In this episode, host Lorie Jones welcomes Kate Seybold, an inspiring lieutenant with the Clear Creek Fire Authority, whose unconventional journey is a testament to following your passion. Kate candidly shares her experience of walking away from a stable career in architecture, despite family expectations and a master’s degree, to pursue a calling in emergency services. You will hear about the courage it takes to make bold career moves, the importance of trusting your instincts, and how embracing risk can lead to a truly fulfilling life.
Kate also opens up about building confidence, breaking barriers in a male-dominated field, and the power of finding supportive mentors and allies along the way. Her story is filled with practical wisdom for women looking to shape their own unique paths.
Whether you’re thinking about a career pivot or just need some inspiration to trust your gut and follow your passion, this conversation will inspire you to pursue what lights you up.
Show Highlights:
- Kate Seybold’s inspired journey to firefighting from architecture. [04:15]
- Navigating family influences when making career choices. [06:33]
- Test interest and make future-focused pivotal investments in a career switch. [08:23]
- Why leaving an unfulfilling path early matters. [11:01]
- How can you determine the ideal career for yourself? [12:12]
- Learning to lean into your instincts over external voices. [14:25]
- What a firefighter/EMT’s work entails and wildland mitigation. [19:55]
- The importance of having an encouraging support system. [21:29]
- Should you balance dual careers before a full career change? [25:28]
- The surprising truth about support for women in firefighting. [26:36]
Get in touch with Kate Seybold at Seybo012@gmail.com.
If you enjoyed this episode, please go to Apple Podcasts and leave a review!
For more information about Lorie Jones, go to https://fearlessfinancialadvisors.com/fearless-females.
00:00.69
Lorie Jones
Good morning, fearless females. Thank you so much for joining us today. Today, going to give it just a minute because my computer went off for some reason. Good morning, fearless females. Thank you so much for joining us today. Today we have Kate Siebold.
00:17.55
Lorie Jones
She is a lieutenant with the Clear Creek Fire Authority. And I’m so excited that you’ve joined us today. Thank you so much, Kate.
00:24.76
Kate
Yeah, thank you for having me.
00:26.92
Lorie Jones
So my very first question is always, I’m a reader. I love reading. Tell me what your favorite book is.
00:33.42
Kate
ah have a lot of favorites, but I think my favorite right now, it’s called Rock, Paper, Scissors. by Alice Feeney.
00:41.38
Lorie Jones
Okay.
00:41.66
Kate
it It’s kind of, i don’t I don’t want to give it away because there’s a lot of, but it’s it’s a type of book that has a lot of plot twists and you’re you’re reading it and then you think you know what’s going on.
00:41.70
Lorie Jones
What’s that about?
00:46.20
Lorie Jones
Okay.
00:53.76
Kate
And then all of a sudden, like halfway through or three quarters through, it just completely turns on you. And it’s more of a thriller.
01:00.71
Lorie Jones
Oh, that’s cool.
01:01.75
Kate
Yeah,
01:01.81
Lorie Jones
That sounds kind of fun. That sounds like a great beach read, huh?
01:03.25
Kate
it’s good. Yes.
01:08.13
Lorie Jones
Well, that’s cool. um Yeah, I love reading too. I’ve got like a, ah just a stack and it just gets bigger every time I ask this question because everyone’s like, oh, I can’t choose just one. Let me give you four.
01:21.12
Lorie Jones
So tell me a little bit about your journey, Kate. How did you get where you are today? Like, um you know, where did you get started? Kind of what do you do? Tell us a little bit about you.
01:31.08
Kate
So i actually was in architecture. and went to school for architecture. I got my master’s in architecture and I just never felt very fulfilled.
01:42.03
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
01:42.46
Kate
And I just, it didn’t really seem like it was for me, but then I kind of thought, well, I’ve already done it. So might as well keep sticking it out. And one summer, I think it was the summer of 2019, I decided to go get my EMT and I went to night school after work.
02:00.48
Kate
And it was kind of that turning point of like, if I like this, then I’ll keep pursuing this or I’ll stay in architecture. And I ended up interviewing with, after I got my EMT, I interviewed with the Loveland Ski Patrol and they offered me a job within like a week.
02:16.94
Kate
And so I had to pretty much decide if I was gonna stay in architecture or if I was gonna go be Ski Patrol and I decided to do Ski Patrol and that that was kind of where it all started.
02:29.32
Lorie Jones
How did you get from ski patrol? Because you’re youre you work with the fire station now, right? do you?
02:35.13
Kate
Yeah, so I still work part time with them with s ski patrol. And then I work full time with the fire department. I met some people in the town I was living in that were volunteers with the fire department.
02:49.29
Kate
And I knew I kind of always wanted to go that path. And so I started volunteering. I volunteered for about two and a half years and then was offered full time position.
03:01.79
Lorie Jones
Wow. So ah do you, did you have to go through, do you have to go to fireman school to be a firefighter?
03:07.88
Kate
So I did, i went through our fire department, did like an in-house academy. And so I was able to get my entry level certs.
03:18.85
Kate
And then it’s kind of one of those things that you’re just constantly learning and constantly taking tests. So even to this day, like I’m still, I’ll still go to classes um to get different certifications.
03:26.55
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
03:33.84
Lorie Jones
So architecture to EMT to firefighter is like, that’s like a huge disconnect. What did you always want to be an architect? Like what, what, it feels like maybe you were in the wrong field. How did you get in the wrong field?
03:49.80
Kate
I honestly think i my family is full of doctors. And so there’s always like this pressure of you have to know what you’re going to do in the future. And it has to be like fulfilling and you have to provide financially. And i always was really good at math, but I was stubborn in the sense that, well, I didn’t want to become a doctor because everyone else in my family was in the medical field.
04:14.42
Kate
And so I kind of just did a complete 180. I initially was my freshman year of college, I was in school for physical therapy and pre-med. And then I transferred, went to a different school and started in their architecture program.
04:30.89
Lorie Jones
hmm. That’s kind of fun. And architecture is like drawing. so that’s really different from um the numbers or or the medicine. That’s.
04:41.11
Kate
Yeah. this is
04:43.02
Lorie Jones
Yeah. it’s So deep are you still invited to family reunions, even though you’re not a doctor?
04:48.64
Kate
Yes, I think it was a when i quit and went to do ski patrol, there was definitely a growing period with me and my parents because they’re like, oh, you’re just becoming a ski bum.
05:03.44
Kate
But I think now, especially too with doing the fire stuff, um they they see how happy it makes me and how much happier I am.
05:10.80
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I am. I come from a family full of engineers. There’s literally everybody in my family but me is an engineer. And um and so I understand like like kind of not going into the same field that everyone else is.
05:25.39
Lorie Jones
It’s it’s hard sometimes. So tell me a little bit about the best investment that you made in yourself. Is there something that you can kind of look back at and be like, oh, my gosh, I don’t think I would be where I’m at today if I hadn’t done that.
05:42.67
Kate
I think, honestly, it was going to EMT school. i was just so uncertain. i wasn’t very happy ah in my job. i had actually moved up to the mountains in Colorado and worked with an architecture firm thinking like, oh, maybe I just need to be outside more. and i was just working all the time. And I didn’t even really have time to go do the things that I loved.
06:09.17
Kate
And so making that decision to go to EMT school, it was kind of like, okay, worst that comes out of this, I have like a medical certification and i can still continue in my career.
06:20.47
Kate
and then the best thing that would come out of it is I realized like, this is actually what I truly love doing. And as much as it was not, it was not very fun having to go straight from work to class.
06:32.84
Kate
and spending most of my weekends in clinicals. But I think that was the best decision I could have made for myself.
06:40.91
Lorie Jones
I love too how you like you, you kind of chose to do it. You, you didn’t, you didn’t just make that leap and do it. but You’re like, okay I’m an EMT now I’m going to go to EMT school and forget my career.
06:54.15
Lorie Jones
What you did is you like got the training to see if it fit better at the same time. You just put a few more hours in.
07:00.70
Kate
Mm-hmm.
07:04.30
Kate
Yeah, and I worked remotely about, was pretty much up until COVID when everyone kind of got their jobs cut. But I worked, when I was still working as an EMT and ski patroller, I did a lot of remote work for my firm, just kind of as this like safety buffer.
07:24.61
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm. To kind of decide, really, truly decide and be like, OK, yeah, this fulfills me. This this fills my bucket and I can probably afford to pay my bills doing it right.
07:36.77
Kate
Yes.
07:38.09
Lorie Jones
ah So yeah so you did you work? um Did you work after hours to like like like how long is EMT school? Is it like four hours a night or eight hours a night?
07:49.49
Kate
It was, so mine was an accelerated program and it was during, it was during the summer. It started in May. I think it ended in August and it was two nights a week for about three to four hours. And then every other Saturday.
08:07.58
Lorie Jones
Cool. That’s neat. So it took a lot of effort, but you, um you found your passion, right?
08:14.05
Kate
Yeah.
08:15.88
Lorie Jones
What is Kate? What is the worst advice you have ever been given? um did somebody give you some really bad advice? Did you take it? Did you not listen to it? Like you, you must’ve had some bad advice.
08:28.72
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
08:29.08
Kate
I think probably the worst. advice I ever got was, i mean, it was just from a lot of like friends and family members that when I was in architecture school, i could sense that it wasn’t, I wasn’t super passionate about it. And I wasn’t where some of my other classmates were at.
08:47.09
Kate
And, but everyone would just keep saying like, you’ve made it this far, like, just keep going, you’re going to graduate, and then you’ll find a job, and it’s going to be so much different. Just keep pushing. And so I think in my head, I always thought,
09:00.33
Kate
okay, well, I’ve already done all of this work. I’ve already invested all this time in this career. ah have to do it. And I wish I would have started earlier.
09:11.90
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm. Mm hmm. And and just said it just said this isn’t for me. This this job path isn’t for me.
09:22.27
Kate
Yeah, I think I kind of always had this idea of, well, it’s work. Like work isn’t always… very fun or very fulfilling. And once I realized that it can be, that was a big shift.
09:34.85
Lorie Jones
How did you know you wanted to go into um like EMT? like Like, what was drawing you there? Like, how did you know that was your path?
09:46.88
Kate
I think I always just, I like, it’s such a, it’s such a cliche answer to say, I want to help people and because you know, you can help people in any career that you’re doing. But I wanted to do, i just felt like I wanted to do something more.
10:02.05
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
10:02.35
Kate
And um a big thing that happened when I was living where I was at the time in 2019 is we actually had a wildfire and we had to get evacuated from our house.
10:13.65
Kate
And I felt, you feel really small when something like that happens and there’s nothing you can do and you just have to wait. And I remember seeing all the firefighters like working day in, day out to make sure none of our houses got destroyed. And i I just, when I went back to work, I felt like there was something missing.
10:36.94
Kate
And I just felt like watching them do that and make such an impact, that was something I wanted to do.
10:47.77
Lorie Jones
That’s so interesting. And it does kind of touch on the medical field too, right? So you’re not totally out of place at family reunions because you’ve got that EMT training, you’ve got that emergency response and that, um, and that, uh,
10:55.85
Kate
yeah is
11:05.08
Lorie Jones
that kind of first responder sort of training in there. So what about regrets?
11:09.64
Kate
Yeah.
11:14.23
Lorie Jones
What about, is there a situation that you kind of, and and maybe it’s just that you wish you would have started earlier, but is there something that you can kind of look back on your your journey and say, gosh, if i knew then what I know now, I would have done that completely differently.
11:30.14
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
11:31.69
Kate
I think my biggest regrets are just that I wish I had more confidence and trust in myself to take those risks. especially back in my 20s. It was like the biggest thing in the world if you did this, whereas now, you know, being a little bit older, it’s like, okay, that’s not really that big of a deal. And sometimes you just have to like take that leap.
11:51.13
Kate
And i just wish I had the confidence that I have now back when I was starting my career.
12:01.66
Lorie Jones
is there Is there a way you could have gotten the confidence? Like, is it, is it, is there any other way you can think of than just kind of going through it?
12:12.47
Kate
I think it’s just, I think it was maybe if I listened a little less to the people around me, because, you know, you think those are the people who know best and your bosses, like they know best.
12:24.78
Kate
And I think if I would have trusted my instincts more that this isn’t what’s going to make me happy for the rest of my life, it would have been easier to to let go. And I, it’s, it’s hard because I think that there was a lot of,
12:39.59
Kate
things that happened in my life during that period that I think were really significant that kind of got me to where I am now.
12:47.91
Kate
So I don’t, I don’t necessarily regret it, but I also just wish I had that confidence.
12:53.63
Lorie Jones
hmm. Mm hmm. and there is that sense of like that, kind of that inner strength, or you make people call it your gut instinct or something like that, that sometimes you can tell that things aren’t going to you’re there’s just something telling you that this isn’t the right path for you. You need to go a different path. But a lot of times when you’re younger, you do listen to the voices around you.
13:17.93
Lorie Jones
And I’m a mom. Like I tell my kids to, know, make sure that you have a career that can earn money so that you you have a future and stuff like that.
13:29.30
Lorie Jones
um And it’s probably pretty hard to ignore all the people that care about you, that you’ve listened to your whole life. and, and kind of take a different path.
13:43.80
Kate
Yeah, it’s, again, i’m I’m happy I’m where I’m at. And I wouldn’t be here without the obstacles I went through. But I just wish that I trusted that it wasn’t, wasn’t right for me. And that I know, ah was always scared to change.
13:59.40
Kate
Because again, I have invested all this time I’ve, I was good at what I was doing. And so I was also afraid that if I just went into this other field, what if I was really bad at it? or what if It just wasn’t for me. And it’s kind of taking that that moment where you’ but everything changes is extremely scary and difficult. But I ah just wish I had more confidence to do it earlier.
14:29.44
Lorie Jones
What finally made you do it in the end? Because for a while there, you were doing both, you know, both jobs and you were, um what gave you that confidence, that, that ability to jump?
14:43.31
Kate
it just started feeling more fluid and natural. um Obviously, you know, COVID was a big factor. i had started doing this prior to COVID and then my season was cut short and you know, everyone was unemployed, but I think i felt more confident being in that career during that time.
15:05.71
Kate
that was that was a big factor for me because there was just, there were so many people who needed help and
15:16.72
Kate
working and architecture, not, not to say it can’t be fulfilling, but at the time I just didn’t think designing houses was what was going to help the state of the world.
15:29.33
Lorie Jones
Yeah, it wasn’t going to move the needle and make a big difference. But that what you put into um being an EMT and, and you know, where did you go through the fire academy at this point?
15:33.01
Kate
Yeah.
15:42.56
Lorie Jones
Or was it just…
15:42.96
Kate
No, i i didn’t start in fire until 2021. And so from 2019 until that time, i was solely doing ski patrol. And then i also, ah one summer of 2020, I worked at a va vaccination clinic down in Denver, just doing all the vaccinations.
16:03.57
Kate
And then it was, yeah, it was about after my second season at Loveland was when I started getting into the fire stuff.
16:15.01
Lorie Jones
And what what drove you that direction, just the
16:20.12
Kate
I think I always wanted, when I was in EMT school, we did the clinicals and we got to do ride alongs with the fire stations where I was doing the clinical where I was doing my schooling.
16:31.32
Kate
I loved the camaraderie and the teamwork. and And that’s a big thing for me too, being in this career is A lot of times when I was working in architecture, i would just be like headphones in not talking to anyone all day. And for me, I just enjoy that team aspect.
16:51.88
Kate
And so I always knew I wanted to do something in that sense. And that’s kind of what drew me towards the fireside.
17:04.74
Lorie Jones
I like that. So the, and, and you, and you probably didn’t find that kind of team to that extent on, i because I assume you rode with police officers and like, and other emergency services and stuff like that.
17:19.14
Kate
Yeah. And it’s, it’s just different. It’s um like with law enforcement, you know, they’re in there. It’s still very much a team, but you know, you’re in your own vehicle. And I just, when I walked into the firehouse, it was just immediately like a family and and I live away from my family. So I think that was another draw of just, this is just family away from home and they really do become like brothers and sisters.
17:51.75
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. and And, and they, they become a ah team. You become a team.
17:56.96
Kate
you Yeah.
17:58.17
Lorie Jones
Yeah. It’s kind of cool. um So do you, do you like run into burning buildings now?
18:06.24
Kate
we don’t get a lot of fires up in my um area, but I guess if a building was on fire, um we mostly ah run like 90, it’s like 80 or 90% of our calls are medical. And so we run with the ambulance.
18:21.96
Kate
um But yeah, yeah.
18:22.18
Lorie Jones
Okay.
18:23.76
Kate
and
18:25.12
Lorie Jones
So do you, do you do um the fires in the, like the, during the summertime, there’s the Colorado in general is just a complete fire season. and Do you do any of that?
18:36.83
Lorie Jones
Or do you just kind of stay on the, on the emergency calls and the, with your
18:41.83
Kate
Yeah, we we actually do, but if it’s in our district specifically, and then we’ll call for outside resources because, yeah, we can definitely get a ton of wildfires where I live.
18:52.55
Kate
And then i actually, one summer while I was volunteering with fire, i ended up getting a paid position, a seasonal position with the department on our wildland mitigation crew. And being on that, I was given the opportunity to actually go out with a crew to other states to fight wildland fires.
19:16.35
Kate
um So that was, that was pretty cool. Yeah.
19:20.08
Lorie Jones
Yeah, your definition of cool and my definition of cool. I think it’s cool that you love that. And i really think it’s cool that that other people love that, too, because it keeps us safe.
19:31.17
Lorie Jones
And yeah I don’t have to suit up the entire equipment.
19:31.52
Kate
yeah
19:37.77
Lorie Jones
Tell me tell me a little bit about um if you could go back and talk to your younger self, um really young, what would you tell her?
19:48.02
Kate
I think I would say that life goes by really, really fast. And if you’re ever feeling unhappy about something or unsure to trust your gut and your instincts and also surround yourself with people who are going to help guide you through that and who are important and help you grow versus those who kind of steer you in the wrong direction.
20:15.71
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. That’s really valuable advice because I do think that there, you can get in. i had one woman um woman who told me, she’s like, I never take advice from somebody whose life I wouldn’t want to live.
20:29.94
Lorie Jones
And, and you kind of if you, you know, if you watch, if you, if you spend your time around, um I don’t know, negative people who tell you that things can’t happen as opposed to positive growth oriented. Hey, try this. It might, you know, it might work for you.
20:48.83
Lorie Jones
um
20:48.88
Kate
Yeah.
20:49.93
Lorie Jones
you You get a different outcome. I think that’s really wise. Thanks, Kate.
20:54.78
Kate
yeah
20:57.27
Lorie Jones
So what, ah what scared you the most when you started your career? And I guess you can tell me, so like, maybe tell me both pieces, like when you started your career in architecture, what scared you? And then when you changed, what scared you?
21:12.90
Kate
I think when I started in architecture, i just, it was still kind of this concept of like, am I going to be good enough? Do I know what I’m doing? um And again, I was younger. So just not having all that confidence and learning that it’s okay to make mistakes.
21:28.46
Kate
And so I wanted to be perfect. I wanted, i’d never wanted to mess up. And so I was very hard on myself and very critical, even though I’m sure I was doing just fine. yeah,
21:40.28
Kate
I think a lot of that is a lot of that confidence just came from not being passionate about what I was doing.
21:47.14
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
21:47.58
Kate
And it was hard to be so passionate when it’s just not, it wasn’t the field for me. And with moving into this EMT firefighter role, it was, it was similar in the sense of, i don’t want to fail, especially cause I’m making such a drastic change.
22:09.53
Kate
But I also just, I want to feel passion about what I’m doing. And i was scared that I wouldn’t have that. And then I always had that this mindset of, well, maybe that’s just the way that work is. And maybe that’s just how it is.
22:27.90
Kate
And kind of diving deeper into this career, learning that that is definitely not how it has to be.
22:33.60
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I know ah people always think it’s so strange because I say I love finance. I love everything about it. I love it every day. And they look at me kind of like here you’re a little crazy, Lori, but OK.
22:44.77
Kate
we could specific statistics
22:46.81
Lorie Jones
But but that i I agree with you. I think that sense of passion, that sense of like, hey, I love what I do and I’m happy. And yeah, there are things that maybe you don’t love.
22:57.40
Lorie Jones
Like, I don’t know when you have to get up at two o’clock in the morning, go out, do something.
23:01.09
Kate
Yeah.
23:04.36
Lorie Jones
that you don’t want to do, right? There’s not like every minute of every day, but there is that sense of like, this is what I was called to do.
23:06.11
Kate
Yeah.
23:11.85
Lorie Jones
And this is what i find joy in doing.
23:15.22
Kate
Yeah.
23:16.69
Lorie Jones
I think if that’s missing, you probably should take a look at what you’re doing, right? And see if it’s right for you.
23:24.43
Kate
yeah
23:26.54
Lorie Jones
um I, I find it interesting. I still kind of keep coming back to the fact though, that you, um you were, it’s hard sometimes for us as women to kind of make these drastic changes and just trust that things are going to go okay.
23:47.35
Lorie Jones
And you were really careful about making sure that, that this new opportunity was good for you before you got rid of the old opportunity.
24:00.06
Kate
Yeah, I, you know, a lot of the probably came from my dad. he was always telling me, you know, if you don’t like something, you can switch, but just make sure you have a plan.
24:11.88
Kate
And, and I’m definitely a big planner. um It’s, and which is funny, because in my career now, everything’s like, very spontaneous. And so i was more cautious to just dive right in Because I needed that backup plan.
24:30.40
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
24:31.97
Kate
But, you know, in reality, I really didn’t. It was I should have just gone headfirst. And i think that’s a that’s a big thing for other people, too. If you’re if you’re feeling this way, you know, you have to figure it out for yourself. But also don’t just linger on something if it’s not making you happy or you’re not passionate about it.
24:54.08
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I think that’s that’s right too. Like that you eventually had to make a break and you had to make a choice and you had to decide what you were going to do and be all in.
25:01.89
Kate
we Yeah.
25:02.94
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Did you face any unique challenges because you were a woman?
25:12.88
Kate
Honestly, in the fire service and ski patrol, i couldn’t be more supported. And I think that’s just, maybe I’ve found a place where people are very supportive of women. And i’ve if I’ve, if there’s ever been any,
25:32.01
Kate
challenge, it’s sometimes more from the patient aspect when you are dealing with certain patients and then they’re just like, oh, you brought the female along. And, but my coworkers have been, they’ll, they’ll just snap right back and be like, yeah, we wouldn’t be able to do this without her. Or like they add a lot to our team. And I’m i’m lucky that at the fire department I work at, we have a lot of females there.
25:57.64
Kate
which is great.
25:57.76
Lorie Jones
Uh-huh.
25:58.16
Kate
And, you know, same with ski patrol, especially when I first started compared to now, there’s a lot more females getting into that field. i will say in architecture, not as supported.
26:09.99
Lorie Jones
Yeah. What…
26:12.89
Kate
And i had good bosses and I had some really bad bosses.
26:20.22
Lorie Jones
ah yeah what a ah Do you, did you find any like physical, ah challenges, you know, as you went through the training and stuff like that were you, I’m always worried that I wouldn’t keep up with the, with the guys.
26:38.08
Lorie Jones
I probably wouldn’t. Cause I’m not, I would sit there and be like, okay, not my thing.
26:44.47
Kate
I think it’s a lot of you as a female you have to figure out what works best for you and i had a female I was taking ah fitness test and I went through it once and then she kind of pulled me aside and said, Hey, we just have to do this differently. Like our body is built differently and we have more lower body strength. And when it comes to the upper body, you have to figure out how to use your body in a way that works. And that was kind of the first time i figured out, Oh, it’s not that I can’t do it. I just have to do it a little differently. And training with some of the men at my fire department, it’s,
27:27.62
Kate
I’ve run into that a lot where they’re like, we’ll just do it this way. And well, I can’t do it that way. But if I do it this way, it works just fine. And I think recognizing that is huge. And, you know, in Colorado, we have a lot of, um they’ll have like women’s skills day where you can go and it’s just female firefighters and you get to try these different techniques that,
27:53.99
Kate
Well, the men at my department would never do that, but that works just fine for me and it gets the job done. And I think that’s super helpful having those experiences. But i I grew up with three older brothers.
28:06.10
Kate
So for me, if someone tells me I can’t do something, I’m just going to go and do it like 10 times better.
28:11.11
Lorie Jones
Watch me, right? yeah
28:12.12
Kate
Yeah. Yeah.
28:14.09
Lorie Jones
I love, though, that there’s that that mentorship or that support of other women around that can kind of help and say, hey, we tried it this way. You know, um we we do it differently.
28:25.65
Lorie Jones
um and And these are some of the ways that we learn to get around this issue or this problem. I love that there’s that support, too.
28:31.24
Kate
Yeah.
28:33.06
Lorie Jones
How many, what’s, do you know the percentage of women firefighters?
28:37.88
Kate
I don’t know nationwide. um i just don’t know my department. We have 12 firefighters and lieutenants and then three captains and then and a chief and an assistant chief. and out of those numbers, there are two female firefighters and two female lieutenants.
28:58.72
Lorie Jones
That’s pretty good.
28:59.60
Kate
And then we have our whole volunteer staff. i don’t I don’t even know how many we have on right now, but there’s quite a few females in that bunch too.
29:07.08
Lorie Jones
That’s great.
29:08.07
Kate
Yeah.
29:08.04
Lorie Jones
That’s neat. That’s, it’s neat that to see women going into fields that were a lot of times male dominated that they and and having you have, you know, talking about your experience, having you had such a, such camaraderie and such a team and, and I
29:15.66
Kate
Mm-hmm.
29:26.23
Lorie Jones
I firmly believe that there are dads and brothers and uncles who want their sisters and and wives and you know they mothers.
29:38.36
Lorie Jones
They want them to succeed. They want them to go to these fields.
29:40.24
Kate
Yeah.
29:41.48
Lorie Jones
They don’t want them to be told they can’t do anything either.
29:43.72
Kate
I think just continuing
29:43.88
Lorie Jones
Like your three older brothers, they’re probably cheering you along, right?
29:45.77
Kate
twenty
29:49.50
Kate
yeah
29:51.54
Lorie Jones
What is the thing, Kate, that you are the most proud of?
29:58.43
Kate
i think just continuing to move forward when it feels like people are trying to knock you down. And, you know, like I said, I have a lot of support in my current positions, but there’s just always that outside voice or people, you know, like I mentioned, sometimes the patients.
30:20.90
Kate
And I think it’s when something gets really difficult, moving through that and learning from it, so that I can be you know the best person in my position that I can be.
30:36.20
Lorie Jones
How do you move through it Is there
30:40.44
Kate
I have a lot of support.
30:40.81
Lorie Jones
and
30:42.87
Kate
So you know my husband is also a firefighter. So he’s someone I can talk to you a lot about that. And and you know just this kind of goes back to my advice to my younger self is I’ve surrounded myself with people who if I have an issue,
30:58.55
Kate
I can pick up the phone and immediately they’re like, okay, well, let’s talk it through or let’s meet up or let’s go on a hike or a walk. And having that is so important when you’re in this field because it’s very easy to just bury things, um you know especially like the hard calls or long nights.
31:13.59
Lorie Jones
hmm.
31:17.55
Kate
It’s really easy to just shove it down. And also just this whole mentality of we can’t talk about our feelings because if you talk about your feelings, you’re weak. And having that support system has been huge.
31:32.81
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I actually, i chatted with an another firefighter a year ago or so, and and he talked about that, about the that the you you need to be able to talk about these situations and and process them, and um and that the the industry is getting a lot better about helping with resources and and support and teamwork and realizing that you have to let these things out because you’re right. You deal with really hard stuff, things that I know, things that, that most of us know nothing about.
32:12.79
Lorie Jones
And, and I, I love that there is that team and that, um, those people around you, your tribe, right?
32:19.95
Kate
Yeah.
32:23.59
Lorie Jones
um Any advice for a young lady who is just starting down this career path that you are so successful at that might help her be successful like you?
32:35.15
Kate
Don’t give up. and if, if something is challenging and it’s hard to get through, take a step back and figure out what is that hurdle? What,
32:50.04
Kate
Why is it challenging and how can you persevere through that? and And addition, you just have to find a good support system because you will have people who don’t believe you can do it.
33:06.00
Kate
um i had many, many men that I’ve dated in my life told me i would never be able to do it. And just getting rid of that negativity is huge.
33:21.64
Lorie Jones
Yeah, i I like the idea of find your tribe, like finding the people that surround you that support you and build you up and and kind of help you get where you need to go. Because I don’t know about you, Kate, but I’ve got enough negative voices in my head telling me I can’t do things.
33:38.91
Kate
ah yeah yeah
33:40.51
Lorie Jones
I don’t need external negative voices ah telling me I can’t do things either, right?
33:45.46
Kate
yeah
33:47.92
Lorie Jones
Well, thank you so much for spending some time chatting with us and talking to us about your journey and your experience. I really appreciate that. if ah If I have a young lady who wants to um ask some questions or just ah take out for coffee and pick your brain a little bit, how does she get hold of you?
33:55.62
Kate
yeah
34:06.86
Kate
um So probably the easiest way to reach me would be my email. And it’s a little weird, but that email is seybo012 at gmail.
34:20.32
Kate
um
34:20.54
Lorie Jones
Perfect.
34:21.00
Kate
Yeah, I’m pretty responsive on there. so
34:24.79
Lorie Jones
That’s great. Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate your you sharing your story and sharing your experiences.
34:30.41
Kate
Yeah, of course. Thank you.