Welcome to the Behind a Shoehl podcast. As always, my name's James Gearing, and this week it is my absolute honor to welcome on the show,

Firefighter and author of The Modern Fire Officer, Jared Vermeulen.

Now, this conversation I was able to do in person down in South Florida, and we discuss a host of topics.

From Jared's early life, the Dutch and Sicilian influence on his

childhood, his journey into the fire service, his unique perspective on leadership, his own

powerful mental health story, unpacking the 2472 work schedule they have in his department

and so much more.

Now before we get to this incredible conversation, as I say every week, please just take a

moment. Go to whichever app you listen to this on, subscribe to the show, leave feedback

and leave a rating. Every single five-star rating truly does elevate this podcast, therefore making it

easier for others to find. And this is a free library of well over 800 episodes now. So all I

ask in return is that you help share these incredible men and women's stories so I can get them

to every single person on planet Earth who needs to hear them.

So with that being said, I introduce to you Jared Vermeulen.

Enjoy. Well, Jared, I want to start by saying, thank you for welcoming me to your friends

studio here. we are in an

influencing space so uh i feel very young and modern at the moment um but uh yeah and also thank you

for meeting me here to discuss not only your journey but your new book of course man this is fun that

we get to do this in person we're both thuridian, so it's exciting. Absolutely. So for people

listening, where on planet Earth are we sitting right now? Right now we're in Stewart, Florida,

but I am a native of Jupiter, Florida. That's where I was born and raised. So we are in Florida.

So starting in Jupiter then, tell me about your early life. Tell me what your parents did and how many

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