Register for the Women's Tactical Human Performance Summit! Today's guest, Sarah Parks, will be attending, and you can hang out with her in person!

I meet the most incredible people while attending conferences! At this year's Science to the Station, I met Andy Anich, a guest, and Sarah Parks, today's guest.

Sarah is the embedded Licensed Clinical Social Worker with the Oklahoma City Fire Department, and you'll hear some ways that your department could utilize a behavioral health professional!

So what, now what?!?

There are so many ways that an embedded professional can support your department. What about making 2025 the year you explore the possibility in your agency?

*****
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Welcome to the FRW Spotlight, where we revisit gems from previous episodes in 10 minutes or less. Today, my friend BC Luke Peterson talks about how he manages the wellness needs of a department under 100 members.

Luke Peterson is a friend, battalion chief, and director of the wellness program at my former department. In today's spotlight, Luke shared some wins accumulated during our 20-years of service together.

Check out the full episode

Check out Luke's business, Firefighterstraps.com

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You've previously heard from OKC FD's Chris Fields (ret), Athletic Trainer Damon Glass, and Major Cort Smith from the Training Academy. Today, you'll hear from Chief Kelley. Please share the episode and leave us a rating and review!

Richard A. Kelley joined the Oklahoma City Fire Department in 1991 and was appointed Fire Chief in September 2017. He promoted through the ranks in suppression and also held the positions Special Operations Coordinator, Technical Rescue Station Officer, Ride-out Officer, Battalion Chief, Deputy Chief of Support Services and Deputy Chief of Operations. He is a Fire Instructor Level II, EMT, HazMat Technician, Rescue Technician, Dive Team Member and OK-TF1 Task Force Leader.

Chief Kelley was an adjunct instructor for Eastern Oklahoma County Vo-Tech Fire Training Academy mentoring and training students for over a decade. He is a member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the Oklahoma Fire Chiefs Association (OFCA) and the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association. Chief Kelley is the Past-President for the Oklahoma State Fire Chiefs Association, he also serves on the Board for the YMCA of Greater OKC, Ex Officio Member and Conscience Committee of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum Board of Trustees and the OSU-OKC Fire Protection AAS and BT Degree Advisory Board.

Chief Kelley has been recognized for many awards throughout his career, Captain/Major of the year in 2005 and Major of Special Operations in the Work Section of the Year in 2006.

Chief Kelley has an A.A.S.in Municipal Fire Protection and a Bachelor of Technology in Emergency Responder Administration from Oklahoma State University. He attended the National Fire Academy for multiple classes and completed the Oklahoma Executive Fire Officer Leadership Program in 2015 and Leadership OKC (Class 37) in 2018.

Along with his wife Liz, Chief Kelley’s household includes daughters Mikayla, Johnna and Addison, and stepchildren Emily and Nick and grandchildren Karter Jaye, Gunner Barron, Erin, Legend and Toby. He enjoys spending time with his family and physical fitness. He attends Life Church NW.

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Welcome to the FRW Spotlight, where we revisit gems from previous episodes in 10 minutes or less. Today, Megan Lautz hops on her favorite soapbox: Energy Drinks.

Check out the full episode

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As always, my New Year episode features someone who supports and inspires me and is unrelated to the fire service. Lex Lancaster and I have been working together since 2018, when she designed my original logo and website and started working behind the scenes supporting my business. I'll let her introduce herself below!

It’s so nice to meet you, I’m Lex!

I’ve created my dream career by marrying my passions in life. I’m a physical therapist turned digital entrepreneur, and I’m living my best life helping other health and wellness business owners get shit done in their businesses.

I co-owned Renegade Movement and Performance, a 6-figure sports and pelvic health physical therapy clinic in New England, from 2020-2023 and was primarily the clinic manager after decreasing my treatment hours. So, all that backend stuff you wish you didn’t have to do? That’s my specialty.

It’s my pleasure to welcome you to my corner of the internet, where I have helped countless health and wellness business owners level up and get shit done. I’m here to help clear your plate of the tasks you hate.

So what, now what?!?

That thing you think is only a dream? It can be a reality. Take back the authorship of your life story!

Lex's Website

Follow Lex on IG

Listen to her podcast, Up in my Business with Lex Lancaster

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I had the pleasure of meeting Cort Smith at the OKC Fire Training Academy when I stopped in one day to speak with Damon Glass. Cort is one-of-a-kind, and I'll never forget his statement about research: "If there's a better way to do something, I want to hear about it!"

Did Cort and I become best friend nerds at that exact moment? I think so!

Cort Smith holds the rank of Major at the OKC Fire Department and is currently assigned to the Fire Training Division.  Smith has been with OKC Fire since 2008 after serving in the US Air Force for 12 years. Cort believes there are no basic vs. advanced skills- there is only the best way and therefore endeavors to teach all academy recruits accordingly. Major Smith believes in pushing recruits to work beyond their perceived limits to the point that they know no limits and are ready to go out and save lives. If you want to be one of the few who wears the gear that others can’t wear, goes the places others can’t go, and save the lives that others can’t save, he and his team will get you there.

So what, now what?!?

There is ONLY the best way.

Connect with Cort via email: [email protected]

Cort's IG

The Talent Code

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Register here for the OSU-OKC Women's Tactical Human Performance Summit.
Do not wait!

Damon Glass and I have been social media friends for a few years but haven't met in person until recently. As luck would have it, Damon set up a meeting with my advisor, Jay Dawes to talk shop. During the meeting, one of them brought me up, but Damon didn't know I had moved to OK!

Surprise! Now we're besties! Good luck to Damon.

In today's chat, we discussed his position at OKC, his approach to the academy setting, how he takes care of nearly 1,000 veteran firefighters, and what he does in his free time (hint: he doesn't have any!). We also hit on his propensity to eat too many donuts and fried bologna sandwiches (yeah, that's an Oklahoma thing).

Damon Glass is a U.S. Army veteran and an Oklahoma University graduate. During his 24 years as a NATA-certified athletic trainer, Glass has had diverse experiences. He’s been an athletic trainer at the high school and college levels, the Oklahoma State Motocross series, the International Finals Rodeo, and the Valir Physical Therapy Industrial Athletic Trainer/ Business Development manager. However, he currently has the best athletic training job in the world, working with the best tactical athletes at the Oklahoma City Fire Department.

So what, now what?!?

I've said it eleventy-billion times: Your *best* first hire is an athletic trainer.

Follow Damon on LI

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I met Jenna Weinstein in at the Society for Sport Neuroscience conference in 2021 (I think) whilst having a wardrobe malfunction being mitigated by previous podcast guest Katie Dabrowski. How's that for 2 degrees of Kevin Bacon???

On today's episode, we had a killer conversation about mental performance and resilience and the factors that play into those skills.

Jenna is originally from Brooklyn, NY and now lives in Savannah, GA.

A lifelong athlete, Jenna has competed in soccer, collegiate rugby, figure competitions, marathons, powerlifting, and CrossFit. She completed her master’s degree in Sport and Performance Psychology at Springfield College. For the last ten years, Jenna has been working as an instructor and trainer for the U.S. Army. She creates programs and leads classes that teach Soldiers mental toughness, team building, and leadership skills.

Jenna is currently finishing her doctorate in Public Health at Georgia Southern University. Her research is focused on organizational burnout, specifically in teachers. She hopes to broaden her research to different populations, including first responders.

When Jenna is not training Soldiers, or working on her dissertation, she enjoys working out, creative writing, and spending time watching cooking shows with her husband and dogs.

So what, now what?!?

Do you want to play for a team, or WITH a team???

Books Jenna mentioned:

Grit

Chasing Excellence

Follow Jenna on IG

Breaking news: I just found out that Jenna writes novels for fun! And a new novel is dropping on 12.12!!! Check it out her books here!

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The good vibes are palpable when Ali and Andy talk about sports physical therapy and helping firefighters feel their very best. You're going to love this conversation.

Alison Heartman, PT, DPT, CSCS, is a Sacramento-based physical therapist, strength coach, and health and wellness coordinator for the fire rescue community in the greater Bay Area of California. She currently works in-house for Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, helping them develop and expand their health and wellness services, as well as providing one-on-one physical therapy, strength programming, and academy physical fitness. Alison uses that hands-on experience to consult and educate other departments in the area on the importance of proactive physical, mental, and emotional fitness programs to support their personnel. Her career goal is to use her expertise to support the fire rescue community and contribute to the growing development of health and wellness in this field.

Andy Anich is a sports physical therapist and certified strength and conditioning specialist. He has over 7 years of experience working with professional athletes, first responders, and the active general population. After receiving his doctorate degree, he focused his training and continued education in the field of exercise progression and strength and conditioning. Andy saw the need to put a stronger focus into a commonly missing aspect of rehab. The ability to train and educate personnel to manage heavy forces that are unevenly distributed to the body, similar to the mechanics seen in sports and the tactical workforce, has been imperative in developing preventive and rehabilitative strategies for first responders. Currently, Andy is a health and wellness coordinator, physical therapist, and strength and conditioning coach for Contra Costa County and Santa Clara County Fire Departments. His professional mission is to develop a gold standard blueprint for health and wellness that is reproducible and scalable for any department.

So what, now what?!?

An embedded and in-house physical therapist might not be immediately attainable for a smaller department, but there are many ways to bring the benefits of PT to your department.

Check out Recon Performance

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Vanessa Frost-Piedrahita drove six hours to teach my motor control and learning class at Oklahoma State University a couple of weeks back, so it was only proper that we do an in-person podcast while standing around my kitchen island.

You can grab Vanessa's bio at her previous episode, linked here: Previous VFP Episode

So what, now what?!?

Health can equal performance!

Email Vanessa: [email protected]

Jenna Yentes Episode

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