WEBVTT

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This episode is sponsored by Transcend, a veteran

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-owned and operated performance optimization

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company that I introduced recently as a sponsor

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on this show. Well, since then I have actually

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been using my products and I have had incredible

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success. There was initial blood work that was

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supplementation. So I began taking DHEA. BPC

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-157 for inflammation based on the fact that

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I've been a stuntman, a martial artist and a

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firefighter my whole life. Lots of aches and

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pains. Dihexa to help cognition after multiple

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punches to the head and shift work and peptides.

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Four months later they did a detailed blood work

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again and I was actually able to taper off two

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this company is an altruistic arm called the

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Transcend Foundation, which is putting veterans

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about Transcend and their story, listen to episode

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808 with the founder, Ernie Colling. or go to

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transcendcompany .com. Welcome to the Pioneer

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Shield Podcast. As always, my name is James Gearing,

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and this week it is my absolute honor to welcome

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on the show firefighter and gut health specialist

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Ian Thurber. Now, in this conversation, we discuss

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a host of topics, from Ian's journey into the

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fire service, some of the health challenges that

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he was experiencing, his journey into the world

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of gut biome and health, mental health, sleep,

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recovery, performance, and so much more. Now,

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before we get to this incredible conversation,

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as I say every week, please just take a moment.

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Go to whichever app you listen to this on, subscribe

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to the show, leave feedback, and leave a rating.

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Every single five -star rating truly does elevate

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this podcast, therefore making it easier for

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others to find. And this is a free library of

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over 1 ,100 episodes now. So all I ask in return

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is that you help share these incredible men and

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women's stories so I can get them to every single

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person on planet Earth who needs to hear them.

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So with that being said, I introduce to you,

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Ian... Thurber. Enjoy. Well, Ian, I want to start

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by saying thank you so much for taking the time

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and coming on the Behind the Shield podcast today.

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Yeah, I appreciate it, man. It's been a long

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time watching your podcast grow and listening

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to all the awesome guests you've gone on. Congratulations,

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1 ,100 episodes recently. Thank you. That's huge,

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man. That's so awesome. So congrats. It's an

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honor to be here along with him and finally getting

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to talk to you, man. Yeah, well, likewise. And

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obviously, we're both, I was Orange County, you

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are Orange County. So there's that commonality

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there as well. For sure. For people listening,

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very first question, where on planet Earth are

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we finding you today? I'm in the blazing hot

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state of Florida, man. Just a little southwest

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of Orlando in a small town called Davenport.

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Been here, let's see, 2025. We've been here for

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about five years now, me and my family. So beautiful.

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Well, let's start at the very beginning of your

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origin story then. So tell me where you were

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born and tell me a little bit about your family

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dynamic, what your parents did, how many siblings.

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For sure, man. So I was actually, I'm one of

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the few remaining native Floridians. I was born

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and raised here. And yeah, I had, I don't know.

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Don't want to say growing up. So my parents got

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divorced when, when I was like nine or 10, right?

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Like right at the cusp of like, Hey, I really

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need a father figure, you know? And I grew up,

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I have two younger brothers. We're all two years

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apart. So I'm 35, you know, 33, 31. One also

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lives close by in Claremont with my mom. And

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then another one lives with his family in South

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Carolina, but we all grew up together, man. My

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mom busted her butt working. multiple jobs, you

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know, to scrape by and to make sure we had the

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best life possible. We were all homeschooled

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growing up. And so definitely come from that

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background and my fire. family likes to like

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to say that makes a lot of sense right like when

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i'm like oh yeah i was homeschooled like oh that's

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what was wrong i was like yeah it was yeah i'll

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give you that one that's that's what it is um

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it has its pros and cons man we're actually homeschooling

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our kids our kids right now and it's awesome

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but you definitely want to make sure you get

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them you know socialized as well because when

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i hit the workforce at 14 at the local chick

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-fil -a it was like a culture shock i wasn't

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ready for it and uh brought about its own list

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of trials and tribulations as you know a young

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man in his teens trying to figure out where i

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fit in who i'm supposed to be you know still

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dealing with the effects of you know my dad leaving

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when you know when i was 10 and not really having

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anyone to guide me through those pivotal years

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you know making a lot of mistakes on my own and

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so i grew up and grew up in a faith -filled household

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i'm a proud christian grew up christian um definitely

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That is a cornerstone of my life and my decision

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-making process, but definitely was a period

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for about 10 years where I kind of walked away

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from my faith and made a lot of, what you say,

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not so good decisions as far as that goes, but

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learned a lot. Looking back now, I see that the

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trials and tribulations that I was brought through,

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most of them on my own doing, were definitely

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so that I can look back now. And help other people

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who are struggling, whether it's, you know, especially

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in our community, whether it's addiction, whether

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it's, you know, mindset issues, how we think

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about ourselves and what we tell ourselves or

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whatever it is. You know, I believe everything

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happens for a reason. And I was brought through

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all that for. So now I can look back and help

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others. But that's a whole different topic, whole

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different issue. But yeah, I had a good life,

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man, growing up. So like I said, most of my family

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is still local and raising my own family has

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been such a blessing, man. I got beautiful, beautiful

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bride who's way out of my league, which is great

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because I get to show her off a lot. Yeah, yeah.

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Actually, your wife's Filipino, correct? Yes,

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half Filipino. Yep. Okay. Mine's a quarter Filipino.

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So I thought that was pretty cool. Absolutely.

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Yeah, yeah. So she's gorgeous. And she's blessed

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me with two wonderful kids. We have a nine -year

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-old boy who's a redhead and his temper matches

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every bit of red that he has. And so we're learning

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how to deal with that. And then our daughter

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is about to turn one here in like a week. So

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one of each. Amazing. Well, I want to go back

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to early life and kind of unpack a little bit.

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The first thing, when you work for Chick -fil

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-A, did they drill into you the word my pleasure

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bro bro my wife still gets on me about that i

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still say it to this day if that's an answer

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i will still say my pleasure just like out of

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just don't even think about it it's it is it's

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a thing that's your only response yeah yeah because

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i mean it's nice but then you take a step back

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and go but is it As you stand there serving me

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nuggets, is it really your pleasure? Is that

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coming from your heart? I'm going to be honest.

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A lot of times it's not. It's like, all right,

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here's your food. Go eat. Exactly. Fuck off.

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Yeah, pretty much. Especially when you said you

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wanted extra pickles and I gave you three instead

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of four. My bad. Whatever. Go, you know, enjoy

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your food. Stop whining. yeah well it's funny

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that we had one of the we got a new one now near

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us but before the previous one they used to make

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fun of my accent and obviously i have a good

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sense of humor it's fine but i remember thinking

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you know what you should probably not do that

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with people that you haven't ever met before

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just in case they are a little you know but hurt

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but if you say my pleasure at the end of it it's

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fine that's right it makes up for all of it it's

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like it's like saying no offense at the beginning

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of something it makes up it evens out exactly

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exactly yeah all right well then Going back to

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earlier life, though, because this is, you know,

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so many of us have struggles when we were younger.

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Firstly, when I hear people that have found themselves

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in a good place now, but there was an absence

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of a father figure, you know, or a mother figure,

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whatever it was, more often than not, there were

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mentors over and above, you know, the family

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that they had that kind of helped steer them.

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So you mentioned kind of, you know, finding yourself

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a little wayward, you know, what Who were the

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people or who are the collection of people that

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really kind of steered you back onto that path

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again? That's an awesome question. And I would

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like to say that I found someone relatively quickly

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to mentor me, to kind of lead me and guide me.

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Full transparency, it wasn't until... So my wife

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and I just celebrated 10 years of marriage. It

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wasn't until about... two years into our marriage

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that i actually started finding seeking out people

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to help like like having to be able to look inside

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myself and be humble enough to be like i'm screwing

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this up like i cannot keep doing what i'm doing

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because i'm losing my family my wife had moved

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out she was ready to leave take you know our

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newborn son with her um and it wasn't until then

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honestly that I was like, I need help. I've been

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screwing this up for way too long. I've been

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making way too many mistakes. Trying to control

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things all on my own has been obviously a nightmare.

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And so went to see a pastor at the church that

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we were going to at the time. And he gave me

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a book called Wild at Heart. And he said, read

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through this. We're going to go through it. And

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I'm sorry, I'm blanking on that. It's a well

00:11:10.200 --> 00:11:13.909
-known author. I'm blanking on it. No problem.

00:11:13.950 --> 00:11:16.230
People can look it up. Yeah. Yeah. Wild at heart.

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It's great. And as soon as I go out and look

00:11:18.529 --> 00:11:19.850
after this episode, I'm going to be like, yeah,

00:11:19.970 --> 00:11:23.309
duh. How could I forget that name? But we went

00:11:23.309 --> 00:11:25.309
through it, man. And it just, it breaks down

00:11:25.309 --> 00:11:31.529
like the, how every boy needs adventure. Every

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boy needs trials. Every boy needs to find him

00:11:35.490 --> 00:11:38.610
in himself a warrior, but along that way also

00:11:38.610 --> 00:11:41.019
needs someone there. you know kind of like the

00:11:41.019 --> 00:11:43.960
squire knight relationship type deal right um

00:11:43.960 --> 00:11:46.539
somewhere to guide him and lead him along the

00:11:46.539 --> 00:11:50.600
way and how a lot of that faith -based wise you

00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:55.340
know comes back to to just letting you know for

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me and my belief take let god take control instead

00:11:58.259 --> 00:12:01.840
of trying to control everything myself so he

00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:06.600
was able man i hadn't cried like uh In years,

00:12:06.659 --> 00:12:08.659
the way, you know, going through that book, man,

00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:10.659
it completely shook me and brought me to my core.

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And so he mentored me through the book while

00:12:15.379 --> 00:12:17.220
we went through the book. And then we ended up

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going to a different church and, you know, kind

00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:24.039
of that kind of fell by the wayside. And, you

00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:26.080
know, I just started focusing on me for a while.

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And where I was getting my instructions from

00:12:28.740 --> 00:12:30.759
were from the Bible. And I was like, listen,

00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:34.679
if. I'm to fix these things and save my marriage

00:12:34.679 --> 00:12:38.559
which was literally like gone pretty much then

00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:41.299
I need to I need to humble myself say I'm wrong

00:12:41.299 --> 00:12:42.980
start fixing these things so I started working

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on it and then about four years ago so I worked

00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:50.480
but kind of by myself for two years four years

00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:52.960
ago I got plugged into an online men's ministry

00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:57.779
they really do a good job of like combining physical

00:12:57.779 --> 00:13:00.379
fitness with, with spiritual fitness, right?

00:13:00.460 --> 00:13:01.799
That's kind of their whole thing. It's called

00:13:01.799 --> 00:13:05.620
SOCON. And, um, they did a physical challenge

00:13:05.620 --> 00:13:08.000
and they called it red scorpion challenge, um,

00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:10.000
physical challenge. Like, Hey, we're going to

00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:11.779
pair you up randomly with a, with a group of

00:13:11.779 --> 00:13:13.080
guys. So, you know, you can get to know each

00:13:13.080 --> 00:13:14.960
other. It's, it was nationwide at that point.

00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:18.179
And, uh, you just got to go through this challenge

00:13:18.179 --> 00:13:19.799
together, you know, kind of see what happens,

00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:22.279
push each other, meet new people, you know, et

00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:25.539
cetera. So I got paired up with four other guys.

00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:28.740
One is from Vermont. One is from Tennessee. Got

00:13:28.740 --> 00:13:32.919
one in Nevada and one in Ohio. And that has been

00:13:32.919 --> 00:13:42.159
my biggest sense of, I guess, stewardship probably

00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:45.659
my entire life. Like we have done life every

00:13:45.659 --> 00:13:48.710
day together. for the past four years you know

00:13:48.710 --> 00:13:51.590
via marco polo different apps stuff like that

00:13:51.590 --> 00:13:54.210
um people take you know vacations in each other's

00:13:54.210 --> 00:13:58.889
states we make sure to visit but having that

00:13:58.889 --> 00:14:03.250
core group of men, you know, from different walks

00:14:03.250 --> 00:14:06.389
of life that could speak into my own life, you

00:14:06.389 --> 00:14:07.909
know, as we grew together and got to know each

00:14:07.909 --> 00:14:10.309
other better, that I felt comfortable coming

00:14:10.309 --> 00:14:12.970
with my challenges and struggles that I know

00:14:12.970 --> 00:14:16.009
could help steer me right and help point me in

00:14:16.009 --> 00:14:17.690
the right direction. And if I needed to, you

00:14:17.690 --> 00:14:19.370
know, backhand me a little bit and be like, yo,

00:14:19.429 --> 00:14:21.970
why are you whining? You know, get yourself together.

00:14:22.409 --> 00:14:25.850
You know, honestly, dude, that's been the biggest

00:14:25.850 --> 00:14:27.809
mentorship these past four years is having a

00:14:27.809 --> 00:14:29.990
core group of guys I can trust on, you know.

00:14:30.330 --> 00:14:33.610
And I can lean on for anything. It's been incredible.

00:14:35.350 --> 00:14:39.649
Amazing. I mean, there's so many tenets that

00:14:39.649 --> 00:14:41.889
are so obvious at the moment. And the book, I

00:14:41.889 --> 00:14:43.590
always refer to the book, it's not ever a sales

00:14:43.590 --> 00:14:45.509
pitch. It's just everything kind of ties into

00:14:45.509 --> 00:14:48.269
what I've learned from all these years and what

00:14:48.269 --> 00:14:52.549
I put into story recently. But you have the kind

00:14:52.549 --> 00:14:54.710
of negative side, the unaddressed generational

00:14:54.710 --> 00:14:58.059
trauma. but then the solution is community peer

00:14:58.059 --> 00:15:00.539
support is community you know if you have a cohesive

00:15:00.539 --> 00:15:02.940
firehouse if you have a cohesive group of men

00:15:02.940 --> 00:15:05.220
that are connected virtually from around the

00:15:05.220 --> 00:15:08.120
country that is a community no different than

00:15:08.120 --> 00:15:10.299
a you know a village in medieval england like

00:15:10.299 --> 00:15:12.799
you said squires and knights you know those those

00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:14.799
people would be banding together and you know

00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:16.379
whether it's protecting the village or helping

00:15:16.379 --> 00:15:19.320
grow food or helping raise a child you know i

00:15:19.320 --> 00:15:21.960
mean all the things so it doesn't surprise me

00:15:21.960 --> 00:15:25.330
at all that that ultimately was you know nurturing

00:15:25.330 --> 00:15:28.830
for you when you reflect back now this is always

00:15:28.830 --> 00:15:31.610
interesting when someone's adopted fostered or

00:15:31.610 --> 00:15:35.289
simply had you know one or both parents um you

00:15:35.289 --> 00:15:38.809
know not around when they were developing was

00:15:38.809 --> 00:15:41.649
there an element of not feeling good enough because

00:15:41.649 --> 00:15:43.730
that seems to be something a lot of people feel

00:15:43.730 --> 00:15:48.929
that that's a core yeah that's a core feeling

00:15:48.929 --> 00:15:52.690
that i struggled with you know um 100 A hundred

00:15:52.690 --> 00:15:56.690
percent not feeling good enough in any aspect,

00:15:56.809 --> 00:15:58.629
you know, and that led me to seek validation

00:15:58.629 --> 00:16:01.990
for with anyone and anyone, everyone, you know,

00:16:02.009 --> 00:16:05.149
I was, I'd call myself a little chameleon growing

00:16:05.149 --> 00:16:06.830
up. You know, I tried to fit in everywhere with

00:16:06.830 --> 00:16:09.610
everybody because God forbid someone didn't like

00:16:09.610 --> 00:16:12.710
me or stuff like that. So I definitely set the

00:16:12.710 --> 00:16:18.129
tone for years of struggle for sure. For sure.

00:16:19.110 --> 00:16:21.429
Yeah, I mean that that sense of abandonment when

00:16:21.429 --> 00:16:23.570
you think that a child is supposed to feel safe

00:16:23.570 --> 00:16:25.669
is supposed to feel loved, you know, going back

00:16:25.669 --> 00:16:28.409
to the kind of hierarchy of needs. It makes perfect

00:16:28.409 --> 00:16:31.149
sense. But so many people struggle with that.

00:16:31.210 --> 00:16:34.649
And it might be through, you know, exercise and

00:16:34.649 --> 00:16:36.590
performance at the highest level in a sport,

00:16:36.669 --> 00:16:38.289
or it might be through addiction, or it might

00:16:38.289 --> 00:16:40.129
be through even narcissism, you know, whatever

00:16:40.129 --> 00:16:43.289
the thing is, but it's filling that void. And

00:16:43.289 --> 00:16:45.950
that void is unfillable if you're trying to please

00:16:45.950 --> 00:16:49.279
a person who chose probably through their own

00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:53.080
trauma to not be present in your life no 100

00:16:53.080 --> 00:17:00.120
like it's man it's so sad when because now i

00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:02.799
can now i feel like i can see it more out when

00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:06.220
we run our calls when we go out you know in in

00:17:06.220 --> 00:17:08.220
public even and just looking at family dynamics

00:17:08.220 --> 00:17:11.759
as they interact you know i i can see it's almost

00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:16.690
like an epidemic and i don't think it's it's

00:17:16.690 --> 00:17:20.730
anymore. I don't think it even just stops with

00:17:20.730 --> 00:17:23.609
those of us that have been abandoned in one way

00:17:23.609 --> 00:17:27.670
or another. You know, I think that social media

00:17:27.670 --> 00:17:30.650
now plays a huge part of feeling like we don't

00:17:30.650 --> 00:17:34.009
add up, you know, unrealistic expectations and

00:17:34.009 --> 00:17:37.309
that can compound definitely on the feelings

00:17:37.309 --> 00:17:40.430
of, for those of us that, you know, have grown

00:17:40.430 --> 00:17:44.980
up either with the childhood trauma of. Being

00:17:44.980 --> 00:17:47.440
left behind and just trying to realize, hey,

00:17:47.480 --> 00:17:50.140
this is not, like you said, trying to please

00:17:50.140 --> 00:17:52.779
someone who's not there anymore, who's choosing

00:17:52.779 --> 00:17:57.819
to remove themselves from your life. And being

00:17:57.819 --> 00:18:05.640
able to forgive is the hardest thing to do, but

00:18:05.640 --> 00:18:08.660
the most healing. Not for them, but you got to

00:18:08.660 --> 00:18:10.460
realize that you're doing it for yourself, right?

00:18:10.519 --> 00:18:13.259
You're forgiving for yourself. They don't have

00:18:13.259 --> 00:18:15.730
to accept it. You know, you don't even technically,

00:18:15.869 --> 00:18:18.009
even though it's good, it's good practice to

00:18:18.009 --> 00:18:20.410
reach out and at least try to say, hey, I forgive

00:18:20.410 --> 00:18:21.990
you. I'm feeling this way, but I forgive you.

00:18:22.970 --> 00:18:26.089
You got to find your way back to healing because

00:18:26.089 --> 00:18:30.430
it just it compounds, man. Absolutely. Well,

00:18:30.509 --> 00:18:33.049
going back to your childhood, growing through

00:18:33.049 --> 00:18:36.029
the school ages, what were you doing as far as

00:18:36.029 --> 00:18:40.240
exercise and sports? My mom was really good at

00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:43.019
keeping us active in sports. I guess single mom

00:18:43.019 --> 00:18:46.099
reason, three boys. I think that was kind of

00:18:46.099 --> 00:18:48.299
a must, right? Like, hey, just go get your energy

00:18:48.299 --> 00:18:52.400
out, play some sports. I got to take care of

00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:54.319
the house, which is perfectly fine. And I love

00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:56.180
that she did that. So growing up, man, I played

00:18:56.180 --> 00:18:59.960
baseball, soccer in high school. I played football.

00:19:00.779 --> 00:19:03.160
I did fencing for a little bit, I think for like

00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:05.420
a year. That was actually pretty fun. I enjoyed

00:19:05.420 --> 00:19:10.650
that. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. um i shoot what

00:19:10.650 --> 00:19:13.869
else man fencing soccer football basketball i

00:19:13.869 --> 00:19:15.829
grew up in upwards basketball i'm not sure if

00:19:15.829 --> 00:19:17.430
you're familiar with that but like the church

00:19:17.430 --> 00:19:20.650
it's like a i guess it's like a church sponsor

00:19:20.650 --> 00:19:22.670
like basketball league it's called upwards and

00:19:22.670 --> 00:19:25.490
they have it at different locations around actually

00:19:25.490 --> 00:19:27.509
i'm not sure if it's like national or just florida

00:19:27.509 --> 00:19:29.630
based or whatever but grew up with that and um

00:19:29.630 --> 00:19:32.930
yeah man i love sports i love love playing it

00:19:32.930 --> 00:19:36.019
my son now loves it i've coached him and uh baseball

00:19:36.019 --> 00:19:38.720
and football now and this next season we're going

00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:40.599
back to baseball i think that's where he's landed

00:19:40.599 --> 00:19:45.140
um and it's it's been something ongoing man i

00:19:45.140 --> 00:19:47.380
started training jiu -jitsu a few years ago and

00:19:47.380 --> 00:19:49.920
that's that's been an insanely awesome journey

00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:52.640
and sports has been a huge part of my life for

00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:56.980
like physical mental just clarity man it's been

00:19:56.980 --> 00:20:00.640
great Yeah, I absolutely love, love, love jiu

00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:03.539
-jitsu. I've got a great gym up in Gainesville

00:20:03.539 --> 00:20:05.480
where I train. I travel away from Ocala there

00:20:05.480 --> 00:20:07.039
just to go with that group of people because,

00:20:07.099 --> 00:20:09.079
again, you're talking about community. There

00:20:09.079 --> 00:20:11.460
are some great schools here, but as far as aligning

00:20:11.460 --> 00:20:13.799
with the kind of person I am and the community,

00:20:14.019 --> 00:20:16.779
I will gladly drive 45 minutes each way just

00:20:16.779 --> 00:20:19.819
to go roll with those guys. Oh, absolutely, dude.

00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:21.539
We're not meant to go through this life alone,

00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:25.019
man. You've got to find your people, you know?

00:20:25.549 --> 00:20:28.450
And once you do, it's, it's life changing. It

00:20:28.450 --> 00:20:31.930
really is. A hundred percent. What about career

00:20:31.930 --> 00:20:34.210
aspirations? When you were young, were you dreaming

00:20:34.210 --> 00:20:35.930
of the fire service or was there something else?

00:20:36.789 --> 00:20:41.890
Nah, bro. I was, I was, I am, I'm a last minute

00:20:41.890 --> 00:20:44.809
type person, man. And that's, you know, a fault

00:20:44.809 --> 00:20:47.269
to a fault. I'm a last minute type person. So

00:20:47.269 --> 00:20:50.849
I graduated high school, basically having no

00:20:50.849 --> 00:20:53.740
idea. what i wanted to do i had a long list of

00:20:53.740 --> 00:20:56.400
course but i was like not a clue all i knew was

00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:59.019
i didn't want to be stuck in an office doing

00:20:59.019 --> 00:21:01.099
the same thing day after day i just had no idea

00:21:01.099 --> 00:21:04.539
what that looked like um wasn't until actually

00:21:04.539 --> 00:21:08.420
a local music shop in downtown claremont where

00:21:08.420 --> 00:21:11.559
i used to take guitar lessons i ran into a buddy

00:21:11.559 --> 00:21:13.220
of mine while i was hanging out there one day

00:21:13.220 --> 00:21:15.180
and he had actually started going through fire

00:21:15.180 --> 00:21:18.779
standards and was like hey man you should probably

00:21:18.779 --> 00:21:20.640
look into the fire department. We were catching

00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:22.240
up. He's like, I'm going through the fire department.

00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:25.180
It's awesome. It's the greatest thing ever. Talking

00:21:25.180 --> 00:21:26.759
it up. I was like, all right, yeah, I'll look

00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:31.700
into it. I looked into it and signed up for the

00:21:31.700 --> 00:21:34.319
next available class. I was like, yep, looks

00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:38.000
good. Sounds great. Let's go. Where did you go

00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:43.500
to fire school? Lake Tech. Okay. What year was

00:21:43.500 --> 00:21:52.849
this? 2008. So like August 2008, I did fire standards.

00:21:53.069 --> 00:21:57.890
And then in February 2009, I did EMT at Valencia.

00:21:59.529 --> 00:22:05.849
How competitive was it then to get hired? I had

00:22:05.849 --> 00:22:09.630
a horrible time. I had horrible timing. I started

00:22:09.630 --> 00:22:11.809
volunteering. Thankfully, I started volunteering

00:22:11.809 --> 00:22:14.250
like right off the bat in a town called Montberg.

00:22:15.940 --> 00:22:17.940
They had one little station, you know, you ran

00:22:17.940 --> 00:22:19.920
a handful of calls a year, but it kept my search

00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:24.460
up. Right. So I searched for, let's see, 2008,

00:22:24.680 --> 00:22:28.019
nine, 10. I searched for three years before I

00:22:28.019 --> 00:22:30.920
found a job. I tested for over 40 different departments

00:22:30.920 --> 00:22:33.680
at that time. People who were hiring were either

00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:35.599
like, all right, we're taking three people. And

00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:37.299
you're like, well, they already know what three

00:22:37.299 --> 00:22:39.960
they want. Right. Or they were making you pay

00:22:39.960 --> 00:22:41.940
to test. I honestly don't know. People still

00:22:41.940 --> 00:22:43.380
do that, but they're like, take a hundred bucks

00:22:43.380 --> 00:22:46.000
if you want to take our test. I'm like, no, I'm

00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:49.019
not doing that. That's ridiculous. So it was

00:22:49.019 --> 00:22:51.720
super competitive, man. Thankfully, I was able

00:22:51.720 --> 00:22:54.619
to volunteer for those three years. And then

00:22:54.619 --> 00:22:57.900
I got picked up by Polk County actually in 2011.

00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:01.480
See, this is what is so important for people

00:23:01.480 --> 00:23:03.740
to hear is, you know, and actually there was

00:23:03.740 --> 00:23:06.619
a lot more jobs around our area than other parts

00:23:06.619 --> 00:23:09.480
of the country to consider in. But when you look

00:23:09.480 --> 00:23:12.440
at it now. you know, like you said, people were

00:23:12.440 --> 00:23:15.880
paying to test. Now departments are paying people

00:23:15.880 --> 00:23:19.140
like hiring bonuses to even come to that department.

00:23:19.460 --> 00:23:21.619
So when people say to me, oh, well, you know,

00:23:21.619 --> 00:23:23.900
for example, not to beat this, you know, flog

00:23:23.900 --> 00:23:27.440
this dead horse, but with the 2472, well, people,

00:23:27.680 --> 00:23:29.539
you know, we can't even get people now. It's

00:23:29.539 --> 00:23:32.759
like, yeah, but we used to. Very recently, people

00:23:32.759 --> 00:23:34.880
used to line up around the building. People used

00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:37.460
to fill stadiums, picking up an application.

00:23:38.460 --> 00:23:40.539
that's what the fire service is supposed to look

00:23:40.539 --> 00:23:43.380
like. So we can get back there. But think about

00:23:43.380 --> 00:23:47.160
this. Think about the horrendous leadership that's

00:23:47.160 --> 00:23:50.339
taken us from the hiring environment that you

00:23:50.339 --> 00:23:53.720
and I entered around the same time to where we

00:23:53.720 --> 00:23:55.819
are today. We've got to take some ownership of

00:23:55.819 --> 00:23:58.259
this. you guys have done some made some horrible

00:23:58.259 --> 00:24:00.500
decisions that we've fallen from thousands of

00:24:00.500 --> 00:24:03.539
thousands people testing to begging high school

00:24:03.539 --> 00:24:05.819
students to come straight into the fire service

00:24:05.819 --> 00:24:09.660
so the people will come but they are not idiots

00:24:09.660 --> 00:24:12.319
they see the conditions that we're working in

00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:15.140
and now with the internet they're like that looks

00:24:15.140 --> 00:24:18.339
a bit i want to serve but i guess the fire service

00:24:18.339 --> 00:24:20.339
doesn't really take care of their people let

00:24:20.339 --> 00:24:23.079
me go do this other thing instead so when we

00:24:23.079 --> 00:24:26.140
fix it you know, it will go back to the environment

00:24:26.140 --> 00:24:27.960
that you and I were in because I think it's healthy.

00:24:28.359 --> 00:24:30.500
If you're still testing two or three years later,

00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:33.099
there's a good chance that you truly want to

00:24:33.099 --> 00:24:35.920
be a firefighter. For sure. Yeah, dude, it's

00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:38.059
sad. It is sad, the night and day difference.

00:24:38.319 --> 00:24:41.160
I mean, you hit the nail on the head. These kids

00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:44.500
are looking at it being like, what's in it for

00:24:44.500 --> 00:24:47.180
me? You know, how is this supposed to help me

00:24:47.180 --> 00:24:50.579
out? And back in the day, I mean, literally,

00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:52.720
I remember testing for Orlando. I tested twice

00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:55.539
for Orlando. Both of them had over 2000 applicants.

00:24:55.640 --> 00:24:57.079
Right. Because at that time, everyone wanted

00:24:57.079 --> 00:24:59.819
to go to Orlando. And by the third time, I was

00:24:59.819 --> 00:25:02.519
like, it's not that it's not worth it. But, you

00:25:02.519 --> 00:25:06.019
know, the people more and more people kept applying.

00:25:06.180 --> 00:25:09.220
And because you wanted to get in, you wanted

00:25:09.220 --> 00:25:11.000
to be there. You wanted to be the one that was

00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:13.400
like, yes, I got hired. They picked me out of

00:25:13.400 --> 00:25:15.480
all these people. I worked my butt off for this.

00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:20.390
And then now we get people. loads of people now,

00:25:20.470 --> 00:25:22.230
no fault to them. Totally understand it. You

00:25:22.230 --> 00:25:23.529
got to do what you got to do that. You know,

00:25:23.549 --> 00:25:25.529
I met tons of good people this way, but they

00:25:25.529 --> 00:25:27.690
come up cause their department from down South

00:25:27.690 --> 00:25:31.789
tells them, Hey, go get, go up to your, you know,

00:25:31.809 --> 00:25:33.970
the department up here, go get your medic paid

00:25:33.970 --> 00:25:36.349
for, get some experience. And by that time, the

00:25:36.349 --> 00:25:38.029
hiring cycle will come back around and we'll

00:25:38.029 --> 00:25:40.569
pick you back up. You know, by the way, we're

00:25:40.569 --> 00:25:43.869
switching to 24 72 now too. right yeah oh and

00:25:43.869 --> 00:25:45.930
by the way you also get a raise yeah exactly

00:25:45.930 --> 00:25:49.349
yeah so you know your pre -education and come

00:25:49.349 --> 00:25:53.549
back for about a week right yeah and you can't

00:25:53.549 --> 00:25:55.609
fault people for that you know you're looking

00:25:55.609 --> 00:25:58.930
around like how how is this so blatantly obvious

00:25:58.930 --> 00:26:03.789
to everyone else except the people that are actually

00:26:03.789 --> 00:26:07.349
supposed to be making these decisions and yeah

00:26:07.349 --> 00:26:10.549
it's it's frustrating man honestly it really

00:26:10.549 --> 00:26:15.039
is Well, what angers me is, for example, Orange,

00:26:15.339 --> 00:26:18.960
where I worked for quite a few years. The number

00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:20.960
we were just talking before we hit record, I

00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:23.400
was at the 343. We'll be again this year. Every

00:26:23.400 --> 00:26:26.079
year. And there's names of our fallen on my back.

00:26:26.200 --> 00:26:28.579
And it was six, 10 years ago. And it was 100.

00:26:28.779 --> 00:26:31.619
And I've even forgotten now, like 120 something,

00:26:31.880 --> 00:26:35.339
10 years later. And these are not just Orange

00:26:35.339 --> 00:26:37.720
County people, but people in departments where

00:26:37.720 --> 00:26:40.420
I have worked or completely the local ones around.

00:26:41.319 --> 00:26:44.460
And so we know we have this health crisis. We

00:26:44.460 --> 00:26:46.619
know there's a performance crisis. But what really

00:26:46.619 --> 00:26:49.599
angers me is the decisions of these people that

00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:52.660
work 40 hours a week and go home at 5 o 'clock.

00:26:53.319 --> 00:26:56.559
Those decisions are paid for by our firefighters

00:26:56.559 --> 00:27:00.299
and their families when they're working 56, 80

00:27:00.299 --> 00:27:02.859
plus hours a week. This is their children. We're

00:27:02.859 --> 00:27:05.400
talking about being present as a parent. How

00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:07.740
unfair is it that that child doesn't get to see

00:27:07.740 --> 00:27:09.829
their mother or father? Because they're working

00:27:09.829 --> 00:27:11.970
double what these people in admin are working,

00:27:12.150 --> 00:27:15.910
who caused this crisis and are taking no responsibility

00:27:15.910 --> 00:27:19.329
for it. So, you know, I want to get the entire

00:27:19.329 --> 00:27:22.230
fire service educated and angry enough to push

00:27:22.230 --> 00:27:24.529
back and say enough is enough. This needs to

00:27:24.529 --> 00:27:27.910
be a national standard. You know, there are literally

00:27:27.910 --> 00:27:30.910
bodies in the ground that show how not to do

00:27:30.910 --> 00:27:33.549
it. It's time to turn it around. And it's happening

00:27:33.549 --> 00:27:36.369
here in Florida. There's revolution. But my anger

00:27:36.369 --> 00:27:40.230
comes from, you know. dead firefighters and then

00:27:40.230 --> 00:27:42.490
destroyed marriages destroyed relationship with

00:27:42.490 --> 00:27:44.869
children you know crippling addiction all the

00:27:44.869 --> 00:27:49.549
things that we see and it is you know 99 reversible

00:27:49.549 --> 00:27:52.690
you know that you can't get everyone but we could

00:27:52.690 --> 00:27:54.890
turn this whole crisis around but you have to

00:27:54.890 --> 00:27:57.809
have real leaders not people that scurry up a

00:27:57.809 --> 00:28:00.450
ladder with a bunch of papers in their hand right

00:28:00.450 --> 00:28:03.430
no absolutely and and more and more it's becoming

00:28:03.430 --> 00:28:07.259
you know I'm realizing that those real leaders

00:28:07.259 --> 00:28:09.119
that you're talking about are, are people like

00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:10.940
you, you know, people that are actually in the

00:28:10.940 --> 00:28:12.720
trenches that have been there that, that have

00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:15.299
seen it from the inside and then are able to

00:28:15.299 --> 00:28:18.359
take a step back and be like, this is have used

00:28:18.359 --> 00:28:19.940
the platforms available and be like, this is

00:28:19.940 --> 00:28:22.900
wrong. This is, this is wrong. We are literally

00:28:22.900 --> 00:28:26.599
killing our own people and shrugging it off.

00:28:26.680 --> 00:28:30.359
Like, like it's nothing, man. You know, that

00:28:30.359 --> 00:28:33.160
it's. I can't tell you how many stories I've

00:28:33.160 --> 00:28:34.900
heard from, from people who get mandatory and

00:28:34.900 --> 00:28:36.059
they're like, what am I supposed to do with my

00:28:36.059 --> 00:28:38.839
kids? You know, like their spouse works too.

00:28:38.900 --> 00:28:41.259
And he's like, I'm, I got kids to watch and the

00:28:41.259 --> 00:28:43.039
counties that are like, well, sucks to suck,

00:28:43.099 --> 00:28:45.079
figure it out. And you know, like you should

00:28:45.079 --> 00:28:47.440
never be put in that position where you have

00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:50.680
to choose your job over your family. Like, what,

00:28:50.680 --> 00:28:52.839
what, what, what does that say about, you know,

00:28:52.839 --> 00:28:57.660
the higher ups when it's like, oh, well, sorry,

00:28:57.779 --> 00:28:59.880
not sorry. You know, you know, it's just, it's.

00:29:00.759 --> 00:29:02.380
I feel your anger, man. I'm right there with

00:29:02.380 --> 00:29:05.180
you. It needs to change, but we are the change.

00:29:05.319 --> 00:29:08.400
We can't expect anyone else to come do it for

00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:10.720
us. It's got to be a revolution. I do believe

00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:13.200
it's starting, but there's got to be a revolution

00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:15.539
inside the actual departments themselves from

00:29:15.539 --> 00:29:18.640
the working firefighters to push this change.

00:29:19.819 --> 00:29:22.160
Absolutely. Well, I don't think a lot of people

00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:24.240
know this, but the reason I left Orange County

00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:27.519
specifically is I was a single dad. And literally

00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:30.329
there was one morning. And I was told I was going

00:29:30.329 --> 00:29:32.670
to get hit with a mandatory again. And like you

00:29:32.670 --> 00:29:34.390
said, figure it out. And I'm like, all right,

00:29:34.450 --> 00:29:37.329
I'll figure it out. I will not be here next shift

00:29:37.329 --> 00:29:40.930
onwards. You figure it out, motherfucker, because

00:29:40.930 --> 00:29:43.210
I'm done. You can't tell me I can't go home to

00:29:43.210 --> 00:29:45.450
my son. So I just put my papers in. I'm like,

00:29:45.529 --> 00:29:47.829
I'm done. I'm out. And I was in the process of

00:29:47.829 --> 00:29:50.750
reading Greek. So I wasn't guaranteed. I'm like,

00:29:50.789 --> 00:29:53.009
I don't care. I am done with this. And then,

00:29:53.009 --> 00:29:55.210
you know, that led to the podcast. And here we

00:29:55.210 --> 00:29:57.269
are. But, you know, like you said, I have experienced

00:29:57.269 --> 00:30:00.750
that. I've been a single father working 56 hours

00:30:00.750 --> 00:30:03.589
already, no Kelly, and then consistently being

00:30:03.589 --> 00:30:06.349
told at 730 in the morning, you can't go home

00:30:06.349 --> 00:30:09.369
to your child. Unacceptable. Any other workplace,

00:30:09.509 --> 00:30:12.150
people will be like, not happening. But we just

00:30:12.150 --> 00:30:13.769
kind of take it. But I mean, the problem is that

00:30:13.769 --> 00:30:18.009
our workforce is so beaten down, so sleep deprived.

00:30:18.809 --> 00:30:20.609
that they can't see the wood for the trees. They

00:30:20.609 --> 00:30:24.269
can barely get through their 24 hours. So by

00:30:24.269 --> 00:30:27.509
stepping out, it gave me the lens that most people

00:30:27.509 --> 00:30:30.569
don't have to be able to say, hey, this is glaringly

00:30:30.569 --> 00:30:32.670
obvious, but I couldn't see it when I was in.

00:30:33.109 --> 00:30:35.170
But I sure as shit can see it now, and I'm more

00:30:35.170 --> 00:30:36.970
than happy to point it out for everyone else.

00:30:37.650 --> 00:30:39.349
Yeah, absolutely, dude. You do an incredible

00:30:39.349 --> 00:30:44.829
job of it, man. And you can't keep forcing people

00:30:44.829 --> 00:30:49.289
to work. and then be surprised when we have health

00:30:49.289 --> 00:30:52.170
crises when we have people falling down you know

00:30:52.170 --> 00:30:54.690
falling apart on the job when we have people's

00:30:54.690 --> 00:30:56.890
you know marriages falling apart when we have

00:30:56.890 --> 00:31:02.529
addiction issues and then kind of play stupid

00:31:02.529 --> 00:31:04.730
in the fact that you know we're not we don't

00:31:04.730 --> 00:31:06.490
really know why we have a retention problem we

00:31:06.490 --> 00:31:08.710
don't know why morale is so down it's like really

00:31:08.710 --> 00:31:13.990
because We do, you know, we sure as heck do.

00:31:14.109 --> 00:31:18.089
And we're trying. And, you know, within the past

00:31:18.089 --> 00:31:19.970
year, man, I've kind of come to the same realization

00:31:19.970 --> 00:31:23.890
as you. We I'm getting a lot more vocal now about,

00:31:23.950 --> 00:31:26.950
hey, we've got to do something better to take

00:31:26.950 --> 00:31:30.509
care of our own because literally and there's

00:31:30.509 --> 00:31:32.369
good people that are out there, you know, trying

00:31:32.369 --> 00:31:34.970
their best within the department. But there's

00:31:34.970 --> 00:31:38.470
got to be more because what we have now is just.

00:31:39.579 --> 00:31:41.180
destroying us. You know, I've lost five friends

00:31:41.180 --> 00:31:44.119
within the past four or five years to, you know,

00:31:44.119 --> 00:31:46.200
unaliving themselves and a lot of them left behind,

00:31:46.339 --> 00:31:48.599
you know, kids as well. And it's like, should

00:31:48.599 --> 00:31:52.140
never be pushed to that point. And it's not just

00:31:52.140 --> 00:31:53.960
job related. I'm sure, you know, I'm sure they

00:31:53.960 --> 00:31:58.599
got other stuff going on, but what if we fixed

00:31:58.599 --> 00:32:03.259
their ability to go home, recover from shift.

00:32:04.460 --> 00:32:06.740
actually be present with their family instead

00:32:06.740 --> 00:32:08.680
of stressing out about how they're going to pay

00:32:08.680 --> 00:32:10.900
the bills, how they're going to, you know, provide

00:32:10.900 --> 00:32:13.359
for this family. Oh, I got to work more hours

00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:16.400
to barely make it. And I'm going to miss more

00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:18.839
time with my family, which stresses out my spouse,

00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:21.740
which stresses out my, you know, my kids. And

00:32:21.740 --> 00:32:26.759
it, it's, it's so fresh. Like I'm trying not

00:32:26.759 --> 00:32:29.299
to get overly passionate, you know, cause then

00:32:29.299 --> 00:32:31.799
I'll just start going off on it, but it's, it's

00:32:31.799 --> 00:32:34.640
frustrating, man. So, I mean, I love what you're

00:32:34.640 --> 00:32:37.519
doing and is one of the big reasons why I finally

00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:40.319
said enough was enough and started speaking up

00:32:40.319 --> 00:32:42.759
myself is for people like you. So thank you.

00:32:43.500 --> 00:32:45.539
Yeah. I mean, just to add to that as well, I

00:32:45.539 --> 00:32:49.980
know hypothetically, if you lose 200 recruits

00:32:49.980 --> 00:32:52.460
or, you know, people that should still be working,

00:32:52.519 --> 00:32:57.000
it's roughly $20 ,000 per recruit to train, equip,

00:32:57.119 --> 00:32:59.779
et cetera. four million dollars of taxpayers

00:32:59.779 --> 00:33:02.660
money you're wasting not to mention the tens

00:33:02.660 --> 00:33:05.220
of millions in overtime so when people say to

00:33:05.220 --> 00:33:07.740
me oh we want more money like well you're just

00:33:07.740 --> 00:33:10.880
you're just pissing money down the drain when

00:33:10.880 --> 00:33:13.000
i don't understand how the financial people from

00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:14.700
these cities and counties haven't said this years

00:33:14.700 --> 00:33:16.579
ago wait a second why are we wasting so much

00:33:16.579 --> 00:33:19.660
money but if the taxpayers knew that tens of

00:33:19.660 --> 00:33:21.420
millions of dollars are being wasted when you

00:33:21.420 --> 00:33:25.140
could be recruiting you know a d shift And the

00:33:25.140 --> 00:33:27.460
level of service would go up exponentially and

00:33:27.460 --> 00:33:29.579
the cost of injuries and sicknesses would go

00:33:29.579 --> 00:33:32.559
down exponentially. You know, it's a no brainer,

00:33:32.559 --> 00:33:34.539
but it requires courage. And that's the thing

00:33:34.539 --> 00:33:36.380
from everyone, from the firefighter through the

00:33:36.380 --> 00:33:39.759
city and county council, you know, so I'll get

00:33:39.759 --> 00:33:42.119
off the soapbox. But it's important because I

00:33:42.119 --> 00:33:44.720
know, you know, I worked there, you know, and

00:33:44.720 --> 00:33:47.140
I know and it's been, you know, when I was there

00:33:47.140 --> 00:33:50.599
and I was there, I got hired. 2008 in orange

00:33:50.599 --> 00:33:53.519
county to 2013 and the whole time i was getting

00:33:53.519 --> 00:33:55.380
mandatory especially when i became a medic which

00:33:55.380 --> 00:33:58.099
by the way they were screaming for medics i put

00:33:58.099 --> 00:33:59.920
myself through they wouldn't even give me uh

00:33:59.920 --> 00:34:02.900
educational reimbursement for medics nothing

00:34:02.900 --> 00:34:05.200
and i had to ride with a different department

00:34:05.200 --> 00:34:09.639
marion county so yeah zero support and then mandatory

00:34:09.639 --> 00:34:12.219
at the yin yang so yeah i mean you want to you

00:34:12.219 --> 00:34:14.099
want to keep people you gotta you gotta treat

00:34:14.099 --> 00:34:17.010
them well it's that simple It is. It is. I was

00:34:17.010 --> 00:34:19.670
actually the first. That's funny that you say

00:34:19.670 --> 00:34:21.130
that. We were so close to getting hired together,

00:34:21.230 --> 00:34:24.309
but I was actually the first class that Orange

00:34:24.309 --> 00:34:27.210
County was a condition of employment that they

00:34:27.210 --> 00:34:29.929
started their paramedic school program or whatever.

00:34:30.070 --> 00:34:31.389
So I was the first class that was like, hey,

00:34:31.429 --> 00:34:34.989
you got three years to be a medic, which was

00:34:34.989 --> 00:34:37.010
great for me because I had spent the past however

00:34:37.010 --> 00:34:39.150
many years as an EMT. I was bored. I was ready

00:34:39.150 --> 00:34:41.789
to move on and get something. something more

00:34:41.789 --> 00:34:42.949
and they're like yeah you're gonna pay for it

00:34:42.949 --> 00:34:46.570
sure why not absolutely and then medic school

00:34:46.570 --> 00:34:49.510
in itself is such a stressor man it's such a

00:34:49.510 --> 00:34:52.429
like how many marriages have been destroyed from

00:34:52.429 --> 00:34:54.829
medic school you know how many people come out

00:34:54.829 --> 00:34:56.630
of it with so many more health issues than they

00:34:56.630 --> 00:34:58.849
went in you get a lot of great knowledge man

00:34:58.849 --> 00:35:02.250
but it's it's brutal and then i know it wasn't

00:35:02.250 --> 00:35:05.869
as bad as when you know you guys were in um but

00:35:05.869 --> 00:35:09.659
to be mandatory when i first got out uh cleared

00:35:09.659 --> 00:35:12.659
as a medic it was every third shift i was getting

00:35:12.659 --> 00:35:15.679
mandatory every second to every third shift for

00:35:15.679 --> 00:35:18.940
i can't even remember how long because like you

00:35:18.940 --> 00:35:20.460
said they're screaming for medics and it took

00:35:20.460 --> 00:35:21.880
a while for that to catch up but it was just

00:35:21.880 --> 00:35:25.719
like you know i was on And Rescue 30 at the time,

00:35:25.719 --> 00:35:28.659
I spent just shy of 10 years at Station 30. So

00:35:28.659 --> 00:35:30.019
I was like, all right, Rescue 30. All right.

00:35:30.039 --> 00:35:31.340
Now you got mandatory. Do you want to Rescue

00:35:31.340 --> 00:35:32.920
42? All right. You got mandatory. Do you want

00:35:32.920 --> 00:35:34.599
to Rescue 40? All right. You want to Rescue 43?

00:35:34.820 --> 00:35:37.519
And it was like that circle of just mandatory,

00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:40.079
you know, so the beat down continued. Busy houses.

00:35:40.679 --> 00:35:45.300
Busy, busy houses. Yeah. So it was nuts anyway.

00:35:46.780 --> 00:35:48.500
yeah all right well we'll move from that but

00:35:48.500 --> 00:35:51.139
it's just it's an important you know um perspective

00:35:51.139 --> 00:35:54.400
and i think when each time a new voice gives

00:35:54.400 --> 00:35:56.880
their you know their kind of story and their

00:35:56.880 --> 00:35:59.159
view of this it just adds these layers and it

00:35:59.159 --> 00:36:01.320
is it's completely irrefutable now i tell people

00:36:01.320 --> 00:36:04.380
the economics the science on the health side

00:36:04.380 --> 00:36:06.599
the science on the mental health side there is

00:36:06.599 --> 00:36:09.599
no dispute like it's just a case of debunking

00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:12.179
everyone's myths and showing them the actual

00:36:12.179 --> 00:36:14.780
truth and of course it's real i mean like you

00:36:14.780 --> 00:36:17.739
said all the all the negative side effects that

00:36:17.739 --> 00:36:20.860
we're seeing but i am an incurable angry optimist

00:36:20.860 --> 00:36:23.599
and it is it is gonna it is gonna get better

00:36:23.599 --> 00:36:26.280
even texas i just had your department is almost

00:36:26.280 --> 00:36:28.039
there they're gonna be the first ones in texas

00:36:28.039 --> 00:36:31.179
to go we just had one in north carolina we have

00:36:31.179 --> 00:36:35.489
one in uh was it kentucky i think it was kentucky

00:36:35.489 --> 00:36:38.530
i think i saw that one yeah yeah so it's happening

00:36:38.530 --> 00:36:40.670
you know and you can be a thought leader and

00:36:40.670 --> 00:36:42.969
at the front and get all the best recruits or

00:36:42.969 --> 00:36:46.170
you can be the last ones and explain to your

00:36:46.170 --> 00:36:48.289
constituency why you've had to close fire stations

00:36:48.289 --> 00:36:51.690
because you lack the balls to actually lead in

00:36:51.690 --> 00:36:55.130
the front so choice is yours all right moving

00:36:55.130 --> 00:37:00.469
on so let's let's first talk about um you know,

00:37:00.489 --> 00:37:02.869
physical and or mental health as you progress

00:37:02.869 --> 00:37:04.309
through the job. Obviously, it's going to lead

00:37:04.309 --> 00:37:06.409
to what we're talking about today. But what was

00:37:06.409 --> 00:37:09.289
that journey for you as far as psychological

00:37:09.289 --> 00:37:14.550
and physiological? Oh, dude, it was, I mean,

00:37:14.610 --> 00:37:18.909
it was rough, man. It didn't help that I got

00:37:18.909 --> 00:37:22.510
hired. And within the first year, right before

00:37:22.510 --> 00:37:25.489
medic school started, we had our son, we moved

00:37:25.489 --> 00:37:28.389
into a new house. And then two months later,

00:37:28.860 --> 00:37:33.300
I started medic school. Right. So being away

00:37:33.300 --> 00:37:39.380
for, for 90 hours a week, um, with all that new

00:37:39.380 --> 00:37:43.920
stuff going on when you should be home, you know,

00:37:43.920 --> 00:37:45.539
or when you should at least have time home to

00:37:45.539 --> 00:37:47.480
be supportive of your spouse, to, to get used

00:37:47.480 --> 00:37:49.820
to raising a family, stuff like that kind of

00:37:49.820 --> 00:37:54.780
sucked. And I, for years, man, I wrote it off

00:37:54.780 --> 00:37:59.179
as I think many of us do is just, um, it's all

00:37:59.179 --> 00:38:01.380
part of the job, right? Like it's, it is what

00:38:01.380 --> 00:38:08.360
it is. And you start not sleeping at all. And

00:38:08.360 --> 00:38:10.480
I know some people can fall asleep at the drop

00:38:10.480 --> 00:38:12.079
of a hat sometimes. And they're like, Oh yeah,

00:38:12.139 --> 00:38:14.260
I can. It doesn't matter if I'm home or I'm at

00:38:14.260 --> 00:38:15.980
work, I can fall asleep like that. But I'm like,

00:38:16.019 --> 00:38:17.480
but it's not good. You can't tell me it's good

00:38:17.480 --> 00:38:20.420
quality. You know, even if you do, even if you

00:38:20.420 --> 00:38:23.559
are able to take a nap or sleep, you can't lie

00:38:23.559 --> 00:38:25.519
to my face and tell me you get good quality sleep,

00:38:25.579 --> 00:38:28.820
especially after several years on this job. Right.

00:38:28.820 --> 00:38:31.860
So the sleep was the first thing I started noticing

00:38:31.860 --> 00:38:33.780
going, especially being at busy houses. Right.

00:38:33.820 --> 00:38:38.239
So you have 51, correct? I was at 70. So we were

00:38:38.239 --> 00:38:41.400
70 pre's rescue as well. We were second due for

00:38:41.400 --> 00:38:44.559
50 and 51. So it was it was not the, you know,

00:38:44.579 --> 00:38:47.079
the busiest, but we were just one click back

00:38:47.079 --> 00:38:50.179
from all the battalion for busy stations. Which

00:38:50.179 --> 00:38:55.099
sucks. That's still way too close. Is being the

00:38:55.099 --> 00:38:58.320
backup. Yeah. So, I mean. you get so yeah so

00:38:58.320 --> 00:39:01.239
struggle with sleep obviously sleep issues came

00:39:01.239 --> 00:39:05.219
um got really addicted to caffeine really quickly

00:39:05.219 --> 00:39:07.280
as we all do it hasn't helped that the hospitals

00:39:07.280 --> 00:39:10.039
are stocking the fridges with them you know and

00:39:10.039 --> 00:39:14.320
uh you can basically get addicted for free i

00:39:14.320 --> 00:39:16.780
mean caffeine is is labeled as a drug and it

00:39:16.780 --> 00:39:20.969
does have addictive properties and um Just trying

00:39:20.969 --> 00:39:22.590
to stay awake, you know, as you start telling

00:39:22.590 --> 00:39:24.429
yourself at first, it's, you know, just to stay

00:39:24.429 --> 00:39:26.590
awake so I can be home with my family or be present

00:39:26.590 --> 00:39:29.010
with my family or just so I can make it on the

00:39:29.010 --> 00:39:31.170
drive home for crying out loud. You know, I've

00:39:31.170 --> 00:39:33.469
been I just got to get home and then I'll be

00:39:33.469 --> 00:39:36.349
fine. And then the crash hits. So, you know,

00:39:36.369 --> 00:39:39.250
you chug another one. So I became very, very

00:39:39.250 --> 00:39:41.789
dependent on caffeine. I think I was up to around

00:39:41.789 --> 00:39:44.530
800 to 1000 milligrams of caffeine a day, at

00:39:44.530 --> 00:39:47.809
least through energy drinks, just trying to.

00:39:48.230 --> 00:39:51.829
survive man it was to say there was any quality

00:39:51.829 --> 00:39:53.710
of life at that point would be a lie you know

00:39:53.710 --> 00:39:55.429
you're just trying to survive day to day when

00:39:55.429 --> 00:39:57.289
you're home trying to show up the best you can

00:39:57.289 --> 00:40:02.250
for for your family and but but you can't show

00:40:02.250 --> 00:40:05.210
up and be your best when you're just constantly

00:40:05.210 --> 00:40:08.550
beat down when you're constantly you know just

00:40:08.550 --> 00:40:13.539
tired um i got sick at the drop of a hat Like

00:40:13.539 --> 00:40:15.500
anytime the wind blew, you know, we don't have

00:40:15.500 --> 00:40:17.639
seasons in Florida, but anytime the wind changed

00:40:17.639 --> 00:40:21.139
direction and I would get sick and, you know,

00:40:21.139 --> 00:40:23.260
still have to try to find a way to go to work

00:40:23.260 --> 00:40:25.159
because I can't afford to call out of work. And

00:40:25.159 --> 00:40:31.260
it takes a toll, man, because you start really

00:40:31.260 --> 00:40:36.360
thinking about, I believe first it chips away

00:40:36.360 --> 00:40:38.599
at the reason you've gotten to the job in the

00:40:38.599 --> 00:40:42.800
first place. And so you start second guessing

00:40:42.800 --> 00:40:46.119
yourself as to why am I even doing this? What

00:40:46.119 --> 00:40:50.940
is the purpose of this? You kind of forget why,

00:40:51.099 --> 00:40:53.599
what drove you to start that passion you had

00:40:53.599 --> 00:40:56.639
when you first start. And then for me, it bled

00:40:56.639 --> 00:41:02.500
into a fear of failing, not only at what I started

00:41:02.500 --> 00:41:04.780
career wise, you know, like I still got to show

00:41:04.780 --> 00:41:09.300
up. I want to be good at my job. But. It bled

00:41:09.300 --> 00:41:12.139
into a fear of, well, I can't even show up well

00:41:12.139 --> 00:41:14.480
for my family because I'm having mood swings

00:41:14.480 --> 00:41:18.980
at home. I can barely stay awake at home. I feel

00:41:18.980 --> 00:41:21.519
like I'm just like struggling to figure out how

00:41:21.519 --> 00:41:25.039
to just break even, you know, financially, emotionally,

00:41:25.280 --> 00:41:27.380
everything like that, trying to show up for my

00:41:27.380 --> 00:41:33.730
wife and I'm failing them. Right. Cause I can't,

00:41:33.730 --> 00:41:36.389
I know I'm not being my best self. So I'm failing

00:41:36.389 --> 00:41:39.309
my family. I have a young son who's, you know,

00:41:39.329 --> 00:41:42.489
I want to be there for present for, right. Like,

00:41:42.489 --> 00:41:45.530
like I didn't have, and I'm supposed to be setting

00:41:45.530 --> 00:41:47.409
an example, but the example that I'm setting

00:41:47.409 --> 00:41:51.150
is, is trash because I'm not, I'm not me. You

00:41:51.150 --> 00:41:53.150
know, you start questioning yourself. You're

00:41:53.150 --> 00:41:56.349
like, this isn't me. I know it's not me, but

00:41:56.349 --> 00:41:59.050
I don't know how to fix it. And that was my biggest

00:41:59.050 --> 00:42:02.690
struggle is like, I am failing. And I hate failing,

00:42:02.829 --> 00:42:04.969
especially when it comes to my family. There's

00:42:04.969 --> 00:42:09.829
got to be something I'm missing. And that was

00:42:09.829 --> 00:42:13.369
the biggest struggle. It's interesting how you

00:42:13.369 --> 00:42:16.389
phrase that, because for the people who have

00:42:16.389 --> 00:42:18.949
been in the darkest place, and I reiterate all

00:42:18.949 --> 00:42:21.730
the time this message, because it just needs

00:42:21.730 --> 00:42:24.960
to be heard. So many people on here have been

00:42:24.960 --> 00:42:27.360
at the darkest of places where they're sitting

00:42:27.360 --> 00:42:29.260
there with the pistol, thinking about driving

00:42:29.260 --> 00:42:33.219
into the overpass, whatever the thing is. And

00:42:33.219 --> 00:42:36.900
99 % of them have reported the same thing. And

00:42:36.900 --> 00:42:39.760
we don't hear this discussed with the suicide

00:42:39.760 --> 00:42:42.719
conversation. The old school way was it's selfish,

00:42:42.800 --> 00:42:44.860
it's cowardly. How could you think of your family?

00:42:45.460 --> 00:42:48.949
But when you listen to this miswiring. of the

00:42:48.949 --> 00:42:51.130
brain that comes from like and you said earlier

00:42:51.130 --> 00:42:52.789
you know the mental health isn't just the job

00:42:52.789 --> 00:42:54.769
but it's it's an amplification of it without

00:42:54.769 --> 00:42:57.050
a doubt sleep deprivation organizational betrayal

00:42:57.050 --> 00:42:59.789
the trauma that we see and then you throw in

00:42:59.789 --> 00:43:01.909
unaddressed childhood trauma side effects of

00:43:01.909 --> 00:43:04.309
you know psych meds alcohol relationship issues

00:43:04.309 --> 00:43:07.550
financial issues and now boom perfect storm you've

00:43:07.550 --> 00:43:10.570
got this miswiring and you just you just kind

00:43:10.570 --> 00:43:14.150
of underlined it people start believing that

00:43:14.150 --> 00:43:16.730
they are a burden to their family I'm a piece

00:43:16.730 --> 00:43:18.809
of shit. I'm not even there for my own child.

00:43:18.989 --> 00:43:21.590
They'll be better off without me. And when that

00:43:21.590 --> 00:43:23.690
they'll be better off without me voice becomes

00:43:23.690 --> 00:43:26.449
strong enough and they are from a profession

00:43:26.449 --> 00:43:28.449
where they would give their life up for a complete

00:43:28.449 --> 00:43:31.949
stranger. All of a sudden now you have this crisis

00:43:31.949 --> 00:43:35.710
and they truly have this belief that if I just

00:43:35.710 --> 00:43:38.909
remove myself from this world, my infant child

00:43:38.909 --> 00:43:41.210
will be happier. My wife or my husband will be

00:43:41.210 --> 00:43:44.019
happier. It's wrong to the healthy mind, but

00:43:44.019 --> 00:43:46.920
this is the slow death by a thousand cuts that

00:43:46.920 --> 00:43:49.780
people get to. You could just hear that guilt

00:43:49.780 --> 00:43:52.239
and that shame of what you were just talking

00:43:52.239 --> 00:44:00.139
about. It's tempting, man. It's definitely a

00:44:00.139 --> 00:44:05.260
pull. Honestly, I've never openly admitted this

00:44:05.260 --> 00:44:10.480
to anybody, so this is a first. I would be lying

00:44:10.480 --> 00:44:13.619
if I said, mentally i hadn't gone down those

00:44:13.619 --> 00:44:15.559
dark paths before and been like you know what

00:44:15.559 --> 00:44:18.880
what is the what am i doing here i'm just making

00:44:18.880 --> 00:44:21.400
things worse you know like what is what is the

00:44:21.400 --> 00:44:24.699
point of all this like i'm supposed i can't my

00:44:24.699 --> 00:44:26.440
family would be better off maybe yet you know

00:44:26.440 --> 00:44:31.559
they'd be less stressed or whatever and the thing

00:44:31.559 --> 00:44:33.960
that kept me from entertaining those thoughts

00:44:33.960 --> 00:44:36.719
at least personally was the not you know my faith

00:44:36.719 --> 00:44:38.840
played a big part in this but also the fact that

00:44:39.400 --> 00:44:41.219
you know, I kept telling myself, I'm not going

00:44:41.219 --> 00:44:44.900
to leave my son alone, you know, and just kind

00:44:44.900 --> 00:44:47.360
of revisiting, kind of using the trauma that

00:44:47.360 --> 00:44:49.800
I'd been through to speak life back into myself,

00:44:49.980 --> 00:44:51.980
at least for one, you know, one more day or,

00:44:52.019 --> 00:44:53.900
you know, for the next minute or whatever it

00:44:53.900 --> 00:44:56.139
takes to get out of that dark place. Cause it's

00:44:56.139 --> 00:44:58.760
when we sit by ourselves and we start entertaining

00:44:58.760 --> 00:45:02.820
those thoughts. That's the problem. Thoughts

00:45:02.820 --> 00:45:04.500
are going to come and go. There's nothing we

00:45:04.500 --> 00:45:07.119
can really do about that. It's about training

00:45:07.119 --> 00:45:10.159
your mind not to entertain those thoughts and

00:45:10.159 --> 00:45:13.619
to think more positively about yourself, about

00:45:13.619 --> 00:45:17.820
your situation, about the effort you are giving.

00:45:18.000 --> 00:45:20.519
So that way, when those negative thoughts do

00:45:20.519 --> 00:45:24.099
come in, it's not just an overpowering. just

00:45:24.099 --> 00:45:26.840
feeling of just you know depression and just

00:45:26.840 --> 00:45:29.659
it overwhelms your entire being and that's something

00:45:29.659 --> 00:45:32.000
that takes it takes work and it's not easy to

00:45:32.000 --> 00:45:37.059
do but yeah i think that that clarity that you

00:45:37.059 --> 00:45:40.820
had is you know is is that that hope for people

00:45:40.820 --> 00:45:43.460
and i think whether it's again that they didn't

00:45:43.460 --> 00:45:45.500
have that thing they didn't have that moment

00:45:45.500 --> 00:45:47.840
with you know i won't be here for my child or

00:45:47.840 --> 00:45:51.559
you know whatever that that kind of corner turning

00:45:51.559 --> 00:45:53.980
element is but then what's really terrifying

00:45:53.980 --> 00:45:57.420
is you add in alcohol which a lot of us do and

00:45:57.420 --> 00:46:00.019
now that very voice is like but think of your

00:46:00.019 --> 00:46:03.599
son now that's silenced because we all know that

00:46:03.599 --> 00:46:05.420
alcohol numbs you know whether it's attraction

00:46:05.420 --> 00:46:07.719
whatever the thing is a lot of us have made mistakes

00:46:07.719 --> 00:46:11.519
after drinking alcohol and sadly some of those

00:46:11.519 --> 00:46:14.719
are permanent mistakes so you know having that

00:46:14.719 --> 00:46:16.860
clarity i think is so important this is why i

00:46:16.860 --> 00:46:18.639
think you know the hope and what i'm trying to

00:46:18.639 --> 00:46:21.079
do with my tv show is like to put hope back into

00:46:21.079 --> 00:46:23.320
you can get there and get people to understand

00:46:23.320 --> 00:46:25.719
the moment they start hearing the voice way before

00:46:25.719 --> 00:46:29.159
it's too late to be like ah i see you fucker

00:46:29.159 --> 00:46:32.099
okay it's time for me to start leaning into some

00:46:32.099 --> 00:46:36.059
other things absolutely 100 are circling back

00:46:36.059 --> 00:46:40.300
to like uh just having people close close people

00:46:40.719 --> 00:46:42.579
you know, around you that can support you, that

00:46:42.579 --> 00:46:45.699
you can go to, you know, and that's another kind

00:46:45.699 --> 00:46:47.539
of mental thing that, you know, we struggle with.

00:46:47.599 --> 00:46:49.099
You get beat down at work. You had mentioned

00:46:49.099 --> 00:46:50.800
earlier, you're just giving, you know, ready

00:46:50.800 --> 00:46:53.219
to, to risk your lives for others at work. And

00:46:53.219 --> 00:46:54.639
then you come home and you've got to give and

00:46:54.639 --> 00:46:56.940
give and give to your family. And, you know,

00:46:56.940 --> 00:47:00.019
there's, we, we both know self -care is the first

00:47:00.019 --> 00:47:01.780
thing that goes out the window, you know? So

00:47:01.780 --> 00:47:06.619
having at least a core group of guys or, or,

00:47:06.619 --> 00:47:08.780
you know, women or people who, whoever you're

00:47:08.780 --> 00:47:11.639
comfortable with to in those dark moments that

00:47:11.639 --> 00:47:14.619
can actually speak into your life. You know,

00:47:14.659 --> 00:47:16.820
when you're feeling like I got nothing left to

00:47:16.820 --> 00:47:18.820
give and no one, no one's here for me, no one

00:47:18.820 --> 00:47:23.179
seems to care. I'll say it again. We're not meant

00:47:23.179 --> 00:47:24.940
to go through this life alone. So you got to

00:47:24.940 --> 00:47:28.480
have that core group of people that are, know

00:47:28.480 --> 00:47:30.760
you, you know, that you can be a hundred percent

00:47:30.760 --> 00:47:32.599
honest with about everything that are going to

00:47:32.599 --> 00:47:35.579
love you no matter what. And who are ready to

00:47:35.579 --> 00:47:37.639
be there for you, just like you are, you know,

00:47:37.639 --> 00:47:39.980
for other people. It's got to be a priority.

00:47:40.079 --> 00:47:45.159
And I don't think people put enough time or effort

00:47:45.159 --> 00:47:48.159
into developing those type of relationships,

00:47:48.579 --> 00:47:52.820
honestly. Yeah. I mean, you look at just ancient

00:47:52.820 --> 00:47:55.719
humans, you know, or tribal humans, you know,

00:47:55.719 --> 00:47:58.739
pre -industrialization, if you like, you know,

00:47:58.760 --> 00:48:01.019
we were in a village. You say it takes a village.

00:48:01.099 --> 00:48:02.960
There's a very good reason for that phrase. And

00:48:02.960 --> 00:48:04.679
we are supposed to have that community around.

00:48:05.239 --> 00:48:07.860
And I think even if you look at it evolutionarily,

00:48:07.860 --> 00:48:13.179
if I got that right, you know. There is a very

00:48:13.179 --> 00:48:16.059
intrinsic element that stops us from deliberately

00:48:16.059 --> 00:48:18.019
harming ourselves. When you stand the side of

00:48:18.019 --> 00:48:19.940
a road, normally, you know, you're like, oh,

00:48:19.960 --> 00:48:21.900
let's move a couple of feet back, you know, from

00:48:21.900 --> 00:48:24.079
the curb. You know, if you stand on a tall building,

00:48:24.179 --> 00:48:25.639
you get that kind of tingling if you get too

00:48:25.639 --> 00:48:28.059
close to the edge. That's a natural response

00:48:28.059 --> 00:48:30.039
because you are supposed to be here. You are

00:48:30.039 --> 00:48:32.179
supposed to protect your children. And I would

00:48:32.179 --> 00:48:34.760
argue, you know, a lot of the suicides happen

00:48:34.760 --> 00:48:36.920
when we're kind of in our, you know, 40s, 50s,

00:48:36.920 --> 00:48:40.800
60s. You're now the tribal elder. You're the

00:48:40.800 --> 00:48:42.840
one that can actually make the mature decisions

00:48:42.840 --> 00:48:46.659
and guide the group and be that real kind of

00:48:46.659 --> 00:48:49.360
cornerstone for your entire village by that point.

00:48:49.420 --> 00:48:52.260
So you have a purpose at every single step. So

00:48:52.260 --> 00:48:55.900
humans are designed to be here as long as they

00:48:55.900 --> 00:48:59.320
possibly can. So when there's this internal monologue

00:48:59.320 --> 00:49:01.019
to like, oh, no, you're useless. Take yourself

00:49:01.019 --> 00:49:04.139
out. That is whether you're religious, the devil

00:49:04.139 --> 00:49:07.639
whispering in your ear or the psychosis of crisis

00:49:07.639 --> 00:49:10.500
or whatever you want to label it. That is not,

00:49:10.500 --> 00:49:13.179
you know, that voice is wrong. Hands down, that

00:49:13.179 --> 00:49:15.920
voice is wrong. I love that you said purpose,

00:49:16.000 --> 00:49:19.300
man. Every single one of us is here for a reason.

00:49:19.340 --> 00:49:23.059
We all have purpose. Sometimes, you know, it

00:49:23.059 --> 00:49:25.500
takes a while to find. Sometimes it's hidden,

00:49:25.780 --> 00:49:28.000
you know, and we got to kind of search for it.

00:49:28.019 --> 00:49:32.159
But man, if you're listening to this or, you

00:49:32.159 --> 00:49:37.510
know, whatever, like you have a purpose. It's

00:49:37.510 --> 00:49:39.809
just that you have to find it. If you don't feel

00:49:39.809 --> 00:49:42.889
like you're in your purpose now, it's not because

00:49:42.889 --> 00:49:47.110
you don't belong here. It's not because no one

00:49:47.110 --> 00:49:50.070
wants you here. It's not because any lie that

00:49:50.070 --> 00:49:52.489
is being told that you're telling yourself, but

00:49:52.489 --> 00:49:54.510
it's just because you haven't found your purpose

00:49:54.510 --> 00:49:56.210
yet. Once you find your purpose, things become

00:49:56.210 --> 00:50:00.110
so much more immensely clear mentally, emotionally,

00:50:00.349 --> 00:50:03.449
everything. It's crazy. Absolutely. And the same

00:50:03.449 --> 00:50:05.670
with your tribe. Your tribe might not be your

00:50:05.670 --> 00:50:07.650
fire department or your station. It might be

00:50:07.650 --> 00:50:09.750
a men's group of people from all over the States.

00:50:10.670 --> 00:50:13.889
Or a jiu -jitsu school in Gainesville. Right.

00:50:14.389 --> 00:50:16.130
Which apparently I need to hit up because that

00:50:16.130 --> 00:50:19.789
sounds like fun. It is. It is indeed. All right.

00:50:19.789 --> 00:50:22.550
Well then, so that's the kind of psychological

00:50:22.550 --> 00:50:25.630
journey you've talked about. There's this group

00:50:25.630 --> 00:50:27.769
of men that's really helped with your growth

00:50:27.769 --> 00:50:30.900
journey. What other tools, if any, have helped

00:50:30.900 --> 00:50:33.159
on the emotional side? And then let's kind of

00:50:33.159 --> 00:50:35.800
walk through how you start exploring gut biome.

00:50:36.400 --> 00:50:39.639
For sure, man. Honestly, I started reading again.

00:50:40.480 --> 00:50:44.059
Sounds kind of cliche, but, you know, kind of

00:50:44.059 --> 00:50:48.039
got to dig through some of the more. How do I

00:50:48.039 --> 00:50:51.260
say this? Just kind of like self -help books,

00:50:51.320 --> 00:50:54.699
you know, and start reading some actual from

00:50:54.699 --> 00:50:57.809
actual people who. have been there, who know

00:50:57.809 --> 00:51:00.670
what they're talking about, who've lived that

00:51:00.670 --> 00:51:04.349
life. And I got a whole list of books on my bookshelf

00:51:04.349 --> 00:51:07.550
right now, yours being one of them. And just

00:51:07.550 --> 00:51:10.170
reading anything and everything that I could

00:51:10.170 --> 00:51:13.170
get my hands on about how to just mentally overcome

00:51:13.170 --> 00:51:19.929
the struggles, how business -wise, how to mentally

00:51:19.929 --> 00:51:23.469
run a business, how to show up better for family,

00:51:23.570 --> 00:51:29.409
and then just talking. I used to not talk to

00:51:29.409 --> 00:51:31.809
people, if that makes sense. I would talk to

00:51:31.809 --> 00:51:33.989
them, but I was very closed off at the same time.

00:51:34.230 --> 00:51:38.250
Learning how to be okay with sharing my story

00:51:38.250 --> 00:51:41.929
and sharing my struggles openly is such a huge

00:51:41.929 --> 00:51:44.670
weight off your shoulders. That's why I'm an

00:51:44.670 --> 00:51:46.610
open book, man. Anyone can ask me anything. I'll

00:51:46.610 --> 00:51:48.030
give you an honest answer right off the bat.

00:51:48.170 --> 00:51:51.010
I got nothing to hide. And even selfishly speaking,

00:51:51.190 --> 00:51:53.289
it's for me too. I don't want to hold on to anything.

00:51:54.449 --> 00:51:57.880
I've held on. to those feelings thoughts i've

00:51:57.880 --> 00:52:00.659
you know struggled with the people pleasing aspect

00:52:00.659 --> 00:52:02.420
where i felt like i had to fit in with everything

00:52:02.420 --> 00:52:05.000
and that's a drain that's a mental and physical

00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:08.639
drain so reading a lot has really helped me finding

00:52:08.639 --> 00:52:12.059
good podcasts you know such as yours and ed mylets

00:52:12.059 --> 00:52:17.280
and um a whole bunch of others um to just speak

00:52:17.280 --> 00:52:19.480
into your life man i never keep learning i think

00:52:19.480 --> 00:52:21.300
that's that's something else always find something

00:52:21.300 --> 00:52:24.210
new to learn Because I feel like if I'm not learning

00:52:24.210 --> 00:52:26.190
something, I get complacent, you know, and then

00:52:26.190 --> 00:52:28.670
I start kind of forgetting what I'd already learned.

00:52:28.829 --> 00:52:33.329
So if I keep my learning muscle going, then I

00:52:33.329 --> 00:52:36.590
retain a lot more and I can put into practice

00:52:36.590 --> 00:52:40.429
a lot more what I'm actually learning without

00:52:40.429 --> 00:52:42.210
getting complacent. I hate getting complacent.

00:52:42.269 --> 00:52:45.030
It's so frustrating when I find myself in that

00:52:45.030 --> 00:52:48.030
space. So I try my best to keep myself out of

00:52:48.030 --> 00:52:51.869
it. Yeah, I think it's humility as well. I found

00:52:51.869 --> 00:52:53.730
this as a firefighter is, you know, when you

00:52:53.730 --> 00:52:56.289
look, if you wrote down all the types of calls

00:52:56.289 --> 00:52:59.050
that we could have, I mean, it's almost an endless

00:52:59.050 --> 00:53:02.110
list from the EMS side to, you know, whether

00:53:02.110 --> 00:53:04.150
it's an operational level of the special ops

00:53:04.150 --> 00:53:06.010
stuff, because we will be doing extrication,

00:53:06.010 --> 00:53:08.389
rope rescue, etc. You know, and all the other

00:53:08.389 --> 00:53:10.530
things like the compassionate back to bed calls.

00:53:10.690 --> 00:53:13.230
And I mean, you name it. It's such a diverse

00:53:13.230 --> 00:53:16.300
skill set. The moment that you think you've got

00:53:16.300 --> 00:53:17.920
it all figured out in the fire service, I mean,

00:53:17.940 --> 00:53:20.400
truly is the day you should reconsider your profession.

00:53:20.860 --> 00:53:23.400
So I found the fear of just not being good enough

00:53:23.400 --> 00:53:24.679
because I'm never going to be good enough at

00:53:24.679 --> 00:53:27.420
each one of these tenants. That was that was

00:53:27.420 --> 00:53:30.260
really humbling. And it kept me wanting to learn.

00:53:30.320 --> 00:53:32.659
It kept me doing classes at the college and going

00:53:32.659 --> 00:53:35.239
to conferences and all the other things. But,

00:53:35.239 --> 00:53:36.920
you know, we've got to remember that that can

00:53:36.920 --> 00:53:39.340
also apply outside the fire service. But it's

00:53:39.340 --> 00:53:41.639
just, I think the problem is it's so overwhelming

00:53:41.639 --> 00:53:43.559
if you're all into the job that you find yourself

00:53:43.559 --> 00:53:47.380
studying nothing but EMS and fire stuff. And

00:53:47.380 --> 00:53:49.739
you sometimes forget, as you mentioned, the self

00:53:49.739 --> 00:53:51.960
-care and all the other things that pertain to

00:53:51.960 --> 00:53:54.980
you, which in turn will actually raise your performance

00:53:54.980 --> 00:53:58.480
as a firefighter and a medic as well. 100%, man.

00:53:58.619 --> 00:54:02.360
I speak out about this a lot. I'm going to start

00:54:02.360 --> 00:54:06.170
doing it a lot more. uh even more now but the

00:54:06.170 --> 00:54:08.449
way that this job can quickly become your identity

00:54:08.449 --> 00:54:13.849
is scary and and it's not it's so easy man and

00:54:13.849 --> 00:54:18.389
it's not your identity like you are you know

00:54:18.389 --> 00:54:21.150
it's just not there and i know this job takes

00:54:21.150 --> 00:54:23.250
up so much of our time and training you know

00:54:23.250 --> 00:54:26.389
on duty off duty everything you know but it's

00:54:26.389 --> 00:54:28.929
people need to understand stop their identity

00:54:28.929 --> 00:54:31.710
they're someone completely unique and different

00:54:33.329 --> 00:54:35.369
when they're on duty when they're off duty and

00:54:35.369 --> 00:54:37.889
that's what's special that's what makes them

00:54:37.889 --> 00:54:39.869
you know who they are it's not the fact that

00:54:39.869 --> 00:54:42.090
you're a firefighter you know it's not the fact

00:54:42.090 --> 00:54:43.789
that you have a sticker on your car or you wear

00:54:43.789 --> 00:54:46.829
a shirt on your off duty or when people ask you

00:54:46.829 --> 00:54:48.909
know about you the first thing you want to list

00:54:48.909 --> 00:54:50.409
off as a firefighter it's not the fact that you

00:54:50.409 --> 00:54:52.329
pick up overtime after overtime after overtime

00:54:52.329 --> 00:54:53.750
because you just love the job and you've got

00:54:53.750 --> 00:54:56.309
to make money and er you know i got i met all

00:54:56.309 --> 00:54:59.389
sorts of people who who who you know kind of

00:54:59.389 --> 00:55:02.150
their job or their identity kind of revolves

00:55:02.150 --> 00:55:06.969
around this job i'm like no dude like no like

00:55:06.969 --> 00:55:10.269
that's that's unhealthy that's unhealthy it's

00:55:10.269 --> 00:55:12.469
an unhealthy mentality it's unhealthy physically

00:55:12.469 --> 00:55:15.710
and I love that you said you got to realize that

00:55:15.710 --> 00:55:18.550
there's stuff outside of the fire service that

00:55:18.550 --> 00:55:22.170
is beneficial to you, right? That you can train

00:55:22.170 --> 00:55:24.650
on or that you can learn or, you know, you have

00:55:24.650 --> 00:55:26.610
your own unique hobbies and ideas and stuff.

00:55:26.630 --> 00:55:28.610
You need to explore those too. It's, it's okay.

00:55:28.730 --> 00:55:33.190
The job will be here in three days. We are. Absolutely.

00:55:33.449 --> 00:55:35.289
Well, I think this is, this is the beautiful

00:55:35.289 --> 00:55:37.849
thing about the 24 72, just touching that again

00:55:37.849 --> 00:55:41.340
for a moment is. If you have a fully staffed

00:55:41.340 --> 00:55:43.960
department and you have a 72 hour period between

00:55:43.960 --> 00:55:47.639
shifts, now that gives you enough latitude to

00:55:47.639 --> 00:55:50.380
figure out what else you love doing and whether

00:55:50.380 --> 00:55:54.340
it's, you know. health coaching or landscaping

00:55:54.340 --> 00:55:57.340
or teaching people guitar whatever the thing

00:55:57.340 --> 00:56:00.599
is we have other passions and now you create

00:56:00.599 --> 00:56:03.900
other tribes and that is incredibly healthy because

00:56:03.900 --> 00:56:06.260
god forbid you lose your job you know you you

00:56:06.260 --> 00:56:09.239
know you just simply retire now you have another

00:56:09.239 --> 00:56:11.559
identity or even identity you have another group

00:56:11.559 --> 00:56:15.159
another tribe another purpose to go to whereas

00:56:15.159 --> 00:56:17.480
if all you know is the fire service and every

00:56:17.480 --> 00:56:20.219
other extra hour you work is also the fire service

00:56:20.219 --> 00:56:22.429
not to mention the sleep deprivation that goes

00:56:22.429 --> 00:56:25.530
with it right it's creating this kind of you

00:56:25.530 --> 00:56:27.769
know the the rotting of the brain and therefore

00:56:27.769 --> 00:56:31.670
the belief in the identity versus you go all

00:56:31.670 --> 00:56:33.989
in for 24 hours you know you're a phenomenal

00:56:33.989 --> 00:56:36.510
firefighter you're well rested you you're performing

00:56:36.510 --> 00:56:38.869
well you're working out you're training and then

00:56:38.869 --> 00:56:42.489
off shift now you're a present parent you're

00:56:42.489 --> 00:56:45.130
a present partner and then you're an entrepreneur

00:56:45.130 --> 00:56:48.400
and you get to forge something else as well So

00:56:48.400 --> 00:56:50.239
I think this is what's beautiful is we're not

00:56:50.239 --> 00:56:52.780
supposed to just be firefighters. The guy that,

00:56:52.800 --> 00:56:55.619
you know, the produce manager in Publix doesn't

00:56:55.619 --> 00:56:58.159
walk around wearing a Publix produce shirt and

00:56:58.159 --> 00:57:00.199
take extra produce shifts. You know what I mean?

00:57:00.239 --> 00:57:02.460
But I'm sure he's very proud of his position.

00:57:02.760 --> 00:57:05.079
It's the same with us. I'm sure that guy loves

00:57:05.079 --> 00:57:07.159
sports. He loves guitar. He loves whatever else.

00:57:07.360 --> 00:57:10.280
And when he leaves Publix, he focuses on the

00:57:10.280 --> 00:57:13.159
other things in his life. Absolutely, man. I

00:57:13.159 --> 00:57:17.500
love that. Yeah. And the 2472s would just give

00:57:17.500 --> 00:57:20.719
that extra, that extra way to recovery, man.

00:57:20.780 --> 00:57:22.800
So you can, so you can focus on that. I mean,

00:57:22.820 --> 00:57:27.219
it takes 24 hours at least to, if you're doing

00:57:27.219 --> 00:57:29.239
it right, which let's be honest, none of us really

00:57:29.239 --> 00:57:32.159
are to properly recover from a 24 hour shift.

00:57:32.719 --> 00:57:36.659
So if you take one of those days, you know, and

00:57:36.659 --> 00:57:38.659
actually set it aside for recovery, and then

00:57:38.659 --> 00:57:41.099
you've got those extra two days to spend time

00:57:41.099 --> 00:57:43.739
with your family, you know. pursue your passions

00:57:43.739 --> 00:57:47.320
it's just dude it would fix that alone would

00:57:47.320 --> 00:57:53.599
be so so game -changing for a lot of people well

00:57:53.599 --> 00:57:56.639
they actually shown it takes 72 hours to recover

00:57:56.639 --> 00:57:59.780
yeah oh is it 72. oh holy cow yeah it's a swedish

00:57:59.780 --> 00:58:02.219
i mean again this is a standalone study it's

00:58:02.219 --> 00:58:03.960
kind of small sample group i think it was like

00:58:03.960 --> 00:58:09.940
12. um but uh um daniel hoguera's uh interview

00:58:09.940 --> 00:58:12.219
he talks about this But this was actually a very

00:58:12.219 --> 00:58:14.360
fit cohort. It was a Swedish fire department.

00:58:15.079 --> 00:58:17.739
And yeah, they found it was a full 72 hours.

00:58:18.000 --> 00:58:20.260
And if you think off -going shift, we always

00:58:20.260 --> 00:58:22.539
say, you know, one on two off. Well, from midnight

00:58:22.539 --> 00:58:25.340
to 8 a .m., you were working. So that wasn't

00:58:25.340 --> 00:58:28.559
a day off. Right. So really, 24 -72 has given

00:58:28.559 --> 00:58:32.699
you two days off instead of one. Yeah. So, you

00:58:32.699 --> 00:58:34.480
know, when you look at it that way, it kind of

00:58:34.480 --> 00:58:38.940
reframes things. All right. Well, then. So. Going

00:58:38.940 --> 00:58:41.440
to gut bacteria, it's funny. My dad has been

00:58:41.440 --> 00:58:44.179
talking about this forever. He was a vet and

00:58:44.179 --> 00:58:46.440
I remember him doing fecal transplants, you know,

00:58:46.460 --> 00:58:49.519
orally on horses, like literally when I was a

00:58:49.519 --> 00:58:53.219
kid, so 40 years ago. So if I want an hour conversation

00:58:53.219 --> 00:58:55.199
with my dad, I just start talking about poo and

00:58:55.199 --> 00:59:00.639
off he goes. So how did you find yourself becoming

00:59:00.639 --> 00:59:03.159
aware of gut biome and then kind of walk me through

00:59:03.159 --> 00:59:06.559
that journey? Yeah, man, absolutely. So my story

00:59:06.559 --> 00:59:09.800
actually starts with my bride story. So she's

00:59:09.800 --> 00:59:13.219
kind of through her as how we got started. A

00:59:13.219 --> 00:59:15.639
couple of years ago, she had been experiencing

00:59:15.639 --> 00:59:19.340
some really bad stomach pain, kind of like in

00:59:19.340 --> 00:59:24.079
the diaphragm area. And over the next two years,

00:59:24.159 --> 00:59:26.380
man, we saw every specialist imaginable, right?

00:59:26.559 --> 00:59:28.380
She tried a whole bunch of different medications,

00:59:28.519 --> 00:59:33.000
endoscopies. everything, man. But it was to the

00:59:33.000 --> 00:59:35.840
point where she was, it was hurting her to breathe.

00:59:35.960 --> 00:59:39.719
She was having vasovagal syncope. You know, I

00:59:39.719 --> 00:59:42.719
can remember sitting on the sofa one night, we

00:59:42.719 --> 00:59:44.420
were watching one of our shows and she stands

00:59:44.420 --> 00:59:46.139
up to go to the bathroom and I just hear a loud

00:59:46.139 --> 00:59:48.739
boom. She just hits the ground right in front

00:59:48.739 --> 00:59:52.000
of our bedroom door and, um, complete pass out.

00:59:52.059 --> 00:59:54.619
She was completely out of it. Um, but she was

00:59:54.619 --> 00:59:56.860
alert enough to be like, I, I don't feel right.

00:59:56.960 --> 00:59:58.739
Call, you know, call nine one one. And she's

00:59:58.739 --> 01:00:02.429
still. out she's diaphoretic she's i barely feel

01:00:02.429 --> 01:00:04.949
feel her radial pulse i'm like what in the world

01:00:04.949 --> 01:00:08.489
man so you know rush her to the hospital or whatever

01:00:08.489 --> 01:00:12.809
her bp was low um run all the tests in the world

01:00:12.809 --> 01:00:17.969
and nothing you know nothing can be found so

01:00:17.969 --> 01:00:21.489
she's obviously getting frustrated western medicine

01:00:21.489 --> 01:00:25.130
shocker isn't really given any insight into anything

01:00:25.130 --> 01:00:28.269
um then one doctor i think even told her she

01:00:28.269 --> 01:00:30.170
you know this was after she gave birth to our

01:00:30.170 --> 01:00:32.230
son and he was like you know it's just your xiphoid

01:00:32.230 --> 01:00:34.630
process trying to find its place back after pregnancy

01:00:34.630 --> 01:00:40.869
i was like that's weird like i haven't heard

01:00:40.869 --> 01:00:42.610
that one before i don't know that's a real thing

01:00:42.610 --> 01:00:44.949
or if you made it up but all right sure but you

01:00:44.949 --> 01:00:46.349
know that you know obviously that that didn't

01:00:46.349 --> 01:00:47.849
help anything she was still having that pain

01:00:47.849 --> 01:00:52.269
so um i was at where was that i had gotten floated

01:00:52.269 --> 01:00:54.960
that night actually I was at 76. So I'm actually,

01:00:55.019 --> 01:00:57.039
I got, just got transferred to 76 about a month

01:00:57.039 --> 01:00:59.960
ago, but I had floated to 76 for the shift as

01:00:59.960 --> 01:01:02.340
a diver. And, um, at one o 'clock in the morning,

01:01:02.380 --> 01:01:04.940
she calls me and she's like, I cannot take this

01:01:04.940 --> 01:01:09.780
pain. I cannot breathe. Like I'm calling, you

01:01:09.780 --> 01:01:12.980
know, my mom who lives down the road, um, we're

01:01:12.980 --> 01:01:16.239
going to the hospital and quick sidebar. Actually,

01:01:16.280 --> 01:01:18.519
it's, it's funny because every, now that we're

01:01:18.519 --> 01:01:22.829
talking about it, every big moment in my life

01:01:22.829 --> 01:01:25.989
has been because someone else has either shared

01:01:25.989 --> 01:01:28.130
something with me or shared their story with

01:01:28.130 --> 01:01:31.550
me to inspire me or give me leadership guidance

01:01:31.550 --> 01:01:34.150
to making my decision for the better. Right.

01:01:34.250 --> 01:01:35.489
So that's just, sorry, I just kind of clicked.

01:01:35.550 --> 01:01:38.869
Like the power of your story is huge. So if that's

01:01:38.869 --> 01:01:41.090
another reason to keep going, you have your own

01:01:41.090 --> 01:01:44.269
story to tell. Like they, like a dude telling

01:01:44.269 --> 01:01:46.130
me about the book wild at heart completely changed

01:01:46.130 --> 01:01:49.670
my life. My. uh future mother -in -law actually

01:01:49.670 --> 01:01:52.230
was the one to set my wife and i up she was an

01:01:52.230 --> 01:01:54.889
er nurse and she was like hey i think my you

01:01:54.889 --> 01:01:57.170
know my daughter and you would be perfect together

01:01:57.170 --> 01:02:00.710
here's her facebook you know um anyway i'll cycle

01:02:00.710 --> 01:02:03.030
back around all that it's got myself off topic

01:02:03.030 --> 01:02:06.429
but so she so i leave at one o 'clock in the

01:02:06.429 --> 01:02:09.900
morning i meet her at the hospital um They run

01:02:09.900 --> 01:02:12.199
quick scans on her and the doctor's like, I have

01:02:12.199 --> 01:02:14.500
no idea how you're not septic. Your gallbladder

01:02:14.500 --> 01:02:16.760
is so inflamed and backed up with gallstones.

01:02:16.840 --> 01:02:20.980
It's leaking into your abdominal cavity. It's

01:02:20.980 --> 01:02:24.340
coming out like yesterday, right? So they rush

01:02:24.340 --> 01:02:26.480
her into surgery. They take out her gallbladder.

01:02:27.179 --> 01:02:29.539
She spends a day or so recovering in the hospital.

01:02:29.860 --> 01:02:31.800
And then they send her home with, hey, here's

01:02:31.800 --> 01:02:34.320
three medications to take. Try to stay away from

01:02:34.320 --> 01:02:38.429
greasy foods. Good luck, you know, figure it

01:02:38.429 --> 01:02:41.429
out. We just removed a vital organ in your body,

01:02:41.510 --> 01:02:43.309
but you know, you'll be all right. You'll be

01:02:43.309 --> 01:02:48.869
fine. So it shocker, it was not fine. It did

01:02:48.869 --> 01:02:52.349
not get better. She, she cannot eat anything

01:02:52.349 --> 01:02:55.659
afterwards. She couldn't. lick a piece of lettuce

01:02:55.659 --> 01:02:58.039
and without getting sick, like it almost got

01:02:58.039 --> 01:03:00.320
worse really, which was weird. She was still

01:03:00.320 --> 01:03:02.840
having that pain in her diaphragm area, her chest

01:03:02.840 --> 01:03:05.960
area wouldn't go away. And I had a dear friend

01:03:05.960 --> 01:03:08.300
of ours reach out after a while. And she's like,

01:03:08.380 --> 01:03:11.699
Hey, I don't know if this is for you, or I don't

01:03:11.699 --> 01:03:13.239
know if this can help, but I know you've been

01:03:13.239 --> 01:03:15.840
struggling with this. Maybe you guys should focus

01:03:15.840 --> 01:03:19.900
on, on Shelby's gut and try to figure out if

01:03:19.900 --> 01:03:23.840
maybe, you know, gut health is kind of. kind

01:03:23.840 --> 01:03:28.980
of a route to go and first time ever that i've

01:03:28.980 --> 01:03:30.860
even heard the words gut and health put together

01:03:30.860 --> 01:03:36.800
from anybody right so sure at this point whatever

01:03:36.800 --> 01:03:40.300
whatever we'll try it like she's miserable right

01:03:40.300 --> 01:03:42.199
there's no quality of life in this whatsoever

01:03:42.199 --> 01:03:45.579
so and it's scary it's scary to know that you

01:03:45.579 --> 01:03:49.579
know just simply breathing is bringing your spouse

01:03:49.579 --> 01:03:53.360
pain on top of the fact that you know the syncope

01:03:53.360 --> 01:03:56.539
even though it wasn't frequent can still happen

01:03:56.539 --> 01:03:59.300
you know and it ended up being vasovagal syncope

01:03:59.300 --> 01:04:04.780
but um so yeah man so she sent us some stuff

01:04:04.780 --> 01:04:06.820
she's like here's what i've used you know you

01:04:06.820 --> 01:04:09.099
might want to you know try it out for a little

01:04:09.099 --> 01:04:11.880
bit see if it helps so she started working on

01:04:11.880 --> 01:04:13.900
her gut taking some supplements for her gut to

01:04:13.900 --> 01:04:18.519
balance it out and um within i think she says

01:04:18.519 --> 01:04:21.300
within two months man she came off all her medications

01:04:22.170 --> 01:04:27.250
that they had sent her home with um and she's

01:04:27.250 --> 01:04:32.190
able to eat now basically not that she does she

01:04:32.190 --> 01:04:33.989
watches what she eats but she can eat whatever

01:04:33.989 --> 01:04:36.309
she wants without having any issues whatsoever

01:04:36.309 --> 01:04:39.829
over the next few months she starts noticing

01:04:39.829 --> 01:04:43.050
that pain in her chest has gone away she has

01:04:43.050 --> 01:04:45.530
no more pain she has no more syncopal episodes

01:04:45.530 --> 01:04:48.110
she has no more trouble breathing like it's just

01:04:48.110 --> 01:04:52.250
gone it it corrected itself right and throughout

01:04:52.250 --> 01:04:56.010
this past year she's weaned herself out of off

01:04:56.010 --> 01:04:58.969
of her antidepressants and she feels better without

01:04:58.969 --> 01:05:02.750
them you know and it's like amazing what what

01:05:02.750 --> 01:05:05.289
right like oh my gosh what is this thing why

01:05:05.289 --> 01:05:08.309
don't why has no one mentioned this before first

01:05:08.309 --> 01:05:09.809
of all right that's what pissed me off first

01:05:09.809 --> 01:05:13.190
i was like with the amount of money and time

01:05:13.190 --> 01:05:16.829
and how many doctors we've been to not a single

01:05:16.829 --> 01:05:20.980
person not nothing against them but not a single

01:05:20.980 --> 01:05:25.460
freaking person said anything about gut health

01:05:25.460 --> 01:05:28.219
for any reason you know for any reason for digestion

01:05:28.219 --> 01:05:31.559
issues for mental issues nothing so i was like

01:05:31.559 --> 01:05:34.900
all right well i'm having some gi issues like

01:05:34.900 --> 01:05:37.039
maybe maybe i'll just i'll mess around and i'll

01:05:37.039 --> 01:05:40.880
take it so i took it because i was having irritability

01:05:40.880 --> 01:05:43.980
some extra gas some bloating um it gotten bad

01:05:43.980 --> 01:05:46.539
where The guys on truck 30 threatened to kick

01:05:46.539 --> 01:05:50.079
me off if I didn't figure out something to fix

01:05:50.079 --> 01:05:53.760
it. They're like, bro, it's bad when your firehouse

01:05:53.760 --> 01:05:55.500
guys threaten to get rid of you because of that.

01:05:55.980 --> 01:05:59.760
I was like, shoot, man. Right. They're like,

01:05:59.860 --> 01:06:02.099
don't let Ian eat anything. It'll be horrible.

01:06:02.599 --> 01:06:04.360
I was like, well, dang it. I love food. I got

01:06:04.360 --> 01:06:08.340
to eat. But it was good in me. So I took that,

01:06:08.480 --> 01:06:11.659
started taking the same stuff she was taking

01:06:11.659 --> 01:06:14.960
to help balance and got out. Within a week that

01:06:14.960 --> 01:06:17.119
had completely gone away. And I was like, shoot.

01:06:17.219 --> 01:06:19.119
All right. That's, that's helpful. That's cool.

01:06:19.199 --> 01:06:20.840
I'll keep taking it. You know, I feel better.

01:06:20.940 --> 01:06:23.519
I'm not gassy at all. Sweet. We'll keep this

01:06:23.519 --> 01:06:26.920
rolling. Within that next week, we talk about

01:06:26.920 --> 01:06:29.139
having sleep issues for the first time in 15

01:06:29.139 --> 01:06:32.039
years. I slept through the night perfectly fine.

01:06:33.039 --> 01:06:36.059
No tossing, no turning. I didn't wake up once

01:06:36.059 --> 01:06:39.500
and I woke up. And I was like, what just happened?

01:06:39.579 --> 01:06:42.099
What day is it? Where am I? Like, it was a good

01:06:42.099 --> 01:06:43.800
sleep. You know, one of those where you just

01:06:43.800 --> 01:06:48.019
wake up like, holy cow, I feel refreshed. I forgot

01:06:48.019 --> 01:06:50.719
what this felt like. And this job screws up our

01:06:50.719 --> 01:06:53.840
sleep so much. And that's a whole separate topic.

01:06:53.940 --> 01:06:56.340
But I was like, dang, what in the world? So I

01:06:56.340 --> 01:07:00.280
kept going with it, man. I kept at it. I was

01:07:00.280 --> 01:07:02.480
getting daily migraines. My migraines disappeared.

01:07:03.189 --> 01:07:05.769
I don't know if you can tell, but I have racing

01:07:05.769 --> 01:07:09.050
thoughts a lot. I got to keep up with the thoughts

01:07:09.050 --> 01:07:10.949
in my head. Believe it or not, that actually

01:07:10.949 --> 01:07:13.090
became a lot more manageable. I'm able to focus

01:07:13.090 --> 01:07:16.730
a lot better now. My caffeine dependency that

01:07:16.730 --> 01:07:19.650
I was on, those 800 to 1 ,000 milligrams a day,

01:07:19.769 --> 01:07:24.309
I cut it, man. Within a week after that, gone.

01:07:24.469 --> 01:07:26.409
Energy drinks out the window. I don't need them.

01:07:26.489 --> 01:07:28.710
I was getting energy from I didn't know where

01:07:28.710 --> 01:07:31.050
at the time, right? I just felt energized. I

01:07:31.050 --> 01:07:33.849
woke up. I didn't need. caffeine. It was phenomenal.

01:07:34.530 --> 01:07:37.510
It was almost like I was taking a super serum.

01:07:37.570 --> 01:07:39.650
That's what I felt like. Everything started just

01:07:39.650 --> 01:07:42.030
kind of leveling out. I was like, holy cow, man,

01:07:42.090 --> 01:07:47.670
what is this? So I did what any one of us would

01:07:47.670 --> 01:07:51.010
do. Dr. Google typed in gut health and, and I

01:07:51.010 --> 01:07:53.889
just let it populate the search results. And

01:07:53.889 --> 01:07:56.389
it was gut health and anxiety, gut health and

01:07:56.389 --> 01:07:58.030
depression, gut health and sleep, gut health

01:07:58.030 --> 01:07:59.920
and blood. blood pressure, gut health and mood

01:07:59.920 --> 01:08:02.780
swings, gut health. And it was just like everything.

01:08:02.940 --> 01:08:07.559
Right. So I took about an hour. I started researching

01:08:07.559 --> 01:08:12.800
those first five that popped up and that's all

01:08:12.800 --> 01:08:16.539
it took to convince me that this, this is the

01:08:16.539 --> 01:08:18.819
missing. I talked about like realizing there

01:08:18.819 --> 01:08:22.220
was a missing link earlier. This is the missing

01:08:22.220 --> 01:08:26.039
link. For especially for for firefighters, for

01:08:26.039 --> 01:08:28.260
our health, for our wellness, for our well -being.

01:08:28.939 --> 01:08:32.060
And that was it, man. I started talking about

01:08:32.060 --> 01:08:34.100
it. I started helping people, you know, themselves.

01:08:34.239 --> 01:08:40.479
And it's it's been a wild journey. Yeah, it's

01:08:40.479 --> 01:08:42.420
just been nuts. I mean, it makes sense, right?

01:08:42.500 --> 01:08:45.880
There's there's estimated like 100 trillion microbium

01:08:45.880 --> 01:08:48.600
in your gut, which is 10 times more than you

01:08:48.600 --> 01:08:51.750
have cells in your body, which is. insane to

01:08:51.750 --> 01:08:53.810
think about. If you think, if you take 1 .3 seconds

01:08:53.810 --> 01:08:55.369
to think about it, it's like, that's an astronomical

01:08:55.369 --> 01:08:57.750
number. That's crazy. And it's all, you know,

01:08:57.750 --> 01:09:02.250
held in your gut. So it makes sense that if you're

01:09:02.250 --> 01:09:04.949
even a little bit, your microbiome is even a

01:09:04.949 --> 01:09:07.069
little bit off, that's going to lead to, to some

01:09:07.069 --> 01:09:10.010
issues somewhere, right? Like it's that impactful,

01:09:10.149 --> 01:09:12.229
not to mention the fact that the gut brain access

01:09:12.229 --> 01:09:15.029
has the most nerve endings between those two.

01:09:15.600 --> 01:09:17.359
other other than you know your brain and your

01:09:17.359 --> 01:09:19.260
brain stem your gut and your brain talk to each

01:09:19.260 --> 01:09:22.859
other more than anything else in your body i

01:09:22.859 --> 01:09:24.539
was like the more the more i researched it man

01:09:24.539 --> 01:09:26.199
the more nerdy i got with it i was like holy

01:09:26.199 --> 01:09:28.840
cow every single person needs to know about this

01:09:28.840 --> 01:09:32.979
isn't your gut 80 of your immune system too if

01:09:32.979 --> 01:09:36.300
i got that right 80 of your immune system 70

01:09:36.300 --> 01:09:40.689
of your serotonin um it It balances everything.

01:09:40.829 --> 01:09:43.409
That's how your blood pressure gets balanced.

01:09:43.489 --> 01:09:45.930
Actually, the microbium, it sends signals. It's

01:09:45.930 --> 01:09:50.109
how your blood sugar gets balanced. It's literally

01:09:50.109 --> 01:09:54.710
like the central computing system that just sends

01:09:54.710 --> 01:09:56.130
signals to the brain. It's like, hey, we need

01:09:56.130 --> 01:09:58.369
to adjust things. It's all from your gut. It's

01:09:58.369 --> 01:10:03.149
crazy. Yeah, 80%. So it's interesting. You mentioned

01:10:03.149 --> 01:10:06.149
that your wife is caught a Filipino. brother

01:10:06.149 --> 01:10:08.310
-in -law has had issues with his gallbladder.

01:10:08.369 --> 01:10:10.789
My wife actually had issues not to the point

01:10:10.789 --> 01:10:13.449
where she had to have it removed. I use a supplement

01:10:13.449 --> 01:10:15.789
company called Thorn and they have a product

01:10:15.789 --> 01:10:19.029
called BioGest, which kind of helps when you

01:10:19.029 --> 01:10:21.069
do have a fatty meal, just kind of helping your

01:10:21.069 --> 01:10:23.390
stomach break that down. And then I take their

01:10:23.390 --> 01:10:25.630
probiotics as well. I've been a big believer

01:10:25.630 --> 01:10:27.710
in probiotics and prebiotics. I drink kombucha

01:10:27.710 --> 01:10:30.310
and, you know, all the things and try and minimize

01:10:30.310 --> 01:10:33.069
my caffeine and alcohol. But that's, that's just,

01:10:33.149 --> 01:10:35.270
you know. my own little personal journey so talk

01:10:35.270 --> 01:10:39.149
to me what was the initial thing that your wife

01:10:39.149 --> 01:10:42.090
used and ultimately you used for your own personal

01:10:42.090 --> 01:10:44.989
you know um healing that you just talked about

01:10:44.989 --> 01:10:48.210
yeah for sure man that's awesome i love that

01:10:48.210 --> 01:10:50.390
you've had that journey because it's it's so

01:10:50.390 --> 01:10:53.310
important dude and the foods we eat it's i'm

01:10:53.310 --> 01:10:55.789
sure you know and you've had you know other guests

01:10:55.789 --> 01:10:57.569
on here before that have talked about it from

01:10:57.569 --> 01:11:01.880
the Our culture in the West here, everything

01:11:01.880 --> 01:11:04.520
we eat and drink, man, inflames our bodies so

01:11:04.520 --> 01:11:07.359
much from cereal to the alcohol to everything,

01:11:07.460 --> 01:11:12.319
dude. It's insane how much inflammation our body

01:11:12.319 --> 01:11:14.300
actually holds on to and the toxins from all

01:11:14.300 --> 01:11:16.699
that. Well, yeah, to answer your question before

01:11:16.699 --> 01:11:18.680
I get ahead of myself, it's a company called

01:11:18.680 --> 01:11:22.000
Plexus. They make plant -based natural supplements.

01:11:22.140 --> 01:11:25.920
They're based out of Arizona. And the balance

01:11:25.920 --> 01:11:28.760
that she and I both started with is called TriPlex.

01:11:29.390 --> 01:11:32.729
It's got a, uh, microbium activating little like

01:11:32.729 --> 01:11:34.909
drink packet that you can dump into a water bottle,

01:11:34.949 --> 01:11:37.970
take with you. Um, it feeds your gut with a whole

01:11:37.970 --> 01:11:40.569
bunch of good bacteria. And then at night you

01:11:40.569 --> 01:11:44.090
take a bio cleanse pill and a strong probiotics,

01:11:44.090 --> 01:11:46.750
such as the one you take, I'm sure. And not only

01:11:46.750 --> 01:11:49.770
does that just strengthen and feed your gut more

01:11:49.770 --> 01:11:52.090
overnight, but the bio cleanse helps your body

01:11:52.090 --> 01:11:55.149
naturally get rid of. all the heavy metals the

01:11:55.149 --> 01:11:58.829
toxins the bloating the bad bacteria that that

01:11:58.829 --> 01:12:00.649
your body holds on to and it does all that without

01:12:00.649 --> 01:12:03.329
you know one of the biggest things i get is oh

01:12:03.329 --> 01:12:05.529
i'm going to be on the toilet no you're not it

01:12:05.529 --> 01:12:09.310
just naturally helps you get rid of it so you're

01:12:09.310 --> 01:12:12.489
not spending your day you know crabbing your

01:12:12.489 --> 01:12:14.210
brains out being like oh this was the worst decision

01:12:14.210 --> 01:12:16.289
of my life it's like no no this is this is an

01:12:16.289 --> 01:12:20.039
easy cleanse yeah So is that something that you

01:12:20.039 --> 01:12:22.800
take ongoing or is it for a certain period to

01:12:22.800 --> 01:12:26.760
reset everything? No, I take it or I guess we

01:12:26.760 --> 01:12:30.539
take it. We take it every day. It comes in monthly

01:12:30.539 --> 01:12:32.779
supplies. So every month, you know, we have our

01:12:32.779 --> 01:12:36.880
subscription run. I added she added in a product

01:12:36.880 --> 01:12:39.460
called Vital Biome, which is how she was able

01:12:39.460 --> 01:12:43.439
to wean herself off of her antidepressants. It's

01:12:43.439 --> 01:12:46.300
specifically geared for for mental health. And

01:12:46.300 --> 01:12:49.800
that's what actually helps me. focus and gets

01:12:49.800 --> 01:12:51.939
rid of my brain fog and everything i use that

01:12:51.939 --> 01:12:55.720
religiously she's used two other products she

01:12:55.720 --> 01:12:58.500
works in called nerve and ease which helps reduce

01:12:58.500 --> 01:13:02.939
total body inflammation and she feels so much

01:13:02.939 --> 01:13:06.760
better taking that too and the nerve just helps

01:13:06.760 --> 01:13:11.149
with nerve pain joint pain and it's So she's

01:13:11.149 --> 01:13:13.989
added on those. And then I've added on a product

01:13:13.989 --> 01:13:16.409
called Active because, I mean, I still need some

01:13:16.409 --> 01:13:18.069
energy throughout the day sometimes, but it's

01:13:18.069 --> 01:13:22.829
clean energy, no crash, you know, all the plant

01:13:22.829 --> 01:13:25.210
-based stuff. So your body absorbs it nicely

01:13:25.210 --> 01:13:28.310
and got a wide variety of stuff, man. You can

01:13:28.310 --> 01:13:30.010
kind of tailor it to your own needs, but the

01:13:30.010 --> 01:13:33.250
TriPlex is definitely the one that balances everything

01:13:33.250 --> 01:13:36.470
out, the starter. So you had that personal experience

01:13:36.470 --> 01:13:39.770
yourself. Walk me through then the journey of

01:13:39.770 --> 01:13:42.449
deciding to take this information and start helping

01:13:42.449 --> 01:13:45.510
other people. Yeah, it was just it was my own

01:13:45.510 --> 01:13:48.930
research. Like as soon as I found out how much

01:13:48.930 --> 01:13:52.329
was connected to, you know, had its roots in

01:13:52.329 --> 01:13:58.029
the gut, how many illnesses, how many mental

01:13:58.029 --> 01:14:00.670
struggles, how everything I started comparing

01:14:00.670 --> 01:14:05.069
it to reports of what our community struggles

01:14:05.069 --> 01:14:08.760
with the most. is our highest you know killers

01:14:08.760 --> 01:14:13.119
on duty off duty and started comparing that with

01:14:13.119 --> 01:14:15.479
the studies i found to link gut health to those

01:14:15.479 --> 01:14:19.399
specific problems and every single one of them

01:14:19.399 --> 01:14:22.939
rooted back to the gut health from blood pressure

01:14:22.939 --> 01:14:26.479
you know cardiac issues anxiety depression addiction

01:14:26.479 --> 01:14:31.390
even You could find the National Institute of

01:14:31.390 --> 01:14:33.670
Science Medicine, I believe is what it was called.

01:14:33.729 --> 01:14:35.649
It has multiple studies that they've done on

01:14:35.649 --> 01:14:39.289
each of these topics. And I was like, if all

01:14:39.289 --> 01:14:42.010
of the top problems that are plaguing our community

01:14:42.010 --> 01:14:45.689
are all rooted in this one thing in one way or

01:14:45.689 --> 01:14:50.350
another, then people need to know, right? People

01:14:50.350 --> 01:14:52.710
need to know about it. I need to help other people

01:14:52.710 --> 01:14:55.390
understand that, hey, it doesn't matter how fit

01:14:55.390 --> 01:14:58.659
or healthy. you are which is great workout is

01:14:58.659 --> 01:15:02.220
important nutrition is important but supplementing

01:15:02.220 --> 01:15:04.600
right especially in this job that's constantly

01:15:04.600 --> 01:15:07.619
trying to wear you down take you out you know

01:15:07.619 --> 01:15:10.399
disrupt you in every way imaginable making sure

01:15:10.399 --> 01:15:14.680
that your insides stay balanced is so important

01:15:14.680 --> 01:15:17.819
and so i started speaking out more about it and

01:15:17.819 --> 01:15:22.119
um started i i guess you know getting clients

01:15:22.119 --> 01:15:25.880
in that you know help build custom gut health

01:15:25.880 --> 01:15:29.319
routines for and yeah it's been crazy man we've

01:15:29.319 --> 01:15:31.859
had people lose lose some stubborn weight that

01:15:31.859 --> 01:15:33.960
they haven't been able to get off you know they

01:15:33.960 --> 01:15:35.659
start feeling better like i said that natural

01:15:35.659 --> 01:15:38.800
energy boost is just huge man for such so many

01:15:38.800 --> 01:15:43.640
people um uh under a doctor's supervision we've

01:15:43.640 --> 01:15:45.340
had people come off of blood pressure medication

01:15:45.340 --> 01:15:50.319
diabetes medication um People have given up,

01:15:50.319 --> 01:15:53.180
given up, gotten off of anxiety medication, and

01:15:53.180 --> 01:15:55.800
we're just seeing people's quality of life just

01:15:55.800 --> 01:15:59.439
skyrocket, man. And, you know, with anything,

01:15:59.560 --> 01:16:01.880
with anything good, right? Consistency, right?

01:16:01.960 --> 01:16:05.710
Everyone's body adjusts. differently in a different

01:16:05.710 --> 01:16:07.630
timeframe. You got to give your body time to

01:16:07.630 --> 01:16:09.270
get rid of the old before it starts building

01:16:09.270 --> 01:16:11.590
the new. It takes about 90 days for a person's

01:16:11.590 --> 01:16:14.729
gut to completely get rid of everything and start

01:16:14.729 --> 01:16:16.869
building off of that. But the people that have

01:16:16.869 --> 01:16:18.729
stayed consistent, man, have seen incredible

01:16:18.729 --> 01:16:21.170
results. And that's why I'm just like people,

01:16:21.329 --> 01:16:24.930
this needs to be blasted out however possible.

01:16:25.270 --> 01:16:27.210
And I appreciate you giving me the chance to

01:16:27.210 --> 01:16:30.050
talk about it. Well, I want to try the product

01:16:30.050 --> 01:16:33.550
myself because I've been So many areas of my

01:16:33.550 --> 01:16:35.850
life have been doing really well. I've been meditating.

01:16:35.930 --> 01:16:38.369
I've reduced the alcohol a lot, but bloating

01:16:38.369 --> 01:16:41.250
is a thing and I'm quite lean still. So when

01:16:41.250 --> 01:16:43.069
you're lean and you got a little pot belly, you

01:16:43.069 --> 01:16:46.229
know, it's kind of annoying. So, and then, and

01:16:46.229 --> 01:16:47.750
then, you know, I'm not getting too graphic,

01:16:47.770 --> 01:16:50.130
you know, the bowel movements. And, uh, when

01:16:50.130 --> 01:16:53.289
this was, when I first started, uh, my first

01:16:53.289 --> 01:16:55.210
left orange County, I actually went plant -based

01:16:55.210 --> 01:16:58.590
for a bit, like six months. And that was phenomenal.

01:16:59.310 --> 01:17:01.210
Until it got to a point where I'm like, I need

01:17:01.210 --> 01:17:02.850
to put some meat back in now. I was starting

01:17:02.850 --> 01:17:06.630
to feel the weakness. But I never had such a

01:17:06.630 --> 01:17:09.130
healthy gut. I mean, not being too graphic, but

01:17:09.130 --> 01:17:13.050
no wipes were a common occurrence. I had a irritable

01:17:13.050 --> 01:17:15.729
bowel and removing the dairy overnight. You know,

01:17:15.770 --> 01:17:19.130
all the cramping and everything I used to get

01:17:19.130 --> 01:17:21.550
went away. And then the blood work I had on my

01:17:21.550 --> 01:17:24.609
physical that year, the doctor literally said,

01:17:24.729 --> 01:17:26.970
can you tell me how you eat? I've never seen

01:17:26.970 --> 01:17:29.289
blood work this good before. Now, my blood work

01:17:29.289 --> 01:17:31.689
isn't like that now because I'm not plant -based

01:17:31.689 --> 01:17:34.109
still. But again, you were talking about coming

01:17:34.109 --> 01:17:37.550
off meds. I think what people don't realize is

01:17:37.550 --> 01:17:41.149
that a lot of these diseases are reversible if

01:17:41.149 --> 01:17:43.529
you catch them in time. Diabetes, hypertension,

01:17:44.090 --> 01:17:46.430
hypercholesterol, all these different areas,

01:17:46.649 --> 01:17:50.119
you can... 100 % you know reverse it even like

01:17:50.119 --> 01:17:53.260
heart disease can be reversed cancer I truly

01:17:53.260 --> 01:17:55.939
believe can be avoided or minimized through healthy

01:17:55.939 --> 01:17:59.159
diet so when you're looking at the food you eat

01:17:59.159 --> 01:18:01.880
and then you're supplementing in this case you

01:18:01.880 --> 01:18:04.279
know and then my goodness now you switch to a

01:18:04.279 --> 01:18:06.680
healthier work week as well I mean all these

01:18:06.680 --> 01:18:09.220
are tenants of this health revolution that I

01:18:09.220 --> 01:18:11.039
think that we're embarking on now and not only

01:18:11.039 --> 01:18:13.260
in the fire service but in in the country in

01:18:13.260 --> 01:18:17.729
general for sure dude it's it's insane yeah It's

01:18:17.729 --> 01:18:20.229
absolutely insane. All that together, like small

01:18:20.229 --> 01:18:22.989
steps, like just simply eating right. Like you

01:18:22.989 --> 01:18:24.930
said, you switch it. I actually went plant -based

01:18:24.930 --> 01:18:28.350
for two or three months a couple of years ago.

01:18:28.550 --> 01:18:32.350
Like you said, I have the exact same feelings

01:18:32.350 --> 01:18:35.569
about it. It never felt better. Like never felt

01:18:35.569 --> 01:18:38.350
like I ran cleaner or stronger or anything like

01:18:38.350 --> 01:18:40.380
that. but I was just like, all right, I need

01:18:40.380 --> 01:18:43.399
a burger. You know, I need, I need, I need, I

01:18:43.399 --> 01:18:45.340
need something like this is good and everything,

01:18:45.520 --> 01:18:47.619
but give me a burger. So of course, you know,

01:18:47.659 --> 01:18:49.000
like that's when the bloating and everything

01:18:49.000 --> 01:18:51.920
came back, but yeah, it's, it's so important,

01:18:52.039 --> 01:18:58.340
man. And there's so much I want to say about

01:18:58.340 --> 01:19:01.359
it just because like, even as simply as, as your

01:19:01.359 --> 01:19:03.159
sleep, like, even if you're healthy, but you

01:19:03.159 --> 01:19:04.779
know, I've talked to some people who are like,

01:19:04.840 --> 01:19:08.340
yeah, but I eat right. I exercise. Okay. That's

01:19:08.340 --> 01:19:10.319
great. But did you know that that's lack of sleep

01:19:10.319 --> 01:19:13.460
you're getting is actually could be the thing

01:19:13.460 --> 01:19:15.859
that takes you out in the end. Like, I don't

01:19:15.859 --> 01:19:18.500
think people understand that. Like if you get

01:19:18.500 --> 01:19:20.960
less than five hours of sleep for one night,

01:19:21.060 --> 01:19:23.539
I'm a hundred percent with you. I do believe

01:19:23.539 --> 01:19:25.539
that cancer can be completely eradicated through,

01:19:25.579 --> 01:19:27.739
through correct like supplementation and diet

01:19:27.739 --> 01:19:30.279
and everything. But did you know that after five

01:19:30.279 --> 01:19:33.279
hours of sleep a night or less after just one

01:19:33.279 --> 01:19:35.439
night, your cancer fighting cells get depleted

01:19:35.439 --> 01:19:38.989
by like 70%. It doesn't surprise me. And I've

01:19:38.989 --> 01:19:41.409
said this a lot. Reedy Creek, where I used to

01:19:41.409 --> 01:19:45.270
work, hardly ever saw fire. I mean, hardly ever.

01:19:45.350 --> 01:19:48.109
I was there five years. I bought a semi fire

01:19:48.109 --> 01:19:51.850
full of tires, towels. That was it. But they

01:19:51.850 --> 01:19:54.699
dropped like flies of cancer. But what they do

01:19:54.699 --> 01:19:57.060
is they run. They do run a lot. Now, a lot of

01:19:57.060 --> 01:19:59.359
the calls are complete BS and it's Disney abusing

01:19:59.359 --> 01:20:02.500
their fire department. But these men and women

01:20:02.500 --> 01:20:05.380
are up numerous times during the night. So what's

01:20:05.380 --> 01:20:07.060
the common denominator? They're not putting their

01:20:07.060 --> 01:20:09.460
gear on. They're not exposed to carcinogens as

01:20:09.460 --> 01:20:12.300
far as, you know, byproducts of combustion. But

01:20:12.300 --> 01:20:15.130
they are sleep deprived chronically. so there

01:20:15.130 --> 01:20:17.789
we go and we know that the world health organization

01:20:17.789 --> 01:20:21.810
has categorized shift work as a known carcinogen

01:20:21.810 --> 01:20:25.390
so it's again the science is there yeah it's

01:20:25.390 --> 01:20:27.710
there man and then you you compound on top of

01:20:27.710 --> 01:20:29.750
that what is the first thing we do when we get

01:20:29.750 --> 01:20:34.010
home baby duty or hey after shift you want to

01:20:34.010 --> 01:20:36.050
go i'm gonna play some golf for eight hours you

01:20:36.050 --> 01:20:40.279
know or let's go have i don't know Had some,

01:20:40.300 --> 01:20:42.260
some buddies go get drinks right after shift,

01:20:42.380 --> 01:20:43.800
you know, before headed home. And it's just,

01:20:43.859 --> 01:20:46.640
we continue to destroy ourselves. It's like,

01:20:46.659 --> 01:20:50.380
you just got beat up for 24 hours and we give

01:20:50.380 --> 01:20:52.779
ourselves no time. Our nervous system has no

01:20:52.779 --> 01:20:57.159
time to learn how to relax and recover and rebuild

01:20:57.159 --> 01:20:59.979
before we're just continually destroying it again.

01:21:00.760 --> 01:21:03.119
It's, it's, it's sad, man. We, we are our own

01:21:03.119 --> 01:21:05.479
worst enemy sometimes, but that's, that's why

01:21:05.479 --> 01:21:09.399
people need to know, right? Need to get. the

01:21:09.399 --> 01:21:11.100
information, the correct information out there

01:21:11.100 --> 01:21:13.020
and just serving, being able to serve people

01:21:13.020 --> 01:21:14.560
in this way and give back to the community in

01:21:14.560 --> 01:21:19.000
this way has been so rewarding. What about diet

01:21:19.000 --> 01:21:22.340
principles? The one thing I've seen is you literally

01:21:22.340 --> 01:21:25.079
get these camps, carnival, you know, vegan, whatever,

01:21:25.159 --> 01:21:27.720
and they're fighting tooth and nail that there's

01:21:27.720 --> 01:21:30.420
the only way. And that's absolute bollocks. I

01:21:30.420 --> 01:21:32.699
mean, the common denominator is they're all removing.

01:21:33.340 --> 01:21:35.979
shitty processed food usually and you know starchy

01:21:35.979 --> 01:21:38.659
and all that kind of thing so when it comes to

01:21:38.659 --> 01:21:40.939
gut health specifically what are the some of

01:21:40.939 --> 01:21:43.579
the principles that guide you as far as how you

01:21:43.579 --> 01:21:49.899
choose your meals that's a good one so when i

01:21:49.899 --> 01:21:53.439
do my shopping at the grocery store uh i i stick

01:21:53.439 --> 01:21:55.800
to the outside of the grocery store try not to

01:21:55.800 --> 01:21:58.800
go to the internal aisles for anything anything

01:21:58.800 --> 01:22:01.739
that's anything organic or healthy for you is

01:22:01.739 --> 01:22:03.579
going to be on the outside. Right. So I picked

01:22:03.579 --> 01:22:06.119
that up pretty, pretty quickly. So when you do

01:22:06.119 --> 01:22:07.859
your shopping, stick to the outside of the grocery

01:22:07.859 --> 01:22:10.619
store, but specifically, man, just trying to

01:22:10.619 --> 01:22:14.060
understanding that. I think a big thing is that

01:22:14.060 --> 01:22:16.659
like, nobody's going to be perfect. You're not

01:22:16.659 --> 01:22:18.500
going to be perfect in your journey. You're not

01:22:18.500 --> 01:22:20.579
going to eat clean a hundred percent of the time,

01:22:20.579 --> 01:22:24.359
you know, like that's just unrealistic. So. Finding

01:22:24.359 --> 01:22:28.239
a good balance between we still try to eat clean

01:22:28.239 --> 01:22:30.119
with whatever we do, but also understanding,

01:22:30.340 --> 01:22:32.920
hey, if you give yourself like, I don't know,

01:22:32.979 --> 01:22:37.020
10 % of foods that you're able to eat and actually

01:22:37.020 --> 01:22:39.500
enjoy eating because you can eat clean and enjoy

01:22:39.500 --> 01:22:42.779
it too. But, you know, 10 % of the time, you

01:22:42.779 --> 01:22:44.500
know, what you're eating is technically bad for

01:22:44.500 --> 01:22:48.680
you. That's okay. So, you know, stick to high

01:22:48.680 --> 01:22:53.430
fruits, high veggies, lean meats. I like quinoa

01:22:53.430 --> 01:22:57.630
instead of rice still. I actually did not great

01:22:57.630 --> 01:23:00.229
on the texture, but as far as like the nutritional

01:23:00.229 --> 01:23:03.590
value goes, quinoa. So you still want to try

01:23:03.590 --> 01:23:08.430
to involve a lot of plants as much as you can.

01:23:08.449 --> 01:23:10.649
You know, plants, fruits, veggies, that's the

01:23:10.649 --> 01:23:12.569
groundwork, man. It really is. Kombucha is really

01:23:12.569 --> 01:23:15.649
good. I know you mentioned that earlier. And

01:23:15.649 --> 01:23:19.609
just if it's naturally grown and that's so...

01:23:20.329 --> 01:23:23.250
I hate to even take a pause there because there's

01:23:23.250 --> 01:23:26.390
so many things that say organic or like natural

01:23:26.390 --> 01:23:29.850
on it that you just look at the ingredients or

01:23:29.850 --> 01:23:31.590
you look how it's processed and you're like,

01:23:31.670 --> 01:23:34.729
that's not, come on, man, that's not organic

01:23:34.729 --> 01:23:38.369
at all. So you got to be careful with that. I

01:23:38.369 --> 01:23:41.930
mean, so that being said, doing your own research

01:23:41.930 --> 01:23:44.930
into the products you are getting, maybe finding

01:23:44.930 --> 01:23:49.119
healthier. alternatives, which I help people

01:23:49.119 --> 01:23:51.939
with also when they, when they come to me is

01:23:51.939 --> 01:23:56.760
just educate yourself, you know, stay clean,

01:23:56.939 --> 01:24:01.600
educate yourself, get help, you know, help all

01:24:01.600 --> 01:24:03.420
my clients with their eating if they need it.

01:24:03.460 --> 01:24:06.119
And you're not going to be perfect. Give yourself

01:24:06.119 --> 01:24:10.060
some grace. Absolutely. It's interesting. Again,

01:24:10.140 --> 01:24:12.439
when people say it's expensive to eat healthy,

01:24:12.500 --> 01:24:15.529
I'm like, that's bollocks. Go to a farmer's market,

01:24:15.649 --> 01:24:18.029
you'll fill two grocery bags full of vegetables

01:24:18.029 --> 01:24:21.109
for the price that you'd get just one in the

01:24:21.109 --> 01:24:23.470
store. And then I think the other thing is you

01:24:23.470 --> 01:24:26.090
look at how much you're going to be saving if

01:24:26.090 --> 01:24:28.189
you eat well versus what you pay on insurance,

01:24:28.329 --> 01:24:31.210
co -pays and meds and all those things. And then

01:24:31.210 --> 01:24:33.289
the other thing that I'm very conscious of these

01:24:33.289 --> 01:24:37.090
days is every time you buy the shit food, you

01:24:37.090 --> 01:24:39.689
are subsidizing the shit company. Every time

01:24:39.689 --> 01:24:41.250
you say, okay, I'm going to pay a little bit

01:24:41.250 --> 01:24:43.210
more for the eggs or the meat or whatever it

01:24:43.210 --> 01:24:47.060
is. you are voting with your dollar you are subsidizing

01:24:47.060 --> 01:24:51.159
the the healthy farmer and therefore supply and

01:24:51.159 --> 01:24:53.279
demand publix and all these other companies going

01:24:53.279 --> 01:24:55.539
to go oh wow everyone's buying the grass -fed

01:24:55.539 --> 01:24:58.220
meat maybe we should get more of that and then

01:24:58.220 --> 01:25:01.079
lo and behold the price goes down so you know

01:25:01.079 --> 01:25:03.300
we do vote with our dollar the more that we buy

01:25:03.300 --> 01:25:05.279
the healthier stuff and we've seen it in publix

01:25:05.789 --> 01:25:07.989
The organic or healthy section used to be like

01:25:07.989 --> 01:25:11.449
one foot wide shelf. Now it's all over the store

01:25:11.449 --> 01:25:13.750
because they know that people are starting to

01:25:13.750 --> 01:25:16.569
lean into that. So understand the long -term

01:25:16.569 --> 01:25:18.350
benefits. Same as, you know, we talk about the

01:25:18.350 --> 01:25:21.069
work week. It's the same thing. It's a proactive

01:25:21.069 --> 01:25:25.750
investment in your own health that will pay dividends

01:25:25.750 --> 01:25:29.350
5, 10, 15, 20 years from now. Oh, absolutely.

01:25:29.489 --> 01:25:31.529
And you got to be thinking long -term, right?

01:25:31.590 --> 01:25:32.909
You got to be thinking long -term when it comes

01:25:32.909 --> 01:25:36.029
to that. It is so easy to be like, well, it's

01:25:36.029 --> 01:25:40.770
more expensive, but just know that that money

01:25:40.770 --> 01:25:42.750
that you're saving, you're going to pay with

01:25:42.750 --> 01:25:44.550
your health later on. And it's going to be a

01:25:44.550 --> 01:25:47.310
lot more expensive. Like you may not necessarily

01:25:47.310 --> 01:25:51.350
see results right away, right? Because again,

01:25:51.510 --> 01:25:54.670
you have to undo a lot of bad usually before

01:25:54.670 --> 01:25:57.869
you can start seeing the good. But it's so much

01:25:57.869 --> 01:26:00.510
better than having your quality of life tank

01:26:00.510 --> 01:26:05.630
at. 50 years old you know or retire at whatever

01:26:05.630 --> 01:26:08.409
age you got to retire out now which is it keeps

01:26:08.409 --> 01:26:10.289
raising because you know we can't afford anything

01:26:10.289 --> 01:26:13.949
but and then having to deal with health issues

01:26:13.949 --> 01:26:17.350
for five to ten years that you don't really get

01:26:17.350 --> 01:26:19.550
to enjoy your retirement or your life that you've

01:26:19.550 --> 01:26:22.970
literally worked yourself to death for and then

01:26:22.970 --> 01:26:27.789
just to leave it all behind it's exactly it's

01:26:27.789 --> 01:26:31.539
sad yeah yeah it's like working those five top

01:26:31.539 --> 01:26:34.119
years taking all the overtime in the drop and

01:26:34.119 --> 01:26:36.640
then you do drop drop dead two years later for

01:26:36.640 --> 01:26:39.579
one you know what i mean yeah i think i think

01:26:39.579 --> 01:26:42.640
firefighting is still ranked number two for like

01:26:42.640 --> 01:26:44.720
the is either number two or number one last i

01:26:44.720 --> 01:26:46.779
checked for like the shortest life expectancy

01:26:46.779 --> 01:26:51.279
post retirement and i was like that's that's

01:26:51.279 --> 01:26:53.739
got to change too like we got us literally working

01:26:53.739 --> 01:26:57.670
ourselves to death it's it's so frustrating Sorry,

01:26:57.729 --> 01:26:58.909
I didn't mean to interrupt you there. Think about

01:26:58.909 --> 01:27:01.189
as well the kind of people that are on the drill

01:27:01.189 --> 01:27:03.770
ground, day one. It's not your average person.

01:27:04.069 --> 01:27:06.609
So really, our profession should have longevity.

01:27:06.970 --> 01:27:09.930
We are probably some of the fittest, most resilient

01:27:09.930 --> 01:27:11.630
members of the community. That's why we're doing

01:27:11.630 --> 01:27:14.229
what we're doing. And we're dying 12 years younger

01:27:14.229 --> 01:27:16.970
than the average person, the banker, the grocer,

01:27:17.130 --> 01:27:20.930
whoever. So it speaks volumes. It screams volumes.

01:27:22.189 --> 01:27:26.510
It's nuts. It's so sad, man. I hate it. It definitely

01:27:26.510 --> 01:27:32.970
drives my mission here, you know, and it's allowed

01:27:32.970 --> 01:27:35.470
me to dream more outside of the fire department,

01:27:35.550 --> 01:27:37.510
you know, where I thought, you know, I used to

01:27:37.510 --> 01:27:39.649
be one of those where, you know, fire department

01:27:39.649 --> 01:27:42.390
was everything and it was life. And now kind

01:27:42.390 --> 01:27:44.729
of in a way, this has helped open my eyes to

01:27:44.729 --> 01:27:46.989
seeing the bigger picture and being like, well,

01:27:47.189 --> 01:27:51.470
if it takes my time, it takes my health and it

01:27:51.470 --> 01:27:53.470
takes my family. What was the point of this?

01:27:54.000 --> 01:27:56.300
fire department in the first then you know the

01:27:56.300 --> 01:27:58.880
fire department means nothing then kind of right

01:27:58.880 --> 01:28:02.460
like i'm not willing to give all that up just

01:28:02.460 --> 01:28:04.239
to say that i'm a firefighter and work myself

01:28:04.239 --> 01:28:08.520
to death absolutely and trying to help other

01:28:08.520 --> 01:28:12.340
people get there as well i just saw a thing on

01:28:12.340 --> 01:28:14.659
social media and again it's the kind of claim

01:28:14.659 --> 01:28:17.939
i can't imagine it's falsified um almost a hundred

01:28:17.939 --> 01:28:22.180
thousand japanese people are a hundred or more

01:28:22.180 --> 01:28:26.130
years old So when you think about when we're

01:28:26.130 --> 01:28:29.310
dying and how we perceive a 50 -year -old and

01:28:29.310 --> 01:28:32.170
normalize obesity and a bunch of meds and everything,

01:28:32.390 --> 01:28:35.550
that's just halfway. My grandmother was 105 when

01:28:35.550 --> 01:28:38.090
she died. My granddad was almost 100. He was

01:28:38.090 --> 01:28:40.729
99, but he got cancer. That's what killed him,

01:28:40.750 --> 01:28:43.489
not old age. So when you think about it that

01:28:43.489 --> 01:28:46.810
way, I'm maybe barely at the halfway point now.

01:28:47.050 --> 01:28:50.770
So another entire lifetime ahead of me. if i

01:28:50.770 --> 01:28:52.750
just take care of myself we've been given this

01:28:52.750 --> 01:28:55.310
genetic potential for i would argue either side

01:28:55.310 --> 01:28:59.109
of 100 years seems to be pretty much so you know

01:28:59.109 --> 01:29:01.250
are you going to let your employer shorten that

01:29:01.250 --> 01:29:04.510
you know or you're going to fight for this amazing

01:29:04.510 --> 01:29:06.970
calling and then create a working environment

01:29:06.970 --> 01:29:09.449
around it where you can be a proud firefighter

01:29:09.449 --> 01:29:12.529
retire out of that and then have a long healthy

01:29:12.529 --> 01:29:15.550
retirement being another asset in your community

01:29:15.550 --> 01:29:18.800
in a different way Yeah, absolutely, man. You

01:29:18.800 --> 01:29:21.939
got so much life to live, but you only get one.

01:29:23.699 --> 01:29:30.039
Living it in just survival mode instead of thriving

01:29:30.039 --> 01:29:33.560
is bonkers to me. I don't get it. Why would you

01:29:33.560 --> 01:29:36.520
not want to take care of yourself to where you

01:29:36.520 --> 01:29:39.159
are enjoying every second of life knowing that

01:29:39.159 --> 01:29:40.819
you're taking the best care of yourself possible

01:29:40.819 --> 01:29:44.880
rather than let yourself get beat down and struggle?

01:29:45.369 --> 01:29:47.229
you know and be literally be on the struggle

01:29:47.229 --> 01:29:49.130
bus for for the rest of your life my goal is

01:29:49.130 --> 01:29:53.529
to 100 100 hit 100 but uh there's a reason why

01:29:53.529 --> 01:29:57.930
those blue zones across the world get that rating

01:29:57.930 --> 01:30:00.310
right it's that community we talked about it's

01:30:00.310 --> 01:30:03.529
that clean eating we talked about it's i mean

01:30:03.529 --> 01:30:05.710
obviously low stress i'm pretty sure a lot of

01:30:05.710 --> 01:30:07.710
them actually kind of just like communally work

01:30:07.710 --> 01:30:09.930
together for whatever they need and they share

01:30:09.930 --> 01:30:13.869
everything and it's the useful mind is that so

01:30:13.869 --> 01:30:16.149
hard to model yeah Yes, sir. You know, the way

01:30:16.149 --> 01:30:18.350
you can tell they're playful, they, you know,

01:30:18.350 --> 01:30:20.770
they interact, they laugh, they dance, they sing.

01:30:20.789 --> 01:30:22.949
I mean, just some real basic stuff. We're so

01:30:22.949 --> 01:30:25.850
damn serious and we're worried about, you know,

01:30:25.869 --> 01:30:28.329
demented presidents or bright orange presidents

01:30:28.329 --> 01:30:31.369
that ruin our fucking day, day in, day out, rather

01:30:31.369 --> 01:30:33.869
than what's actually important, which is like

01:30:33.869 --> 01:30:37.449
you said, the people that we love. Oh, absolutely.

01:30:37.670 --> 01:30:41.939
I will never understand how. It's all part of

01:30:41.939 --> 01:30:44.539
the distraction method, man. I've never understand

01:30:44.539 --> 01:30:48.100
how people can let someone who knows absolutely

01:30:48.100 --> 01:30:50.840
nothing about their existence affect their lives

01:30:50.840 --> 01:30:54.619
so much. When I'm like, you have your life to

01:30:54.619 --> 01:30:58.340
live, man. Let's go. You can be doing such awesome

01:30:58.340 --> 01:31:00.659
things. You can be living such an awesome life.

01:31:00.840 --> 01:31:05.539
Why does it matter? Just live the best life you

01:31:05.539 --> 01:31:10.760
have. Come on. It'll be so different. I promise.

01:31:10.979 --> 01:31:14.060
You have purpose. Find your purpose. It'll be

01:31:14.060 --> 01:31:17.699
so different. It'll be so worth it. Just ask

01:31:17.699 --> 01:31:21.380
yourself this. What's the advantage of a fat,

01:31:21.500 --> 01:31:25.000
sick population if they don't push back? Imagine

01:31:25.000 --> 01:31:29.239
a healthy, strong, community -minded population.

01:31:30.039 --> 01:31:32.500
I would argue that you'll ultimately find great

01:31:32.500 --> 01:31:34.199
leaders finding their way to those positions.

01:31:34.279 --> 01:31:36.960
Regardless of your political persuasion, we would

01:31:36.960 --> 01:31:39.600
get good humans back in these positions. But

01:31:39.600 --> 01:31:42.939
right now, if it's like WALL -E, you know what

01:31:42.939 --> 01:31:44.479
I mean? If we're just kind of rolling around

01:31:44.479 --> 01:31:47.619
and just all we're focusing on is whatever our

01:31:47.619 --> 01:31:49.659
favorite news station is telling us, of course,

01:31:49.659 --> 01:31:51.310
we're just going to... get more of the same.

01:31:51.369 --> 01:31:54.310
But imagine if we worked on our own mental health,

01:31:54.369 --> 01:31:56.430
we worked on our own physical health, we worked

01:31:56.430 --> 01:31:59.050
on our family relationships, we mentored in our

01:31:59.050 --> 01:32:03.109
community, that kind of, I'm using air quotes,

01:32:03.210 --> 01:32:05.989
leadership just would not fucking exist anymore.

01:32:06.780 --> 01:32:10.119
No, it wouldn't. And first off, how scary accurate

01:32:10.119 --> 01:32:14.239
is WALL -E? Like, what the heck, man? Or Idiocracy,

01:32:14.279 --> 01:32:18.579
too. They nailed it. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh.

01:32:18.619 --> 01:32:20.279
We actually recently watched that at the station.

01:32:20.420 --> 01:32:22.380
And yeah, I was sitting there going, oh, we're

01:32:22.380 --> 01:32:26.520
like two years away from this, aren't we? Did

01:32:26.520 --> 01:32:29.819
you hear the story about the costume designer

01:32:29.819 --> 01:32:35.220
for Idiocracy was looking for a shoe? And she

01:32:35.220 --> 01:32:37.020
was like, what could people be wearing that no

01:32:37.020 --> 01:32:39.460
one would actually wear in real life? And they

01:32:39.460 --> 01:32:42.380
put Crocs on people. And here we fucking are.

01:32:42.500 --> 01:32:46.560
So there we go. No way. Yeah, go watch it again.

01:32:46.760 --> 01:32:48.220
Everyone's wearing Crocs. And that was supposed

01:32:48.220 --> 01:32:51.100
to be a joke. Oh, I'm going to have to do that.

01:32:51.180 --> 01:32:54.359
That's hilarious. That's awesome. Anyway. Never

01:32:54.359 --> 01:32:56.640
worn a pair of Crocs in my life, actually, as

01:32:56.640 --> 01:32:58.680
surprising as that is. My son's got them. My

01:32:58.680 --> 01:33:01.989
wife's got them. Yeah. Each to their own. but

01:33:01.989 --> 01:33:05.409
uh the best athletic wear you see people lifting

01:33:05.409 --> 01:33:08.210
weights and all kinds of stuff in them um anyway

01:33:08.210 --> 01:33:10.909
so going back to solutions though so for people

01:33:10.909 --> 01:33:13.029
listening talk to me about you know the kind

01:33:13.029 --> 01:33:15.510
of mentorship and programs that you specifically

01:33:15.510 --> 01:33:19.270
are offering now yeah sure man so right now i

01:33:19.270 --> 01:33:22.350
got two different levels um of kind of coaching

01:33:22.350 --> 01:33:24.609
that i do i'm looking forward to to breaking

01:33:24.609 --> 01:33:29.510
into into three and um so right now it's just

01:33:29.510 --> 01:33:32.079
like the basic gut health package right where

01:33:32.079 --> 01:33:34.899
hey i'll work with you on your custom supplements

01:33:34.899 --> 01:33:37.739
i'll work with you on on a diet plan you know

01:33:37.739 --> 01:33:40.199
whatever you need to let's get you balanced let's

01:33:40.199 --> 01:33:43.159
get you feeling better let's get you more uh

01:33:43.159 --> 01:33:45.720
present with your family and let's hit these

01:33:45.720 --> 01:33:47.859
results you know for you so i got that going

01:33:47.859 --> 01:33:51.819
on and then i just recently got my life and performance

01:33:51.819 --> 01:33:54.420
coaching certificate so i'm pursuing that as

01:33:54.420 --> 01:33:57.640
well to throw in another level of it where not

01:33:57.640 --> 01:34:00.859
only are we going to balance you out with with

01:34:00.859 --> 01:34:03.800
your gut because i believe everything like i

01:34:03.800 --> 01:34:06.880
said i'm a firm believer everything can got its

01:34:06.880 --> 01:34:09.079
roots in your gut so if that's balanced out and

01:34:09.079 --> 01:34:12.180
we build a firm foundation then we can move forward

01:34:12.180 --> 01:34:16.119
but that's for more you know people that have

01:34:16.119 --> 01:34:19.640
that are that are struggling you know you're

01:34:19.640 --> 01:34:21.100
struggling with your marriage you're struggling

01:34:21.100 --> 01:34:23.060
with i'm not an addiction counselor but you're

01:34:23.060 --> 01:34:25.579
you know you know You're struggling with maybe

01:34:25.579 --> 01:34:27.800
self -medicating or you're just like, hey, my

01:34:27.800 --> 01:34:32.000
life is not where I want it to be. I need some

01:34:32.000 --> 01:34:35.819
extra coaching and guidance to help me get right.

01:34:35.899 --> 01:34:40.720
I need some extra help just. figuring this life

01:34:40.720 --> 01:34:42.819
out because i'm drowning right because i've been

01:34:42.819 --> 01:34:45.840
there so with my experiences and the stuff that

01:34:45.840 --> 01:34:48.279
i've been through and now with the completion

01:34:48.279 --> 01:34:50.380
of this course and the certificate i offer another

01:34:50.380 --> 01:34:52.819
level that includes the gut health and like the

01:34:52.819 --> 01:34:57.439
the life coaching as well um and all of that

01:34:57.439 --> 01:35:02.300
has allowed me to to dream bigger than I ever

01:35:02.300 --> 01:35:04.159
thought I could possibly be. Right. And I'm kind

01:35:04.159 --> 01:35:05.699
of going a little off here, but it's still on

01:35:05.699 --> 01:35:07.720
the same thing. I'm not offering this yet, but

01:35:07.720 --> 01:35:12.760
the goal is to build this business up to serve

01:35:12.760 --> 01:35:14.640
thousands of people who want it. Cause I believe

01:35:14.640 --> 01:35:16.640
across the nation, across the world, people are

01:35:16.640 --> 01:35:19.460
struggling and they need to hear that they are

01:35:19.460 --> 01:35:21.739
valued. They need to hear that, Hey, you belong,

01:35:21.960 --> 01:35:26.279
you have a purpose. We can get to the root issues

01:35:26.279 --> 01:35:28.859
mentally, physically, emotionally, you know,

01:35:28.859 --> 01:35:33.949
and you can live. a good quality life um so the

01:35:33.949 --> 01:35:37.189
dream is to build the business up enough to be

01:35:37.189 --> 01:35:42.149
able to fund a retreat style place in the mountains

01:35:42.149 --> 01:35:45.149
um i already have a potential location you know

01:35:45.149 --> 01:35:48.510
for for the future but where i would love to

01:35:48.510 --> 01:35:52.470
be able to bring either first responders by themselves

01:35:52.470 --> 01:35:55.329
or first responders and their families who are

01:35:55.329 --> 01:35:58.029
struggling who just you know haven't taken a

01:35:58.029 --> 01:36:01.550
vacation in a year who haven't who are just burnt

01:36:01.550 --> 01:36:04.909
out, you know, on the verge of collapse, I would

01:36:04.909 --> 01:36:06.729
love to be able to have two different sections

01:36:06.729 --> 01:36:10.390
in that retreat. One is, Hey, I'm gonna pay for

01:36:10.390 --> 01:36:12.630
you and your family to come spend like a week

01:36:12.630 --> 01:36:17.630
in the mountains, relax, get away, take a family

01:36:17.630 --> 01:36:22.029
vacation, you know, like just relax, reset, do

01:36:22.029 --> 01:36:25.170
what you need to do with your family. come stay

01:36:25.170 --> 01:36:26.630
with us for a little bit. We'll provide some

01:36:26.630 --> 01:36:28.670
amenities, stuff like that. And then the other

01:36:28.670 --> 01:36:31.229
side would be more of maybe like a longer stay

01:36:31.229 --> 01:36:34.949
where, you know, first responders who are struggling

01:36:34.949 --> 01:36:37.789
maybe can come and I'd like to be able to pay

01:36:37.789 --> 01:36:39.710
their way to, you know, to be able to pay and

01:36:39.710 --> 01:36:42.310
be like, Hey, come, we will sponsor you to come

01:36:42.310 --> 01:36:44.789
to our, our retreat on this side where you will

01:36:44.789 --> 01:36:47.550
get, you know, certified counseling, you will

01:36:47.550 --> 01:36:51.949
get help and you will get, um, you know, obviously

01:36:51.949 --> 01:36:55.159
still, still. basic in the thought process but

01:36:55.159 --> 01:36:58.699
the help you need to overcome the battles you're

01:36:58.699 --> 01:37:01.659
struggling with back at home and we will help

01:37:01.659 --> 01:37:03.640
set you up with the life coaching the addiction

01:37:03.640 --> 01:37:07.159
coaching whatever it is to help make sure that

01:37:07.159 --> 01:37:10.060
when you get back to the job you get back to

01:37:10.060 --> 01:37:12.640
your family or back home whichever your situation

01:37:12.640 --> 01:37:16.579
is that you are set up for success and my dream

01:37:16.579 --> 01:37:19.810
would be to be able to create that retreat and

01:37:19.810 --> 01:37:22.310
be able to bring people in without them having

01:37:22.310 --> 01:37:25.729
to pay anything to serve them that way. That

01:37:25.729 --> 01:37:28.829
sounds amazing. Where can people find what you

01:37:28.829 --> 01:37:30.710
have at the moment and then obviously be able

01:37:30.710 --> 01:37:33.050
to keep their eyes out for that when it emerges?

01:37:33.810 --> 01:37:37.369
For sure, man. Facebook and Instagram is where

01:37:37.369 --> 01:37:40.310
I'm just kind of spreading the news right now.

01:37:40.369 --> 01:37:44.140
So it's just Ian Thurber on... Facebook, Ian

01:37:44.140 --> 01:37:46.239
Thurber underscore on Instagram, because I found

01:37:46.239 --> 01:37:47.779
that Instagram is kind of weird with special

01:37:47.779 --> 01:37:50.020
characters. I was going to do, you got to put

01:37:50.020 --> 01:37:51.380
it at the end for some reason. I don't know.

01:37:51.680 --> 01:37:54.239
But, and that's just it, man. That's where I

01:37:54.239 --> 01:37:58.579
just share my story. That's where I share what,

01:37:58.640 --> 01:38:00.539
you know, success of the clients that we've worked

01:38:00.539 --> 01:38:03.020
for. That's where I share updates. And right

01:38:03.020 --> 01:38:05.340
now that's where it's at. So we're getting started

01:38:05.340 --> 01:38:09.119
and I'm really excited for the future. Beautiful.

01:38:09.319 --> 01:38:11.199
Well, I just want to throw some closing questions

01:38:11.199 --> 01:38:15.130
at you before I let you go. You mentioned Wild

01:38:15.130 --> 01:38:17.710
at Heart already. Are there any other books that

01:38:17.710 --> 01:38:20.010
you love to recommend? It can be related to our

01:38:20.010 --> 01:38:24.409
discussion today or completely unrelated. There's

01:38:24.409 --> 01:38:30.609
so many. There's so many. Buy Back Your Time.

01:38:30.710 --> 01:38:32.210
I don't know why it took me so long to freaking

01:38:32.210 --> 01:38:36.189
remember that. But Buy Back Your Time has been

01:38:36.189 --> 01:38:40.189
awesome in just helping me learn how to, you

01:38:40.189 --> 01:38:43.029
know, In a business mindset, but also in my personal

01:38:43.029 --> 01:38:49.109
life, maybe delegate more time. Help me realize

01:38:49.109 --> 01:38:51.649
I don't have to do it all myself, right? Whether

01:38:51.649 --> 01:38:55.850
it's with your family or your business team or

01:38:55.850 --> 01:38:58.050
the group of people that you surround yourself

01:38:58.050 --> 01:39:00.529
with, you don't have to do everything by yourself.

01:39:00.770 --> 01:39:03.489
And it's actually a lot more beneficial if you

01:39:03.489 --> 01:39:06.399
kind of find... people to collaborate with or

01:39:06.399 --> 01:39:09.300
whatever to help you move along forward in life

01:39:09.300 --> 01:39:13.140
than trying to do it all yourself. So 10 times

01:39:13.140 --> 01:39:17.260
is greater than two times is a great one. For

01:39:17.260 --> 01:39:19.619
the fire service, your book has been incredible.

01:39:19.699 --> 01:39:24.060
My friend, Ryan Rodriguez from Arizona, he wrote

01:39:24.060 --> 01:39:26.960
this book here. It's called Own It. It is excellent

01:39:26.960 --> 01:39:30.840
resource for the fire service as far as really

01:39:30.840 --> 01:39:33.020
challenging. Like we've talked about the leadership

01:39:33.020 --> 01:39:37.029
to be like, a challenge their leadership to actually

01:39:37.029 --> 01:39:41.789
care about your employees your people and how

01:39:41.789 --> 01:39:43.890
it starts at the top right if you want good morale

01:39:43.890 --> 01:39:45.930
you want a well -run department then you need

01:39:45.930 --> 01:39:49.789
to model that you need to you need to be the

01:39:49.789 --> 01:39:53.010
example of that but also realizing that trust

01:39:53.010 --> 01:39:56.649
and integrity in the fire service starts with

01:39:56.649 --> 01:39:59.489
us starts with the fireman rank you know from

01:39:59.489 --> 01:40:03.500
rookie onwards like you're day one it starts

01:40:03.500 --> 01:40:05.399
with you and you got to be held accountable to

01:40:05.399 --> 01:40:08.000
that. So we got a awesome book on holding each

01:40:08.000 --> 01:40:09.699
other accountable in the fire service to make

01:40:09.699 --> 01:40:13.060
it better in the end. And yeah, man, it's been

01:40:13.060 --> 01:40:18.659
some wild reads for sure. Brilliant. All right.

01:40:18.699 --> 01:40:22.960
What about films and documentaries? Ooh, that's

01:40:22.960 --> 01:40:30.279
a good one. Honestly, I don't get around to watching

01:40:30.279 --> 01:40:34.510
a lot of TV these days. So, Might have a slim

01:40:34.510 --> 01:40:38.670
pick in the old mind brain as to, to movies.

01:40:38.789 --> 01:40:42.609
I'm, I'm a nerd though. So, uh, I'm always going

01:40:42.609 --> 01:40:46.270
to favor star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Uh,

01:40:46.449 --> 01:40:48.670
always go back to the classics, man. That was,

01:40:48.670 --> 01:40:51.409
uh, I grew up with those and I love those. Um,

01:40:51.430 --> 01:40:55.989
but, uh, there was a documentary we just watched.

01:40:56.029 --> 01:41:00.819
What was it? Oh man. My mind's failing me right

01:41:00.819 --> 01:41:02.659
now, brother. I'm going to, I'd have to text

01:41:02.659 --> 01:41:05.560
it to you, but. No problem. No problem at all.

01:41:05.640 --> 01:41:07.960
All right. Well, the next question, is there

01:41:07.960 --> 01:41:09.960
a person that you'd recommend to come on this

01:41:09.960 --> 01:41:13.260
podcast as a guest to speak to the first responders,

01:41:13.380 --> 01:41:15.579
military and associated professions of the world?

01:41:17.039 --> 01:41:19.739
Two of them actually. Yeah. The guy who wrote

01:41:19.739 --> 01:41:23.279
this book, Ryan Rodriguez would be amazing. He's,

01:41:23.279 --> 01:41:27.220
he's done so much. To to really challenge the

01:41:27.220 --> 01:41:30.579
status quo of the fire service and really make

01:41:30.579 --> 01:41:32.300
sure people are being held accountable, you know,

01:41:32.300 --> 01:41:34.159
or taking accountability for yourselves. Hey,

01:41:34.199 --> 01:41:36.880
you don't like, you know, what's going on in

01:41:36.880 --> 01:41:37.939
the fire service. All right. What are you going

01:41:37.939 --> 01:41:39.859
to do to fix it? You know, really challenging

01:41:39.859 --> 01:41:42.380
people to step up and stop waiting for people

01:41:42.380 --> 01:41:44.479
to do it because it's just not happening, obviously.

01:41:45.720 --> 01:41:48.579
And then I got a buddy I work with in the health

01:41:48.579 --> 01:41:50.720
industry. His name's Michael McGrail. He's an

01:41:50.720 --> 01:41:54.600
ex -Marine volunteer firefighter. Um, and I now

01:41:54.600 --> 01:41:56.819
work with him in the gut health industry and

01:41:56.819 --> 01:41:59.779
he's an incredible encourager, incredible leader.

01:41:59.899 --> 01:42:02.739
He's different aspects of life from the Pentagon

01:42:02.739 --> 01:42:06.640
to home life to, you know, volunteering and getting

01:42:06.640 --> 01:42:09.680
that kind of different perspective on the fire

01:42:09.680 --> 01:42:12.560
service is just, he's, he's an incredible asset.

01:42:14.270 --> 01:42:15.770
Beautiful. Well, I'd love to connect with both

01:42:15.770 --> 01:42:17.229
of us. I know Ryan and I have friends online,

01:42:17.430 --> 01:42:19.630
but yeah, it's funny. The universe just kind

01:42:19.630 --> 01:42:22.149
of aligns everyone at the right time. So yeah,

01:42:22.210 --> 01:42:25.970
they'd be both great guests. So thank you. Yes,

01:42:26.069 --> 01:42:29.210
absolutely. All right. Well, the last question

01:42:29.210 --> 01:42:33.909
then, what do you do to decompress? That's a

01:42:33.909 --> 01:42:38.770
good one. So my decompression starts on the ride

01:42:38.770 --> 01:42:44.560
home. I've become very good at blocking out,

01:42:44.619 --> 01:42:46.720
not blocking out, but like when the shift is

01:42:46.720 --> 01:42:48.699
over and I clock out and I get in my car and

01:42:48.699 --> 01:42:52.180
I head home, that's done. My shift is done. I

01:42:52.180 --> 01:42:54.539
don't think about it. I don't dwell on it unless

01:42:54.539 --> 01:42:56.899
something crazy happened that I want to tell

01:42:56.899 --> 01:43:00.319
my wife when I get home. But it's you got to

01:43:00.319 --> 01:43:02.439
leave work at work. So I leave work at work.

01:43:02.479 --> 01:43:04.560
I throw on a podcast or I throw on some music

01:43:04.560 --> 01:43:07.899
and I just go all in on the podcast or music.

01:43:07.960 --> 01:43:11.020
I have wide varieties from don't laugh at me

01:43:11.020 --> 01:43:14.920
from like K -pop. to hard metal and anything

01:43:14.920 --> 01:43:19.000
in between is, is kind of up for grabs, but depending

01:43:19.000 --> 01:43:22.500
on my mood, but get home, you just got to find

01:43:22.500 --> 01:43:25.380
some time to, to be to yourself. And I know that's

01:43:25.380 --> 01:43:26.960
hard, especially with kids, right? As soon as

01:43:26.960 --> 01:43:29.399
you get home, you kind of got to take over daddy

01:43:29.399 --> 01:43:31.159
daycare. Sometimes you want to make sure your,

01:43:31.159 --> 01:43:34.479
your wife gets, gets some rest as well. Cause

01:43:34.479 --> 01:43:36.880
you know, full -time mom or even a working mom

01:43:36.880 --> 01:43:39.560
is, is, I mean, that's, that's a lot of time

01:43:39.560 --> 01:43:41.359
and effort. It's a full -time job in and of itself.

01:43:41.439 --> 01:43:49.329
So. Making sure. Honestly, sleep has been a huge

01:43:49.329 --> 01:43:53.890
decompression. I used to think that I'd work

01:43:53.890 --> 01:43:56.909
my butt off at work, come home, and I'd have

01:43:56.909 --> 01:43:59.449
to stay up late into the night either trying

01:43:59.449 --> 01:44:02.210
to spend time with my bride or getting stuff

01:44:02.210 --> 01:44:04.069
done around the house just to feel productive

01:44:04.069 --> 01:44:07.369
in a way that I hadn't done during the day. My

01:44:07.369 --> 01:44:09.229
bride and I still find time to do that, but we've

01:44:09.229 --> 01:44:13.649
rescheduled and re... structured our routine

01:44:13.649 --> 01:44:15.750
to that way. Now I'm making sure that I'm getting

01:44:15.750 --> 01:44:17.930
quality sleep every night to allow my body to

01:44:17.930 --> 01:44:21.609
recover. Focusing on my gut health is a huge,

01:44:21.670 --> 01:44:24.350
huge way I recover, making sure I'm consistent

01:44:24.350 --> 01:44:26.810
there to fight off the inflammation, you know,

01:44:26.829 --> 01:44:30.970
energy issues, bloating issues, stuff like that.

01:44:31.090 --> 01:44:35.489
And then for me, I'm very routine oriented. So

01:44:35.489 --> 01:44:41.020
I plan my days out in a routine and actually

01:44:41.020 --> 01:44:43.819
making sure that I stick to that routine that

01:44:43.819 --> 01:44:45.899
includes, you know, getting up early, working

01:44:45.899 --> 01:44:50.300
out, self -care time, making sure that that is

01:44:50.300 --> 01:44:52.479
prioritized, that self -care time is prioritized

01:44:52.479 --> 01:44:55.659
early in the morning, but helps me feel more

01:44:55.659 --> 01:44:58.140
accomplished and actually helps me decompress

01:44:58.140 --> 01:45:01.460
than if I just kind of went through the day and

01:45:01.460 --> 01:45:03.859
stuff happened and then, you know, life throws

01:45:03.859 --> 01:45:07.420
curved balls at you. You get to the end of the

01:45:07.420 --> 01:45:08.380
day, you're ready to go to bed. You're like,

01:45:08.399 --> 01:45:10.420
crap, I meant to like do three loads of laundry

01:45:10.420 --> 01:45:12.000
and cut the lawn today. And none of that got

01:45:12.000 --> 01:45:13.640
done. And now it's kind of in the back of your

01:45:13.640 --> 01:45:18.760
head, eating away at you. And so prioritize self

01:45:18.760 --> 01:45:20.979
-care time, allow yourself time to decompress.

01:45:21.840 --> 01:45:24.779
For me, routine, I schedule things out. I write

01:45:24.779 --> 01:45:27.239
it down because it helps me remember. And it

01:45:27.239 --> 01:45:29.579
also, I can feel less stressed about it when

01:45:29.579 --> 01:45:32.279
I cross it off the list. And then honestly, man,

01:45:32.420 --> 01:45:36.899
my... My faith plays a big part in my life. So

01:45:36.899 --> 01:45:39.060
making sure that I also make sure I have time

01:45:39.060 --> 01:45:42.399
to read the Bible and spend time in prayer. And

01:45:42.399 --> 01:45:44.819
it's not something that I just do to check off

01:45:44.819 --> 01:45:48.020
my list, but it's something that I actually spend

01:45:48.020 --> 01:45:51.140
adequate time doing each and every morning because

01:45:51.140 --> 01:45:55.359
the closer I feel to God, the more at ease I

01:45:55.359 --> 01:45:57.960
am in my day -to -day life, knowing that, you

01:45:57.960 --> 01:46:00.880
know, with my faith that I'm not in control.

01:46:01.470 --> 01:46:03.569
of a lot of things that go on in this world and

01:46:03.569 --> 01:46:07.890
that's perfectly okay and you got to find that

01:46:07.890 --> 01:46:09.529
time whether it's you know meditation i know

01:46:09.529 --> 01:46:11.470
you said you're big on meditation prayer whatever

01:46:11.470 --> 01:46:13.970
it is just find that alignment man and find that

01:46:13.970 --> 01:46:16.369
internal peace that that's huge you can deal

01:46:16.369 --> 01:46:19.930
with a lot by just doing that absolutely i'm

01:46:19.930 --> 01:46:23.930
amazed how well meditation works you can be in

01:46:23.930 --> 01:46:27.050
a real funk and then just say i will do it and

01:46:27.050 --> 01:46:28.970
within about three or four days you're already

01:46:28.970 --> 01:46:31.390
like oh okay Things are starting to clarify.

01:46:31.590 --> 01:46:33.510
The monkey mind is starting to quieten down.

01:46:33.630 --> 01:46:35.949
And again, whether it's prayer, meditation, you

01:46:35.949 --> 01:46:37.970
know, walking the dog, I mean, whatever the thing

01:46:37.970 --> 01:46:40.670
is, that quiet time, because we don't, we don't

01:46:40.670 --> 01:46:43.430
get that. Everything is just screened at us.

01:46:43.430 --> 01:46:45.050
You can't even go to a restaurant anymore without

01:46:45.050 --> 01:46:47.750
bloody TV being in there. So you got to switch

01:46:47.750 --> 01:46:51.229
off. You got to. That's actually a good one too.

01:46:51.329 --> 01:46:56.609
Yeah. Shut off all your electronics. Yeah. All

01:46:56.609 --> 01:46:58.430
right. Well, I want to thank you so much. It's

01:46:58.430 --> 01:47:00.529
been such an amazing conversation. Haven't had

01:47:00.529 --> 01:47:03.210
that many about gut biome and certainly not very

01:47:03.210 --> 01:47:06.289
many as far as that in the fire service. So I

01:47:06.289 --> 01:47:08.149
want to thank you so much for being so generous

01:47:08.149 --> 01:47:10.289
with your time and coming on the Behind the Shield

01:47:10.289 --> 01:47:13.149
podcast today. I mean, thank you so much for

01:47:13.149 --> 01:47:15.750
an interview. Like I said, it's an honor to have

01:47:15.750 --> 01:47:17.130
this opportunity to speak with you, brother,

01:47:17.229 --> 01:47:20.399
and to share. And yeah, man, I'm looking forward

01:47:20.399 --> 01:47:22.479
to seeing you continue to grow and seeing all

01:47:22.479 --> 01:47:24.100
the lives that you continue to touch, man. That's

01:47:24.100 --> 01:47:24.399
inspiring.