is with me and my wife, I offer

1207
01:08:46,320 --> 01:08:53,800
a two for one, you know, couples, if you and your girl, whatever, two for one for the price,

1208
01:08:53,800 --> 01:08:57,800
because that's what I want to push because the dynamics that it's created with me and

1209
01:08:57,800 --> 01:09:01,480
my wife falls back on the camaraderie that we were talking about, right?

1210
01:09:01,480 --> 01:09:06,040
That we find in the, in the fire service or with our workouts, whatever it is, right?

1211
01:09:06,040 --> 01:09:10,300
Me and her have that, which created a whole different dynamic in our relationship.

1212
01:09:10,300 --> 01:09:11,300
We push each other.

1213
01:09:11,300 --> 01:09:13,520
We support each other.

1214
01:09:13,520 --> 01:09:19,000
The other day, this is a good story to kind of support what I'm talking about with her.

1215
01:09:19,000 --> 01:09:20,800
I'm not even the one who pushed this.

1216
01:09:20,800 --> 01:09:23,920
We were in the garage doing a circuit, me, her and my coworker.

1217
01:09:23,920 --> 01:09:26,520
And I had my clients on zoom.

1218
01:09:26,520 --> 01:09:27,520
The power went out.

1219
01:09:27,520 --> 01:09:29,000
There was a car accident right down the street.

1220
01:09:29,000 --> 01:09:30,880
Someone hit the pole.

1221
01:09:30,880 --> 01:09:35,560
So before I can even say anything, I'm thinking, man, shit, you know, all the power's out.

1222
01:09:35,560 --> 01:09:41,880
She was, let's get some candles lit and finish this shit.

1223
01:09:41,880 --> 01:09:43,440
Like I said, I'm not even the one who said it.

1224
01:09:43,440 --> 01:09:46,680
Me and Troy looked at her or like, fuck, all right, let's go.

1225
01:09:46,680 --> 01:09:49,560
And so we finished the workout and candlelight.

1226
01:09:49,560 --> 01:09:51,440
It was pretty cool.

1227
01:09:51,440 --> 01:09:52,440
And it's awesome.

1228
01:09:52,440 --> 01:09:53,440
Yeah.

1229
01:09:53,440 --> 01:09:56,760
It's awesome to see her grow in her self-confidence.

1230
01:09:56,760 --> 01:09:59,280
She has, um, she fought anxiety real bad.

1231
01:09:59,280 --> 01:10:03,880
One of our kids almost, uh, almost died from an illness and they couldn't figure out what

1232
01:10:03,880 --> 01:10:04,880
it was.

1233
01:10:04,880 --> 01:10:06,600
And it fucked her up, man.

1234
01:10:06,600 --> 01:10:11,280
She started becoming fearful of the unknown and it really created an anxiety that was,

1235
01:10:11,280 --> 01:10:16,080
that was, uh, really just, it took control of her.

1236
01:10:16,080 --> 01:10:17,080
Right?

1237
01:10:17,080 --> 01:10:23,040
So the working out, watching it literally help her in that aspect of who she is, is

1238
01:10:23,040 --> 01:10:24,040
powerful.

1239
01:10:24,040 --> 01:10:26,520
You know, there's so much to it.

1240
01:10:26,520 --> 01:10:30,160
You know, people just think, Oh, I don't want my life to be about working out, but fuck

1241
01:10:30,160 --> 01:10:31,160
man.

1242
01:10:31,160 --> 01:10:35,600
When you start making self care, the priority of who you are, it affects so many other things

1243
01:10:35,600 --> 01:10:36,600
about you.

1244
01:10:36,600 --> 01:10:38,000
I say it all the time.

1245
01:10:38,000 --> 01:10:42,680
Every little move that you make, you teach yourself something about who you are, you

1246
01:10:42,680 --> 01:10:43,680
know?

1247
01:10:43,680 --> 01:10:47,000
And if you're demanding more of yourself in this aspect of your life, then it's going

1248
01:10:47,000 --> 01:10:49,000
to affect who you are over here.

1249
01:10:49,000 --> 01:10:52,040
And there's actual change that happens when you get up.

1250
01:10:52,040 --> 01:10:57,240
If you sit there on the couch and you're just stuck in this negative train of thought, and

1251
01:10:57,240 --> 01:11:03,160
if you get up and get on the treadmill or go walk around the block, there's actual reaction.

1252
01:11:03,160 --> 01:11:06,320
You know, you're changing the blood flow, you're getting more oxygen in your brain will

1253
01:11:06,320 --> 01:11:12,120
effectively change the way that you're thinking about things and possibly, and hopefully it

1254
01:11:12,120 --> 01:11:14,000
gets you into a better place.

1255
01:11:14,000 --> 01:11:16,000
A hundred percent.

1256
01:11:16,000 --> 01:11:20,680
It's interesting what you were saying about the boys when, uh, my bonus boy and my stepson,

1257
01:11:20,680 --> 01:11:26,760
when I met him, he was doing karate and he ended up doing that for about a year.

1258
01:11:26,760 --> 01:11:29,120
He kind of basically got tired of it.

1259
01:11:29,120 --> 01:11:33,880
And then the sensei of that particular school revealed who he really was and he's not, not

1260
01:11:33,880 --> 01:11:35,080
a good human being at all.

1261
01:11:35,080 --> 01:11:38,280
So we were glad he was out then got him into fencing for a little bit.

1262
01:11:38,280 --> 01:11:41,560
He kind of found a passion for that.

1263
01:11:41,560 --> 01:11:42,600
And then he transitioned out.

1264
01:11:42,600 --> 01:11:46,320
We always said, look, we don't mind, you know, what you do as long as you do something.

1265
01:11:46,320 --> 01:11:51,800
And so he came to the CrossFit gym where I coached, um, and would sit there, you know,

1266
01:11:51,800 --> 01:11:53,560
playing with his phone.

1267
01:11:53,560 --> 01:11:55,960
And then one day he goes to my wife.

1268
01:11:55,960 --> 01:11:58,040
I think I want to try it.

1269
01:11:58,040 --> 01:11:59,760
And then he was, he was off.

1270
01:11:59,760 --> 01:12:00,760
That was it.

1271
01:12:00,760 --> 01:12:01,760
Now, now these days he lifts weights.

1272
01:12:01,760 --> 01:12:04,960
He's more of a kind of bodybuilder, not, not, you know, juicing or anything, but that's

1273
01:12:04,960 --> 01:12:07,320
his kind of exercise that he loves.

1274
01:12:07,320 --> 01:12:12,100
But it's amazing how if you immerse them into that environment, they find themselves pulled

1275
01:12:12,100 --> 01:12:14,800
in and you're walking the walk, you yourself are doing it.

1276
01:12:14,800 --> 01:12:17,120
That inspires your kids to follow it as well.

1277
01:12:17,120 --> 01:12:18,120
Thousand percent.

1278
01:12:18,120 --> 01:12:19,120
It's funny.

1279
01:12:19,120 --> 01:12:22,000
My eight year old, uh, you've probably seen her on videos and stuff.

1280
01:12:22,000 --> 01:12:26,240
She's been working out with me since she was small, but I never make her workout.

1281
01:12:26,240 --> 01:12:28,920
I always invite her or, you know, I got her on the camera now.

1282
01:12:28,920 --> 01:12:32,440
Sometimes I'm teaching her to be a little camera girl, um, the GoPro.

1283
01:12:32,440 --> 01:12:33,440
It's funny.

1284
01:12:33,440 --> 01:12:34,440
It's cute.

1285
01:12:34,440 --> 01:12:40,480
But, um, she's now recently, because she does walk with us no less than a mile after dinner

1286
01:12:40,480 --> 01:12:41,480
every night.

1287
01:12:41,480 --> 01:12:42,480
That's our minimum.

1288
01:12:42,480 --> 01:12:43,480
Right.

1289
01:12:43,480 --> 01:12:47,000
But she started really just taking it to another level.

1290
01:12:47,000 --> 01:12:48,640
I think it was on Saturday.

1291
01:12:48,640 --> 01:12:52,920
Um, she comes out and she's like, Oh, I just did a hundred jumping jacks and some core

1292
01:12:52,920 --> 01:12:54,240
in my room.

1293
01:12:54,240 --> 01:12:59,600
She bought herself with her Christmas money, a little, uh, hello kitty, uh, yoga mat.

1294
01:12:59,600 --> 01:13:02,160
And uh, she was, I'm going to do a hundred burpees.

1295
01:13:02,160 --> 01:13:04,080
I'm like, all right.

1296
01:13:04,080 --> 01:13:06,120
She went and did a hundred burpees on her own.

1297
01:13:06,120 --> 01:13:07,680
She's just into it.

1298
01:13:07,680 --> 01:13:08,680
Yes.

1299
01:13:08,680 --> 01:13:13,160
It is just, she's seeing and she's starting to feel results, you know, so she's just into

1300
01:13:13,160 --> 01:13:14,160
it, you know?

1301
01:13:14,160 --> 01:13:16,800
And it's such a powerful thing to have a part of who you are.

1302
01:13:16,800 --> 01:13:24,200
So I think it's a big deal for all of us as leaders, parents, um, if you, anybody that

1303
01:13:24,200 --> 01:13:28,600
you love, you know, you can't tell them shit if you're not leading by example.

1304
01:13:28,600 --> 01:13:30,200
So set the tone, you know?

1305
01:13:30,200 --> 01:13:31,200
Absolutely.

1306
01:13:31,200 --> 01:13:33,800
Do as I say, not as I do does not work in parenting.

1307
01:13:33,800 --> 01:13:34,800
Yeah.

1308
01:13:34,800 --> 01:13:35,800
You can't say shit.

1309
01:13:35,800 --> 01:13:36,800
Even with my kids.

1310
01:13:36,800 --> 01:13:38,840
Now the older ones, I don't tell them anything anymore right now.

1311
01:13:38,840 --> 01:13:41,440
I know that they're figuring out their own path.

1312
01:13:41,440 --> 01:13:46,000
I've talked to them, but I know that they got to figure things out for themselves.

1313
01:13:46,000 --> 01:13:50,520
But what I continue to do every day is set the example of what I think is important every

1314
01:13:50,520 --> 01:13:55,120
day, the way I act to my wife, the way I act to them.

1315
01:13:55,120 --> 01:14:00,640
And then just the relentless drive for more in every aspect of who I am.

1316
01:14:00,640 --> 01:14:04,760
Now you talked about, there was a, there was some ups and downs before you and your wife

1317
01:14:04,760 --> 01:14:07,800
kind of really were cohesive working out together.

1318
01:14:07,800 --> 01:14:11,600
At the same time when I was coaching, my wife started CrossFit as well.

1319
01:14:11,600 --> 01:14:17,680
And I would tell her a cue and she would just be totally ignore me.

1320
01:14:17,680 --> 01:14:20,600
And then she'd go to the other coach and be like, Steve, can you show me how to do this?

1321
01:14:20,600 --> 01:14:22,760
And he would tell her the exact same fucking thing.

1322
01:14:22,760 --> 01:14:24,880
And she'd be like, Oh my God, that's amazing.

1323
01:14:24,880 --> 01:14:25,920
Thank you so much.

1324
01:14:25,920 --> 01:14:30,520
So we walked together, but I never really had a lot of success, you know, coaching her.

1325
01:14:30,520 --> 01:14:35,280
So how did you navigate that element when you were, you know, the expert in that particular

1326
01:14:35,280 --> 01:14:40,400
field and you were trying to bridge that gap without, you know, rocking the boat too much

1327
01:14:40,400 --> 01:14:42,040
in the marriage.

1328
01:14:42,040 --> 01:14:45,760
So I do now have that with her where I can, I can coach her.

1329
01:14:45,760 --> 01:14:51,640
I try to teach her things that I know to help her be one of my assistant coaches on my team,

1330
01:14:51,640 --> 01:14:52,640
right?

1331
01:14:52,640 --> 01:14:57,240
A lot of girls like to talk to her, but you have to understand the dynamic of it.

1332
01:14:57,240 --> 01:15:03,960
I know that she doesn't want to feel like I'm superior to her and teaching her this

1333
01:15:03,960 --> 01:15:04,960
thing.

1334
01:15:04,960 --> 01:15:06,520
She's going to be on her own, just like anybody else.

1335
01:15:06,520 --> 01:15:07,520
Right?

1336
01:15:07,520 --> 01:15:14,680
So what I did is I was connected with Kim, who's now a coach on my team at the time.

1337
01:15:14,680 --> 01:15:21,240
And I hired her to be my wife's coach, just to teach her the basics, some things about

1338
01:15:21,240 --> 01:15:24,000
the nutrition side and all those things.

1339
01:15:24,000 --> 01:15:25,320
And it worked out great.

1340
01:15:25,320 --> 01:15:29,840
My wife started learning her own way of doing things separate from what I do.

1341
01:15:29,840 --> 01:15:31,800
And she got more comfortable.

1342
01:15:31,800 --> 01:15:32,800
And this is my program.

1343
01:15:32,800 --> 01:15:38,960
So she started taking pride in that and then started really being able to understand and

1344
01:15:38,960 --> 01:15:41,660
make sense of the things that I was doing.

1345
01:15:41,660 --> 01:15:45,040
So then jump more on board with, oh, okay, yeah, let's do that.

1346
01:15:45,040 --> 01:15:48,080
And so now, now we have that.

1347
01:15:48,080 --> 01:15:50,680
But it was definitely a process that I had to be mindful of.

1348
01:15:50,680 --> 01:15:55,960
I had to realize, okay, she doesn't want me to be scanning over her like I'm some, like

1349
01:15:55,960 --> 01:15:56,960
I'm her coach.

1350
01:15:56,960 --> 01:15:59,160
You know, she's my equal.

1351
01:15:59,160 --> 01:16:03,600
So she doesn't want to feel anything less than that from me.

1352
01:16:03,600 --> 01:16:07,120
So that's why hiring the opposite source came in handy.

1353
01:16:07,120 --> 01:16:08,120
Brilliant.

1354
01:16:08,120 --> 01:16:09,120
Sage advice.

1355
01:16:09,120 --> 01:16:10,120
Thank you.

1356
01:16:10,120 --> 01:16:11,120
Yeah.

1357
01:16:11,120 --> 01:16:12,120
The other coach ended up being her main coach.

1358
01:16:12,120 --> 01:16:13,560
So kind of the same thing.

1359
01:16:13,560 --> 01:16:15,480
But then she quit CrossFit.

1360
01:16:15,480 --> 01:16:19,080
So that was to be fair.

1361
01:16:19,080 --> 01:16:20,080
That was she got busy.

1362
01:16:20,080 --> 01:16:21,080
She's in med school now.

1363
01:16:21,080 --> 01:16:24,440
So it's kind of one of those things where she had to kind of step back a little bit.

1364
01:16:24,440 --> 01:16:29,120
Well, speaking of the program, then for people listening, talk to talk to them about the

1365
01:16:29,120 --> 01:16:32,360
things that you offer, where they can find it.

1366
01:16:32,360 --> 01:16:38,760
So you can find everything on my one website, wildfitlife805.com.

1367
01:16:38,760 --> 01:16:42,600
Right there we have my one-on-one coaching.

1368
01:16:42,600 --> 01:16:46,240
And what comes with the one-on-one coaching is a lot.

1369
01:16:46,240 --> 01:16:48,760
And I keep the price low.

1370
01:16:48,760 --> 01:16:54,000
So and the idea of that is offer a better product for a lower price.

1371
01:16:54,000 --> 01:16:57,200
I mean, that's how you, that's how you move things.

1372
01:16:57,200 --> 01:16:59,160
So I take a lot of pride in what it is.

1373
01:16:59,160 --> 01:17:04,120
I've hired coaches to be a part of the team to add value for my clients.

1374
01:17:04,120 --> 01:17:09,920
I make everyone's program, but the other coaches are involved for any questions needed.

1375
01:17:09,920 --> 01:17:11,180
Like Kim, she's a female.

1376
01:17:11,180 --> 01:17:16,120
So a lot of times my female clients, they need to understand things about how they may

1377
01:17:16,120 --> 01:17:18,960
bloat or retain at different times of the month that they might not want to talk to

1378
01:17:18,960 --> 01:17:19,960
me about.

1379
01:17:19,960 --> 01:17:23,040
So they, you know, I have my female coach on board where she, and she's a lupus expert.

1380
01:17:23,040 --> 01:17:26,320
So there's a lot of things that we add value to.

1381
01:17:26,320 --> 01:17:29,320
You get custom tutorials that I make.

1382
01:17:29,320 --> 01:17:34,720
We do zoom check-ins and we do multiple zoom workouts a week with clients from all over

1383
01:17:34,720 --> 01:17:35,720
the world.

1384
01:17:35,720 --> 01:17:36,960
You can do them with your camera off.

1385
01:17:36,960 --> 01:17:39,280
It's for beginners to advanced all levels.

1386
01:17:39,280 --> 01:17:47,080
I organize these workouts and circuits in a way that anybody at any level can do them.

1387
01:17:47,080 --> 01:17:48,080
Consistency is the key.

1388
01:17:48,080 --> 01:17:50,960
You want more, you have to do more.

1389
01:17:50,960 --> 01:17:56,440
Do custom meal plans where we do the calories and macros for people.

1390
01:17:56,440 --> 01:18:00,080
And then also, so you get 21 recipes that are counted for you.

1391
01:18:00,080 --> 01:18:03,160
All you have to do is follow the recipe in my app and click the shop in this feature.

1392
01:18:03,160 --> 01:18:06,880
It'll tell you exactly what and how much to buy from the store and how to make it.

1393
01:18:06,880 --> 01:18:08,360
Simple as shit.

1394
01:18:08,360 --> 01:18:12,280
But we also have a private Facebook group where we do other things, you know, where

1395
01:18:12,280 --> 01:18:14,200
we're putting in different meal ideas.

1396
01:18:14,200 --> 01:18:16,540
Like how I eat is pretty simple.

1397
01:18:16,540 --> 01:18:20,800
So we'll put the recipes in there for that, keep it simple, and then use these other recipes

1398
01:18:20,800 --> 01:18:24,360
I give you when you want to eat something different, all this other type of stuff.

1399
01:18:24,360 --> 01:18:26,840
And it's always growing in what it is.

1400
01:18:26,840 --> 01:18:33,860
And then I have the coffee brand, which is the best coffee I've ever had in my life.

1401
01:18:33,860 --> 01:18:40,200
So me and my wife were super picky when this our partner reached out to us and he's like,

1402
01:18:40,200 --> 01:18:42,920
hey, man, you know, him and his family have been a roaster for decades.

1403
01:18:42,920 --> 01:18:45,880
It's like, how would you like to come out with your own coffee brand?

1404
01:18:45,880 --> 01:18:47,240
I don't know, man.

1405
01:18:47,240 --> 01:18:50,560
I drink Starbucks and I'm picky about the shit that I buy because I don't like the heart

1406
01:18:50,560 --> 01:18:53,920
burn or acidic stuff, you know, he's like, let me mail you some stuff.

1407
01:18:53,920 --> 01:18:57,480
He overnighted me a box of freshly roasted beans.

1408
01:18:57,480 --> 01:19:00,400
We tried every blend that he had.

1409
01:19:00,400 --> 01:19:01,680
Delicious.

1410
01:19:01,680 --> 01:19:04,800
We got with them, made up some mixtures, did our own stuff.

1411
01:19:04,800 --> 01:19:06,320
And now we have that.

1412
01:19:06,320 --> 01:19:12,480
So every order that comes in is freshly roasted to order and then shipped your house in a

1413
01:19:12,480 --> 01:19:13,480
couple of days.

1414
01:19:13,480 --> 01:19:15,440
And you can subscribe to keep it where it comes every month.

1415
01:19:15,440 --> 01:19:17,080
And I sell it in pounds.

1416
01:19:17,080 --> 01:19:21,600
This way you can get enough for a whole month, you know.

1417
01:19:21,600 --> 01:19:25,520
And with that being said, it goes hand in hand with my program, which is only a hundred.

1418
01:19:25,520 --> 01:19:27,320
My program is one hundred and fifty a month.

1419
01:19:27,320 --> 01:19:31,080
My one on one coaching, which breaks down to five dollars a day.

1420
01:19:31,080 --> 01:19:32,080
Right.

1421
01:19:32,080 --> 01:19:38,880
So I got my coffee that I came out with that if you buy my coffee and make your own coffee

1422
01:19:38,880 --> 01:19:43,800
at home, now you save five dollars a day that you're spending at Starbucks and you can afford

1423
01:19:43,800 --> 01:19:44,800
your program.

1424
01:19:44,800 --> 01:19:49,920
There's no fucking excuses all, you know.

1425
01:19:49,920 --> 01:19:54,920
And then I came out with my own supplements with just the simple stuff that I think is

1426
01:19:54,920 --> 01:19:55,920
important.

1427
01:19:55,920 --> 01:19:56,920
Protein and multivitamins.

1428
01:19:56,920 --> 01:19:57,920
That's it.

1429
01:19:57,920 --> 01:20:02,680
Because that's the only two things that I think you should 100 percent be supplementing

1430
01:20:02,680 --> 01:20:05,160
every day to add more.

1431
01:20:05,160 --> 01:20:06,160
Right.

1432
01:20:06,160 --> 01:20:07,160
So I came out with our own supplement.

1433
01:20:07,160 --> 01:20:09,160
All that stuff's in my website.

1434
01:20:09,160 --> 01:20:10,160
Beautiful.

1435
01:20:10,160 --> 01:20:11,160
All right.

1436
01:20:11,160 --> 01:20:14,960
Well, then I've got one more question before I go to some closing questions.

1437
01:20:14,960 --> 01:20:20,880
You led us through, you know, your kind of fragmented upbringing as far as the parents

1438
01:20:20,880 --> 01:20:25,320
that were there and or not there, obviously, in one case.

1439
01:20:25,320 --> 01:20:31,680
So you didn't have this this perfect kind of example of what a mother and a father should

1440
01:20:31,680 --> 01:20:34,280
be present in a child's life.

1441
01:20:34,280 --> 01:20:39,160
How did that impact you becoming a father and raising your own children?

1442
01:20:39,160 --> 01:20:42,840
What were you able how were you able to fill the gaps in some of the areas that you hadn't

1443
01:20:42,840 --> 01:20:44,480
had personally?

1444
01:20:44,480 --> 01:20:47,600
So anything negative.

1445
01:20:47,600 --> 01:20:54,680
In every aspect of my life that has happened, I have used it as a tool to build who I am

1446
01:20:54,680 --> 01:20:56,200
and who I want to be.

1447
01:20:56,200 --> 01:20:57,200
Right.

1448
01:20:57,200 --> 01:21:04,520
So there's never a woe is me bullshit or or feed off.

1449
01:21:04,520 --> 01:21:09,200
It's everything that has happened is an example of either what I want or don't want.

1450
01:21:09,200 --> 01:21:10,200
Right.

1451
01:21:10,200 --> 01:21:16,760
So I knew as a kid from the families around me, my neighbors, all this shit, what I wanted

1452
01:21:16,760 --> 01:21:19,080
and didn't want.

1453
01:21:19,080 --> 01:21:22,440
And through my own experiences, what I wanted to provide my kids.

1454
01:21:22,440 --> 01:21:23,440
Right.

1455
01:21:23,440 --> 01:21:29,440
So ever since I was young, I knew I wanted to build my own family that was set around

1456
01:21:29,440 --> 01:21:34,960
my morals and values and what I think it should look like.

1457
01:21:34,960 --> 01:21:35,960
We all want that.

1458
01:21:35,960 --> 01:21:36,960
Right.

1459
01:21:36,960 --> 01:21:37,960
What it should look like.

1460
01:21:37,960 --> 01:21:42,440
But I used all those things that have happened to me as to what what and what I can do to

1461
01:21:42,440 --> 01:21:43,640
create what I want.

1462
01:21:43,640 --> 01:21:44,640
Right.

1463
01:21:44,640 --> 01:21:47,840
So I know for my kids and maybe that wasn't the best for them, you know, but that's what

1464
01:21:47,840 --> 01:21:49,080
I thought was the best.

1465
01:21:49,080 --> 01:21:50,080
Right.

1466
01:21:50,080 --> 01:21:55,200
Family dinners and dinner at the table every night, all these things that I thought are

1467
01:21:55,200 --> 01:21:56,760
the way things should be.

1468
01:21:56,760 --> 01:22:04,560
So every experience, good and bad, I've used to make who I am in a positive way.

1469
01:22:04,560 --> 01:22:06,680
You know what I mean?

1470
01:22:06,680 --> 01:22:11,080
So it's always and I always had that state of mind.

1471
01:22:11,080 --> 01:22:19,440
My dad dying, playing rush roulette, being reckless and using and just not giving a fuck.

1472
01:22:19,440 --> 01:22:24,640
So when I took custody of my kids, I was never going to be that.

1473
01:22:24,640 --> 01:22:26,640
That wasn't OK.

1474
01:22:26,640 --> 01:22:31,760
They're going to know that they matter to me more than I matter to me.

1475
01:22:31,760 --> 01:22:37,040
And so every decision that I make will be a reflection of the consideration I have for

1476
01:22:37,040 --> 01:22:38,040
them.

1477
01:22:38,040 --> 01:22:39,040
Right.

1478
01:22:39,040 --> 01:22:42,560
So that's that's what's going to happen there with my wife.

1479
01:22:42,560 --> 01:22:49,480
The respect I have for my mom and my sister, who were huge in my life, the family I had,

1480
01:22:49,480 --> 01:22:51,960
the females around me.

1481
01:22:51,960 --> 01:22:54,760
I'm going to show my wife in the way that I think things should be.

1482
01:22:54,760 --> 01:22:55,960
I'm going to treat her that way.

1483
01:22:55,960 --> 01:22:58,200
I'm going to build what I can.

1484
01:22:58,200 --> 01:23:03,680
You know, and if that doesn't work, get divorced and try it again.

1485
01:23:03,680 --> 01:23:07,920
I've done that to me, too.

1486
01:23:07,920 --> 01:23:08,920
All right.

1487
01:23:08,920 --> 01:23:13,280
Well, then I want to throw some quick closing questions at you, if that's OK.

1488
01:23:13,280 --> 01:23:14,280
Yeah.

1489
01:23:14,280 --> 01:23:15,280
All right.

1490
01:23:15,280 --> 01:23:18,880
The first one I'd love to ask, is there a book or other books that you love to recommend

1491
01:23:18,880 --> 01:23:23,720
that can be related to our discussion today or completely unrelated?

1492
01:23:23,720 --> 01:23:30,720
Tony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within, I think it's called.

1493
01:23:30,720 --> 01:23:36,360
And then Marcus Aubrey, I think it's called Own the Day.

1494
01:23:36,360 --> 01:23:39,280
Those two powerful ass books.

1495
01:23:39,280 --> 01:23:40,960
I read Tony Robbins book.

1496
01:23:40,960 --> 01:23:42,480
That was I've talked about it before.

1497
01:23:42,480 --> 01:23:45,440
It came by in a juvenile hall library cart.

1498
01:23:45,440 --> 01:23:48,080
That's the first book Tony Robbins I grabbed when I was a kid.

1499
01:23:48,080 --> 01:23:55,920
And I became obsessed with the mental fortitude and his whole mindset and doing more and just

1500
01:23:55,920 --> 01:23:58,440
fucking do it.

1501
01:23:58,440 --> 01:24:00,200
Did you ever watch the documentary that made of him?

1502
01:24:00,200 --> 01:24:03,800
It was on Netflix, I think three, four years ago.

1503
01:24:03,800 --> 01:24:04,800
I did watch it.

1504
01:24:04,800 --> 01:24:05,800
Yeah.

1505
01:24:05,800 --> 01:24:06,800
Interesting.

1506
01:24:06,800 --> 01:24:07,800
Yeah.

1507
01:24:07,800 --> 01:24:08,800
Yeah.

1508
01:24:08,800 --> 01:24:12,680
Well, speaking of that, that's that's obviously one of the documentaries.

1509
01:24:12,680 --> 01:24:16,960
Any other documentaries and or movies that you love?

1510
01:24:16,960 --> 01:24:21,640
I'm a simple I'm a simple guy when it comes to movies, man.

1511
01:24:21,640 --> 01:24:26,280
Gladiator, Tombstone and what's that?

1512
01:24:26,280 --> 01:24:28,520
Denzel Washington movie, Man on Fire.

1513
01:24:28,520 --> 01:24:30,520
Watch those three.

1514
01:24:30,520 --> 01:24:33,760
Yeah, those are all three things what a man should be.

1515
01:24:33,760 --> 01:24:34,760
My opinion.

1516
01:24:34,760 --> 01:24:35,760
Fantastic.

1517
01:24:35,760 --> 01:24:36,760
All right.

1518
01:24:36,760 --> 01:24:40,160
Well, the next question, is there a person that you recommend to come on this podcast

1519
01:24:40,160 --> 01:24:44,400
as a guest to speak to the first responders, military and associated professions of the

1520
01:24:44,400 --> 01:24:45,400
world?

1521
01:24:45,400 --> 01:24:48,320
I would say Mark Munoz.

1522
01:24:48,320 --> 01:24:50,680
He's our union president.

1523
01:24:50,680 --> 01:24:52,320
He's passionate about what it is.

1524
01:24:52,320 --> 01:24:59,560
He's deep and involved in everything going on in Washington, D.C.

1525
01:24:59,560 --> 01:25:03,760
And he's a standup guy and he actually comes from a similar background as me.

1526
01:25:03,760 --> 01:25:08,560
And he's a chief now on the excuse me on the forest, the Angeles Forest.

1527
01:25:08,560 --> 01:25:09,560
Oh, brilliant.

1528
01:25:09,560 --> 01:25:11,880
Yeah, sounds like an amazing guy.

1529
01:25:11,880 --> 01:25:12,880
Yeah.

1530
01:25:12,880 --> 01:25:19,480
And you know, I don't know if he'd be into it, but Jason Mitchell, man, he's the influence

1531
01:25:19,480 --> 01:25:22,480
that he's created on.

1532
01:25:22,480 --> 01:25:26,920
I would go as far as to say a few hundred firefighters over his career is pretty powerful,

1533
01:25:26,920 --> 01:25:33,840
but you know, the invitation is there if he's up for it.

1534
01:25:33,840 --> 01:25:34,840
All right.

1535
01:25:34,840 --> 01:25:38,880
Well, then the very last question before we make sure everyone knows where to find you,

1536
01:25:38,880 --> 01:25:41,440
what do you do to decompress?

1537
01:25:41,440 --> 01:25:43,080
Run.

1538
01:25:43,080 --> 01:25:47,080
That's what I have to do.

1539
01:25:47,080 --> 01:25:59,480
You know that and if I can just get away with my wife and really just relax and we don't

1540
01:25:59,480 --> 01:26:02,040
date very we don't go on dates very often.

1541
01:26:02,040 --> 01:26:03,040
We don't.

1542
01:26:03,040 --> 01:26:08,000
And when I do, that is the biggest just relaxation.

1543
01:26:08,000 --> 01:26:15,760
The wine decompression that I have is it's powerful and we all need to find that.

1544
01:26:15,760 --> 01:26:20,920
You know, so we've got these things around here called the Sycamore Hot Springs.

1545
01:26:20,920 --> 01:26:25,160
They're mineral springs where you go the hot tubs out in the mountains.

1546
01:26:25,160 --> 01:26:26,160
We'll go do that.

1547
01:26:26,160 --> 01:26:30,640
Just kind of shut the world out for a minute, you know, and just check out.

1548
01:26:30,640 --> 01:26:31,640
Brilliant.

1549
01:26:31,640 --> 01:26:35,160
It sounds a lot more fun than a TGI Fridays.

1550
01:26:35,160 --> 01:26:37,680
Yeah, it is.

1551
01:26:37,680 --> 01:26:40,080
I'm not really into that anymore, man.

1552
01:26:40,080 --> 01:26:43,920
I am in my teens and 20s.

1553
01:26:43,920 --> 01:26:49,000
I spent so much of my time just the party lifestyle that it is what it is.

1554
01:26:49,000 --> 01:26:53,840
You know, when I was 31 is when I decided to stop partying and that was because my kids

1555
01:26:53,840 --> 01:26:57,040
were becoming teenagers and I was just over it.

1556
01:26:57,040 --> 01:26:59,320
I made a couple of slip ups here and there.

1557
01:26:59,320 --> 01:27:02,960
We all do, but for the most part became committed to something else.

1558
01:27:02,960 --> 01:27:03,960
Yeah.

1559
01:27:03,960 --> 01:27:04,960
Yeah.

1560
01:27:04,960 --> 01:27:10,640
I'm on yet another no alcohol straight and it's I hope this one sticks because it's not

1561
01:27:10,640 --> 01:27:16,240
I've never binge drink per se, but it's something that I've always used to quote unquote unwind

1562
01:27:16,240 --> 01:27:17,520
even though it doesn't.

1563
01:27:17,520 --> 01:27:22,400
But the kind of mindset I've got these days is I've never woken up wishing I had a drink

1564
01:27:22,400 --> 01:27:26,480
before, but I've woken up many times wishing I hadn't had a drink before.

1565
01:27:26,480 --> 01:27:30,680
So trying to infuse that into, you know, because I'm almost 50 now.

1566
01:27:30,680 --> 01:27:35,760
So you kind of want to reclaim your health journey as you start cresting the, you know,

1567
01:27:35,760 --> 01:27:41,260
the middle point of your life and alcohol, let's be honest, is a toxin and it's negative.

1568
01:27:41,260 --> 01:27:45,560
So if I'm going to fix my aches and pains and my brain fog and all the, all the shit

1569
01:27:45,560 --> 01:27:49,480
that comes with 14 years in the fire service, then, you know, I've got to, I've got to do

1570
01:27:49,480 --> 01:27:51,000
things as cleanly as I can.

1571
01:27:51,000 --> 01:27:52,800
So alcohol is out for now.

1572
01:27:52,800 --> 01:27:54,960
Yeah, there you go.

1573
01:27:54,960 --> 01:27:58,760
And I'm not in sobriety or recovery, but I don't, I don't drink really.

1574
01:27:58,760 --> 01:28:03,600
Like I almost had a couple of shots on a new years because it was just kind of like everybody

1575
01:28:03,600 --> 01:28:04,600
was doing.

1576
01:28:04,600 --> 01:28:05,600
It seemed like a cool time to have one.

1577
01:28:05,600 --> 01:28:10,200
And then I decided not to, because I was going to get up at 6 a.m. and work out.

1578
01:28:10,200 --> 01:28:13,720
So I was like, ah, I don't like the way it, I just don't like the way it makes me feel

1579
01:28:13,720 --> 01:28:14,720
now.

1580
01:28:14,720 --> 01:28:15,720
It gets in my way.

1581
01:28:15,720 --> 01:28:16,720
Yeah.

1582
01:28:16,720 --> 01:28:17,720
You know, that's, yeah.

1583
01:28:17,720 --> 01:28:24,120
So if I just look at it like that, it's anything that's in the way of my goals is a problem.

1584
01:28:24,120 --> 01:28:25,120
So 100%.

1585
01:28:25,120 --> 01:28:26,120
All right.

1586
01:28:26,120 --> 01:28:32,160
Well, then you mentioned about the website, where can people find you on social media?

1587
01:28:32,160 --> 01:28:34,560
Everything is WildFitLife805.

1588
01:28:34,560 --> 01:28:39,520
So on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook is Justin Mahaffey.

1589
01:28:39,520 --> 01:28:41,760
You can follow on there.

1590
01:28:41,760 --> 01:28:42,760
YouTube.

1591
01:28:42,760 --> 01:28:47,520
So if you're just looking for some follow alongs, that's where I really designed.

1592
01:28:47,520 --> 01:28:50,840
I'm starting to put a couple of new things, but I haven't in a while.

1593
01:28:50,840 --> 01:28:55,560
But these follow alongs are designed for people who are busy.

1594
01:28:55,560 --> 01:29:02,880
They're the five, 10, 15, 20, 30 minute workouts that you can get in anywhere.

1595
01:29:02,880 --> 01:29:09,160
It goes from 100 push ups in five minutes up to a thousand in an hour.

1596
01:29:09,160 --> 01:29:11,160
That's on the YouTube WildFitLife805.

1597
01:29:11,160 --> 01:29:17,600
I got stuff that takes away the excuse for anybody.

1598
01:29:17,600 --> 01:29:22,680
You know, I have these challenges that I put on this way for my clients.

1599
01:29:22,680 --> 01:29:25,880
But like right now we're doing, can you see that?

1600
01:29:25,880 --> 01:29:28,320
It's 30 and 30.

1601
01:29:28,320 --> 01:29:33,040
So if anybody's interested in doing stuff like that, like the minimum stuff is no less

1602
01:29:33,040 --> 01:29:36,560
than one mile walk, jog, or run.

1603
01:29:36,560 --> 01:29:39,360
WildFitLife YouTube follow along or a 30 minute workout.

1604
01:29:39,360 --> 01:29:41,720
And it's just a way to get started on your disciplines.

1605
01:29:41,720 --> 01:29:42,720
30 days nonstop.

1606
01:29:42,720 --> 01:29:44,720
You check out the box and tag me.

1607
01:29:44,720 --> 01:29:47,720
Little things like that.

1608
01:29:47,720 --> 01:29:49,720
But you know, that's it.

1609
01:29:49,720 --> 01:29:52,560
I appreciate you having me on.

1610
01:29:52,560 --> 01:29:55,640
It's an honor to be on your show.

1611
01:29:55,640 --> 01:29:56,640
Maybe one day we could talk again.

1612
01:29:56,640 --> 01:29:59,000
I had a good time being here with you.

1613
01:29:59,000 --> 01:30:02,080
I appreciate you letting me plug my stuff.

1614
01:30:02,080 --> 01:30:05,880
You know, if you guys in the fire world, go grab some coffee, man.

1615
01:30:05,880 --> 01:30:06,880
You'd be surprised.

1616
01:30:06,880 --> 01:30:12,680
The apparel, the coffee and the supplements are really slow going.

1617
01:30:12,680 --> 01:30:13,680
It's hard to get down.

1618
01:30:13,680 --> 01:30:14,680
I'm not good marketing.

1619
01:30:14,680 --> 01:30:17,040
I'm just like, hey, this shit's good.

1620
01:30:17,040 --> 01:30:18,040
Grab it.

1621
01:30:18,040 --> 01:30:20,720
You know, so I got to work on that.

1622
01:30:20,720 --> 01:30:25,200
But you guys in the fire world, go grab some WildFitLife coffee and 805 smooth brews is

1623
01:30:25,200 --> 01:30:52,200
the way to go.