The Fire You Carry

In this week's episode, we are joined by Trevor Graves! Trevor came to us with an episode idea, and we quickly roped him into coming on the show to talk about it. The idea from this episode came from a hair-raising experience that Trevor had, along with something he learned in a CCW class he attended that got him looking at the world differently than he consciously had before. The concept of...

In this week's episode, Nole shares a personal and somewhat embarrassing story from a time in his life when he put too much of his faith and belief in a man, a man who ended up failing him, at least in his perspective. Where else do we tend to do this in life? What is the right thing to do? Where should we be putting our faith? We delve into all of that in this episode. Thank you for being a...

In this week's episode, Nole sits down with Captain Michael Knobbe. If you're a long-time listener to the podcast, you know Michael from episode number 2, along with a couple of others where he guest hosted with us. Today, we're getting into why Michael chose to move his family out of Southern California to Idaho and the pros and cons that go along with that. We also discuss a prett...

This is episode 200, a big milestone for us! Join us as we reflect on the last four years of this podcast, you guys have made it worth the time and effort and we can't thank you enough. Big thank you to My Epic and Facedown Records for the use of their song "Hail" in our podcast! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz2RZThURTU&ab_channel=FacedownRecords Sign up for a class at The Fi...

Join us in the following challenge! -200 box step-ups every day for 30 days. -Starting on November 1st (or whatever day you listen to this) -The minimum standard is 200 step-ups; you pick the height you can do. -The prescribed standard is 200 step-ups with 45# of weight on your body and a 20" box height. -Scale this however you need to, less weight, shorter box, more weight, taller box, whate...

In this week's episode, Kevin gets personal about something he's been struggling with, how it came to his attention, and what he's doing about it. We all need to have corner men in our lives to help us when we're going through the fights of life, and this is an excellent example of what that could look like. The storms or fights in life are not always obvious to those going thr...

In this week's episode, we're talking through 5 ways to affirm your children without creating a spoiled child that's intolerable to be around and unable to operate in society. These points come to us from a great email Kevin received from Men in the Arena and it contains great points that both of us learned from, so we know you will too. Big thank you to My Epic and Facedown Records...

It might be time to start saying no. It might be time to take a break. Yes, you are tough; yes, you can do more, help more, show up more, but should you? At what point are you doing too much and sacrificing in the areas that you claim to be the most important?  Big thank you to My Epic and Facedown Records for the use of their song "Hail" in our podcast! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D...

In this week's episode, Kevin and Nole delve into the phenomenon of the false summit. Many of us have encountered this during our adventures out in the wilds, and like many things we come in contact with in the physical world, it contains some poignant life lessons. We also dig into using these principles as training tools by working through ways to harden your resilience and build your menta...

In this week's episode, we discuss the movie "Nefarious" and the demonic influence in our world. We also get into what make "home", home. We've got a handful of uplifting stories and a unique call to action for you that we hope you can help us out with. We love you guys; keep carrying the fire. Big thank you to My Epic and Facedown Records for the use of their song &q...

In this week's episode, we are talking about the detrimental effects of ineffective or nonexistent communication down the chain of command. In the large organization we work for, there often seems to be a lack of communication as to why things are done, what the mission is, or the reasons behind it; we have found this to be very detrimental for a whole host of reasons. We also tie this into c...

In this week's episode, we are joined by Captian Ben Vernon of San Diego City Fire. During a routine medical call, Ben and one of his fellow firefighters found themselves fighting for their lives and wound up getting stabbed multiple times. Ben takes us through that harrowing experience and then details how it dramatically changed his life, almost ending it. This riveting episode contains gra...

In this week's episode, Kevin and Nole discuss some of the cons and costs associated with being firemen. They endeavor to answer, "Would you still sign up if you knew what you know now about the job?". While the main topic here is the difficulties our department and so many others are experiencing, we know that guys in the "civilian" world will also be able to relate to mo...

The world has sold us on the idea that we deserve to be comfortable at every moment. The world is wrong. Embracing that idea is keeping us mediocre; it's keeping us stuck. It's keeping us from growing. We need to step up as men and put in the hard work to do the right thing instead of the expedient thing. We need to embrace suffering and discomfort because that is where we grow and begin...

In this week's episode, Nole talks about stolen valor. This is an issue that has emerged on the national political stage and while we don't really do current events this is an issue that falls in line with our mission here at The Fire You Carry. For those in the civilian world, this episode should be helpful for you to better understand what stolen valor means and what you can or should...

In this week's episode, we are joined by our good friend Scott Henderson. Scott is a firefighter paramedic with Pasadena Fire, a husband, and a father. He joins us today to talk about The Battle for Mental Health, a boxing event fundraiser that he started in 2019 to raise money for our friends over at Next Rung. With this year's event coming up in October and some exciting challenges on...

This week's episode features our friend and fellow podcaster, Mike Yarbrough. Mike is the host of the Wolf and Iron podcast and founder of Rustic and Main. He has been in the space of masculinity and developing men for a decade; in this episode, we get into why he was thinking about moving on from that mission and what compelled him to stay in the fight. As usual, Mike also has a lot of other...

In this week's episode, Kevin and Nole dig into our thoughts on humility. Humility is a good personality trait and something we aspire to, but can it be taken too far? Are we holding ourselves back and limiting our impact for good on those around us out of a misguided idea that being humble means never personally recognizing the things we are good at? Big thank you to My Epic and Facedown Rec...

In this episode, Nole goes solo to talk through some of the lessons he has picked up along the way after the deaths of two of his and his wife's sons. This episode was recorded close to the 19-year anniversary of the loss of their first son and is something that Nole has felt called to record for years, only recently finding the courage and motivation to do so. While the lessons here stem fro...

In this week's episode, Kevin and Nole delve into perfectionism. It's a trait that so many of us are burdened with, but is it a positive one that helps us achieve our goals at the highest level, or does it hinder us? We would love to hear from you on this one. Are you aware of a desire for perfection in your own life? If so, how does that play out for you? Follow the link in the show not...

In this week's episode, we are joined by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman. Rather than tell you who he is, we recommend you go to his website, read his bio, and come back here. Link here. https://www.grossmanacademy.com/about-the-colonel In our time with the Lt. Col., we go into the importance of having a fire in your belly and combine that with preparation, told through some great stories that Lt. Col...

Ask and you shall recieve. After last week's episode, you had questions. What do Nole and Kevin actually think about psychedelics and hallucinogens? This episode is us endevoring to explore that topic with you, from our perspectives. We think this is something that is important to talk about since it's so prevalent in the mental health, PTSd space and we enjoyed digging deeper into it he...

In this week's episode, Kevin is joined by Jon Vargas of Grablives podcast. Jon is an L.A. City fireman and podcaster who started his journey into podcasting due to multiple suicides in his department and the way they were handled. As Kevin gets deeper into Jon's story, they get into some of the past trauma and physical injuries that plagued Jon early in his career as a firefighter and h...

In this week's episode, Kevin and Nole are joined once again by John Estrada. John last came on our show back on episode 40 to talk about fatherhood, and we had an excellent conversation on the subject. Today John is back to talk about his sobriety. He stopped drinking back in October and together we walk through the difficulties, the benefits and the mindset behind the decision. Regardless o...

In this week's episode, Nole shares his recent struggles with Post Traumatic Stress and his failure to deal with it in the ways he knows work. Kevin also shares his perspective on dealing with similar struggles, and we delve into what we know works when dealing with difficult times in our lives. Often, there is a separation between what we know we should do and what we actually do. Nole has b...