WEBVTT

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This episode is sponsored by yet another company

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that I truly stand behind, and that is Levels.

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And Levels is going to be offering you, the Behind

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the Shield podcast audience, a discount that

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I will tell you about at the end of this introduction.

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Now, before I even dive into what Levels does,

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when I had a conversation with their CEO and

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founder, Josh Clemente, he underlined such an

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important topic. So many of us rely on visits

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to our physicians to tell us how we are doing,

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and that is so backward. I am an absolute believer

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in putting autonomy back into the hands of the

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individual so they can take care of their own

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health. Now, what Levels does is it gives us

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they have programs that focus on weight loss,

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heart health, and glucose stability. I've now

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been through this program twice, and I'll kind

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of illustrate what it will look like. So you

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make an initial consultation with your levels

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coach. You wear a continuous blood sugar monitor

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for one month. You'll complete a lab panel, and

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I did it through Quest Diagnostics. A clinician

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with levels will then analyze your results and

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give you an action plan. That's when you can

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then start hitting your own health goals and

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in real time track your own progress. And then

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depending on the level you subscribe to, there's

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also a second blood work so you can now see how

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you're doing six months later. Now by combining

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AI data, AI powered insights and human coaching

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together, 80 % of Levels members improve their

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biomarkers. Now, as I mentioned, Levels is offering

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you, the audience of the Behind the Shield podcast,

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$100 off your first order if you use the promo

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code SHIELD at levels .com. And if you're interested

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in getting Levels for your department, email

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Josh Clemente, the founder and CEO of Levels,

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at josh at levels .com. And if you want to hear

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the origin story and so much more about this

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incredible company, listen to my interview with

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CEO and founder Josh Clemente on episode 1159

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of the Behind the Shield podcast. Welcome to

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the Behind the Shield podcast. As always, my

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name is James Geering, and this week I have an

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incredibly powerful and important episode for

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you. Stephanie Waugh is a firefighter and the

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wife of Marcus Waugh, the firefighter strongman

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and my guest on episode 954. In this conversation,

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we discuss not only being part of a firefighter

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family as a spouse, but ultimately her joining

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the fire service and now having both partners

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in this profession. So we unpack a host of topics

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from her strength and conditioning routine, trying

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to parent around a firefighter schedule, the

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impact of mandatory overtime on parenting, and

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so much more. Now, before we get to this incredible

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conversation, as I say every week, please just

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take a moment. Go to whichever app you listen

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to this on, subscribe to the show, leave feedback,

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and leave a rating. Every single five -star rating

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truly does elevate this podcast, therefore making

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it easier for others to find. And this is a free

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library of well over 1100 episodes now. So all

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I ask in return is that you help share these

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incredible men and women's stories so I can get

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them to every single person on planet Earth who

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needs to hear them. So with that being said,

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I introduce to you... Stephanie Waugh. Enjoy.

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Well, Stephanie, I want to start by saying two

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things. Firstly, thank you to your husband, my

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previous guest, Marcus, for making this connection.

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And secondly, to welcome you onto the Behind

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the Shield podcast today. Thank you. And happy

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Veterans Day to you. Thank you so much. Thank

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you. Yeah, I'm happy to. To all the veterans,

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I never served in that capacity. But yeah, I

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mean, it's something I think that we've got to

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remind ourselves is that the sacrifices that

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all these generations before us made. The way

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we honor them is to avoid war and not just get

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pulled into another one. Agreed. I hope that

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lesson is strong today. Yes. All right. Well,

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very first question, where on planet Earth are

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we finding you this afternoon? I am at home in

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Delta, Ohio, and it's cold. It got cold. It's

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snow. We got about four inches of snow recently.

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Oh, wow. We're even cold here, which for Florida

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is not going to impress you with the numbers,

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but we were like basically 31 degrees last night,

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which is a little nippy for us. So, but I love

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it though. It's once in a while, I guess it's

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cold here. Well, I'd like to start at the very

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beginning of your journey. So tell me where you

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were born and tell me a little bit about your

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family dynamic, what your parents did, how many

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siblings? Um, so I. was born in pontiac michigan

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and my i have quite a big family extended family

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um my parents were split my mom um she did um

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salon work she did hair at first but then she

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became a stay -at -home mom and i have um Three

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siblings on that side, my mom and my stepdad.

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I have two brothers and a sister. And then my

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dad, he did industrial work most of his life.

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And he is married to my stepmom. I have a brother

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on that side as well. So in all, three brothers,

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one sister. The big family then. Yes. What kind

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of dynamic was there after the divorce? Were

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you guys able to retain a good relationship?

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Obviously, some people that disappear off the

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face of the earth, some, you know, exes are best

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friends with each other. Where were they on that

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scale? Yeah, they they actually didn't get along.

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It was quite a. rough dynamic, I would say, between

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the parents. And, you know, we made it through.

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We grew up okay. It was okay in the household.

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My dad and my stepmom, you know, they got along

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real well. And that kind of also showed me, you

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know, what a happy home should be like. And then

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same with my mom and my stepdad on that side.

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So it was best for them just not to be together.

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I think that's okay. I think there's Dr. Shefali,

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I think her name is, is a relationship expert

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that, you know, I like some of the things that

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she talks about. But yeah, there's that shame

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and guilt about, you know, marriage ending, air

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quotes, you know, failing, if you like. And I

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think that's rubbish. You know, if you did find

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yourself with another person and as you evolve

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and you have children and you find yourselves

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growing apart, I think it's much healthier to

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then. go your separate ways, do whatever's best

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for the children collectively. But yeah, if that

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person is not the right fit for you, then you're

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going to be so much happier. And then the children

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are going to grow up in a much happier household

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if each of those finds the right fit as far as

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the partner. Yeah, exactly. I agree. They were

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both very young when they had me. My mom's 17,

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my dad 19. So they started out young and just...

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kind of learned where they were going to go in

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life to be happy. Absolutely. I've always said

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relationships are like food. You know, you have

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honey, which is the childhood sweethearts that

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die holding hands at 99 years old. You have the

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gas station sushi, which is a one night stand.

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And then there's all kinds of different ones

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in between, you know, and if yours has, you know,

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run its course, then that's okay. That was just,

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you know, where it was supposed to end. Yeah.

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We're going to obviously talk about the physical

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fitness side and the strongman, all those kind

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of areas in a little bit. When you were a young

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girl, what were you playing and doing as far

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as sports and exercise? Well, my dad put me in

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almost everything when I was like young, young,

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elementary to middle school. I did. I started

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out in dance. I, you know, dabbled in a little

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bit of soccer, softball, basketball, getting

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into high school. I strictly danced on our dance

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team. Then coming out of high school, didn't

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do too much for a few years. I actually. Had

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my daughter young as well. I was 19 when I had

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my daughter. But then afterward, I worked. After

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I had her, I worked at a gym and I got very into

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working out. And then that led me into powerlifting

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and strongman competitively. So that's where

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I was at with sports. What were you dreaming

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of becoming as far as career aspirations when

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you were still in high school? You know, I never,

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I never knew. I could never really figure out.

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I had like little ideas that after I had my daughter,

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I wanted to be an OB. I always wanted to help

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someone or help people. Also being in a broken

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family, I wanted to go into social work. I did

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not join the fire academy until 20. 2017, when

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I was 27, I think was my first fire academy.

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I mean, I had been through, I've done two fire

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academies. So my first one was around that time,

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2017. And yeah, that's, I think my whole life

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dynamic kind of led me into firefighting, wanting

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to help people and then also being physically

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capable. I was like, yeah, I can do this. So.

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What professions did you do prior to that, though?

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Once you left school, what were some of the hats

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that you wore? I did a little bit of everything.

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I did some waitressing, some catering, worked

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in retail a little bit, and worked at numerous

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gyms and childcare as well within the gyms. And

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how did the initial introduction to gyms lead

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you to the world of powerlifting and strongman?

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I'm really meeting people. One of the trainers

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at the gym, the first gym I worked at, he was

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training other people competitively and powerlifting.

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And I kind of just always had this source or

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this feeling of wanting. to see how strong I

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could be. So I was always just trying to lift

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as much weight as I could. And then he introduced

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me into powerlifting, got into that competitively.

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And then after I'm trying to think of like when

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I think I was in powerlifting for about seven

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years, and then I was introduced into strongman,

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and that had a lot more variety within the lifting,

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which made it a little more fun. And then I started

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doing that, trying to think of how many years

00:11:38.409 --> 00:11:43.169
ago, maybe more like 10 years ago now. I'm looking

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at you through the camera, but obviously it's

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hard to judge your size. What's your kind of

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build as a woman usually? On a normal basis,

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I sit at like 115 pounds. I'm kind of tiny. I've

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actually found that not so helpful when you're

00:12:01.070 --> 00:12:03.750
competing because a lot of the girls in that

00:12:03.750 --> 00:12:07.110
weight class are so much bigger and stronger

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than I am. So I do, I've kind of taken a break

00:12:11.149 --> 00:12:14.669
from. competitive strongman, but I still train

00:12:14.669 --> 00:12:20.350
it to keep fit for the job just because it transitions

00:12:20.350 --> 00:12:24.309
so well. And I actually just started, I didn't

00:12:24.309 --> 00:12:26.750
start, I signed up for jujitsu because I was

00:12:26.750 --> 00:12:30.590
thinking that might be more my path as far as

00:12:30.590 --> 00:12:34.210
my smaller stature. Well, I think this is the

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thing, like when we get into obviously the fire

00:12:35.750 --> 00:12:39.389
service. My son is just a bit taller than me

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now, which he absolutely loves. But he's built

00:12:41.610 --> 00:12:44.210
like me. He's still very slim. And he keeps talking

00:12:44.210 --> 00:12:45.730
about, well, I want to look like this guy. I

00:12:45.730 --> 00:12:47.370
want to look like this guy. And I'm like, this

00:12:47.370 --> 00:12:49.269
is what you got to understand is we're given

00:12:49.269 --> 00:12:52.210
the body that we're given. So the ultimate thing

00:12:52.210 --> 00:12:55.370
is to be as strong and as fit as you can within

00:12:55.370 --> 00:12:57.909
that body, not trying to chase someone else's

00:12:57.909 --> 00:13:01.279
physique. Yeah, I had to learn that. So what

00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:03.039
was your mindset then? Obviously, you're more

00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:05.759
of a petite build compared to, you know, some

00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:07.299
of the like Christian Rhodes who have had on

00:13:07.299 --> 00:13:10.360
the show. What was that path as far as debunking

00:13:10.360 --> 00:13:13.340
the initial prejudices that one would think of

00:13:13.340 --> 00:13:16.120
as, you know, women can't insert, you know, bias

00:13:16.120 --> 00:13:19.879
here into being successful in powerlifting and

00:13:19.879 --> 00:13:23.559
then strongman? Oh, man, I always say, I mean,

00:13:23.620 --> 00:13:27.279
I think we can always do. anything that we want

00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:29.759
to do is it just depends on how much commitment

00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:33.360
you want to put toward it trying to stay at a

00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:37.039
higher weight was just a lot of eating it was

00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:39.720
like you know forceful eating so it kind of got

00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:43.820
tiring and then you got kids maybe and you know

00:13:43.820 --> 00:13:46.100
school or whatever else you got going on so it

00:13:46.100 --> 00:13:49.279
does take a lot of time and commitment um like

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I said I always think we can do what we want

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as long as we're willing to put the time and

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commitment into it. It's just, I think I realized

00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:01.179
for myself, I just wanted to balance out a few

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more things. So I scaled back on being in the

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gym every day and then trying to eat three meals

00:14:10.419 --> 00:14:16.080
before noon, you know, so just learning, learning

00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:22.970
my body and What would be best for staying fit

00:14:22.970 --> 00:14:27.029
and physical was something that I kind of had

00:14:27.029 --> 00:14:31.149
to realize once I decided, okay, this isn't really

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for me, but something will be. That's something

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that I've realized the older I've got as well.

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I never really got pulled into the, you know,

00:14:41.710 --> 00:14:45.950
eat a lot, try and get bigger. When you look

00:14:45.950 --> 00:14:47.830
at the elite performers, so Marcus is a good

00:14:47.830 --> 00:14:51.190
example, trying to win strongman competitions.

00:14:51.289 --> 00:14:53.809
Now you're really chasing that top kind of 5

00:14:53.809 --> 00:14:56.149
% of performance. And therefore, yes, this is

00:14:56.149 --> 00:14:59.049
what you need to do as an athlete to eke out

00:14:59.049 --> 00:15:04.870
that 5%. But I think the other 90, 95 % of us

00:15:04.870 --> 00:15:07.710
kind of get that twisted where that's what we're

00:15:07.710 --> 00:15:09.190
supposed to do and we're not. If you just want

00:15:09.190 --> 00:15:10.809
to be a good firefighter, you don't need to be

00:15:10.809 --> 00:15:14.100
having 12 meals a day and waking up. eating at

00:15:14.100 --> 00:15:17.460
2 a .m and 5 a .m like the bodybuilders do yes

00:15:17.460 --> 00:15:20.039
and you know if you take a step back firstly

00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:22.960
look at the availability of food from our ancestors

00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:26.080
no one would be able to eat that way so it's

00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:28.899
not an evolutionary it doesn't make any sense

00:15:28.899 --> 00:15:31.279
and then again if you stop eating that way and

00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:33.480
your body reverts back to because i'm as you

00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:36.580
can see i'm slim built to reverts back to its

00:15:36.580 --> 00:15:38.320
natural size it's trying to tell you something

00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:40.659
it doesn't want to be And in my case, you know,

00:15:40.679 --> 00:15:45.100
190, 200 pounds. It wants to be 170, 175. Oh,

00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:50.539
exactly. Exactly. So talk to me about what kind

00:15:50.539 --> 00:15:53.299
of led you into the fire service. What even put

00:15:53.299 --> 00:15:56.960
that idea in your head in the first place? When

00:15:56.960 --> 00:16:00.519
I was, I'm kind of like, I moved back in with

00:16:00.519 --> 00:16:04.940
my parents at, let me think, I was probably 25

00:16:04.940 --> 00:16:10.250
-ish. And I'm looking through our... a community

00:16:10.250 --> 00:16:13.350
college catalog and they had a fire academy and

00:16:13.350 --> 00:16:19.629
then um also it was actually oh I'm sorry no

00:16:19.629 --> 00:16:22.570
no first it was the newspaper first it was the

00:16:22.570 --> 00:16:25.590
newspaper I saw a newspaper and one of the nearby

00:16:25.590 --> 00:16:28.210
cities had hired their first full -time female

00:16:28.210 --> 00:16:30.950
firefighter and then I think that's when it kind

00:16:30.950 --> 00:16:33.789
of sparked an interest in me and I was like yes

00:16:33.789 --> 00:16:36.330
I I think I could do this. This is what I can

00:16:36.330 --> 00:16:39.090
do. And so that's when I went ahead and I was

00:16:39.090 --> 00:16:40.649
like looking through the catalog. They had the

00:16:40.649 --> 00:16:44.230
fire Academy signed up for it. Ended up loving

00:16:44.230 --> 00:16:48.409
it. Learned you had to be EMT. Most, most departments

00:16:48.409 --> 00:16:51.090
require you to be empty. So I went through that

00:16:51.090 --> 00:16:55.409
and then I worked, I started in private ambulance

00:16:55.409 --> 00:16:59.549
for about four years before I went into another

00:16:59.549 --> 00:17:04.180
fire Academy and got on a fire department. So

00:17:04.180 --> 00:17:06.460
you had to repeat the fire academy because you

00:17:06.460 --> 00:17:09.000
weren't hired within a parameter? What was the

00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:12.299
reason you repeated it? The first one I went

00:17:12.299 --> 00:17:15.140
through wasn't, it was through the community

00:17:15.140 --> 00:17:17.460
college. But the second one I went through was

00:17:17.460 --> 00:17:20.519
actually the academy that the department required

00:17:20.519 --> 00:17:23.839
us to go through. It was their own academy. Like

00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:26.539
some of the inner cities, most of the inner city

00:17:26.539 --> 00:17:30.519
ones have, I believe. Gotcha. Okay. How competitive

00:17:30.519 --> 00:17:33.019
was it to be a firefighter when you were testing?

00:17:33.589 --> 00:17:37.970
For the department I'm on now, it was very competitive.

00:17:38.029 --> 00:17:40.609
There was thousands and thousands of applicants

00:17:40.609 --> 00:17:49.609
at the time. And I want to say there was probably

00:17:49.609 --> 00:17:53.549
about six women in my class too, which is great.

00:17:54.230 --> 00:17:56.869
They're hiring more and more women these days,

00:17:56.970 --> 00:18:02.049
which I think is amazing. But the first one I

00:18:02.049 --> 00:18:06.309
went through, It was just more of applying, having

00:18:06.309 --> 00:18:10.349
all your ducks in a row, and then I think it

00:18:10.349 --> 00:18:14.150
was fairly simple to get in after the application.

00:18:15.269 --> 00:18:17.650
We didn't have to do a physical test in the beginning.

00:18:18.250 --> 00:18:22.150
The second one I went through, like I said, way

00:18:22.150 --> 00:18:24.789
more competitive, thousands of applicants, and

00:18:24.789 --> 00:18:27.809
then also having to do the physical agility before.

00:18:28.569 --> 00:18:30.710
getting on i actually failed my first physical

00:18:30.710 --> 00:18:33.789
agility because i wasn't training very well for

00:18:33.789 --> 00:18:36.529
it uh and then i went back did it a second time

00:18:36.529 --> 00:18:40.650
passed it thank goodness i was so happy i was

00:18:40.650 --> 00:18:42.210
gonna ask you that so you've got a background

00:18:42.210 --> 00:18:44.450
of some of the strength sports you know what

00:18:44.450 --> 00:18:47.490
what did you find or how did you find they served

00:18:47.490 --> 00:18:52.390
you and then where were the deficiencies um The

00:18:52.390 --> 00:18:55.990
strength, I mean, being strong for my size, I

00:18:55.990 --> 00:19:00.369
think was definitely a strength, but, um, endurance

00:19:00.369 --> 00:19:03.150
was definitely where I think I found myself,

00:19:03.230 --> 00:19:08.190
uh, needing some more, just having to carry all

00:19:08.190 --> 00:19:11.329
the stuff for longer periods of time or, um,

00:19:11.369 --> 00:19:15.490
uh, you know, hitting, hitting the tire with

00:19:15.490 --> 00:19:19.769
the hammer, uh, really took me out, um, because

00:19:19.769 --> 00:19:24.329
it just. like I said, the endurance of it. I

00:19:24.329 --> 00:19:27.910
was like, I need to build this up. Didn't have

00:19:27.910 --> 00:19:30.390
much of that just because a lot of, a lot of

00:19:30.390 --> 00:19:34.150
what's in lifting is well, at least for, I would

00:19:34.150 --> 00:19:37.309
say power lifting and maybe some strong man lifts,

00:19:37.430 --> 00:19:41.690
but it's more of a very quick, you know, a deadlift

00:19:41.690 --> 00:19:44.470
just real quick. You don't get so much endurance

00:19:44.470 --> 00:19:46.349
when you're training that you gain the strength,

00:19:46.450 --> 00:19:49.369
but I needed to definitely mix those together

00:19:49.369 --> 00:19:53.210
for the, for passing. So what did you change

00:19:53.210 --> 00:19:58.029
to make sure that you improve that area? Weight

00:19:58.029 --> 00:20:02.210
vests, running stair climbers, keeping weight

00:20:02.210 --> 00:20:06.529
on top of me, whether it was carrying something

00:20:06.529 --> 00:20:11.670
or having a weight vest on or flipping a huge

00:20:11.670 --> 00:20:15.910
tire for just like a longer distance, I would

00:20:15.910 --> 00:20:20.140
say. Now, you mentioned before about the challenges

00:20:20.140 --> 00:20:23.380
of being a single parent. Obviously, I've talked

00:20:23.380 --> 00:20:25.359
about this on here before myself. That was the

00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:29.099
big thing that made me leave my second last apartment

00:20:29.099 --> 00:20:32.539
was that being told as a single parent that I

00:20:32.539 --> 00:20:34.279
was going to get mandatory over and over and

00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:38.839
over again. So now you have a daughter. What

00:20:38.839 --> 00:20:41.579
was the impact on that when you started doing

00:20:41.579 --> 00:20:46.000
the shift work? So it was a big transition for

00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:51.059
me because here's my thing. I moved. My daughter

00:20:51.059 --> 00:20:55.099
and I lived in Michigan for all of our lives.

00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:59.519
And what I did is I had met my husband and he

00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:01.880
was already on a fire department, which was hiring

00:21:01.880 --> 00:21:05.160
at the time. And that was two hours away from

00:21:05.160 --> 00:21:07.000
where I lived. So I kind of had to make this

00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:15.549
big choice. I'll tell you a lot. At first, it

00:21:15.549 --> 00:21:18.430
was I felt a little guilty because it's like,

00:21:18.470 --> 00:21:21.210
why are you moving away from her? But at the

00:21:21.210 --> 00:21:23.869
same time, for me, I think I felt inside like

00:21:23.869 --> 00:21:27.109
I'm doing this for our life, for our stability,

00:21:27.250 --> 00:21:30.640
because. Um, finding my husband, someone who

00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:32.819
was a great role model and loving and caring

00:21:32.819 --> 00:21:36.180
for to me and my daughter, and then also getting

00:21:36.180 --> 00:21:40.799
a full -time job, um, which I had not had beforehand.

00:21:40.920 --> 00:21:45.180
I mean, um, even when I was working private ambulance,

00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:48.500
it wasn't full -time. It was, uh, contingent

00:21:48.500 --> 00:21:52.920
part -time and I, I would sign up like. I was

00:21:52.920 --> 00:21:55.180
I would sign up for like full time hours, but

00:21:55.180 --> 00:22:01.539
I was still contingent on paper. So just striving

00:22:01.539 --> 00:22:06.519
for the stability and the home life was a big

00:22:06.519 --> 00:22:12.799
was a big factor in moving. So what I had to

00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:16.500
do was do I had to move and then we kind of went

00:22:16.500 --> 00:22:19.140
through a court system, the whole court thing

00:22:19.140 --> 00:22:23.339
with the parenting time I had to. really sacrificed

00:22:23.339 --> 00:22:25.700
my parenting time, obviously, when it came to

00:22:25.700 --> 00:22:31.759
that. But she, looking back now, I mean, I wouldn't

00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:39.460
have made a different decision. It's, we're both.

00:22:40.109 --> 00:22:43.029
I can see the happiness that she has now and

00:22:43.029 --> 00:22:46.170
the fulfillment, the joy and the comfortability

00:22:46.170 --> 00:22:50.670
she's had in this life that we've created. So

00:22:50.670 --> 00:22:53.470
when we were getting our schedules, that's what

00:22:53.470 --> 00:22:56.089
it was. When we were getting our schedules before

00:22:56.089 --> 00:23:00.289
we hit the line, I'm like, I don't know how I'm

00:23:00.289 --> 00:23:03.170
going to do this as I'm going through this parenting

00:23:03.170 --> 00:23:06.789
time and custody thing, just going through a

00:23:06.789 --> 00:23:09.190
transition because I had moved away from her.

00:23:10.519 --> 00:23:12.740
It's funny because there was just this one moment

00:23:12.740 --> 00:23:15.299
in time I was like, I might look into something

00:23:15.299 --> 00:23:17.519
different just because it was actually right

00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:19.720
after I had my son. I said, I might look into

00:23:19.720 --> 00:23:22.000
something different because the scheduling was

00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:24.299
taking a toll on me. And my daughter said, but

00:23:24.299 --> 00:23:26.579
I don't want you to stop being a firefighter.

00:23:27.099 --> 00:23:33.700
And so I know that she knows we do this for them,

00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:37.319
even having to sacrifice that time with the schedule.

00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:42.299
It is tough. I mean, when I went through my divorce,

00:23:42.440 --> 00:23:45.099
I was already on shift. I'd been a firefighter

00:23:45.099 --> 00:23:47.319
for several years by that point. And luckily,

00:23:47.500 --> 00:23:51.440
the dynamic of the way the marriage dissolved,

00:23:51.700 --> 00:23:54.960
there wasn't a big fight from the other side.

00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:57.759
So I was able to put in writing that when I'm

00:23:57.759 --> 00:24:00.180
on shift, he's with her. When I'm off shift,

00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:02.599
he's with me, which basically ends up being 50

00:24:02.599 --> 00:24:06.640
-50. And there wasn't. Any pushback, thank goodness.

00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:09.480
So I was very fortunate compared to most people

00:24:09.480 --> 00:24:11.039
in the fire service that have gone through this

00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:13.539
where, you know, I kind of in a way didn't lose

00:24:13.539 --> 00:24:17.920
any time with him. But, you know, I see the impact

00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:20.819
of, you know, whether it's a residence issue,

00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:22.680
as you mentioned, like two hours away to see

00:24:22.680 --> 00:24:25.599
your child or. You know, God forbid some of my

00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:27.460
firefighter friends that, you know, they didn't

00:24:27.460 --> 00:24:29.720
get to see him. The mother held them from their

00:24:29.720 --> 00:24:31.619
child or vice versa, the father, whatever the

00:24:31.619 --> 00:24:34.940
dynamic was. And it's something that people don't

00:24:34.940 --> 00:24:36.640
think about when you're already working shifts,

00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:38.440
when you're already exhausted, when you're already

00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:39.980
getting mandatory, and then you're trying to

00:24:39.980 --> 00:24:42.940
juggle these commitments to see your child. I

00:24:42.940 --> 00:24:45.259
mean, that's a very, very important part of the

00:24:45.259 --> 00:24:47.660
conversation. And again, goes to why I talk about

00:24:47.660 --> 00:24:50.039
the work week all the time. is that when these

00:24:50.039 --> 00:24:52.500
people go home, that might be the only 24 -hour

00:24:52.500 --> 00:24:54.279
period they get to see their child that week.

00:24:54.519 --> 00:24:56.400
And then they get told that they can't go home

00:24:56.400 --> 00:24:58.460
because, you know, mandatory or whatever. So

00:24:58.460 --> 00:25:00.720
this is a really important topic that people

00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:03.160
need to be thinking about is, you know, sometimes

00:25:03.160 --> 00:25:06.720
people are navigating an already challenging

00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:09.940
schedule to see their children if they are divorced

00:25:09.940 --> 00:25:13.539
parents. And this can be woefully impacted by,

00:25:13.619 --> 00:25:15.960
you know, understaffing because of mismanagement.

00:25:19.359 --> 00:25:22.660
And that is how it kind of happened with me,

00:25:22.660 --> 00:25:26.359
too. We we have a Kelly day and we were like

00:25:26.359 --> 00:25:30.519
choosing we had to choose our Kelly days. But

00:25:30.519 --> 00:25:32.119
I mean, they kind of told us, like, you're going

00:25:32.119 --> 00:25:33.660
to get this day, you're going to get that day.

00:25:34.779 --> 00:25:38.359
And then when I was looking at the schedule,

00:25:38.500 --> 00:25:42.730
they gave me my Kelly day and. It was actually

00:25:42.730 --> 00:25:45.109
a surprise to me because it wasn't the day that

00:25:45.109 --> 00:25:46.950
they had said, oh, you're going to get Tuesday,

00:25:47.089 --> 00:25:48.509
you're going to get Wednesday or whatever. And

00:25:48.509 --> 00:25:51.769
I kind of in my mind already had like, OK, this

00:25:51.769 --> 00:25:53.589
is how it's going to work if I get this day or

00:25:53.589 --> 00:25:58.009
this day. And I'll use this Kelly day to have

00:25:58.009 --> 00:26:02.930
my time with my daughter. And so when it kind

00:26:02.930 --> 00:26:05.829
of when they switched it up and I saw that I

00:26:05.829 --> 00:26:08.490
had like this day, I just asked, I'm like, you

00:26:08.490 --> 00:26:12.640
know, if. The Tuesday is easier. I'm willing

00:26:12.640 --> 00:26:15.359
to take the Tuesday. And then they were like,

00:26:15.420 --> 00:26:18.599
how dare you question? And I'm like, oh, you

00:26:18.599 --> 00:26:20.059
know, in the beginning, you don't want to say

00:26:20.059 --> 00:26:22.160
it. You don't want to say anything in the beginning

00:26:22.160 --> 00:26:26.539
because you are just like bottom of the totem

00:26:26.539 --> 00:26:32.779
pole, as they say. But it it ended up working

00:26:32.779 --> 00:26:38.309
out OK. We I just made it work the way it. the

00:26:38.309 --> 00:26:41.410
way the schedule was, um, using Kelly weeks,

00:26:41.490 --> 00:26:45.589
Kelly days, how, uh, to also go and have time

00:26:45.589 --> 00:26:48.910
with her. What about, you said you had a son.

00:26:48.990 --> 00:26:50.990
Is that, is that the two of you now have a son?

00:26:51.410 --> 00:26:53.829
Yep. Uh, my husband and I have a son now he'll

00:26:53.829 --> 00:26:57.390
be three in January. Okay. And you guys work

00:26:57.390 --> 00:27:00.619
the same fire department. Yes. Okay. So that's

00:27:00.619 --> 00:27:02.240
another interesting dynamic. So you've got your

00:27:02.240 --> 00:27:04.099
daughter and you have to do the, you know, obviously

00:27:04.099 --> 00:27:07.480
the visits with her. What about navigating parenting

00:27:07.480 --> 00:27:10.119
of a very young child when both of you are on

00:27:10.119 --> 00:27:13.299
shift in the same fire department? That's quite

00:27:13.299 --> 00:27:17.440
a learning experience for us. I'll tell you when

00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:19.960
they're so young, when they're just newborn,

00:27:20.180 --> 00:27:24.319
I would say that that first year it was so rough

00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:26.559
just being tired all the time and kind of doing

00:27:26.559 --> 00:27:31.470
it by yourself. Our schedule is 24 on 48 offs

00:27:31.470 --> 00:27:34.250
and we're on separate schedules because of dogs

00:27:34.250 --> 00:27:38.150
and baby. So he works and then I work and then

00:27:38.150 --> 00:27:41.549
we have a day off. And even those solo days,

00:27:41.690 --> 00:27:44.789
you're kind of you're dragging. Sometimes you're

00:27:44.789 --> 00:27:48.150
just wishing the other one was home helping with

00:27:48.150 --> 00:27:51.450
you. But and then you're going to work the next

00:27:51.450 --> 00:27:57.519
day and staying up all night. The. What we've

00:27:57.519 --> 00:28:04.319
found is, so when we, I said he goes to work

00:28:04.319 --> 00:28:06.720
and then I go to work. What we found is if we

00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:11.160
switch that, because I usually had to drop him

00:28:11.160 --> 00:28:14.079
the baby off in the mornings at the in -laws,

00:28:14.220 --> 00:28:18.160
but my husband, he has less, he has less to get

00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:20.480
ready in the morning. I think it's a guy thing,

00:28:20.579 --> 00:28:22.900
you know? So I think we found like little things

00:28:22.900 --> 00:28:25.599
like that. it's going to be easier for you to

00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:27.740
take this shift and me to take this shift and

00:28:27.740 --> 00:28:31.160
you kind of do the morning drop -offs and I'm

00:28:31.160 --> 00:28:36.259
better at getting stuff ready for the day when

00:28:36.259 --> 00:28:39.480
we have stuff planned, getting, you know, packed

00:28:39.480 --> 00:28:43.400
up and whatever we need to do to get ready for

00:28:43.400 --> 00:28:46.380
the day. I'm kind of better at that. So I took

00:28:46.380 --> 00:28:51.200
on that in a way. With our shifts switching,

00:28:51.559 --> 00:28:54.220
it's just little things that we kind of had to

00:28:54.220 --> 00:28:58.599
learn throughout the first year, year and a half

00:28:58.599 --> 00:29:02.019
on how it's going to be easiest on both of us.

00:29:02.779 --> 00:29:15.319
But even now, we're he it works out OK. We. I

00:29:15.319 --> 00:29:20.180
still am kind of trying to. Work out in my head,

00:29:20.359 --> 00:29:25.619
like, what can we do to where we're both working,

00:29:25.720 --> 00:29:30.140
but maybe not these shifts. I mean, we've considered

00:29:30.140 --> 00:29:32.559
like hiring a nanny and going on the same shift

00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:37.140
for the 24 hours. But that's, you know, that's

00:29:37.140 --> 00:29:40.619
a lot of money. And you're like, let's just,

00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:44.880
I don't even know. It'll be easier once he's

00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:49.380
in school. In school for. uh just once he starts

00:29:49.380 --> 00:29:51.400
kindergarten or preschool oh i thought you're

00:29:51.400 --> 00:29:53.019
talking about your husband okay the child oh

00:29:53.019 --> 00:29:56.940
no i'm sorry the baby uh their schedules will

00:29:56.940 --> 00:29:59.400
be easier once he's in school just not having

00:29:59.400 --> 00:30:02.819
to do the whole thing all day by yourself and

00:30:02.819 --> 00:30:05.259
then go to work or whatever go to the gym to

00:30:05.259 --> 00:30:07.819
stay fit or whatever else you got to do errands

00:30:07.819 --> 00:30:12.200
you know yeah absolutely i'd be interested to

00:30:12.200 --> 00:30:14.619
get your take on this one of the things that

00:30:14.619 --> 00:30:18.589
came up aside from the 24 72 When we work 24

00:30:18.589 --> 00:30:21.329
-hour shifts, you think of that as a dial. You

00:30:21.329 --> 00:30:23.710
could technically spin whenever you want. You

00:30:23.710 --> 00:30:28.329
start this time and you end 24 hours later. And

00:30:28.329 --> 00:30:30.470
someone, I think it was Sarah Jenke, really brought

00:30:30.470 --> 00:30:33.170
this to my attention initially. Why do we start

00:30:33.170 --> 00:30:36.230
at 7 or 7 .30 or 8, whatever the start time is?

00:30:36.990 --> 00:30:39.650
you know, why? Because so many of us that travel

00:30:39.650 --> 00:30:42.230
a long way, I usually drove about 70 miles each

00:30:42.230 --> 00:30:44.190
way to the station. So I was getting up at, you

00:30:44.190 --> 00:30:47.109
know, five in the morning, 4 .45 to get to the

00:30:47.109 --> 00:30:49.369
station early to make sure that I relieve, you

00:30:49.369 --> 00:30:51.210
know, who I'm relieving before they get hit with

00:30:51.210 --> 00:30:54.309
a late call. And it just, it's lunacy. Because

00:30:54.309 --> 00:30:56.890
if you look at sleep deprivation, we arrive sleep

00:30:56.890 --> 00:30:58.950
deprived on that very first shift, because most

00:30:58.950 --> 00:31:02.380
of us are getting up really early. And so The

00:31:02.380 --> 00:31:05.299
solution is, well, why not start at 11 a .m.

00:31:05.299 --> 00:31:10.380
or 12 noon? So now you get to wake up, have breakfast

00:31:10.380 --> 00:31:12.440
with your child if you need to go to daycare

00:31:12.440 --> 00:31:14.319
or obviously do the switch on shift, whatever

00:31:14.319 --> 00:31:17.160
it is. Now everyone's awake. Everyone's ready

00:31:17.160 --> 00:31:19.980
to get on with their day. And then conversely,

00:31:20.019 --> 00:31:22.180
whoever was on shift, if they had a brutal night,

00:31:22.359 --> 00:31:24.619
then they get to get a couple of extra hours

00:31:24.619 --> 00:31:26.539
sleep before they come home and their mom or

00:31:26.539 --> 00:31:30.180
dad or whatever it is. What is your perception

00:31:30.180 --> 00:31:32.980
of your unique family dynamic if shift change

00:31:32.980 --> 00:31:37.240
was, say, 11 a .m. instead of early? Oh, man,

00:31:37.359 --> 00:31:40.839
I mean, that would be I feel like that would

00:31:40.839 --> 00:31:43.880
be definitely beneficial, especially because

00:31:43.880 --> 00:31:46.259
we actually my daughter's going to be moving

00:31:46.259 --> 00:31:48.839
in with us soon. So we're going to be having

00:31:48.839 --> 00:31:52.380
and then my son's going to be three and, you

00:31:52.380 --> 00:31:54.819
know, in the next year or so going on in the

00:31:54.819 --> 00:31:59.460
pre -K or kindergarten. So, I mean, having. thinking

00:31:59.460 --> 00:32:01.960
about that having that would be so beneficial

00:32:01.960 --> 00:32:05.279
just being able to get the kids breakfast and

00:32:05.279 --> 00:32:07.259
spend some time with them in the morning do the

00:32:07.259 --> 00:32:09.940
morning routine and then you know then get off

00:32:09.940 --> 00:32:16.019
to work and even so in the mornings at work not

00:32:16.019 --> 00:32:21.000
having to wake up so early maybe just to go home.

00:32:21.140 --> 00:32:23.480
You know what I mean? Maybe you won't get the

00:32:23.480 --> 00:32:26.859
call at 5 or 6 a .m. Sometimes that happens,

00:32:27.059 --> 00:32:29.480
but if it came in later, maybe you get a little

00:32:29.480 --> 00:32:31.940
extra sleep that morning before you go home and

00:32:31.940 --> 00:32:35.079
then have to pick up your kids and have nighttime

00:32:35.079 --> 00:32:38.099
routine. That would be definitely, I think, beneficial.

00:32:38.980 --> 00:32:43.730
I like that idea. We've kind of, within our department,

00:32:43.890 --> 00:32:45.809
I mean, we don't do that, but I know it's been

00:32:45.809 --> 00:32:48.829
thrown around, like maybe even at specific stations

00:32:48.829 --> 00:32:51.769
having different start times, but we'll see where

00:32:51.769 --> 00:32:54.710
that goes. Well, the thing is, it's a completely

00:32:54.710 --> 00:32:57.230
free solution. It doesn't cost anyone anything.

00:32:57.730 --> 00:32:59.970
But when I reflected, once they kind of brought

00:32:59.970 --> 00:33:01.750
that up and I started thinking about my career,

00:33:01.930 --> 00:33:07.230
I did 2448, no Kelly for most of my career. And

00:33:07.230 --> 00:33:11.799
that meant that I only spent, one out of every

00:33:11.799 --> 00:33:16.200
three mornings with my family for 14 years. Because

00:33:16.200 --> 00:33:18.220
the first night, obviously I'm awake, the first

00:33:18.220 --> 00:33:20.059
morning, excuse me, I'm awake before anyone else

00:33:20.059 --> 00:33:23.220
is. So I kind of sneak out and leave them. The

00:33:23.220 --> 00:33:25.000
second day, by the time I get back from that

00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:27.480
70 mile drive, they're already at work or school

00:33:27.480 --> 00:33:30.380
anyway. And then a third day was the only morning

00:33:30.380 --> 00:33:32.859
that I actually woke up next to my wife and then

00:33:32.859 --> 00:33:36.160
sat down and had breakfast with my son. And so

00:33:36.160 --> 00:33:40.079
just for $0, turn that into two out of three.

00:33:40.589 --> 00:33:43.410
yeah and give that person who was on shift a

00:33:43.410 --> 00:33:45.430
couple of hours so when they come home they're

00:33:45.430 --> 00:33:47.809
not on edge because you know they got toned out

00:33:47.809 --> 00:33:51.190
at 7 a .m you know all called wake up you know

00:33:51.190 --> 00:33:54.390
to do what to there's no no reason whatsoever

00:33:54.390 --> 00:33:57.430
to wake those people up so to just make it 11

00:33:57.430 --> 00:34:00.849
or 12 you know now they can sleep in get a couple

00:34:00.849 --> 00:34:03.490
of hours the people that are coming on shifts

00:34:03.490 --> 00:34:06.130
got to spend that morning with their loved ones

00:34:06.130 --> 00:34:08.889
and then go to work like it just seems like such

00:34:08.889 --> 00:34:13.219
a great And then coupled with the 2472, that

00:34:13.219 --> 00:34:15.360
would be life changing, I think, for a lot of

00:34:15.360 --> 00:34:17.900
people in the fire service. Absolutely. I agree.

00:34:18.260 --> 00:34:23.119
That would be wonderful. So what about the actual

00:34:23.119 --> 00:34:25.840
profession itself? You know, as you kind of enter

00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:28.440
and you see now behind the curtain of some of

00:34:28.440 --> 00:34:32.460
the areas that you're protecting, what were some

00:34:32.460 --> 00:34:34.780
of the aha moments or some of the career calls

00:34:34.780 --> 00:34:41.460
that you had? So when, you know, when I got into,

00:34:41.519 --> 00:34:45.619
when I hit the line and got into the fire service,

00:34:45.739 --> 00:34:50.099
it was really exciting at first. And then like

00:34:50.099 --> 00:34:55.840
very slowly, but also soon, you kind of just

00:34:55.840 --> 00:35:02.000
realize the toll it takes on an individual. I

00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:05.619
always, I kind of always say like, or you always

00:35:05.619 --> 00:35:09.429
hear. someone say oh yeah he used to be so happy

00:35:09.429 --> 00:35:14.690
he used to be uh so alive and ready for the day

00:35:14.690 --> 00:35:17.389
used to be great at this and great at that and

00:35:17.389 --> 00:35:20.230
now they're grumpy like I feel like I've heard

00:35:20.230 --> 00:35:23.190
like something along those lines from so many

00:35:23.190 --> 00:35:26.230
people when you're meeting everyone as a new

00:35:26.230 --> 00:35:29.929
person on the job and they're like um you know

00:35:29.929 --> 00:35:33.190
like I said they're oh he used to be so funny

00:35:33.190 --> 00:35:35.730
he used to be this and he used to be that and

00:35:35.730 --> 00:35:39.610
I'm like well why aren't they anymore and so

00:35:39.610 --> 00:35:42.929
you kind of take a look and you're like because

00:35:42.929 --> 00:35:46.710
we're having to do this this and this and I think

00:35:46.710 --> 00:35:54.130
I found um I think I found that it's maybe in

00:35:54.130 --> 00:35:56.949
my personal opinion it's a little bit of uneducated

00:35:57.550 --> 00:36:00.809
being uneducated in our health of ourselves and

00:36:00.809 --> 00:36:04.190
honestly, sometimes, uh, sleep, how important

00:36:04.190 --> 00:36:10.250
sleep is to our bodies. Um, and I, I don't know,

00:36:10.250 --> 00:36:14.909
I don't know why I've always, um, I don't, I

00:36:14.909 --> 00:36:17.409
don't even know where I learned it or how I've

00:36:17.409 --> 00:36:21.349
learned it, but maybe just from personal experience,

00:36:21.409 --> 00:36:28.239
but, um, sleep is. It releases nutrients into

00:36:28.239 --> 00:36:32.199
our bodies when we're sleeping to keep us healthy.

00:36:32.280 --> 00:36:36.179
We, we can't be sleep deprived and then go help

00:36:36.179 --> 00:36:40.760
others, uh, with our full potential, you know?

00:36:40.780 --> 00:36:45.980
Um, so I, I feel like I kinda just seen, seen

00:36:45.980 --> 00:36:54.110
that, uh, I feel, yeah. What about that? So we've

00:36:54.110 --> 00:36:55.989
got the sleep deprivation, which we'll dive into

00:36:55.989 --> 00:36:59.090
in a second. What other areas were adding to

00:36:59.090 --> 00:37:01.630
the stresses? Because I mean, this is the sad

00:37:01.630 --> 00:37:03.809
fact when you hear about people and they're like,

00:37:03.849 --> 00:37:05.550
oh God, they're such a pain in the ass. They're

00:37:05.550 --> 00:37:08.170
so salty, whatever it is. Or they're getting

00:37:08.170 --> 00:37:10.429
into trouble now. They got a drinking problem.

00:37:10.610 --> 00:37:12.389
I always say, well, what were they like when

00:37:12.389 --> 00:37:15.409
you hired them? Were they turds at the front

00:37:15.409 --> 00:37:17.550
door? In which case that was a bad hire and shame

00:37:17.550 --> 00:37:20.349
on you. But, you know, because that person would

00:37:20.349 --> 00:37:22.869
not not taking away the empathy for that person,

00:37:22.909 --> 00:37:24.590
but that person needs to do the work before they

00:37:24.590 --> 00:37:27.190
come to the job if they're already, you know,

00:37:27.190 --> 00:37:31.010
salty as a probie. But that's not the case. As

00:37:31.010 --> 00:37:32.969
you said, most people like, oh, well, they were

00:37:32.969 --> 00:37:35.730
amazing until well then newsflash. You think

00:37:35.730 --> 00:37:38.690
maybe it's the job, you know, call me crazy.

00:37:38.710 --> 00:37:40.909
I'm no scientist, but if they used to be really

00:37:40.909 --> 00:37:43.489
nice and now they're not nice. Then, you know,

00:37:43.489 --> 00:37:45.170
what do you think the common denominator is?

00:37:45.250 --> 00:37:48.409
So sleep deprivation, huge part of it. But what

00:37:48.409 --> 00:37:51.050
culturally, you know, all these other areas,

00:37:51.090 --> 00:37:52.889
what are some other things? Because you had quite

00:37:52.889 --> 00:37:56.050
a fresh set of eyes coming in. Were you starting

00:37:56.050 --> 00:37:58.650
to see we're adding to this compounding effect

00:37:58.650 --> 00:38:00.889
of beating down on men and women in uniform?

00:38:01.449 --> 00:38:08.849
Oh, man. Mental health and our call volume. And

00:38:08.849 --> 00:38:14.579
then also. I don't know how, maybe I'll get to

00:38:14.579 --> 00:38:17.639
it, but at some, at some point after I had my

00:38:17.639 --> 00:38:21.679
son, um, I think it was all, I think it was all

00:38:21.679 --> 00:38:23.980
just honestly something that maybe was personal

00:38:23.980 --> 00:38:27.059
that happened to me within the job. Um, I went

00:38:27.059 --> 00:38:31.440
back, I didn't, we had, uh, let me think we had

00:38:31.820 --> 00:38:35.059
eight weeks we're given eight weeks for maternity

00:38:35.059 --> 00:38:40.619
at 70 % of our pay but even that for me because

00:38:40.619 --> 00:38:42.760
I didn't have because I was new and didn't have

00:38:42.760 --> 00:38:44.920
a ton of vacation time built up and then on top

00:38:44.920 --> 00:38:48.119
of that I was very sick throughout my whole pregnancy.

00:38:48.280 --> 00:38:51.619
So I lost, I even went off payroll because I

00:38:51.619 --> 00:38:54.239
lost all my, I didn't lose, but I used all my

00:38:54.239 --> 00:38:58.880
sick time. Any comp time I had and vacation time,

00:38:59.039 --> 00:39:01.440
I had to go through it all and then had to go

00:39:01.440 --> 00:39:05.840
off payroll. So going back to work, I kind of

00:39:05.840 --> 00:39:10.539
had to go back at that eight weeks. And I didn't,

00:39:10.539 --> 00:39:13.139
I realized, I mean, I thought it was going to

00:39:13.139 --> 00:39:15.159
be enough time for me. I was excited to get back

00:39:15.159 --> 00:39:19.280
on the line, but then I realized it wasn't. So

00:39:19.280 --> 00:39:23.639
breastfeeding was one of the things I've, I had

00:39:23.639 --> 00:39:25.539
to read studies. I went, when I went back to

00:39:25.539 --> 00:39:27.619
the line, I actually ended up getting lots of

00:39:27.619 --> 00:39:29.659
fires. Almost every two hours I was getting a

00:39:29.659 --> 00:39:33.539
fire, maybe two fires every tour. And I was breastfeeding

00:39:33.539 --> 00:39:38.239
at the time as well. So I. was looking up studies

00:39:38.239 --> 00:39:43.380
on breastfeeding and obviously live firefighting.

00:39:43.380 --> 00:39:47.599
And the studies that I found said that you had

00:39:47.599 --> 00:39:51.230
to, it would. It recommended that you dump every

00:39:51.230 --> 00:39:53.769
three days. And I'm like, well, we work every

00:39:53.769 --> 00:39:56.030
three days. And I kind of felt that decision

00:39:56.030 --> 00:40:00.469
of stopping breastfeeding was forced upon me.

00:40:00.510 --> 00:40:02.349
And then I was like, well, this is not right.

00:40:03.630 --> 00:40:07.150
So sometimes I think it's like little personal

00:40:07.150 --> 00:40:09.130
things that kind of happened to me throughout

00:40:09.130 --> 00:40:13.289
going through being new on a department and then

00:40:13.289 --> 00:40:16.719
also. starting a fam, starting growing my family,

00:40:16.760 --> 00:40:21.480
I should say, um, kind of showed me that happens

00:40:21.480 --> 00:40:24.679
not only, you know, with women in maternity,

00:40:24.780 --> 00:40:29.260
but everywhere else too. We're kind of maybe

00:40:29.260 --> 00:40:34.940
don't have all the resources that we, I think

00:40:34.940 --> 00:40:38.300
we probably could have to benefit our health.

00:40:38.380 --> 00:40:45.179
And also, I mean, I always think too, like this,

00:40:45.300 --> 00:40:50.000
this job isn't necessarily like, why can't it

00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:53.119
be more family oriented? Like I get, it's a special

00:40:53.119 --> 00:40:57.519
job and I get, we sign up to do this special

00:40:57.519 --> 00:41:01.380
thing, helping people and we, and we find that

00:41:01.380 --> 00:41:05.820
we're good at it, but then we forget about taking

00:41:05.820 --> 00:41:09.579
care of ourselves in the midst of that. You just

00:41:09.579 --> 00:41:13.380
sparked something in my mind. When you think

00:41:13.380 --> 00:41:15.679
about, especially at the Scandinavian countries

00:41:15.679 --> 00:41:18.920
where they get a lot of maternity leave and paternity

00:41:18.920 --> 00:41:22.199
leave, just culturally for the entire nation,

00:41:22.380 --> 00:41:25.800
there's a lot more time spent with that child

00:41:25.800 --> 00:41:27.880
when they were so young and so impressionable

00:41:27.880 --> 00:41:30.260
before the parents go back to the workforce.

00:41:30.840 --> 00:41:33.000
I think we're one of the worst when it comes

00:41:33.000 --> 00:41:36.119
to time, if I'm not mistaken. And if you think

00:41:36.119 --> 00:41:39.670
about then the ripple effect of, everything from

00:41:39.670 --> 00:41:41.829
the ill health of our children i mean you know

00:41:41.829 --> 00:41:43.929
the the obesity that we're seeing now type 2

00:41:43.929 --> 00:41:46.090
diabetes and all those areas through to you know

00:41:46.090 --> 00:41:47.730
the mental health challenges that we're seeing

00:41:48.750 --> 00:41:51.429
I guarantee you that some of that is probably

00:41:51.429 --> 00:41:53.369
related to the fact that a lot of these parents

00:41:53.369 --> 00:41:55.889
are being forced back into work soon after these

00:41:55.889 --> 00:41:58.110
children are born. And so you've almost got like,

00:41:58.150 --> 00:41:59.809
you know, you've got the lack of skin on skin

00:41:59.809 --> 00:42:02.690
contact. You've got probably a subconscious sense

00:42:02.690 --> 00:42:05.489
of abandonment when a tiny child is now not with

00:42:05.489 --> 00:42:07.590
either parent because they're off, you know,

00:42:07.590 --> 00:42:09.230
on shift or whatever it is. It's not even the

00:42:09.230 --> 00:42:11.409
fire service conversation as much as a culturally

00:42:11.409 --> 00:42:15.300
American conversation. You know, they might think

00:42:15.300 --> 00:42:17.019
that they're saving money, you know, at the front

00:42:17.019 --> 00:42:18.820
end with, oh, we'll just go back to work and,

00:42:18.840 --> 00:42:22.219
you know, get wages coming in again. But it'd

00:42:22.219 --> 00:42:24.440
be really interesting to look at these Scandinavian

00:42:24.440 --> 00:42:26.500
countries and say, you know, how much does that

00:42:26.500 --> 00:42:29.900
extra time with that child early on actually

00:42:29.900 --> 00:42:33.179
save, you know, the country down the road, making

00:42:33.179 --> 00:42:36.559
these kids healthier and evolving into healthier

00:42:36.559 --> 00:42:39.039
adults. And I guarantee you there's probably

00:42:39.039 --> 00:42:43.219
a linear relationship. Yeah, I agree. I'll tell

00:42:43.219 --> 00:42:51.559
you too, um, just having our son, um, the, it's

00:42:51.559 --> 00:42:56.800
funny with our schedules being opposite and then

00:42:56.800 --> 00:43:01.940
trying to be on the same page, um, raising him.

00:43:02.059 --> 00:43:05.860
Uh, he can't, so like my husband, uh, my son

00:43:05.860 --> 00:43:10.000
kind of has like a, a stability with their, um,

00:43:11.239 --> 00:43:14.119
A structure with my husband and then he kind

00:43:14.119 --> 00:43:17.000
of has like the structure with me at home. And

00:43:17.000 --> 00:43:21.019
then when we're both home, we're kind of always

00:43:21.019 --> 00:43:25.099
running around. So that's that day. But but I

00:43:25.099 --> 00:43:31.679
compare it. It's I kind of make myself. Frustrated

00:43:31.679 --> 00:43:35.980
sometimes because I compare it to he's with my

00:43:35.980 --> 00:43:38.159
in -laws a lot. My in -laws are both retired

00:43:38.159 --> 00:43:41.320
and at home and they. are always together with

00:43:41.320 --> 00:43:45.639
them. And I'm just like, they, I, they almost

00:43:45.639 --> 00:43:48.360
have a better structure for our son than we do,

00:43:48.460 --> 00:43:52.079
you know, just being at home with him, um, and,

00:43:52.099 --> 00:43:55.280
uh, being with him every day. I mean, they're

00:43:55.280 --> 00:43:58.719
with him almost every day for some hours a day,

00:43:58.820 --> 00:44:04.639
but, uh, yeah, I find that, um, kind of rough

00:44:04.639 --> 00:44:10.079
to work around. being different schedules and

00:44:10.079 --> 00:44:15.440
trying to raise him on the same page. Well, I

00:44:15.440 --> 00:44:19.199
think this is it. I mean, I know my son's, you

00:44:19.199 --> 00:44:21.400
know, mother, my son's mother's mother, excuse

00:44:21.400 --> 00:44:24.159
me, my son's grandmother, she was having to work

00:44:24.159 --> 00:44:27.539
a lot to pay the bills to support her, but that

00:44:27.539 --> 00:44:30.159
way she wasn't physically in the house as much

00:44:30.159 --> 00:44:31.719
as, you know, a lot of parents would hope they

00:44:31.719 --> 00:44:34.360
would. And you look at, you know, how we're supposed

00:44:34.360 --> 00:44:38.210
to be. In ancient times, they say it takes a

00:44:38.210 --> 00:44:39.829
village because that's exactly where we all were.

00:44:39.889 --> 00:44:41.690
Unless we were going off on a hunt or going to

00:44:41.690 --> 00:44:45.210
war, all the family units would be there still.

00:44:45.630 --> 00:44:48.610
So it's not saying that we all just stop working

00:44:48.610 --> 00:44:51.849
and spend 18 years with our children, but how

00:44:51.849 --> 00:44:55.849
far have we got from perfect? And can we at least

00:44:55.849 --> 00:44:59.250
move the needle back towards getting these households

00:44:59.250 --> 00:45:02.989
intact so these children do have more normalcy

00:45:02.989 --> 00:45:06.400
and feel like they're part of an intact... home

00:45:06.400 --> 00:45:09.500
unit rather than as my son had to bounce from

00:45:09.500 --> 00:45:11.920
house to house to house to house, which I hated,

00:45:12.099 --> 00:45:16.480
absolutely hated. Yeah, I agree. I agree. Yeah.

00:45:17.679 --> 00:45:20.380
I would say I kind of, like I said, I kind of

00:45:20.380 --> 00:45:22.320
find that a little frustrating here and there

00:45:22.320 --> 00:45:24.980
when he has to spend so much time at the in -laws,

00:45:25.059 --> 00:45:27.360
but at the same time, like he's very loved and

00:45:27.360 --> 00:45:30.039
cared for over there. So we're very lucky to

00:45:30.039 --> 00:45:35.039
have it, but it's kind of like what I want for

00:45:35.039 --> 00:45:38.539
our family as well, but it's hard to do with

00:45:38.539 --> 00:45:41.579
our jobs and the lack of family orient that our

00:45:41.579 --> 00:45:47.860
job has. If you were queen for a day, because

00:45:47.860 --> 00:45:51.760
i think it's the ultimate superpower is to be

00:45:51.760 --> 00:45:53.760
humble enough to say the way we're doing it may

00:45:53.760 --> 00:45:57.039
not be the right way and therefore explore better

00:45:57.039 --> 00:45:59.119
ways of doing this and look around the world

00:45:59.119 --> 00:46:01.000
and see different you know models that may be

00:46:01.000 --> 00:46:03.679
more successful or in this country more successful

00:46:03.679 --> 00:46:09.400
what changes would you put in place to allow

00:46:09.400 --> 00:46:12.460
more family time to allow you know these parents

00:46:12.460 --> 00:46:15.079
to actually have the time off to to be with their

00:46:15.079 --> 00:46:17.099
children or like you said even through pregnancy

00:46:17.099 --> 00:46:18.840
what are some of the things now that you've got

00:46:18.840 --> 00:46:22.199
with this you know more unique lens that you

00:46:22.199 --> 00:46:24.260
know maybe would be a good idea for the future

00:46:24.260 --> 00:46:27.780
of the fire service a lot of it is like things

00:46:27.780 --> 00:46:31.079
i've heard probably on your podcast because once

00:46:31.079 --> 00:46:33.460
i started listening to your podcast i was like

00:46:33.929 --> 00:46:37.849
This is it. Like 24 -72 would be great or even

00:46:37.849 --> 00:46:44.769
changing the start times of our schedule. Maternity

00:46:44.769 --> 00:46:48.289
and paternity leave. I wish there was a little

00:46:48.289 --> 00:46:51.530
bit more. I feel a little entitled saying that,

00:46:51.590 --> 00:46:54.449
to be honest. But you're queen for a day. You

00:46:54.449 --> 00:46:56.170
get to do whatever you want. Remember that. So

00:46:56.170 --> 00:46:58.610
forget about what people think. I mean, if you

00:46:58.610 --> 00:47:02.889
could imagine what would be the right thing to

00:47:02.889 --> 00:47:06.239
do. Yeah, I would I would I would wish for a

00:47:06.239 --> 00:47:09.059
little more maternity and paternity leave as

00:47:09.059 --> 00:47:13.619
well. Being on the same department for us, they

00:47:13.619 --> 00:47:16.920
made us split the eight weeks if we wanted to

00:47:16.920 --> 00:47:19.599
or like we didn't have to. But if I took the

00:47:19.599 --> 00:47:21.260
whole eight weeks, then my husband wasn't going

00:47:21.260 --> 00:47:25.260
to have any of it. So they also made us do that,

00:47:25.360 --> 00:47:28.000
both working for the city that we're working

00:47:28.000 --> 00:47:35.039
for. So. Like I said, the 24 -72, the start times,

00:47:35.199 --> 00:47:39.320
we actually also put in what we call a float

00:47:39.320 --> 00:47:42.599
position in our job, which has actually been

00:47:42.599 --> 00:47:45.579
very helpful. And I think it's been very beneficial

00:47:45.579 --> 00:47:49.039
for some people because what you can do is kind

00:47:49.039 --> 00:47:51.559
of bid over to this float position and you work

00:47:51.559 --> 00:47:54.280
a 40 -hour week, but you're also working, you're

00:47:54.280 --> 00:47:57.179
kind of covering training and stuff at the stations.

00:47:58.660 --> 00:48:01.760
So this rig is going to go out training. OK,

00:48:01.840 --> 00:48:04.599
we have the floats that are able to cover during

00:48:04.599 --> 00:48:09.199
business hour days. And then it allowed a lot

00:48:09.199 --> 00:48:13.199
of people to coach their son's baseball team

00:48:13.199 --> 00:48:16.300
for a season. And then once that was over, they

00:48:16.300 --> 00:48:20.800
could go back to the line schedule. It is I think

00:48:20.800 --> 00:48:24.300
it is just like little implements like that,

00:48:24.320 --> 00:48:27.320
that. I think we could probably do better on.

00:48:28.920 --> 00:48:31.380
Well, hearing I've had, you know. A few interviews

00:48:31.380 --> 00:48:35.039
of people where both partners were working for

00:48:35.039 --> 00:48:38.380
the fire service and in discussions, the 24 -72,

00:48:38.639 --> 00:48:40.940
just putting that extra 24 hours in between.

00:48:41.139 --> 00:48:43.219
Because we always talk about we got two days

00:48:43.219 --> 00:48:45.599
off, but we haven't. You work from midnight till

00:48:45.599 --> 00:48:47.760
shift change. So that wasn't a day off. That

00:48:47.760 --> 00:48:49.760
was eight hours. That was a full day's work.

00:48:49.980 --> 00:48:51.980
So you've only got that one day, which is day

00:48:51.980 --> 00:48:54.440
two, and then you're back to work again. So putting

00:48:54.440 --> 00:48:56.960
another 24 in, now you've given these parents

00:48:56.960 --> 00:49:00.550
two actual days off in between. Even in your

00:49:00.550 --> 00:49:02.590
case, let's say, you know, you work A shift and

00:49:02.590 --> 00:49:05.909
Marcus works B. Now you've got C and D then to

00:49:05.909 --> 00:49:08.750
actually be a lot more present. And if it's fully

00:49:08.750 --> 00:49:12.070
staffed and, you know, then reverse a recruitment

00:49:12.070 --> 00:49:13.929
crisis because people really want to come back

00:49:13.929 --> 00:49:15.750
into the fire service now that we fix the things

00:49:15.750 --> 00:49:18.510
that are broken, i .e. the horrendous work weeks

00:49:18.510 --> 00:49:22.730
and understaffing. Now it's just 24 -72. So mandatory,

00:49:23.010 --> 00:49:24.889
you know, has gone away. Voluntary will come

00:49:24.889 --> 00:49:27.219
up once in a while. You know, neither you do

00:49:27.219 --> 00:49:29.800
A and B or you do A and C, you know, now you

00:49:29.800 --> 00:49:32.139
get to change it up and maybe have a day between,

00:49:32.239 --> 00:49:35.119
but now that's a 42 hour work week. So again,

00:49:35.179 --> 00:49:38.800
asking parents to work around a 24, you know,

00:49:38.820 --> 00:49:43.039
48, that's, you wouldn't ask a bank teller or

00:49:43.039 --> 00:49:45.380
someone in a grocery store, okay, you're going

00:49:45.380 --> 00:49:47.119
to have to figure your way around, you know,

00:49:47.119 --> 00:49:50.119
arguably basically a 60 hour work week. You know,

00:49:50.139 --> 00:49:51.860
that's just, people will be like, no, I'm not

00:49:51.860 --> 00:49:54.639
doing that. But the people that call 911 and

00:49:54.639 --> 00:49:57.420
we respond, the ones that are going to be going

00:49:57.420 --> 00:50:00.579
to your family's worst day are working these

00:50:00.579 --> 00:50:03.579
crazy hours. And I think that in itself is a

00:50:03.579 --> 00:50:06.199
conversation. But the impact on families and

00:50:06.199 --> 00:50:08.119
these parents are having to juggle, you know,

00:50:08.119 --> 00:50:11.420
child care and just simply being home, just not

00:50:11.420 --> 00:50:14.599
feeling guilty about not being there. This is

00:50:14.599 --> 00:50:17.159
a really important conversation. And the 24 -72

00:50:17.159 --> 00:50:21.760
is at least a big, big step towards. not only

00:50:21.760 --> 00:50:24.099
healthy firefighters, but healthy firefighter

00:50:24.099 --> 00:50:28.199
families. Yeah, exactly. I think that is one

00:50:28.199 --> 00:50:33.280
of the things I found within our home is the

00:50:33.280 --> 00:50:35.780
guilt when you come home and you're like, okay,

00:50:35.800 --> 00:50:38.460
I have to sleep. And so you're still not really

00:50:38.460 --> 00:50:41.820
here being able to spend that time with your

00:50:41.820 --> 00:50:44.380
family. Or even if you don't, if you choose not

00:50:44.380 --> 00:50:47.070
to sleep when you need it. You're kind of not

00:50:47.070 --> 00:50:49.650
yourself. You're not able to give yourself to

00:50:49.650 --> 00:50:53.789
your family in the aspect that they need or you

00:50:53.789 --> 00:50:58.210
want to. Absolutely. Well, before we kind of

00:50:58.210 --> 00:51:00.130
go to some closing questions, are there any other

00:51:00.130 --> 00:51:03.489
areas that you want to discuss? I'm glad we touched

00:51:03.489 --> 00:51:08.920
on the scheduling and also. Becoming, growing

00:51:08.920 --> 00:51:11.599
a family or having a family within the fire service,

00:51:11.780 --> 00:51:15.219
you know, ways we wish or would like to try and

00:51:15.219 --> 00:51:18.460
help make it more family oriented and learning

00:51:18.460 --> 00:51:21.360
about our health. No, exactly. I think this is

00:51:21.360 --> 00:51:24.679
the point. One of the things I've made comments

00:51:24.679 --> 00:51:29.400
on a lot recently is, and so many of us heard

00:51:29.400 --> 00:51:31.300
this, especially my generation when we came in

00:51:31.300 --> 00:51:34.559
the fire services, you wait. In 10 years, you'll

00:51:34.559 --> 00:51:36.179
be on your third marriage and have an alcohol

00:51:36.179 --> 00:51:38.840
problem. That was a running joke in police and

00:51:38.840 --> 00:51:42.699
fire and EMS. And again, can you imagine if you

00:51:42.699 --> 00:51:45.150
were joining an accounting firm? And someone

00:51:45.150 --> 00:51:47.309
said that to you, you just turn on your heels

00:51:47.309 --> 00:51:48.969
and walk out the door again. You know, if you,

00:51:48.989 --> 00:51:51.230
again, grocery store, you know, retail store,

00:51:51.329 --> 00:51:54.070
whatever, like, well, this sounds awful. I'm

00:51:54.070 --> 00:51:56.090
not going to work here. Thank you for letting

00:51:56.090 --> 00:51:58.590
me know ahead of time. I'm not interested. So

00:51:58.590 --> 00:52:00.929
the fact that this is, you know, accepted and

00:52:00.929 --> 00:52:03.469
there's so many, you know, so many great parents

00:52:03.469 --> 00:52:06.909
that I know that were head over and heels in

00:52:06.909 --> 00:52:09.030
love with the people that they were with when

00:52:09.030 --> 00:52:10.389
I first, you know, when they first joined the

00:52:10.389 --> 00:52:13.199
fire service and I watched. Their marriages get

00:52:13.199 --> 00:52:15.079
destroyed. In some cases, their relationship

00:52:15.079 --> 00:52:17.780
with their children get destroyed. This is a

00:52:17.780 --> 00:52:19.760
really, really important conversation because

00:52:19.760 --> 00:52:22.340
it's not a reflection of the job. You can go

00:52:22.340 --> 00:52:25.460
for 24 hours and give yourself to this profession

00:52:25.460 --> 00:52:28.860
and be fit and be mentally ready to respond to

00:52:28.860 --> 00:52:32.380
people's worst days. But you should also then

00:52:32.380 --> 00:52:35.019
be able to go home and keep your family intact

00:52:35.019 --> 00:52:37.500
and be present at their games and their recitals

00:52:37.500 --> 00:52:40.679
and recharge so you're ready to do the same thing.

00:52:41.210 --> 00:52:44.309
you know, 72 hours later. So it's not a weakness.

00:52:44.349 --> 00:52:46.610
It's not a deficiency. It's actually the opposite.

00:52:46.710 --> 00:52:48.670
You know, we have to control the things that

00:52:48.670 --> 00:52:51.690
we know are broken in the fire service and joking

00:52:51.690 --> 00:52:54.530
about alcoholism and divorces. There's nothing

00:52:54.530 --> 00:52:57.010
funny about that at all. That's just a glaring

00:52:57.010 --> 00:52:59.570
red flag that we need to fix something. Yeah.

00:53:00.030 --> 00:53:03.030
Yeah, exactly. I think one of the things I heard

00:53:03.030 --> 00:53:07.869
in the beginning also going back to, oh, he used

00:53:07.869 --> 00:53:10.619
to be. or she used to be this and she used to

00:53:10.619 --> 00:53:13.880
be that, but they're not anymore. One of those

00:53:13.880 --> 00:53:18.119
very similar sayings I had heard, they all say,

00:53:18.239 --> 00:53:21.880
give it a few years, give it a few years, and

00:53:21.880 --> 00:53:24.840
you'll be the same. And in the beginning, I'm

00:53:24.840 --> 00:53:27.699
like, no way. But then you give it a few years

00:53:27.699 --> 00:53:30.179
and you're like, okay, I see what they're saying.

00:53:31.519 --> 00:53:34.039
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And I think I always refer

00:53:34.039 --> 00:53:36.869
it to people's favorite athletes. you know, with

00:53:36.869 --> 00:53:39.469
some of these, these, you know, LeBron or whoever

00:53:39.469 --> 00:53:41.809
that's, that's got longevity in their career.

00:53:42.150 --> 00:53:44.469
Can you imagine the locker room, them telling,

00:53:44.550 --> 00:53:46.829
Oh, give it a few years. You'll be broken. You'll

00:53:46.829 --> 00:53:48.869
be, no, they're doing the opposite. They're trying

00:53:48.869 --> 00:53:51.409
to keep you going for a few more years. So you

00:53:51.409 --> 00:53:53.789
can be an asset to whatever team you are. So

00:53:53.789 --> 00:53:56.829
I think give it a few years should be replied

00:53:56.829 --> 00:53:59.349
to. You'll be even better than you are now. Well,

00:53:59.369 --> 00:54:02.389
fantastic. I'll sign up for that. Yeah, exactly.

00:54:03.260 --> 00:54:05.539
Yeah, give it a few years, they'll beat you down,

00:54:05.639 --> 00:54:07.699
which I was told a lot because I was always trying

00:54:07.699 --> 00:54:10.900
to, you know, force change. It's like, no, you

00:54:10.900 --> 00:54:14.079
know, but what a horrendously toxic atmosphere

00:54:14.079 --> 00:54:16.679
that is that you go in all bright eyed and aggressive

00:54:16.679 --> 00:54:18.639
and wanting to be the best version of yourself

00:54:18.639 --> 00:54:21.559
in the fire and the EMS world. And you're told,

00:54:21.659 --> 00:54:23.780
don't worry, they'll beat you down, give it a

00:54:23.780 --> 00:54:26.559
few years. Like that couldn't be worse, in my

00:54:26.559 --> 00:54:29.780
opinion. Yeah, I'd really like to change that,

00:54:29.820 --> 00:54:33.659
especially bringing in new people. Just like

00:54:33.659 --> 00:54:36.300
I'm sure many other departments across the country

00:54:36.300 --> 00:54:40.059
and world having recruitment issues. And, you

00:54:40.059 --> 00:54:42.119
know, I think if that's just even one of the

00:54:42.119 --> 00:54:44.340
things we changed, it might help out a little.

00:54:45.440 --> 00:54:48.079
Absolutely. Well, there's that blockbuster story.

00:54:48.199 --> 00:54:49.800
You know, if you look in the business world,

00:54:49.960 --> 00:54:53.280
they use as a case study, if you refuse to acknowledge

00:54:53.280 --> 00:54:56.639
that you need to change, then you end up like

00:54:56.639 --> 00:55:01.099
they did in the history books. So this is where

00:55:01.099 --> 00:55:03.500
we're at in the fire service. There is no need

00:55:03.500 --> 00:55:05.699
for any more studies or data. The recruitment

00:55:05.699 --> 00:55:10.159
shows what we're doing wrong. So go to the state

00:55:10.159 --> 00:55:11.920
of Florida, look at the 10 departments that are

00:55:11.920 --> 00:55:15.599
now switching to 2472, speak to Pasco County,

00:55:15.639 --> 00:55:18.079
speak to the city of Gainesville, speak to Destin

00:55:18.079 --> 00:55:20.960
and ask them, especially Boynton Beach, it's

00:55:20.960 --> 00:55:23.400
been a couple of years now, ask them what they've

00:55:23.400 --> 00:55:25.559
done to turn it around. And there's the solution.

00:55:25.739 --> 00:55:27.599
All you need to do now is apply it to your own

00:55:27.599 --> 00:55:31.719
department. Yes. All right. Well, as I said,

00:55:31.760 --> 00:55:34.099
closing questions. The first one I love to ask,

00:55:34.320 --> 00:55:36.780
is there a book or are there books that you love

00:55:36.780 --> 00:55:39.420
to recommend? It can be related to our discussion

00:55:39.420 --> 00:55:44.300
today or completely unrelated. Okay, I do. Actually,

00:55:44.480 --> 00:55:50.420
I just read this one because we are going through

00:55:50.420 --> 00:55:55.059
an autism diagnosis with my son. but I read this

00:55:55.059 --> 00:55:58.019
one book and it's about our gut health. All of

00:55:58.019 --> 00:55:59.880
our health starts in our gut. And I think we

00:55:59.880 --> 00:56:02.380
should all be more educated on it. So it's kind

00:56:02.380 --> 00:56:05.320
of gut and psychology syndrome. I grabbed it

00:56:05.320 --> 00:56:11.679
just. It's a great read for education and just,

00:56:11.780 --> 00:56:15.099
it doesn't even have to, you know, not doesn't

00:56:15.099 --> 00:56:17.880
even have to deal with the diagnosis, but I think

00:56:17.880 --> 00:56:20.659
learning about our gut health is. One of the

00:56:20.659 --> 00:56:23.219
things we should all be getting educated on.

00:56:24.579 --> 00:56:26.599
Absolutely. Well, two things. I know we're just

00:56:26.599 --> 00:56:28.260
talking to someone in my gym about this the other

00:56:28.260 --> 00:56:32.400
day. Vaginal birth, the child gets exposed to

00:56:32.400 --> 00:56:34.579
all the bacteria that it needs. And even supposedly

00:56:34.579 --> 00:56:37.639
the compression from a natural birth alters the

00:56:37.639 --> 00:56:39.739
bone structure and all those things. So then

00:56:39.739 --> 00:56:42.780
you have the C -Sec epidemic that we have now

00:56:42.780 --> 00:56:44.480
where people are scheduling their births rather

00:56:44.480 --> 00:56:46.679
than it just being used when it should be, when

00:56:46.679 --> 00:56:48.559
it's going to be dangerous for the baby if it's

00:56:48.559 --> 00:56:51.539
naturally born. But then you look at the data

00:56:51.539 --> 00:56:55.980
on the children of firefighters, and we have

00:56:55.980 --> 00:57:00.000
a higher rate of developmental diseases, all

00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:03.059
kinds of things, pediatric cancers. So going

00:57:03.059 --> 00:57:05.320
back to the conversation, not just of exposure

00:57:05.320 --> 00:57:08.360
to carcinogens, but the shift work, that has

00:57:08.360 --> 00:57:10.800
an impact even on our children. So these are

00:57:10.800 --> 00:57:12.659
all conversations that we need to have on all

00:57:12.659 --> 00:57:16.079
these other areas. How can we improve the overall

00:57:16.079 --> 00:57:19.789
health of our child and try and... minimize the

00:57:19.789 --> 00:57:21.849
chance of any kind of challenges that child would

00:57:21.849 --> 00:57:26.210
have. Yes, absolutely. All right. What about

00:57:26.210 --> 00:57:29.349
films, documentary, TV, any of those that you

00:57:29.349 --> 00:57:32.230
love? Oh, I can't think of anything off the top

00:57:32.230 --> 00:57:35.269
of my head. I haven't been into TV as much lately,

00:57:35.429 --> 00:57:39.869
to be honest. Sometimes I have like a show to

00:57:39.869 --> 00:57:44.289
zone out, nothing too important. But let me think.

00:57:44.329 --> 00:57:48.809
I just watched that. all her fault on Peacock.

00:57:48.889 --> 00:57:51.110
And that was super interesting. I loved that

00:57:51.110 --> 00:57:57.489
one. Good mystery. And then now let's just we'll

00:57:57.489 --> 00:58:00.570
stick with that because I yeah, I think TV and

00:58:00.570 --> 00:58:04.010
I have been not so close in the past few years,

00:58:04.030 --> 00:58:06.690
just too busy with everything else, but in also

00:58:06.690 --> 00:58:12.219
trying to read a bit more. But yeah. Brilliant.

00:58:12.219 --> 00:58:14.420
Absolutely. Yeah, I think this is the thing that

00:58:14.420 --> 00:58:16.300
the screen is amazing. And there's some phenomenal

00:58:16.300 --> 00:58:19.420
television out there. But I think that So many

00:58:19.420 --> 00:58:21.400
of us struggle to read again, even just from

00:58:21.400 --> 00:58:24.000
fatigue, but there's so much wisdom in books

00:58:24.000 --> 00:58:27.219
that I try and carve out time every morning now

00:58:27.219 --> 00:58:29.800
to read before I even look at a screen. So I

00:58:29.800 --> 00:58:31.139
think you're doing the right thing, not the wrong

00:58:31.139 --> 00:58:34.960
thing. Thanks. All right. Well, the next question,

00:58:35.219 --> 00:58:37.119
is there a person that you recommend to come

00:58:37.119 --> 00:58:40.280
on this podcast as a guest to speak to the first

00:58:40.280 --> 00:58:42.780
responders, military and associated professions

00:58:42.780 --> 00:58:48.320
of the world? I mean, I feel like we have I have

00:58:48.320 --> 00:58:52.539
a few. I do have a friend, Samantha Hamilton.

00:58:53.239 --> 00:58:57.420
She actually competed. She does it for fun. Her

00:58:57.420 --> 00:59:00.320
and her husband both on a fire department. Where

00:59:00.320 --> 00:59:05.469
are they? Colorado or they're down south. She

00:59:05.469 --> 00:59:09.309
does a lot of traveling and trying to integrate

00:59:09.309 --> 00:59:13.730
health and routine into retired firefighters.

00:59:13.969 --> 00:59:16.070
And she's also on the, like I said, on the job

00:59:16.070 --> 00:59:20.630
as well. I think she's somebody that would be

00:59:20.630 --> 00:59:25.570
a great choice to have on here. Fantastic. Yeah,

00:59:25.590 --> 00:59:29.039
our retirees. the forgotten generation. And it's

00:59:29.039 --> 00:59:30.820
so sad because we look at the stats and they

00:59:30.820 --> 00:59:33.440
say line of duty deaths were, you know, whatever,

00:59:33.619 --> 00:59:36.179
100 this year. And it's like, no, not even close.

00:59:36.940 --> 00:59:38.900
Because, you know, in the military, you'd have

00:59:38.900 --> 00:59:40.980
the VA that would count all of our veterans.

00:59:41.019 --> 00:59:43.239
That's what we're serving. And now we're out

00:59:43.239 --> 00:59:45.780
of service and still being tracked. And it's

00:59:45.780 --> 00:59:47.699
not perfect system, but it gives you an idea

00:59:47.699 --> 00:59:50.260
of the ripple effect of the health issues. I

00:59:50.260 --> 00:59:54.070
mean, look at the Hunter 7. foundation you know

00:59:54.070 --> 00:59:56.469
tracking all the cancers from the burn pits and

00:59:56.469 --> 00:59:57.849
all these other things you know most of those

00:59:57.849 --> 01:00:00.449
are veterans they're not active duty in the fire

01:00:00.449 --> 01:00:02.750
service we have nothing so once you walk out

01:00:02.750 --> 01:00:05.130
the back door for the last time you cease to

01:00:05.130 --> 01:00:07.070
exist you're not you're not a statistic anymore

01:00:07.070 --> 01:00:10.769
so i guarantee you that if you saw the stats

01:00:10.769 --> 01:00:13.650
of the mental and physical you know health issues

01:00:13.650 --> 01:00:16.309
and diseases and deaths it would be staggering

01:00:16.309 --> 01:00:18.760
it would be you know Tens, if not hundreds of

01:00:18.760 --> 01:00:20.719
times of what we're told are line of duty deaths

01:00:20.719 --> 01:00:22.780
of people dying prematurely from their service.

01:00:22.940 --> 01:00:25.559
So that's a great topic that we need to talk

01:00:25.559 --> 01:00:28.400
more about is how do we get people to transition

01:00:28.400 --> 01:00:31.400
into retirement as healthily as possible? Yes,

01:00:31.420 --> 01:00:34.219
she would be a great one for that. Brilliant.

01:00:34.360 --> 01:00:36.099
All right. Well, then the last question before

01:00:36.099 --> 01:00:38.559
we make sure everyone knows where to find you,

01:00:38.739 --> 01:00:44.039
what do you do to decompress? The gym is one

01:00:44.039 --> 01:00:50.820
of the big things. And then, like I said, I've

01:00:50.820 --> 01:00:53.619
been picking up reading when I can. I'm reading

01:00:53.619 --> 01:00:57.360
all, I feel like a little bit of everything right

01:00:57.360 --> 01:01:01.460
now, just on the history of our government, our

01:01:01.460 --> 01:01:05.420
country, and then our health and also the Bible.

01:01:05.519 --> 01:01:08.400
I've been trying to just pick up 10, 20 minutes

01:01:08.400 --> 01:01:13.630
of little, of everything every day. Brilliant.

01:01:13.630 --> 01:01:15.869
Yeah, I think our government needs to read the

01:01:15.869 --> 01:01:17.909
Bible again, remind themselves what Christianity

01:01:17.909 --> 01:01:19.730
is supposed to look like. That's a whole other

01:01:19.730 --> 01:01:24.449
conversation. Exactly. All right. Well, with

01:01:24.449 --> 01:01:26.670
that being said, for people listening, where

01:01:26.670 --> 01:01:30.550
are the best places to find you online? I have

01:01:30.550 --> 01:01:35.809
Instagram. I have Facebook, both Stephanie Waugh.

01:01:36.670 --> 01:01:38.949
You can probably find my husband out there before

01:01:38.949 --> 01:01:42.530
you find me, and then I'll be on his page. But

01:01:42.530 --> 01:01:46.130
yeah, I have Instagram, Facebook. My husband

01:01:46.130 --> 01:01:48.469
and I are actually going to be starting, we're

01:01:48.469 --> 01:01:50.349
starting to work on hopefully a podcast of our

01:01:50.349 --> 01:01:53.750
own because we did start a nonprofit raising

01:01:53.750 --> 01:01:55.789
money for veterans and first responder mental

01:01:55.789 --> 01:01:58.670
health. And we're going to hopefully grow that

01:01:58.670 --> 01:02:01.829
into a podcast of our own, trying to bridge the

01:02:01.829 --> 01:02:04.250
gap in between our first responders and citizens.

01:02:05.010 --> 01:02:08.440
Tell me more about the nonprofit. Oh, uh, I mean,

01:02:08.440 --> 01:02:12.079
we started it, uh, right after my husband won

01:02:12.079 --> 01:02:15.059
the world's strongest firefighter. He kind of

01:02:15.059 --> 01:02:19.420
wanted to bring that, um, more locally and, uh,

01:02:19.480 --> 01:02:23.719
get more people involved locally. And, uh, so

01:02:23.719 --> 01:02:27.820
we started that the first year we raised step

01:02:27.820 --> 01:02:30.780
five, five to 7 ,000, I think about, and then

01:02:30.780 --> 01:02:33.760
we had our second year this year. Um, we actually

01:02:33.760 --> 01:02:37.940
paired with our Jeep fest here in our, in Toledo

01:02:37.940 --> 01:02:44.019
and, um, we raise 12 ,000 this year. So, and

01:02:44.019 --> 01:02:46.880
now we have our own, um, we're going to have

01:02:46.880 --> 01:02:49.280
our own spot within the Jeep fest every year

01:02:49.280 --> 01:02:52.559
annually. Um, and actually have a couple other

01:02:52.559 --> 01:02:56.639
exciting things planned for that. Um, just right

01:02:56.639 --> 01:02:59.519
now we're running strongman events for it, raising

01:02:59.519 --> 01:03:03.980
the money. Um, and it's becoming a great success

01:03:03.980 --> 01:03:08.219
for us so uh we're excited about it brilliant

01:03:08.219 --> 01:03:10.239
and with the the funds that you raise what are

01:03:10.239 --> 01:03:12.619
you doing as far as helping the the veteran population

01:03:12.619 --> 01:03:15.840
so we actually so far we've actually just donated

01:03:15.840 --> 01:03:18.679
to other non -profits veterans for veterans and

01:03:18.679 --> 01:03:24.219
then um career for veterans i think it was um

01:03:24.219 --> 01:03:27.820
we have a Our friend Bill Kiefer, he has his

01:03:27.820 --> 01:03:30.800
own nonprofit helping veterans integrate into,

01:03:30.900 --> 01:03:38.639
again, society after retiring. And so that we

01:03:38.639 --> 01:03:41.639
just been donating the money to those nonprofits

01:03:41.639 --> 01:03:45.480
as well. Another one that we donated to was,

01:03:45.480 --> 01:03:48.139
like I said, or Veterans for Veterans is what

01:03:48.139 --> 01:03:52.869
it was. And what they do is. They are working

01:03:52.869 --> 01:03:56.610
on having kind of almost like an emergency for

01:03:56.610 --> 01:04:01.030
mental health locally right now. Some people,

01:04:01.230 --> 01:04:04.170
like a team of people who you can call that will

01:04:04.170 --> 01:04:06.010
come show up at your house when you're going

01:04:06.010 --> 01:04:09.070
through a mental health crisis. So just making

01:04:09.070 --> 01:04:12.329
those connections is what we're trying to do.

01:04:13.630 --> 01:04:16.159
Brilliant. Well, I want to thank you so much.

01:04:16.179 --> 01:04:17.860
It's been a really interesting conversation.

01:04:18.099 --> 01:04:20.139
You've got a very unique, you know, family dynamic

01:04:20.139 --> 01:04:24.719
between the two of you. And I think this is a

01:04:24.719 --> 01:04:27.380
conversation that we need to sustain is, you

01:04:27.380 --> 01:04:30.460
know, how can we make it? healthy across the

01:04:30.460 --> 01:04:32.599
board, whether you're a single young firefighter

01:04:32.599 --> 01:04:35.440
or whether you're, you know, a divorcee or, you

01:04:35.440 --> 01:04:37.280
know, you're a nuclear family, but, you know,

01:04:37.280 --> 01:04:38.900
you're still trying to maintain that time at

01:04:38.900 --> 01:04:41.980
home. I think all these areas need to be discussed

01:04:41.980 --> 01:04:44.539
and, you know, having the both of you on on your

01:04:44.539 --> 01:04:47.119
own episodes given a really unique kind of glimpse

01:04:47.119 --> 01:04:49.480
into that. So I want to thank you so much for

01:04:49.480 --> 01:04:51.960
being so generous with your time and coming on

01:04:51.960 --> 01:04:54.400
the Behind the Shield podcast today. Thank you

01:04:54.400 --> 01:04:55.579
so much for having me on.