Building Community in Fire Families

In this conversation, Amanda and Alex discuss the importance of community and support within fire families. They explore the challenges of navigating career changes, maintaining personal identities, and the significance of communication in relationships. Alex shares her experiences with the Fire Family Collective and the efforts to build connections among fire families through local events and initiatives. The conversation emphasizes the need for personal outlets and hobbies, as well as the value of mentorship and support networks in managing the unique lifestyle of fire families.

Takeaways

• Community is essential for fire families.
• Finding support helps in navigating the unique challenges of fire life.
• It's important to maintain your own identity outside of being a spouse.
• Starting local initiatives can bridge gaps in community.
• Communication is key in maintaining relationships during stressful times.
• Having a mentor can provide invaluable support.
• Creating events fosters connections among families.
• It's okay to seek help and support from others.
• Finding hobbies is crucial for personal well-being.
• Building a network can help in times of need.

Transcript

Welcome to the fire family collective podcast. We are so excited. We are sitting down today with Alex Pereira. Thank you for being here, Alex. Yeah, Alex and I have some things in common. I was a former teacher. Alex is currently teacher.

Alex (07:19.347)
Yeah?

Alex (07:30.661)
Of course, I'm excited!

Ventura Fire Foundation (07:38.919)
I am so excited. Alex, can you please tell us a little bit about yourself?

Alex (07:42.866)
Absolutely. So I am Alex Pereira. We are from or I am from the Texas Panhandle. My husband and I, we are high school sweethearts. So we've been together through a lot, but we have three kids, three girls. They are eight, just newly six and two. So it's a little bit of chaos here. And we decided recently to add a puppy into that, which has been a whole adventure in itself. So

Ventura Fire Foundation (08:11.883)
Udos.

Alex (08:13.157)
Yeah, of course, anytime he eats a sock, Kyle's on duty. It's just what happens. But I am a high school math teacher. I actually teach medical math. I just recently transitioned to that. But yeah, we've had kind of some career changes before that, but that's kind of where we are now. So he's been on service for almost five years.

Ventura Fire Foundation (08:37.632)
Okay, you already had your first two kids before he joined the fire department, and then you also had a different career before you were teaching math.

Alex (08:48.015)
Yes. Yeah. So we lived in the Dallas Fort Worth area of Texas, like right after college. And I, my degree is actually in construction engineering, which is really random to be teaching math now. But, so I was working in the construction field and then he was actually teaching and coaching himself. He was teaching high school history and coaching football, because that's, you have to do that in Texas, baseball and softball. And so then

just after about five years, he kind of got burned out from that, because that's what happens down here. And we moved back home, because his dad was a fireman here at our local department. And so we moved back home for him to do the Academy. So yes, we had just had our second. She's a COVID, a 2020 baby. And so we had just had her and he started the Academy in 2020.

Uh, to 2021. And so then switched over to that and I switched to teaching after our first daughter. So yeah, so it wasn't interesting. It's been interesting to have conversations, you know, with rookies and to say like, you know, the fire schedule is something to adjust to. Um, and it's a lot different, you know, we miss out on things, but him coaching beforehand, honestly, I see him more now probably than I did when he was coaching football. So.

Ventura Fire Foundation (10:12.138)
I bet.

Alex (10:13.319)
Yeah, but yeah, so that's kind of our background there.

Ventura Fire Foundation (10:17.913)
That's so crazy. There's so many things we can dive into. just, can't imagine having two littles and then starting the new career. I mean, we basically did that when Jon did his lateral fire academy. Our daughter was a year and our son was like two, three. So, but we had already done fire. Like I already was familiar with it.

Alex (10:39.773)
Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. think medic is harder. So he's a firefighter paramedic and he did medic school the year we had our third. It's like we had a newborn at home when he was going through medic school. And I think that was crazier. Like all the hours on the box and everything would not recommend.

Ventura Fire Foundation (11:01.62)
Yeah, thankfully, yeah, Jon did med school when I was at the end of my undergrad program. And that was very tough on our relationship as young 20 something year olds. But the amount of hours studying and the internship and the write outs and things that you have to do, I can't imagine doing that, like you said, with kids, like, I also feel like most of the time, the people that are in these profession as first responders, they're this type of people that like,

Alex (11:20.061)
Yeah.

Ventura Fire Foundation (11:31.382)
continuously level up. So you're like, someone's always like, well, now you're just gonna like stay right and you're like, no, not my partner, they're gonna find the next thing and what's it gonna be?

Alex (11:40.496)
No.

Alex (11:44.978)
Yes, every time. Yeah, he's already, you know, we got through paramedic school, everything kind of calmed down. Well, then he started teaching at the fire Academy and he started helping with EMS classes because he has his teaching cert from, and so in the state of Texas, I mean, if you have a teaching cert, you can test for the fire instructor like automatically. Yeah, it was great because it's, then he doesn't, a lot of firemen have second jobs. And so that's kind of his off job.

Ventura Fire Foundation (11:57.069)
Right.

Ventura Fire Foundation (12:03.32)
That's great. Yeah.

Ventura Fire Foundation (12:11.746)
Right.

Alex (12:11.771)
And so, but then, you know, he starts that well now he's just as busy and then he's thinking about testing for a driver soon, which will be just as like, it's always onto the next thing.

Ventura Fire Foundation (12:22.528)
Yeah, I I'm curious after he tests for driver what you say for your family what was you know, more challenging and obviously different seasons it's going to be different but for us when Jon was promoting to driver was the craziest time of our life it wasn't lateral it wasn't newborn baby I mean it was the amount of hours he put in studying and training

was just, it was very rough on our relationship.

Alex (12:54.237)
Yeah, we'll see. He hasn't started yet, but we'll see. He's doing all the reading, but yes.

Ventura Fire Foundation (12:57.848)
Well, hopefully it's not like that. That's good.

awesome. Well, one of the other things that you said that you, you know, mentioned is how you found the Fire Family Collective. Can you tell us more about that?

Alex (13:14.494)
Yeah, absolutely. So our local department, was telling you earlier, it's a lot of hiring has been done in the last five years. just a lot, it's a younger department now than it was when he got on. so locally we kind of find, found ourselves, you know, we lost that community and tradition a little bit here with all the new hires. Some of the older, you know,

15 years plus or 20 years plus vets, know, they, they used to meet and they remembered when here we had that fire family and like we had, you know, we got together outside of work for cookouts or swimming or whatever. just, and I think there wasn't a, what am I trying to say? Like an organization, at one point to two for the wives. and it's just not around anymore. And so it kind of got phased out in that middle group and now the younger group.

Ventura Fire Foundation (13:49.837)
Right.

Ventura Fire Foundation (14:05.676)
Yeah.

Alex (14:11.89)
we've got kind of realized to the point there's a lot of people in the department we don't know. And there's a lot of wives we don't know, like even wives who don't even know their husbands crews. And so trying to bridge that gap of how can we get to know other wives that are local, but then how can we support them in that? And so one day I was just looking and I was like, I wonder if there's something out there.

Ventura Fire Foundation (14:16.364)
Yeah.

Ventura Fire Foundation (14:20.718)
Right.

Alex (14:35.43)
where, you know, if not, we need to start it or something, but is there something out there where Firewives can come together? Like, surely someone's already created it. And I just started searching on, I think I Googled, I think I Instagrammed, I don't know. And I stumbled upon a Fire Family Collective and I was like, this is, this is what I was thinking of. Like not just a random Facebook page, but something more focused on bringing us together. Cause it is a unique lifestyle and

Something we need support and our family matters and like if we're not taking care of that and finding support for that and getting outside voices, then you can be in isolation, which isn't always the best place to be.

Ventura Fire Foundation (15:18.752)
Yeah, I love what you said about like, you know, you're not alone. There has to be something else out there and you found it. And one of the best things is the collective is having this community of people who get it. So you don't feel so alone. You can feel seen. And one of the things like I mentioned before, Jon used to work at a different fire department.

which was much larger and coming here, his class size in Sacramento was half the class, like it was 35 people. His whole department here is roughly 80. So just his Academy class in Sacramento was half the size of this whole fire department. So it's very different. starting over to build connections with people when you can be perceived as like probationary, you don't know anything and it's like.

Alex (15:52.464)
wow.

Ventura Fire Foundation (16:09.73)
We've already done this, Jon's been an EMS for over 10 years already before we even came here. Like you want to be included. You don't want to be excluded. So to know that no matter what department you're at, where you are in your journey, you will have this bigger entity of Fire Family Collective to wrap you up in those warm hugs and be there. Whatever part of your journey you're on, you're going to medic school, you are testing for a driver, like whatever it is to be like, there's someone out there in the nation that gets this.

is really nice to have.

Alex (16:41.577)
Yeah, and we needed those veteran wife voices. You know, that's why we need to reach out because our department is so young now. And we need those veteran wives, you know, that have been through raising the toddlers. And instead of just all of us toddler moms, you know, commiserating together, like we need someone to tell us like there's light at the end of the tunnel or, you know, here's what we did that kind of helped with that. Or here's some ideas how we made traditions around the schedule and

those voices to come down to because if it's just all of us in the same stage, you know, we can kind of get in that pit.

Ventura Fire Foundation (17:17.422)
Yeah. So that reminds me of two things. When I, when we moved to Ventura, one of the things I did was join this mom's group and I was so intimidated to join it in Sacramento. I tried to go and I, I went and I was like, I can't do this. This is so overwhelming. So I gave it another shot here in Ventura and at our table groups, we had a mentor mom that was life-changing for me to have a, like you said, someone who's ahead of you and can

wrap you up in those warm hugs, tell you it's gonna be okay, yes this is hard, and just sit there with you through it is a life changer. So I found that in a mom's group, but then to have that in the fire department, I also have that, and I can't tell you how many times I have texted and called that mentor, fire wife, and been like, I'm losing my mind, talk me off the edge, or like, warning, I'm sending.

Alex (18:08.637)
Mm-hmm.

Ventura Fire Foundation (18:13.518)
a verbal diarrhea text message, because I just have to get this out and someone needs to hear it. Hold space for me, please. And, you know, like when Jon was testing for engineer, we drove out to Santa Clarita to go hang out with her. She's like, come out here. We'll have a fun day with you and the kids. She took us to like an indoor play place. We went and got dinner. My favorite Mexican food place out there. We went and got frozen yogurt. The kids had never done that before. Just all those types of things. Like you said, like

Alex (18:15.591)
Hahaha

Ventura Fire Foundation (18:41.398)
I could do that with another mom who's like in the same space as me, but to be able to also have this mom, white fire wife, who's like a little bit ahead of me can love on my kids in a different way, can love on me in a different way, can remind me like, it's going to be okay. Like let it out. I'm here for you and just let's have some fun. You know, leave, leave all that hard stuff in Ventura. We've already talked about it. Let's just have some fun for a few hours.

It's just you can't you can't put a price on that and to be able to have again this community where maybe we can't always do that in person, but we can connect virtually until we can connect in person.

Alex (19:22.577)
Yeah, and it's been really great to to find connections in our local department with older kids. And so like we have his captain or lieutenant has high school kids who have loved on our our girls. And so it's cool to see them build that connection and to when our girls, you know, maybe at some point might be like, well, why does he miss everything? Why is he never there and have that hurt? They'll have other.

kids, fire kids, they can call to see how they went through it and just have that support. And so our kids need it too. And so even if we didn't have it locally, having somewhere that I can reach out and say, hey, like how did your kids handle this? It's just great.

Ventura Fire Foundation (20:06.158)
Well, and like you said, to be able to build it. So here in Ventura, have this fire, what do they call it? Women's Auxiliary Group. So there's a few women who have stepped up and created this auxiliary group. We just had our phone meeting earlier in the week. We spent like an hour trying to plan out different events for the year. So one of the best things is Santa at the fire station. It's amazing. And I cannot tell you,

Alex (20:15.773)
Yes.

Ventura Fire Foundation (20:35.97)
Like you said, the connections the kids make with their friends that show up at Santa at the fire station and even older kids who like you said are middle school, high school. And my kids love sitting with them, doing the craft with them. They're just so excited to hang out. And I, I can't again, put into words what that means for them to have those older peers to look up to. And I hope as they get older, I love how you mentioned like they have these kids that they can reach out to and be like,

I'm having a really hard time. How did you deal with it? And maybe not have it come from an adult, but have it come from another kid.

Alex (21:12.2)
Yeah, someone who gets it, someone who's been in those shoes. It's funny you mentioned the auxiliary group. So I didn't know if that was like a local thing or if that was a national thing because we used to have one here. So like I was saying, we kind of have this middle gap. So the older group at our department, they had this auxiliary group back in the day.

Ventura Fire Foundation (21:27.415)
Right.

Alex (21:34.073)
And I don't really know all that entailed, but like I said, my father-in-law was a fireman here as well. And so I've heard all the stories from my mother-in-law and all that she was involved in. And so that was kind of what pushed myself and one of the other wives to start something here. we, her and I are both like, we don't want any drama. Like we don't want anything like necessarily official. Like we just want to hang out and get to know people. That's it. Like just be chill. And so...

Ventura Fire Foundation (21:52.194)
Yeah.

Ventura Fire Foundation (22:00.746)
Yes, yes.

Alex (22:03.641)
when we started, we decided last year we were like, okay, we need to have some kind of event and like, no one's putting it on. And so locally, like it's really important to like, you, if their department, if your department, whoever's listening doesn't have something like, don't be afraid to start something. And like us, it can just be, we just want to casual hang out. So like we had everyone bring an appetizer to share. And then we had a trivia night. I was like, what's an activity that.

Ventura Fire Foundation (22:09.25)
Mm-hmm.

Alex (22:31.784)
keeps us occupied and it doesn't have to be, you know, awkward small talk, but it's also not too cheesy. And so we had a trivia night and I was like, okay, maybe a handful of people show up and we had like 25. It was great. I like a funny story to go with that. I check your invites that you send out because I apparently I was planning on six 30 and I had put six 30 on the invite. I had made it all cute and Canva and everything. And then I guess on the Facebook event, I put six.

Ventura Fire Foundation (22:35.693)
Yep.

Yeah.

Ventura Fire Foundation (22:44.59)
That's amazing. Yes.

Ventura Fire Foundation (22:57.389)
Yeah.

Ventura Fire Foundation (23:01.149)
no.

Alex (23:02.257)
And so I walked in. Yes. I was like, I just need like 30 minutes. We'll set up real quick. I walked in and the room. Yes. Everyone was already there. They had. Yeah, they were so gracious. They were like, no, you're fine. Like, what can we help? Can we help you set up? And I was just mortified. Like I was so embarrassed, but I was like, you know, we might as well start it like that. Like I told y'all it was casual. I think that's what I said. I was like, I told y'all this was casual. And so we've had a few more since then.

Ventura Fire Foundation (23:07.276)
Everyone was already there. my gosh. So then everyone could help you. It was great.

Ventura Fire Foundation (23:19.458)
Yeah.

Yes!

Ventura Fire Foundation (23:28.0)
Yes, we do messy and imperfect. Yes, that's real. So you've gotten together since then.

Alex (23:32.105)
Yes. Yeah. I was like, Oh my gosh. Yes. We've had a few more events. Um, we had, we tried to do one more girls event, like a hiking event and the weather did not cooperate, of course. Um, and then we have a local baseball team, minor league team. And so we planned a night, like a family night for that. And when that one was huge, like a ton of people came. So we're still starting it and we're planning our next event, but we're kind of in this.

Ventura Fire Foundation (23:49.806)
Cool.

Ventura Fire Foundation (23:56.248)
amazing.

Alex (24:00.434)
Okay, let's invite, let's do couples for a little while, which will be great. Cause even some of the guys don't know each other, but it kind of breaks down that barrier of having to come by yourself into a room of women. And so, we're going to have a new, another event, but we were like, let's do it. Couples focused, family focused for a little bit until it gets strong. And then we'll have more ladies events, but yeah, it was kind of, it's hard to start something when there's not something.

Ventura Fire Foundation (24:04.056)
Yeah.

Ventura Fire Foundation (24:07.756)
Yes.

Ventura Fire Foundation (24:12.45)
Yes.

Ventura Fire Foundation (24:20.972)
Yeah. Yeah.

Alex (24:28.519)
but realizing that we need it. And like, how do we talk to rookies, you know, and sit there and say like, you need to find your fire family. You need to find the people that are local that you can call whenever, you know, if your husband's on duty, who can come over and, you know, fix your electrical something that broke. That was really random, like, yeah, cause it always happens. But you know, you need your people to call. Well, it's one thing to say that, but then if we're not making any of those connections locally,

Ventura Fire Foundation (24:28.536)
Yeah.

Ventura Fire Foundation (24:44.268)
Yep. Yes. No, that's real.

Alex (24:58.865)
You can't really back that up, which is kind of what happened when we got tossed in. So.

Ventura Fire Foundation (25:00.8)
Yeah, okay.

Yeah, okay, so I have two instances to share on that. One is, it sounds like you're doing it. So kudos to you, I love this. You're building it and we're going to expand upon this for sure. But one of the things that I started helping support with is when the new hires, we have like a family day where the new hires go to orientation. I'm showing up as well as my husband to talk about

Alex (25:09.705)
you

Alex (25:27.934)
Mm-hmm.

Ventura Fire Foundation (25:33.55)
Fire Family Collective and the foundation. And it's been a really nice way for me to be there for the new partners, significant others, parents, whoever's in the room to be like, I'm a real person. I am not a paid fire personnel. Like, I want to be there for you. So please, here's my phone number. You know, reach out to me. Let's hang out. And we just had a new Academy class start. I think they just ended week.

three, I can't do math, but I think it was three. And I have a group text with these fire partners. And it's just like the cutest thing. Like I remember when I was on the other side and I didn't have that. And so I love like sending them like, have a great week. How is it going? Got together for coffee a few weeks ago with a few of them. And it just is really nice, like you said, because it's really scary to go to an event with everyone else who's already had these established relationships. And, and you're like, I don't know if my

Alex (26:29.402)
Mm-hmm.

Ventura Fire Foundation (26:32.248)
partner's gonna make it another week, you know, like, but we want to be there for you. We want to be there if you don't make it another week so that you can call us and say this really sucks, you know? You're a part of the Fyre family immediately. And I think that you and your friend or whoever is something to like put a little thing in your head of maybe trying to make that happen because it's just, I know it's really nice to have that familiar face in such a scary room.

Alex (26:34.547)
Yeah.

Alex (26:51.518)
Mm-hmm.

Ventura Fire Foundation (27:01.42)
when this is like a life-changing day. And then also I did bunko with our group in Sacramento with our Academy ladies and it was so much fun. I forgot I did that. So you reminded me of that. And I'll have to put that on the ideas list for our ladies night for us. Cause that was just so much fun. Yeah.

Alex (27:18.887)
Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Just something casual that gets people talking, but not forced. Yeah. But you mentioned helping with the Academy and we got to do that recently. So he instructs with our local community colleges Academy. And so we're hoping to get involved with the department. Our department started its own Academy too. So there's kind of two that go on at the same time.

Ventura Fire Foundation (27:28.098)
Great.

Alex (27:47.4)
But we recently got to do like you were saying, where we could go in and talk about like, here's what the expectations are going to be as far as like, get ready. Cause you're, you know, your schedules are going to change and it is an adjustment and it's okay to be kind of upset about that. But here's what to expect as you're coming onto the department and have their families and their spouses or their girlfriends or whoever, there to talk about that with, because we sort of got that.

Ventura Fire Foundation (28:03.63)
Mm-hmm.

Alex (28:16.689)
when we joined the department. They have, like you said, they have a family day. And there were, I think, three couples, like a panel that talked to us, but it was very focused on, I don't want to make this sound bad, but like, you know, your firefighter's job is so hard. And here's what he's going to need from you. And he, you know, you're going to have to do this and you're going to have to suck it up when this happens. And, you know, we kind of sit at the table and we're like, yes. And our home life is also really hard.

And so it's not just you're supporting him. It's you have to be a team and you have to communicate and you both have to know there's expectations for, yeah, it's hard at work, but it's also hard at home, especially if you add kids onto that. and other, you know, if you work, if you're a working mom and things like that. And so, we got the chance to talk to the newest Academy about that and about what to expect. And it was cool to have the wife.

Ventura Fire Foundation (28:53.869)
Yeah.

Alex (29:16.33)
voice in it to not to be like, yeah, you're right. You know, it does suck. But also, here's our view and give both sides of that. Because I think so often, you know, what we hear and what we read is like, yeah, he could have had a bad call. And so you need to make sure you take care of him. Well, yes, he could have had a long night. He needs a nap. Make sure he takes a nap. Yes. But also, I've been up since three with a puking toddler. And I, you know,

Ventura Fire Foundation (29:25.869)
Yeah.

Ventura Fire Foundation (29:42.434)
Yeah.

Alex (29:44.719)
insert whatever could happen, but to get both sides of it and remembering that we're a team. And part of the reason we do that and we want to be involved in that is because your marriage is so important and taking care of that as a team is so important. Like fire, the fire service has such a high divorce rate because people don't take care of that. And so finding support, not only locally, but also

Ventura Fire Foundation (29:47.063)
Right.

Alex (30:13.693)
collectively. But to have voices that, you know, we're listening to advice that's not just self-focused or in the pit, I guess.

Ventura Fire Foundation (30:15.286)
Yes, yes, put that in there.

Ventura Fire Foundation (30:27.041)
Yeah.

Right, and sometimes you want a different perspective from outside of your own department and that is just nice too. And I think that it's really nice to just build that connection from the beginning so that if you were able to do that, I love that and just, know, lock arms and we're in this together sister. Yeah.

Alex (30:34.557)
Yes.

Alex (30:51.249)
Yeah, for sure.

Ventura Fire Foundation (30:56.072)
One of the other things that you reminded me of, my husband recently had surgery and I cannot tell you how much our community has showed up for us from chiefs showing up at the hospital, calling and texting me and my husband to meal drop-offs in the hospital, coffee, walking with me at the hospital to get me out of the room and some sunshine, people stepping up.

Alex (31:20.36)
you

Ventura Fire Foundation (31:24.214)
offering to take care of our kids, just incredible level of community that you just can't put a price on. And he had a smaller surgery in 2017 for his hip as well. And two firefighter families sat in the hospital waiting room with me while he had a surgery, helped me get him home into the house, left, came back with lunch. And it just, it, like you were saying earlier, we give up a lot to have this unique

dynamic fire family life and we also gain things that you just can't put into words. It really is a family and you can be mad at them, you're gonna have drama with them, all of the stuff that comes with the family that's maybe not so typical of a friendship group. like, it's, you know, it's that next level of family.

Alex (32:00.179)
Mm-hmm.

Alex (32:05.221)
Yeah

Alex (32:16.903)
Yeah, and you're always going to get what you put in too. You know, you have to be to have a village. I've read this on some video, I think, but to have a village, also have to be a villager and you have to be there for others. But it's true. I mean, they answer when you're you have hospitalizations, but they also answer like.

When our plumbing breaks or if I have, we, was saying something the other day. was like, Murphy's law strikes every time he's on shift. If something's going to go wrong, it's going to go wrong. and like we had to take our daughter. We didn't really need to go to the ER, but we needed to see someone and he was on a call. Well, we took him to one of the other stage, took her to one of the other stations. She had stuck her finger. She had stuck her finger in what I call the cigarette lighter in your car, but the 12 volt thing and like burned her finger.

Ventura Fire Foundation (33:03.984)
yeah. Yep.

Alex (33:05.908)
So like it wasn't ER worthy. was like, we probably should get it checked out. Well, we're to go to him. But I knew if I go to any station, like whoever was there would check it out and be there. And, and so you just never know like what little things you might need people for. And especially if you don't have people locally, like we're lucky that we have family local, but we've watched other people's kids or, know, they've watched ours when we didn't have family available.

Ventura Fire Foundation (33:08.056)
Great.

Ventura Fire Foundation (33:14.336)
Yeah.

sure.

Ventura Fire Foundation (33:24.992)
Yeah, they show up.

Alex (33:36.157)
So.

Ventura Fire Foundation (33:36.3)
Yeah, I love that. It's so great knowing the power of coming together and all of us with the same desire to be connected and have this community grow. And it just, it's so beautiful.

Alex (33:51.529)
Yes, yeah, it's needed for sure.

Ventura Fire Foundation (33:57.024)
Yeah. Is there anything else you wanted to chat about dive more into?

Alex (34:04.903)
I don't think so. mean, there's a lot. There's so much that you could say, you know? Yeah.

Ventura Fire Foundation (34:10.134)
Yes, we could talk forever. Yeah, I mean, I, I definitely curious, you know, to chat more with you about your pre, what is it pre teaching and your husband's, you know, that transition. And I don't know how you have a puppy right now, I can barely take care of two kids. So you have three kids and a puppy. And you work full time, like, I'm so impressed.

Alex (34:31.569)
I don't know either.

It's it's crazy. It's crazy for sure.

Ventura Fire Foundation (34:40.906)
Yeah, I feel like that's one of the other things like, we just like, I can do one more thing. Of course. Yeah, of course.

Alex (34:48.827)
Yeah, well, and it's so important. And this was something we mentioned. We would have to go on a maybe another sit down to talk about this, but it's so important to outside of all that because our life is so crazy because you have a schedule to work around and you've got kids and you've got work and you're not always, you know, with your partner, still finding time for yourself. It's so important to find time for yourself. And that could be as little as bubble bath or something, you know,

Ventura Fire Foundation (34:55.969)
Yeah.

Alex (35:15.281)
little, but it also could be like we got to the point Kyle looked at me one day and was like, you need a hobby. Cause I had, I was just so drained. And so it's important in all of that.

Ventura Fire Foundation (35:20.727)
Yeah.

Ventura Fire Foundation (35:25.75)
Are you into anything right now? How are you pouring into you?

Alex (35:29.229)
Well, a couple of years ago when he looked at me and he was like, you've got to find something that is an outlet for you. I actually got involved in our local community theater and I had never done theater in my life. Never had done theater in my life. But I took an improv class about two years ago and I've just been sucked in and in I take classes every Tuesday. So we carve out every Tuesday I'm at class. So when he's off, he watches the kids. And when he's on, we usually work it out that his parents will keep them.

Ventura Fire Foundation (35:39.681)
Love that!

Yeah.

Alex (35:59.23)
But if they can't, then I just miss class that week. finding something and stepping out of your comfort zone if you don't have a hobby like me is so important.

Ventura Fire Foundation (36:01.773)
Yeah.

Ventura Fire Foundation (36:07.778)
That's amazing. You're so bold and like, we're like, I'm just gonna try this.

Alex (36:13.425)
Yeah, it was terrifying. Thankfully, one of my friends was teaching it and I texted him. said, I'm terrified. Like, what are you talking about? I should take your class. He goes, just show up. And probably one of the best things I've done. I did it. Yes. Yes.

Ventura Fire Foundation (36:15.608)
Yeah.

Ventura Fire Foundation (36:19.296)
Yeah. Yeah. I love that. And you did it. And you're still doing it.

So has it been two years?

Alex (36:32.565)
the summer will be two years. Yeah. Yeah. So I take like an acting class on Tuesdays. I've been in one musical that was a little rough just cause schedule. Thankfully I had like the tiniest of parts. I was in like four scenes. thankfully I didn't have to go to a ton of rehearsals. I can't imagine one that I was in rehearsals like every day of the week, but

Ventura Fire Foundation (36:36.162)
That's amazing.

Ventura Fire Foundation (36:57.698)
Yeah.

Alex (36:58.629)
working around his schedule would be rough, but finding something to be an outlet for you is like incredibly important.

Ventura Fire Foundation (37:00.995)
Right.

Ventura Fire Foundation (37:04.8)
Yeah, I love that. think, I hope that gives other people a little nudge, you know, to just be curious and try something out. I want to take this ceramics class and I've wanted to take it for years. And now that my husband's off work right now for this injury recovery, I'm like, this is the perfect time because you're for sure going to be home. Like you said.

Alex (37:30.28)
Yeah.

Ventura Fire Foundation (37:31.016)
every whatever day of the week for four weeks for me to be able to take this class and in all of our free time, you know, just which is very little, right? Like, how do we how do we spend it on us? And it's nice to do something then a walk or read a book, right? Like get out of the house, mix things up, challenge my mind and body. That's amazing. You're doing this musical theater and did improv like that's crazy.

Alex (37:42.289)
Yeah.

Alex (37:56.382)
Yeah.

Alex (37:59.879)
Yeah, it is crazy because like I said, I have never done theater before. Like I had been in choir and band, so it's been fun to learn.

Ventura Fire Foundation (38:04.887)
Yeah.

Ventura Fire Foundation (38:08.8)
Yeah, good for you. I love that. Okay, well, hopefully, anyone who's listening, if you try something out, you're bold and brave, let us know what you tried out after hearing Alex share her bold and brave and keep me accountable for taking my ceramic ceramics class and ask me how it's going. So I love that.

Alex (38:21.811)
Yeah

Alex (38:28.484)
Absolutely. I want to know. I want to know. I need more ideas too of like what to do out of the box.

Ventura Fire Foundation (38:33.261)
Yes, and maybe we'll do a poll and see what other people respond on a poll to. That's a good idea. Cool. Well, thanks for chatting, Alex. I can't wait to check in and chat with you another time. Thank you so much.

Alex (38:38.833)
Yeah, that would be fun.

Alex (38:48.068)
Absolutely, thanks for having me.

Ventura Fire Foundation (38:50.306)
Yeah, of course. Okay, I'm gonna take out my AirPods because they're driving me nuts. Sorry.

Alex (38:54.473)
No, you're good.

Ventura Fire Foundation (38:57.582)
They're new and my gosh, I just cannot find the right like setting thing for them. That was so cool. Thank you. You're welcome. I love this and I hope that how long have you been in Fire Family Collective now? Sorry, I just I didn't think to look at that. Okay, I hope that as you are

Alex (39:06.075)
Yes. You're welcome. That was fun.

Alex (39:20.125)
Like maybe two months, maybe. Yeah.

Ventura Fire Foundation (39:25.964)
you know, experiencing it, you continue to add and give valuable feedback because we want it to be valuable. And it means so much that you took time to come on here and I can't wait to see what's next. Yeah.

Alex (39:43.207)
Yeah, it's been fun. It'll be fun to see it grow because y'all just started it ish, right? Like a year.

Ventura Fire Foundation (39:50.298)
like we, yeah, we officially opened it about a year ago and we've just slowly been building it and putting resources behind it to build things. and yeah, this is like the real official ramp up. So, it's really cool. I feel really honored to be able to be a part of it and see and learn and meet people like you like that. tell.

Alex (40:01.693)
Mm-hmm.

Ventura Fire Foundation (40:16.928)
Everyone like that's the coolest part of this is that you see the world is so much bigger and connect with really cool people. Like I would have never met you. And you know, now I'm reminded like check the ceramics class because last time I checked it for January and February was full. So I'm waiting for the March schedule and I signed up, you know, notify me when class opens up things. So, you know, I'm checking my email because I'm really bad at checking my email. But yeah, it's just.

Alex (40:21.779)
Yeah.

Alex (40:35.239)
haha

Alex (40:39.325)
Yep.

Alex (40:43.025)
Yeah

Ventura Fire Foundation (40:46.625)
It's so cool to be a part of.

Alex (40:48.297)
Yeah, I'm excited. was telling someone I was going to record this today. I think I was telling my mom. I was like, yeah, it started out in California. So she's like, how did you find it? I like, I don't really know. Honestly, I just kind of searched for it and thankfully it popped up. But it'll be really cool to have voices from all across. Everywhere, because it's so different. Yeah, it's so different. Like there's different just differences between departments and.

Ventura Fire Foundation (41:03.458)
I love that.

Ventura Fire Foundation (41:07.948)
Yes, yes, it's different.

Alex (41:16.189)
like shift schedules, like small things or like the way that y'all are organized. Like we don't run EMS out of our department. They are town as a private service. So like departments that have that too. Even the little things are so different.

Ventura Fire Foundation (41:27.672)
Yeah, yeah, everywhere's so different. Yeah, well, cool. I am so happy we got time to chat. Next steps, I don't know, expect to hear from Joe, most likely, and always reach out to me. I have my cell phone number. I'm not great with social media. I go through my phases where I just need a break. I'm pretty consistent about checking Circle every few days, but now I my phone number so you can...

text or call me whenever and You're two hours ahead Yeah, okay, well enjoy family time Yes, yes, and that's why I'm like I Should just give her my phone number just in case so thank you Yeah All right. Well have a great night Alex. Thank you so much. I'll talk to you later. wait hold on. I gotta stop the recording. Sorry

Alex (41:57.449)
Okay. Well, thank you. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. I didn't even think about that earlier. I was like, well, at least I was ahead and not behind.

Alex (42:15.075)
Yeah.

Alex (42:21.373)
You too.