Dragon's Den

Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Toady we are joined by Arkansas Legend, Ryan McCormick. Chief McCormick, most notably, started the First In conference, within his home state, but he also joined us to talk about haters, limited staffing, the 48/96 schedule, the power of networking, getting outside of your bubble and much much more. Hope you enjoy listening.

Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we have on Stephanie White, Corley Moore and Nick Ledin to have a casual conversation about AI in the fire service and even digging a little deeper on the overall picture of AI. What's good? What's Bad? What does it mean to be an "artist"? How do they use AI in their daily life? We didn't solve any of the worlds problems, but I thought it was a fun way to burn an hour. We hope you enjoy the episode, even if we probably didn't have all of the perfect answers. Thank you for listening.

Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we have on Chief Wayne Prejean. Chief Prejean started with the Lafayette Fire Department in the early 60's and spent 20 years with Lafayette, serving 10 of those years as the Fire Chief. Chief sat down with us to tell us about his rookie year, his time in fire prevention, battling the administration and trying to fight the good fight, as the president of the Union. His time was not "all sunshine and rainbows" and there were a lot of battles and struggles as a young fire Chief in the early 1970's. We were honored to get a chance to sit down while he let us document that history. This isn't my "standard" episode, but it one that's important to me. I hope you enjoy it.

Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we are joined by Chief Dennis Reilly. This was a impromptu podcast when I travelled back and forth to One Bad Tour with Chief. We talked about a lot of different subjects and he told many stories, but one that stuck out was one where he built a recruit academy in 2 different organizations that was ridiculed in the beginning and now it's simply the norm. Thanks for taking time to share your knowledge and passion, Chief.

Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we have on the St. George mayor, Dustin Yates. Chief Yates was previously an admin Chief of the St. George fire department and he's the current president of the Louisiana Firefighters Foundation. Dustin sat down with us for a couple of seconds to talk about the early days of the LIFT Conference and to highlight a few of the projects that are going on within the Louisiana Firefighters Foundation. We appreciate his time and we hope that he comes back soon. Thank you for listening.

Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we have Chief Joe Mera. Chief Mera is the recently retired fire chief for the Leesburg. This was originally going to be a short interview about Chief's involvement in the One Bad Tour training program, but it turned into a full episode after I heard Chief give his speech to the candidates at OBT 10. He's a fireman's fire chief. I hope you enjoy.

Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we have another episode of The Debrief with Colin Cotter and Reilly Kilbride. These gentlemen were able to make a successful grab in their department and we brought them into to discuss it. We hope to learn from their experience, to better prepare, should we find ourselves in a similar situation. Thanks for listening.

Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we talked to Gavin Reynolds. Gavin in a volunteer in rural Georgia and has been at it for 7 years. He's a father, husband, former infantry marine with 2 deployments, graduate of the Georgia Spartan program, One Bad Tour, Georgia Smoke Diver and an ultra runner, with no real plans of slowing down. Yes...all of that, from a volunteer. He set a bar for what it means to be "professional". I hope you enjoy the episode. Thanks for listening.

Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den podcast. Today's guests are Bryan Lloyd and Chad Miller. We brought these 2 men together to talk about the process of starting the Oklahoma Smoke Diver program. We discuss the trails, tribulations, success and lasting impact of the program. It was an absolute honor to talk to men with such a passion and commitment to making the fire service better. We hope you enjoy listening.Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dragons_den_training/Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/32CpxOAnxDbGGGvNb2UznvRSS - https://media.rss.com/thedragonsden/feed.xmlYouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@DragonsDen03TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@the_dragons_den_podcastApple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dragons-den/id1764926356

Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we have retired Batt. Chief out of Cobb County, Kevin Lewis. Kevin talks to us about the development and growth of the Cobb County Search Program from it's early inception. We talk about it's mission, it's early struggles and it's success. Kevin also discusses some of him time teaching at conferences and how the impact of the program has grown far outside the borders of Cobb County. We hope you enjoy the episode. Thanks for listening.KEVIN R. LEWIS has served with Cobb County, GA, Fire & Emergency Services for 20 years. He is currently a captain at Truck Company 4. He holds a BA from the University of Delaware and has taught at Firehouse Expo, Firehouse World, and extensively throughout the Southeast. He is a member of the NFPA 1931/1932 Technical Committee for Fire Service Ground Ladders and a founding member of the Georgia Chapter of the Terry Farrell Firefighters Fund.

Today we were joined by a local legend. This was probably my most requested guest, from our area and also one of the most respected. This is 3 hours of passionate discussion on Todd's view of how to to do the job right, fire stories and various other rabbit holes. Please like, subscribe and ring the bell for notifications. You can follow us on: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dragons_den_training/ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/32CpxOAnxDbGGGvNb2Uznv RSS - https://media.rss.com/thedragonsden/feed.xml YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@DragonsDen03 TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@the_dragons_den_podcast Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dragons-den/id1764926356

Welcome back to another episode of the Dragon's Den podcast. Today we have Thai Guidry. Thai is a company officer in Wilmington, North Carolina. He was born and raised in Lafayette Parish and he's also my cousin in law. I've known him for over 20 years and Thai has always been a guy that I've looked up to, even 20 years ago. He's the classic stoic marine. Chiseled jawline, dashingly handsome and fit as hell. But more than that, I know him as a man of good character. He's humble, quiet and treats his family with respect. He's graduated NC Breathing School and consistently signs up for hard things. We had many more things to talk about, so I fully expect a part 2, maybe in December.

Welcome to another episode of The Dragon's Den Podcast. Today are joined by none other, than Chief Joel Miller, more commonly referred to as "Chief Miller". Chief Miller runs one of the largest fire social media pages on planet earth and works as a federal fire Chief here in central Louisiana. He's avoided all podcast appearances for the last 12 years, so it was actually shocking that he told me yes. We talked social media, recruiting, training, conferences, culture, how to treat rookies and more. We appreciate Chief for stopping in and we hope that he doesn't become a stranger. We hope you enjoy. Thanks for listening.https://www.instagram.com/chief_miller/https://chiefmillerapparel.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoouqi3bKY0MbEKbeMQXhJwcgFkH0uPH-eUZ1Rtk4zmGj1KdUkgi

Welcome to another episode of the Dragon's Den podcast. Today we sit down with the power couple, Aaron and Meg Kowal. Aaron is a captain on the special operations truck in St George, Louisiana and Meg is currently the Public Education Chief for the same department, although she also worked on the floor at St George before moving into that position. They are both 2nd generation firemen and Meg started her fire service time just outside of New York State. They are both dedicated and passionate individuals and we discussed everything from culture, training, the LIFT conference, their marriage and more. We really appreciate their willingness to come on and share some of their journey with me.

Welcome back to another episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. On today's episode myself and fellow cadre member Josh Bourque recap our experience going through One Bad Tour, Class 9. Right out of the gates, if you are listening to this in order to know the "curriculum" of the program, then you are wasting your time. The how, why, when, where, what of the program are going to need to be experienced by you. What we will discuss is our preparation, nutrition, mindset throughout and then when we thought the value of the program. If it feels like we're being a little vague, it's very intentional. There were many impactful and important moments for both myself and Josh, but ultimately we want everyone to go through it and experience it for yourselves. We both highly recommend the program and hope that you enjoy the conversation, in spite of us being a little vague. Thanks for listening.

Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we did something quite different. This is a collection of 12 or 13 clips of a bunch of guys from around the fire service answering the same question at Small-Town Job-Town. What, in your opinion, is the value of outside training and do you have a personal story in relation to that outside training? I've already released all of the individual episodes on youtube, but decided to put them all together as one long episode. I can talk till I'm blue in the face about outside training, but maybe hearing it from different ranks and different people might help push someone to attend ANYTHING that's not related to their department. I hope you find value in it.

Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we filled the podcast with killers. We have Jacob Stolzle, Donald Smith and Ian Lopez. All of these men are Mississippi Smoke Divers out of St. Tammany Parish. Jacob is also an Oklahoma Smoke Diver and has completed One Bad Tour with Ian Lopez. I stepped aside for this episode and let Josh Bourque jump in to host because we truly didn't need me for this one. This is a conversation Josh has wanted to have ever since he graduated the MSD program, but we couldn't get the times to work until just now. We also wanted to have on Barrett Pittman, but he wasn't able to make the trip. This is a bit of a long one, but it mostly centers around the smoke diving programs, culture and what the programs meant to the guys that have completed them. We very much appreciate these guys for driving 4 hours to come and have a conversation that meant a lot us. We hope you enjoy.

Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Todays guest is Chief Jacob Johnson. Chief serves as an Asst. Chief for the city of Pearland Texas. Disclaimer: I am a moron. For the entirety of this episode I called Pearland, Pearl Land. Why did my brain read it that way? I don't know. Did Chief say it correctly repeatedly and I never catch on? Yes. Because I'm a moron. Did Chief ever correct me? No, because he is a professional.With that being said, we had a great conversation about what the Pearland fire department is doing that is different from other areas and how they are building an unbelievable culture of training and operational readiness. I haven't been everywhere and I haven't seen everything, but from what Chief Johnson described, it sounds like a killer place to work. I hope you enjoy this episode.

Welcome to another episode of the Dragons' Den podcast. Today we joined by Nick Ledin. Many know Nick for his heavy involvement in the Firefighter Rescue Survey, being part of committees and advisory boards and teaching around the nation. All of those things are true, but one of the things I love most about Nick is his unwavering commitment to truth, science and tracking down the facts to the best of his ability. We talked about his background and things he's involved in, but we also took a little detour and discussed things like truth on social media and how to navigate those waters. If I ever do a "philosophy podcast", I'm pulling in Nick as my first guest. That being said, I hope you guys enjoy this episode.

Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today's guest is Hannah Elmore. Hannah is the Senior Outreach Coordinator for the IAFF Center of Excellence. The CoE of a treatment facility for union firefighters that are battling things like addiction, PTSD, depression and other mental illnesses. We also have Chief Clint Sanchez. Clint went through the CoE program and put me into contact with Hannah because of how great of an experience Clint had during his time. He credited the CoE with saving his life, as have many others. Hannah discussed admissions process, potential costs, who would be a good candidate, tangible steps that fellow firefighters could take in order to help each other and many other things. Clint recaps his experience in going through the program. If you believe this episode is helpful to you and you would like to know more, please reach out to Hannah, Clint, or myself. Hannah and Clint are making themselves available to talk privately, if you want to know more about the CoE from the technical side or from the "Firefighter" side. Once again, please call and seek help. Your life matters.Hannah's Bio:As a member of the Community Outreach team at the IAFF Center of Excellence, Hannah is dedicated to helping clients, families, and organizations find quality treatment options. Before joining Advanced Recovery Systems in 2022, Hannah worked in community outreach providing trauma informed presentations and in direct clinical care with clients. Hannah holds a Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work from Florida State University and is passionate about increasing mental health support and treatment options within the community. She is excited for the opportunity to widen the scope of impact of Advanced Recovery Systems and work each day to connect the community with life-saving treatment options.

Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we finally return back to South Louisiana with our next guest, Matt Berkins. Matt serves as a fireman out of Slidell, LA. I first met Matt at the LIFT conference, just last year. We spent a good amount of the conference having conversations during breaks and social events and I loved his mindset and the things he was trying to implement, especially being so young in the fire service. What also intrigued me about Matt is that he is a former Ranger and also spent time with doing contract work with the CIA. The leadership lessons learned in that environment will serve him well through the rest of his career. Guys like Matt excite me for how good they could be in the coming years. We talked about everything from conferences, leadership, training the basics and much more. We hope you enjoy. Thank you for listening.Matt's Bio:It’s just me my wife and some dogs. We’ve been together for 10 years. Army for 7 years. I was a Ranger my whole career stationed in Savannah, GA with 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger regiment Contractor for the Agency for 3 years. Global Response Staff (GRS) Got back into firefighting in February 2022 🤘🏻Please like, subscribe and ring the bell for notifications.You can follow us on:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dragons_den_training/Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/32CpxOAnxDbGGGvNb2UznvRSS - https://media.rss.com/thedragonsden/feed.xmlYouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@DragonsDen03

Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den podcast. Today's guest is Preston Lyons. Preston is a firefighter in Colorado and runs the Relentless Rejects podcast. He first hit my radar when he was on the Weekly Scrap with Corley Moore. I had no idea who he was, but his story and message really resonated with me. It seems we shared a similar journey, mindset, and struggles in trying to make change within our own departments. It was a pleasure to be able to spend about an hour picking Preston's brain and talking about some of the more recent things he's doing. And for any Vigilantes listening. Apple is garbage and Android is supreme. Hope you enjoy listening.Preston Lyons is a 10-year Navy combat veteran and a seasoned firefighter with North Metro Fire Rescue District in Colorado, where he has served for the past decade. Drawing on his extensive military and firefighting experience, Preston is a passionate writer and influential voice in the areas of culture, leadership, and personal development. His message resonates with those who serve and lead under pressure, inspiring others to cultivate resilience, authenticity, and purpose both on and off the job. Whether in uniform or on stage, Preston brings a grounded, relatable perspective shaped by real-world challenges and a deep commitment to growth and service.Please like, subscribe and ring the bell for notifications.You can follow us on:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dragons_den_training/Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/32CpxOAnxDbGGGvNb2UznvRSS - https://media.rss.com/thedragonsden/feed.xmlYouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@DragonsDen03

Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den podcast. Today we have on Jacob McVey and Marcos Chacon. This episode was very last minute. Myself and Chief Sparacello went over to Bay St Louis to teach for the Coastal Magnolia FOOLS first ever training. Once I found out that the presidents for both the Coastal Magnolia FOOLS and the Old South FOOLS would be together, I thought it was the perfect chance to bring both of these guys together, along with Chief Sparacello, and talk about the formations of the chapters, the brotherhood, how the first training event went and what's the plans for the future. I did not say it on the podcast, but Jacob McVey's wife, Kayla McVey came with Jacob and took all of the photos for the event. They have 2 young children at home, so just leaving can be difficult, but we also appreciate her efforts in documenting the event. It was really enjoyable to talk to all of these guys at the same time. Jacob McVeyPresident of the Old South F.O.O.L.S.Jacob currently serves as an Engine Driver and EMT for the Lafayette County Fire Department in Mississippi. He assists with the Alcorn County Special Operations Response Team and works part-time across state lines in Tennessee, as well as in his hometown of Booneville, Mississippi, where he first joined the fire service in 2018.Outside the job, Jacob is a husband and proud girl dad, balancing family life with his passion for building up the fire service through training, tradition, and philanthropy efforts. Lieutenant Marcos ChaconPresident of the Coastal Magnolia FOOLSLieutenant Marcos Chacon is a dedicated and passionate member of the fire service, having embarked on his career in 2022. With a natural leadership ability and a commitment to community service, Marcos quickly distinguished himself and earned a promotion to Lieutenant, where he now plays a pivotal role in guiding and mentoring fellow firefighters.In 2024, after participating in a small-town training event, Marcos recognized the need for camaraderie and professional development among firefighters. Inspired by this vision, he initiated the formation of the Coastal Magnolia Fools chapter, a group dedicated to fostering a spirit of fun, learning, and support within the firefighting community. Under his leadership, the chapter has grown into a vibrant network that emphasizes training, mentorship, and the importance of a strong brotherhood and sisterhood among firefighters.Marcos is known for his unwavering dedication to his team and community, always striving to improve the fire service and make a positive impact. His innovative ideas and commitment to excellence continue to inspire those around him, making him a respected leader in the fire service.

Welcome to another episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we have on Justin Spanka and Caleb Shetler. I first met Spanka when he came to teach at the Central Acadiana Fire Symposium with Sean Ryan and the Animal House cadre. I tried to get him onto the podcast pretty early and he kept saying no, but I was finally able to convince him after he and Shetler completed the Oklahoma Smoke Diver program. They are the first individuals in Virginia to complete either the Georgia, Indiana or Oklahoma program. I knew that they both had good experiences and something to offer, with both being unsuccessful the first attempt and then completing it the second attempt. I was absolutely correct. There was so much in this episode that resonated with me that I bit my tongue on many occasions so that they could get there thoughts out. I hope you enjoy the episode as much as I enjoyed recording it. Thanks for listening.Spanka Bio:Grew up in Virginia Beach. Went to college in central VA to play volleyball and ended up getting a bachelors degree in kinesiology. Found the fire service due to interest in medicine and realized the fire side was way cooler. Self proclaimed exercise and wellness nerd. First VA Smoke Divers to complete OSD, GSD, or ISD (Shetler as well). Shetler Bio:Raised in central Virginia and found the fire service as a volunteer at an early age. Left for the midwest and attended Union University where he received a Bachelor of Science in International Rescue & Relief with an emphasis in paramedicine. Worked briefly in Washington, the state where his beautiful wife Jennifer is from, before deciding to start their family back home in Virginia. Currently assigned to the training division as a FF/Paramedic. Graduate of Oklahoma Smoke Diver Class #5 You can follow us on:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dragons_den_training/Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/32CpxOAnxDbGGGvNb2UznvRSS - https://media.rss.com/thedragonsden/feed.xmlYouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@DragonsDen03

Welcome back to another episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today it is my absolute pleasure to have on both of the Stone Brothers. Chief DJ Stone and Chief Shannon Stone. DJ currently serves as the Training Chief with South Walton and Shannon currently serves as the Fire Chief for Midway fire. They both have very extensive bios, so I'll leave those in the show notes if you want to read them. While making an impromptu stop in the Pensacola area, I was lucky enough to get both of the brothers over to our rental house and have conversation about fire stuff. We talked about many topics, including why they started the 850 fireman, PTSD, the importance of training, their experiences with teaching on the circuit, both of their recent position changes, mentorship and much more. We recorded this on the patio, at night, so the lighting wasn't great, but the audio is good and you can tell who is talking if you do watch the video. This was an extremely easy conversation because all I had to do was get the ball rolling and they took over. There's so much in both of their minds that we didn't struggle for conversation at all. Once again, it was my honor to be able to record this conversation. I hope you enjoy it.

Welcome to another Episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today's guest is Chief Dennis Reilly. I'll probably say this until I shut this podcast down, but I'm honored to have such a distinguished guest spend his time talking to me about the job. Chief Reilly has a very extensive bio, but the highlights are this. He's got over 50 years of experience, deployed combat veteran, responded to 9/11, has been the Fire Chief of multiple departments, has a masters degree from Penn State and has taught all over the country, including at FDIC this year. He's seen a lot and done a lot and I'm so glad that he drove over from his home in Navarre to hang out at the pool, eat some crawfish etouffee, and talk about the job. I hope you enjoy.Please like, subscribe and ring the bell for notifications.You can follow us on:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dragons_den_training/Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/32CpxOAnxDbGGGvNb2UznvRSS - https://media.rss.com/thedragonsden/feed.xmlYouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@DragonsDen03

Our next guest is Engineer Chris Watson. I met Chris at the Small Town Job Town conference in Hammond Louisiana and immediately knew that he was a dialed in fireman. Not only did I notice it, but the other students also commented on it. It was so shocked by how good he was that I said “I’ve gotta talk to this guy”, so I texted him after the conference and invited him on. Our schedules lined up and we made it happen. He’s done a little bit of everything, but here’s his short bio.· Husband & Father of 2· 13-year Veteran in the fire service· Engineer for Crestview Fire Department· Spent 8 years in the Navy as an Aviation Rescue Swimmer.· Come from a family of firefighters: Miami/Dade, Gainesville Fire Rescue, Alachua Fire Rescue.President of the Crestview Professional Firefighters Association. L2680 (They’re a 4 digit, but I won’t hold it against him.)

Welcome to another episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today's guest is Lt. Jimmy Gregory from Cobb County Fire. He's a loving husband and father of 6. He's got about 17 years of fire service experience, served in the Army and currently still serves with the Air Force. He's taught at multiple conferences, including FDIC. He's a Georgia Smoke Diver and one the main reasons that I reached out to him was that he is the current Lead Instructor for the Cobb County Recruit Search School. In all honesty, I was looking forward to this conversation for MANY months and it was genuinely one of the best conversations I've had to this point. The Cobb recruit search program holds a special place in my career development and I owe a lot to it and the people that developed it and maintain it. I hope you enjoy the episode.Please like, subscribe and ring the bell for notifications.You can follow us on:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dragons_den_training/Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/32CpxOAnxDbGGGvNb2UznvRSS - https://media.rss.com/thedragonsden/feed.xmlYouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@DragonsDen03

Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. On today's episode we have Chief David Pruitt. Chief currently holds the position of Chief of Emergency Management and Innovations for the City of Hillsboro Texas. He's been there for 23 years and is clearly passionate about the fire service. He was gracious enough to give me a couple of hours of his time, right before teaching at the LIFT conference. Although he really enjoys talking about acquired structures and training, he's also a master of rabbit holes and we got side tracked pretty often. I'm not sure we ever fully talked about what I thought he would talk about. Regardless, I love his passion. Side note: You will see me look to my left pretty often. I'm making sure my PC or the audio mixer didn't crash. Skippy wasn't able to make it to LIFT to run the boards, so I was nervous we would lose the it. Thank you for listening.Please like, subscribe and ring the bell for notifications.You can follow us on:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dragons_den_training/Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/32CpxOAnxDbGGGvNb2UznvRSS - https://media.rss.com/thedragonsden/feed.xmlYouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@DragonsDen03

Welcome to the next episode of the Dragon's Den podcast. Today we have another episode of The Debrief with Shane Murray. Shane only has a couple of years on the job and while working at his part time department, he found himself in a situation where he could make an impact. While fighting a fire, he was given a report of a victim and in a low manpower scenario asked a Chief Officer if he could do a solo search. He searched and with a little help at the end of the recovery, rescued the person. He now joins us to tell his story and see what lessons we can learn from it. Thank you for listening.Please like, subscribe and ring the bell for notifications.You can follow us on:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dragons_den_training/Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/32CpxOAnxDbGGGvNb2UznvRSS - https://media.rss.com/thedragonsden/feed.xmlYouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@DragonsDen03

Welcome to the another episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today's guest is Captain Ragan Underwood. He currently serves as a Training Officer for the St. George Fire Department. He is a loving husband and father of 3 children. He's a combat veteran, cadre member with Insight Fire Training, has taught at many conferences, including FDIC, and was involved in a Mayday during a training burn of an acquired structure. We are glad to have Capt. Underwood on the podcast and hope you enjoy it. Side note: This was my first remote podcast and my camera lags from time to time. I'll get the kinks worked out for the next one.You can follow us on:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dragons_den_training/Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/32CpxOAnxDbGGGvNb2UznvRSS - https://media.rss.com/thedragonsden/feed.xmlYouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@DragonsDen03

Welcome back to another episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today's guest is Deputy Chief Mike Dragon. Yes, his real name is Dragon. Chief Dragon popped up in a firefighter fitness page that I run, a couple a years ago. He was contributing his thoughts into the group and you could tell he was deeply committed to fitness. I later found out that his name was actually Dragon, so once the podcast started, I figure it was no brainer to have him into the Dragon's Den. I didn't know much about more about him, but after this conversation, I'm incredibly glad he decided to drive a couple of hours to sit down and talk with us. We did talk about fitness, but we also covered his father, the family the fire service created for him, but most importantly, his own family. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed recording it.

Welcome to another episode of the Dragon's Den podcast. Today we have with us Tucker Royer, for our 2nd Debrief. On our last episode of the Debrief, I said that I would keep an ear out for any grabs that were made in our area and I'd invite them on to come and talk about their experience, so we can learn. I figured it would be many months before we'd have another one, but it didn't take long. While Tucker was visiting his volunteer department, the tones dropped, preparation met opportunity, and he had a chance to make a difference. We appreciate firefighter Royer coming in to talk about this rescue. It's a very short episode, but we hope you enjoy it. Thanks for listening.Please like, subscribe and ring the bell for notifications. You can follow us on: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dragons_den_training/ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/32CpxOAnxDbGGGvNb2Uznv RSS - https://media.rss.com/thedragonsden/feed.xml YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@DragonsDen03

Welcome to another episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. Today we are joined by Engineer Josh Bourque. Josh is a 2nd generation firefighter, with 11 years of service. He spent almost 10 of those years at the busiest station: Station 2, also known as "Pelican". He recently became a Mississippi Smoke Diver and to my knowledge is the first person in the department, and probably the region, to ever attempt or complete any smoke diver course. We originally planned to have Josh on at a later time, but with this achievement, we decided to move him up on the guest list. We touch on his faith, family, fire service and all things in-between. Josh is a guy that I have looked up to for long time and I was excited to finally get to sit down and have him tell his story. I hope that you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed recording it.

Today we talked to Chief Ray Landry. Ray joined the Lafayette Fire Department in 1965 and spent 23 years with the department, ultimately retiring as a District Chief. He was with the department during times where there was a lot of change and growth. When trying to document the firefighting history of our area, there aren't too many that are better than Ray. It was pleasure to have him on and tell the stories that he wanted to tell. Some were fun and some were serious. We talked about cooking at the station, training, rescues and station culture and much more. We hope you enjoy the episode. And Yes, we know there's a pop in the audio. We think it's cables the new boom mics. We'll get it sorted out. I promise. Thank you for listening. We hope you enjoy. Please like, subscribe and ring the bell for notifications. You can follow us on: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dragons_den_training/ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/32CpxOAnxDbGGGvNb2Uznv RSS - https://media.rss.com/thedragonsden/feed.xml YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@DragonsDen03

On this episode we speak with an Engine crew from my department that recently made a grab on a house fire. Although this was never the intended purpose of this podcast, I believe there was an opportunity to use this platform as an educational tool and learn from the fireman that recently had a experience that very few of us have an chance at.As I learn about grabs that we make in our area, I'll try to continue to reach out to those who made them and let them tell their stories so that we can hopefully learn from them.I hope you enjoy this episode and we'll return to your regularly scheduled program, shortly.

On this episode we talk to 4 retired fireman that combine for over 125 years of service. These 4 guys worked at the same station for several years and Troy Martin was the main inspiration for the stories that I wanted to try and preserve. He's a people person who is 100% positive on the fire service and he was always fun to work with. The cast of characters around him have some fond memories. We know that a lot of these conversations were "You had to be there" moments, but it's important for me to get the guys together and joke around with the nonsense that would happen at the station. We hope you enjoy.

Welcome back to another episode of the Dragons Den podcast. On today's episode, we have Chief Sam Sparacello. Chief currently serves as the Chief of Training for the Hammond Fire Department. After screwing up the first attempt, we were lucky to have Chief give us another shot in his very busy schedule and during the Small Town Job Town Conference, which he's mostly responsible for running. I always enjoy talking to Sam any chance that I get. I haven't run across many people who have his level of passion for the fire service. We hope you also enjoy the conversation.Please like, subscribe and ring the bell for notifications.You can follow us on:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dragons_den_training/Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/32CpxOAnxDbGGGvNb2UznvRSS - https://media.rss.com/thedragonsden/feed.xmlYouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@DragonsDen03

In this episode, we sit down with Jacob Auzenne. He has almost 10 years in the fire service and owns the training company "First Due Fitness". He's deeply passionate about physical fitness as a foundation of the first responder community. Seth Richard also came in and filled a seat for Skippy, who was out of town. It was a little longer than expected, but I enjoyed the conversation and we hope you do also.Please like, subscribe and ring the bell for notifications.https://captaincobys.com/products/capt-cobys-cajun-seasoning

In this episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast we had the honor of interviewing retired Chief Gerard Sonnier and retired Chief Lonnie Spell. These 2 combine for 70 years of firefighting experience. We were barely able to scratch the service of what they had to offer and there's no way that we won't have them back, at some point. We hope that you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.

Welcome to the pilot episode of the Dragon's Den Podcast. It's a very short video on who we are, how we got here and our general idea of what we would like to do with this podcast. If you think you might be interested, please like and subscribe to the Pod.You can follow our Cadre Page @ https://www.instagram.com/dragons_den_training/