Enduring The Badge

Send us a textThis episode great mix of the work done behind the scenes of wildland firefighting and the role and responsibility of a Forest Service Contracting Officer and Public Information Officer. Sierra has some great tips about fire safety in the forest and how each one of us can help take care of our public lands,Sierra has been with the Forest Service for 17 years. Her current position with the agency is Contracting Officer. She began working for the Forest Service in high school (work release) and all through college. While obtaining her college education, she worked various positions in the Forest Service including Public Affairs, Fire Prevention Officer, Fire Education (Smokey Bear education), Forest Visitor Center Supervisor, Nature Camp Director, and Fire Contracting Officer. She earned her Master’s Degree from the University of Utah in 2010 and began working permanently as a Fire Contracting Officer. Early in her career, she obtained her qualifications as a wildland firefighter, and currently wo

Send us a textWith more than 20 years in human services and public education, Dr. Paul "Paulie" Gavoni has effectively transferred research to practice through the application of evidenced-based strategies aimed at bringing out the best in children and adults. Recognized by many as an authentic leader, Dr. Gavoni has provided organizations and athletes with Deliberate Coaching focused on analyzing and developing behavior and performance management systems to positively impact targeted goals. An expert in human behavior, coaching, and organizational leadership, Dr. Gavoni has passionately and directly supported children and adults in a variety of environments such as businesses, private schools, group homes, secured facilities, day-treatment programs, alternative education facilities, and public schools. Within these settings, Dr. Gavoni has been fortunate enough to wear many hats including VP, COO, professor, counselor, professional developer, case manager, therapist, behavior analyst, project manag

Send us a textTrevor Williams is a Firefighter in Los Angeles who created the "Williams Key", a bypass tool for doors. He has a background as an international missionary and commercial carpenter. He shares his amazing story about being in Haiti in 2010 for the 7.2 magnitude earthquake. The skills and knowledge he learned from the LA County explore program made him a valuable asset to the community during the early days of the disaster. Links:www.williamskey.comwww.instagram.com/thewilliamskeywww.youtube.com/channel/UCgaGhHjr9VWge2UivBZiQjgwww.facebook.com/thewilliamskeyThe Williams Key is an emergency tool used by First Responders to gain quick access into buildings and houses. The purpose of the tool is to toggle the strike of a lock without doing damage to the lock, door or frame. It works well on Gates with anti-vandal plates, Elevator Control Rooms, Commercial Utility Doors and many other outward swinging metal and wood doors. There is also a heavy duty shove-knife built in to allow for the pier

Send us a textEarl Granville served nine years in the Army National Guard as an infantryman, with deployments to Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. On his final tour, he lost his left leg above the knee to a roadside bomb while on patrol. His teammates, Major Scott Hagerty of Stillwater Oklahoma and Specialist Derek Holland of Wind Gap Pennsylvania died from the blast.Earl now is pursuing his bachelors degree in Counseling & Human Services at the University of Scranton and works for many non profits such as Operation Enduring Warrior, The Oscar Mike Foundation and WarriorStrong. These 501c3s help keep wounded and disabled veterans and law enforcement physically active after their injuries.Earl spends most of his time traveling the country as a public speaker of discussing healthy ways to battle adversity from his own experiences and ideas, and after the passing of someone very close to him took their own life while they were serving on active duty back in 2010.He has received numerous awards for his volunteer

Send us a textTonya is the President of Responder Wipes and Florida PPE Services. Many years ago, while working for an architectural firm that specialized in designing public safety facilities, she became passionate about improving the health and wellness of first responders, specifically firefighters. She worked with researchers and chief officers in the fire service to develop specific design strategies for mitigating exposure to carcinogens and other toxins. Twice yearly she presented these strategies to fire chiefs across the country at a “Public Safety Facility Planning” seminar.After hearing story after story of firefighters being diagnosed with cancer, Tonya and a fire chief from Texas used this knowledge to start Responder Wipes. The company provides on-scene decontamination wipes and other personal care products to the first responder community.She has continued pursuing her passion for firefighter health and wellness by consulting with organizations such as “Healthy Firefighters–the Skellefteå Model

Send us a textMy name is Patrick O'Neill and I am 40 years old.  I have been married for close to 10 years to my wife Julie and have two children, Makena 7 and Harrison 5.  I am a Captain Paramedic with the Phoenix Fire Department and have been on the job for 16+ years.  I am currently at Engine 17 A shift and have been a captain at this station for over 5.5 years.I was born and raised in Arizona and to say the least, I had an interesting upbringing.  People often look at my upbringing and are amazed I am on the path I am.  My parents separated before I was 2 years old and I was primarily raised by my Mom until she died when I was 15 during a scuba diving incident.  She never remarried and I was her sole focus.  She worked 4-5 jobs most of the time and instilled in me a set of tools I would later use in life to navigate the difficult times to come.  My dad was a "ladies man" and was married a total of 5 times with my mom being No.3 on the list.  I grew up with some pretty nasty step moms that w

Send us a textI had my daughter Maddison Lund as my guest for this episode.  We had an amazing talk, it was very emotional and I learned so much from her and about her.  Unfortunately, all but a 10 minute time frame of the audio was lost.  After many, many hours of searching for the rest of the audio, I had no luck. I still felt like what I found needed to be heard by others.  Maddison is a powerful soul.  In this audio clip, she talks about social media and the addiction that most of our world has with it currently.  She talks about overcoming her addiction of social media and gaining back her freedom.  She also goes into some detail of genuine, honest love.  And how we all need to love our children, families, and even strangers, more deeply.  She talks about pride and how it isn't worth losing love for pride.  She talks about how we need to tell the people we love, more.  We need to tell them we love them even if we think they know.  I am grateful for the opportunity that I had to have Maddison on the

Send us a textGary Lund share's his story about showing up in another state to go to college with no job, $400 in his pocket and a strong faith in Jesus Christ. He joined the Air Force ROTC program that took him from feeling "small" to finishing his 20 year career as a very accomplished Lt. Colonel. He has spent the majority of his life serving others from a young missionary to a leader in the Air Force. His has great leadership advice and discusses why you should serve others. This is great advice no matter what career field you're in and how long you have been in it, and he will tell why it's not always time to lead, and there is a time where you need to be a follower. You don't always have to be at the tip of the sword but a time and place to be on the edge driving it forward.Instagram  www.instagram.com/jerryfireandfuel or www.instagram.com/enduringthebadgepodcast. I can also be reached at 801-376-7124 or email at enduringthebdage@gmail.com. Please feel free to give my inform

Send us a textGuest Eric Petrowski discusses why enlisting in the military service changed his life. He goes into detail about working in the Army drone program and what that looked like while being deployed in Afghanistan. His time in the Army helped him mature and gave him valuable training for life outside the military. Eric is a father of 5 and currently working in the private sector for a large corporation as a project manger for drone programs. Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a review were ever you listen to your podcast.  If you like the podcast please share the show and join the online community at www.instagram.com/enduringthebadgepodcast or I can also be reached at 801-376-7124 or email at enduringthebdage@gmail.com.--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/endurngthebadge/messageSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/endurngthebadge/supportAs a First Responder, you are critical in keeping our communities safe. However, the stress and trauma of the job can take a toll on your mental

Send us a textStacy Shotwell has lived in the Nashville area since 1998. She is currently in training for 911 Dispatcher at her local police department. Previously, she was an Operations Manager for 15 years at a non profit organization, Marriage Dynamics Institute. Stacy offers some marriage tips she learned while working with marriages in crisis. Marriage Dynamics Institute offers discount to First Responders for their 3 day program.  She will be completing her Master's degree in Criminal Justice Forensic Psychology by the end of 2020. In her limited free time, she enjoys SCUBA diving, photography, and playing with her 3 year old son. Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a review were ever you listen to your podcast.  If you like the podcast please share the show and join the online community at www.instagram.com/enduringthebadgepodcast or I can also be reached at 801-376-7124 or email at enduringthebdage@gmail.com.--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/endurngthebadge/messageSupport this

Send us a textDonna Brown spent 26 years with the Tallahassee (FL) PD and retired in 2006 as a sergeant. She received the department's award for bravery and the Inagural Commander and Chiefs Award. She graduated from Florida State University in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science in Criminology and she was hired at TPD in 1979. She was one of only 5 women at the time at the department. Donna worked patrol, was a Field Training Officer (FTO), worked in the Department's Training Unit, promoted to Sergeant from there, went back to the streets, and then became an FTO Sergeant. She later transferred to the Criminal Investigation Division where she spent 15 years. During that time she supervised the Property Unit, Sex Crimes Unit and the Homicide Unit (10 years). While supervising the Homicide Unit, she was also responsible for the Victim Advocate Unit and for 18 months, the Robbery Task Force (joint task force with TPD and their sister agency the Leon County Sheriff's Office). She was a certified State

Send us a textRebecca is a police wife of 13 years, writer, author and influencer. She also has a Master’s in Education and is a former Kindergarten teacher. Rebecca Lynn is the owner of Proud Police Wife, a website dedicated to providing support and resources to law enforcement families and author of The Peacemaker’s Wife: A journal for encouragement and reflection for police wives and girlfriends which is available on Amazon. Her second book, a devotional for the women behind the badge, will be out in mid-2021. She started Proud Police Wife to help fellow police wives and girlfriends navigate police wife life and feel less alone. When this journey started for her, she felt alone and she quickly watched this become a lifestyle that her non law enforcement families did not understand. For years, the idea of building a community for police wives/girlfriends was on her heart. She finally decided to take the leap four years ago and set out to provide support, resources and a community for the heart behind the ba

Send us a textMicah Booze has been fighting wildland fires for 15 years all over the U.S. and for the past five years he has been working as an assistant captain on a suppression module in Alaska where he lives with his family. He is a firm believer and practitioner of networking, and the art of it.You can find him and his fire photography on instagram @booze_and_fireHe also founded The Anti-Surface Shitting Movement aka The A.S.S. Movement in early 2020 to help with the Surface-Shitting and Tissue-Issue crisis on our Public Lands. The aim of the A.S.S. Movement is to spread awareness, education, and cleanup of this irresponsible act. He is currently working on an illustrated children's book to help educate the younger generations.You can find The A.S.S. Movement on Instagram @the_a_s_s_movementHis website  www.thefirewild.com has A.S.S. Movement and Poo Bear merchandise available which helps the cause Wild.Please  subscribe to the podcast and leave a review were ever you listen to your podcast.  If you

Send us a textSara Weston is a Senior Project Consultant for 911 Authority, LLC where she works with states and the National 911 Program to aid in the transition to Next Generation 911 technology.  She is the founder of 911der Women, Inc. (pronounced 9-1-wonder-women), a registered nonprofit corporation. She has worked in 911 for over 15 years and has traveled the country visiting 911 centers and getting to know our amazing 911 heroes. Through this work and experience, she has been inspired to found 911derWomen, a movement for uplifting, empowering and providing tools for women in 911.  You can find the 911derWomen group by searching for it by name on Facebook or follow @911derWomen on Instagram or Twitter.  You can find more information about our organization on our website at www.911derWomen.com and you can contact us at 911derWomen@gmail.com. Please  subscribe to the podcast and leave a review were ever you listen to your podcast.  If you like the podcast please share the show and join the online community

Send us a textJenna was born and raised in Brazil and moved to the US in 2004.  She shares her story of growing up in Brazil and how she was taught to never give up and to give everything her all.  She is a police wife and a Fire Captain in a small town in South Florida.  Her focus in life is to always be passionate about everything she is doing, never give up, and dream big!  Listen to this inspiring episode and let us know what you think! If your looking for some daily inspiration follow Jenna on www.instagram.com/superjenna82.Please  subscribe to the podcast and leave a review were ever you listen to your podcast.  If you like the podcast please share the show and join the online community at www.instagram.com/enduringthebadgepodcast or I can also be reached at 801-376-7124 or email at enduringthebdage@gmail.com.--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/endurngthebadge/messageSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/endurngthebadge/supportAs a First Responder, you are critical in keeping our communitie

Send us a textHear from the CEO Paul Clarke on what makes Fire Grounds Coffee more that a coffee company and why they have teamed up with a non profit foundation called Next Rung. Paul tells his personal story about struggles with mental health and why coffee plays an important role in dealing with it. As an added bonus Paul gives us a little education about the different types of roasted coffee beans and why they taste they way they do.Paul's idea came at 2 o'clock in the morning with sirens roaring and lights flashing as they arrived at a call riding the ambulance. It was the thirteenth call of the night, there was no sleep in sight, and only mediocre coffee waiting for them back at the station. They poised themselves for action and then someone interjected, “Someone should start a coffee company for first responders." His colleague quickly agreed, they unloaded and went on to their patient, and that was the end of the discussion.The idea followed founder, Paul Clarke, to Iraq where he deploy

Send us a textMy guest Mia Barron's goal in life is to inspire others. She is a helper at heart which made it only natural to pursue the career of a Police Officer at the age of 21. She is now a mother of twins, a former Police Officer for the past 11 years, and was featured on the TLC show "Police Women of Dallas." She has some amazing insight on what it takes to be a good Police Officer and build a bond with the community. You can find Mia on Facebook @AskALittleTellALittle, Instagram at @mia_shagena and her podcast Ask A Little, Tell A Little on any of the podcast platforms.Instagram  www.instagram.com/jerryfireandfuel or www.instagram.com/enduringthebadgepodcast. I can also be reached at 801-376-7124 or email at enduringthebdage@gmail.com. Please give my information to anyone that may need it or you anyone you would like be on the podcast. Please  subscribe to the podcast and leave a review were ever you listen to your podcast.  If you like the podcast please share the show and join the onl

Send us a textThis bonus episode is on technology that helps save time and save lives. Rapid Response Co. is a company that has developed a software for firefighters to find their hydrants before arrival on scene and that is just one feature! Listen to the Co-Founder and Digital Marketing Sales Manager explain just how this technology works. Bobby is a part of FDNY and Jimmy is a New York police officer and these two first responders know how and what it takes to save lives.  https://mailchi.mp/a9809697a67f/360responsefreetoday https://www.savetimesavelives.com/ https://twitter.com/rapidresco https://www.facebook.com/RapidResponseCo/ https://www.instagram.com/rapidresponseco/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJF4Vtxe7bum1PMDrF3_5RA Instagram  www.instagram.com/jerryfireandfuel or www.instagram.com/enduringthebadgepodcast. I can also be reached at 801-376-7124 or email at enduringthebdage@gmail.com. Please give my information to anyone that may need it or you anyone you would like be on the podcast. Please  su

Send us a textIan Palmer is a 4th generation firefighter and works at the Ridge Culver Fire Department in Irondequoit, New York. He also is an Air Force Veteran with two deployments to the Middle East. Ian had a wake up call about his physical fitness when his uncle passed away at a young age and Ian proceeded to lose 120 pounds in a very unhealthy way. His fitness journey has now come full circle to where he is today. He is a personal trainer, IAFF Peer Fitness Trainer, and the owner of Thin Line Fitness. Ian is a fitness instructor at the New York State Fire Academy where he lead the way bringing functional fitness to recruits, and a fitness instructor for Monroe County Firefighter Recruits. He has been a firefighter for a combined 12 years between volunteer and career. He strongly believes that good physical and mental fitness is the foundation to build a great firefighter.  Ian discusses why it is important to take physical fitness seriously throughout your career and  how it will help you get the most ou

Send us a textFirefighter/Paramedic Brooke Ames from Wisconsin is a rookie firefighter who came from the corporate world where she worked as a project manager for a Fortune 200 company. She spent 5 years as a volunteer firefighter and EMT where she lost over 100 lbs. Brooke uses a simplistic tool from the corporate world called DMAC, which stands for define, measure, analyze, and continues improvement. She continues to use this tool in here everyday life to achieve success both at work and home. She secured the required certifications, passed the CPAT and secured a full time job as a career firefighter/paramedic in South Central Wisconsin. Passionate about continuous improvement and evidence based problem solving, Brooke brings to life the simplicity of successful corporate tools and translates them into the symbolic 451 F link to implore others to be better than yesterday.  Brooke and her family reside in South Wayne, WI where she and her husband own a small farm. Brooke has a degree in Animal Science, is re