The Fire You Carry

In this episode, we have the return of Kevin & Nole, sans guest! We love guests but this week we felt it would be good to talk to those of you in the audience that may be facing the reality of being fired in the near future. While we do not get political on this podcast we did want to share some of our thoughts on how to look at the current challenge that so many are facing right now and give...

In this episode, we sit down with Juan Huizar. Juan's family is originally from Mexico, they made the move to the Central Valley of California when Juan was 4. Juan grew up with hard-working role models from his parents and began learning the benefits of that hard work at age 9 when he started picking garlic in the fields. He worked hard in school, got involved in wrestling, and carried on th...

In this episode, we are joined once again by John Schaefer who was last with us on episode 39. This conversation hinges on John's lifelong pursuit of being Chief of Police, which he eventually attained and then subsequently lost. John is candid about the sacrifices made to obtain the career he had and the impact getting and then losing the position had on his family and himself. He also talks...

In this week's episode with Justin Lakin we talk about growing up in difficult circumstances and overcoming the negative mindsets that come out of that. Justin served in the Green Berets for 8 years, has been a contractor overseas, worked in the oil industry and in fiance. He currently works as CEO of TK Operations, which is the company that manages all of Tim Kennedy's companies and par...

Do not miss the last 20 minutes of this episode. The whole thing is worth your time but that last 20 minutes really hits home. In this episode, we finish up Jason's story of his epic bike ride across the nation to honor the 343 firemen that gave their lives on 9/11. We talk about what he learned and how the journey impacted him. We also get into some of the things that we've lost as a na...

As we are getting ready to mark the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks on 9/11 we thought it would be timely to sit down with Jason Teter, L.A. City fireman. On the 10th anniversary, Jason rode his bike from Los Angeles to New York to honor those 343 firemen who lost their lives that day.  This is part one of two and in it, Jason talks about why he chose to go on this adventure, the planning o...

In this episode, we have Viet Nguyen. Viet is a Deputy Attorney General who has represented the People of the State of California in the United States Supreme Court, California Supreme Court, and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  In 2020, he received the AG Award for Sustained Commitment to Diversity for his work with the law clerk program.  He is married to Carie, a teacher.  They have two childre...

In this episode, we are again talking with Tim Kennedy. Tim has been a fighter in the UFC, he is a black belt in Brazillian Jui Jitsu, a Master Sergeant in the Green Berets, a sniper, TV host, husband and father. Tim is currently launching Apogee Cedar Park, an elementary school that he describes as "disruptive", that will use teaching methods base in the Socratic method. We discuss why...

In this episode, we talk with Dave Roberts. Dave came on with Nole and has been a paramedic on the squad for most of that time. Dave is a very positive guy and it's infectious. His life, however, has not always been easy and in this conversation, you will hear how he and his family dealt with his son being hit by a car during his first year on the job. At the time Dave was told his son would...

In this episode, we are talking to Stu White. Stu is the founder of Kiwi Gyms where he trains top-level athletes including 3 surfers who are currently competing in the Olympics. Stu grew up on a farm in New Zealand, played Rugby through college, and came to America to launch his business. Stu has a great deal of experience training athletes from many different sports and his perspective on long-te...

In this episode, we are talking with Nole's good friend Frank. Frank served 10 years in the United States Army as an MP and is now wrapping up the rest of his career in law enforcement. We talk about the effect his job has had on both him and his family. We go into how he deals with post-traumatic stress and sleep deprivation and the unique way he looks at the "bad guys" who he is t...

We recently flew out to Texas to spend a couple of days with Tim and record this episode. Nole has been friends with Tim for the past 3 years and brought his wife Heather along to meet Tim and his family.  Tim was kind enough to open his home to us and include Kevin and I in his workouts the mornings that we were there. In this wide-ranging episode Tim shares some of his war stories with us, we ta...

In this episode, we are talking with Dave Tebo. Dave spent his youth on the ice playing hockey but when his dreams of the NHL didn't look realistic and with 9/11 in the news, he decided to join the military. He went the firefighter route and spent time deployed overseas with the Air Force as a Firefighter. He then continued his journey in the fire service joining Los Angeles County eventually...

In this episode, we have the return of Jeff Lilley from episode 9. Jeff is a pastor at Fullerton Free Church and among many other things, Nole's dad. We brought Jeff back specifically to talk about the age-old question, "why do bad things happen to good people?". With the recent tragedy in our department, we felt it would be a good time to explore some of the deeper and more difficu...

In this episode, we have the return of Landon Patterson from episode 13. Landon came back specifically to talk about leadership and we do just that. We talk about some of the different types of leadership, both good and bad, and how to implement the good in your life wherever you are. We also talk about leading your children, specifically leading daughters as a father. Toward the end of the episod...

In this episode, Kevin and I break down what the phrase "best job I ever had" means to us, along with what it does not mean and why it motivates us to be better. We also talk about a few other phrases that have been meaningful or motivating in our lives and why we think you should have some phrases of your own that can help guide and motivate you when life gets complicated or difficult....

In this episode, we are talking to Max Kayes. Max is both Kevin and Nole's life coach and a good friend. This is a wide-ranging conversation with a lot of good takeaways for people from all walks of life. We cover Max's morning and evening routines, how the covid shutdowns affected his practice, being present, some really good marriage advice that has helped both Nole and Kevin be better...

This is a special episode specifically for our brothers in LACoFD. For this episode, we have teamed up with Rich Zuniga of Talkin Outta My Stash Podcast.  With the recent tragedy in our department as a catalyst and with everything else leading up to that we decided to sit down together and share some of the things that we think can be helpful to guys in our department not only to hopefully keep an...

John Estrada is one of Kevin's cousins and is a man that Kevin looks up to as a great example of what a father should be. In this episode, we talk about how he became the father that he is today despite not having a father in his own life. How the strong women in his life raised him and helped shape him into the man he is today. John shares some of his experience working hard for years before...

With 38 years in law enforcement that culminated with time served as the Chief of Police in the cities of Placentia and San Marino John has a great deal of life experience to draw from. In addition to that he also became the City Manager of San Marino and now serves as one of the Shepards at EV Free Church in Fullerton. More important than all of that though is his faith, his long-standing marriag...

In this episode Kevin and I sit down with our good friend Mike Desena. Mike is a combat veteran who was deployed 9 times before being wounded by and IED. Those wounds changed Mike's life and while working through his own unique struggles related to the injuries and time overseas he realized that his calling was to become a clinical therapist himself and use his experience to help others. Mike...

In this episode Kevin and I break down a little bit of how we got to the place we are now with fitness. We break down how we work out and why, how many rest days we have and what that means for us, along with how we eat most days and what an average day at the station looks like. If you've got questions (or concerns) we would love to talk to you, (unless you want to talk to Nole about eating...

Jeremy Stalnecker sits down with us and shares some great life lessons that he has learned coming from his background as an infantry platoon commander in the Marines, the experiences he had in combat, and his time serving as a pastor and now as the CEO of The Mighty Oaks Foundation. Jeremy is the author and co-author of multiple books including March or Die and Leadership By Design. He also hosts...

In this weeks episode we talk about Nole's choice to carry a firearm concealed everyday, what that is like in practice and what you should know before you decide to do it yourself. We also talk about  the reasons our views on carrying a firearm or having one in the home for self defense are so different. Kevin shares a story of a break in that happened at his home while he was away at work. N...

This episode is about integrity. Both Kevin and Nole share stories from their pasts where they were lacking in it and how they work to be men of integrity now and why that is important. Nole shares a story about how he acquired the hood that Saddam wore after his capture in 2003. Kevin shares his story about how he "stole" from the bank that he later went on to work for and how he worked...