From Personal Tragedy To Triumph- Founder of Flame Decon, Veteran Tara Cornett

I'm good how are you Jerry?  

I'm doing well thank you so much thank you for taking time to be on today.  

No thank you I really appreciate it.  

Yeah can you introduce yourself to the audience and just give them a little more background  about yourself? 

Yeah absolutely.  I'm Terra and I am the founder owner CEO.  Whatever the title is for small business owner.  

Jack of all trades.  

Yeah where are all hats here?  

Yeah.  Yeah.  Do you condemnation products for firefighters post-fire and any time they're around the  station?  

I am originally from San Diego, California but as a veteran I've kind of lived all over  the US and right now I'm planted in my awesome oil house here in Conifer, Colorado.  Very awesome so you're a veteran that's and you got a travel what you do in the military.  So I was public affairs when I was active duty and between myself being active duty and  my ex has been being active duty kind of lived all over the place but yeah I got to  the gosh just I don't know meat meat incredible people and tell incredible stories and my travel  while it was active was I I traveled to Thailand for a little over a month was really my my  biggest travel adventure when I was active duty my deployment if you were.  But it was actually a joint service joint nation exercise that we were over there for  so it was really neat.  

Awesome.  What what does that really mean public affairs in the military like is that like the  PIO equivalent in the first Sponir world?  

Yeah I think so.  I mean truly if there's a crisis we're out there you know getting the information out  to the public about whatever crisis that we have going on and making sure that the military's  story is told but then also telling stories you know within the military of really cool  things going on you know advanced but same technology different sailors and Marines  doing cool things with their lives I mean you name it sounds like a pretty interesting  job and pretty rewarding to be able to share those type of stories for sure absolutely yeah  it was really cool.  

So why did you get out of the military?  

So I actually I got out because I was running a PRT one day and got to the end of my maybe  dozen mile and a half and I couldn't walk.  Oh yeah I had so much pain in my hips that I couldn't walk and they sent me in a medical  that day and the doctor was determined that I needed to do the CS specialist so actually  sent me to a specialist in another state and that specialist determined that I have a degenerative  condition in my hips that I couldn't continue serving with.  I can't deploy with anything like that so I actually ended up having to get out medically  because my hips are no good.  Sounds very painful.  Yeah yeah I can be for sure.  So how did you take that was that couldn't do that come to the shock to you?  It did it totally did.  I loved what I did in the military.  

I'd say my first year and a half and we're actually very challenging and but after that  my second cup you know after that my second year and a half two years after that we're  so enjoyable and absolutely loved what I did I love the people around me I love the environment  and I truly plan on making a career I plan on putting in an officer package becoming a public  fairs officer not kind of thing.  So for that to abruptly come to an end like that just I mean changed, changed my whole outlook  and within was probably within a month or two of getting that news was with when my dad  died when I was active duty so I still actually duty when he died after getting that  news.  

So with those two things happening like it just really shifted my view of what I needed to  do with my life and where I needed to be I was given I was given a basically when I got  the news about my hips my commandful man to the by their office and they said you know  my CMC pulled me in and he said you know we love you here we'll keep you here till the  end of your enlistment you can stay here will extend you or you can go home like I know  your dad just died you can go home because you can't continue your career here you can  move on with your career and go home spend time with your family so think on that and let  me know and ultimately I decided like let's medically get out go home find a new career  move on with the next step of the life my life and just spend that time with my family yeah  did you have any idea when that news came I mean that's I mean that's a lot of that I just  say bad news right life changing news I mean yeah it is I could see totally how that would  throw you for a loop you know how did you handle your dad we were just passing away was  were you close yeah yeah I was close to my dad and it was actually when I was in  Thailand that I got a red cross message and told over the phone by a stranger that he was  gone so it's shocking news yeah it's not I mean he'd never had heart issues before he died  of a heart attack while it was at work one day and so to be told by a stranger over the phone  that your dad who has never had issues before was gone suddenly one day in the middle of  this deployment um yeah super shocking rocked my whole world I'd say I mean it's the event in my life  if anything shifted who I am that's it. 

Can I ask why that shifted I mean I know my father passed away  and I can answer some of that myself but I mean it's different for every person.  

For sure yeah I mean I was 25 years old when he died you just don't expect that you know  actually maybe 25 year old girl you you're still in a way you're very much relying on your parents  you're still you're still very much a kid it's in some aspects it's 25 right still learning a lot  right yeah absolutely so for him to just suddenly be ripped out of my life with no warning  and no expectation of it you just realize how precious life is yeah yeah yeah I couldn't  imagine being around halfway around the world and then having that news delivered by a stranger and  then trying to figure out how am I going to get home or what what am I going to do and who I need  to contact and all those things and just being in a foreign place where you don't have the  access to like things that you'd normally would have access I'm sure yeah so when when it happened  they actually wanted to put me on a plane that night from Thailand with a bunch of strangers  at a foreign airport on a foreign plane for you know a couple days to get home and I pushed  and I pushed and I pushed and I told them no like let me let me stay and go back with these guys  that have really taken me in as one of their own and we'll take care of me and look after me  and make sure that I get home safe yeah and thankfully somebody finally came and kind of had  the sense to say yes let her go I was originally planned back with these guys if that's what she  wants to do let her do that so I was able to do that but yeah it's certainly 

yeah life life changing  for sure I can I can completely understand that was in appearance and incredibly  incredibly tough especially when it's unexpected yeah and that's pretty awesome that you had a group  of people that you could count on though at least to to get you back home I mean that's  that how to make you feel good 

absolutely I so when I went over there I was one of just a few  maybe people over there it was truly an army led deployment and so was was you know attached to  the army over there and then the second couple weeks I was there I actually got to attach to  an army special forces unit so that's who I was with when that happened was this army sf unit  and one of the most important people in my life still today was part of that unit and met him  on the way over there and this this unit just really took me in and took care of me looked after  me made sure you know and when that happened they surrounded me and just made it so much easier  and I think that's one thing that like one I think that a lot of people don't realize that  one of the things that people compromise when they join the military's time with their family  like that is something that right when you're when you're a tustation in another state when  you're deployed you're giving up time with your family and I lost lost the last three years of my  dad's life but also these communities that we have the brotherhood that you have in the fire  service in the military and law enforcement like it's something that none of us can take for granted  you know like I continue even after I got out of the military I think that's one of the reasons  that I'm here and doing what I do now is because I continue gravitating back to it because it's  people who truly understand you and your way of life and you can joke and banter  I just don't like I know there's so much friction between people at times but it's just not  something we can take for granted 

yeah yeah I could see how you'd be drawn back to having  that connection right it's such a powerful connection to have 

yeah absolutely it totally is  and it's something that you just you're not going to find if you go into an office environment  

yeah yeah it's true it's true it's a totally different kind of bonding the half of it totally 

yeah  so how did you pivot from that that incident to a different sector of your life like  how did you handle their father's passing like did that motivate you to do something different  or change something in your life um it really motivated me to take that step to go ahead and  and get out of the military and move home 

um and at that point I started actually doing  casualty work for the military um so if somebody would die or get seriously injured um I would  train casualty officers to tell their families I would send the casualty officers to tell their  families deal with the personal facts and funeral arrangements um and uh benefits all of those things  and I feel like that's one of those things you know a lot of people would tell me  it seems like a very sad morbid job but I think after going through what I went through with my  dad like that just that shifted my perspective on that too like it was very rewarding for me  to help people through that time in their life yeah that that's something that not everybody  could do I don't think like that takes a special person like yourself to be able to do that  and get the families through those incredibly difficult times and I'm sure there's you know  people in the military that have had some similar experiences but having that experience that you  had man that just makes you so so it gives you so much of value to about family 

yeah yeah it just  it just helps you be able to relate you know yeah helps you be able to just have that true empathy  for what they're going through and I think probably in a way it was very healing for me  um because it's you know going through all that stuff over and over and over again like there's  a bit of therapy there 

yeah yeah yeah I could see there would be a bit yeah a bit of struggle there  you know I guess it depends on your perspective right of how you're you personally are looking  at what you're going through and those times I've helped in the family 

yeah so how  when did you do that for um did that for gosh probably three years and then I worked for the  VA helping veterans get VA benefits for a few years after that and then um while I was working for the  VA my ex has been actually got orders I'm recruiting orders to West Virginia so went to college there  um and then after that I was a family readiness officer for the Marine Corps. I'm starting to get a  get a theme here of about your history of life. Oh really 

yeah yeah just um and that I mean  that was interesting and rewarding in itself I mean you're dealing with 400 Marines in a  command at a time and their families and helping them you know make sure that their life insurance  isn't order before they go on to playment if they have some kind of marital issue with their  spouse you're having them you know helping them get into counseling um you're throwing the  command parties you name it 

yeah yeah sounds like a very busy job once again you probably have  this can relate right you you got divorced was that during that time but it was yep it sure was  

yeah if you're taking a lot of life practical looks I don't know I want to experience because that's  really and putting into like moving forward with it I can see your type of person that  it's something like what's called a stumbling block for a minute and then you propeller yourself  forward and propeller others forward. So here's the like it seemed like you know every few years I have  like some kind of major thing happened in my life where it's just like I could fall apart right now  yep I could totally just fall apart right now and play the victim and live in that but what's the  point I just I don't see the point um after I worked for the Marine Corps I worked for the army  for a few years and the agency the the contract that I worked under that for we end up losing the  contract and after we lost the contract a lot of us knew we were gonna get laid off I knew I was  gonna get laid off eventually but in that time I was like okay what do I need to do before I get  laid off to set myself up for the future because I knew my next step was on entrepreneurship so in that  time I bought a house as an investment because I knew that I couldn't qualify for a loan  after I was laid off right during that time after I worked for the Marine Corps my house was also  hit by a hurricane um and this beautiful house on the beach north Carolina that like hurricane  Florence just rocked the water came through every level drop ceilings on every level I mean it had  to be completely gutted took over two years to to redo um after the hurricane hit though I I think  maybe there was a timer to that like dealing with the insurance like six months a year and maybe  I cried out of frustration yeah but like after it happened it wasn't a let's sit here in  crime moment it was okay what do I need to do to to start this process of rebuilding how can I  figure out what in the house is salvageable what personal items you know my dad's stuff that was  in the basement like how do I get that make sure that I can salvage that um but I think when  these things happen um and maybe it's because they do happen every few years sure I just got  myself in this mindset of instead of falling apart playing the victim anything like that it's what's  next what can I do to start mitigating this move on to the next step of my life  eventually somebody dies take that time to grieve right take that time with your family take that  time to memorialize them but if it's something like how's got hit by a hurricane it is not going  to do me a dang better god just there and be sad about it right right that's totally true  here here five tips if you're feeling stuck in your life still one take full responsibility of your  life don't be that victim anymore you have to get past that number two praise and enjoy the process  focus on the journey when things get tough focus on the end where you're headed and why you're  headed there if you truly know those little things are not gonna knock you off your track number three  become anti-fragile once again don't let those little things knock you down they're in a breathing  process though you can get through them and not get stuck in that moment number four cut out the  crappy friends that are sucking the life out of you because you can't excel if you're around a  bunch of crappy friends that are not gonna help you excel and number five you need to cultivate  grit and perseverance knowing your journey and having it written down and having it destination  is going to keep you on track and help you with that grit and perseverance on getting you to where you  want to be now let's jump right back into this episode how did you learn this mindset I think honestly just  going through life um I make it you've had plenty of opportunities to be a victim 

yeah yeah true  I mean truly yeah but I also think like so does everybody else true don't we all just carry our own  bag of shit like yeah we all go through our things it depends it it really just depends on how you  choose to handle it 

yeah I totally have a choice did you have anybody that you could lean on in  some of those hard times so it maybe help get you through like maybe when you did you have  like self doubt at times like this house thing is just a really not worth it and I'm just want to  give up and move on was there somebody in your life that said hey you know you could do this keep  moving forward totally 

yeah I have people that are really important to me in my life um  one of my best friends who I mentioned that I met in Thailand over there are he's T and I are super close  and he's a rock through everything um my mom my mom is the most incredible human um and  growing up I mean my parents divorced when I was 11 so my mom was very much a single mom for several  years um just this you know strong independent woman who who did very much um no matter what came  her way adapt and overcome and move on right so I'm sure that some of that characteristic came from  her as well yeah 

yeah yeah it's I was raised similar my parents divorced when I was seven but you  know my mom was stayed mostly single she's married one time and got divorced but yeah those  single moms can be very very very feisty and very powerful to do what it needs to what it takes to be  done right just day in and day out and they do a lot of sacrificing for their their kids to do that  which is pretty powerful absolutely it's truly that whole everything is figure out a whole thing right like  no matter what comes their way they're gonna figure it out 

yeah so it's just takes time I think  sometimes we want results that happen so fast that we actually just have to give things some time to  like settle down so we can see clearly to what we can do for the future 

yeah it's so true  it's so so true you're right absolutely okay I don't know sorry I was you know no you're totally  fine I was just gonna like our human emotions are just I I was just learning about human emotions  either day about the cycle of human emotions and how like when you ramp yourself up there's like  this two minutes of really powerful emotion and then you cycle down for 20 minutes and I think you know  that's sometimes it feels like ramps up for two three days or two three weeks and then cycles down but  there is definitely I think you have to have perspective of like how how can I make something  good happen from this and I know that's really hard for a lot of people that are listening to this  because they feel like that's impossible 

yeah yeah it's um yeah and that's that's interesting  and that you know you get 

yeah um I think and it is we get caught on our own emotions  it's but I mean you get angry about something and or sad about something it can be overwhelming  and take you into place where you don't want to do anything sure um you get to press  up I have been depressed before I have clinically diagnosed PTSD from a stalker I had when I was active  duty um you get in those times and you don't want to do anything but it's taking that one step forward  right 

yeah what do I need to do next what is next take that one step forward and that provides  that momentum which provides a little bit of motivation right it's that discipline to take the  one step that will provide the momentum and eventually motivation 

yeah and it's hard when you're  you feel like you're in crisis because you may not know what step that is or any step just seems  so impossible but yeah and if you're finding yourself in that situation I think you can find  other people to help you take that first step and maybe help you take that next step and come  up with a plan like a plan this can be just you know for the day and then the next day and then  start building a plan to to get you to the destination you want to be 

yeah absolutely and  rely on those people that you trust you know yeah and if you don't have anybody that you  trust to rely on and there's so many people like me I'll put on my on my especially like holiday  weekends that I know we're gonna be tough for some people slide into my dams anybody who's listening  to this if you're having a hard day and you don't know who who to reach out to slide into my DMs  just need to say hello to somebody 

yeah we're all human that's we're here for right like  right right I love that I mean please do that to me too that's an excellent idea I don't mean  like that is we all should be open to to doing that I think and reaching out you know and not  feeling alone or 

yeah there's so many people have gone through so many different things  that can you can find someone that's maybe going through something similar and then help you  through it and that's that's powerful right because that's to get you to take that next step and  you know I think being an entrepreneur you know you're kind of a coach and motivator aren't you at the  same time 

yeah true you have to be your own coach and motivator sometimes totally 

yeah every day  free freaking day 

yeah but yeah it's it's a journey but also like also just human like anybody else  also go through just the same craft that anybody else does but that's what the  I'll just gotta be there for each other 

yeah yeah I made some comments you know we're humans  you know we have a variety of emotions and most all this feels similar emotions I don't feel like  there's a huge difference in what people's emotion or range are like if there's most  everybody's gone through something and can understand can understand that and if they haven't  maybe that's not the right for person for you to reach out to when you need help right right  so being on oh go ahead no I just I just think it's interesting there's a lot of people have  different perspectives in the world and there are people who who don't have those traumas in their  lives and in some ways they're lacking perspectives on a lot of things and good for them like  if you don't have trauma you're life's good for you 

yeah there are a lot of us who do and  so many people can relate to you know that the things we go through so why not lean on each other  agreed agreed so being an entrepreneur and how do you kind of set up your day because we're  gonna dive down into your company a little bit but I want to kind of capture your entrepreneurship  totally so my typical day I usually wake up around five I know this is this is gonna be  you're like you know all those motivational speakers that I'm like get up at four hit the gym but  that no 

yeah me neither me neither I wake up five inch I scroll on my phone for an hour two  I'm at a bed six or seven grabbing my coffee I coffee for a solid hour  and then I will depending on what kind of day it is if it's a lab day I'll go down in the lab and I  will spend the entire day down in the lab making product I actually I don't know if you can see the  black door behind me oh 

yeah my lab is right on the other side of that door lab clean room is a  attached to the house which is so cool everything's made right here 

yeah so if it's a lab day I  go in there I spend the entire day in there if it's not I'll either come down here to my office or  I'll work from the couch and just get to whatever I need done done I mean you name it I'm I'm a  one woman show over here so I'm doing you know order fulfillment marketing you name it so  

yeah yeah I can feel I can feel your I want to say pain and joy  totally it's all of it and I love you you don't follow like a certain you know  get up and forward do this do that I mean I think that truly works for a certain personality  but it doesn't work for every personality 

yeah and it's currently doesn't work for my personality  I kind of just have to flow through my day you know navigating family life and other other businesses  and things like that and it's just longs you're getting things done and making have a momentum  in your day and not just like drag in your feet because you don't want to do anything I think  you can set up your day to have look out for it once but just wants your accomplishing those things  you need to accomplish I agree and that's totally the thing is keep keep going and keep a moment  in the day there will be days that I wake up and I'm like okay I'm a full orders and then I'm  do some computer work for flame for a few hours and then I'm in a hop into my kitchen because I'm  currently doing a tile project in my kitchen and I'm taking my sweet time on so I'm going to go  do some of that and then I'm at a hop back over and do some other things and I work every single day  of every week of every year because I love what I do it love it all right buddy I'll do it  now 

yeah I love it so but I also like yeah I just mix life and work in because that's what works for  me 

yeah I love but Tara so how did you get to from your background of I know the military  and all things you've done there to making flame decon which is a decon for fire fires or  you can use it for other things right just totally absolutely and I'll tell you a little bit  about that for sure 

yeah I won't even attempt to like explain flame decon but how do you get how  did you pivot to that like I like I'm not I'm not seeing it like we let something out in the story here  like how did you get there okay so my brother is a firefighter in San Diego we're first San Diego fire  and when I was laid off from my job doing PR for the army the big contract there  I actually because my degree in public relations I done PR in public affairs really my whole  career in some sense or another and my dream always was from the time that I started in the military  was I want my own piracy so I was laid off went started my own small PR firm  and I got maybe a few months in and was like I don't want to do this this is crap  these clients this corporal shit is not what I want to do I was just done with dealing with  all the aspects of that world like I just kind of burnt myself out on it and at the time my mom  was retiring and she wanted to start she really just wanted some kind of retirement career retirement  income and she very much a supportive mother loves like the fire mom stickers like that kind of  stuff she and I actually launched another business that was geared gifts for firefighters and  their families and within a few months of launching that she decided she really wanted to be retired  like fully don't want business ownership is actually a lot 

yeah yeah um so when she did that  I didn't feel like I'm just always been a person like I need to work for the greater good I need to be  working for something bigger than myself if you will and so I didn't feel like I was meeting any kind of  real mission so decided to change our mission to firefighter wellness and in looking at all the  products that we needed to bring in to fulfill that mission I realized that there there were just  products missing that were specifically developed four firefighters in this realm so I did a ton of  research and figure it out exactly how activated charcoal works because you look at you know there's  a lot of products with activated charcoal out there and don't everyone will tell you you know it's  all about adsorption the toxins basically sticking to the surface area of the charcoal but if you  really dig down into how it works you realize that there are different types of activated charcoal  made from different natural resources and each of those when when they are basically steamed to  create activated charcoal that creates different pore sizes in them depending on the resource that  they're from and you have to match the pore size of the activated charcoal with the toxin that you're  trying to remove or it won't remove it it won't bind to it really or stick to it and remove it  makes sense 

yeah so so once I I just kept asking no but really how does it work and figured that out  I realized there the every other product out there is only using one type of activated charcoal  so there only removing a small portion of the toxins that get on you rise after a fire around the  station really anybody else out there as well who's working with toxins so you have to combine  activated charcoal's different types and that's what I've done I've got this blend of four different  types of activated charcoal that remove all sizes of toxins so discover that came up with the  blend and then went to scientists and said okay verify my research verify my blend and help me  create a formulation around this that's not clogging the pores of the activated charcoal that's  working with it to continue cleaning and that's exactly what what we did and so that's kind of how  I got into this and here we are a few years later and I am actually about to because just like you said  it is good for other industries so here's where I've been with that is that it's great for other  industries it's great for people who even hobby with toxins right it's great for fisher  and to get this smell off their hands after they've gone fishing but because my brother is a firefighter  and we lost our dad when he was 21 years old and I was 25 like I want him around for his kids  


yeah I want you around for your kids like knowing these risks firefighters or my mission right  that's where my heart and soul is like so that's where my attention needs to be until every firefighter  on this planet knows about flame and has access to it 

yeah but it can also benefit my other  community military community and other people so here's what I've finally decided to do  um it's harder I am sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry so I'm actually  watching another brand this month and what I'm doing with that is the brand is called  an adventure soaps so that it speaks to adventures right 

yeah but what I'm doing instead of  putting all my time and attention into it and marketing it and taking my attention away from firefighters  how this is going to grow is that this company is a fundraising site for firefighters with cancer  oh awesome so basically firefighter has cancer his buddy comes to me and says we want to do a  fundraiser great let me hook you up the link and the code go out share it with your family  your friends your community everyone around they buy the soap from adventure soaps because they  can relate with adventure soaps the family friends community not gonna relate with flame decont right  so they buy it then all the proceeds from that fundraising campaign five dollars per bar  soap goes directly to the firefighter fighting cancer very awesome very awesome so then  later if those family and friends want to buy soap great then the company grows on its own but  then I can fulfill like what my heart wants and firefighters so yes we're Carter  diversify 

yeah so yeah so that's that's coming up here soon as I get some materials together  to launch probably get in the next week or so that's awesome so what kind of toxins you know  because this can benefit other injuries and you know adventure soap makes me think like hey when  I'm out camping or whatever and it's probably great idea to use this soap what kind of it  toxins are people being exposed to that would be good to use the soap with oh my gosh so so many  more than we think I'm sure of it so many more than we think activated charcoal is is  a great is great for removing so many different types kinds of toxins I wish I had it in front of me  I actually did this this like chart when I first launched a couple years ago  that you can see like I've got you know wood on there and drywall and gasoline and  here and make up products and rubber plastics I mean you may not and then the breakdown of these  are the molecule sizes of that to you know detoxin size is really and these are the types of  activated charcoal it would take to remove those and then I also have it scored of like this is  from one to five this is how good activated charcoal is at removing these things  all of them are four or five wow 

yeah none of them are bad you know there's not not a whole  lot that activated charcoal is not good at removing there are a couple of things but not a whole lot  

yeah is it gonna leave my sit my skin like baby soft and smooth and  

yeah yes because it's gonna get you really clean 

yeah I mean it's I for sure recommend like  I actually use it to clean my face I use it to clean all of me I definitely recommend using  a moisturizer afterwards because it is it's getting you clean right it's taking all of that  garbage off of your skin and out of your hair but 

yeah so use it use a moisturizer use a  conditioner afterwards but you're gonna feel great now I see another line coming out the  moisturizing portion of the flame decone one day one day I know and you're free time and you're  free time right and that's the thing like developing products cost money and right now like  I just have so much in so many things that I want to do from the decon point of view that will  actually benefit people's health right that someday 

yeah I totally can only relate to that  you can't take on too many things or you'll right be good at nothing exactly yep 

yeah so this  flame decone not just benefits structural firefighting you know firefighters it'll be a huge  benefit right to wildland firefighters as well 

yeah absolutely more and more studies are done all the  time to show that wildland firefighters are coming into contact with all kinds of carcinogens as  well it was interesting the very first testing that we did on my product was actually for the  martial fire that was here and actually in Boulder County about this time last year it was like  New Year's last year oh 

yeah mixed yeah mixed structure wildland fire  um 

yeah it was pretty insane to see the the carcinogens that came came from that fire  another thing that people aren't realizing though I mean because in that basically we did a comparison  and it was the same person you know different days obviously a day around the station  you're just around the station running regular calls you have not been on a fire call  what carcinogens are on you after that day around the station right  all the residue from everything else 
 
it is absolutely insane the carcinogens that came off  that that were detected after just a day around the station 

yeah and then after that fire  after using flame and compared to just like a clean stick it's pretty wild  does flame decone how's it come is it in a baro baro soap or is it how does it  how does a package I should say 

yeah for sure I've got bars of soap and then also two and one  shampoo and body wash and the shampoo and body wash comes in eight out of bottles as well as  single use packs so the single use packs are super easy for especially like wildland guys just  to pack in their pack and when they find me you know find a shower grab that shower with it  and then I also do for the bars of soap I do a soap at the month where a different design  and scent of a remun which just makes it fun and that's one thing that I just I wanted to do here  too is because like how often do you guys have to talk about decon and cancer and it's just not fun  right it's well it's not enough it's not changing very well or very right right  here's the thing they're like I think that in the last few years there's really been an emphasis  on decon and cancer prevention all of that stuff I really truly think because of the emphasis  there and guys taking it seriously and using products like flame because because they do  enjoy using it people are swapping it out using it at the firehouse I have a lot of guys  we're just like it's just not my daily like I use it at home too because I love it right right  products they love they're easy to use and the emphasis on gross decon a fire scene using things  like fire wipes just doing your decon in the education around it and people realize in the  rest I really truly think that this is the generation where that changes this is the generation where  we can lower the statistics of firefighters getting cancer I think we have to do one thing to do that  and that's go from awareness to action 

yeah absolutely absolutely because I think we have a  plenty of research research showing what's going on and how this is affecting our health  now are we as individuals and departments and you know the fire service and first responders  going to step up and take action totally 

yeah and that is where there's no room for the guy  who thinks it's cool to walk around and do it here there's no room for it don't be the follower who's like  oh he's been here forever you know he's the cool guy well I don't care if you've been on the job  for two days be the guy after the fire who grabs the fire wipes and passes them around  

yeah if you want to be looked at as a leader be the leader if you want to you know  set the example do it

 yeah pass around single use packs pass around the fire wipes do your  decont be the first one to do it and encourage other people to do it that's where we have to see the  cultural shift with the action 

yeah do you have do you sell fire wipes do or so I fire wipes is  a partner of mine fire wipes and I and I are partnered I sell fire wipes with my single use pack so  I have fire wipes back there I need to restock that I so a fire wipe in a single use pack  people can add that to their order and then they have their decont for their next fire  very nice it's great partnership 

yeah so I love how we need to take this like to the next step  and be clean and be the you know be the leaders and stuff like that it's just and anybody can do that  right anybody can be the leader anybody can step up and show this weird not meant to work this career  and sacrifice our body and our lives and our family and everything in to retire and then  shortly pass away does not why we got into this car 

yeah yeah and it's it's a it's a it's a  whole health approach too so another thing that I just I just launched is our firefighter call  log and wellness notebooks we're like you can log your sleep your nutrition your decont your  you know and then just do like a mental dump of your calls because like it's shown at that if you  talk through something traumatic or write it down it helps your brain process it right 

yeah and we know  that all of those things all of those different aspects of health play into whether you get cancer or  not it's not just your decont 

yeah yeah so you've got it you've got to really you know take care  of yourself overall it's this holistic approach that we really need to be paying attention to  and just taking care of ourselves totally totally agree with you like it's this job is not a sprint  it's a marathon this careers a marathon like and you want to finish the marathon so you can run  another one and like 

yeah try to encourage that with all the new people we don't have to sacrifice  our hearing or health like all of the earth all these things just for the job to  end up retired and be broken you know physically or mentally totally 

yeah a terror where can people  find flame decont and find you absolutely so flame decont website is flame decont.com and then on  Instagram Facebook TikTok anything else it's all it's all at flame decont and then  you can always DM me there about anything my email is terror at flame decont.com  awesome terror thank you so much for being on the podcast today and sharing your journey  and your your wealth of knowledge and your commitment to the first responder world. Gosh thank you  I really appreciate it Jerry. 

Yeah thank you. 

Thanks again for listening don't forget to  rate and review the show wherever you access your podcast if you know someone that would be  great on the show please get a hold of our host Jerry Dean Lund do the Instagram handles  at Jerry Fire and Fuel or at Enduring the Badge podcast also by visiting the show's website  Enduring the Badge podcast.com for additional methods of contact and up-to-date information regarding  show. Remember to be using opinion expressed during the show solely represent those of our host  and the current episodes guests.