Send us Fan Mail “One thing I kind of regret doing, looking back now, is when everyone’s asking, 'Hey, are you good?' is saying, 'Yes, I’m fine.'” - Firefighter Brian When Firefighter Brian joined the fire service in July 2021, he was living his childhood dream — helping people, running calls, and finding family in the firehouse. But one clear, sunny day, a single call changed everything. Brian responded to a serious crash involving two teenagers. Despite the crew doing everything possible to...

Send us Fan Mail **Listener Note: This podcast was recorded in November 2023, and as it happens, there have been changes in Chief Ashley's career. This podcast is in no way representative of those changes.** "It’s not coming in with a chip on your shoulder and feeling like you have to prove something. It’s not being something that you’re not. It's really accepting who you are, what you bring to the table, and proving that every day through good customer service, and exceptional skills... and ...

Send us Fan Mail "And I looked at my Lieutenant and the time and I said, 'How is this so normal? Like, we’re that desensitized to this. There's a human life on the other end of that headline—somebody that we share this career with—and we just don’t care.' And he goes, 'Yeah man, welcome to the fire service. It comes with the territory—just part of the job.' And that statement, that sentence, is the part that I reject." &nbsp...

Send us Fan Mail "Life leads you in directions you never expect." – CEO Jillian Crane In the wake of 9/11, more than 800 children lost a first responder parent. From that unimaginable loss came a mission of hope – the First Responders Children’s Foundation. What began as executive Al Kahn’s simple idea—to give those first responder families a Thanksgiving together—has grown into a national movement of compassion, education, and unity. In this episode, we sit down with Jillian Crane, CEO of th...

Send us Fan Mail “You know, I went from one of the most hated professions in the country right now – being a police officer – to the second most hated which is being a porn star. And how dare I work in the sex industry? So luckily, I was prepared for it in that aspect – I know what it’s like to not be liked for what I do.” - Lieutenant Bella Lexi From the moment she saw an episode of COPS at 14, Lieutenant Bella knew exactly what she wanted to be. And for nearly three decades she lived ...

Send us Fan Mail “Let’s not mince words: no matter what, as a first responder you may not be having trauma in your personal life, but you are part of everybody else’s trauma that you respond to.” – Captain Heather Every call starts the same way — the radio crackles, the adrenaline kicks in, and instinct takes over. But what happens at the end of the shift when the uniform comes off? When the person behind the badge carries the weight of trauma, leadership, and survival at home? On this episod...

Send us Fan Mail “I never reported the things that were happening to me. I wanted so bad for people to respect me as a deputy sheriff, as an operator, as a narcotics investigator, and I realized that it was just not gonna happen.” – Former Deputy Bridget. Serving as a law enforcement officer inherently brings its own set of challenges and, for the 13 percent of full-time law enforcement officers who are female, those challenges can multiply quickly. As Bridget found, both men and women affec...

Send us Fan Mail “I made the conscious decision that I wanted to put my family first, and that is – it’s so important in our profession that you do that, because you need to give your best at home and, you know, do your best to leave work at work, because your family at home needs you. When people said, ‘Oh, you’re crazy! You’re leaving all that money on the table – you’re leaving all that!’ I said, ‘You know what, I never had it. […] I’m taking a sure thing right now so I can go home and be ...

Send us Fan Mail “And the instant thought I had was, ‘I hope we don’t have catastrophic injuries. I hope we don’t have any deaths, because we are now on an island. The people to the west of us are being hit by this, people to the east of us are gonna be hit by this. To the south, to the north - they’re all being hit by this. We are on our own.’” – Coordinator Mindy It’s been three years since the derecho swept through Iowa and, although the days following have since become a blur, Mindy vivi...

Send us Fan Mail “It was a hard pill to swallow. And […] it was one of these deals that if you was gonna retire, you know, you got that retirement date, you go have your little retirement party and everybody pats you on the back. You get that proverbial gold watch and everything, you know, ‘Good job!’ and, you know, ‘Enjoy your retirement.’ And, like I say, I walked in the door […] that day and people never seen me again. I never walked back in the door.” – CO Wayne It wasn’t Wayne’s plan to ...